Ramblings of a Running Addict

Iron Maiden

2011-02-08T23:44:00.000-05:00

Are you training hard and experiencing poor or mediocre race results? Do you feel sluggish or tired even a few kilometers/miles into your run? Low iron levels could be a possible culprit.

Iron levels and running is a hot topic for runners. IMO, it is an important issue for all runners, but especially important for female runners.

I have personally been plagued with low iron stores before. As a mostly vegetarian runner (no red meat or pork and only the occasional taste of chicken, turkey, and fish), I am at risk for having my iron levels drop again. In fact, I always start to worry about my iron levels when I am mid marathon training cycle. This constant awareness caused me to stumble across this good article here about low iron levels and the impact it has on running.

Why is Iron Important?

As runners, iron is vital as it is a key component to our oxygen transporting molecule, hemoglobin. It also has several metabolic roles in our body. It is also cited as the largest nutrient deficiency amongst Americans (I couldn't find a statistic about Canada, but I am sure it is a similar issue).
Reasons for Iron Deficiencies in Runners

1. Foot Strike Hemolysis
This basically means that as your foot strikes the ground, the impact can cause hemolysis (damage or death) to your red blood cells. You do regenerate your blood cells, but excessive hemolysis can cause your iron level (hemoglobin) and iron stores (ferritin) to drop.

2. Sweat and Urine
Iron is lost is sweat and urine, this loss is compounded by athletes that sweat alot. Interestingly, iron is lost through the GI track in runners that train in hot humid climates (definitely not Ontario at the moment -22C tonight during my hill workout!!) Still even in the cold, I tend to sweat alot, and often come home with soaked clothes.

3. Low levels of iron in your diet
Red meat and dark poultry tend to be good sources of iron (however, I believe you do not need to eat meat to have sufficient iron levels, you just need to be more conscious). Many endurance athletes eat carbohydrate rich diets that have lower levels of meat or other iron sources.

4. Poor iron absorption
Iron is a finicky mineral. Certain substances such as coffee impede iron absorption, so although you consume the iron, you are not absorbing it.

5. Blood volume
Endurance athletes have a higher blood level, making the iron a more dilute concentration in our bloodstream.

6. Menstrual Cycle
This one is pretty self explanatory for us ladies!

Tips for combating/preventing low iron levels:

a) Get your iron checked.
This involves two measurements:
i) Hemoglobin: Normal hemoglobin concentration ranges from 14 to 18 grams per 100 ml of blood for men, and 12 to 16 grams per 100 ml of blood for women.
ii) Iron stores (ferritin): Normal ferritin levels are 10-200 ng/ml for women and 10-300 ng/ml for men. Training is seriously affected when ferritin levels drop below 20 ng/ml (ask your doctor for your lab results)!

b) Eat more iron containing foods
Meat, oysters, dark green leafy vegetables, legumes, enriched breads and cereals are example of foods that are rich in iron. You can also cook your food with cast iron pans to help with iron levels (I use my cast iron pan all the time!!)

c) Eat foods that help iron absorption
Foods high in vitamin C such as orange juice help iron absorption.

d) Avoid foods that impede iron absorption
Caffeine is a culprit for impeding iron absorption. Anyone know of some others?

e) Take an iron supplement
Note of caution: It is best to have your levels checked before taking a supplement, as excessive iron levels can be toxic to your liver.

I don't really want to resort to excessive meat in my diet, and having not eaten red meat or pork for seven years, I can't see myself returning to it. However the article mentions elite marathoner Deena Castor. She eats alot of red meat in her diet, and has really good iron levels, which she attributes to her excellent performance. Interesting food for thought.

Are low iron levels a concern for you? How do you keep your iron levels normal?

Thanks for reading!!

My Week in Workout Clothes, Part I

2011-01-30T16:14:00.001-05:00

One of the biggest obstacles to overcome in getting out the door for a run can be all of the pre-run preparations required! Proper nutrition, hydration, and clothing requirements can be a real challenge especially during the winter season, when several layers of clothing are required to run outdoors. I thought it may be fun to document my preparations for the past week of my training.

I normally follow a Monday to Sunday training schedule, so I usually begin my preparations for the upcoming week on Sunday afternoon after my long run (active recovery). I usually come home from my long run, shower, have a little nap, and then begin the preparations for the following training week.

Food

The weekly preparation begins Sunday afternoon with grocery shopping for the week. Moe and I often joke that we would make good prisoners because we can eat the same dish several days in a row without getting sick of it. Three cheers for leftovers!! I will often prepare two or three dishes on Sunday afternoon to eat for lunches and dinners for most of the week. I find this saves us money, dishes, and most importantly time!

This past week I opted for two dishes:

Mixed Vegetable and Chickpea Coucous

Homemade Bolangnese Spaghetti Sauce (I have been making this sauce since I was sixteen, only now I make a much healthier version!)

(If you want the recipes, click on the links above, I am trying to catalogue my recipes online)

Hydration

I also wash and prep my fluid bottles so that I can just grab and go throughout the week.

eLoad and Nathan canisters

Filled!

Clothing

I start by finishing the laundry.. the only time my laundry room is neat is on Sunday evening!

Once I have cooked and cleaned up the kitchen, and got a handle on the laundry, I start prepping my clothes for Monday.

Monday (Workouts planned: Hot Yoga and Triathlon Swimming)

Clothes (tank, sports bra, capris)

Towel (From last year's Robbie Burns Race)

Fluids (e-discs, coconut water, Sigg Bottle)

All packed in my trusty lululemon gym bag! + yoga mat (not pictured)

I go straight from work to hot yoga, so I bring my yoga stuff to work, and get home, eat dinner, and then head out to swimming:

Swim "stuff" - Flippers, goggles, cap, towel, suit and fluids

Phew! That is just for Monday! Stay tuned for the rest of week in Part II of the post.

Thanks for reading!

Basement Brick Workout

2011-01-27T22:39:00.001-05:00

During the Christmas holidays Moe and I slowly began finishing the basement in our house. We are completing the project in stages. Moe had insulated and drywalled the exterior walls, and framed our recreation room when we moved, but we had left alone since then.

The Basement

We are fortunate to have a bright walkout basement in our home. The area where the gym is located is a large rectangular room (approximately 14.5 ft by 34 ft) and has two large windows and a patio door. I think when it is completely finished, it will be a nice bright spot to go and workout. For now though, we achieved a rather basic but still functional set up that I think we will both enjoy working out in.

The Gym
We began by cleaning up our basement to make room for a gym. We took 4 car loads to the Salvation Army and two loads to the dump and gave away various items to friends and family. I do not keep much clutter, its amazing how easy it is to accumulate stuff!

Our big splurge for the gym was a large 60 inch LED TV (Sharp Quattron) flat screen TV. I Love it! Now I can watch my bike videos or the Biggest Loser, or even the Bachelor while working out! No more excuses!

We lined up our treadmill and my bike on the trainer to face our tv ofcourse.

Hubs even put a step stool for me to get on my bike... its really high when its on the trainer!

I bought Hubs this incline bench for Christmas, its not fully assembled yet, but we can do ab work and chest press etc using the bench. We can also eventually add to it to. We also have some free weights.

Stretching and ab work out area. (sorry for the blurry picture)

I am going to pick up a large inexpensive area rug this week for this area, and a large wall clock for timing plank, intervals, etc.

The Workout

I had my first brick workout in my home gym this week. Here's what I did:

-Thirty minutes on the bike

*practice bike to run transition*

-5K tempo run

-Ab work (leg lifts, 4 x 1 min plank, toe touches)

-Upper body weights (bicep curls, tricep extensions, and 10 push ups).

It was an amazing time efficient workout, and it was so nice to do it in the comfort of my home, especially when the weather is so cold and yucky!

I made a spinach smoothie after the workout (3 handful of spinach, 1 cup frozen organic mixed berries, 1 cup almond milk, 2 scoops chocolate amazing grass protein, 1 scoop hemp protein, 1 tablespoon of chia seeds, 1/2 banana, and a few ice cubes). It was yummy, unfortunately I forgot to take a picture.

Do you have a home gym? If so, what equipment do you have in your home gym?

Thanks for reading!

Race Report: Robbie Burns 8K

2011-01-23T19:14:00.004-05:00

This is the 3rd year in a row I have participated in the Robbie Burns 8K. This fun race is sponsored by the Burlington Running Club, and is one of my favourite winter running events. I enjoy running it because it is a great value chip-timed race, has great swag, and being in the 3rd week of January, it helps beat the winter dull drums and get me motivated for the upcoming spring races. The Scottish theme of the event is really fun:

This year did not disappoint. The race registration was 30 dollars, and for that fee every runner received a dri-fit running vest:

It's unisex, and a little boxy, but cute! I love when race directors think outside of the box and provide participants with unique useful swag! The two previous years were fleece pajama pants, and a cotton plaid towel.

Unfortunately leading up to race day, the side of my left foot had been bothering me all week. I sat out my long run scheduled for Saturday, and I iced and took ibuprofen like crazy in hopes of being able to participate in the race.

Race morning was freezing cold, and I am not joking. Yes, I live in Canada, and yes it can be cold, but it was abnormally frigid race morning. It was -17C/1.4F but with the wind chill -27C/-17F!!! Brr!! (insert explicits)
Wanting to roll over and go back to bed, I instead decided to assess my foot. It was much better and there was no pain either, so I was ready to run! My friends M and M came over to my house, and Hubs drove us about an hour to Burlington to the race.

We picked up our race kits, and enjoyed a little pre-race entertainment. Thankfully, the runners are able to keep warm inside a local high school gym, complete with flushing toilets. There is not a porta potty in sight for this race!!

There is a bag-pipe procession outside to the start line signalling that it is time for runners to line up at the start. We decided that since it was a cold day, and my foot was iffy, to line up towards the back and treat the race as a harder training run rather than a race.

I was happy when we started running that I felt no pain, and we settled into a comfortably uncomfortable pace. The race sold out in November, so the field was crowded, and although we were trying to take it easy, we had to weave around many runners, so we were speeding along faster than anticipated.

Surprisingly we all felt quite warm. I had worn two layers on the bottom (long johns and fleece tights) and four layers on top (tank, base layer top, fleece top, and running jacket). I also had a double layer of mitts, hat, and a neck warmer! (I don't mess around with -30C)

The Sun came out when we turned South and ran towards Lake Ontario. It was absolutely gorgeous out! As much as winter running can be tough to get out the door when its cold, once you are out there, there is nothing like it, it really is beautiful. I enjoyed the beautiful homes along the lake shore and tried to take my mind off of the pain of a shorter faster run.

Before we knew it, we were crossing the finish, done! (can you see the icicles on my hat?)

Time: 44:04 -5.31km/min (8:52mil/min). It was a course PW, I ran this course last year in 41:xx, but I was happy with the result, considering the temperature, my foot, and my current fitness level. Thanks to my fast friends M and M for running with me!

After the race, there was a full breakfast - oatmeal, bagels and cream cheese, cookies, bananas, hot chocolate, coffee. They also have the awards in the school auditorium with door prizes. There are some serious fast runners for this small race. The top three females in my age group finished under 34 minutes, and the winning female finished in about 27 minutes!

The race has me ready to up the intensity of training for the spring, and I am so glad I did it. Hope you all had a great weekend too!

Thanks for reading!

Stylish!

2011-01-21T15:29:00.001-05:00

Thanks to MCM mama for the stylish blogger award:

Here's how the award works:

Post and link back to the person who gave you the award
Share 7 things about yourself
Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers so we can share the love
Contact these bloggers and tell them they've won

1. I am a middle child. I have an older brother, younger brother and a younger sister. I think I may suffer occasionally from middle child syndrome, but I love having a "big" (by today's standards) family. I am an aunt to 3 nieces and 3 nephews on my side alone. The Hubs has 5 other siblings!

2. I don't know why or how, but I lose my and re find my keys at least once a week.

3. Because of number 2, my husband tunes me out if I panic when I lose my keys. He just stands there with his coat on waiting patiently for the calm after the storm. We are a perfect match!

4. I am a high school biology teacher, and I have taught for 12 years. I absolutely love the challenge of working with teenagers.

5. When I was growing up, I wanted to be an interior decorator. To gain early experience I moved to the basement of my parents house when I was 10 so I could decorate my own room (independently of my sister), albeit I decorated it with two lawn chaises pushed together for a bed, a cooler for an end table and a purple bean bag chair. I donned the concrete walls with posters of my childhood crushes (Cory Hart and George Michael).

6. I lived on a crop farm from the age of 5-12. My dad used to pay us an allowance of 2 dollars an hour to rock pick from the wheat field. Strangely, the memories of this are fond.

7. I haven't eaten red meat or pork for over seven years. I still eat poultry and seafood, so I am neither vegetarian or a complete meat eater. Suggestions for the name of that diet?!

I am supposed to tag 15 people, but being away from the blog sphere so long, I am not sure I can tag that many people and I am not sure who has been tagged already. Here are a few of my (and I'm sure many peoples) favourites:

Aron at Runners Rambles
Laurel at Lily on the Road
Marlene at Mission to a(nother) Marathon
Mel at 2nd Chances
JoLynn at Single Track Junkie

Ofcourse if you want to play along, consider yourself tagged!

Happy Friday and thanks for reading!

Marathon Training in Progress

2011-01-19T20:27:00.005-05:00

Since my return to the blog sphere I haven't yet blogged about running. Don't worry, the running addict in me is still alive and well!

You may have noticed the races listed for 2011 on the right hand side bar, an 8K (this weekend!), a half, a 30K, and the spring culminates with the Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon. With vigour, I made my training plan, set out, registered and began running!

Sounds great, right?!

Except although I am amped up to train, I want more.

More marathons that is.

I usually run a marathon on the March break, and then another in the May, sometimes two.

But I am often told, Marci you should focus on a specific race, you would run so much faster...

Well I will be honest, I do want to run faster, what runner doesn't? But I also love running marathons, and I also tend to run well when I run multiples.

So I have been casually shopping for a March marathon.

Contenders:

LA Marathon - I ran this last year, and it kicked my butt!! Seriously this course was a downhill quad killer, but incredibly fun!! I also want to go back and tour around LA a little more. It was the only marathon I have ran where there were volunteer drag queens at the water stations, and soy milk was given out on the course. (hilarious- who can stomach soy milk while running a marathon?)

Georgia Marathon - This would be another state for me (state number 9). I'll admit I am not that excited by this race, but maybe someone from the area or who has run it before can change my mind.

Or maybe I should just stick with the plan, and train hard for Cincinnati.

Help!!

Happy Blue Monday!

2011-01-17T16:54:00.002-05:00

Thanks for your responses about social media. I have decided for now to get back to posting and commenting on a regular basis and then maybe dive more into twitter and daily mile if my time/energy/desire allows for it. I get a little overwhelmed easily with all that is out there!

So its Monday... Its the middle of January... and in many areas of North America, its fah fah freezzzzing cold. (This morning in Southern Ontario it was -23C/-9.4F when I was driving to work!!). And according health researchers, today, January 17th, its the most depressing day of the year (otherwise known as Blue Monday)!

We are lucky as athletes that we run/swim/bike.. it definitely helps any sort of seasonal depression. Still, I find myself falling victim to less motivation when temperature dips, and the days are so short. Here are some tips I find helpful to keep me happy and motivated this time of year:

1) Connect with family and friends.
Its a great time of year to get together for coffee and a little social time with family and friends, especially the ones you may have been unable to connect with over the holiday season. I find reconnecting and having a few laughs helps alot.

2) Spend time with someone over 70 and under 6
I read this tip at this very excellent site and I think its true. Older and younger people see the world through a different lens that we do.

3) Drink lots of fluids
For me, I drink a ton of Herbal teas in the winter, and its a ritual that I find very soothing and comforting and even uplifting.

4) Try a new Activity
For date night this past month, Hubs took me to rock climbing and dinner. I had never been rock climbing before, and although I was initially terrified (I am a little afraid of heights), I absolutely loved it!! We had a great night and laughed more than we had in a long time. It was a great spirit-lifting feeling to try something brand new.

5) Cross Train
We can get in ruts so trying other sports/mixing it up is important and can help us from facing boredom. I really love going to hot yoga especially in the Winter. The warm air feels so good living when its cold out, I get a good stretch, and I feel more connected with my overall health. Its a great strength training workout to boot too!

This is just a hodge podge of ideas for staving off the depression. I am sure there are many others. Heck if all else fails, eat chocolate and drink wine!!

What do you find helps to prevent the winter blues?

Thanks for reading!

Running and Social Media

2011-01-15T22:18:00.003-05:00

Thanks for the warm welcome back and the great feedback on weight loss and sleep. I have decided to keep a sleep log until I get a regular sleep schedule under wraps.

Now that I am back trying to keep my blog more updated, I thought I would ask your opinion about social media and running.

I find it very motivating to read all of your blogs. You all inspire me daily with your great posts, helpful tips and race recaps. I am exclusively a blogger and I have a facebook account. Although I have a twitter and daily mile account, I have yet to use them. I still find it most comforting and time effective to use a spreadsheet to track my workouts. In fact in case you are interested there is there is a fabulous running spreadsheet download here. Old school, I know...

I do find that sometimes social media can leave me feeling a little exposed, but I know so many of you use other forms of social media for information and inspiration for your training.

So knowing that I am very late to the party on this one, which forms of social media do you embrace or shy away from? Twitter? Daily Mile? Others? Have these helped motivate you with your training and connect with other runners?

Any recommendations?

Thanks for reading!

Sleep and Weight Loss

2011-01-13T16:23:00.001-05:00

Hello?!! Is anyone still out there?!

Its been a long time.... A really long time! I kept thinking I would write a really grand post re-entering the blog sphere but it never seemed to happen, so I will just pick up blogging where I left off. I have reasons for not blogging at all in 2010, but I'll save that for another post.   I have been reading your blogs, and have missed posting, so I am hoping this is the start of a regular posting routine again.

This post I wanted to talk about sleep and its relation to body weight (an important topic for us runners!).

I am historically a yo-yo dieter (+/- 10 lbs). I lose weight, then I gain weight. I was always able to lose the excess weight easily, until the last year or so I have noticed it to be much more of a challenge forcing me to take a closer look at exactly what I was putting into my body.

Careful calorie counting, healthy eating, lots of cross training later, I felt frustrated that the weight wasn't budging. At first I blamed hitting my mid-thirties. I was always hungry.  I would eat a healthy breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner. I would even blend spinach into shake and my work colleagues thought I was nuts!

Even with the healthy, six small meals per day, I would have these INSANE nighttime cravings.  Red wine, cheese, crackers= yum.  Nacho chips + guacamole + wine = double yum.   Cookies + wine =.... you get the idea.

I thought, this is what getting older meant - loss of muscle, increase of body fat....increase in cravings...

But then I thought of all the fabulously fit people I know, some who are decades older than me, and I realized that blaming my weight gain on aging was a cop-out.  What are they doing differently?

In an attempt to tune into reasons for my weight gain/insane appetite a little closer, I started evaluate my health checklist a little more closely and realized, I was depriving myself of a basic physiological need:

SLEEP!

I have always been a short-sleeper. In fact, it wasn't atypical for me to get 5-6 hours. With further research, I discovered that sleep deprivation (sleeping less than 7 hours a night) can cause:

An increase in the hormone Ghrelin which is released to increase appetite. This explains my late night snacking habits!
A decrease in the hormone Leptin, which basically tells you to control the amount of food you shove in your mouth at any given time.

Basically this results in stuffing yourself with high calorie food and still not feeling very full. A huge ah ha moment for me...

Also not sleeping can (source)

• disrupt your metabolism of carbs, causing high blood levels of glucose, which leads to higher insulin levels and greater body-fat storage.

•reduces levels of growth hormone - a protein that helps regulate the body's proportions of fat and muscle.

• increase your risk of diabetes

•can increase blood pressure
•can increase the risk of heart disease

So I have been trying to sleep better since mid-December, and I have noticed a huge difference in my energy level, and control of my appetite. I've lost a bit of weight in the process too (although its a work in progress!). My workouts have also been better since I have been sleeping more.

So I have moved sleep to the top of my priority list, even above working out!

Do you sleep enough? Do you notice a change in your appetite/weight/energy with more or less sleep?

Thanks for reading!

New Year, New Goals -part I

2010-01-17T16:54:00.002-05:00

Well since this is my first real post for 2010, please allow me the chance to briefly reflect over 2009 and I can talk about what I hope for 2010 to bring for me for running and otherwise.

I made some resolutions last year, so I want to briefly reflect on my progress.

1. Eat clean at least 80% of the time.

Sucess, mostly. I started off 09 with good habits, fell off the bandwagon (gained 7 pounds), but finished the year eating healthier than I ever have and my weight is down overall 6 pounds! I like the 80% approach, I will always enjoy a treat every now and then. I have really learned that I need to treat my body well to fuel it for life, the better I eat, the better I feel.

2. Get organized. I hate clutter.
Mmmm needs work. I still don't have a ton of clutter but I need to organize. How do you organize your running gear? Little things like that drive me nuts sometimes!!

3. Stop impulse buying.
Hahahahahahah!!! Funny. Well I have discovered a love for all things lululemon. Seriously. I will save this for another post, but my ENTIRE running wardrobe is now LULU and I can't see myself going back.

4. Running Goals
Goal: I want to set new PR's in the half, full and 30K distance.
Sucess- New PR in half (1:53) and full (4:02). I didn't run a 30K this year, maybe this year at Around the Bay!
Goal: I **will** run a sub four hour marathon this spring.
Fail. Close, no cigar. But I am proud of my progress and I know sub 4 and beyond is in me, so I still consider it a semi-sucess.

Goal: Achieve Marathon Maniac Gold Status.
Sucess!! I ran 4 marathons in 5 weeks in the Spring, achieving gold status!!

Goal: Knock off 5 different states for the 50 state marathon goal.
Fail. Much to my disappointment I had to cancel St.George, and thus only completed 4 states. Oh well. I am in no rush to complete all 50 states, and I loved all the 4 states (Vermont, California, Indiana, Virginia) that I have complete. 8 down, 42 to go!

Races Completed in 2009
-6 marathons (Shamrock, Vermont, Cleveland, Mississauga, Sunburst, Steamtown, CIM)
-6 half marathons (Chilly, Tom King, Scotiabank Toronto, Goodlife Toronto, Toronto Womens Half, Wine Country Half)
-One 10 mile races (Burlington)
-Two 5 mile races (Robbie Burns and Slainte Cup)
-My very first Sprint triathlon
-My very first Olympic distance triathlon
-My very first HALF IRONMAN
(A new-found love for triathlons was found!)

Last year I posted a fancy slide show of race pictures, this year I will keep it simple, this was by far my most memorable moment of 2009. Be prepared for the goofiest grin ever!!

I would have never guessed 2009 would bring a half iron finish!! Next up, 2010 goals and preliminary plans! Thanks for reading!

Soles for Souls (Shoes for Haiti)

2010-01-16T20:25:00.002-05:00

Hi All,

Happy New Year and I am sorry about my extended absence from blogland. I will be back soon, and I have been reading your blogs and commenting when I can. A running friend sent me this e-mail today and I thought I should share it with you.

http://www.softmoc.com/.

I am not sure if the company "Soft Moc" is in the US or not, but perhaps there are other ways you can help. I read in the paper this morning that 1415 Canadian souls are missing in Haiti. I have to admit, I had no idea of the extent of the devastation until I read this, and felt guilty for being so caught in my day to day events, and these poor people (over 2 million) are suffering.
Lets see if we can help, please donate your gently used shoes if you have the means. I have a bag ready to go for tomorrow.

Thanks for reading!

Secret Santa Gift Ideas

2009-12-17T00:52:00.000-05:00

Hubs and I are meeting some running friends for a little Christmas cheer this Saturday morning. We are going for a little trail run and then brunch at a running friends house. We are supposed to bring a running gift for a "mystery gift" exchange. Here's the criteria
-10-20$
-unisex
-something a runner would enjoy

I need some creative ideas, and you guys are amoung the most creative people I know, so please, HELP!

Race Plans: What's Up Next?

2009-12-12T23:00:00.000-05:00

First off, thanks for all your nice comments about CIM. I am still riding on a high from that race. It will take a special marathon to beat that experience!

I am beginning to put in place my race plans for the remainder of 2009/spring 2010. I definately want to be more selective about the races I complete, but here is what I have planned so far:

Registered

1. January 24th - Robbie Burns 8K/5 mile road race (Burlington, Ontario)

I ran this last year in 44 odd minutes, so I know I can do better. It is a really fun little race, cheap registration fee with a full breakfast served after - a good pick-me-up for the dead of Canadian winter. Plus you get an instakilt with registration...

LOL... I am not sure I will be using that.. Maybe on race day or possibly Halloween?

2. March 7th - Chilly Half Marathon (Hamilton, Ontario)

I run this half marathon every year as a tune-up for the spring running season. This year it has a new route along Lake Ontario. Should be fun. Who else is running this? Maybe a blogger meet-up?

Possible Registration

1. December 27th, 2009 - Run For the Ranch Marathon (Springfield, Missouri)

I know I just ran CIM, but this marathon would allow me to meet my goal of 5 marathons in 5 different states for 2009 (It will be my 9th marathon of the year). It is a 5K loop, and I would visit my sister in Nashville afterwards to celebrate the New Year. I think it will be a game time decision, if the weather is crappy, I won't run it.

2. March 28th - Around the Bay (Hamilton, Ontario)

Depending on the other races I choose, I may or may not run this one. It is a great course, and a really fun event, with great history. The race itself is older than the Boston Marathon, a fact that is widely advertised on the race shirts. Last year I sat this one out sick! :(

3. Feb 14th - Myrtle Beach Marathon (Myrtle Beach, SC)

The timing of this marathon is good - we have a long weekend for family day as well.

4. LA Marathon!!!!!!

Last night I was at a Christmas party (full of running friends), and a plan was formulated to possibly run LA!!! Yes copius amounts of wine and beer allowed us to come to this decision! It is at the tail end of my March break, and I was thinking of visiting my Dad again in San Ramon, and then doing the coastal drive (that I've always wanted to do) down to LA and finish with the marathon. The elevation change is similar to CIM, rolling hills, which I loved. Its a brand-new route, running from Dogers Stadium to the beach. Here is a promo video of the new course:

I am trying really hard not to race too many races, but there are so many good options out there!! If you know anything about Myrtle Beach or LA, I would appreciate your feedback.

Hope you are all having a great weekend! Thanks for reading!

Race Report: California International Marathon (with pics)

2009-12-09T15:52:00.003-05:00

I arrived home yesterday from California, and I had a blast! Here is a quick recap on my time in the San Franscisco area, and ofcourse the highlight of the visit, the California International Marathon.

This race was really special since my sister was also running it. As many of you know, my Dad also lives near San Franscisco in the town of San Ramon, so it was the perfect opportunity for me to get a visit and run a marathon that I had heard so many of the Cal runners rave about last year, and maybe get a chance to meet a few of these ladies as well!

Friday I had plans to meet Jolynn but awoke after travel, with a headache and a really bad case of pre-race nerves, so unfortunately I did not get to meet her! :( Hopefully I will get to meet her when I return possibly in March. I spent most of the day Friday low key catching up with family and trying to rehydrate after feeling very dehydrated after the 5 hour plus flight on Thursday.

Saturday morning came and we made the 1 hour trip to Sacramento. We got there had lunch, and then hit up the expo! It was a small expo and rather unremarkable, but well organized none the less.

We had a quiet afternoon and evening, and went to bed early to ready ourselves for our 4 am wakeup call. When the morning came, I felt really calm. Usually I dread the start of a marathon, but today I felt calm. I just went over the messages I had gotten from friends and family prior to the marathon in my head. One good friend in particular told me "Stay strong out there, we are with you with, you can do this". It really stuck with me and became my mantra whenever I struggled throughout the race.

This race is a point-to-point course (which I loved), so we stayed on the warm buses until 10 minutes prior. I said goodbye to my sis (who lined up at the front - she ran a 2:53 marathon), and went to stand in line at the bag check, which was poorly located close to the start line. This created a mob-like jam in front on the trucks that would transport our gear back to the finish, and people began to push each other towards the bag check. People also began tossing their bags towards the trucks in spite of being told not to. It was kinda hilarious, like a bad comedy skit. I manuvered my way through the crowd (benefit of being short), and dropped my bag and got the heck out of there! Nicole said they lost her bag, CIM work on this organization please!

The race started out and I felt a little crampy but since I started slow, I told myself not to worry, it would be OK (which it was, but I had lingering mild cramps throughout the race including a calf cramp - maybe dehydration?) Aron had warned me the course was rolling hills and she is right. The course is really quite challenging, and one must do proper hill training to run a good race. I found myself LOVING the rolling course, it was never boring, and everytime you ran up (which was endless), it was usually followed by a downhill.

As you ran past each mile marker, there were gentlemen in top hats that would yell out your total time and splits and pace. I love this!!! What a great idea! At first my splits were in the 10's but after I got onto to pace, they were either high 8's or low nines, and I loved hearing "you are on pace to run a 3:58 or 4:00 hour marathon" It helped motivate me to stay on track and I vowed to hear them say that until mile 20 at least!!

I ran my first half in 1:58 (gun time), and felt a little tired, but I just kept telling myself I can do this, and before I knew it I was at mile 20. My mile 20 split was 3:08 (gun time), and I was told, "you are on pace to run a marathon in under 4 hours). I decided I needed to go for it.

Ahhhhh the last six miles, I ran my best, only taking my very brief water breaks at the water stations, but past mile 23 I could hear people yell "yah 4 hours!". I knew the 4 hour pace bunny was on my tail. I could hear the mob like "clump clump clump" of the feet behind me, and honestly, I tried to hold them off as long as I could.

When the 4 hour pace bunnies (there were 2) passed me at mile 24, I was a little relieved, it was easier to chase then to have them breathing down my back. I did my best to keep them in my sights, but man those last two miles are tough. I really felt like I was outside my body watching down.. I really and truly gave it all I had, and crossed the finish line at 4:03:20, with a chip time of 4:02:01.

I missed seeing my dad, sister and brother in law at the finish -it was so crowded!! I am so proud of how I ran this race. I never gave up, and I know I have a sub 4 hour in me. After this race, I know I can eventually chip away and get my 4 hours and maybe a BQ with alot of training and hardwork. That is what I love about running. The constant challenge!!

The next day I met up with Aron, Tara, Danica and Nicole for breakfast in Walnut Creek. It was so fun meeting these people, and hearing about their marathon experiences. Everyone ran awesome races! Aron BQ'ed, Nicole had a PR, and Danica and Tara are now marathon maniacs. Congrats also to roadbunner who got a great PR race day.

After breakfast I went to Napa to sample wine, and had an awesome day. Sigh.... Napa is so beautiful. (sorry I only had my blackberry so excuse the crappy pictures!)

I flew home Tuesday and when I got home Hubs surprised me with this min chocolate cake:

It was so yummy!! What a sweetie!

All in all I LOVED this marathon, and I just may have to come back and run it again! The state of California is now done (8 states total down!)

So what's next?! I have a few plans I am mulling over, which I will post about in a few days. I am considering another marathon in 3 weeks also.... :)

Thanks for reading!

CIM marathon: race result

2009-12-06T23:53:00.000-05:00

It was a cold (even for this Canadian) and windy day at CIM, but perfect weather for running a marathon. I had a great race, and a almost 7 minute PR, final time 4:02:01... dang! If I had known I was that close to 4:01 something, I would have sprinted to the finish. All in all although I wanted a sub 4 (and wasn't passed by the 4 hour bunny until mile 24), I am very happy about my result.

Congrats to all the marathoners today, in particular Aron, who I am sure most of you, ran an amazing race and qualified for Boston.

Full race report to come, soon. Tomorrow I am off to Napa Valley to sample some wine to celebrate! Thanks for reading.

5 mile race report/CIM here I come!

2009-12-01T23:56:00.004-05:00

**sigh** Its been awhile since I have posted, time seems to be scarce lately, but I wanted to update you before I leave for California on Thursday to run CIM this weekend (I'm super, super excited!!).

Training Update
I previously posted about my need for Speed, and fully intended to keep you all updated weekly on my training. Overall it went well, I did all of my speedwork, long runs and tempos. I also did my hot yoga twice weekly, and my weekly swim. I let the weekly bike go due to time restraints, but I will pick it up after CIM is done.

I have great running friends to thank for keeping me on track and motivated for CIM. They ran my long runs and did speed work with me every week even though they are not running any marathons until the spring. We also are participating in Angela's Whittle My Middle challenge, and I have noticed a significant improvement in my core strength.

Race Update
I decided to run a 5 miler this past weekend to test my progress (and for Alissa's Turkey Trot Race). The race advertised to be a downhill course, but there was no downhill in site, but it was a relatively flat course with a few small rolling hills. Anyway, although it was VERY windy, I managed to pull out a 3 minute one second PR, with a finish of 39:38 (4:58 km/min pace) . As a added bonus I was fourth (out of 16) in my age group, so I was really happy with the result. I feel ready as I can be for CIM. I will try my best to relax and hopefully to marathon day will unfold with a PR for me. I feel as ready as I can be at this point!

I am also participating in Amanda's Bootie Buster Challenge and maganged to rack up 35 points last week. This week I will have less since I am in taper mode.

So I am off to California to see my dad. My sis and BIL are also running. I am meeting up with Jolyne on Friday, and also hope to meet Aron, and a few other bloggers.

P.S - Although I missed this past Friday, Marlene is also hosting Cans for Comments every Friday.. Marlene will donate canned foods to a food bank for your comments.. what a great cause.

Hope to catch up with you all soon, I'll update you about CIM soon after I finish! My bib number is 1081.. although I don't know if you can track live or not.

Have a great hump day, and thanks for reading despite my irregular updates!

Training Update and a Little Inspiration

2009-11-10T18:31:00.011-05:00

Happy Tuesday everyone... tomorrow is hump day and today is my much needed rest day!

Last week I posted my 5 week countdown to CIM plan, and its been going well. Here is a little summary:

What I planned
-4 x 800 m (7-8 miles)
-6 mile tempo
-1 recovery run (4-6 miles)
-long run 30K
-one swim, one bike, and 2 hot yoga workouts

What I actually did
- 4 x 800 @4 minute 19 second per K (~7 miles)
-4 mile tempo
-long 30K run
-two hot yoga classes
-one swim class

I skipped my bike and recovery run, as I was getting over the last part of my cold, and my tri swim class was intense. By the time Sat rolled around and I planned a bike and recovery run, I knew I would benefit more from a rest.   On Sun am, I ran a VERY hilly (300 meters of elevation climb) run with some friends so it turned out to be a good idea to take a rest today. Today (Tuesday) is my rest day this week and I am enjoying every minute of it!

This week I will up my mileage before taper, but I feel great, I am really trying to listen to my body rather than just piling on the miles and wearing myself down.   I think I can thank the return of hot yoga to my schedule for awaking my awareness of my body. I absolutely love my hot class. I am so happy to be back doing it twice a week. I've really noticed a difference in how I feel and the weight seems to coming off better. Today I weighed myself and I am now down 10lbs from a few months ago.

Speaking of yoga, hubs sent me a link with a video of a climber's trek to Mount Everest Base Camp (altitude 5360 metres (17600 ft), a bucket list item that he wants to complete in his life... (hubs has read every high altitude climbing book out there). The thought of it both scares and thrills me at the same time.

The music that accompanies the video is beautiful. I first heard this song  at a yoga studio and I immediately bought the CD at a yoga show. I listen to it whenever I need to be empowered or need to feel calmness. Its appararently a Tibetian (sp?) chant for world peace. The positive karma you feel when watching this video and listening to the music is wonderful. Enjoy!

Do you have a bucket list? Are there items on your bucket list that scare you, but you know you must do them sometime in your lifetime?

Update and the Need for Speed

2009-11-03T15:56:00.001-05:00

Hello everyone! I haven't felt much like blogging lately, but I have been commenting sporadically on your blogs. Some great marathon/race finishes lately.. keep up the great work! I'll try to keep this blog more updated and visit your blogs soon.

I was to run Hamilton marathon this weekend, the same marathon Marlene's hubby Mark ran, and that I ran last year. I have had a cold lingering since Steamtown, but I still managed a decent half marathon the week after at Toronto International Marthon (1:55:30), not a personal best, but it felt really good and it was a great day.

(Rats.. head was down!!)

That left two weeks until Hamilton, and I felt great, but unfortunately my cold got worse. I stayed home from work Thursday and Friday, but felt much better Fri evening, so I decided to try. Shortly after I started running, I knew that it was not a good idea. I felt overall tired and weak, so I stopped at an aid station to have Hubs pick me up. I love this course, and I knew if I was healthy I stood a good chance a good PR, but alas, it was not meant to be.

So now, I am focused (and super excited) about CIM!!! For those of you wondering why CIM (being I am living in Ontario, Canada), my dad lives in San Ramone California, and to top it off my sister Melissa and BIL Richard are also running the race. Added bonus is meeting some really great California bloggers.

Which brings me to to

4 weeks Need for Speed or maybe I need Speed!! Countdown to CIM!

I am working on a speed plan, here is my rough idea.

Week one (November 2-8)
-4 x 800 m (7-8 miles)
-6 mile tempo
-1 recovery run (4-6 miles)
-long run 30K (yes, I flip constantly between kilometers and miles, some distances I like in miles, some in kilometers! .. weird I know)
-one swim, one bike, and 2 hot yoga workouts

Week two (November 9-15)
-1 x400m, 4 x 800, 1 x1000 (8-9 miles)
-8 mile tempo
-1 recovery run (4-6 miles) w/10 strides
-long run 22 miles
-one swim, one bike, and 2 hot yoga workouts

Week three (November 16-22)
- ladder workout (400-800-1000-1600-1000-800-400) (10 miles)
-1 recovery run w/ 10 strides (5 miles)
-1 steady run (9 miles)
-10 mile race (possibly) or 24K long run
-one swim, one bike, 2 hot yoga workouts

Week four (November 23 -29th)
-3 x 1600 m (8 miles)
-1 recovery run w/10 strides
-1 steady run
-10 mile run with 4 miles at race pace
-one swim, 2 yoga workouts

Week 5 (November 30th - Dec 6th)
-3 x 800 m (6 miles)
-recovery run with /10 strides
-one hot yoga before I leave for SF!!
-CIM (December 6th)

Anyway, that is the plan, but I would love/greatly appreciate any feedback. Thanks for reading

Recovery

2009-10-14T16:23:00.001-04:00

Thanks everyone for your nice messages about my Steamtown race result. It definately turned out to be more than a training run.

I am working on my Steamtown Report, but unfortunately got a little cold post marathon sniffles that leaves me napping on the couch after work. I hope it doesn't hold on, I want to do some speedwork in preparation for the Hamilton Road to Hope marathon November 1st!! I am also thinking of running a half marathon this weekend in Toronto. I have some goals for that race, Hamilton, and then CIM the next month.

Tonight I am meeting a friend for Hot Yoga, which is my favourite post race recovery activity, which brings me to the topic of this post

What is your post-race recovery routine?

Here is what works for me
-Epsom Salt baths (eucalyptus)
-Massage
-Extra Sleep
-Herbal tea
-Potato chips (seriously)
-Hot Yoga

So what do you do?

Happy Canadian Thankgiving and Steamtown Marathon Quick Report

2009-10-12T09:31:00.003-04:00

First of all Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadians blogger friends. Hope you are relaxing and enjoying the holiday! I am cooking a turkey dinner today for my mom and sister (she came home from Nashville to visit!). Great for active recovery!

Despite a recent post about losing my mojo, I surprised myself with a small PB yesterday at Steamtown. I finally felt like I had some kick in my legs and ran my first ever NEGATIVE split marathon.
Time - 4:08:54 (a 26 second PB). Given that this was a training run, and I was doubting even a 4:30 finish, I am very pleased with this result.

Full report to come. Major congratulations to all the marathon runners out there this weekend, there were a ton of great results, and I look forward to reading your reports.

Now you'll have to excuse me, I have a turkey to stuff and get in the oven and an apple crisp to bake. Have a great Monday!

Full Steam Ahead!

2009-10-06T22:37:00.001-04:00

I am officially registered for Steamtown Marathon this weekend!

***insert happy grin***

I decided to opt for this marathon over Hardford since its on the Sunday, and Hardford is Saturday and I can't register online anymore, and it would be rushed to get there with no entry guarantee. This last minute marathon will replace my planned 22 miler this weekend (whats 4 more miles..).

I don't have a race plan yet, but I will be conservative since this is not my "A" race, so I will likely start out slow and see how it goes. Weather looks good - partly cloudy low 34F, high 57F so that should help.
------------------------------
This week we have been eating so well. Its harvest time in Ontario, and I made a wonderful homemade tomato soup and homemade sphaghetti sauce with fresh tomatoes and basil. While at the farmers market look what I picked up for $2.50!!

One brussel sprout tree!! I never knew how brussel sprouts grew.. Either way, I rarely make brussel sprouts, anyone have any good suggestions for preparing them. Hubs doesn't like them very much, so I am determined to make a tasty dish that he will like.

Good luck to all the racers this weekend! Thanks for reading!

When one door closes...

2009-10-03T16:13:00.006-04:00

another one opens..

I felt this way this morning anyway, but certainly not the last few days. I decided for a variety of reasons (which I'd rather not disclose on this blog), that I couldn't go to run St. George today. Instead I enjoyed a great 29K run with friends this morning. I felt the best I have since Muskoka, so it was a good call on my part, but it sucked to let my registration fee/Utah trip go. Sigh.. next year. I hope I am able to get in through the lottery. My plane ticket was credited, so all is good! :)

I am running Hamilton Road to Hope marathon November 1st, then CIM on Dec 7th, so this week called for a 29K ish run, and next week will be a 35K/22 mile trek. It is also Canadian Thankgiving next weekend so I have the Monday off work, as does Hubs.

Do you see where I am going with this? (door opening!)

I have a long run scheduled, and a long weekend. (Inside voice: Why not run a full marathon instead?!!)

I want a driveable-to marathon, so after a quick bit of research on marathon guide these are the contenders.

1) Steamtown Marathon - this course is similar in nature to the Hamilton course, and the CIM course. Some rolling hills, but overall a significant downhill. Practice makes perfect (I hope), but the only con is that I have run PA state twice (2 Philly marathons).

2) Hartford - I would love to travel here, nice flat course. It would knock Connecticut off of my 50-state list. Cons being well there is no more online registration (just the expo), and I am not sure it will be the best prep for Hamilton. Laura also recommended this marathon to me.

I may not choose to run a marathon next weekend. I am trying (its hard when you are a running addict...) to choose my events wisely and not just enter everything. If I feel good and recover well (so far so good), I will register. Also I am watching the weather, so no hot, humid marathons that are going to zap me!

I am going to cut this post short. I am craving a nice Salmon dinner with a great glass of red wine, and Hubs and I are going out to eat!! Hope you all are having a wonderful weekend and I will catch up with your blogs soon. Thanks for reading!

Mojo

2009-09-29T00:49:00.001-04:00

My mojo (my running mojo that is) has left the building! I still feel sore and worn out from Muskoka 70.3, and realized this while running the Scotiabank Waterfront halfmarathon this weekend. Even though I took it "easy", it was truefully not an easy race for me. I was sore and sick after, I seem to have some lingering blisters that are really affecting my running gait, making everything sore and achy. Anyway I guess I'll just keeping plugging away to get out of this running slump!

After Scotia marathon I met up with some friends and watched our friends finish (including Marlene rocking her redemption, and Hubs ran his 28th marathon!!). One really cool feature of the Scotia Marathon is special celebrity guest runners called "running legends". One of them I have mentioned on my blog before, Ed Whitlock. Ed Whitlock ran the 2004 Scotia marathon at age 74 in 2:54:49. Today he is 78, and ran the half marathon in 1:37:33!! Incredible! I also got to witness what I would have previously declared IMPOSSIBLE. Fauja Singh is 98 years old and finished the 5K event in 35 minutes. I felt a wave of emotion when I saw him approach the finish line. What an inspiration!!

98 and running a 35 minute 5K. Even more inspirational I read that he didn't start running until he was 81. Incredible!!

--------------------

So while my running mojo has left the building, thankfully there are other sports I love to keep me active and motivated. Today I went to newly formed staff weight training club after school. I generally dislike lifting weights and want to spend as little time at the gym as possible, so it was good to just do a simple 45 minute circuit after school. The club meets Mon and Thurs, so this should be enough in terms of weight training for me and it felt good to get a strength training workout in. Today was arms and I did the following
-15 pushups
-50 situps
-incline press (15 reps of all of the exercises below)
-chest press
-dips
-seated row
-upright row
-tricep curls

I just did one set today since I didn't want to be super sore tomorrow (I probably will be anyway), but it is a good start anyway. Thursday is legs!!

I also went to an Epicure party tonight, and sampled some delicious dips. I bought mini pizza pans, which I am super excited about.. mmm homemade pizza.

After the Epicure party, I went to my second triathlon swim class. The class is coached by Paul Johnson and so far its pretty good. Alot of sprinting and speedwork. I hope we also get some stroke improvement tips. We also do alot of drills with flippers, so I went out and bought a pair.

Tonight we didn't end up using the flippers, but did a few challenging drills. One was an 8 x 50 meters sprint with 15 seconds rest. After each set our "rest" began after we jumped out of the water onto the pool deck, an extra upper body workout! Anyway I am really liking the class so far, although it is definately a good workout!!

Sorry if this post is full of typos, I'm tired and need sleep!
Hope you all had a great Monday. Thanks for reading!!

Fall Five Miler Race Report

2009-09-26T19:26:00.001-04:00

I participated in Running Laur's Fall Five Miler Race on Wednesday this week.

I went for a trail run with friends Wednesday evening on the Seaton Trail which located along the West Duffins Creek in Pickering, Ontario. The trail is very pretty and has some very challenging terrain and is the perfect run location for a fall-themed run. Unfortunately I forgot my camera, and I didn't wear a watch, so I don't have much to report, but it was a really nice run and this event helped get me out and doing it! One of my running friends said our distance was 8.9K which is over 5 miles. Thanks Running Laur for organizing this (you rock!). I **love** fall running!!

And it has finally felt like fall running lately!! Although it was a humid mess earlier this week, it has cooled off just in time for marathon season.

I have decided to go it alone (sans Hubs) to St. George as well, I think it will be an adventure and I am super-excited! In order to better prepare, I made a last minute decision to run the half tomorrow at the Scotiabank Watefront Marathon. No big PR plans, just a forced faster -closer to marathon paced run. I am still recovering from my half iron a few back so I can't afford to overdo it. Hubs is doing the full as a "training run" Crazy nut!

Congrats to all of the racers this weekend. A few triathletes were born!! And ofcourse good luck to all of the Scotiabank runners especially Marlene who is seeking her redemption this weekend also at Scotia!

Hope you all have a great rest of your weekend!! Thanks for reading!

Moving Forward

2009-09-20T20:22:00.003-04:00

Thanks everyone for your kind words about my Ironman 70.3. I find it amazing that some of you said you were inspired by me, when so many of you inspire me daily!! I definately will complete another half iron, and I have an Ironman in my sights/thoughts, but first I need to work on becoming a faster triathlete. I plan on running a few marathons this fall, but to keep up the cycling and swimming. I wish I could keep doing triathlons throughout the winter!

In the meantime, I have St.George Utah marathon on Oct 3rd. At least I thought I did... Hubs is having trouble getting the time off work so I may have to go alone, or not go at all. I keep wavering between the two. In one respect I really want to run the marathon. The course looks beautiful, and I have already paid my registration fee. Would you travel by yourself to a marathon?

On the other hand training for the Muskoka 70.3 had me running less than I normally would for a marathon. I did run a few 30+ K runs, but haven't focused on speed to any large degree. This week I have been tired so I stuck to easy workouts (1 swim, 1 bike and 2 runs). I don't mind just completing the marathon, but I was sorta hoping to PR it or at least enjoy it with Hubs.

I do have some other news. I am running the Hamilton Road 2 Hope marathon on November 1st, and then I am even more excited to announce that I am running the CIM marathon December 6th. My sister and brother in law are also running it, and we are going to stay at my Dad's in San Ramone. I hope I can meet some of my favourite west coast bloggers. I can't wait to run a marathon with my sister (although she will be much faster than me)!!

Here are a couple of more pictures from Muskoka 70.3;

Swim to Bike Transition

Bike

Run

Finish line (My wave started 33 minutes after gun time)

Congratulations to all racers this weekend, I look forward to reading your race reports. Hope you all have a great Monday, thanks for reading!!

Race Report: IronMan Muskoka 70.3

2009-09-15T00:18:00.000-04:00

I did it!! I am an Ironman (woman 70.3). It was of one the most awesome days EVER !! I was certain nothing could top crossing the finish line of my first marathon- until yesterday... The race had a bit of everything, tears, a bike crash (seriously), laughter, joy, and triumph.  Most importantly I found some inner strength I never knew I had.

My Journey to 70.3 (preface to the race)
Having been a runner for five years, I always kinda of balked at the idea of branching out from running, feeling instead a need to focus of becoming a better, faster, runner. I signed up for this race a bit on a whim. I was inspired by some triathletes in Parry Sound called the Nachos, and thought maybe a triathlon would be a nice diversion from just running. I was pretty sure when I decided to complete my first triathlon that it would just be a fun little race to complement my running, but it turned out I absolutely LOVED my first triathlon and immediately signed up for the Muskoka 70.3 after being suckered in by one of their inspirational promo videos. So began my journey to become an Ironman 70.3....

Since I signed up for the race with less than 10 weeks to train, I began to seriously doubt my descision. My longest cycle was 16K (10 miles) at that point. I also found out that the course I had chosen was determined by the Ironman folks to be the toughest bike and run course of all of 70.3 series, and that the bike course was actually 94k (58 miles) as opposed to usual 90K (56 miles)... ***gulp***.   However with the support of many great friends, and alot of training crammed into a little over two months, I somehow made it to the start line. Here is how the day unfolded....

Race weekend - Pre race
Unlike many marathons I have completed, Ironman Muskoka was an entire weekend event, culminating with the race Sunday morning. I woke up in a panicky haze Friday morning. I had taken the day off work to make it up to Huntsville for the athletes banquet so I was able to sleep in, but I could not seem to organize myself to pack. Thank goodness for Hubs, who made a packing list and helped me organize everything into the car, before he headed out to work.   I was a tearful, emotional mess. In fact I think I teared up everytime I got one of many e-mails or facebook well wishes. The support really meant the world,  thank-you SO MUCH! I knew I had done everything I could to prepare, but I was still unsure how the day would unfold.

We made it up to Huntsville and went straight for the expo. I have never attended such a supremely well organized event -registration and kit pick up was flawless. We hit up the expo where I purchased some awesome swag - a bike jersey and a few other items (went a tad overboard - but hey its my first 70.3).

After registering we attended the athletes banquet. The spread was awesome; pasta, rollls, salad, chicken, veggies, softdrinks,cookies, tea and coffee. The best part was being with friends and talking through some of our worries. We were all a little frazzled from a big day so we left before all of the speeches. I stayed at my friends cottage which is located on a beautiful lake about 30 minutes from the race - and it was really nice to escape the tension of the day.

Saturday morning after a great sleep and breakfast we headed back to Deerhurst to check in our bikes and scope out the course. It was so exciting and intimidating at the same time. So many beautiful people, and expensive bikes and gear. I felt like I was out of place amoungst so many obviously extremely fit athletic people -and I never thought I would feel that way. Humbling and inspiring at the same time.

Returning to the cottage we went for a 1K practice swim, packed our transition gear, made a great dinner, and stayed mellow. It felt like the weekend was being dragged out... I just wanted to get on with the race!!!

Sunday morning - Race morning
I actually slept really well Sat. night and woke up ready to go. From there we were kept busy - setting up gearing, helping each other into our wetsuits, checking and double checking that everything was set and ready to go. Suddenly transition area was being closed and the race would be starting. Hubs snapped a few pictures of us setting up from a distance (only athletes were allowed in transition area)

Wetsuit on, ready to go....

Once transition area closed, we were hearded down to the swim start area about a kilometer away- barefoot!! Ouch.
The race started at 8 am, I was in the seventh wave, with white caps that started at 8:33. I hated starting so late... more Sun - we were allowed a brief warm up.

And then we were off!!

The Swim - 2K - 46:56 - 2:21 per 100 meters

I tried to just use the swim as a warm up. Actually the swim felt wonderful. The water was cool and refreshing and I just relaxed and swam. The swim was a point-to-point route which I really like.

Swim exit

T1 - 5:56

There were volunteers that helped you out of the water which was a good thing - I always feel a little dizzy standing up from the swim. After exiting I quickly pulled my wetsuit to waist-length and was stripped by a wetsuit stripper volunteer. Let me say that wetsuit strippers RULE!!! You simply lie on the ground and stick your legs up in the air - and they peel your wetsuit off in an instant and hand in back to you!! No clumsy tripping over your wetsuit.

It was a good 700 meters up a steep hill from the water to the bike transition, but it was made easier but the many spectators lining the path and cheering us on. Hubs was there shouting out congratulations and words of encouragement.

I tried to be purposeful and not rushed in transition and double-checked that I did not forget anything. The bike course is long and I did not want to be stuck out on the course to save a few seconds. I was actually surprised at my transition time - it felt longer than the nearly six minutes posted. All in all - swim and bike transition were a great sucess!!

Heading out to the bike mounting area

The Bike - 94K (58 miles)- 3:56 (23.9 kph)

I felt a little weak heading out to the bike - the hills start right away, but within the first 10K after eating and drinking I felt fine and was having an awesome bike. My goal was to bike the course and focus on nutrition and not overdoing it for the run. I also wanted to love the hills.

For the first part of the bike I was being passed constantly by mostly strong females in the heat behind me or males that struggle with swim but are strong cyclists. But as time went on, I began to notice I was catching and passing a fair number of females, which was fun. I tried not to get sucked in though, I knew this race was about discipline and racing the bike would cost me in spades later.
I saw Hubs just after half way and he video taped me passing by (I will post later), and all and all felt great.

Just past a 65K the course I was starting to tire but still felt great! I noticed a cylist dismount on the steep hill up ahead, and pull off right, so I veared left avoid her and move around. Well at the last second she decided to pull out in front of me, and I crashed right into her. Her bike and her landed on top of me.

I had been in such a good spot mentally up until that point, but when my bike went crashing down I screamed out in pain. I had hit my hip hard to the ground, and my right calf was spasming.

I saw all that I worked for to finish the race halt - and I thought I was done - I began to sob.

Although the woman was apologizing profusely to me - I was really spacey - she got up from on top me and helped me get out of my clips. There was a police patrole car and they stopped to see if I needed to be pulled from the course. They tried to help me up and I felt nausea - I think going from upright on the bike to flat out on the ground, and my calf was spasming. My elbow was throbbing as well. It took me a few tries, but eventually I was able to stand.

I thought of everyone who was out to cheer me on, all the people who had help me train and all of the effort and time I had put into this - I knew I owed it to them and myself to finish or at least try. If I was unable - so be it, but I wanted to try.

Here is a partial picture of my hip today. (I saved you from my right butt cheek which is almost entirely black today). My calf, elbow, and basically whole right side is bruised today.

Anyway I started back out, and I was shaky at first, but then I felt really proud of myself - I really had a good reason to quit - but I kept going, and although I was hurting a little, I was able to manage the pain - it is wonderful what Aleve and adrenalin can do!!

The bike was hard - but beautiful - I had moments of emotion when I pulled back to Deerhurst for the run - I knew that I would finish this race - even if it meant walking the half marathon.

T2 - 2:35
Second transition went well - I forgot to take off my bike gloves, but threw them at Hubs who was cheering me on - I so wanted to tell him about my crash, but I knew he would just worry, so I smiled - I was despite everything - having fun.

The Run -21.1K -2:25:42 (6:55 per kilometer)

I started the run not knowing how much I could run. It was a really hilly course - actually the hilliest half marathon I have ever ran -and it was full Sun. I had stretched out my calf in the last part of the bike using my pedals on the downhill, so I was pleasantly surprised that I could still run. My gait was akward, but I was able to move.

As it turned out the biggest issue on the run was nausea - I felt sick when I ran for long periods so I resorted to run-walk, and power walking (as everyone was doing) up the steep inclines. My friend Michelle gave me a great mantra for the run- run when you can, walk when you have to. For the most part I ran the flats, and downhills, walked uphills, water stations or when I felt nautious.

Although my run time was really slow - even my very first half marathon was faster than this I actually was faring quite well and passed alot of people in the second half relative to the first where I was passed by a few people.

Anyway there was one final huge 2K incline followed by a 1 K decline to the Deerhurst. As I was climbing the last part of the hill, the spectators began to appear. Clapping, congratulating me! I saw Hubs at the top of the hill and began jumping up and down with excitement. I had this!

It was such a wonderful feeling and I tried to take it all in, and ofcourse as usual, cried my way to the finish line. At the final turn I saw some fellow Nacho friends and mentors (who had finished over 2 hours earlier), and they were cheering me in, and exchanged high fives.

As I approached the finish line they held up the tape - at first I was like ... um there is some mistake here, but they do this for all Ironman finishers - what a great feeling to finally cross the line and break the tape!!

At the finish line I recieved a mega swag - finish line tape, finishers hat, shirt - and the medal!!

IronMan Swag

My new favourite medal!

Overall time

7:17:16 - 56 out of 72 in age group. I am really amazed that I did that well considering everything, and I know there is huge room for improvement. All in all my first Ironman 70.3 was a huge sucess.

I am beyond sore today and had trouble walking - I will give my calf a few days to assess the damage - but I am one hampy camper!! Thanks for all of your support - and as usual thanks for reading!!

Only those who attempt the absurd ......

2009-09-11T10:51:00.000-04:00

achieve the impossible....

I found this jacket in my favourite triathlon store and I had to have it. It's my pre-reward for Ironman Muskoka 70.3 and my motto during the race.

Final pre-race thoughts?

1. Stay calm. I am a bundle of nervous emotional energy. I just feel very excited and priveledged to do this! Hubs is very patient when I move from self-doubt to tears to excited energy (well I'm not that bad, but close)

2. I am setting no goals except to finish this one. I want to enjoy the event. It will be enough just to finish. I think it will take over 7 hours for me to complete this, but if it takes more, so be it.

3. Embrace the hills. The bike and run course are hilly. So I ***love*** hills. Repeat. I ***love*** hills.

4. Thanks for all the support. When I got into this triathlon beezznuss I had no idea how much time, energy, and money it would take to train for this race. Thanks to all of my friends (both virtual and not) who gave me support, words of encouragement. Ofcourse special thanks to Hubs who always supports everything I do 100%.

I promise to catch up on blogs soon. This week was also the first week back to work (school), so it was a busy one.

So its off I go. I am staying at a friends cottage who lives near the event, and our group is all doing the event, so it should be good to calm these crazy nerves of mine.

Thanks for reading and good luck to all those other racers this weekend!!

My last day of summer holidays

2009-09-02T22:22:00.002-04:00

My last post left you with a description of a half wonderful 90K (56 miles) Sunday ride, ruined by a strong headwind and cold sleet rain the entire 45K return.  I also planned to ride another 94K (58 miles), on a much hillier route, the same course I will be riding in 12 days!!

So when my alarm went off at 6 am Tuesday morning I was less than enthusiastic to get up. My quads were still sore from my Sunday ride. I also knew (riding the course a few weeks back), what a tough, long ride I was in for. I also had to drive up to the race location (2 and half hours away) to get the ride in. To top it off, this was my last day of summer holidays. Our school had our first PD day today, so Tuesday was it.

I considered cancelling on my ride partner, but thankfully she was ready to go, and had no intentions of not wanting to do it.

So we drove up there, and it was nearly 10:30 when we arrived and I was already starving (my homemade flax bread and almond butter breaky would not cut it), so we went to Tim Hortons for a bagel and cream cheese, which really helped.

We unloaded our bikes, and after some issues with tire pressure (OK - it took us awhile to figure out how to inflate our tires, Hubs tends to take care of these things, but we were determined females, so we figured it out!) It was after 11:30 when we finally got started.

As we started out, my quad were really sore. I kept quiet about it, since I didn't want to bail on my riding partner.  The course is one loop (all 94K), so you really shouldn't ride it alone, especially since some parts are on a highway.    I just kind of ignored the pain and tried to focus on what a beautiful day it was.

And it really was a beautiful day. I found myself really enjoying the sites, and as my legs warmed up, the quad soreness disappeared and I felt huge surges of energy.   I began to enjoy tackling the hills (well most of them - there are some doozies on this course), and the stunning scenery. It really is a beautiful course. I saw a deer at one point on the course, and the lakes sparkled like diamonds as the mid-afternoon Sun hit the water.

All throughout the ride I sipped water from my Camelpak, and took gels every 40 minutes or so. I also took a Clif Bar at the halfway point (on the advice of a Ironman expert), and although it was tough to choke down, it really gave me a TON of energy for the second half. I will definately do this again race day.

All in all, I felt great about the ride.   When we finished we jumped in the lake (the same lake we will do our swim in) and it felt amazing on our quads.   I knew I was officially on the taper!! Oddly I felt kinda of sad about this. Having only starting biking two months ago, I am really enjoying these long training cycles. It took me awhile to get used to balancing all my workouts (I really missed running 5 times a week at first), but now I feel like it was the best thing ever I could have done for myself this summer. I really love the variety, and I feel like my stamina has really improved! I know I am not 100% as prepared as I could be for this race, but I now know I can do this, and I am super excited about race day.

After our dip we refueled and drove back home.   It was after 8pm when I finally got home, just enough time to prepare for work in the morning and get to bed.

It was a great day, the perfect way to spend my last day of summer vacation!

Logs, Rocks, and Steel

2009-08-31T16:39:00.002-04:00

Hello everyone, Happy Monday/Last day of August!!

Its also less than two weeks until Muskoka 70.3, my FIRST half iron.....

(!!!!!)

I am excited, but nervous as well. What better way to quelsh some nerves than to oh, sign up for a race?!!

Its a fun race, an adventure race. Labour day weekend we are going to a friend's cottage with running friends, and participating in teams of two in an event called Logs, Rocks and Steel.

We are doing the short course, which entails
-a 4Km paddle (Hubs swears he knows how to steer a canoe)
-a 15Km trail bike
-5Km singletrack trail run

My teammate is Hubs, and our team name is "The Marathon Maniacs". Groan. I know, not very original, but look, we already have our shirts!!!

It should be fun, my first ever adventure "race". I say race, but we are just doing it for fun. I don't want any twisted ankles or bruises before my half iron the following weekend.
I also went for a half wonderful long 90K bike yesterday. I say half wonderful, because on the way out I felt strong, terrific, and averaged about a 31.5kph pace! Then one the turn around, we met the wind I hadn't realized was at my back during the way out. Ofcourse it was drizzling rain and I struggled the entire 25 miles or 45K back. I never mind wind that much while running, but wow, it can really change the outcome on the bike, we averaged about 22kph on the way back, and by the end of the bike I was screaming to myself (and sometimes outloud) "Get me the fffity f%** off of this bike!!" :) I was also freezing, it took the entire day and a 45 minute shower to warm up! But I'm better now. Tomorrow I am riding the Muskoka 94K route for the last time before the race, and it will also be my last long ride. I hope there is no wind!

Hope you are having a good Monday, thanks for reading!

Muskoka 70.3 training update

2009-08-28T12:17:00.000-04:00

One of the reasons I have been so absent lately was because I went on vacation to visit my sister in Nashville. Holidays coupled with dual workout days, leaves little time for blogging. I have been trying to visit and comment sporadically on your blogs.

Also congratulations to Mel on her recent triathlon completion!!!! She signed up for another one right away. Awesome, and just posted some great pictures of her tearing up the course.

I had an opportunity to ride most of the Muskoka 70.3 bike course with some friends that are also racing the Ironman. The race takes place about 2.5 hours from where I live, and my friend has a cottage nearby, so I was fortunate to be able to go up and ride the route. The bike course route is actually 94Km (~58 miles) instead of the usual 90Km (~56 miles). This is because the course is basically shaped liked a lollipop, and goes around a huge lake called the Lake of Bays. The course map can be found here if you are curious.

I snatched a video from the Ironman website. In the video 11-time Ironman Lisa Bentley previews the Muskoka course:

Don't those Ironman videos give you the chills? I need to give props to Lisa, who is a real role model for Canadian female triathletes. A few years ago, my sister Melissa was given full paid trip to compete in Ironman Canada (Ontario to BC) from Lisa's winnings (my sister had won her age group at a triathlon in Peterborough, Ontario). She is very supportive to budding triathletes!

On another note, did you see that elevation chart? The course is super hilly! I really felt it on my practice ride, I certainly had moments of doubt - can I do this??!! I know I can, but let me tell you - it won't be fast or easy!

I know people who have completed several full and half Ironmans that say its the hardess 70.3 course (its actually longer than 70.3 since the bike is 4km longer, I think the swim is 1.9K instead of 2K). But although its hard, its super beautiful, so I am going to try to focus on that during the bike and run. I am going to ride it again on Tuesday with a friend, we are driving up early Tuesday morning so I think that will help with my mental and physical preparation.

While in Nashville, I had a chance to ride an equally challenging and wonderfully scenic route on the Natchez Trace Parkway. What is the Natchez Trace?

What Is The Natchez Trace Parkway?

The 444-mile Natchez Trace Parkway commemorates an ancient trail used by animals and people that connected southern portions of the Mississippi River, through Alabama, to salt licks in today's central Tennessee. Today, visitors can experience this National Scenic Byway and All-American Road through driving, hiking, biking, horseback riding, and camping.

So basically the road is for recreational use only - no transports, and has a relatively low speed limit. Heaven for a cyclist!!! We rode 91Km of the Natchez Trace and it was challenging but AWESOME. The road goes through the Alpalachian Mountains through Tenessee, cuts through part of Alabama, and ends in Mississipi (which is apparently flat but the part near Nashville was not).

Here is most of our route from Map our Ride. We rode 25 miles out, 25 back.

The Natchez Trace starts in Nashville at a cute little tourist area, where there is a hotel famous for smoked ham called the Loveless Cafe and Motel. Cute. Hubs and I went in and shared a meal (although not ham, we had smoked turkey- we don't eat red meat or pork) and it was HUGE!! More than we could finish between the two of us. They really cater to cyclists and had even a bike shop right there called Trace Bicycles, and other cute art and crafts type shops.

It hard to tell, but this is an area that is about 100 meters up in the air called Birds Hollow. Hubs didn't want to pause long to take my picture. You kinda of had a feeling of flying through here- cool and scary at the same time, my bike computer hit over 60km/h (36 mph) at several points of the trip!

We saw flocks of wild turkeys and even a snake that was large enough to eat a rat!! (sorry no pics, we gave the snake a wide berth!)

Lots of climbling....

Lots

and lots

of climbing!!

Entrance and exit to the Trace..

The route has washrooms, bed and breakfast hotels, and campsites along the route. I was thinking I would like to ride the entire route - all 444 miles maybe in the spring. Anyone interested in joining? I think it would be an awesome experience!

If you haven't yet, go visit Tall Mom and enter her Pearls of Wisdom Giveaway!
Happy Friday Thanks for reading!!

A Dad's Amazing Love

2009-08-27T17:05:00.004-04:00

A friend sent me this today. Have tissue handy!

I have a few backlogged posts, that I will post soon! Thanks for reading!

Wednesday Ramblings

2009-08-05T16:27:00.005-04:00

Happy Hump Day!!! Thanks for all the comments about my triathlon. I will post pictures soon (maybe for Foto Friday).

Some Wednesday Ramblings;

Random Rambling #1 - Pasta alternatives

Yesterday I made a really delicious dish that is a great alternate to pasta, Spaghetti Squash Alfredo. I am trying to add more variety to my diet, and this squash will definitely be incorporated into my diet. For the recipe, or how to prepare spaghetti squash, click here. Amanda at Run to the Finish also posted some pasta alternatives on her blog yesterday.

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Random Rambling #2 - Seeking a Running/Triathlon/Nutrition Coach

I am having a hard time juggling training for my half iron distance triathlon and Full marathon at the same time. My running has taken a little bit of a back seat in terms of the distances I need to be completing to obtain a PR at St. George in October. I am still going to run St. George, but I am thinking that my goal marathon will likely be the Road to Hope Marathon I ran last November.

I think I am spinning my wheels lately, and like I really could use a coach to help me get the most out of my workouts. This triathlon stuff is so new and I would like some guidance to take me from now to the end of this year.

The trouble is, I have no clue how to look for or find a coach, so any suggestions would be helpful. I don't want a generic e-mailed program, I need a more of a tailored program with continual feedback and adjustment based on workouts completed. I am thinking I need someone to offer nutritional advice as well. I have no idea if this is realistic, or what this might cost.
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Random Rambling #3 - Bikers Beware!

This article was on the Nacho website this morning, and I thought it may be important for us triathletes to read.

Welcome to Slowtwitch.com - Kentucky triathlete killed by hit-and-run driver Written by: Timothy CarlsonDate: Sat Aug 01 2009

A Kentucky man participating in a sprint triathlon in Louisville, Kentucky was struck and killed this morning by a hit-and-run driver, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal.
Police charged Kenneth Yates, 25, of Louisville with murder, drunk driving and assault on a police officer, according to Louisville Metro Police spokeswoman Alicia Smiley. Police stated that Yates was drunk and driving at high speed when he hit John Carr, 47, of near by Owenton, Kentucky, about 8 a.m.
Carr was riding in the cycling leg of a sprint triathlon at E.P. 'Tom' Sawyer State Park when he was hit from behind. Louisville Metro Police said that Yates continued driving with Carr’s bicycle still on his windshield until he was stopped by an off-duty police officer directing traffic for the triathlon.
According to police, Yates fled on foot to a nearby house until he was brought back to the scene by his mother.
The Courier-Journal cited a Jefferson County Deputy Coroner who said that Carr was pronounced dead at the scene of blunt force trauma. Louisville Metro Police spokeswoman Smiley said Yates resisted arrest, which prompted the additional assault charge.
The 28th annual edition of the E.P. “Tom” Sawyer State Park Triathlon was a USA Triathlon sanctioned event consisting of a half mile swim, 14-mile bike and a 5k run held on park grounds and surrounding roads.

Random Rambling #4 -Giveaway

Julia at Chocolate Shoestrings has an Endurance Sports Nutrition Book giveaway. Head over for your chance to win!

National Capital Olympic Distance Triathlon: Race Report

2009-08-03T21:18:00.003-04:00

What a great weekend. Hubs and I left Parry Sound for Ottawa Friday morning. We drove through Algonquin Park, a large beautiful provincial park located in Northern Ontario. We were midway through the park when we saw a bunch of cars pulled off at the side of the road. Immediately I thought, oh no, there must have been an accident, but there was a moose enjoying a nice cool bath on a hot summers day. Everyone was enjoying the spectacle, so Hubs and pulled over and took a picture of own.

(Hubs has hidden the camera from me, I'll update with photos later)

:) Aw the great outdoors.

I was a bit of a bundle of nerves going into this race, but somewhere along the line I decided I was being ridiculous. I was putting time pressure/goals on myself, and I just started doing these a month ago. I didn't bike or swim at all before the end of June, so why was I being so hard on myself? I went into the race determined to put forth my best effort, but not to let time spoil the accomplishment of finishing my first Olympic distance tri.

Hubs and I arrived in Ottawa a little after 6, and race kit pick up went only until 6 (or early the next morning), so we decided to stop by just in case they were still there, and to scope out the race venue at the very least.

We were unable to pick up my kit, but I did get to see where the beach was (and the no swimming in the water - apparently there was a risk of swimmers itch due to the rain and humidity.... uhhh gross!) I also noticed that the transition area was a good 300+ meters from the beach, up a grassy hill covered in Canada geese poop.

Still, I remained excited and positive and felt good knowing where I had to go the next morning, so Hubs and I went out for a nice Italian dinner near our hotel and called it an early evening.

Race morning

Pre-Race

I slept on and off throughout the night, and was relieved when my alarm went off at 5:30. I just wanted to get this race on with!! I ate a banana, got dressed and headed over. We stopped for coffee and bagel and PB on the way.

One thing I love about tri's is that once you are at the race location in the morning, you have no time to be nervous. You need to rack your bike and set up your transition area, pick up your time chip and race kit, get body marking done, use porta potties at frequent intervals, put on your wetsuit, and attend a pre-race meeting.

My pre-race set up went well. The Sun was coming down strong already and I knew that I would have to stay hydrated. There weren't enough porta potties though and the line up forced me to rush to put on my suit and I didn't have a warm up swim.

The Swim: 1500 meters + T1

Time: 38:29 (2:34 per 100 meter) Note: I wish the transition were separated out. I want to know how well I swam, and how well I transitioned to the bike, next time I will make sure the race I pick separates the two, some do, some don't.

My strategy for the swim was just to relax and not push. I tried drafting a few times (allowed on the swim) but found I couldn't never find anyone my pace or heading in the right direction, so I headed it alone. I felt great and verrry relaxed. Maybe too relaxed, the swim seemed to be over quickly and I was a little sad when I exited the water.

I stripped my suit on the beach instead of running the distance to the transition zone, and Hubs took the suit handed me a gel and a cold bottle of sports drink which tasted sooo good!! I tried not to think about the bird poop as I ran to the transition zone.

The first transition went well, I tried to be purposeful and not rushed. I didn't want my bike to start out the same way it did last time!!

The Bike - 40 km - Time 1 hr 30 minutes, 20 seconds

Speed 26.6 kph

The bike course was 4 -10km loops along the canal - beautiful, although sunny. I felt really good on the bike. I tried to keep a steady pace and focused keeping my cadence above 90, which I was able to most of the time. I caught myself humming on the bike, so I was in a zone where I was working, but still enjoying myself. I felt myself tire towards the end, but overall felt pretty good.

T2 + The Run -10 km (or should I say colossal disaster) - Time 1 hour, 9 minutes, 54 seconds

Pace 7 min/km

Yikes, well I came off the bike feeling good, but I knew the run would be tough. It was hot and humid, and I never run well in these, let alone after two hours of intense swimming and biking. The run really humbled me.... I have so much to learn about tri's.... the people that do these things are really truly strong, and as a beginner, I must not feel compelled to compare myself, only strive to do better next time.

The run was along a curvy, rolly bike path. Long and short, I didn't like it. It was sunny hot, and I could never get a rhythm since it was up, down, turn, watch out for the bubble in the pavement etc... I would have preferred a regular road run, but I think what was the worst part was that when I went to run I felt nauseous, so for the most part I had to walk. In retrospect, I took my last gel on lap three of the bike, so maybe I bonked?!! Experienced tri people, any advice? I was drinking e-load regularly. Needless to say, this was the slowest 10K I have run in ages, even my recovery runs are faster than this, but the tri is a different monster that has humbled me!!

Anyway, regardless I was still excited and proud to cross the finish line!!!

Final time

3 hours, 18 minutes, 42 seconds.

Something to build on, and I did it. I am motivated now to get even more focused for Muskoka 70.3. My goal will be to complete it, I realized after this race I am not in a position to declare time goals yet, but I still think I can do this. I need to up the BRICK runs and incorporate hill repeats. Apparently Muskoka is one of the toughest 70.3 courses.

Anyway I am off to read and comment on your blogs. Special shout out to X-Country Squared for rocking her first sprint triathlon!!! Thanks for reading (Pictures to follow)

Weather Woes

2009-07-30T15:17:00.007-04:00

One thing that is distinctly Canadian (in case my American Blogger friends haven't picked up on it yet) is that we Canadians LOVE to complain about the weather. It is a topic of conversation at the convenience store, grocery store, nail salon, hair dresser, etc. If you are experiencing a moment of awkward silence with someone, just bring up the weather, and you will have an instant universal fluid conversation. Trying to lighten the mood? How about that wind last night? Or talk about how the rainfall saves you from watering your lawn or drives you to water your driveway instead. (sad but also true)

We also take our fowl/unusual weather personally, like it is a deliberate attack on us Canucks!
We b&tch and complain in the winter about the snow. We complain about the cold as though it shocks us that it snows and gets cold for us Northern folk. I know, I know, we live up North, yada.... yada, but can you believe that snow storm, that ice? That frickin' ice?!! In the fall, we complain about raking the leaves and the end of summer. In the spring its the rain and the occasional bought of cold, and the summer, its the heat. There is no pleasing when it comes to the weather.

This past July has been no exception. It has been unseasonably cool and rainy (Ottawa, Ontario received a record 234mm of rain so far this July). Everywhere you go in Ontario you will hear snippets of conversations such as"where's summer" "its bad enough that we had such a cold winter, and now this..."

Myself. Silently cheering. Yes! 20oC is the perrfectt training weather, and I don't mind running in the rain, I find it rather refreshing.

However now that I have seen the weather forecast for Saturday (Olympic tri day). I have a MAJOR beef with Mother N....

27oC/81F with a humidex of 33oC/91F. Full on Sun.

WTH?!! I know for some of you Southern folk, this may be no biggie. But to a gal with Canadian genes, this is like putting me in a freakin' oven. I am not acclimatized to this at all!! We have had only one day about 30oC this summer (which is unusual).

Can you see the salute Mother Nature?!!!
Effin weather!
I guess I am Canadian through and through. Grumble. grumble.

---------------------------------
I really had to juggle things this week and my biking and running mileage will be lower to accommodate Saturday's race, but I eager to get more "tri" experience.

Training for this week
Monday
20K -Fly Gurlz
Tuesday
-8 miles with 10 x100 m stride
Wednesday
- rest
Thursday
-Nacho time trial
am - 1K swim
pm - 3K run, 16.2 K bike
2 miles recovery
Friday
3 mile recovery run
Saturday
-race
1500m swim/40K bike/10K run
Sunday
20 mile run or 60K/10 mile bike or some combination of the two

Totals
Swim -2.5K
Bike - 80 -120K
Run - 31 -41 miles (broad range I know)

I am leaving Sun open- it will really depend on how I feel after the race, but I would really like to get a 20 miler in early in the training with a goal of getting three in.

Hope you are having a good week! Thanks for reading!

Another triathlon

2009-07-27T11:39:00.010-04:00

Congratulations to all the SF marathon runners, it was fun to read your reports this weekend!

This weekend I signed up for another tri, the National Capital Triathlon, Olympic distance. It is in Ottawa Ontario, a city that I love, so I am so excited to have an excuse to go there again. The Olympic distance is a good intermediate step to the half iron and it is a consistent distance from race to race. It will be a 1500 meter swim, 40K bike, and a 10K run. This is the distance of all Olympic triathlons, regardless of venue, although I wonder if the transition distances are the same in each race. I am learning there are so many factors that can affect your outcome in these events. I am aiming for a sub three hour finish, but I will be happy with completing it feeling like I pushed/punished myself enough. Anyway I want a bench marker to see where I am now, versus down the road with more training.

This means I have to adjust my training for the week. I will post a recap of last weeks training and the plan for this week today. I don't plan any major taper for this, although I will squeeze two rest days between now and the race. I find it hard to juggle all three sports, and I'm not even working right now, but it is a lot of fun.

Happy Monday and thanks for reading!

Open Water Swimming: Squashing a Phobia

2009-07-23T14:25:00.009-04:00

Last night I tossed and turned thinking about my open water swim this morning. In case you missed my post earlier in the week, last week during swim time trial I had a bit of a panic attack in the choppy water and turned around after only 100m.

I took a St. John's Wort pill last night to help me sleep. I don't take these very often, they are basically a herbal remedy that "reduces nervousness". Anyway, it was still after 1:00 am when I fell asleep, and woke up frequently throughout the night, always in the water, swimming amongst large ferocious waves (think Perfect Storm).

This is open water phobia is strange to me. I am a relatively strong swimmer, swimming since I was old enough to walk, and swam competitively throughout elementary and part of high school. Although I have abandoned swimming throughout parts of my adult life, I always seem to come back to it. Swimming laps in the pool is solitary, but I tend to relax and it really clears my mind. Being Canadian, it is the perfect winter activity, especially when chased by a hot tub or a sauna afterwards when it is in the middle of a snow storm. What makes my fear even stranger is that I swam open water at my first sprint tri and had no problems (other than kicking and space issues).

I am not afraid of weeds or any aquatic life, but I strangely find myself dwarfed in large bodies of water. I also worry about currents and large waves.

So this morning when the alarm went off at 5:30 am, I immediately starting to come up with excuses why I shouldn't do the swim trial.

Yet I impressed myself with my inner strength. I want to complete this Half Ironman. I even have visions of being an Ironman next year (I can't believe I just wrote that).

I. CAN. DO. THIS!!

So I dragged myself (and darling Hubs in tow) down to the beach to swim the trial. I tried to hide my fear - my heart was racing - literally. I just went nice and slow, didn't worry about my time, and would pop my head up and look for that red buoy bobbing in the distance. And I swam, the entire 1000 meters. I was even able to relax and enjoy myself.

It dawned on me afterwards that one of the best parts of being an athlete is overcoming our fears. I remember being fearful like this before my first marathon, and now 15 marathons later, that fear is gone (I still get nervous before races, but I think that is par for any race). I think that is why I am enjoying this tri stuff so much, time for new goals and achievements. The adrenalin rush of overcoming our fears and doubts in what drives us perhaps? Hopefully with more experience this open water swim stuff will be less scary!

----------------------------

It is also my fourth wedding anniversary today. I share my life with the most wonderful person, my absolute best friend! Here is a picture of us on our honeymoon in Europe (Rome to be exact). Happy Anniversary Hubs! I love you!

Thanks for reading, hope you are experiencing less rain than us Ontarians!

Rest Day: Quick Commentary

2009-07-22T16:09:00.005-04:00

Although I had yoga and a 20K recovery bike on tap for today, I opted to take a rest day instead. Rationale being I can easily make up the bike mileage later in the week, and the yoga was optional anyway. I really felt like I needed a rest day, since I didn't really have one last week.

That said, why do I feel so guilty for taking it? I know I need it. I know its good for me, but I find myself thinking.... maybe I could just do a little 5K recovery run, or go for a swim, etc. Does anyone else experience this?

Tomorrow is Nacho time trial (1K swim, 16.3K bike and 3K run). Hubs and I are heading up to Parry Sound shortly, so hopefully the 1K time trial swim will go better this week. Hope you are all having a great day. Thanks for for reading!

PS - Go sign Marlene's petition for to her Hubby for a new Garmin 310XT. The girl deserves it, she has been busting out PR's like its nobodies beezzznuss!

Tempted by the Fruit of Another

2009-07-21T12:29:00.008-04:00

Over the winter, I purchased the Garmin 405.

I got a $50 rebate, so I snagged the watch for a price, and I have been enjoying the watch for the past few months. I particularly enjoy the wireless uploading of my workouts. The touch bezel on the watch is a handy way to navigate settings while stationary, less convenient while running.

BUT.....

With my recent interest in triathlons, I have been looking for a way to track distance while swimming (both in the pool and in open water). Mel told me about a TIMEX watch that could track laps in a pool, or you could use Leana method of tucking your Garmin in a baggie under your swim cap for open water. Less than ideal situations.

Enter Garmin 310XT

Downright sexy isn't it? Here is a description:

Finally, a GPS-enabled training device that isn't afraid of the water. The rugged Forerunner 310XT is the triathlete's indispensable training tool — a GPS-enabled, swim-proof trainer that tracks bike and run data and sends it wirelessly to your computer. This multi-sport device has up to 20 hours of battery life, tracks distance, pace and heart rate (optional), and goes from wrist to bike in seconds.

Just what I was looking for. One snag? The price tag $449 Canadian dollars!!

Then I got to thinking, maybe I could sell my 405, and put the proceeds towards a new 310XT. Does anyone know a good runners buy/sell site? I have no experience selling stuff on the web. Also has anyone tried the 310XT? Is it worth the cost? It is pretty new in Canada, but maybe its been around in the US for longer.

Thanks for reading! P.S - There are still a few items up for bid at Natalie cancer fundraising bake sale. Congrats to Angelea from cabin fever feast, she was the winning bid on the caramel tart. I will bake that and send it to you right away!

Successes and Failures

2009-07-20T11:18:00.005-04:00

Week one of Marathon/Half Iron man training is done! I had overall a good week, but it didn't go off without a hitch. Here is a quick summary of week one.

Swim Failures
-The night before the 1K (1000m) time trial with the Nachos, I didn't end up getting to bed until after 1 am and tossed and turned. The time trial is at 6:45 am, so needless to say, I was tired heading over. The time trial takes place in Parry Sound, in the Georgian Bay. Here is a picture of us warming up.

Well anyway, I was a little nervous about the time trial. I have only swam open water twice, once during my sprint tri, and one practice swim earlier in the week in the designated swim area on the beach.

We were swimming about 50 meters or so from the shore line, but the waters are quite deep. As I headed out, the water was very choppy and being foggy I had a hard time seeing the turn around buoy. It didn't help that my brother in law who is a diver, described a sink hole under the salt docks that we were heading out to. Long and short, I sort of panicked out there, I just felt so small in such a large expansive body of water, so I turned around only 100 m off shore. It took most of the swimmers a few more minutes than usual to finish, but I was disappointed with my "cop out", and began to seriously doubt my completion of a half iron man later in the summer. The other NACHOS were great though, and told me this is why I should practice, and gave me tips to help if this panic sets in again in another swim.

Swim Successes
-I completed a 1400m open water swim on Friday (in the beach swim area again) in place of the missed time trial swim. The water was calm, and I relaxed and enjoyed my swim.
-I also had a practice pool swim, where I swam 2K (half iron distance), so I think I can "go the distance" on race day.

Bike Failures
-When biking with the Fly Gurlz on Monday night, a twig sticking up out of the ground took a gouge out of my shin. I'm left with a huge scab at the moment, but I'll spare you the gross picture.

Bike Successes
- I completed my longest ride yet (60K), and it felt great, I averaged 24kph, which I think is a good start for a long ride, and I felt like I could go faster. I also love being out on the bike I need to practice using my aero bars more though.
-I hit 30kph for the second week in a row at the time trials on Thursday, so I am definitely improving on the bike.

Run Failures
-I missed one 8 mile run. I don't really see this as a failure. I had gotten up early Sat. morning to bike my 60K, and felt good after. My mother-in-law has been in the hospital and was finally allowed to come home for the weekend, so I decided to make her a welcome home dinner instead. I grilled salmon, tons of veggies, baked sweet potatoes, and had desert. She was relieved to finally eat some real food since the hospital food is beyond repulsive!
-my 3K time trials on Thursday are still about 30 seconds slower than this time last year. I attribute this to the 8lbs weight gain that seemed to just appear out of nowhere.

Run Successes
-My legs actually felt good for my 13 mile long run the next day. Parry Sound is very hilly, rugged terrain, so it was a lot of climbing and running down inclines, but I loved it. It was my first longer run in over a month, so I just went slow, and really enjoyed the beautiful surroundings. I ran along a waterfront trail for about 3K of the run, and I felt like I was in Paradise.

Nutrition Failures
-I had desert three times this week. I want to make desert a rare treat until this weight comes off, or at least stick to fresh fruit or yogurt for desert. I also had Nachos and beer after the time trial, but I stuck to a smaller portion size.

Nutrition Successes
- I stuck to 6 smaller meals, and tried one of those Green Monster Smoothies Run to the Finish and other bloggers have been making. I thought it was pretty good, and I plan on experimenting some more. I stuck to a basic recipe with flax seed, strawberries, spinach, protein powder and soy milk.
- I lost 2lbs! Good start, and I felt properly fueled and energized for my workouts.

Week one distances
Swim - planned 3K -completed 3.4K
Bike -planned 100K -completed 108K
Run -planned 35 miles -completed 27 miles (ouch!)

Training Plan: Week 2

Monday
am- swim - 2K
pm - off road cycling - Fly Gurlz - 15-20K

Tuesday
am - hot yoga - there is a new studio where I live, offering free classes all week, I must go!
pm - 8 miles w/ 4 miles @ lactic threshold

Wednesday
am- hot yoga
pm - recovery cycle -20K

Thursday
am - 1 K swim time trial
pm -BRICK time trail (16.3K bike, 3K run)

Friday
am - 11 mile run

Saturday
am- cycle - 70K, 3K easy run

Sunday
am -15 mile run

Totals - Week two
Yoga - 3 hours
Swim- 3K
Bike - 126K
Run - 60 K (38 miles)

Hope you all have a great week! Thanks for reading! Don't forget to check out the bake sale at Natalie's blog!

Pfitz with a twist, tri pics

2009-07-15T14:10:00.010-04:00

Happy Hump Day!! Here are some pictures from the Huronia triathlon I promised:

Before the race

Transition stuff

Coming out of the water (although it looks like I am celebrating, I am really wrestling with my wetsuit!)

Leaving T1 all suited up. I omitted the less than flattering pics of me wrestling with my wetsuit!

Near the end of the bike

The Run (very hot -full Sun uphill!)

Thanks Hubs for taking these pictures!

I am really looking forward to my next one, and I am eyeing up a few more sprint distances and possibly a half iron man on Sept 13th. So, I need a training plan that will allow for both marathon (St. George Oct 3rd) and half iron training (Sept 13th). I have decided to use the 12week/55 mile per week Pfitz plan again. I liked it in preparation for the Shamrock marathon, and I think if I hadn't gotten sick, I would have ran a PR marathon. But I think this plan will be "Pfitz with a twist", since I need to be flexible. I am going to take the training week-by-week and really listen to my body. I may have to rearrange the run distances, but I will try my best to get everything in. Here is the plan for week 1 (this week July 12th -18th)

Monday
-cycling (off road Fly Gurlz)
-15-20 kms

Tuesday
-2km distance swim
-8 mile run w/ 10 x 100m stride

Wednesday
am-16K cycle (easy)
pm-track core workout (3 mile run- recovery)

Thursday
-am - 1km swim time trial with Nachos
-pm - 16.3K bike/3km BRICK time trial with Nachos

Friday
-off

Saturday
-60K cycle/8 mile run -general aerobic

Sunday
-13 mile run

Totals
Swim - 3K
Bike- 110K
Run -33 miles

I am a little worried about the Sat/Sun back to back days, but the group cycle is Sat am, and I planned a rest day Friday. If this doesn't work, I will switch up my long run next week.

Did I mention I am also trying to lose 15+ pounds?! I need to devise a fueling plan as well!

Hope you are enjoying your week. Thanks for reading!

Baking for a cause

2009-07-14T11:34:00.006-04:00

Thanks everyone for your nice comments about my first tri. It was a blast, and I can't wait to do another one! I still have to post some pictures, but first I wanted to post about a bake sale that a blogger is having to raise money for a great cause.

Natalie from Lil Runner is hosting a bake sale July 20th, to raise money for her charity, the Dana Faber Challenge, which I believe raises money for cancer research.

Anyway Natalie needed bakers so I volunteered. At first I scoured my recipe books and cooking blogs for some healthy treats, but then I found a recipe I had to make.

May I present to you:

Caramel Apricot Pecan Tart

(click to enlarge to see the crunchy pecans and ooey gooey caramel sauce!!)

It tastes even better than it looks. Total YUM. YUM!! It has the perfect mixture of sweet and a touch of Fleur de Sel to give it that sweet and salty taste.

I stole this recipe from a most excellent cooking blog, Definitely Not Martha, and I think she modified it from The Wine Lover's Dessert Cookbook . She baked the tart in a proper tart pan, and is also a photographer, so I suggest you go to her blog to see even more tantalizing pictures of the tart. Hubs is not one for deserts, but he went back for seconds.

You can bid for this and other delectable treats at Lil Runner on July 20th, and if you are the winner, I will bake this for you and courier it to wherever you are in North America. How sweet is that. I leave you with another other tantalizing picture, thanks for reading!

Finished my first tri

2009-07-06T21:46:00.000-04:00

And I loved it!

Me thinks I will have to change my blog name...

How about...

Ramblings of a Swimming, Biking, and Running Addict,

or perhaps

Ramblings of a Triathlon Addict. :)

What a blast these events are!

Here is a quick summary of my day. I will have to post pictures later, I am at Starbucks and forgot my camera to upload the pictures.

Swim
I have only swam a handful of time this year (well OK maybe twice), with one of those swims being on Monday, so I was very nervous about the swim. Even though I have swam a lot in the past, I knew that it would be an interesting experience. I was also nervous about wearing my wetsuit, and oh did I mention that this was my very first open water swim, not to mention first time wearing a wetsuit?!! I figured there would be lifeguards if I got in trouble :) :)

Well anyway, the swim was fun, I just tried to stay steady. I usually breath bilaterally alternating sides, but I found it easier to breathe every stroke, since there were so many people around me. I kept calm, but this would not be good for someone who is claustrophobic.

Swim time: 17:40 (2.22 minutes/100m).

Very pleased with the swim. I know I can improve on this with some training and also not veering off course so much. I am a bit of a zig-zagger!

Transition to bike
I don't have my T1 time (I wish sports stat would provide this), but I can tell you it was a wee bit rough. I came running out of the water and I felt a bit like a lead balloon. I had trouble getting my suit off, I felt clumsy coming out of the water, like I might trip and fall. I then had to run with my cycling (tap) shoes until the bike mount point. I felt a little dizzy at first on the bike, and had trouble clipping in. I finally had clipped in and then there was a huge hill. I grannied down and pushed up the hill, but my heart was racing, and I decided to dismount. Not a great feeling, but it really felt like the right thing to do since I felt dizzy. I waited a few minutes, the dizziness passed and got back on the bike. I think it was just inexperience with the transition swim to bike - I must practice this in the future!

Bike time: 58:47 (21.9 kph).

I know this time can be improved. Just this past week I biked a BRICK time trial with the Nachos, and my 16.3K time was 34:01 (28.5 kph), and it was because of the dismount, but I still felt happy that I pushed through and this was about experience, not trying to kill myself, and just going through the motions was enough.

Transition to run
This transition was much smoother. I decided to keep my cycling shirt on, and was off without much fuss, although I forgot my handheld water, and Hubs caught up to me with a cold bottle of PowerAid. Thanks Hubs, you are a sweetie! Again the legs felt funny, but the BRICK workouts I have done (well one on Thursday) prepared me for this feeling. It was hot, but I just ran it, walking occasionally to take quick sips of water

Run time: 27:31 (5:30km/min)

I felt pleased with this time, since I felt like I was going much slower, I think alot of it is heavy legs after the swim/bike.

Overall time: 1hr 43 min 53 seconds. Not too shabby, and I guess I blew away my 2 hour time goal. Still I think I can improve, especially if you add up "race times' (86 minutes) to total time (100 minutes). Yep, almost 14 minutes, but I think some of that is running to the transition from beach, to bike mount, from bike dismount. Or of course I could just be a high maintenance girl, which is likely true too!

Thoughts for next time:
-less is more I will ditch the cycling top for a onesie tri suit under the wetsuit
-practice swim to bike transition
-practice swim in open water

Other than that, I loved it, and can't wait to do another. I think I will sign up for the Ironman 70.3. First I have to develop a training plan that will allow me to train for both this Ironman and St.George in October.

Anyway, thanks for all your well wishes. Some of you mentioned that you were hoping to try one to and I say go for it!! You can do one with not much training, just try one for fun and see how it goes and if you like it!!

I will try to catch up on your blogs before my 2hrs free at Starbucks expires (on holidays with no wifi!!)
Thanks for reading!

This tri stuff is complicated!

2009-07-04T21:54:00.011-04:00

I was packing everything for my first sprint triathlon tomorrow and I discovered how complicated this tri stuff can be, so I thought I might share my pre-race packing list/thoughts with you. I am in Parry Sound right now, but we are driving approximately 1 hour to get to the race in the morning, so the plan is to be packed and just to get up and go in the am.

Wearing to race (travelling in the car)
-sports bra
-comfy shirt
-triathlon shorts (like bike shorts but with less padding, I'm guessing it will feel less like a wet diaper than normal cycling shorts when I get out of the water. Ewww...
-sandals

Once I have set up in the transition area, I have a long two hour wait for my swim heat. I will get my body marked, make porta potty trips, and watch the kids participate, which should be fun. The transition area closes at 8 am and my heat departs at 10:05am! Maybe I should pack a lawn chair and a book...

For the swim over my sports bra and tri shorts I will wear my wetsuit (Zoot Women's Synergy Wetsuit)

Plus
-goggles
-swim cap

Then...

SWIM 750 meters

In the transition area, I need the following items for the bike

Strip off suit, goggles and cap

Transition One Items
-road bike
-camel back water backpack
-bike shoes
-socks
-helmet
-bike shirt with race bib attached and GU in the pouch
-Sun screen
-body glide (just in case)

BIKE 21.5 km

-strip off bike shoes, helmet, possibly cycling shirt

Transition two items
-running shoes
-hat (I'm a sure I will look like Chuckie's bride by this point.. :) )
-tank running shirt (If I'm boiling...)
-handheld water bottle with GU

RUN 5km

Hubs and I went today to pick up my race kit and the water was choppy, but the race volunteers assured me it will likely be calmer in the morning. Lets hope so...

The triathlon is taking place in a picturesque little Ontario town called Pentetanguishene which is located on the Georgian Bay, which is part of Lake Huron, one of the Great Lakes. Its very beautiful, and quite cold, so thank goodness for a WETSUIT!

I am not putting any expectations on myself other than to have fun, maybe aim to finish in less than two hours, but if I take more, so be it. Even without the time pressure I am still nervous, but I think more so about the transitions and forgetting something.

I will report back tomorrow with a race report! Thanks for reading!

I have a dream...

2009-07-02T23:10:00.005-04:00

Happy fourth of July to all my American blogging friends. I thought about you guys today when I was watching Regis and Kelly and a poor woman from SC missed out an awesome vacation to St. Martin after she failed to know that Canada's birthday was July the 1st. I bet all you guys knew that!!

Thanks for the well wishes for my five miler. It went well I think, I finished in 42.3x, not bad since I have taken a little running break the past few weeks, so this is an OK start point. It felt hot, and it was rolling hills, and I wanted to puke as usual, which is why I generally avoid short distances..
I have signed up for my very first sprint tri.... this weekend.

750 meter swim
21.1 K bike
5K run

Should be fun, although since I have not trained specifically for this event, but I want to see it as a gage for a HUGE dream I have, and ofcourse to finish for fun since it is my first one!

My dream (be prepared for a pretty inspiring video)

I know, I know.. This is a HUGE goal... and its a little over two months away, I am not entirely convinced I can do this (plus train for the St. George Marathon three weeks later), but I love challenges. I spoke to a mentor of sorts today who knows a bit of my running/swimming/cycling history and he thinks I can do this. I am still on the fence. I have plenty of running swimming background, but my cycling has not gone much beyond 30K, but if I start now, I should be able to build it up.

Anyway, I'm not saying I'm 100% sure, but I am still dreaming, obsessing, etc. We will see if its in my cards, but I need to make a descision quickly since this one is almost sold out. This is also close to where my Hubs grew up (40 minutes), and it is one of the most beautiful areas of Ontario, so it would be a very special place to become a 70.3 IronWOMAN!!

Anyway, thoughts would be appreciated, especially by you triathletes!

Thanks for reading!

Schools Out!!

2009-06-30T16:50:00.004-04:00

Wow, I can't believe its been a whole month since I posted last! I apologize to you guys, but now that its summer and I have a whole glorious two months off, I promise to keep this blog more up to date!

I have been lurking on most of your blogs, commenting occasionally, but I promise to get caught up and start commenting on your blogs again soon!

I have some updates which I'll share by bullet points:

- I completed my 4 marathons in 5 weeks, so I am now a Gold Status Marathon Maniac, which was one of my goals for 2009!

-I bought a mountain bike a few weeks ago, a hardtail Cannondale, which I love. I have been doing lots and lots of off road biking, and joined this off road biking group, which I absolutely love!

- Although marathon running will still be my focus, I have been bitten by the same bug as Mel, thanks to FL and Nikemom's inspirational posts about completing a half iron man race. I am thinking of joining a triathlon specific swimming group offered near to my house. I may try a Sprint distance tri this weekend, just for fun, although I haven't practiced any open water swims. I am loving all of the cross training!

-I have a 5 mile race tomorrow. It will really be just a for a good lactic burn since I haven't been able to properly prepare, but I am still looking forward to it.

That's it for now, I have alot of backposts, so hopefully you will hear from me in the near future!

Thanks for reading, and Happy Canada Day to all my Canadian blogging friends!!

Something New

2009-05-30T18:41:00.005-04:00

As soon as my marathon streak is over (South Bend Indiana up next), I plan to slowly get back into marathon training, with St.George Marathon likely being my next goal marathon (unless I can swing a Cali trip to visit my dad and run SF).

Even with all of the running I have been doing, I feel terribly out of shape. I need to mix things up with some new cross training. I will likely go back to incorporating more yoga and bootcamp, but I am also thinking of joining this off-road cycling group Monday nights called the Fly Gurlz.

It should be a perfect Monday night after long run activity. I love that it is an offroad club, I having been craving trails lately...

The only problem, I need a mountain bike. I have a road bike, but it wouldn't for this off road terrain. If you have any tips please leave them below if you don't mind. I hope to shop a little tomorrow for one, and I want a good bike, but don't want to spend a fortune!

I think (well I hope) the popup banner thingy is fixed, but if you are still getting them let me know. I hate POP UP banners, and I'm sorry you are getting them visiting my site. I will make it my mission that they go away!

Tomorrow is the Toronto Women's half marathon. I am running it just for fun, maybe in around 2 hours, maybe more, we'll see, I want to rest up for my last full of the season.

Thanks for reading and good luck to tomorrow's marathoners!!!

Feedback Please!

2009-05-29T19:47:00.002-04:00

Vava mentioned that he gets wierd popup banners when he visits my site. Does anyone else get this when you visit my site. I want to get rid of this ASAP! Does anyone have any tips? Thanks and have a great weekend. (I'm working on my Vermont marathon race report)

Race Report: Cleveland Marathon

2009-05-28T22:46:00.007-04:00

The Cleveland RiteAid Marathon fell on the Victoria day weekend for Canadians, meaning Hubs and I had the Monday off work, so it was the perfect opportunity to escape for a marathon holiday. This was my first time running this course, but Hubs had ran this last year as part of his 5 marathons in 5 weeks series. He was in the promo pamphlet this year carrying his guitar across the finish line. What a ham!

I packed everything meticulously the Friday night, and we left our house a little after 7 am the following morning. Hubs nephew, Scott came with us, so it was nice to have some family along for the ride and marathon adventure. We were also meeting some good running friends down in Cleveland for a pre and post marathon feast!

Our drive went really smoothly and it wasn't until the we arrived at the hotel a little after 1:00 that I realized I left my marathon bag at home!!

My immediate response to Hubs was that "I can't run this". OK, I will confess that a small part of me felt uninspired to run the marathon. Cleveland didn't particularly excite me, and having run Mississauga only one week ago, I didn't feel fully recovered. Hubs insisted that I run it, and suggested that if my new shoes didn't work (yes I had to buy brand new shoes), I could always just run the half since the course is basically a bow tie. Plus, I had already paid my registration fee.

So off to the expo we went to shop. Normally I love shopping for running clothes, but I felt under pressure to get, well, everything. I went straight for a shoes booth and managed to score a pair of Asics Gel Kayanos 14 for 107$. I normally wear Saucony Paramounts, but I have worn Kayanos in the past, so I thought they would work. I also bought shorts, sports bra, gels, salt tablets, socks and a hand-held water. I tried to make decisions quick, but it seemed to take a long time, and it was rather exhausting! I felt like I kept handing over my credit card again and again, starting from scratch sure is expensive!! I wore the Cleveland shirt they gave out at the expo so at least I didn't have purchase that. Oh well, at least I will use the items I purchased, and for the most part they worked out fine (more on that later).

For dinner we met up with our friends and drove to Little Italy area of Cleveland to a whole-in -the-wall type restaurant called Mama Santa. Although we had to wait in line for over an hour, the food was delicious, and it was wonderful to relax with friends before the marathon.

Mama Santa

(Photo: Rob Patterson)

Hubs and I at Mama Santas

(Photo: Rob Patterson)

(I had issues with my eyes squinting that night, this was the third attempt to get me to take a picture without my eyes closing!! LOL)

Marathon morning was one of the least stressful I have ever experienced due to the location of our hotel. We stayed at theCrowne Plaza which was right by the start line, so that meant we could relax in our hotel room until right before the start, and better yet, no porta potties!! I had scored the hotel on Priceline for 90$ and we even had a view of Lake Erie!

The only problem with race morning was that I was wearing my new Garmin 405 so I had a steep learning curve. It was lucky I had it actually. I put it on my wrist so I could tinker and learn more about how to operate it on the car ride down to Cleveland. I didn't give myself enough time to properly load the satellites at the start, but after getting started it worked out fine.

Starting out, I felt tired and well, not ready to run a marathon. I felt like everyone and their Grandmother was passing me, so it was kinda of defeating. I probably lined up too close to the start, but I saw the 3:50 bunny and standing right behind was the 4:15 bunny, so that where I lined up. I had no plans for running a PR, I just wanted to finish.

After the first few miles, though, I found my pace group and I started to warm up. I was really enjoying the course. There were a few minor hills, but we were running through some really pretty tree-lined streets and nice neighbourhoods and I just felt myself relax. At each aid station they played music from the Rock and Roll Hall of fame inductees, which was a nice touch. There were a fair number of spectators out too, which is always nice.

Past mile 10 we headed onto to a closed highway and toward the downtown core. What an amazing site. The lake was on the right, and cityscape was before us. It was stunning. I know stunning is not a word typically used to to describe Cleveland, but from this perspective, it was, and I felt like I was able to experience and appreciate the city in a way I am sure I wouldn't have as a typical tourist or business person. I felt strong but kept running conservatively. I wanted to feel good throughout the run this time. My knee also was fine this week, it had really bothered me the week before at Mississauga.

At mile 12, the half marathoners veered off and we headed away from the downtown core in the opposite direction. We travelled along a flat stretch by the Airport. I had my ipod on, and found myself lost in classic rock tunes from Queen and Fleetwood Mac, which is different then the typical pop fare I listen to. In fact at mile 13 an element song came on. This song is only a minute long and the singer repeats every element on the periodic table in less than two minutes. I play this for my students when we are studying elements. Anyway, I was about to switch the song, when I ran past the science center. How appropriate. Anyway it made me smile and I listen to the song with a huge grin on my face (I am a total science nerd) and before I knew it I was at mile 15 and feeling great.

Miles 15 to 18 we travelled along the lake and although it was slightly windy, I found the temperature to be perfect, and the breeze felt good.

It really wasn't until mile 21 that I started to really feel tired. We could see the amazing cityscape again, although it felt a bit like a mirage that I would never reach. I ran into the finish line feeling strong and overall the marathon felt pretty effortless. Well maybe not effortless, but relative to the week before, much easier, and I ran 10 minutes faster.

At first my time was posted to be 4:13:47, but there was a clock error and they added a minute to all of the time, so final time was 4:14:47. Not a PR, but my second fastest marathon to date. Thats right, my two fastest time have both been my second back-to-back marathon. Weird, huh?!

I recommend this marathon. Its a fairly easy course, and the scenery is really nice. Plus you can go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame afterwards!

Good luck to all you SD marathoners this weekend. I am running a half marathon (just for fun, no gunning for a PR), and then the following weekend I am running the Sunburst Indiana marathon. I also need to write a race report for Burlington, and I will soon, I promise. I hope to catch up with you all soon! Thanks for reading!

Cleveland Marathon Quick Update

2009-05-17T12:09:00.005-04:00

What a fun marathon! My trip didn't start well. I forgot my entire running bag at home and realized this only when I arrived at the hotel. I had to buy
-shoes
-sports bra
-shorts
-gels
-salt tablets
-vaseline
-socks
-hand held water bottle

The only saving grace was that I had my watch and ipod. Oh vey... I was lucky everything worked out OK.

Back to back marathons seem to work for me. I ran a 4:13:47. Not a PR, but 10 minutes faster than last week. Full race report to come. TTYS

Happy Loooonnngg Weekend!

2009-05-14T17:13:00.003-04:00

For us Canadian folk, its Victoria Day long weekend, or as it is commonly called May 24 (two four) with reference to "beverages":).

Hubs and I are travelling to Cleveland to run the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon with a group of runners that are a bunch of riff raff. I am running the full marathon, my knee seems fine, if it gets bad, I'll just walk, I am going to take this marathon entirely by feel. Should be a fun time! Hope you all have a great weekend!

Mississauga Marathon Race Report

2009-05-12T21:13:00.005-04:00

This past Sunday I ran the Mississauga Marathon. My sister registered last minute for this race, having run the Nashville Marathon only two weeks before. She was disappointed with her Nashville time and wanted to redeem herself only two weeks later.

Hubs and I also registered late, so no name on the bib, boo! I didn't have great expectations for myself for this race since I knew my training was not 100% since Shamrock, but I felt well enough to run it, and you just never know...

My sister and I went to the expo on Saturday. We originally tried to go on Friday night to meet up with Mel and Emily, but Melissa's plane was delayed out of Nashville, so we couldn't make it there for Friday. We stopped by the Running Skirts booth where my sister bought a new outfit, and got chatting to one of the owners, Cindy, who offered to sponsor Melissa, how cool is that? Here is the outfit she wore:

Anyway, Melissa finished in an amazing 2:53:57, and had the third fastest time (winning time was 2:52xx). Her gun time unfortunately put her in 4th place... seems wrong, but those are apparently the "rules". Melissa is 6 minutes off of Olympic trial times, which I bet she will achieve since this time was run after running a marathon only two weeks earlier.

I hope it doesn't sound like I am bragging about my sister, well honestly I am really proud and like to brag a little, but the truth of the matter is that my "little sister" is such an amazing inspiration to me. She has two boys to which she is an awesome mom, works full time, and runs kick ass marathons. She is a beautiful person as well. It gives me hope somewhere I have the genes in my to become faster... :) Love ya sis!!

Anyway back to my race report. About my race...

Well it all started well. I ran the first 3K rather conservatively to warm up, and then probably pushed it a little too much past 3K (when will I ever learn?!!)

kM 1: 5:42

kM 2: 5:45

kM 3: 5:41 (Felt warmed up at this point)

kM 4: 5:28 (Um yeah, too fast for 4 hours, stuuupid, slow down...)

kM5: 5:40

kM 6 :5:40 (feels sooo easy, lets push the pace a little...)

kM 7: 5:28

kM 8: 5:35

kM 9: 5:30

kM 10: 5:32 (yes the last 4K we too fast, but it felt easy, glorious actually)

So the first 10K were pretty easy, I felt great and wasn't worried about pushing my pace too much...

kM 11: 5:50 (there was a steep hill, so I didn't worry about this too much)

kM 12: 5:36

kM 13: 5:28

kM 14: 5:37

kM 15: 5:41 (starting to feeling tired.... oh no, so soon?!)

kM 16: 5:47 (saw the half marathon cutoff, considered taking it, no Marci, run right, run right)

kM 17: 6:23 (wishing I turned left, I walked, yes already, just felt tired!!)

kM 18: 5:55

kM 19: 6:23 (walked again, briefly, not a good sign)

kM 20: 6:03

kM 21: 6:21

21.1 K, 13.1 miles split 2:01

So I knew at this point based on how I was feeling that it wasn't likely a PR kind of day. I told myself not to give up though, you just never know....

kM 22: 5:55

kM 23: 6:29

kM 24: 5:59 (Saw Hubs running the back part of the out and back loop)

kM 25: 6:27

kM 26: 5:58

Mmm I see a trend here, speed up, slow down, speed up, slow down some more.

kM 27: 6:47 (my knee oddly started bothering my, took some Tylenol)

kM 28: 6:46 (Saw Mel on the course, she looked great, this gave me a little boost)

Then my knee got really bad, and I started to excessively walk/wobble. Took another painkiller.

kM 29: 7:44 (ouch)

kM 20: 7:09

kM 31: 7:34

Painkillers kick in a little, so I start running again..

kM 32: 6:31

kM 33: 6:48

kM 34: 6:38

kM 35: 7:41 (knee talking again, took a third Tylenol, hoped for the best)

kM 36: 6:45

kM 37: 6:53

kM 38: 6:49

kM 39: 6:49

kM 40: 6:52

kM41: 6:24 (Saw a few running friends and Marlene (who ran a HUGE PR -congrats), gave hugs, great to see them!!)

kM 42: 6:03

Final time: 4:24:xx. 12th marathon, done!!

Not bad, not great, but all in all I'll take it.

I have been icing my knee, it feels fine. I think it was my shoes, I bought a new pair the week before but I was nervous to wear them, but I will definitely wear them in Cleveland and Vermont.

I haven't registered yet for Cleveland, I want to test the knee, and I need to complete Vermont since its another stated. I really want to run both, and complete 3 marathons in 3 weeks!!

Thanks for reading

P.S I am putting a poll. How should winners be determined.. guntime or chip time? Feel free to leave comments as well!

Woo Hoo!!

2009-05-12T11:34:00.001-04:00

Congratulations! You have been selected to run the 2009 St. George Marathon. You are one of 7200 runners selected from 10,510 registrants. You can access your name through the successful marathon entrants link which will be posted today at 5:00 p.m.Please check our website at www.stgeorgemarathon.com beginning Thursday, May 14 to access the runner's guide, which will give important information pertaining to this year's race.We are pleased to have you join us for our 33rd annual race and wish you the very best in your training.St. George Marathon Staff

Garmin rebate, Race announcements

2009-05-05T20:20:00.009-04:00

Today I bought a brand spanking new 405!!!

Now I already have a 205, but I want to be more analytical about my training and have long since lost the USB link my 205 came with...

PLUS

I got a $50.00 USD rebate for my Garmin! In case you are interested, the rebate can be had at
http://www.runningroom.com/. Prices are in Canadian dolllars, but the rebate is in US dollars.

This Garmin will come in handy because I have a slew of races upcoming:

May 10th - Canon Mississauga Marathon
I have run this course twice as a half marathon, but never as the full. I am looking forward to it. I will ofcourse try for a PR, but I am not 100% sure I am ready, but either way, I am looking forward to running another marathon. I ran the Sporting Life 10K this weekend, and although I didn't run a PR, I really just wanted to run a strong race, and I felt like I did well, finished in 50:23, so I'll take it.

May 17th - Cleveland Marathon

We are going to Cleveland with a group of running friends, I am not sure what event I will enter here, but I will be there and running (hoping marathon). It was part of Hubs 5 marathons in 5 weeks series last year, so I would love to run it this year.

May 24th - KeyBank Vermont City Marathon
I have to cross another state off the list, so why not Vermont?! This is a challenging course, but it looks great, and I have read some good comments about it, so I am super excited to go!

May 30th - Toronto Women's Half Marathon
This is a new event, and there is chocolate and pedicures involved. Need I say more? I'm in!

June 14th - Twenty Valley Niagara Wine Country Run Half Marathon
Hubs and I are going with Running friends, we have rented a cottage in Niagara on the Lake, it should be alot of fun!

It sounds a little intimidating when I write it down like this, but I love marathon season. Hope you are all having a great week! Thanks for reading!

Running Quotes

2009-05-03T23:28:00.003-04:00

I am sorry I haven't been a good blogger as of late. I'm just feeling a bit of bloggers-writing- block. So just so I am not entirely ignoring my blog, here are some quotes I came across today I thought I would pass on.

1. "You have to wonder at times what you're doing out there. Over the years, I've given myself a thousand reasons to keep running, but it always comes back to where it started. It comes down to self-satisfaction and a sense of achievement." - Steve Prefontaine

2. "I always loved running...it was something you could do by yourself, and under your own power. You could go in any direction, fast or slow as you wanted, fighting the wind if you felt like it, seeking out new sights just on the strength of your feet and the courage of your lungs." -Jesse Owens

3. "The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare." -Juma Ikangaa, 1989 NYC Marathon winner

4. "In running, it doesn't matter whether you come in first, in the middle of the pack, or last. You can say, 'I have finished.' There is a lot of satisfaction in that." -Fred Lebow, New York City Marathon co-founder

5. "Running is the greatest metaphor for life, because you get out of it what you put into it." -Oprah Winfrey

6. "Racing teaches us to challenge ourselves. It teaches us to push beyond where we thought we could go. It helps us to find out what we are made of. This is what we do. This is what it's all about." -PattiSue Plumer, U.S. Olympian

7. "Running is a big question mark that's there each and every day. It asks you, 'Are you going to be a wimp or are you going to be strong today?'" - Peter Maher, Canadian marathon runner

8. "We run, not because we think it is doing us good, but because we enjoy it and cannot help ourselves...The more restricted our society and work become, the more necessary it will be to find some outlet for this craving for freedom. No one can say, 'You must not run faster than this, or jump higher than that.' The human spirit is indomitable." -Sir Roger Bannister, first runner to run a sub-4 minute mile

9. "Ask yourself: 'Can I give more?'. The answer is usually: 'Yes'." -Paul Tergat, Kenyan professional marathoner

10. "The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start." -John Bingham, running speaker and writer

Which one speaks to you? Congratulations to all race finishers today! Thanks for reading!

Reese's Run Prize Winners

2009-04-30T00:02:00.002-04:00

Hello all! Thank-you so much for all the participants in our virtual event - Reese's Run (4 for 4 on the 24th). Christy and I were very happy with the outcome and could not have been more excited to hear all the updates and reports! I have some winners! Send me an email at cascanette(underscore)marci@durham.edu.on.ca your details and either Christy or I will make sure you get your prize. Congratulations!

$100 Running Shoes from Online Shoes - Sara (Rookie on the Run)
Book - Explosive Running - Aron (Runners Rambles)
Book - Pfitz - Kristen G.
Restaurant Gift Card - Lori D. and Shannon W.

Thanks again everyone, I will be back to regular posting soon, just going through a busy period.

Reese's Runners Rock!!

2009-04-24T18:42:00.005-04:00

First off for those who haven't signed up but want to, its not too late to participate, we will post the results on Monday, so click on the banner to the right to register (donate to the Arthritis society). We have lots of donated great donated prizes.

I have yet to go out to run my 4 miles today but I am heading out shortly! When you finish your four miles, you can e-mail me at cascanette(underscore)marci(at)durham.edu.on.ca, or contact Christy.

Finally, I just want to also thank you all for the support. I am not that great at fundraising, and I was a little nervous asking the blogging community for support with this event since we have never even met. I was touched by how many of you posted about this on your blog, and signed up. It is really appreciated, especially by those children like Reese that suffer from Juvenile Arthritis.

Happy Birthday Reese!!

Thank You! Thank you! Thank you!

Now lace up those runners, and have fun!

Setbacks, Sun Protection, Congrats and Reese's Run!!

2009-04-20T22:52:00.004-04:00

Another random ramblings post:

Random Rambling 1: Running Motivation

First off, I apologize for abandoning my blogging duties for so long... I haven't felt much like blogging as I hadn't been running much and just had an overall blah-writers block kinda feeling.

Last week I ran a 10 miler Good Friday race that was pretty slow, about a 9:14 mile pace. It was frustrating when I had ran a 8:38 mile paced half marathon only a few weeks earlier. It is scary how a cold can totally wreck your fitness so quickly. I just haven't felt great, but then this past week I kinda snapped out of it. I told myself to quit feeling sorry for myself, so many people can't run, or have been setback with major injuries (our girl Lily is forced to hang up her shoes for now-go send her some love) so SUCK IT UP Marci!!!

I think getting a little mad at myself worked because I ran 40 miles, the last four days and ran over 20 miles on Sunday. I am still recovering from the cold, but my pace is slowly getting better. Hopefully I will be race ready by mid May. I am targeting either Mississauga or Cleveland marathon.

I know some of you have had setbacks much worse than my silly little cold, how did you come back? What kept you motivated/sane??

Random Rambling #2: Sun Protection

Like many of you, I started running to lose a little weight, and while it has turned into much more than this, lets face it, having strong legs and maintaining a healthy weight certainly helps keeps me running (most of the time, see r.rambling #1).

Unfortunately running also exposes runners to excessive amounts of UVA/UVB rays. I remembered this when I returned from my first lovely sunny spring run this week with a red nose and bright red thighs, despite wearing sunscreen.

I couldn't help but thinking about the damage I must being doing to my skin, so I thought it may be a blog-worthy point of discussion.

Here are some tips to consider to protect yourself from the elements:

- Wear a white running hat with a rim. The white reflects the light. It may not be fashionable, but neither are wrinkles
-Sunscreen, sunscreen, and sunscreen. With my water drop, I will also drop sunscreen. I like the sports spray on sunscreen for longer runs when I am less co-ordinated and bending down hurts.
-Hydrate. Really this is year round advice, but I think it is especially important in warmer weather.
-I did find this site, that makes UV protectant running gear. I remember seeing a company at a running expo that makes these types of clothes. Anyone had any experience with these?

Any other tips? Please share!!

Random Rambling #3: Congratulations

Congratulations to all Boston Marathon Event finishers!

-Marlene
-Lam
-Frayed Lace
-N her Shoes
-Running Dude Bill
-ND runner

And anyone else I missed. Congratulations, you are all inspiring!!

Random Rambling #4: Reese's Run

I can't believe Reese's Run is this Friday!! Wow how time has flown. Its not too late to sign up, there are great prizes.

Just to recap the event in case you are not familiar. It is a four mile virtual organized by myself and Christy in honour of her daughter Reese's fourth birthday. Reese suffers from Juvenile Arthritis. 100% of your registration fee (donation) goes to the Arthritis Society. We also have amazing prizes!

Click here to register for Reese's Run (donate to the Arthritis Society).

Looking forward to catching up with all of your blogs! Thanks for reading!

Gearing Back Up

2009-04-04T23:21:00.005-04:00

I have slowly gotten back into running this past week after having to sit out the Around the Bay Road Race last week. This cold has hung on, and although I am running a little this week, my pace is slow as my breathing is asthmatic- like.

Being the addict I am (I seriously have issues, I know) I am still planning on another May marathon. Originally I had targeted the New Jersey Marathon May 3rd, but since I am still struggling getting back up to pace, I think its too soon.

Other choices are:

Mississauga Marathon - May 11th - This will be my target, but I am not registering until it gets closer to race date since I don't know if I'll be 100% ready. I have run this twice as a half and its a good course to run.
Cleveland Marathon - May 17th -A group of running friends are running this, so we will be going, but I will either run a half or a full here.
Bayshore Marathon - May 24th - I like the reviews of this race on marathon guide. Anyone out there run this one before?
Ottawa Marathon- May 24th - My nemesis, I never run well here. What better reason to come back and conquer (well at least conquer for me!)

I will likely run more than one, I can never just pick one!

I have also been slotting in some lower distance training race runs. My first one is next Friday, the Good Friday Road Race 10 miler. The other I will announce as I get closer to formulating a plan of some sort.

I really need to get a training plan in place, it has to have some flexibility since I don't know how long this cold will hang on. Next year I think I will definately get a flu shot. I usually don't get sick, but this is twice this winter. Anyway, sorry if this sounds whiney. I am feeling better really, I just am itching to get into some serious training again.

Hope you are all enjoying your weekend. Thanks for reading.

Race Report: Virginia Beach Marathon (with pictures)

2009-03-29T21:36:00.001-04:00

Sorry this race report is a week late, but better late than never! Hubs and I arrived in Virginia Beach late Thursday after a looonnngg (11 hours!) drive from Nashville Tennessee. It was a beautiful drive, as we passed through the heart of the Appalachian Mountains and Smokey Park in North Carolina.

We stayed at the Marriott Springhill Suites, and we had an ocean front room. I highly recommend this hotel. It was really nice, colourful modern decor, large rooms with plasma televisions, and beautiful ocean views. Incredibly, we only paid $124 per night. Wow!

Our Hotel Room

View from Balcony

I had trained hard for this marathon, and the week before I ran a personal best half marathon of 1:53, that felt easy. I was hoping for a PB, but unfortunately I caught a cold a few days before, and although I never completely gave up (I wanted to stay positive), I knew a PB was unlikely. I made just crossing Virginia off of my 50 state list, my "rock bottom-must-do" goal, and hoped for the best.

Hubs and I took it easy for the few days leading up to the marathon. The ocean views at Virginia Beach were beautiful, but I did find the "beach strip" a little tacky-ish, basically all little novelty/surfboard/wax museum type stores. I am sure some love this, but its just not my cup of tea.

Race morning I woke up very congested, coughing up green chunks (sorry if this is too much information). Other than the cough, I felt fine and wanted to give the race a try.

Hubs and I (as usual) were a little late leaving our hotel room, and had difficulty finding parking, we rushed to the start and arrived at the bag drop just as the gun went off. Here is a picture of us starting off. My first time ever sporting my Marathon Maniacs singlet!

The weather on race day was perfect. In fact, we were expecting cooler weather, but it was about mid 40's at the start, and high 50's at the end. A beautiful, sunny day. I overdressed a little, but one thing I didn't want to be was cold with a cold.

The race started fine. I felt a little hesitant, I knew my energy was not 100%, but really I felt OK. The one thing that was frustrating me was my Garmin. Rushing to the start I had forgotten to turn it on, and it wasn't picking up my location. Hubs (the non-watch runner) kept telling me not to worry about it. I couldn't help it. I really needed to know my pace, I tried to run by feel, but its hard when you are used to running by a watch pace. This threw me off. We eventually passed the 4:15 bunny, and could see the 4:00 hour bunny, so I relaxed a little. At least I had some idea of our pace.

The course more or less has two out and back loops. There a TON of people dressed in green, and the enthusiasm from spectators was nothing short of AMAZING!! We ran through the Army base camp area, and the soldiers were cheering us on. I kind of teared up a little, so many of them were SO YOUNG, and I thought of how many soldiers have been lost to senseless wars recently, and that they all have parents that worry about them. Their ENTHUSIASM was nothing short of amazing! Bless you all!!

The other thing that was cool was how many times, we heard "Go Maniacs", and how many people shouted out my name on my bib. Of my 12 marathons, Virginia Beach wins the award for crowd support.

The other benefit of this course is that it really is PANCAKE flat! The only hill (and that's a stretch) was a small overpass on the out and back in the first loop.

I started to feel tired around the 10 mile mark. I knew that it wasn't going to be a PB, but I was worried then I wouldn't finish. I tried to slow and just focus on finishing. One great thing that happened past mile 11 was that we were routed to the boardwalk. Again tons of crowd support and absolutely stunning ocean views. I kept reminding myself how truly fortunate I was to be there, to be running, to be sharing this experience with the thousands of other marathoners on the coarse. I knew then I would finish.

After the halfway mark, we ran up the second loop. We could see the half marathoners (mostly walkers at this point) making their way to the finish- they had started an hour earlier and ran the second half of the course.

The second half of the course took us to some rural roads, I struggled a bit between miles 14-18, taking walking breaks, but I was enjoying the race. I was eating and drinking well, and aside from coughing every now and then, I felt OK.

Around mile 18, I kind of got my second wind, and starting running really strong (thank you pfitz), and passed a ton of people. We ran through another army base, and past some beautiful lighthouses.

We eventually ended up back on the strip, heading back to the finish line. This is one part of this marathon I didn't like. Long boring stretches on roads with little scenery. I couldn't wait until we could run on the boardwalk oceanfront again. The amazing crowd support made this parts better. Hubs had some beer that was offered by spectators.

Finally we curved left back towards the ocean. The finish was amazing. A stretch of boardwalk lined with people cheering. I tried to take it all in. Don't you just love marathon finishes? They are all special, and this one, was one of the most memorable. It was awesome and nice to share with Hubs.

We ended up finishing in 4 hours 32 minutes and change. Certainly not a PB, but I was proud of how I ran the race. I can honestly say I did my best under the conditions. I am not disappointed, I have many more marathons in my future! And of course, the best part is the medal:

Some of you asked about how many States/Provinces I have run a marathon in. Here is where I have completed marathons to date:

States

-Ohio (Last Chance for Boston)

-Pennsylvania (Philadelphia x2)

-Tennessee (Nashville)

-Virginia Beach (Shamrock)

Provinces

-Ontario (Hamilton, Ottawa(x3), Scotiabank, Niagara Falls)

-Quebec (Quebec City Marathon)

So only four states and two provinces so far, but I am not in any hurry. I will have a few more by the end of the spring (yes I am plotting another few marathons for the spring, as I still want to try to run sub 4 hour before the spring is up!)

Unfortunately for me this cold is hanging on. I tried a few little recovery runs this week that ended in coughing fits. I was planning on running the historic Around the Bay 30K (oldest race in North American -even Boston) race today, but I have reluctantly decided to sit it out. Drat I love this race. Congrats to Mel, and Vava, Sonia and Hubs. Can't wait for race reports! You all did amazing.

Thanks for reading!

Reese's Run Early Bird Winners!!!

2009-03-27T17:13:00.000-04:00

50.00$ Keg Steakhouse Gift Certificate - Melanie

Explosive Running Book - Katie Riley

Ladies, if you could please e-mail me (see side bar) or Christy your address, we will mail you out the prizes!

Thanks so much everyone for their generous support and donations so far! Your willingness to participate and contributions are sincerely appreciated, especially by those children who suffer from Arthritis. We have 43 runners registered to run Reese's Run so far!!!

Registration is still ongoing until April 23rd. There are great prizes such as 100$ online shoes, gift certificates, and more!!

Click here to register for Reese's Run (donate to the Arthritis Society)

Prizes! Fabulous Prizes!

2009-03-23T18:29:00.008-04:00

Tomorrow is the "early bird" registration deadline for Reese's 4 mile Virtual Run. Register (donate to Arthritis Society) for Reese's run by 11:59 pm March 24th!! The early bird prizes are great:

-A $50 gift card!

-A fabulous running book

In addition to the early bird draw we are also have other prizes not only for the winning times but random drawings of names of all who participate. Don't delay, sign up for this great event for a great cause today!

My sincere thanks to those that have shown their tremendous support for the event so far!

P.S My Shamrock race report will follow. I have another race this weekend, the 30K Around the Bay Event. I hope I get better soon or I may have to give away my bib for this one! Thanks for reading!

Shamrock Marathon Result

2009-03-22T13:58:00.006-04:00

Well no PR for me today. I wasn't really expecting one, I've been pretty laid down with a cold since Tuesday, so much so that I almost didn't run except that this trip cost too much to just skip the race.

I'm glad I did, I really enjoyed the marathon. I ran it with Hubs and we finished in a little over 4:30 hours. Good news is I can now cross Virginia off of my 50 state list.

Here was the sunrise from our hotel room this morning. Gorgeous beach view.

Full race report to follow. Pushing off for home now! Thanks for reading

Quick Update

2009-03-18T23:58:00.008-04:00

Wow, its just 4 days until my next marathon, the Virginia Beach Shamrock Marathon. I am excited to be able to run another marathon, it seems like forever since I ran Philly in November!

After the half marathon this weekend I unfortunately caught a little cold, I had joint aches and a little but a fever, but fortunately I felt better today, just a dry cough. I refuse to let a cold get in the way of trying my very best at this marathon. I am not sure what to expect time wise. I would love to PR, but either way, I'll be able to cross Virginia off of my 50 state list.

I have really enjoyed my last few days in Nashville. Today was nothing short of glorious. 73F, sunny. I had lunch outside with my sis at Panera bread in a short sleeve t-shirt and a skirt. I really love spending time with my sister and her family. I don't get to often since she lives in Nashville, and I live in Ontario. Here are a few pictures from the race last week.

My Sister Melissa

Me (far right) -It rained the whole race, so yes I am soaking wet!

My nephews at the awards ceremony

Tomorrow morning Hubs and I are shoving off for Virginia Beach. I hope to post again to let you know some of the early bird prizes for Reese's run. They are good so sign up now if you haven't yet. Thanks for reading!

Race Report: Tom King Classic Half Marathon

2009-03-14T16:20:00.004-04:00

I know, I know, I didn't tell you I had a half marathon race this weekend.

Well its because I wasn't entirely sure I did. So now you know, and here's the report.

I finished work on Thursday exhausted. I really didn't sleep at all Wednesday night. There was so much on my mind with book writing deadlines, student assessments, Reese's 4 miler race, and that little event I have one week tomorrow. Yikes!

So as soon as I was finished work I went to the chiropractor for an adjustment, my back has been sore lately, so I've really cut back my mileage. I came home and slept until 7pm. Hubs and I frantically packed and headed out the door at 9 pm for our 15 hour -2 day commute to Nashville. Arrived on my sister's doorstep at 10:30 Nashville time last night. Exhausted.

So anyway, when the alarm went off this morning, and it was pouring rain, and I hadn't yet signed up for the race, my immediate thoughts were. I can skip this. Its my secret race. No one knows I was thinking of running it, so who cares. Good, roll over back to sleep.

Twenty minutes later I begrudgingly got up. My sister was running this race (and Hubs), and since it was an out and back loop, I knew I could see her on the course. It would be our first race that we both ran in at the same time. And my sister is slowly making her way back to racing, so I didn't want to miss that.

I dressed in a skirt and long sleeve. I have run outside in shorts since Philly in Nov, but it was still cold since it was raining, so I stayed inside until the race began.

The course was fairly flat, and scenic. It ran along a bike path along the Cumberland (sp?) river in Downtown Nashville. It finishes inside the big stadium that is home of the Tennessee Titans, and you get to see yourself on the Jumbo tron screen.

I wasn't sure what to do for the race, I decided to play it by ear. I started off a little fast, and after some self scolding, I decided to settle in at a 5:20 min/km/8:58 mil/min pace, and basically felt comfortable. I was able to keep the pace the whole way and ran a personal best of 1:53:15 :).

The good news gets better. Hubs shaved 6 minutes off his PR and ran a 1:44:47. He ran it as usual, without a watch. I don't know how he does this. I'm pretty sure I looked at my watch a number greater than Avogadro's number during the race.

Better still. My sister won the race. Well she was the first female. Her "getting back into it time" was 1:21:4x!!! It was awesome to see her out there, and even more awesome to watch her collect her prize money. Way to go Sissa!!! You inspire me!

The weather for the race was perfect, cool, maybe a little too rainy, but I think it kept you cool, and it was overcast. I really liked the route, and after a tough Canadian winter, I relished the cherry blossom trees and the green grass after seeing nothing but white and brown for months, its a real treat.

I will catch on your blogs soon. In the meantime, if you haven't registered for Reese Run, click here to register, I will be announcing some early bird prizes soon! Thanks for reading!

Reese's Run

2009-03-08T11:43:00.010-04:00

You may recall that I decided to join the Joints in Motion Team for the Barbados Marathon with my friend Christy. The purpose of the marathon is to raise money and awareness for the Arthritis Society. After running over 10 marathons, and dozens of other races, I really feel that I want to give back to the sport that has given so much to me.

Why Arthritis?
Arthritis is a disease that impacts many, but doesn’t receive as many donations or public awareness opportunities as other charities. Unfortunately, arthritis is also a disease that impacts many children.

My Arthritis Hero
Although I know many adults that suffer from Arthritis, there is nothing worse than a child suffering chronic pain. For this reason, I chose my friend Christy’s beautiful daughter Reese as my hero. Reese suffers from Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Reese is not alone as a child with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. Here is an excerpt from a press release from the Arthritis Society.

Affecting about 1 in 1,000 Canadians under the age of 16, juvenile arthritis (JA) is a leading chronic disease among kids in this country. The Arthritis Society uses Juvenile Arthritis Awareness Month in March to heighten awareness of this disease and to raise much-needed funds for research that will find better treatments and, ultimately, a cure.
“Arthritis is a crushing reality for many children in Canada; it’s not just their parents or grandparents who are at risk,” says Dr. Brian Feldman, Vice Chair of The Arthritis Society’s Medical Advisory Committee and a paediatric rheumatologist at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. “The course of juvenile arthritis is unpredictable. Painful flare-ups may occur without warning and the child has to undergo a rigorous, time-consuming and sometimes unpleasant treatment program.”
Juvenile arthritis is the result of the body’s immune system not working properly. The immune system fails to recognize healthy body tissue and attacks it. Symptoms include excruciating pain and inflammation in the joints. Depending on the severity of the arthritis, some children experience irregular growth or physical disability.
The rest of the article can be found at the following link

Now for the Exciting News!!

In order to kick off our fundraising for the marathon, Christy and I are hosting a 4 mile virtual race for the Arthritis Society.
Here are the details:

What: Reese's Run: 4 Mile Virtual Race
When: April 24th, 2009
Registration: $10.00 minimum donation (feel free to donate more if you can!)

Great Prizes!!!
Early bird prize (Register before March 24th)
First male
First female
Random draws

To register go HERE

Christy and I would so greatly appreciate if you could post and advertise this virtual race on your blog space (feel free to copy the race banner). Your support means a lot, especially for the millions of children and adults that suffer from arthritis in North America.

Please join us and get your Joints in Motion on April 24th, for Arthritis research!

Race Attire

2009-03-03T19:57:00.010-05:00

If you have been reading my blog for awhile, you will know I have a bit of an obsession with Running Skirts. Imagine my delight when I went to their website, and found out they have created a running skirt for the Shamrock Marathon.

Cute (although I would wear a tank top).

However, this is my first marathon in which I get to wear the Marathon Maniac singlet! I became a maniac back in November at the Hamilton Marathon, but I didn't get my singlet in time for Philly marathon, so this is my first chance to wear the singlet (yellow, red and black theme similar to the logo below). I only want to wear the singlet for marathon races.

I could combine the two, but would Tim Gunn approve? (I *heart* Tim)

Tough call, but I think I am going to wear the MM singlet, but I just might get that skirt anyway for another race. Oh wait, I am supposed to be cutting back on running purchases... LOL Who am I kidding?!

Race Report: Chilly Half Marathon

2009-03-02T23:12:00.006-05:00

Thanks to everyone for your advice regarding my taper for the Shamrock Marathon. I think I will run 16-18 miles this weekend instead of the planned 22. I think my legs need the rest, and I won't get any benefit other than psychological from running the 22.

This past weekend I ran the Chilly Half Marathon in Burlington Ontario. I ran this race last year, and it held my current half marathon PR, so I wanted to come back and run it again. Its a flat route, and the back half of the race runs along Lake Ontario and by some really nice homes in Burlington.

I went into the race with no expectations really. A PR is always nice ofcourse, but once again the weather forecast was ominous. On Saturday they were calling for -12C and -22 with the windchill (10F/-8F with windchill)... I know, freaking cold!! And I was freaking out a little bit.

Not because I was worried about my time, but because I am a wimp when it comes to the cold!

Thankfully when race morning came, the Sun was out in full force, and it was cold, but it was manageble. I brought my Balaclava just in case but I didn't end up needing it. In fact, I kinda overdressed. I had my base layer, top layer, and then my windjacket. But I was OK with being a little warm since I *hate* being cold. There were crazy people with shorts, trust me, it was not short weather!

The race was really crowded at the start. Apparently they had 400 more runners in the field this year, and I found it a bit frustrating weeving through masses of people, including walkers walking 4 abreast! People, line up at your proper pace! This went on for nearly 3 miles (5K), so it was kinda of difficult to settle into a pace and find some road space.

The race went OK, but I have to admit I dread half marathon a little. Pushing yourself for nearly 2 hours at lactic sucks, and I felt nautious and had upper back pain the whole way. I just kept thinking, this will help you peak for Shamrock.

Overall though I felt OK with the run. I have been a little worried that most of my training has been on indoor tracks and on the TM, and I have been running outside only when the weather permits, which has been rare this winter.

I gave the race an honest effort, although I think I could have pushed harder. This morning I woke up with no quad pain, so either I heal quickly or I could have ran faster, but either way, here is the result.

21.K/13.1 miles/1:57:35(chip time)/8:58min/mile/5:34min/K

So nearly two minutes from my PB, but factor in the cold, and the fact that I ran alot the previous weekend, I think I am happy with my result. Well to be more honest, maybe a little discouraged, I have felt a little like I have regressed the past few weeks, I know sometimes this happens in marathon training cycles. I hope I can repeat this at Shamrock twice (and that it is easier..).

After the race, it was great to see Marlene, (I also got to say hello the previous day at the expo). Thanks for volunteering Marlene, and it was great seeing you at the finish!

Hubs and I went out for beer and food later with some Running friends, and that is the best part of running local races!

Hope you all have a great week! Thanks for reading!

P.S - Canadian bloggers running ATB - how about a pre or post race meet up? Post in comment section below if you are interested!

I need your help!!

2009-02-24T19:35:00.005-05:00

I am down to the last three weeks before Shamrock, and I need your help tweaking my training schedule for the last few weeks. Here is the dilemma: I have a half marathon this Sunday, but want to run another 22 miler before the marathon. Here is the current plan I made up a few months ago (I have this in a table, but I don't know how to post it on my blog, sorry):

Week 9: Race Preparation (Monday February 23rd – March 1st)
Mon- Rest or cross training
Tues- 12 miles w/ 4 x 1200 m @ 5K race pace; jog 2 minutes in between (VO2 max)
Wed- 7 miles w/6 x 100 m strides (Recovery + speed)
Thur- Rest or cross training
Fri- 12 miles
Sat- Rest or recovery
Sun- 13 miles (Chilly Half marathon race)

Week 10: Race Preparation (Monday March 2nd – March 8th)
Mon- Rest or cross training
Tues -8 miles w/ 5 600 m @ 5K race pace; jog 90 seconds between (VO2 max)
Wed -5 miles (Recovery)
Thu- Rest or cross training
Fri - 8 miles w/6 x 100 m strides
Sat- Rest or cross training
Sun - 22 miles

Week 11: Taper and Race (Monday March 9th - March 15th)
Mon- Rest or cross train
Tues- 7 miles w/ 8 x 100 m strides (General aerobic + speed)
Wed - 8 miles w/ 3 x 1600 m @ 5K race pace jog 2 minutes in between (VO2 max)
Thurs- Rest or cross training
Fri - 5 miles w/ 6 x 100m strides
Sat- Rest or cross training
Sun - 12 miles

Week 12: Taper and Race (Monday March 16th –March 22nd)
Mon -rest
Tues -7 miles 2 miles @ race pace
Thur - Rest
Fri- 5 miles w/6 x 100 m strides
Sat- Rest
Sun - Shamrock Marathon 26.2 miles

My question is, do you think leaving my 22 miler until March 8th is too late? Will there be any physiological benefit. That is two weeks before the marathon vs three. I can't do it the previous week because of Chilly. Any suggestions are welcome.
Hope everyone is having a good week, thanks for reading!

Runner's Appetite

2009-02-23T10:12:00.004-05:00

After running 46k (28.75 miles) this weekend, I woke up this morning HUNGRY! I have the day off due to an appointment later today, so Hubs and I went out for breakfast.

Here is what I ordered.
-Two HUGE Pancakes
-Scrambled eggs
-Turkey bacon
-Coffee
-Rye toast and jam

I ate (inhaled) the whole breakfast and I will likely be hungry in an hour or two. LOL! I have been trying to eat healthy, and for the most part sucessfully, but sometimes I just get insatiable urges to eat whatever I am craving. Today it was a full breakfast, last night it was salt and pepper chips and cadbury mini eggs. I need to get back on my eating clean wagon, fast!!

Have a great day and thanks for reading!

Quick Update

2009-02-22T22:00:00.004-05:00

Hubs and I decided to bail on the Grimsby Half Marathon today. We got up, had oatmeal and banana, checked the weather report, and got ready. We drove about halfway there before we finally decided it wasn't a great idea. The main routes were clear, but the side roads were slushy and wet and there were wind gusts and wet flurries. Most of the route is through wine vinyards so I am sure the roads would have been snowed-covered and there would have likely been wind gusts.

Sure we could have finished, but it would have been ugly, and I just didn't have it in me today. We opted instead for an indoor track run. I ran 26K (16.25 miles) and had a better run compared to yesterday. This brought my mileage to 41 for the week, so I was happy with that. Next weekend is the Chilly Half Marathon, so I hope the weather will be better for racing. Fingers crossed. I am so ready for this darn winter to be done!

Have a great week, thanks for reading!

Storm

2009-02-21T18:45:00.009-05:00

Its been a busy few days and I'm happy to report I am back running with no ITB pain. I have slowly ramped up the mileage this week and everything seems fine. The new shoes are taking some breaking in, but I think they are OK. I miss my Saucony Paramounts though, so I think I will buy a second pair of those. I ran a very slow recovery driven (although it didn't feel recovery like) 22K with a running friend this morning. Although the Sun was shining and we were running very slow, I had moments of Vertigo. Weird. I don't know what caused it. I feel fine now, so I don't think I am sick. I have been short on sleep this week so maybe that's it. It was also my first non-track/treadmill run in a few weeks.

The plan when I got home was to take an ice bath (Aron, you inspired me), but I wussed out and had a hot eucalyptus Epsom salt bath instead. Meh. Next time I guess. It's hard to want to jump into ice when you've just been running in it.

You may wonder why I ran 22K the day before a race. I ultimately decided that this half marathon tomorrow isn't an 'A' race, so I want to make sure I get at least 40 miles in this week to prepare for Shamrock, my goal race. I also have another half marathon the following weekend, so I thought it might be interesting to see how my body races without tapering. And I made sure I ran slow, so I think I could still have a decent run, maybe not a PB, but a solid tempo-ish run.

Great plan, right?

One teeeennnny problem, there is a snow storm that started early this evening and its supposed to go into the afternoon tomorrow. About a 10-15cm dumping of snow is expected. I hate running on snowy roads, and I don't want to risk injury, so I might have to really scale it back tomorrow. Its also an hour and a half drive to the race, so if the roads are really bad, I may not run it. I hate to throw away that race entry fee, but that's a gamble you take when you register for a winter race. Maybe it won't be so bad. The snow is melting as it hits the pavement now, so I will reassess in the am. Fingers crossed. I could care less about the cold, but I don't like running (fast) on slick roads.

I hope you are all having a great weekend. I need to catch on blog comments, I have been sneaking some reads with little chance to comment. Thanks for reading

New Shoes

2009-02-16T12:11:00.007-05:00

Yesterday I went to Running Free to get some new shoes. They don't carry Saucony ProGrid Paramounts, so I was going to go for my Gel Kayano's (new 15's) by default until I saw these puppies:

Why helllllooo Brooks Trance 8's.... (click to enlarge for shoe porn)

They feel amazing on my feet, flexible and light but still have the stability of Kayano's (which felt heavy on the feet in comparison). I am going to try a light run on the TM today. I didn't run my 20 miler yesterday since I could really feel the IT band. Hubs stripped it twice yesterday with the Stick for me, followed by icing and elevation. It feels fine today, but if I feel it at all when I run, I will stop running, I promise. I will also let you know how I like the new kicks, I am a little nervous trying a new brand mid training cycle, but they have to be better than what I am running in now.

In other news, I have two half marathons over the next two weeks. The first is the Grimsby Half Marathon (Feb 22nd) and then the Chilly Half Marathon (March 1st). So excited for a real race again. I hope the weather and the IT band cooperate.

Today is Family Day in Ontario. A nice leisurely day to spend time with family and friends, or in my case, kick ass with all of the book writing I have been procrastinating.

Hope you all have a great week! Thanks for reading

FFFK

2009-02-15T11:03:00.007-05:00

**Preface- Sorry this is not a typical race report, although I did complete the race.**

Yesterday I went out yesterday with the full intention of running a 13 miler, with the last three miles being a progression for the FFFK.

I set out at my goal marathon race pace, planned on holding that pace and then speeding up for the last three miles. I was a bit hesitant when I started out. My knees have been bothering me a bit when I run, and I think its because (well I'm 99% sure its because) I need new shoes. In typical procrastinator Marci fashion I wait until I **need** shoes, and of course they are out of the highly coveted 7.5 shoe size at my local Running Room. I ordered a new pair in, they were supposed to come in within 3 days-1 week, but they still hadn't come in last week (I think there was a screw up along the way). I called last week and they said they should be in by this week (they weren't).

I typically wear Saucony Progrid Paramounts, but I have in the past worn Asics Gel Kaynos, so I should have just bought the Kayanos they had in stock right? Wrong, I decided to be cheap and wait for the Saucony's which still haven't come in.

So back to my run. As I am running the bottom of my feet feel sore, and I can feel my knees. Not good signs, so I stopped right? Wrong. Kept going, at finally just after 8.5K I felt a twinge in my IT band. I stopped running dead then. Why do I press my stttuppppid button when I start running!!!??!! Of course if I run in dead shoes I will get injured. My IT band is still sore this morning despite efforts to ice and stretch. I am driving to Markham today to buy the shoes there. I don't know if I should try running my 20 miler or not today. Any thoughts people? (Its really hard for me to sit it out).

**Actual race report if you didn't want to read about my stupidity above****

Back to FFFK, I ran 8.52K in 45 min 31 seconds (8:35 pace mi/min or 5:20 k/min) pace. So if I take this average pace, my 5K time would be about 26 minutes. Hubs also ran to support Nancy, he ran 5K in 22 min 12 seconds (his second run back since his cyst was discovered). Go Hubs!!

On a side note, Hubs is becoming really fast. Well, he always was, but he has been laid up with injuries for most of the last year that forced him to slow down. He was just picking up some serious speed before this Bakers cyst thing started. His doctor said go ahead and run, but if any pain happens, surgery may be required. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Looking forward to reading race reports today. Good luck racers. Thanks for reading!!

Pa Pa Pa Poker Face Pa Pa Poker Face

2009-02-13T23:40:00.006-05:00

Mum mum mum mah....

This is my current "it" running song. Sad, I know. I wouldn't say I have the greatest taste in music ever, but then again, music taste is subjective. I tend to like mostly classic rock, think Queen, Fleetwood Mac, and ABBA.

Yet when I run, I LOVE to listen to cheesy, repetitive tempo beats. Case in point, Lady Gaga. I used to obsessively listen to "just dance" on my ipod, and now Poker Face. Generally I would switch the station if these types of songs come on, but when I am running, I crank it up. Poker Face is my current power song on my ipod.

Does anyone else have separate "music taste" and "running music" taste. What type of music do you run to?

Update on Hubs

2009-02-12T18:36:00.010-05:00

Thanks for the message about Hubs and thankfully his test came back negative on a blood clot in his leg. Having a scare about someone you love really puts things into perspective. Bad as the global economy is now, health is still the most important thing, and us as a running community are doing the right thing to keep ourselves healthy.

Hubs will still have to do more tests to look into the Baker's cyst, but his doctor said he can run as long as there is no pain (none now), and he should ice and elevate to help shrink the cyst and jeep it under control.

I also had my own mini health scare this weekend. I just got back from a visit with my doctor to discuss some blood work I had done in the summer. Yes, you read that right. The blood work was done in August as part of my annual physical. I was super annoyed/worried when I picked up a phone message at 4pm this past Friday to call my doctors office to discuss my test results. I had long since put the blood work I had done in August out of my mind, because I assumed, if anythings wrong they will call. They did, SIX months later, and on a Friday afternoon, so I had to wait and worry all weekend to get an appointment (today).

When I arrived at my doctors office the medical secretary said that they had called me four times over the past few months. I smiled politely and informed them that I never received any message, thinking in the back of my mind if this is serious, I will sue your pants off, so don't feed me a line of doo-doo to CYA!!

Thankfully it was not serious. Apparently I have borderline low iron levels. Not shocking I suppose since I don't eat red meat or pork, but does explain why I feel lethargic at times. Does anyone else have low iron? Is it common amoungst runners? Anyway, I am now on prescription iron pills.

I hope everyone is having a good week. Its Friday tomorrow and its a long weekend in Ontario, Family Day is Monday!! Woo Hoo! Thanks for reading

Mid-Week Motivation: Marathon Challenge

2009-02-12T01:36:00.002-05:00

This is a long video (52 minutes), but is very inspirational! I am going to show it to my Biology class. Enjoy!

Week 6 Update and Race Announcements

2009-02-09T20:31:00.014-05:00

I had a bit of my own "Goofy Challenge" this weekend. I ran 20K (12.5 miles) on Saturday, and then 35.4K (22 miles) on Sunday, for a total of 55.4K (37.5miles) this weekend. All within a 24 hour time span.

This back to back distance may sound painful, but as many other bloggers have posted about their recent runs, this past weekend was the kind of weekend where you felt as if you could run forever!!

It was above freezing and mild on Saturday and sunny on Sunday. Glorious, fresh weather, and on both days I ran in the later afternoon and finished my run just as the Sun set for the day. It was sooo beautiful, I wish I brought my camera, words can't describe, but literally the snow glowed and sparkled as the sun when down behind the hills and trees. Magical and very peaceful.

Total miles for week 6 was 76K/49 miles.

In other news, Hubs is a bit laid up right now. He went to the chiropractor on Friday, and he noticed that his left calf was unusually larger than his right calf. His chiropractor was worried it could possibly be a blood clot, but after going to the walk in clinic, the doctor thinks its likely a Baker's cyst. This is a pocket of fluid that forms behind his knee, likely an overuse injury from a former knee problem Hub's had. Just to be safe, Hubs following the RICE principle and not running until an ultrasound confirms the diagnosis.

And I have two marathons announcements to make.

I am now officially signed up for the Virginia Beach Shamrock Marathon. Yipee!! I am so excited. I decided to go for a flat course since most of my training is limited to flat terrain when it snows (track, treadmill). Besides, who doesn't want a flat course?!! And there is beer at the end!

BUT.... in even MORE EXCITING NEWS, I am running the Barbados marathon in December with Christy!!!

I will be raising money for the arthritis society, which I am excited about, since I have always run marathons for fun, it will be great to give back. More details to follow.

Anyway, have a super week everyone! Thanks for reading!

7 on the 7th Race Report

2009-02-07T11:21:00.009-05:00

I ran my virtual 7 miles on the 7th race report on Thursday since I have another 22 miler on tap for today. I am posting the report today on the 7th to keep with the spirit of the event!

Before I begin, special thanks to Run to the Finish for organizing this, and to Running Laur for the great race bib inspired banner.

I had to run my race on the indoor track since it was -22C with the windshield on Thursday. My original prediction for the race result was 1 hour 5 minutes. It was a bit of a conservative estimate, but I also knew with all of the miles I was pumping out with my current training plan that I may be a tad slower. In the back of my head I felt that a sub 60 min finish would be a bit of a stretch.

After a one mile warm up, I stretched and then started my watch. I came bounding out of the gate at a 4:45min/km (7:38mil/min) pace, but quickly slowed to about a 5:05 min/km pace (8:10 min/mi) pace.

I thought for sure I would slow down within a few miles, but somehow the pace felt easy, so I kept going. At 8K(5 miles), I was just over 41 minutes (about 2.5 minutes faster than my 8K fun run two weeks ago). I guess these tempo runs are starting to pay off!

I finished the 7 miles (11.2 K) in 57 minutes, 10 seconds - 5:04 min/km (8:10mil/min) pace.

I was sooo excited, not only because I beat my predicted time by nearly 8 minutes, but because it really felt effortless, and I felt could have kept going for at least 10K at this pace.

Since I could hardly believe the time myself, I took a picture of my Garmin, because as Vava says, Garmin don't lie.

(Note: When I was running I stopped my watch as soon as it said 11.2km (7 miles), when I turned it on later to snap a picture it said 11.16K - I guess it rounds up when it is operating, so I added 3 seconds to account for the 0.04km (4 meter) difference)

I had so much fun running this virtual race so again thanks to Run to the Finish for organizing this great event!

In other news, in case you haven't heard, there is a "Freakishly Flexible 5K"that marathon mama is organizing for Feb 14th in honour of Non-Runner Nancy who can no longer run! :(

Go over to her blog to join up and show some support to Nancy!

Good luck all you virtual runners, can't wait to read the race reports!

Winter Running, Training, 8K fun run, and other ramblings

2009-02-01T22:37:00.010-05:00

Its been awhile since I've really written a post on the blog. I just haven't been in the mood, and I have had a bit of the case of the winter blahs that have rendered me less than motivated to write witty and interesting posts. This will have to do. In addition to winter blahs, I have been working on another book, so every time I go on the computer I have this little nagging guilt that I should be working on the book (yes, that includes now - but I am telling the book to talk to the hand at the moment).

So how about that weather, Northern folk?

Outside of today, which was great weather-wise, The weather SUCKS, just plain SUCKS. Now I know some of you must be thinking, you know you live in Canada right? Yes, I know, but our winters are really never that bad. Its not rare that we only see no or little snow in Dec and only dusting's in Jan and Feb.

Not this year.

Lets rewind back a few weeks ago. Hubs and I travelled to his hometown of Parry Sound so that he could participate in his step-fathers memorial dart tournament (a real northern Ontario hobby - there's not much else to do in the snow and blizzard-like weather). It was white-out conditions on the drive up, but we made it and had a fun time. We had run at the indoor track on Friday before we drove up, and then planned to run at the track again when we returned on Sunday.

We left just Parry Sound after 1:00, and what is normally about a three hour drive took us nearly FIVE hours! Crappy slippery weather, and we drove by several cars in the ditch (they already had help). We were starving when we finally got home, so Hubs when and got a pizza, and then we went to run. This is what our driveway looked like when we finally arrived home.

Determined to get my 17 miler in, Hubs and I ran to the dome, where I pounded out 13 miles of it in 2 hours (with major pizza indigestion), and then drove home, and ran the remaining 4 miles on the treadmill in the basement. Talk about torture.

Week 4 of marathon training was 43 miles.

The weather continued to storm for the the next week. I ran a 10 K tempo run in 53:10(8:33 mil/min) at the track. I didn't even notice Hubs snapping the picture. I was in the zone. The pain-yes-I-may-puke- zone.

I also ran an awesome 22 miler indoors (3 hours, 23 minutes, 9:14 mile/min pace/5:44 km/mi) on Saturday. Super pleased with the run, I didn't stop once. I can't remember every having this strong of a long run. Maybe fitz will pay off! I hope so! I have two more 22 milers planned for this training cycle, so hopefully they go as well as this one did.

Sunday was a the Robbie Burns 8K fun race. I woke up with sore legs not wanting to go, but you get free tartan plaid pants for running. So Hubs and I rolled out of our cozy, warm, fluffy bed, and drove to Burlington, grabbing coffee and a bagel on the way.

They played bagpipes at the start and served an awesome breakfast afterwards (coffee, oatmeal, bagels, coffee, fruit), a total steal for the $30 entry fee. I ran at tempo pace (it was all I could muster after yesterday long run), to finish in 43:35 (8:43 mil/min or 5:25km/min). Meh, not great, but it was just a fun run, and it was freeezzzing (-12C). Despite the cold, it was good to run outside again. Here is a picture of me warming up by the fire at home in my new tartan flannel pants :))

Week 5 of marathon training was 43 miles.

This week was a little rough. I decided mid-week to employ a mid training taper. I can afford to do this since I am a week ahead a schedule. So I ran a total of 24 miles this week. My body just needed the rest. The next two weeks are 48 miles and 55 miles total, and I want to run every mile of them.

Even though my mileage was less this week I had some quality runs. I ran some track 1K repeats at the dome. 4 sets at 4:41, 4:47, 4:45 and 4:50. It felt good to run some speed repeats again (well not during, but definitely after).

Today was mild (34F/3C), and Hubs and I went for a leisurely 20K run. Here are some pictures we took.

Scraping the driveway pre-run. Great warm up.

January miles: 167.4 - Very pleased with this number!

Eating is going so-so. I will update you on that in a later post. In the meantime, congrats to all those that raced this weekend. Look forward to reading your reports. Thanks for reading

Late Week Motivation

2009-01-29T23:36:00.002-05:00

Wow, its been a whole week since I posted. Its semester turn around time here at school, so I've been crazy busy.
On the running front, training going well. I completed 41 miles in week 4 and 43 miles in week 5, and I ran a 8K fun run last weekend after running a 22 miler the day before. I hope to post details later in the week, in a more detailed post.

In the meantime, I found the most amazing video that I think is proof that it is only our minds that set limits for us.

Have a wonderful Friday! Thanks for reading.

Mid-Week Motivation: Why do you Run?

2009-01-21T18:36:00.004-05:00

I have had a crazy few days (exam week and parents night), so I haven't posted much on my blog, but I am looking forward to catching up on all of your blogs, so sorry for the lack of comments! I promise I have been reading them though! I haven't posted my week 4 training summary yet, but I will hopefully about it later this week. I found this little video and thought I would share it with you:

I hope you have a great rest of your week! Thanks for reading!

P.S - Why do you run? Feel free to leave your comments below!

Tagged

2009-01-17T13:38:00.004-05:00

Hope all you Northern folk are surviving this cold spell. Hubs and I decided it would be a good time to head even further North to his hometown of Parry Sound Ontario. You can barely see my MIL's house with all of the snow. Although its super cold (-18C), I love it up here, its so pretty, a real winter wonderland. (sorry no pics)

I was tagged last week by Marlene and Roadbunner, but just haven't gotten around to posting until now, so here we go:

4 favorite memories from 2008
1. Jay Challenge
2. Running my first ultra/off road race
3. Quebec City Marathon
4. Trip to California

4 favorite movies that I saw
1. Spirit of the Marathon
2. Godfather series (never watched it before)
ummm I don't watch a lot of movies, and if I do, I often fall asleep during

4 favorite foods in 2008
1. Quinoa
2. Nachos and Guacamole
3. Beer- I don't know if this counts as food, but I never liked beer before last year, now suddenly I am an addict...LOL
4. Chicken Enchilada Suiza

4 places I loved in 2008
1. Quebec City
2. San Ramone, California
3. Bootcamp class
4. Home - always love home!

4 things I liked in 2008
1. My new Blackberry Bold (better than iphone - jk - not trying to start a war! LOL)
2. Starting my running blog and meeting all you great blogging people
3. White water rafting trip - even with the injury
4. Philadelphia marathon trip

4 things I am looking forward to in 2009
1. March break marathon (Shamrock, DC or Arkansas!) and visit to my sister's new home in Nashville
2. San Francisco Marathon
3. Possibly Barbados marathon with Christy
4. Lots and lots of running and racing

If you haven't been tagged, and would like to be, I am tagging you!

Hope you have a great weekend! Thanks for reading

Mid-Week Motivation: Practice

2009-01-13T23:20:00.006-05:00

I ran inside the dome (indoor track) tonight for my 10 mile tempo run. I was supposed to run 5 miles at tempo, and the remainder just at regular aerobic pace. I warmed up for about a mile, and then finished my 5 miles in 43:10 (8:38 mi/min or 5:23 km/min) pace, which I felt good about.

Afterwards, I felt kind of lazy and bored with the track yet again (it's -15C/5F outside today) so I ran a one mile cool-down, to total 7 miles, 3 miles short of the 10 miles my training plan called for.

My first instinct of course was to be mad at myself for not getting in those last three miles to total 10. But I stopped myself. I did have a good tempo run, and I can easily make up those miles later in the week. It is just training, a practice run, not the race....

Here is what NBA super star Allen Iverson has to say about "Practice".

So yes I know "Practice" is important, but sometimes it's also important that I don't take myself too seriously.

Hope you are having a great week! Thanks for reading!