Philly Photos and Update

My lack of blogging the last few days pretty much matches my lack of inspiration to do much of anything. Right now I have an intense sore throat and I have taken Cepacol, NeoCitran, Aspirin and Cough syrup. Don't worry, it wasn't all at once, but if this post seem loopy (well more loopy than normal) bear with me.

Our group having a pre-race celebration dinner.


Expo

Liberty Bell




Touring Philadelphia -beautiful architecture!


City of Brotherly Love.. Hubs and I are thinking of making X-mas cards out of this picture. We also have a mushier version with us kissing, but I spared you the gushy gushy!



Done!



On the course. I looked like a bumblebee!




Hubs doing a Rocky pose on the Rocky Step (Museum of Art)


Hubs running up the steps after the marathon.


Hubs and I on the Rocky steps (post marathon) with Philadelphia cityscape in the background. I was shivering cold!



Today I was supposed to run 30K with Christy, but since I was so sick, Hubs ran with her instead. They totally kicked butt and ran 35K!! Way to go Christy, Disney is yours now!

So I have spent the past week looking at what marathon is next. I almost signed up for Vegas and even e-mailed the CIM race director to gain entry to that full marathon. Even though he offered me two spots, I have decided to wait until February (most likely) to run another marathon. I think the week I took off was needed since I never get sick, my body just needed to rest and repair.

I do have one last race planned for 2008. The Hamilton Harrier Boxing Day 10 mile run. Any bloggers interested in joining? I have never ran a 10 mile race before, so it should be fun. I signed up for this race at the Niagara Expo for only $25, so I couldn't resist!

Anyway, I plan on getting to bed early, but I hope all my American blogger friends had a restful Thanksgiving and enjoyed time with family and friends. Thanks for reading!

Race Report: Philadelphia Marathon

Well if I were to grade myself based on criteria I set before the race, I guess I would give myself a C-. In retrospect though, I think I may have given the race a B+ effort. Read on and I will explain.

This was my second time running the Philadelphia Marathon. Last year I found it to be a lot of fun because its a great course with varied terrain and scenery, great crowd support and a fun destination. These reasons and others drew me back for round two, and once again, Philly didn't disappoint. Its a kick ass-phalt event!

The weather forecast was ominous for Philly Marathon. The night before I went to bed I checked on final time and it was supposed to be -4C at the start, and a high of 4C at the finish. I decided begrudgingly that it was not skirt weather and settled for compression tights, and three layers on top. I was glad I did, it was cold!

Hubs and I had travelled down to Philly with a group of running friend and we had a really nice pasta dinner at a place called Maggiano's. Travelling with running friends makes the race all that more enjoyable, IMO. We had an early dinner and had finished eating by 5:30 and went back to the hotel to rest up until the morning. I slept O.K. tossing throughout the night, probably banked about 4-5 hours.

Race morning came and we walked to the Museum of Art. It was extremely crowded, so I stood in line at the porta potties while Hubs took our bags to the bag drop. One neat thing was that Bart Yasso from Runner's World was one of the race announcers. Lots of inspirational advice and encouragement was provided, and of course, fellow runner's camaraderie.

We stood in line in our start corral listening to the Rocky theme music which got us all pumped up. It was nice and warm being huddled with all of the other runners. I lined up between the 4:00 and the 4:15 pace bunny, because I didn't want to go out too fast.

Famous last words. Hubs and I took off and we immediately began running about a 3:50 marathon pace. I kept trying to slow us down, but we would relax, and I would look down and sure enough, our pace had crept back up.

The first half of the course went smooth. My legs felt fantastic, and I glided along. There was a large uphill around 10 miles, but I seemed to handle it OK. There was also a small cobblestone section which was scary to run over, but just past that was the best cheering section ever. Hundreds of people lined up with cow bells, music and whistles. I felt empowered and inspired, Philadelphians rock! I started to wonder, maybe today was the day to go under 4 hours? I crossed the halfway point at 2 hours, 1 minute. I was thankful when the half marathoners peeled off to the finish line, it meant more road space!

Past the halfway point, I started to have doubts about sub 4 hours. My legs were fine, but I just kind of felt exhausted. Tired. Pooped. Nada. Zilch. At the 14K point there was a huge hill that I made the mistake of stuffing a GU in my mouth before I crept up. I was halfway up the hill with the GU in my mouth still beginning to choke (running uphill and eating not a good combo) so I walked and finished the GU off. A little defeated that I had to walk, I told myself, so what, you walked, now run girl, RUN! So run I did, down a nice long downhill and settled back into a 5:41 min/km pace.

The next few miles went OK. We were running along the river towards the warehouse district called Manayunk. This section is often where runner's wall can occur. It an out and back loop. But the out is a long gradual uphill. This section is fun to run though, and there is beer at mile 17/21 and brownies and great crowd support. I didn't have either, my stomach just didn't feel like it.

By the 20 mile turnaround, I was tired. I knew I was off pace, but also knew depending on how much I could hold on for those last 6 miles, would depend on whether or not I would get a PR. I kept running interspersed with short walk breaks.

I struggled and pushed, but a PR just wasn't in the cards for me. I crossed the finish line at 4:15:38 (official time). Certainly a respectable time, but I was disappointed. How was it possible that I ran Hamilton faster (4:09:20) in a back to back marathon, and then after three weeks rest, I couldn't do the same. The body is a mystery sometimes. I think I was just overall tired. This was my seventh marathon this year, and my third best time, and a PR for this course, so I'll take it.

Afterwards Hubs and I got our picture taken, had hot broth and a pretzel (awesome post race treat), and ran up the Rocky steps and took a few silly pictures.

Final Race Stats:
Clock Time 04:22:56
Chip Time 04:15:38
Overall Place 4121/7231
Gender Place 1337/2986
Division Place 239/504
Age Grade 53.7%
Pace 9:45.1

Congratulations to all finishers, and I look forward to reading all of the reports. Thanks for reading!

** I didn't bring my camera USB cable to upload pictures so I will edit this post on Tuesday to include pictures**

Stalkable

In case you are interested in stalking me (I think you can for Philly), my bib number is 4459. I also wanted to share a video Xenia (in case you haven't seen it) posted on her blog that I can't stop watching because its so motivational. I think Tiger in particular will enjoy this. (No plans for IronMan in the near future for me though).



Good luck everyone, and I can't wait to KICK ASHPHALT! (Philly marathon motto). Enjoy your weekend everyone and thanks for reading!

Gearing Up

Thanks for all of the birthday wishes guys. I had a nice day, complete with a nice dinner and wine :). Its going to a busy week leading up to Philly, so this will likely be my last post before I go. Looking forward to a pretzel and a good time, and hopefully a PR. Going for sub 4:09:20!

Good luck to JoyRun, Denise, Ted, who are also running Philly, and to anyone else I may have missed!





And for a funny spoof of the Rocky movie, I found this on You Tube.





Thanks for reading !

Staying Motivated

Not really much new to write about. I've had a hard time coming up with bloggable material lately, even with a race one week today. I didn't want to write another "rah rah Philly post" (save that for a later date LOL)

Lily just wrote a great post about this. It has been kinda tough to get out there lately with the shorter daylight, rainy weather, and cooler temperatures. Once you do get out there though its so worth it. And it really does help break those winter blahs. So post Philly marathon I think I will try the following strategies to break up the blahs (not all at once, just in bits and pieces to keep it interesting):

1) Change my running route. Time to explore some new trails or routes.
2) Turn on the music. I don't usually use music, but I think I will switch to using music as we head into winter. I don't want to rely on music for motivation to run though since many races ban ipods.
3) We have an indoor track where I live, so I plan on running there once a week for speed work to beat an inclement weather.
4) Meet up with some running friends to run. Hubs and I often run together just for sheer convenience, so I may start heading out with a group of friends once a week to keep myself motivated.
5) This one is tougher. I am going to to try to do my weekday runs in the morning. Aron has been posting about her morning runs and I am starting to buy in to this a little. Not a morning person, but I can try! Yes I can!
6)Cross train. I love to swim, go to yoga, gym, boot camp, but when it gets to race season, I usually stop the cross training. Now is the time to bring it back.

I found this quote on inspirational quote that speaks of training in the off season:

A man should have any number of little aims about which he should be conscious and for which he should have names, but he should have neither name for, nor consciousness concerning, the main aim of his life.
Samuel Butler

Today I am running up to the Conservation area. The shine is shining after a few days of rain.

What could be better?

Enjoy your Sunday and Thanks for reading!

Race Goals and Other Misc Stuff

Not much new here. I still haven't run since my last post. I had a busy weekend. I felt under the weather on Friday, and then Hubs and I went up to visit his family in Parry Sound. I spent most of the weekend in the library and Starbucks working on a chemistry book I am writing. Thank goodness for Pumpkin Spice Lattes. They made the 14 hours I spent writing this weekend bearable. I had intended on running, but the combo of feeling sick and cold, wet weather, and the need to meet a deadline, halted any running. I think the rest may be good though, my legs feel ready to go today.

Fast forward to Monday. Loving sweet Hubs made a huge pot of vegetarian chilli that I had a generous serving of, washed it down with a coffee, and I will head out for a 14K jaunt as soon as I am done writing this post.

I went on the Philly site today and I saw the 12 days remaining on the clock, and I can't wait. I have been ponderering over possible goals for Philly, and although I haven't decided, here is a tenative plan.

A goal - sub 4:00 hours. I must admit I am hestitant to go for it, simply because I don't want to go out too fast and blow the race all together

B goal - sub 4:09:20. I would be very happy with this. I think I can meet this goal since I ran Hamilton in 4:09 after running Niagara the previous week.

C goal - sub 4:15. I would be dissapointed with this number, but its only a number, and still respectable, and I know I will still have a blast at the marathon.

D goal - finish


I will catch up will all of your blogs soon! (I know I am a little behind!) Thanks for reading!

Marathon Maniac?!?

Well my quads are still feeling slightly sore from Niagara, but here I am plotting my next adventure. I have already signed up for the Philadelphia Marathon on November23rd, and I can't wait to run it.

Having four weeks between now and then, it would be ideal to have another long run this weekend and then the usual three week taper. Hubs is running the Hamilton Marathon this weekend, and it is his third in a row. He belongs to the same Marathon Maniac club that Laura does.

Sooooo... since I would likely be running a 30+K (20 mile) run this weekend anyway, maybe I could run Hamilton as well and qualify for the Maniac club. Of course this idea does have the following

Concerns

1) I don't want to burn out for Philly. It is my main goal race for the fall running season, so I want to still be fresh and hungry for the race!

2) I don't want to get injured

3) My friends B-day is this weekend which could mean a late night Saturday.

Positives

1) I would have a long training run and complete my 10th marathon. I think it would be great prep for Philly.

2) I am curious to see how my body reacts to back to back marathons

3) I would become a Maniac!

So I need your help. What should I do? I am going to run tomorrow night to test the "post race" waters. If I do run Hamilton, I will likely aim for a slower race (4:30 ish), but then again you never know, so I should be prepared to stay out as long as needed. The body is capable of great things sometimes.

In the meantime, I have been making sure that I fully nourish my body with what it needs after a marathon for a proper recovery.

(And I don't really like beer either!)

Any suggestions are welcome. Thanks for reading.

Slow Recovery and Rethinking Goals

So after my full marathon this past Sunday, I decided to take a few days off to recover, and I tried to ice my left glute shin and calf to help repair some of the damage that a marathon brings.

Thursday Hubs and I participated in another bike/run time trial with the Nacho team up in Parry Sound. The bike was 16.2K this time, and I had a tough time with it being still depleted and sore from the marathon, so I decided not to run the 3K that went along with it. It is always fun to workout with this group.

Today I went for a nice 10K (6.2 miles) run along the Georgian Bay waterfront trail. It felt pretty good, although my soleus starting acting up during the last 3K. I was running a decent tempo and finished in 56:05, so I don't know if it was a good idea considering my injuries of late, but I felt like I needed to get some frustrations about recent racing results out.

I knew Quebec wasn't going to be PR for me, and I'm fine with how I ran, but I guess I feel a little down because I really hope to get a PR marathon soon. I know that nothing is guaranteed in marathon land, so I guess I just have to keep plugging away. I have trained hard, and will continue to do so. Sooner or later(hopefully sooner) it will happen. Does anyone else get this anxious? Maybe I should enter a shorter race to boost some confidence that I can do this!

I am registered for a full in Scotia, but I've decided if its not a cool temperature, I will just run the half. Is this a cop-out? Here is my reasoning: I already ran four hot races in a row (Ottawa, Jay, Creemore, and Quebec), with meh results, now I want to see what I can do in the ideal racing zone, 14-18C. Sometimes Scotia can be hot, but it is a flat course. I am also eying a few other races (Detroit, Niagra and Picton). I might make a move according to weather. This will also give my muscles more time to heal. There is of course also still Philadelphia. I feel like I'm all over the map!! I know we are told to pick one race and stick to it, but I like trying different events, and hey you get more than one shot. I think I went overboard this past spring, but I won't run a race without 4 weeks rest. There will be 5 between Quebec and Scotia, and 7 between Philly and Scotia.

I hope everyone enjoys their long weekend, and has some good workouts. It may be also a time to relax and recover before the Fall running season starts. Thanks for reading!

Random Ramblings

Random Rambling #1: White Water Rafting

Hubs and I had a fabulous weekend of white water rafting with a company called Wilderness Tours, located in the Ottawa area of Ontario. We went with a group of runners that call themselves the Riff Raff. They are a fun group, and we had an absolutely great weekend! Lots of laughs and good times. We did manage to get a 10K run in on the Sunday morning before we went white water rafting, but this week I need to get my butt into gear and put in some more miles and speed work.
While rafting with the group, I was thrown out of the raft in the largest rapid that we attempted that day called the Coliseum. Here is a video of what it was like (not our group)

Now we did not flip over, but when I was thrown out, I came up under the raft, came up again and was pulled back under, and finally came up and swam like mad back towards the raft. Before I made it back to the raft I had kicked my shin into a rock.




Had to show off my battle scar:) At first it was black and blue, but I iced it immediately, and yes I can run. Thank goodness. I also loved the adrenalin rush, :) No harm done, no worries.

Random Rambling #2: Yasso 800's: Week 6

Yesterday I completed week six of my Yasso 800 challenge, which was nine 800m repetitions, with equal rest in between. Here are the results:

Interval one: 3 minutes, 33 seconds
Interval two: 3 minutes: 35 seconds
Interval three: 3 minutes: 37 seconds
Interval four: 3 minutes: 39 seconds
Interval five: 3 minutes: 37 seconds
Interval six: 3 minutes: 39 seconds
Interval seven: 3 minutes: 35 seconds
Interval eight: 3 minutes: 39 seconds
Interval nine: 3 minutes: 38 seconds

After the third interval I made it my goal to complete every interval under 3:40, and it was tough, but I managed to squeak through. Next week is the last week of this series, so I will compare my averages, but I suspect that I have gottten faster, so regardless of whether or not Yasso's are a good marathon predictor, I have definately improved my conditioning.

Random Rambling #3: Upcoming Races

Earlier this summer I mused about what marathons I will run this fall, and I have decided on three plus another possible 50K. Yes, that means basically I will be running them all. LOL. Hey I couldn't decide and they are relatively far spaced apart.

Marathon one: Quebec City Marathon: August 24th.

I had to do this one, and thanks to whoever it was that suggested it. It is the 400th anniversary of Quebec City, the oldest city in North America, so this will be a special event, kinda of a once it a lifetime opportunity to attend. Although I am not a fan, Celine Dion, she will be preforming a free concert after the marathon.

Marathon two: Scotiabank Waterfron Marathon: September 28th.

I have run this marathon before, both as a half and a full, and its always a good run. It's flat, festive, close to home, and very well run. It can sometimes be hot, but its always fun, so I've decided to run it.

Marathon three: Philadelphia Marathon: November 23rd.

This will be the second time running this race, and I enjoyed it so much last year, I must come back for round two.

Possible Ultra: Haliburton Forest: September 6th.

This event will be challenging, but I would just run it for completion and not worry too much about speed. I really want to run another 50K trail race, but I may wait and see how I feel after Quebec for this one.

Notice the gap in October? Probably won't stay empty for long....

Random Rambling #4: Training Plan for this Week

Monday: 4K

Tuesday: Yasso 800's, 9 x800m, 13K

Wednesday: 20km bike, Yoga

Thursday: 34K

Friday: Rest

Saturday: 10K

Sunday: 30km bike, 6 km run

Have a great week and thanks for reading!