Countdown Challenge

I have not been setting monthly goals for the past few months.  I only had one long term goal, and that was to finish my marathon.  Now that that's done, it seems I'm a bit of a useless lump without goals to keep me motivated, and I'm not the only one!

Aneta at Confessions of a Rambunctious Runner and I decided to team up to challenge each other for November.  Aneta suggested we come up with 10 things we can work on in our work outs, with a twist.  For number 1 on the list, we have to do it once, for number 2, we do it twice, for number 3 we do it thrice (?), and so on.

I thought the idea sounded like fun and was excited to make my list, but coming up with a realistic one turned out to be a bit of a challenge in itself.  10+9+8+7+6+5+4+3+2+1=55 workouts!  There are just not that many days in November!  Not being big on strength training, (as in, I never do strength training), I decided I could start with 5-10 minute sessions for this month after my shorter runs.  The same could go for ab workouts.  These are things I know I should be doing, but never seem to have make time for.

Here's what I settled on:

10 - 5K runs
9 - Strength Training (5-10 minutes)
8 - Ab Workouts (5 - 10 minutes)
7 - Yoga Classes/DVDs (or other exercise videos)
6 - Nights in bed before 10:30
5 - 10K + runs
4 - 5 mile runs
3 - Hikes
2 - Aquafit Classes
1 - Personal Training session

Ok, I know going to bed before 10:30 isn't exactly a workout, but as it is getting colder, I'm finding going to my cold bed when I'm nice and toasty under a blanket on the couch is getting harder and harder.  This means I stay on the couch until I fall asleep, wake up and brush my teeth, go to bed and can't sleep and then have trouble getting out of bed in the morning, so I feel lazy all day, which means I don't want to workout.  It's a bit of a problem.

You might notice that while this list of ten addresses running and working out, it doesn't address the bad food habits I've been picking up (again) since my marathon.  So Aneta and I decided to make another list of 10 to address food.  Same rules apply - I can have 10 of number 10 on the list, but only 1 of number one on the list.  This was perhaps an even tougher list to make.  I know that I would like to never stop for fast food, but given the travelling I do for work, but I've made my list and I'm going to do my best to stick to it.

If you'd like to join in on this challenge, let Aneta or I know and we'll add you to our little tracking device we have on Google Documents.  I'll let you know how it goes at the end of the month!

Three Things Thursday

1.

Halloween is so much fun!  I'm not dressing up this year, I don't have children to dress up, and we live on a street without a lot of kids to come to trick or treat, but the BF and I are celebrating the "holiday" with Zombie movie week.  We've watched Zombieland, Dawn of the Dead, 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later.  28 Days Later is so disturbing, but those zombies can RUN!  What's your favourite spooky movie?

2.  I always neglect strength training in my workouts.  This is because I don't really know where to start, aside from sit ups and push ups and find all of the machines at the gym to be kinda intimidating.  I'm thinking about signing up for a session with a personal trainer.  It's a bit pricey, but I think it might be worth it as I use the gym a lot more in the winter.

3.   My yoga class on Monday was a bit of a dud.  Well, the class was ok, but I got some bad news right before I went and had trouble focussing on yoga and not letting my mind wander.  So this morning, I got out a yoga DVD that I used to do all the time but haven't done in ages because I got a bit tired of it.  Just like running a route that I haven't done in a long time, going back to this DVD after a long hiatus was great, familiar, but refreshing at the same time!

One good run.

One good run.  Sometimes that's all it takes to feel like you're getting back on track.
Like many others, I've been struggling to get back into the groove with my running and diet since completing my marathon.  I'd been out twice, totalling about 10K, but have been feeling little motivation to get out to run. 

This week, I made it a goal to run at least 3 times.  I didn't run Monday.  I didn't run Tuesday.  Today, it was dreary and damp.  Wah, wah, wah.  I decided to go to the gym and hit the treadmill for at least 3 slow miles.  After 1.5 miles, I went a little faster, then a little faster when I got to 2 miles.  At 3 miles, I wanted to up the speed a bit more, and decided to do another mile.  When I got to 4 miles, I decided it would feel great to run 5 miles, so I sped up a bit more and did it!

The good news is that I felt no pain in my hip during this run, and the weather is supposed to improve for tomorrow and Friday.

Oops...

Oh my.  I've done it.  I bought a box of these:

Last week.

It's almost gone.

And I still haven't bought myself any of these:

But I want some.

Number of weeks since marathon:  2.5

Number of runs since marathon:  2

Number of calories consumed:  ~2 billion

Percentage of calories coming from sugar:  ~98%

It was supposed to be a quiet week at work so I was supposed to do a lot of running, but it's not really working out that way.  Here's hoping I can get out there tomorrow for a solid run!

Ooo cha cha ow!

Finally, after 5 days of complete rest, and 5 days of "I'll start running again tomorrow," I went out yesterday afternoon for a slow 5K.  How could I not?  The sun was shining, the temperature was 16 *C (61*F), and there was a warm breeze in the air.  There aren't many days left like this in the year.

As soon as I had my running shoes on, I felt pain on the top of my right foot.  It felt like I had a bruise there, as if someone had stepped on the top of my foot.  Hard.  Wearing high heels.  I took my shoe off and rubbed my foot - no pain.  Shoe on - pain.  Weird.  I decided I would see how it was once I started running, and went down the driveway.

The pain in my foot continued while I walked towards the road, but disappeared immediately as soon as I started to run.  Well, not so much disappeared, but instantaneously jumped from my foot to my hip.  Ouch!

With every step there was a sharp, pointed pain in the back of my right hip/upper butt.  I walked a couple of steps and the pain jumped back to my foot.  I decided I would go one kilometer nice and slow and see if the pain went away as I loosened up.  It definitely faded, but took about 15 minutes before I didn't really feel it, and that was only when I went at a nice, slow pace, on flat.  On the downhills or if I picked up my pace at all, the pain came back.

I made it the full 5K and finished feeling good.  I stretched out and really focused on my glutes and lower back.  I felt fine for an hour or so, but then I went from downstairs to upstairs and by the top step I felt pain in the same place.  I remembered having this pain right after the marathon, but with my week plus of rest, hadn't felt it in a few days.  Over the course of the evening I was achey and it was hard to get comfortable to fall asleep last night.  I'm still achey this morning.

Any ideas what this could be?  My own internet self-diagnosis didn't turn up anything that sounded like the pain I felt, at least as a running injury.

Now What?

So, the marathon is over.  What now?  Well, for starters, I'm pretty sure my time is up on using, "I just ran a marathon," as my excuse to eat everything in sight. 

The day OF the marathon, I was all about healthy eating.  Cookies in the finishing chute?  No thank-you!  Since then, it has been a no holds barred, pig out fest.  An extra glass of wine at dinner?  Sure, why not?!  Donut for a mid-afternoon snack?  What the heck?!  Vietnamese coffee in the morning with sweetened condensed milk?  Give 'er!  I just ran a marathon! 

Now that over a week has passed, I'm fairly certain that the sluggishness I'm feeling is more a result of an enormous sugar crash rather than post-marathon exhaustion.  It certainly isn't because of any running I've been doing since the marathon!

My road back to healthy living started today.  Not with a run, but with a yoga class.  Options are limited for yoga in a small town, so I've been without yoga over the summer and early fall.  Classes at the rec centre started up again this morning.  I knew I was going to be stiff, so I took it fairly easy.  It felt great to get a good stretch in downward dog and to loosen up my back and shoulders. 

Tomorrow will be my first post-marathon run.  I know I'll take it nice and slow and will just do 5 easy kilometers around my neighbourhood.  But then what?  I know I don't stay motivated without a goal in mind, and with the weather getting cooler, I need as much external motivation as I can get.  There have been many springs and autumns in my past where I have decided to "take up running."  The past two summers, I've had success in sticking to a plan and running through the heat.  I cannot say the same for winter.

Last year, I ran through the spring and summer to train for my first half marathon.  Race day came, I ran, I was happy, and then I stopped.  I did not lace up my running shoes for over 3 months.  November was miserable, by December I was miserable, and through January I'm pretty sure I was making everyone around my miserable too.  February I started running and BINGO!  Happy Amy was back in town.  This year, I'd kinda like to skip the miserableness and just stick to the happy.

There aren't any races coming up in my area, and after the bundle I just spent in Victoria, travelling to another race is not in the budget for awhile.  I'm 225 miles away from hitting 1000 for the year, and since this wasn't a goal of mine in January, it seems silly (and a bit unrealistic) to make it a goal in October.  So, I've decided that by the end of December 2010, I'd like to be able to run 10K in under 50 minutes, and the half marathon distance in under 2 hours.  I think both are reasonable goals since my 10K time is 52 minutes, and my half time is 2:00:53.  Now I just have to get the times down without an actual race happening!  Hrm, Virtual Race, anyone?  I need a bit of time to get organized, but I'll host one once the snow is a'snowing!

The After

As soon as I crossed the finish line I was imediately in a daze.  Good thing there was nobody directly behind me because I'm pretty sure I just stopped for a full minute and didn't move until I saw someone coming towards me with orange slices.  I couldn't even focus enough to grab one, but in the back ground I saw the volunteers with the medals and that was something I could muster a little energy for!

I got my medal and almost started crying (again), but I think I was too dehydrated for my body to produce any actual tears.

Next up was the food table.  It actually all looked really disgusting.   I couldn't fathom the idea of eating, but forced down an orange slice and grabbed a Power Bar and a yogurt for later.

I kept shuffling forward and found a place to stretch out a bit.  I was completely disoriented and didn't know how to get to where I was meeting the BF, even though we'd picked a very obvious place in front of the provincial parliament building.

After a bit of stretching and a few moments of sitting down, I was able to negotiate my way through the crowds back to the lawn.  Turns out the BF had a hard time getting through the crowds too, so I was waiting for him for a few minutes and had some more time to stretch.

We sat on the lawn for a while watching the crowd and other runners come across the finish line before heading to our hotel.  With a few pics along the way:

After a shower and a little nap, we were off to drinks in the Bengal Room.  I'd been looking forward to my celebratory cocktail for a long time!

And then for dinner.  It was Canadian Thanksgiving, and this vegetarian decided if there was ever a day to justify eating meat, it was after running a marathon!  Besides, the 5 course meal featured local, pastured bison and free-run turkey.  Yum!  Don't forget the wine pairings...

The next day we slept in until the last possible second before checking out and going to catch the ferry back to the mainland. 

I was so-o-o-ore.  Lucky me, there was a 20 minute massage available on the ferry, and I jumped at it.  It helped a bit, but after sitting in the car for the 10 hour drive home, I was very stiff.  Tuesday I felt a bit better, and was not sore at all by Wednesday, but I've been dragging in the energy department all week.

I thought I might run today, but instead enjoyed a little extra free time this Saturday!

Amy Runs A Marathon

If you missed the drive, the expo, and the days leading up to the marathon, you can get caught up here.

After bringing just about every piece of running clothing that I own, I'd settled on shorts and my green tank which had been my outfit for most of my long runs during training.  I kept my throw away sweater on until the last moment and handed it to the BF.  It was 13*C (55*F), cloudy and breezy, but no rain.  I had two Gus in my pocket and 2 stuffed into my handheld.  I was ready.

The BF stayed with me right until the gun went off, and thank goodness - I was a pile of nerves and he was making me laugh with silly advice.  At the gun, he took this video:

The gun went off and it was a slow walk to the start.  Crossing the start line I felt really emotional and almost started to cry.  I couldn't believe I was doing this!  I managed to pull myself together and focused on the crowd, the scenery and my pace.  I had my iPod turned off because I figured the first few kilometers were going to be crowded, and I was right.  We started right behind the provinicial parliament buildings and did a loop around the block before heading down Government St in front of the famous Empress Hotel.

Source

Km 1 - 7

Just before we got to the hotel, I spotted the BF off to the side.  He missed me, but he got these photos of the start of the race:

I quickly realized that I'd put myself too far back.  I was slow, but not that slow, especially at the beginning.  Without being too aggressive, I slowly moved my way up as we ran up Wharf St. with views of the harbour and turned the first corner along Johnson to loop around downtown.  This was mostly slightly uphill, but I was feeling comfortable with my pace.

The first 3K went by quickly.  My plan was to run 3K, walk a minute for water, run 2K, walk a minute for water, run 2K, walk 2 minutes and take a gel and some water.  This is the way I'd done all of my long runs and I knew I could get to 30K fairly comfortably following this schedule.  After that, all bets were off, but at least I'd have the first 30K down.  After 3K I didn't feel like I needed a break and there was a downhill coming up, so I waited an extra 500 metres til the end of the downhill for my first walk break.  I didn't really want to walk for a full minute, but I wanted to stick to my plan.  After about 45 seconds I had to start running again.  I just couldn't help it!

Another 2K and we were in a residential neighbourhood.  There were lots of supporters out cheering, and one house had Chariots of Fire playing on a loud speaker!  After another 2K we were into a loop around Beacon Hill Park.  As I ran in, the leaders were heading out.  Man, they are fast!  At this point the road narrowed as runners were going in both directions.  I had planned on turning on my music at this point, but because it was still pretty crowded, I kept it off and just enjoyed the run and the comments from the sidelines.  There was a lot of crowd support through the park as the tail end of the half marathon was also looping through in the other direction. 

At 7K I took my first scheduled Gu.  My right shoe was too tight and my foot was falling asleep.  I've had problems with this in the past, and once I start getting that feeling it can be very persistant.  I quickly got off the road and loosened my laces.  Luckily, that solved the problem.

Kms 8-14

The next 3K I was feeling great.  We were coming along to the ocean front.  There was a wind, but it would gust up for a few moments and then die down, so it wasn't too much of a problem at this point.  We were running along Dallas Road - beautiful homes on the left, Ocean on the right.  It was cloudy, but still no rain.

At 10K it was time for another walk break, but I could see a bit of an uphill coming and decided to save the walk break til half way up the hill.  The road was wider again and the crowd was starting to spread out a bit, so I put my music on at this point.  1/4 done.  5 more kilometers and I'd see the BF for the first time.

At 10K, I checked my Garmin.  58:33.  I was going at a faster pace than I had planned, but I felt great.  I tried to slow my pace down a bit, but it was a struggle.  Every time I checked, I was going faster than I wanted to, and I'd slow down for a bit, but somehow I kept sneaking up to a faster pace again.

The course had a strict 5:30 cut off, so around here we started seeing the marathoners that had gone out at the early start at 6:30am.  My favourite was the guy with the "Screw Cancer" shirt.  Indeed!

Kms 15-21

The BF was waiting for me at the 15K corner as planned.  It was great to see a familiar face and smile!  He told me I was looking strong and snapped these pics:

Around this bend was a long, steady downhill.  At the bottom was a man in full kilt attire playing the bagpipes.  From there we were back along the water, and the wind was now gusting from behind.  It was around this point that I started feeling an achiness in my hips/glutes.  Nuts!  I wasn't even half way yet.  I was otherwise feeling strong, and stuck with my plan, run 3K, run 2K, run 2K with 1 minute, 1 minute, 2minute brisk walk breaks. 

It was around here that the leaders started passing in the other direction and there was lots of cheering.  I pretended everyone was just cheering for me and kept going.  I was still feeling good, but was looking forward to the walk breaks a bit more.

The sun was starting to come out, so it looked like we would be spared a downpour or even showers.  It was still windy, but not too bad on the residential streets.

The BF was there again just before the half way mark.  We'd found a spot where he could park and walk about a kilometer back and forth to see me at 15K, 20K, 27K and 32K on the out and back course.  He had a gel ready for me, but I didn't need it as I'd been able to pick up an extra one from an aid station.

At half way I checked my Garmin again. 2:02:06.  I knew I was still going too fast because at this point my pace was not far off my best half marathon pace and I knew I couldn't keep that going for the rest of the race.  I was still feeling the ache in my glutes, but it wasn't getting much worse (yet), but now my big toe was starting to hurt. 

This was new as I've never had a blister on my big toe before and wasn't expecting it.  There wasn't much I could do, so I tried to not pay it much attention as I went down another long downhill before the turnaround. 

Kms 22 - 30

My first 3 - 3K chunks had felt great, now it was starting to feel tough to go 3K without a walk break, even with the big downhill.  There were now lots of people going in the other direction and it felt like I would never get to the turnaround.  Even though I was past halfway, I wanted to be heading towards the finish line instead of away from it!

Now it was time to go back up that long downhill I just coasted down.  The glutes were telling me I couldn't do it.  I broke the hill into chunks and ran/walked it.  A lot of others were doing the same.  When I got to the top I stepped off the course to try to stretch for a couple of minutes. 

At 27K I passed the BF again.  This pic shows that I was starting to get a little wooky.

I stopped for a minute to stretch some more next to him.  He was worried that he wouldn't make it back to the finish if he met me again at the 32K mark as we planned.  I told him that I knew I would take longer to finish the last 10K, but he didn't think he'd be able to park and wanted to see me cross the finish line. 

The next 5K are a bit of a blur.  I was feeling really emotional again and almost started to cry.  My legs were fading, but I was still able to talk myself into sticking to my plan.  The bagpiper was there again.  I don't remember much else.

At 30K, I was still holding onto my overall pace.  30K split:  3:00:11

Kms 31 - 42.2

At 32K the BF was there again. 

It was great to see him again, but I was pretty distracted by something else:

Oh, hello Wall.  Nice to meet you.

Hrm, you are not very friendly.

It looks like you're going to be sticking with me for a while.  Let's make a deal:  Forget my 3K, 2K, 2K plan.  You let me run the downhills and the flat bits, and I walk up the hills.  Sound good?  Good.

Suddenly this "flat" course felt very hilly.  This course that seemed to only have 2 downhills on the way out seemed to have an awful lot of uphills on the way back.  I.  Was.  Dying.

I felt like I was shuffling more than running.  Every song on my iPod annoyed me more than motivated me.  The wind was now coming straight on and felt like it was pushing me backwards.  Even the crowd support started to get to me.  When someone yelled, "You're almost there!" with 8K to go, I wanted to strangle them.  8K seemed like forever.  But then there was 7K, then 6, and then 5K.

At some point I passed this guy who the BF had seen earlier on:

I heard somebody say that he walks the marathon every year in full army gear.

I had walked enough that my pace was way down, but I realized that if I could just keep running the flat parts, I could finish in under 4:30, something I had secretly hoped I could do, but had not even mentioned to anyone as I didn't think it was really possible.  After all, it was only a year ago that I ran my first half marathon in 2:25!

At 3K someone called out another, "You're almost there!"  And I knew I was.  I almost cried (again).  There was only one more little hill.  I wanted to walk so badly, but just kept running.  I wanted to finish knowing I'd given it everything I had.  I kept saying, I can do this.  I can do this, until it became, I'm doing this, I'm doing this.

1K left. 

800m.

A guy on a bike was calling out to the crowd to cheer more.  This was fine.  Then he started calling out to runners to run faster.  If I'd had an ounce more energy I might have pushed him right off his bike.  All I could do was focus on the next bend, then the next bend, then the next bend.

400m.  I could hear the finish line, but I couldn't see it.

200m.  The finish line was finally in sight.  I couldn't even look for the BF.  My eyes were focused on the finish line. I heard them announce my name, but I couldn't even raise my arms as I crossed the line.  I think I managed a smile.

Finish line pics coming soon....

What I did RIGHT:

• I carried my own handheld.  This let me take breaks when I wanted/needed to, and keep going through the water stations.
• I brought my own Gu.  There was only one aid station with PowerBar Gels in Vanilla (blech!) and Strawberry Banana and they were out of Strawberry Banana on my way back.
• I kept my music off for the first 10K. 
• I ran my own race.  There were people I passed and who passed me, but I didn't try to keep up with anyone.

What I would do differently next time:

• Not much in the race itself.  Maybe pass off the handheld for the final 10K?  Anything I would do differently would be during training - more strength training, one more long, long run, miss fewer runs, and not do a 3 hour hilly hike 7 days before the marathon!



The Before

The week before my marathon I was a bit of a mess.  I had 3 good runs to finish off my training schedule and felt good, healthy and mostly injury free, with just a little a little bit of shin pain, but I was not sleeping well, had stupidly scheduled an out of town meeting mid-week, and was going nuts packing and re-packing and worrying that I was forgetting something.

Thursday, I cut out coffee in the hopes that I would actually get a good night sleep.  After my final run, I did a final review of my suitcase.  Garmin?  Check.  iPod?  Check.  Chargers?  Check.  Shoes?  Check.  In the end I threw in just about every combo of running clothes I could think of - shorts, shorter shorts, capris, tights, tank, tee, long sleeve, jacket, throw away sweater.  I also needed clothes for our post-race celebratory dinner/Thanksgiving feast at the Empress Hotel, and all the other things you need for a weekend away.

I got to bed early on Thursday and actually got a good night's sleep, but the alarm went off way too early on Friday morning.  The BF and I both took the day off work so we could get the drive done Friday and would have Saturday to relax in Victoria.  I am so glad we did this.  With the long weekend, plus marathon traffic, plus ferry crossing, plus dropping the dog off with the BF's sister in Kamloops, it was going to be a long day.

We were listening to CBC the whole way and catching the weather updates.  As the day went on, the forecast for Sunday was going from bad to worse.  Windy and showers went to wind storm and down pour.  Ugh.

14 hours after leaving home, we pulled into our hotel just outside of downtown Victoria.  I'd left booking a hotel until way too late and couldn't get anything right downtown.  While it would have been nice to be closer to restaurants, and the starting line, it was nice to be at a quieter hotel in a nicer room for our budget.  We had a kitchenette in the room, which was a great bonus for race day.

After such a long day of driving, sleeping on Friday night wasn't a problem.  Saturday we slept in before going out for a big carby breakfast and heading downtown to the race expo.  Everything went smoothly at package pickup.  I was glad to have done the BMO Vancouver Half Marathon to know the drill for big races.  The expo was a bit smaller, but we had a look around and after doing a lap of all of the booths (and numerous blog contest entries in the past) I decided on picking up a pair of CEP compression socks and put them on right away.

We strolled around the harbour and downtown, until I realized that I probably shouldn't be spending quite so much time on my feet and we hopped in the car to drive the course.  I'm glad that we took a ride along the route the day before.  I'd been told that the course was very flat, but then was told by another runner that it wasn't as flat as she thought it would be.  I wanted to know what I was in for.  The verdict:  Definitely not flat, but no giant, steep hills.  At least, it didn't seem that way from the comfort of a vehicle!

Next up:  Dinner time!  Who knew it would be so hard to find a nice, plain pasta dish?!  I don't (usually) eat meat, and when they weren't talking about the weather on CBC, they were talking about underreported cases of listeriosis in seafood, so all I wanted was pasta and veggies.  It was not meant to be.  I ended up with a fresh salmon filet, with parsnips and kale, and loaded up on bread.  I was feeling very nervous and had a small glass of wine with dinner to help me to sleep.

I had my race bib on my shirt and chip on my shoe the night before, and was as packed as possible as we were switching hotels for our final night.

I fell to sleep easily, but woke up almost every hour on the hour until the alarm went off at 6:15am.  I was up and dressed quickly, then made myself a small cup of coffee and toasted a bagel and peanut butter to bring with me.  We were going to have to park about 2K from the starting line so that the BF could drive around to different points on the course after teh start, so I wanted to give us lots of time.  I ate my bagel on the way and had to choke it down.  I have a hard time eating when I'm stressed or nervous, but I knew I had to get it down.  As we pulled towards our parking lot, the half marathoners were coming up the road.  We walked towards the start line as the runners ran in the other direction and cheered them on.

My stomach was feeling kinda funky so I beelined to the porta potties.  The 8K runners were just finishing so we spent some time going back and forth watching the finish and lining up for the porta potties.  The first half marathoners crossed the line, one final stop at the porta potties and my stomach finally seemed settled just in time to line up at the start line.

I have to admit, at the starting line my confidence was very low.  I'd had a tough final long run, then missed two runs in the first week of tapering.  Though my stomach was feeling better, having had an upset stomach all morning had me worried that this was a sign of things to come.  I put myself near the back of the 4:30 group, and just hoped that I would start feeling better once I started running.

There was a big cheer about 5 minutes before the gun, and I figured out later that that was for the wheelchair marathoners.  There were 4 wheelchair athletes competing in the marathon.

The BF snapped this photo right before the gun.  Could I look any more tense?

What I did right:

• Drove down 2 days before
• Packed healthy snacks for the drive so I wasn't eating gas station snacks
• Drove the course
• Booked a quiet hotel with a kitchenette
• Had my outfit and everything I needed for the morning laid out the night before
• Wore compression socks the day before.  Shin pain - Eliminated

What I would do differently next time:

• Make a ferry reservation in advance
• Research restaurants for a pre-race dinner in advance (I had planned to do this but ran out of time).
• Eat more than one bagel with peanut butter the morning of the race
• Hydrate better the week before the race.

UP NEXT:  The Race Report!



Finished!

4:20:30

Race report coming soon!

Next Stop: Victoria

I finished my last training run tonight.  Just a nice and easy 3K.  I went out on the route that I used to do when I was just starting to get back into running a year and a half ago.  This route used to take me a full 30 minutes of running with a good deal of walking.  There's a hill on this route that used to be excruciating, and it seemed like such a victory the first time I ran up the whole thing.  I have definitely come a long way.  I feel ready.

I've had great runs this week.  On Tuesday, my iPod battery was dead so I talked to myself through an entire 5K.  It sounds a little coo-coo, but it was one of my best runs ever in terms of how I felt at the end.  I told myself, "I can do this.  I have trained for this.  I am ready.  I am strong.  I am tough.  I flew to freakin' China on a one way ticket by myself.  I can finish this marathon..."  I've never really been into affirmations, but after that run, I think I might start doing them more often!

My run on Wednesday was almost as good.  I went out with one of the young volunteers that I work with.  Unlike last time I tried running with an 18 year old guy, he stayed with me and we chatted the entire time.  I've been feeling a little frustrated with work lately, but after our run I remembered why I do what I do.  It's worth the frustration.

I'm hoping to catch a not so late ferry to Victoria tomorrow to have as relaxing a day as possible on Saturday.  The weather report keeps changing so I'm bringing my favourite shorts, capris and pants, as well as a tank, long sleeve and throw away jacket.  I've got my Garmin and iPod charged, but I'm bringing the chargers, just in case.  I'm even bringing an extra pair of running shoes.  I'm sure I'm forgetting something.  Right.  Must remember to breathe.

Thanks for all the tips and well wishes!

I can do this.

Lesson Learned

I've been doing some thinking since my 10K this past weekend.  I definitely learned/confirmed a few things:

1.  I like to be on time arrive early for races.  By the time I got to the starting area on Sunday morning, it was 8:55, and I still didn't have my bib pinned to my shirt or my chip tied to my shoe.  Good thing I knew some people at the start line!  It was so cold that I couldn't fasten the chip with my fingers so I had to recruit some help.  No time for the porta potties.  This Sunday, I will be at the race at least half an hour before the gun!

2.  I like to be comfortably cool while running.  Now that this beautiful fall weather is here, there's no reason to be sweating buckets at kilometer 3....unless you're overdressed.  I pulled out a long sleeve on Sunday morning, but wished I'd been in a t-shirt very quickly.  I'll be stopping at Value Village for a throw away jacket to wear at the start line and not long after for this Sunday.

3.  I like my handheld.  I wasn't sure if I wanted to carry my handheld during my marathon, so this past Sunday, I went without.  Aside from the fact that I knew the volunteers at the water stations, I'd have preferred to keep on running and drink when I need to, not when I have to because the next water stop is another 3K away.  I think I'll carry it for the first half and then maybe pass it off to the BF near the turn around.  I've had it on all of my long training runs and feel comfortable with it.

4.  I like my music, but I like my quiet time too.  On Sunday I kept my iPod off until the first water station.  This helped me keep my cool at the start line and kept me from getting caught up with those sprinting off at a much faster pace than I would be able to hold.  Once I found my groove, I put the music on.  I think I'll run in silence out of the start line on Sunday when I'll be stuck in the crowds, and want to soak it all in.  You only run your first marathon once!  I'll have my iPod charged and ready for when I need it.

5.  I like to be prepared.  Though I was up early on Sunday, I was in a mad dash to get out of the house because I had not got myself organized the night before as I usually would before a race.  Because I'll be out of town for my marathon, I'm going to pack tomorrow so I can review my packing again before leaving.  This will give me 24 hours to realize if I'm forgetting something.  (I'm really nervous I'm going to forget something!)

6.  I like being congratulated after a race.  On Sunday, I got home from my race and told the non-runner BF my time.  His response:  "Isn't that slow?"  As if!  We have since reviewed appropriate and inappropriate things to say to me when I tell him my time.  I think he'll do better this Sunday!

7.  I like Gatorade, but not Red.

8.  I like seeing friendly faces along the course.  At the 10K, I knew many runners, walkers and volunteers, so it was great to see smiling familiar faces throughout the race and feel like I had my own personal cheering stations at the water stops.  Being that my marathon is in Victoria and I'm neither from there nor live there, I don't expect to see many familiar faces along the way.  BUT, the BF still has that comment to make up for so I think it's reasonable to expect him to pop up along the sidelines every 10K or so!

It is 5 more sleeps until the marathon, but I'm leaving on Friday morning - any last minute tips on things to bring/do before the race?

Women's Fall Challenge

Did I mention I was running a race today?

I think I might have slipped it in somewhere in a past post, but I definitely didn't do a pre-race post, mostly because to be honest, I wasn't thinking too much about this race beforehand.

It's no secret that my "big event" is next weekend at the Victoria Marathon, but I was looking forward to participating in the Quesnel Women's Fall Challenge this year.  I ran my first half marathon (and first real race outside of high school) at this event last year and loved it.  As the name suggests, it's an all female race, and they offer 5 and 10K walk/run and a 1/2 marathon.  I would have loved to do the half marathon again on the same course as I know I'd show a big improvement in time and placing (as in, not last) this year, but that would have to wait as I didn't think a half the week before my first full marathon was a good idea.

I signed up for the 10K thinking it would be a training run.  My original plan when I signed up was to take it nice and easy and finish around 60 minutes and be happy with that.  I've never run a 10K race before, so any time would be a PR.

As the race neared, I started reading more and more articles about tapering, intensity and the week before the marathon, and I wondered if maybe I was selling myself short by not going for it in this race.  I still didn't give it too much thought, but as of yesterday I was planning to run nice and easy for the first 5K and then try doing progressively faster splits to the finish.

Plans, schmans.

This morning, despite getting up early, I was late leaving the house.  Thank goodness the BF's parents live 1K from the start line because their were cars parked all the way back there and beyond, so I pulled into their driveway and did a warm up run to the start line.  I had just enough time to get my bib pinned on and my chip on my shoe and wiggle up past the walkers before the gun went off.

The gun sounded and I was quickly over the mats and started my Garmin.  Unfortunately I must have double-hit the button because about 250m in when I glanced down it said I'd gone 2m, so I never really knew my time until the end of the race and will never know my actual splits.  At this point I was still thinking I would take it easy so I tried not to get caught up with the speedsters.  I also knew that some of these runners were only doing 5K and I didn't want to try to keep up with them. 

Then I got cut off.  2 women running a pace slightly faster than mine, passed me then quickly tucked in in front of me.  So quickly, I almost stepped on one of their heels!  We were running on a wide road and there was plenty of room and no need for this.  I knew it hadn't been intentional, but at that moment, it was enough to get me a little fired up.

Forget this nice and easy business, I was going to race this thing!

Absolute highlight of the race came around 1.5K.  A dad and 3 kids, probably 2, 3 and 4 years old were out cheering on the runners.  "Go ladies, go!"  It was too cute!  They all got high fives and cheers from me!  I've been smiling about them all day.

Then I just started picking people off.  Nothing crazy, but I steadily moved up.  The volunteers at the first water station were some of the youth I work with.  It was great hearing them cheer for me as I ran down the hill to their stop.  I passed a bunch of people, grabbed water, walked until the last person I had passed, caught up and started running again.  (I hate when people do this to me!)

This was also the 5K turn around point, so I knew the rest of the women on the course were either doing the 10K or the half.

It had been cool at the start line but at this point we were in full sun and I was regretting wearing a long sleeve even though the forecast was only 7*C.  Luckily, we rounded a bend into the shade.  I continued to narrow the gap between myself and who ever was infront of me until I passed them.  Narrow the gap, pass, repeat.

As I approached the 5K point and the turnaround, the leaders were heading back.  Every single one greeted the other runners as we passed.  I wasn't that far from the front.

At 5K was another water station with more of the youth that I work with.  They cheered for me again and passed me a gatorade.  I couldn't bare to litter my cup in front of these girls, and there was only one bin in an awkward spot past the turnaround, so I lost a couple of seconds there, but didn't stop to walk and just kept running.  Narrow the gap, pass repeat.

I don't know if it was the Gatorade or the effort I was putting in, but I started to feel a bit sick around the 6K mark so I slowed my pace a bit for about a km, down one hill and up another.  Then it was down another hill to the first and last water stop and this time the girls there were spelling out a giant (backwards) Amy with their bodies.  The cute kids from the start of the race had moved over to the water station and were still yelling, Go Ladies Go!  More high fives, more water and a quick 10s walk break up the steepest section of hill.

Now we were dodging walkers going in both directions, but I had my sights set on the back of a woman in front of me.  She was way ahead and had been for ages.  I just kept telling myself to narrow the gap.  With 2K left, the course was mainly down hill and flat.  I picked it up, but never caught up to anyone else, though I got close.

Walkers were taking up most of the road in the last kilometer, and the road wasn't closed, but drivers were being good about letting us by.  I think I probably had a look on my face that told drivers they didn't want to mess with me.  :)


Less than a hundred meters from the finish, a woman came out of nowhere to pass me.  She stopped me after the race to say thank you as she'd been trying to catch me since the last turn a kilometer back.  I thanked her too because she pushed me to really sprint at the end.

The guys clipping the chips were more of the youth I work with, so I got another big cheer as I crossed the finish line.

Clock time 52:01

Chip time 51:51

Overall finish: 14/109

Age group finish:  4/30

Soooo close to a medal!

In any other race it would be easy to get frustrated with those walking and taking up the entire width of the road, but it was impossible to get annoyed or angry today. This is a really special event where everyone is so encouraging. Everyone is cheering on everyone. A group of young girls walking arm in arm with butterfly wings (who danced to the finish) cheered every single person that passed them. A lot of the other runners and walkers were women I know, either personnally, or just from around town at the bank, the grocery store, the gym. If you want to feel community, this is it.

I am really happy with my time.  Although I play around with my pace on runs, I haven't done a lot of speedwork as I've gotten closer to the marathon.  This is actually my best pace ever on any run of any length! 

I learned a lot from this race too - but more on that in my next post.