Head Games: From The Archives #3

"They" say that endurance running is 50% mental and 50% physical.  You obviously have to train your body for it but you also have to train your brain.  You have to find mental strategies that will get you through the tough spots that you'll inevitably experience on a longer haul.  Sometimes those mental strategies involve rewards, sometimes they involve just getting to the next kilometer and sometimes, well, they involve a whole other level of imagination.  The crazy way my brain works is evident in this blast from the past.   This is the final installment from my first half marathon hat trick in 2000:   The Canadian International Half Marathon, which is now known as the Good Life Marathon.

Enjoy!

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Hey All....

Well, this is it. My last little ditty this year. Whew. It's done, over, finito. I completed my half-marathon hat-trick and let me tell you it wasn't easy. Rising at 6 am on a Sunday morning isn't exactly my most favourite thing but I managed to drag my sorry, groggy butt out of bed and scramble over to Yonge and Bloor to catch the vomit comet that would take me to the start line of my illustrious third (and final) half marathon this year, the Home Depot Half Marathon (also known as the Canadian International Half Marathon). The weather was great running weather, not too cold and a slight breeze and NO sun. Yet for some odd reason I brought my sunglasses instead of my hat. Go figure.

The race started just north of Mel Lastman Square. I was pretty calm considering my I was totally unprepared for this race training wise. I hadn't run 21.1K since August 27th and my training routine since then had been next to non-existent. I knew I could run the distance it was just a question of how long I could keep the pain at bay. I knew my lungs were up to the challenge but I wasn't so sure about my legs. But in typical Phaedra fashion, I throw caution to the wind and say "aaaah what the hell"...so I hurt for a few days. Big deal. The race was pretty much all downhill anyway. No worries.

At 8:45 am sharp, the siren went off and we started out. The route was packed with people cheering. We ran straight down Yonge Street. I knew this would be a "rolling route" but that the majority of it would be downhill with the exception of "The Beast" a.k.a Hog's Hollow at Yonge and York Mills. I had met The Beast before so I knew what to expect. I conserved as much energy as I could on the downhill so I could tackle the uphill onslaught without hurling when I got to the top. The second time around was much easier than the first. It still hurt mind you, just not as much. With that hill out of the way I figured the rest of the race was a piece of cake. All downhill. I was feeling good and I was running surprisingly fast (under a 5 min per km pace). I motored along taking the occasional walking break at the water stations. I was feeling good, oh ya, I could go on for hours. This sis-tah had found her groove. That was 55 minutes into the race. That was at the top of Rosedale Valley Road. 5 minutes later it was all downhill from there.

At the bottom of Rosedale Valley Road I started to feel "the ache". That annoying ache in my knee that comes and goes from time to time. I kept going but slowed up my pace a bit. I figured, ah it will go away eventually. It was about 16k into the race that I realized uh-oh...this pain isn't going to go anywhere. And that was when the battle began.

Runners have all sorts of mental tricks to get themselves through tough times. I started by trying to distract myself. So I pictured the people infront of me running in their underwear. That turned out to be kind of a scary visual so I pictured myself lying on an floating dock in the middle of a lake on a sunny day. That worked for a bit. I then tried to think up little rewards for myself like "oh if I just make it around that next bend, there will be a whole tub of Ben and Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Ice Cream with your name all over it". Unfortunately when I rounded that bend, Ben and Jerry were nowhere to be found. Completely at a loss for anymore mental tricks I began to visualize the battle going on in my head. On one side there was a little man named Matter and on the other side there was a little man named Mind. They were each wielding those foam pool noodles, and trying to beat each other into submission. Oh it wasn't a pretty sight let me tell you. The battle became VERY intense at about the 19K mark when Matter almost won out. But Mind isn't a quitter so Mind persevered despite Matter's constant cajoling about how he and his friend Pain were going to kick Matter's sorry ass. I guess all those threats of being beaten with a wet noodle finally got to Mind and he found it in him to deal the final blow to Matter in a sprint to the finish line. The time as I crossed the line: 1:47:59. My best time yet. In the worst shape I've been in, I run my best race. Go figure.

Now I think I will go and make friends with my couch, give my shoes the break they deserve and put Mind and Matter in their respective corners till next time.

That's all folks, it's been a blast. Tune in next year as I attempt to run my first marathon.

From The Archives #2

Due to much work insanity this week, I have not had the time nor the inclination to write.  It's very hard to be creative when every ounce of your energy has been sucked out of you by trying to juggle life.  So, my loyal readers will be treated to another old race report.  Old to me, but new to you!  It's from my second half marathon of 2000, The Marathon de Deux Rives in Quebec. 

Enjoy!

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The Adventure Continues.....

This past weekend, your favourite running fool ventured into "le Petit France" of Canada to run her second half marathon (yes, I'm a glutton for punishment..you should know that by now!). The 8 hour train ride in was fairly uneventful although I can't say it helped the condition of my already sore/stiff legs much.

I got into Quebec City mid-afternoon on Friday, dropped my bags off at the cute B&B I was staying at and decided to get out a stretch my legs. I couldn't have picked a better place to do so as Quebec City is EASILY the hilliest city I've even been in to date.

I should have remembered that when I registered for this race.

I also should have remembered that the Quebec City weather is as unpredictable as it's drivers...Friday and Saturday were absolutely gorgeous. All looked well for the race on Sunday...that is until I awoke at 5:30 a.m. Sunday morning to the sound of a light but steady rainfall. This was not good. I was not happy.

I ventured out into the cold rainy morning to meet my running mates, Susana and Brian, so we could walk to the bus that was going to take us to the starting line. Not having the faintest idea what sort of course I was going to run, it was nice to actually see the sort of ground I was going to have to cover. It was flat for the most part, which was good, but we had to run over the bridge that crosses the St. Lawrence river. That bridge is up high. We were down low. Very low. River level low. That meant that there was going to be big hill somewhere. Great.


The bus dropped us off in the quaint little suburb of St. Romauld right along the St. Lawrence river. The start line was right in the middle of a quiet residential area.

It had stopped raining just before we arrived at the start but it was still quite cold, so we spent the next hour stretching and trying to keep warm. 10 minutes before the race started, the rain came again in a steady drizzle. Wonderful. Susana turned to me and said "This is not what I envisioned!". No kidding, me neither! Everyone was huddled under trees or umbrellas or on the porches of the nearby houses waiting till the last minute to get into starting position. We had a marching band complete with baton twirlers, playing "Tequila" (which I was hoping for a shot of at the finish line) and all the residents of St. Romauld were on their porches waving and cheering...it was all quite surreal.

The first 3k was nice...it was quiet except for the rain and the breathing and footsteps of the other runners. At about 4K I saw "the hill". All things considered it could have been far worse. I made it up no problem. We came out onto a highway and ran across the St. Lawrence on the "old bridge". At the 8K mark there was ANOTHER marching band (!?!?) and plenty of supporters cheering us on. The crowd support in this race was great considering the crappy weather. There were even a few people on the bridge cheering.

Once I crossed the bridge,I could see the halfway mark. It was downhill from there (literally) As I ran down this beautiful long winding road, I concentrated on the distance before me, trying to ignore the incredibly tight muscle in my hip and the fact that I was running far slower that I wanted to be.

I crossed the 10K mark at about 58:30 (VERY slow for me) and started running into the most BRUTAL headwind I'd ever encountered. It didn't stop. I was on a totally exposed road right by the water. It was beautiful but man was it tough.

At that point I thought to myself I'd be happy if I ran this race in 2 hours. I had lost sight of my running mates at about 6K (they were far in front of me)

I don't know what happened but at about 12K I started passing people. My legs had decided to "kick it up a notch". WOO HOO! was all I could think. With about 2K left, I could see my running mates (thanks to Brian's bright orange t-shirt) AS I turned onto Boulevard Champlain and ran towards the finish line, I turned the corner to see Brian and Susana running together. I realized that there was no one in between us...I was literally right behind them. I watched and smiled as they held hands and crossed the finish line together (this was their first half marathon) and as they turned around, there I was, right behind them.

I looked at my watch. 1:51:38. Not as fast as my first one but pretty good all things considered.

I think I'll do it again next year.

In the meantime, chalk up half marathon number 2......

I'll keep you all posted on number three.

Clueless: Chilly Half Marathon Race Report

Ok ok, I'll admit it.  I'm a bit of a sandbagger.  BUT, I'm chalking that up to a huge amount of self doubt fueled by my less than ideal training as of late.  I always do this leading up to the first race of the year.  Especially when I feel like things haven't been going the way I want them to.  I grossly underestimate my abilities to the point of being almost completely clueless to what I'm capable of.  Leading up to this I honestly felt like I wasn't going to be capable of pulling off a time that was close to what I ran last year at Scotia.  For some reason, I felt like I had slowed down.   I couldn't have been more wrong.  I obviously must be doing something right because my first race of the year landed me a new P.B for the half.  It wasn't pretty but no matter, it's not supposed to be.

I took it very easy this week.  I was feeling a little run down early in the week so I skipped my Tuesday night tempo and my Wednesday morning swim.  I ran once on Thursday with my run group and then swam again on Friday morning.  Saturday was spent celebrating my birthday by relaxing with my feet up,  encased in a pair of compression socks. I couldn't have gone into to this race more well rested.

I hemmed and hawed about what to wear and opted for compression shorts & my compressport full socks underneath a light pair of tights.  A long sleeve shirt with a short sleeve shirt over it and then my Running Free jacket and a toque.  Excellent call once I started running but not so smart before the race.  Holy smokes was I ever cold.  It was very windy.  Which is not surprising given that Burlington is right on the water.  I figured we'd get hammered with the wind at some point.  I went out for my warm up and my legs felt like tree trunks.  I could barely hold 5:15's.  Of course I got all panicky.  Get off the ledge you silly girl, it's just a warm up.  Right.  I ran about 3.5km and did a few drills, then went back into the Burlington Performing Arts Centre to get warm and try to find Gary.  I found Gary and a couple of our friends, chatted with them for a bit but was getting antsy so I made my way to the start line.

The start line was totally packed as usual.  I wormed my way up towards the front but the closest I could get was up to the 1:45 pace bunny.  Hmmm..oh well.  It would probably be good for me to start off at that pace anyway.   I looked around to see if I could find anyone from my run group but it was way too crowded.  I was surrounded by a whole lot of tall people as well.  No matter.  I'm sure I'll see them all at some point.

The gun went off and the shuffle started.  I crossed the start line and hit my watch.  And we were off.  My legs didn't feel like tree trunks anymore.  I had taken a GU Roctane about 15 minutes before the race started and it must have kicked in.  I started passing folks.  There was a lot of bobbing and weaving going on.  I looked down at my watch and saw that I was running 4:08's.  Nice. I then realized that I hadn't actually started my watch.  I had hit lap instead of start.  UGH.  I hit start and cursed under my breath.  I was now running somewhat blind.  Oh well.

I motored along only to be passed by fellow WTP speedy chick, Diana at about the 3km mark.   Excellent.  If I can keep her in my sights, I know I'll have a good day.  I end up running with a fellow Team Running Free member, Matt from Newmarket, for a little while.  We chit-chatted for a bit and then I pulled away.  I was then running with another fellow who I chatted with for a bit.  Lots of chatty runners!  I told him my predicament about not starting my watch and he told me his time as we came up to the 5km mark.  I had missed roughly 3 minutes.  Good to know.  So I added 3 minutes to my time.  I realized that I should have taken my first gel so I got on that right away.  I was feeling quite good.  I was definitely working but I felt like I was in a good zone.  My pace seemed to hover around 4:20-4:25 km's.  Sweet.  I could see Diana just ahead of me.  I was slowly reeling her in.  At about 7km I was right behind her.  I passed her a little bit later.  We hit an aid station and she pulled ahead.  We yo-yoed back and forth a couple of times.  At one point as she passed me she said "Oh Yeah, 1:40 my ass".  I laughed and said yeah I know, but we'll see what happens to me at about 12km.  We were coming up to another aid station.  Diana slowed down to grab some water.  It was about that same time, around the 10km mark, that Prince's "Let's Go Crazy" came on my shuffle.  I had been feeling a wee bit rough but that song gave me the kick in the pants that I needed.  I could see a woman in front me and she provided the target I needed to push myself a bit harder.  In doing so I managed to pull away from Diana.  I was starting to feel really good.  Definitely in a good groove and my tunes really buoyed me on.  The Arctic Monkeys will always get me going.  I added a few new tunes that I had dug deep into the 80's vault for:  The Stand by the Alarm, Drive by Rush and a great b-side from Spandau Ballet (I KNOW!) called To Cut A Long Story Short.  Spandau Ballet had come on as I was pounding my way to the 13km mark.   It was at about this point that I realized the wind had been at my back.  Oh CRAP.

We hit the turnaround just past 13km and I immediately felt the wind.  I had been running with a big tattooed guy in shorts who had pulled ahead of me a bit.  I tucked in behind him.  As I made my way towards the 14km mark, I saw Diana.  She wasn't too far behind me.   I stuck like glue to the tattooed guy.  I became his shadow.  Wherever he went, I went.  If it wasn't for him I think I would have imploded at about 17km.  At one point I ran up beside him and offered to go in front and try to break the wind for him.  He laughed and told me not to worry.  I would have been pretty useless I'm sure but I thought the sporting thing to do would be to at least offer it up.   So I got right back behind him and continued to draft.  My pace was around 4:24 km's.  I figured if I could keep this up, I'd have a PB.  By what I wasn't sure.  Things started to feel a bit rough at 15km.  I kept telling myself that I only had at most another 30 minutes.  Surely I could get through that.  16km arrived.  Only another 25 minutes at most.  That became my mantra.  At about 17km I lost my tattooed friend when I slowed down at an aid station.  He was just far enough in front of me that I couldn't catch him.  I was on my own in the wind with 4km left.  My legs were pissed.  I could hear someone coming up behind me.  I glanced to my left to see another dude pass me.  Perfect.  I tucked in behind him and hung on for dear life.  18km.  Roctane time.  19km.  Hurting but caught up to my tattooed friend. 20km and the Roctane kicked in.  Just as Rush's Drive came on.  Perfect.  That bass line totally fired me up.  The guy I had drafted off said we have a big hill coming (ha, not really).  I said BRING IT.   He told me to go for it so off I went.  At that point I could see Gary and John I waved my arms in the air, I was so pumped.  I really started to push.  My legs were dying and my lungs weren't far behind.  I was heaving.  There was no way anyone could have said I didn't leave it all on the course.  I was coming up to the corner to turn up the finishing chute when I was passed by my tattooed friend.  He had a serious finishing kick!  I tried to stick with him but couldn't.  My legs were going as fast as they could.  I was closing in on the finish line and could see 1:30 something I looked up as I crossed the line and all I could remember seeing was 1:32 something.  Bloody hell!  A new PB!

I found my tattooed friend, thanked him for his help and congratulated him an a great race.   I then wandered over to the food to refuel and find my hubby.  As I was walking over I heard Diana's name called as she crossed the finish line.  I wandered back over to congratulate her.  By the time I found her, a bunch of the other WTP Ladies had finished.  Everyone was in great spirits.  I then saw Linnea and Glen and then Gary found me.  We wandered off to the warmth of the Burlington Performing Arts Centre to stretch and use the facilities.  I was curious to know my actual time and how I did in my age group.  Gary pulled up Sports Stats on his phone and with a big grin, showed me the results.  First in my age group.  I started crying.  Ok well not full on crying but I did get really emotional.  I was in shock.  I'm STILL in shock.  This isn't a dinky little race by Ontario standards.  There were almost 1800 women and just over 1500 men that participated in this race.  I made the top 20 women overall.  Top 20!  What the hell?

Just goes to show you how clueless I can be in regards to my ability.  Call me a doubting Thomas.  Until it's done, I don't believe it.  Although now that I've done this, it's re-instilled the confidence I had at the end of last year.   It was the mental boost that I so desperately needed. 

Chip time:  1:31:57.  1/296 women in my AG, 17/1784 women and 181 overall.

What a great way to start off the year and an even better way to celebrate turning a year older. Helloooooo 41!

Goal Re-Evaluation

Well, I'm 4 days away from my first race of the year and I've got to say, I'm really not feelin' it.  I've had a rough few weeks of training leading up to this race.  Last week was the first week I managed to get all my scheduled training in.  This week, I've been feeling somewhat run down and like I'm on the verge of getting sick.  I skipped my tempo run last night because of my stuffy nose and foggy head and I went to bed extra early.  I skipped my swim this morning to get an extra hours sleep so I feel somewhat better today.  My nose is still a bit stuffy but I don't feel like a sack of hammers any more.  So, the big question is (for me anyway) what do I think I'll be capable of this weekend?  The answer:  I haven't got a clue.  I really don't.   I do think that my original goal of 1:40 may be tough to make but I don't think I'll be too far off that.  On the other hand, all this extra rest could be doing wonders for me so who knows...?? 

Things I need to focus on for the rest of this week:

1) Getting as much rest as possible.
2) Eating well & staying hydrated.
3) Staying positive.

Simple right?

From the Archives

Given that I'm going to be running my 10th half marathon this Sunday, I thought I'd celebrate by sharing my race report from the first half marathon I ever ran.  It was the Ottawa Half in May of 2000.  I'll never forget how I nervous I was at the start and how amazing I felt when I crossed the finish line.  It was long before I started blogging so this report was delivered via email (thus the intro!).  That year I ran the Ottawa Half in May,  The Marathon de Deux Rives Half in August and then the Toronto Half in October.  It was my first ever half marathon hat trick.  So from the archives, here is the first of 3 race reports from that year.

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Hey Everybody!

I think most of you may now by now that I am a little on the crazy side. Most of you may also know that I am a pretty dedicated runner. Some of you may know that I have been training pretty religiously for the last 14 weeks to run in my first "really big" race. Well ladies and gentlemen, yesterday I did it. I ran my first half-marathon. For those of you that do not know how far that is, it is 21.1K (13.1 miles for you Americans).

I went all the way to our Nation's Capital to run it. We had a beautiful day. The running gods were smiling on us yesterday morning. The sun was shining, there was a light wind and a huge crowd of spectators. There was a field of 2100+ runners for the half marathon. The full marathon was also being run at the same time as the half and there was probably about 2500 people running the full marathon. Imagine the sea of humanity at the start line. It was incredible.

The gun went off. I ran with one of the people I had trained with. We took it easy for the first half of the race, running about a 5:30 per kilometer pace. By the 12K mark, we decided to pick it up a bit. By the 16K mark we were moving at about a 5:10 per kilometer pace. At about 19K I thought i was going to die. My legs were killing me. All my muscles were working overtime and I still had 2.1K to go. I turned to my partner and said "I'm hurting".....He said, "don't worry, there we're almost there". The last kilometer seemed like an eternity and I didn't know where I would find the energy to finish. As I rounded the last bend, heard the crowd cheering and saw the finish line, I dug WAY down for that fire and I found just enough to turn on the afterburners and run like the wind down the last straight to the finish line. My partner turned to me gave me a high five and said "Congrats, Phae, you did it". My legs felt like jello and my lungs felt like they were going to burst but I was happy.

Not only did I finish, but I finished well. My goal was to run it in an hour and 45 minutes. I ran it in 1 hour and 48 minutes and 2 seconds. I was 558th out of a field of 2128 runners. I was 110th out of 1028 females and I was 21st out of 121 women in my age group. I placed in the top quarter. So needless to say, I'm really happy.

Not bad for a first half marathon.

I think next year, I'll take on the full.....

But for now, I need a massage and a few days off.

Got My Mojo Workin': The Scotiabank Half

Me & My Pace Bunnies; Joseph & Victor

Mojo as defined by the Urban Dictionary:
1. Self confidence or self assuredness.  As is basis for belief in oneself in a situation.
2.  Good luck charm or fetish
3.  Ability to bounce back from a debilitating trauma or negative attitude.

After the less than stellar year I had last year (personally and athletically) I had vowed that this year was going to be better.  I wanted to get my mojo back.  In early December last year, I started to formulate a plan to get my mojo working again.  It was going to culminate in the Scotiabank Half Marathon.  The scene of my epic meltdown the previous year.

My entire racing year was focused on this race.  The plan for another half marathon hat trick came about in early December last year after a dismal attempt at running a Boston qualifier.   I figured focusing on running a fast half would be more helpful if I decided to attempt another full down the road.  The addition of a rather challenging goal time came about sometime in January.   I figured since I was turning 40 this year, a 1:40 half would be a good goal.  I knew it would be a challenge given that my PB for a half was 1:43:38 and that was done when I was 33 years old.  I knew I'd have my work cut out for me.  But I'm certainly not afraid of a little hard work.

Fast forward to May of this year.  I ran the Toronto Women's Half in 1:41:37.  I certainly didn't expect a result like that so quickly.  My goal for that race was to go around 1:45 or just under.  It was at that point that I knew 1:40 would be easily attainable.  Gary suggested I set a "hard" goal.  So, I figured I'd aim for 1:35.  That would be tough.   I trained fairly well throughout the summer.  I hit the gym on a regular basis and I continued to race.

After an epic Thanksgiving weekend, I was feeling really run down and on the verge of getting sick.  I doused myself with everything imaginable from Cold FX to oil of oregano to tons of Vitamin C.  I slept well and took it easy.  By mid week I felt totally back to normal.  I scaled back on my weights to let my legs recoup.  I focused on my nutrition and eating as cleanly as possible, trying to stay away from my nemesis, sugar.   I had a very successful taper until the day before the race.  Which is what always seems to happen.

The friends whose place we've been staying in were coming back on Saturday.  We have rented an apartment that we took possession of on Saturday so that day was spent packing and running around.  We hadn't grocery shopped because we were moving so I was eating whatever I could find in the fridge.  That meant a lot more carbs and lot less veggies.  Gary brought our friends back from the airport around 5:00 pm and we hemmed and hawed about what to have for dinner.  It was going to be take out, which I was not too keen on.  We settled on Swiss Chalet.  Now I *could* have opted to have a salad with my 1/4 chicken dinner but alas, I did not.  I had the fries.  Bad choice as I would find out the next day.

I slept relatively well given how nervous I was.  I woke up at 4:44 am.  Coincidentally that was the pace per km needed for me to run a 1:40 half.  I thought that was kind of ironic and rolled over to go back to sleep.  I dozed on and off until about 5:30 when I just said screw it and got up.   I showered, put on my race gear and wandered downstairs to eat breakfast and try to relax.

Gary and I got down to the baggage check area at about 8:00 am.  It was freezing so I opted to wear my long sleeve Running Free top over my t-shirt, singlet and arm warmers.  I was thankful for the disposable gloves that our friend John had given me the day before.  I got all my stuff out of my bag, dumped it at the baggage check and went back to find Gary.  I had to do a warm up so while I was doing that Gary went off to get a coffee.  I ran west along Dundas at an easy clip.  About 2 minutes in I started to get a stitch.  Uh-oh.  I backed off a bit as I turned down McCaul.  I ran down to Queen St and turned around and the stitch got worse and worse.  Crap.  This was NOT what I needed.  I worked at breathing through it and by the time I got back to Dundas and University, I was nicely warmed up and the stitch had somewhat subsided.  I was a little worried though.   One stitch usually means that more are inevitable.  Victor, my pace bunny and fellow West Toronto Pacer, put it down to nerves but I knew better.  I was silently cursing my poor dinner choice from the night before.

Victor, Joseph (another West Toronto Pacer) and I decided we'd make our way down to the start line and try to hit the porta potties for one last time.  It was complete chaos around the corrals and the porta potties.  The line ups were insane so we decided to run into the maze of office buildings off of University to find a spot to pee.  Easier for the boys than myself but I managed to find a bit of greenery to duck behind.  I was joined by a few other ladies.  Ah sometimes us runners have no shame.  But when nature calls you gotta do what you gotta do.  I met back up with Victor and Joe and we made our way to the corrals.  They had moved the start line south from last year's start and for some reason the organization of the corrals seemed to be a lot more chaotic.  It was difficult to get in and the line ups to get in were ridiculous.  We had to try to fight through all the slower runners to get down to the faster corrals.  Ridiculous.  So we opted to run along the outside and head down to the bottom where we could see some other runners getting in.  We climbed over a small brick wall and slid in to the small entrance at the back of the yellow corral, which by the way was quite empty.  We made our way to the front of our corral just in front of the 1:40 pace bunny.  Our goal was to position ourselves right at the back of the red corral in front of us so we weren't trying to dodge too many people.

We spent a few minutes chatting and then I heard the National anthem so I knew it was almost go time.  All the runners started to move up towards the start line.  I took a deep breath and hit play on my ipod and the Beatles "Revolution" started my half marathon playlist.
"This is it, I thought.  My A-race.  Let's see what I'm made of."
As we made our way up to the line, I said to the guys "Let's DO this!" and Victor let out a cheer as did Joe and we were off.  I tucked behind Victor and Joe as much as possible.  We had to dodge a few people but we started off very conservatively.  Victor said we'd start to pick up the pace at around 2km once the crowd thinned out a bit.  Of course I was worried we were going too slow but I just focused on following Victor.  I always go out too fast and I asked Victor to pace me to keep me from doing that, so I had to trust that he would keep me in check.

Just before 2km we saw Carm and then Gary, both of whom got an enthusiastic wave from me.  I'm pretty sure I was grinning.  I was feeling really good.  My heart rate was nice and low and we were turning over a pretty good pace (around 4:45's) and most importantly, I was feeling comfortable.  We lost Joe just past 2km as he had to hit the porta potty again.  He said he'd catch up be we never saw him again.  We made our way around the Distillery District and then headed down Parliament to the Lakeshore.  I knew once we made the turn on to Lakeshore that we'd be heading into the wind and that's when the real work would begin.   Sam Roberts "The Graveyard Shift" was playing and I liked the rhythm of the song so much, it got played twice.

We turned onto Lakeshore and immediately Victor gestures for me to tuck behind him.  The wind isn't too bad here as we're still relatively sheltered.  I checked our splits at the 3km mark and we are slightly off a 1:35 pace.  That's ok.  I wanted to negative split this race so I was ok with going slower on the way out.  I figured we'd have the wind kind of at our backs on the way back in so that would help push us along.  I saw Gary again at 4km and gave him another wave.  Just before we hit the 5km mark, I could feel another stitch starting.  I held my abs tight and tried to breathe through it.  I took a Roctane and some fluids and that seemed to help.  It didn't develop into anything major but it was slightly annoying.  By 6km it was gone.  This happened on and off throughout the entire race, getting progressively worse each time.  Not good.

We motor along past the Exhibition and the wind gets quite nasty around here.  People had spread out a lot so Victor was trying to draft off of anyone and everyone we caught up to.  We were still moving a long at a pretty good clip but falling a bit farther off a 1:35 pace as we went along.  Again, I was not too concerned.  As we hit Jamieson, I saw my friend Myles cheering and waved to him.  Shortly after we got to catch a glimpse of the lead marathoners passing us on their way back.  Reid Coolaset was right up there in the mix.  AWESOME!  We came up on the 10km timing mat and I checked my watch and all I saw was 45: something.  "That's cool, I'm good".  We were running slightly slower than a 4:30/km pace.  We were heading towards the turnaround at Windermere where I knew I'd have a bunch of friends waiting to cheer me on.  I hadn't stopped at any aid stations yet, I had just been sipping from my Nathan flask.  Sipping being the operative word.  I told Victor I was going to grab some water at the Parkside water station.

Ran into the water station and gulped down a half cup of Gatorade.  Caught back up to Victor just as he was pulling up to the 3:15 marathon group.  80 year old running legend Ed Whitlock was in that group, looking as fresh as a daisy, smiling away.  Victor cheered him on as we passed.   The crowds down at the Windermere turnaround were simply amazing.  Lakeshore is a huge boulevard with a nice little "island" in the middle of it so both sides of the boulevard AND the island were lined with spectators.  My friend Sue was going to be in town so she said she'd be on the island probably with our friends Pat & Jenn and their daughter Reese.  I told Victor I was going pull out a bit and look for them.  Sure enough I saw them before they saw me.  I waved and yelled woohoo as I ran by.  We made the turnaround and then I heard my name again.  I looked over to see Linnea and Glenn on their bikes on the south side of the road.  They rode along the course for a while cheering on myself and other runners.

I was expecting the wind at my back to make things feel a lot easier than it did.  Oh well.  I was getting surprisingly warm and had already lost (literally) my arm warmers so I figured it was finally time to ditch the gloves.  I tossed them and grabbed another gel.  I tucked behind Victor again as we motored up the hill at the Legion.  Gary had told me if I still felt good with 5km left that I should just give 'er.  I think I was so excited that I started to push the pace around the 14km mark.  It didn't help that Diana, another West Toronto Pacer, passed me like I was standing still.  I wanted to keep her in my sights.  I was still feeling really good.  My legs weren't sore or hurting at all but I was definitely working as my heart rate was hovering around 170.  At about 16km I started to notice that my vision was blurring.  Crap.  I had this happen to me once before.  Last summer at the Welland Half when we did the relay, I was overheating and dehydrated and I started to see what looked like heat waves (like what you see radiating off the pavement on a hot day) in my peripheral vision in both eyes.  That same thing was happening.  I was having trouble focusing.  I was starting to get panicky.  My breathing started to get a bit more ragged and I could feel another stitch forming.  I had to try and remain calm.  I didn't want to stop and walk.  That didn't help me last time so I continued running and didn't say anything to Victor.

The heat waves continued until just before 19km when the mother of all stitches started.  It was like someone was stabbing me under the rib cage.  I let out an audible groan and shoved my thumb under my rib.  Victor asked if I was ok and I grunted that I had a stitch.  He said we could slow down, that we were way head of my goal pace (he was thinking I was still aiming for sub 1:40).  He said we only have about 10 minutes left and asked if I could gut it out.  I couldn't answer him as I was trying to breathe through the stitch.  I didn't want to slow down.  No way.  Not this close to the finish.  We ran up the hill at the Spadina off ramp and on the way down I noticed that my stitch was subsiding.  As I got to the bottom of the hill, I also noticed that my vision issues has cleared up.  I figured there was less that 2km to go, I was going to let loose.  I was hurting but I still had *something* in the tank.  I wanted to leave it all on the course.

The next thing I knew, we were running up Bay Street and I saw the 500m to go sign.  I turned to Victor in disbelief an said "What?!  Only 500m to go?  Let's book it!"  Victor said he had nothing and that I should just go.  I didn't need any prompting, I knew I was going to be cutting it close to 1:35.  Adrenaline surged through my fatigued body, giving me new life as I made my way under the Bay Street bridge.  It was dark so I pulled off my sunglasses.  The last thing I wanted to do was trip in my final 300m to the finish line!   As I came out from under the bridge and saw the crowds that lined the finishing chute, I was completely overcome with emotion.  I fought back tears as I busted my butt up Bay street, with Gogol Bordello's "Wonderlust King" blaring in one ear.  I heard my name and saw Gary and waved, then my friend Tara, then my friends Deanne & Fred.  What a boost.  I could see Diana about 100m ahead of me, crossing the finish line.  I sprinted as hard as I could to the line, grinning from ear to ear.  I didn't even look at my watch.  I knew I just made it under 1:35.   I caught up to Diana and put both my hands on her shoulders and she turned around in surprise.  We congratulated each other on a great race.  Victor finished shortly thereafter.  We got our medals, got some food and our foil blankets, and I gave each of them a hug.  Diana for having an awesome race and Victor for being an amazing pace bunny.  Without him I'm not sure I could have managed to have pulled off my final time of 1:34:48.

When I finally found Gary after waiting in line for my bag for OVER AN HOUR, he told me I was 8th in my age group.  I almost started crying again.  To break the top 10 in a race of this magnitude was simply amazing.  I found out later on that I actually ended up 6th in my age group.   Even more mind boggling.  Two days later and I'm still kind of in shock.

I never imagined at 40 that I'd have the best season of my life (to date).  I had vowed at the end of last year that I was going to make 40 the best year possible.  And it has surpassed my wildest dreams.  I couldn't have done it without the support & guidance of my amazing husband (& sometimes coach) my friends, training partners (go WTP and Team Running Free) family and co-workers.   Thank you all for making this journey an amazing one.

I'm already looking forward to next year.  Plans are being formulated.  I'm definitely going to try and tangle with the 26.2 mile monster once again.  Should be another entertaining journey.  Hope you'll all continue to "come along for the ride".

Happy Trails....

P.S.  I actually managed to negative split this race.  I ran the first 10km in 45:33 and the last 11.1km in 49:16.  Average pace for the first 10km was 4:33's.  Average pace for the last 11.1km was 4:26's.  YES!

Formulating A Plan: T-Minus 13 Weeks

The insanity of the last few weeks has dulled my sense of the passing of time.  The end of Le Tour has slapped me back to the reality that summer is half over.  Ok, half over is a bit of a stretch, but August is almost here.  There is already back to school stuff in the stores (very annoying when you're trying to find a new bathing suit)!    Fall is the farthest thing from my mind right now.  Although given that my A-race is only 13 weeks away, I should probably start focusing on my training plan.

I've gotten the loose frame work of my long runs plugged into my calendar.  It's going to be tough given the amount of racing I want to do in late August and mid September.   But, I'll make it work.  I'm sticking with the Runner's World plan that got me to my 1:41 finish at the Toronto Women's Half.  What I absolutely NEED to do is get to my run group during the week.  Those workouts will be the key to getting me faster.  It's been tough given the fact that work has been so busy.  The next couple of weeks look good work wise so I should be able to start August off on the right foot.

My strength training program has been excellent.  My legs feel good.  The true test will come when I start doing over distance work later on in my training.  I have managed to develop some decent upper body strength as well as core and back strength.  I gotta say, the weight program is challenging but I love it.  I'm not lifting terribly heavy but heavy enough that I'm a bit sore after.  I've also worked at increasing my weights every week.   I'm coming to the end of the first phase this week and I'm looking forward to starting the next one.  Granted I've missed a few Saturday workouts due to racing and moving but that's ok.  I'm going to re-visit this program in the off season and follow it properly.   I think it will be just what my body needs to get it ready to tangle with the 26.2 mile monster again.

Yes.  I said it.  There is a very good chance I may go down that road again next year.  Even though I said there was no way.    I've been thinking a lot about it and I think it would be quite poetic to try and get myself another B.Q (Boston Qualifier) 10 years from the first time I qualified.  So we shall see.  I'm not fully committed to that just yet.  We'll see how I fare with my racing for the rest of the year.  In the meantime,  I need to get my butt off the couch and out the door.   I haven't run all week.  I'm not going to get any faster if I don't get out and do the work.

Happy Trails!

All Aboard The Half Marathon Hat Trick Train - Stop #1-The Chilly Half Marathon

I had no idea what to expect for this race. I had a goal in mind, something I thought I'd be capable of given the little training I've done (sub 1:50). I ran 3 days a week, one long run, usually over distance with race pace segments, and two shorter runs on the treadmill during the week. Usually interval training and nothing more than 8km - 9km. I focused on weight training, usually 2-3 times a week and usually right before a hard run. I think that helped immensely. My legs actually felt pretty good until about 17km then they started to tire out, which is impressive for me. Normally they'd be tired at about 10km.

My goal was to pace myself well and make sure I focused on nutrition and hydration. It rained yesterday and then the temperature dropped and it snowed. Thus the conditions were less than ideal. I'm kind of glad because it forced me to go out easy. I took it fairly easy for the first 2km and as the crowd started to thin out, I started to push the pace a bit. I had gotten a stitch around 3km and it came and went for the entire race. Footing was also pretty crappy for the first half of the race. To top it off my foot pod decided that it wasn't going to work so I was essentially running blind in terms of pacing. I had a pace band for a 1:49:00 half so I was using that and checking my pace at each km marker. I was pleased to see that I was hitting my pace at each km. At some point during the race, I think it was around 7km, I started to pick up the pace a bit. I managed to gain a minute and change by the time I hit the 12km mark. I couldn't believe it. Every km, I checked my watch. I was like a metronome. Always a minute and 3 seconds faster than I needed to be. I made sure I had some gel every 15 minutes and I made sure I drank both water and e-load. I was definitely working but I didn't feel like I was killing myself. I started to hurt around the 17km mark. I still had one half of a gel left and I thought I'd save it till I hit 19km so it would give me a boost for the last 2km. By 18km my stitch had returned full force and was causing me a lot of discomfort. I tried breathing through it but to no avail. The only thing I could do was just keep running and hope that it went away. At 19km I took the last of my gel. I wasn't sure if I would have much left in the tank but I really wanted to push it through the last km. Once I hit 20km, I started to pick up the pace again, despite the fact that my legs were screaming at me. I knew that once I hit the little downhill, I wasn't too far off from the finish line. I could see the crowds getting bigger and I could hear people yelling. As I started to make the turn onto the street where the finishing chute was I heard Gary yell my name. I smiled and waved. The finish line is at the top of a small incline and I busted a gut pushing it all the way. I was NOT going to let ANYONE pass me. I caught a woman about 100m from the line and I didn't let up until I crossed the line. Final time 1:47:49. Am I happy? HELL YEAH. With some better training and some hard work, I think 1:40 is definitely within my reach.


Next Stop: The Toronto Women's Half on May 29th. Bring it on.

The Birthday Bender

So Saturday I did my last long-ish run before the race. I was supposed to do 16km but I went out so late and had so much to do on Saturday I cut it short. I ended up running about 14.5km which is still alright. The massage work I had done on Thursday really helped. My hips and glutes felt looser which is huge. I'm sure I could use a bit more work but it's going to have to do for now. My run felt good, really easy. My average heart rate was bang on and my pace was close to 5:30 /km's which is awesome. I'm hoping I can comfortably hold 5:05-5:10 /km's on race day which would put me under 1:50 for the half. I'd be happy with that for my first effort of the year.

Saturday night was my big night out for my birthday. Boy oh boy did it EVER get messy. But it was a blast. I definitely can't drink like I used to be able to. I think that is a function of 1) becoming leaner 2) being out of practice and 3) just plain getting older! I'm still kinda feeling it today and it's MONDAY for Pete's sake. Ah well, it was a GREAT time and I still have the entire week to recover. I'll be popping cold FX and vitamin C all week just to make sure I don't get sick.

After this race, I'll start to incorporate some new leg exercises as well as more consistent cycling. It might be time to start doing some bricks as well. But we'll see...maybe closer to April.

Things to think about for the next phase!

Taper Time!

Cue MC Hammer, "Hammer Time" Dance.....

So I'm officially in my taper. Of course I'm feeling like total garbage right now. I've been super stressed over the last 3 days, I've got a splitting headache and I feel like I'm fighting a cold. My runs this week have been next to non-existent. I'm supposed to run 16km tomorrow but we'll see if that actually happens. I might just run 12-13. It's going to be a BIG weekend outing wise (concert tonight and BIG birthday celebration tomorrow) so I don't want to kill myself.

I've also "officially" added to more races to my 2011 calendar. I'm doing the Harry's Spring Run off on April 2nd and then I've signed up for my "A" race - the Scotiabank Half. I was also thinking about signing up for the Zoo Run but I'm going to wait on that. We are looking at renovating our house this summer and the end of September might be a very busy time for us so we'll see.

The Game Plan

I decided to focus on the half marathon distance after my dismal performance at the Scotiabank Marathon last year. I figured a solid year of racing the half marathon distance would get me mentally and physically ready to tackle the full again in 2012. Which is exactly what I'm planning on doing. I also needed to gain some strength in my legs. I usually start to feel fatigue and soreness in my legs about an hour and 15 minutes into a run. My lungs can go forever but my legs seem to tire out well before my lungs give out. I figured some time in the gym would be just what I needed to rectify the situation. Normally I would work out 2 times a week and run 4 times a week. This time around, I decided to scale back on the running to 3 days a week and add a 3rd weight workout. I would have no room for junk mileage. I'd be doing one long run and 2 shorter runs that would involve either intervals, tempo or hill work. The long runs would alternate between easy efforts and a combination of easy and race pace efforts. This plan also involves over distance training, which means I'd run more than the half marathon distance during my long runs. I did 2 over distance runs, one of 22km and the other was 24.5km (should have been 25km). Each of those over distance runs had a race pace segment in them. Anywhere between 30 - 50 minutes @ 10km pace. Between this and my additional weight training I've definitely noticed an increase in leg strength. In two weeks, I'll find out if this little plan worked.

Here We Go

Yes! Another Blog! More crazy tales of adventure as I attempt to complete another half marathon hat trick AND attempt to break my half marathon P.B. that I set 7 years ago. Why? Because I'm turning 40 and I love a good challenge.

Races on this year's calendar so far:

Chilly Half Marathon - March 6th

Toronto Women's Half - May 29th

Scotiabank Half - October 16th - that is my A race.

The summer will see me back in the sprint distance tri scene. It's been a couple of years since I've done any so I'm looking forward to it!