Oh, the eve of my 30th birthday.
I think your 20's gives you a lot of leeway. "Oh, they're only in their 20's". As in, you really don't need a grip on the world until you're in your 30's. Or maybe that's for your 40's. Maybe there is the benefit that (hopefully) you've figured out what you want to do and you're doing it, and you no longer have to wrestle with that decision. I can say I've accomplished that, although I have temporarily put it on hold and created a fantasy job - which really is a great way to celebrate my 30th birthday. I am doing exactly what I want.
I'm a pretty lucky person and very fortunate to have great support all around me.
My life is fairly day to day - it works for me. I have longer term projections of what I want, but I seem to operate best on a 'what do I have to do today' schedule right now. I'm not a super simple person but I like to simply things. That's how I get stuff done. Every once in a while though, I've thought back on all the things I've done to get to this point - things you sort of forget and sweep into the back of your mind. They've all helped me get to this point where I am now. So, on this last day of my 20's (all those in your 30's and beyond are rolling your eyes, I know) I wanted to write a list - 29 things I am proud of doing or want to do and be proud of. I don't think I can ever do this again because 29 things seem daunting and really, fairly egotistical, but I am going to give it a shot.
29 things:
1. The first thing that comes to mind is agreeing to play on the grade 10 girls basketball team. I am really no good at basketball, but I was fit and the coach just wanted me to run up and down the court. This was hard for me b/c I was relatively good at most sports. I did lay-ups so hard that the basketball would rocket back onto our side of the court. But, I hung in there and ran back and got my own rebounds. I think my Dad laughed (kindly) at me while other girls got mad when I got away with errors such as double dribbling, etc. I hung in there and I finished the season and never played again.
2. Learn to swim. I loved the water as a kid and was very proud of my ability to tolerate cold west coast ocean temps. But I couldn't put my head in and swim a length to save my life. So in 2009, when the weather was awful and I was sick of running in it, I went to the pool and started to teach myself to swim. I remember the glorious day I could swim 200 continuous metres. At the time I started swimming I had no goals of doing a triathlon whatsoever. This skill would come in handy though, when I decided I wanted to.
3. Do a triathlon. This is something I never thought I could do. With many thanks to my friends and especially my friend Blair, we decided to do our first 1/2 Ironman together. I had no plans on doing anything shorter than this as a first race because I knew my swim was so weak that any shorter race would really showcase my discrepancies. Plus, I had done marathons and wasn't afraid of an endurance race. While I had a panic attack in my first lap, then promptly swam WAY off course on my 2nd lap (when the kayaker asked me if I wanted to finish the race there was a moment of doubt...), I still slugged it out and came back and tore up the course to finish my first triathlon in under 6 hours. I had never been so happy to get on a bike in my life.
4. The first day I realized I had run a half marathon while training for a full marathon. I know exactly where I turned around and thought to myself, "I just ran a half marathon". My confidence level sky-rocketed. I still have never had that proud of a training moment to this day.
5. Ok, a break from sports. I really am proud to be a physio. While doing my first degree in university, I did think about physio (mostly b/c I was at the physio so much), but I never thought I would be smart enough to become one.
6. Try out for the girls BC provincial soccer team in high school. And not make it. We played in snow and it was awful. I tried my hardest every day. As a defender, I generally ended up marking Christine Sinclair - tough gig. But the point was I tried and never gave up.
7. But I did make the women's varsity soccer team at Dalhousie and we won CIS gold. Pretty awesome. I never told anyone I was trying out because I didn't think I would make it. I told my parents about 2-3 weeks after I made the team, just to be sure I was still actually on it.
8. I moved across the country to go to school without a thought of insecurity whatsoever. It just seemed like the right thing to do. Now I realize not everyone does this.
9. My first marathon. The now defunct Country Roads Marathon in the Comox Valley. I really don't think I had any idea what I was doing (run from the start line to the finish line was my plan). I won my age group - there were 2 people in it. Someone told me that was a Boston qualifier and I had no idea what they were talking about.
10. The Boston Marathon. Once I realized what it was, and to not take for granted that I had a qualifying time, I went. I was very, very proud of myself running down the final stretch and that was the first time I had to hold back tears after crossing the finish line.
11. Finishing 4th in a BC provincial beach volleyball tournament. My partner and I were not nearly as skilled as the other players, but we were smarter and we were fitter. And I do believe we had more fun.
12. Putting a lot of my insecurities about myself to rest. You're ugly, wear make up, you're fat, lose weight, you're not good enough, try harder. These truly were horrible thoughts and I am so glad I've decided to stop thinking those things. (Now I have to convince myself things like, "you really should shower" or "maybe try not wearing sweatpants today"....I think these are healthier thoughts). Being a teenager really did have it's horrible moments and no matter how many good things you have going for you, you can really lose sight of the important things. It's such a waste of time, but it's so gripping when it's got you. Even now when I'm at the pool drying my hair I watch women stare into the mirror and touch their face, look at their butt, change their hair. They waste so much time looking at the mirror and come away looking no different.
13. Taking a sabbatical for a year to train full time and see what potential I have as an athlete. It really is a dream but a lot of things had to fall into place for this to be able to occur. There is a lot of balancing and a lot of support I am truly grateful for.
14. Completing an Ironman at Ironman Canada. I had a great time (literally and figuratively). I remember while I was running back along the lake, about 10 hours into the race, I thought to myself that I didn't want this to be over. That's when I figured out maybe I was good at this.
15. It was only recently that I realized I really liked writing. I liked writing in elementary and high school but had seemed to forget about it. Only through this blog did I start to remember that I really take pride in writing things I would want to read again, sometime down the road. And if other people like it too, that's a bonus.
16. Sticking to a core strengthening plan. That has taken me YEARS to adhere to. I loved running but did not love planks and push ups. Now I finally do them regularly and it makes a world of difference to my strength and endurance as an athlete - my mood too, as an uninjured athlete is a much happier athlete to be around.
17. Doing a 12 hour endurance race around Mt. Uniacke in Nova Scotia. I suppose this was my first endurance race, and it was a tricky orienteering course, with run, bike and paddle sections. I did it with Marieke and Cori and some guy (usefully his name is forgotten because he got us lost on the trails, but was sure he was right and wouldn't trust girls - tool). I initially had passed on the race after acquiring a whopping case of mono and having splenomegaly (love that word), but someone dropped out and I really wanted to do it. Most memorable moments were when I decided to lead the group and jumped headlong into a bog, getting (I counted) over 100 mosqutio bites, being pulled in the canoe b/c Marieke and I were such weak paddlers, getting lost on our bikes (we were on track to win the race!), carrying them over a mountain, me crying because I was so exhausted, and having to radio for rescue b/c we were truly lost. And it still didn't matter that we didn't win, it was great.
18. Somehow I managed to get above the national average on my board exams for physiotherapy - I thought that was pretty cool.
19. Snow to surf - I was so proud of our team for finishing (and winning our category!). Every person on that team had a story to tell. Poor Tim and his slashed up hands from ice, poor me for deciding to stupidly run 17km down Mt. Washington (NEVER again), Gord for tearing up the bike and then having to wait quite impatiently for us to get the kayak to him, Shawn for crashing some superstar girl biker, my Dad for running in a full mustang life jacket and holey soles to the canoe, and Linda for running past the bell at the finish line (in her defence, she said the last time she did the race the bell was further along the finish line). We won chocolate and beer mugs. Awesome.
20. Being one tough soccer player.
Ok, I'm just feeling so much pride - time to switch to a few things I want to be proud of.
21. I would like to run a sub 3 hr marathon. I'm told I can do it. If you had asked me 6 months ago, what would be the single greatest achievement I could dream of in running I would have said a sub 3 hr marathon. As training goes along and you get faster, sometimes you lose sight of what you dreamed about before hand. I will try not to forget this if I get past the finish line in less than 3 hrs.
22. I would like to qualify for the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii. At some point. And hopefully that point is this year.
23. I would like to run the New York City Marathon, and run it well. It looks so cool.
24. Be on the cover of a Wheaties Box? Haha, just kidding.
25. Enter a bike race, and probably get schooled. I don't mind.
26. Enter a swim race, preferably open water, and definitely get schooled. Fine with that.
27. Read more books that don't have the title "It's not about the bike" or "Once a runner".
28. Take more pictures when I'm training - I get to see this big beautiful world everyday and writing about it is great, but so are pictures to give it more depth.
29. Confidence. Have it. Use it. Fake it. Be it. Do it. I think the rest will fall into place if this is paramount.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Friday, March 4, 2011
epic procrastination series #3
Click on the link here The fight continues ... to see the latest in my procrastination efforts. Really time to workout now....
Monday, February 14, 2011
First Half 1/2 Marathon Race Report
Finally, a day I can feel not guilty about sitting on the couch and writing a race report. I have very little motivation to get out in the rain today. It just seems unbelievable that we had miraculous weather for the First Half 1/2 marathon, bookended by deluges. So lucky!
After sitting on the couch, watching puddles fill up on Saturday afternoon, glimmers of hope started to peek through the sky around 5pm. I'm sure I wasn't the only person with an eye on the weather - perhaps the power of positive thinking in about 2000 people can actually make the weather cooperate.
As the alarm went off at 6am the next morning, I always try to put it in perspective by telling myself this really isn't early, remember how early you had to wake up for Ironman....and then that makes me feel better. I looked out to a dry sky (yes!) and managed to force down the usual rice cereal with bananas.
7am was pick up time, thanks to Sue and her wonderful car with seat heaters, and after picking up Steph we were a full car load of girls ready to run! We met up with our fellow runners down at the Roundhouse and definitely got an appreciation for how busy this race venue was. After running some smaller 5 and 8k's, there was a bit more going on down at the Roundhouse. We did our warm up along the seawall and started to get sun in our eyes - that is just the sweetest thing when you've been hoping for it.
To my surprise, after picking up my race # on Friday, I got an email saying I had a seeded number - and then I worried that someone had made a mistake - I didn't apply as an elite as their standards are sub 1:20, and my previous 1/2 marathon PR was 1:31, although some of my other race times have a more accurate prediction of my 1/2 time. So I just sort of laughed, and decided to be happy to have a seeded number (with hopes that we'd be able to start at the front of the pack), and tried not to feel like a fraud.
With warm up done and the porta-potty line up contended with, it was line up time, and yes, my little number got me up to the front and I got to take a look around at the other runners I was running with - eek! I knew some of them by name, some of them by face, some of them were friends, but I didn't actually feel like I belonged there. Mind you, there were 199 elite numbers from what appeared to be varying ages, so I didn't feel like I was going to get mowed over right away.
So enough pre-amble, here's the real scoop on how this great race went:
In the corral, my first race strategy thought was, "See that woman? She is the 2010 100km World champion. Don't ever, ever pass her". She was also the eventual winner of the race. I made the right choice.
The gun went off with a deafening bang-bang, and we were off!
I am a runner that relies on feel and lap splits. I don't own a Garmin. So when the first mile marker was off (it had to be) it was a little discouraging but I just waited for the next one and would try to do the division (math skills are very sub par when I am running, especially in the latter stages of the race so this is often not a great strategy for me). Finally after a few miles I started to get some reasonable numbers, although they were faster than planned, I couldn't undo them, so I just continued on and kept my effort in check. And honestly, don't tell me to get a Garmin because you guys are always checking satellites and telling me your watches are "off" :)
I always end up running part of the race with Shark Fin guy. If you know who I mean, and you've run with him, you realize he's definitely a fan favourite. So running the downtown loop and then out to second beach, shark fin guy and untied shoelaces guy were getting a lot of comments (argh! shoelaces - so stressful - I was worried I would have to hurdle over another faller circa Steveston Icebreaker start line....). And then each and every runner who came up on him had to tell him his shoelaces were untied. I'm sure he knew. I didn't bother saying anything but it was getting really annoying so I really had to pass him and get away. I come from the school of tuck your dangly laces back underneath your criss-crossed laces strategy, and I've never had them come undone after that. So thanks to Jerry for that, and I encourage other people to do the same. If you need help with tying your shoes, please read this :)
This course is truly scenic. It was really fun to do a loop downtown and then cruise out to Stanley Park. It's hard to see who's up ahead of you, as they wind in and out of the park's curves, you get a glimpse of a shirt colour, a running style, but sometimes it's hard to tell. Eventually the leaders are just plain out of sight (I guess that's what happens when course records are broken), and eventually, the people are so small it's hard to tell men from women, so it's hard to tell placing. And there is no turn around, no place where you meet other runners face to face and get to count numbers. In a way though, I think that's also nice, it makes for a simpler strategy - just RUN.
There are, of course, people around you that you get to run with, and this year being able to start up front, there were more people at my speed and not a lot of people to pass you or for you to pass. So I happily locked into a comfortably challenging pace with eventual AG winner Teresa, whom I've recognized from lots of previous races, as we seem to run around the same times, and we ran pretty smoothly all around the seawall. Eventually we had another girl to run with, and I tried my best to not let her gap me too much and kept reeling her in, trading places for lead, and continually trading spots. I think in races past I've tended to just let people go past me without a challenge, and although I know I don't want to be blowing up on a few surges, I think it helps motivate you to stick on someone and not let them get away (even if they do blow you away after coming out of that Second Beach hill - congrats to her for having strength there and using it!). I have to say, I have often found myself in no man's land (or no woman's land) without any girls to run with - and I find it's really motivating to have a pack of women to stick with, so this was a nice change from other races where I'm too far behind or ahead to have someone to run with.
So we traded and raced and stuck together as a pack for the majority of the race, with some stringing out around Lost Lagoon. Now it's a beautiful spot, and then sun was shining and you couldn't ask for anything more, but I was starting to feel a little breakdown in form and mental capacity at this point. So much of racing is mental - it never fails to surprise me. But what can you do? You have to match up your brain to your legs, and in my case, I know my legs can be more consistent and reliable than my brain, so I did my best to just keep turnover going and try to ignore some of those thoughts that make you not believe in yourself. Try not to waste energy by letting your current thoughts dictate leg speed, placement, letting go of the people you're running with and fooling yourself into believing you're the ONLY person that feels this way. Not a chance. But you have to believe in yourself.
Making it out of Lost Lagoon and back to Second Beach, I did finally get dropped after going up the bike bath hill. Yuck. I definitely needed a minute to recompose and not let myself fly over the lactate threshold plank of death. And that girl had gears to go! It was impressive. So up the hill and immediately back down to the seawall (really the first hill on the course) and then a jaunt back along the seawall and some gravel patches (which actually really felt great at this point because I felt like it was a nice respite from pounding pavement) and then up the second hill, which really seemed mean - the next bike hill path off the seawall to Pacific.
Man. I think that was it for me. Getting up that hill, and then having to continue onto Beach ave, this is where I started to struggle. I had recovered from hill #1, but this one was tougher. So, it was the end of strategy and it was put my head down time. It was my only intention in this race to run a sub 1:25 for a time standard (and if I beat someone along the way, that was icing on the cake). So when fast girl's teammate came through with a great pace past me, I just had to have confidence in my own pace and make my own way to the finish line. Legs were starting to feel it, and I wasn't about to start doubting myself, so I just put my brain into a "time-out" (yes, I have time-outs while racing) and told myself my only job is to move forward and don't slow down.
Then hill #3 up underneath the Granville Bridge. Wicked - and these are the times my brain just repeats, "Everyone has got to do this, nobody is liking this hill right now, everybody hurts"....and even if it sounds cheesy, I believe it (and speaking to people after, it does appear to be true), but taking yourself out of singular pity and turning it into the collective, seems to make things more fair. Who hasn't gone to bonktown....honestly.
What I wished I had at this point was an ability to pick up my stride and get my legs going downhill as reward for the hill that we had just climbed but I couldn't. It was odd not to be able to just get that nice lean and feel a bit of quickness come back, but you get what you get on race day and you have to deal with it and make the best out of your situation The slip n' slide would have been a nice touch here.
Like the mile markers that I had a difficult time following (especially as I'm used to and associate better with kms), you have to problem solve on your feet - literally. And that comes with practice and I think that is one of the reasons experienced and masters athletes continue to school younger athletes. Experience rules. You have to reassess and adapt. You can't be a square peg trying to fit in a round hole the entire race. Although running is quite mechanical and mathematical, there is also quite an art to it, and there are a lot of emotions too. Managing a race is like conducting a small orchestra - and you're still hoping someone will clap for you at the end.
I finished the race with quite a big smile on my face, not really because of my time, but because I got absolutely blown away by a gentleman who made a sprint I wouldn't think was possible at the end of a half marathon - but good for him. He may not have liked my shirt - You just got chicked - but hey, I think you have to have a sense of humour in the sometimes over the top serious world of road racing - Shark Fin guy's got one anyway! So I laughed, and I really was happy, and in the end, I ended up with a great time for me - 1:23:04 - which is a greater than 8 min PB for me, and almost 1 and a 1/2 min faster than I had planned.
I also ended up 6th for women, and won my age group of F25-29 (my last race as a 29 year old :) - so I was really happy. Too bad I couldn't come in the top 5, but the girls that beat me to it ran a great race and hats off to them. I achieved better than my goal so I have no complaints! The race organizers really put on a remarkably well organized race (however mile markers could be improved....) and beautiful course with a great warm dry place to change and so many goodies to eat (although my stomach said noooo....which is always sad!).
Our group slowly collected themselves and everyone got to check in and see how people did - there is always a mix of happiness and disappointment, and the beauty of the group is that it lends a bigger story, a greater context, so whether you were happy or not, you can't help but be inspired by the people you run with. We've all been through ups and downs and it's so nice when people are there for you at the end.
And I swear, the only time it seemed to sprinkle was when we were inside trying to win draw prizes (which we did not) and then it broke into sun again on the way home. And now today it's gross again. I just can't believe our luck. So, it's not so hard to chill on the couch today, but I will, eventually get off my butt, get on the bike for a bit, and eventually head to the pool for a swim/run (or float on pool noodle if all else fails). It's now marathon training season! Yahoo! It's very exciting to start thinking about the full distance which I am planning on for May. Triathlons training continues on, but specific marathon training becomes a focus. Running speedy 5 and 8 kms was a really new thing to me this year, and turns out I really like them - but I also find a lot of comfort and familiarity in running the full distance - now the job is to do that, but do it quickly - so I am excited!
So that's my novel. Lengths of blog posts appear to be directly related to weather or injury, so I can assure you it's the weather. I hope other people that ran the First Half 1/2 Marathon yesterday enjoyed it as much as I did. I also hope that all the volunteers know how much we appreciate your support, even if we can't tell you that when we're racing (or we can't even look at you when we're having our little 'time-out' underneath the Granville St. Bridge). But I do. And I really do also appreciate the opportunity to get to start in the seeded/elite section as this really does make a difference for positioning, comfort, and pacing partners - so thanks to the women I ran with and I'm sure I'll see you again :)
Have a restful and restorative week to build back the energy to work toward your next goal and happy training everyone!
After sitting on the couch, watching puddles fill up on Saturday afternoon, glimmers of hope started to peek through the sky around 5pm. I'm sure I wasn't the only person with an eye on the weather - perhaps the power of positive thinking in about 2000 people can actually make the weather cooperate.
As the alarm went off at 6am the next morning, I always try to put it in perspective by telling myself this really isn't early, remember how early you had to wake up for Ironman....and then that makes me feel better. I looked out to a dry sky (yes!) and managed to force down the usual rice cereal with bananas.
7am was pick up time, thanks to Sue and her wonderful car with seat heaters, and after picking up Steph we were a full car load of girls ready to run! We met up with our fellow runners down at the Roundhouse and definitely got an appreciation for how busy this race venue was. After running some smaller 5 and 8k's, there was a bit more going on down at the Roundhouse. We did our warm up along the seawall and started to get sun in our eyes - that is just the sweetest thing when you've been hoping for it.
To my surprise, after picking up my race # on Friday, I got an email saying I had a seeded number - and then I worried that someone had made a mistake - I didn't apply as an elite as their standards are sub 1:20, and my previous 1/2 marathon PR was 1:31, although some of my other race times have a more accurate prediction of my 1/2 time. So I just sort of laughed, and decided to be happy to have a seeded number (with hopes that we'd be able to start at the front of the pack), and tried not to feel like a fraud.
With warm up done and the porta-potty line up contended with, it was line up time, and yes, my little number got me up to the front and I got to take a look around at the other runners I was running with - eek! I knew some of them by name, some of them by face, some of them were friends, but I didn't actually feel like I belonged there. Mind you, there were 199 elite numbers from what appeared to be varying ages, so I didn't feel like I was going to get mowed over right away.
So enough pre-amble, here's the real scoop on how this great race went:
In the corral, my first race strategy thought was, "See that woman? She is the 2010 100km World champion. Don't ever, ever pass her". She was also the eventual winner of the race. I made the right choice.
The gun went off with a deafening bang-bang, and we were off!
I am a runner that relies on feel and lap splits. I don't own a Garmin. So when the first mile marker was off (it had to be) it was a little discouraging but I just waited for the next one and would try to do the division (math skills are very sub par when I am running, especially in the latter stages of the race so this is often not a great strategy for me). Finally after a few miles I started to get some reasonable numbers, although they were faster than planned, I couldn't undo them, so I just continued on and kept my effort in check. And honestly, don't tell me to get a Garmin because you guys are always checking satellites and telling me your watches are "off" :)
I always end up running part of the race with Shark Fin guy. If you know who I mean, and you've run with him, you realize he's definitely a fan favourite. So running the downtown loop and then out to second beach, shark fin guy and untied shoelaces guy were getting a lot of comments (argh! shoelaces - so stressful - I was worried I would have to hurdle over another faller circa Steveston Icebreaker start line....). And then each and every runner who came up on him had to tell him his shoelaces were untied. I'm sure he knew. I didn't bother saying anything but it was getting really annoying so I really had to pass him and get away. I come from the school of tuck your dangly laces back underneath your criss-crossed laces strategy, and I've never had them come undone after that. So thanks to Jerry for that, and I encourage other people to do the same. If you need help with tying your shoes, please read this :)
This course is truly scenic. It was really fun to do a loop downtown and then cruise out to Stanley Park. It's hard to see who's up ahead of you, as they wind in and out of the park's curves, you get a glimpse of a shirt colour, a running style, but sometimes it's hard to tell. Eventually the leaders are just plain out of sight (I guess that's what happens when course records are broken), and eventually, the people are so small it's hard to tell men from women, so it's hard to tell placing. And there is no turn around, no place where you meet other runners face to face and get to count numbers. In a way though, I think that's also nice, it makes for a simpler strategy - just RUN.
There are, of course, people around you that you get to run with, and this year being able to start up front, there were more people at my speed and not a lot of people to pass you or for you to pass. So I happily locked into a comfortably challenging pace with eventual AG winner Teresa, whom I've recognized from lots of previous races, as we seem to run around the same times, and we ran pretty smoothly all around the seawall. Eventually we had another girl to run with, and I tried my best to not let her gap me too much and kept reeling her in, trading places for lead, and continually trading spots. I think in races past I've tended to just let people go past me without a challenge, and although I know I don't want to be blowing up on a few surges, I think it helps motivate you to stick on someone and not let them get away (even if they do blow you away after coming out of that Second Beach hill - congrats to her for having strength there and using it!). I have to say, I have often found myself in no man's land (or no woman's land) without any girls to run with - and I find it's really motivating to have a pack of women to stick with, so this was a nice change from other races where I'm too far behind or ahead to have someone to run with.
So we traded and raced and stuck together as a pack for the majority of the race, with some stringing out around Lost Lagoon. Now it's a beautiful spot, and then sun was shining and you couldn't ask for anything more, but I was starting to feel a little breakdown in form and mental capacity at this point. So much of racing is mental - it never fails to surprise me. But what can you do? You have to match up your brain to your legs, and in my case, I know my legs can be more consistent and reliable than my brain, so I did my best to just keep turnover going and try to ignore some of those thoughts that make you not believe in yourself. Try not to waste energy by letting your current thoughts dictate leg speed, placement, letting go of the people you're running with and fooling yourself into believing you're the ONLY person that feels this way. Not a chance. But you have to believe in yourself.
Making it out of Lost Lagoon and back to Second Beach, I did finally get dropped after going up the bike bath hill. Yuck. I definitely needed a minute to recompose and not let myself fly over the lactate threshold plank of death. And that girl had gears to go! It was impressive. So up the hill and immediately back down to the seawall (really the first hill on the course) and then a jaunt back along the seawall and some gravel patches (which actually really felt great at this point because I felt like it was a nice respite from pounding pavement) and then up the second hill, which really seemed mean - the next bike hill path off the seawall to Pacific.
Man. I think that was it for me. Getting up that hill, and then having to continue onto Beach ave, this is where I started to struggle. I had recovered from hill #1, but this one was tougher. So, it was the end of strategy and it was put my head down time. It was my only intention in this race to run a sub 1:25 for a time standard (and if I beat someone along the way, that was icing on the cake). So when fast girl's teammate came through with a great pace past me, I just had to have confidence in my own pace and make my own way to the finish line. Legs were starting to feel it, and I wasn't about to start doubting myself, so I just put my brain into a "time-out" (yes, I have time-outs while racing) and told myself my only job is to move forward and don't slow down.
Then hill #3 up underneath the Granville Bridge. Wicked - and these are the times my brain just repeats, "Everyone has got to do this, nobody is liking this hill right now, everybody hurts"....and even if it sounds cheesy, I believe it (and speaking to people after, it does appear to be true), but taking yourself out of singular pity and turning it into the collective, seems to make things more fair. Who hasn't gone to bonktown....honestly.
What I wished I had at this point was an ability to pick up my stride and get my legs going downhill as reward for the hill that we had just climbed but I couldn't. It was odd not to be able to just get that nice lean and feel a bit of quickness come back, but you get what you get on race day and you have to deal with it and make the best out of your situation The slip n' slide would have been a nice touch here.
Like the mile markers that I had a difficult time following (especially as I'm used to and associate better with kms), you have to problem solve on your feet - literally. And that comes with practice and I think that is one of the reasons experienced and masters athletes continue to school younger athletes. Experience rules. You have to reassess and adapt. You can't be a square peg trying to fit in a round hole the entire race. Although running is quite mechanical and mathematical, there is also quite an art to it, and there are a lot of emotions too. Managing a race is like conducting a small orchestra - and you're still hoping someone will clap for you at the end.
I finished the race with quite a big smile on my face, not really because of my time, but because I got absolutely blown away by a gentleman who made a sprint I wouldn't think was possible at the end of a half marathon - but good for him. He may not have liked my shirt - You just got chicked - but hey, I think you have to have a sense of humour in the sometimes over the top serious world of road racing - Shark Fin guy's got one anyway! So I laughed, and I really was happy, and in the end, I ended up with a great time for me - 1:23:04 - which is a greater than 8 min PB for me, and almost 1 and a 1/2 min faster than I had planned.
I also ended up 6th for women, and won my age group of F25-29 (my last race as a 29 year old :) - so I was really happy. Too bad I couldn't come in the top 5, but the girls that beat me to it ran a great race and hats off to them. I achieved better than my goal so I have no complaints! The race organizers really put on a remarkably well organized race (however mile markers could be improved....) and beautiful course with a great warm dry place to change and so many goodies to eat (although my stomach said noooo....which is always sad!).
Our group slowly collected themselves and everyone got to check in and see how people did - there is always a mix of happiness and disappointment, and the beauty of the group is that it lends a bigger story, a greater context, so whether you were happy or not, you can't help but be inspired by the people you run with. We've all been through ups and downs and it's so nice when people are there for you at the end.
And I swear, the only time it seemed to sprinkle was when we were inside trying to win draw prizes (which we did not) and then it broke into sun again on the way home. And now today it's gross again. I just can't believe our luck. So, it's not so hard to chill on the couch today, but I will, eventually get off my butt, get on the bike for a bit, and eventually head to the pool for a swim/run (or float on pool noodle if all else fails). It's now marathon training season! Yahoo! It's very exciting to start thinking about the full distance which I am planning on for May. Triathlons training continues on, but specific marathon training becomes a focus. Running speedy 5 and 8 kms was a really new thing to me this year, and turns out I really like them - but I also find a lot of comfort and familiarity in running the full distance - now the job is to do that, but do it quickly - so I am excited!
So that's my novel. Lengths of blog posts appear to be directly related to weather or injury, so I can assure you it's the weather. I hope other people that ran the First Half 1/2 Marathon yesterday enjoyed it as much as I did. I also hope that all the volunteers know how much we appreciate your support, even if we can't tell you that when we're racing (or we can't even look at you when we're having our little 'time-out' underneath the Granville St. Bridge). But I do. And I really do also appreciate the opportunity to get to start in the seeded/elite section as this really does make a difference for positioning, comfort, and pacing partners - so thanks to the women I ran with and I'm sure I'll see you again :)
Have a restful and restorative week to build back the energy to work toward your next goal and happy training everyone!
Friday, February 11, 2011
Unbelievable
Really - what happened to plain and simple walking? If they think installing $100,000 worth of gym equipment in a school makes sense, you would think hiring a teacher and making gym class mandatory wouldn't be such a novel idea - this is CRAZY. You wonder why kids are fidgety? Because you cut gym class and don't value exercise. Hell, you could have two teachers for that price and if you're lucky, they could become coaches too. Mentors. It worked for me and I think I've done ok by them.
Now, I'm referring to this article, which I encourage you to read before proceeding:
Quote:
"The program, which incorporates exercise into students' daily routine, is based on the premise that physical activity helps students improve their concentration and learning skills"
Really? The 'premise'? This is a new idea? I think my brain is exploding.
Don't turn kids into a bunch of monkeys on a treadmill like the overstuffed sausages in the corporate gym, getting onto treadmills like lemmings. Not only will they not care about what they do, they also won't do it well enough to reach this 'prescribed' (baffling we need to prescribe exercise) 60 min a day of moderate to vigorous activity. I don't know if you've tried reading a book on a treadmill, but you certainly can't do it at a moderate level of activity (however, what passes for moderate, I have no idea...)
If there is no heart to the exercise or sport, there is no purpose and there is no perseverance. If there are no difficulties or obstacles, there is no satisfaction in overcoming adversity. Let kids run and chase, be chased, kick a ball, hit something (even another kid if it's in fair play), practice a skill, score a goal, solve problems - be happy. Get on a treadmill and have this suffice for the alternative? You're a nutbar if you think that's ok.
Dodgeball. At least let them play dodgeball. Let them experience that wonderfully satisfying 'swanck' of rubbery pain when they hit someone or get hit. At least in dodgeball there is the humanity of the 'doctor' to come and rescue you - remember, you wanted to be rescued from peril post 'swanck' - you wanted to get back in the game. Kids wanted to get back in there and fight. Emotions will lead kids back to activity. Even if this game is eerily war-simulated (at least to me, getting hit in the field and having a medic save you...). The only emotions I ever felt on a treadmill were "Please god let me get off this thing as soon as possible". And I LOVE exercise - more than most people!
It's depressing. It's maddening. So many insults on so many levels. To children, to teachers, to our environment, to our sense of community and the wealth of sport. Did you not hear the Queen's speech this year? Even she addressed the benefit of sport!
Even the section of the article where spending some time on a treadmill makes learning "easier" for this child in the interview. So if things are easier, that's better? If you have things handed to you, do you really appreciate them? In reviews of some of the most successful, intelligent and humanitarian people in our world, they often, maybe even always, come from adverse and difficult times. Why are we always trying to make everything easier? The most important things in my life were things I didn't think I could achieve because it was too hard - but I tried anyway.
I think I've made my point. I don't like to rant and I like to see the positive side of things. I do fear, however, that with complacency that we will accept ideas like this as great and wonderful. We know what to do, there is no re-inventing the wheel here. Get kids moving - but not on a treadmill. Please.
I feel like Rick Mercer, and this is my rant.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Team Effort - Icebreaker 8km
I can't believe I'm inside writing a post on such a sunny day - but I can't be outside all day and did need to come inside to warm up after an easy run this morning.
Yesterday was the Steveston Icebreaker 8km. I had never done this race before, and woke up (early - yikes) to a totally clear sky - so I was very excited! (there has been a lot of training in the rain lately...)
I really like the 8km distance (with my total of 8k's now at 2), and was happy to be running along the water. So after a fairly early up-and-at-em with rice cereal (aka adult pablum) with bananas and agave, we loaded up the car with VanRunners and teed up the Garmin (I can't get away from them) to lead us to Steveston.
It was so fun to meet up with so many people from our training group at the community centre and head out to the start line. I've done quite a few races on my own, showing up at the start line to do a warm up by myself, looking around at other people running in their groups, not necessarily feeling jealous, but wishing I could be more relaxed like 'those people'. What I realize now is that the group provides a great environment of fun energy, because everyone brings a mix of feelings, hopes, predictions and goals. It's so nice to have people around, on the start line, seeing them out on the course, and knowing they'll be there at the end to celebrate (or commiserate).
So race start - quite exciting! This was a gun-time only race (no chips) so there was a lot of vying for the start line spots on a narrow start line. On one side was intermittent knee bashing benches, and on the other side, some very chilly Steveston ocean - so you definitely needed to stay midline. Almost immediately after the gun, some guy must have mis-stepped and took a tumble to the floor - which was tough with 200 people behind him. I had to almost piggy back the guy in front of me as we both had to hurdle over this poor soul (along with many others). So, had to quickly recollect my thoughts and get back to being reasonably calm and in control of my pace after so much excitement off the line.
I really did spend the first 1/2 of the race mostly looking at the ground to make sure I didn't slip on any ice (plus the sun was shining straight into our eyes - not that I'm complaining about sun!). The race travels along the water, firstly along the gravel side outbound, and road side inbound. I found the gravel path pretty narrow and not easy to pass people, so you had to do a little bit of skipping around side to side. Overall, though, I was feeling pretty good to the 1/2 way point and decided to pick it up from there.
The road back was quicker than the gravel and we had a bit of a tailwind, so that was nice - and you got to enjoy the view a little more because the sun wasn't in your eyes (not complaining!) After a lot of twists and turns at the end, it was a straight 250m shot to the finish line, with all types of sprints to the finish. I ran behind the same guy for at least 2.5 kilometres and despite one challenge off his shoulder, he had more gears and managed to finish 1 second ahead of me at the finish. So, new goal for 2011 now includes beating him at a race, somewhere, somehow. Because I know him, I just wish he wasn't such an experienced runner - it is going to take a special sneak attack off the shoulder when he's looking the other way, Tour de France style. So it's my new resolve. People who run in our group will know who I'm talking about but I am not making public declarations because I'd really rather he didn't know I am gunning for a win - because it isn't going to be easy!
Overall, I finished 7th, 5th in my AG, and set a PB of 29:50, which wasn't quite as fast as I would have liked, but it wasn't the fastest course in the world (despite being the flattest course I have ever run - I don't even think there was 1m elevation). Still, 30 seconds faster than 2 weeks ago. So, goals for next time! I am quite excited to be getting back to the longer distance of the 1/2 marathon - more in my comfort zone of endurance racing - so very excited to see what I can do. The First Half half marathon is next - only 2 weeks away!
In the end, we all regrouped and (some of us) did some strength work and (again) did a pretty crap job of the cool-down (we walked to breakfast though - for about 10 min - does that count?). I knew I was getting back on the bike for a spin in the afternoon so wasn't too worried. We went to "Cinnamon Bar" - also properly known as "Cimona" (but interestingly enough that lady knew where we wanted to go? ) and chowed some food and do what runners do best - talk about running. All said and done it was still not even 11am - that would be the benefit of early race starts.
I named this blog post "Team Effort" because I would really truly encourage anyone who has been running on their own to find a group of people to run with. It doesn't have to be a competitive team, it doesn't have to be professionally organized, it could just be you and a couple of your friends - but make a resolve to go to a race or event together. There are so many people that run, so many groups, that it really is accessible to anyone who wants it.
I ran on my own for 4 years and was really hesitant to join a group - which seems to surprise people when I tell them that. But it's true. It was like pulling teeth to get me to join Forerunners running clinic. Even though (I think) I'm a pretty shy person, and it took me a few runs to get to know some people in my group, by the end of the clinic I couldn't believe I had been doing so much running on my own - and how much easier it was for me to get the speedwork done when I was doing it with a group.
I joke about it, but I really did try, maybe once, maybe twice a year, to actually commit to doing speedwork and made up some random (and much too difficult) track workout, feel totally defeated by it, and have nothing to compare it to. And I really do think, now getting to look back on my year of training and my improvements in running, that finally doing some speedwork is what made all the difference to my times. Every year, I managed to take ~2-3 minutes off my marathon time, and the difference for me this year between Oct 2009 and Oct 2010 was 13 minutes - that's a lot! And I'd be pretty happy if I could do 13 minutes again - which isn't an impossible goal at this point. So trust me - groups are good - and speedwork is even better!
So thanks to Sue, Steph, Paul, Jerry, Jeremy, Art, Sarah & Jeremy (aka Saramy), Kelsey, Rachel, Brendan, Andrew & Amy, and everyone else that keeps coming out to cold nights on the track, dark nights on the hills, and early mornings at the races. Your efforts don't go unnoticed and I hope that it helps you as much as it helps me!
Yesterday was the Steveston Icebreaker 8km. I had never done this race before, and woke up (early - yikes) to a totally clear sky - so I was very excited! (there has been a lot of training in the rain lately...)
I really like the 8km distance (with my total of 8k's now at 2), and was happy to be running along the water. So after a fairly early up-and-at-em with rice cereal (aka adult pablum) with bananas and agave, we loaded up the car with VanRunners and teed up the Garmin (I can't get away from them) to lead us to Steveston.
It was so fun to meet up with so many people from our training group at the community centre and head out to the start line. I've done quite a few races on my own, showing up at the start line to do a warm up by myself, looking around at other people running in their groups, not necessarily feeling jealous, but wishing I could be more relaxed like 'those people'. What I realize now is that the group provides a great environment of fun energy, because everyone brings a mix of feelings, hopes, predictions and goals. It's so nice to have people around, on the start line, seeing them out on the course, and knowing they'll be there at the end to celebrate (or commiserate).So race start - quite exciting! This was a gun-time only race (no chips) so there was a lot of vying for the start line spots on a narrow start line. On one side was intermittent knee bashing benches, and on the other side, some very chilly Steveston ocean - so you definitely needed to stay midline. Almost immediately after the gun, some guy must have mis-stepped and took a tumble to the floor - which was tough with 200 people behind him. I had to almost piggy back the guy in front of me as we both had to hurdle over this poor soul (along with many others). So, had to quickly recollect my thoughts and get back to being reasonably calm and in control of my pace after so much excitement off the line.
I really did spend the first 1/2 of the race mostly looking at the ground to make sure I didn't slip on any ice (plus the sun was shining straight into our eyes - not that I'm complaining about sun!). The race travels along the water, firstly along the gravel side outbound, and road side inbound. I found the gravel path pretty narrow and not easy to pass people, so you had to do a little bit of skipping around side to side. Overall, though, I was feeling pretty good to the 1/2 way point and decided to pick it up from there.The road back was quicker than the gravel and we had a bit of a tailwind, so that was nice - and you got to enjoy the view a little more because the sun wasn't in your eyes (not complaining!) After a lot of twists and turns at the end, it was a straight 250m shot to the finish line, with all types of sprints to the finish. I ran behind the same guy for at least 2.5 kilometres and despite one challenge off his shoulder, he had more gears and managed to finish 1 second ahead of me at the finish. So, new goal for 2011 now includes beating him at a race, somewhere, somehow. Because I know him, I just wish he wasn't such an experienced runner - it is going to take a special sneak attack off the shoulder when he's looking the other way, Tour de France style. So it's my new resolve. People who run in our group will know who I'm talking about but I am not making public declarations because I'd really rather he didn't know I am gunning for a win - because it isn't going to be easy!
Overall, I finished 7th, 5th in my AG, and set a PB of 29:50, which wasn't quite as fast as I would have liked, but it wasn't the fastest course in the world (despite being the flattest course I have ever run - I don't even think there was 1m elevation). Still, 30 seconds faster than 2 weeks ago. So, goals for next time! I am quite excited to be getting back to the longer distance of the 1/2 marathon - more in my comfort zone of endurance racing - so very excited to see what I can do. The First Half half marathon is next - only 2 weeks away!
In the end, we all regrouped and (some of us) did some strength work and (again) did a pretty crap job of the cool-down (we walked to breakfast though - for about 10 min - does that count?). I knew I was getting back on the bike for a spin in the afternoon so wasn't too worried. We went to "Cinnamon Bar" - also properly known as "Cimona" (but interestingly enough that lady knew where we wanted to go? ) and chowed some food and do what runners do best - talk about running. All said and done it was still not even 11am - that would be the benefit of early race starts.
I named this blog post "Team Effort" because I would really truly encourage anyone who has been running on their own to find a group of people to run with. It doesn't have to be a competitive team, it doesn't have to be professionally organized, it could just be you and a couple of your friends - but make a resolve to go to a race or event together. There are so many people that run, so many groups, that it really is accessible to anyone who wants it.I ran on my own for 4 years and was really hesitant to join a group - which seems to surprise people when I tell them that. But it's true. It was like pulling teeth to get me to join Forerunners running clinic. Even though (I think) I'm a pretty shy person, and it took me a few runs to get to know some people in my group, by the end of the clinic I couldn't believe I had been doing so much running on my own - and how much easier it was for me to get the speedwork done when I was doing it with a group.
I joke about it, but I really did try, maybe once, maybe twice a year, to actually commit to doing speedwork and made up some random (and much too difficult) track workout, feel totally defeated by it, and have nothing to compare it to. And I really do think, now getting to look back on my year of training and my improvements in running, that finally doing some speedwork is what made all the difference to my times. Every year, I managed to take ~2-3 minutes off my marathon time, and the difference for me this year between Oct 2009 and Oct 2010 was 13 minutes - that's a lot! And I'd be pretty happy if I could do 13 minutes again - which isn't an impossible goal at this point. So trust me - groups are good - and speedwork is even better!
So thanks to Sue, Steph, Paul, Jerry, Jeremy, Art, Sarah & Jeremy (aka Saramy), Kelsey, Rachel, Brendan, Andrew & Amy, and everyone else that keeps coming out to cold nights on the track, dark nights on the hills, and early mornings at the races. Your efforts don't go unnoticed and I hope that it helps you as much as it helps me!
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
fun in the rain!
I had the opportunity yesterday to do a new product notification photo shoot with Lululemon yesterday!
I'm learning more and more about what goes on at Lululemon and I think it's really cool that they are working with so many people that are local to their area - all sorts of different types of people! I did the shoot yesterday with Mitch the pro baseball player - I felt bad he didn't get a jacket - because it was chilly!
I also have to say, if you are looking for a new pair of running tights, the tights I wore yesterday (and today.....and likely tomorrow) are awesome - definitely the most comfortable tights I've ever worn!
(And I've worn lots....)
Anyways, here's the link:
Lululemon Product Notification for January 25, 2011
Enjoy the rain while it lasts....spring is around the corner!
I'm learning more and more about what goes on at Lululemon and I think it's really cool that they are working with so many people that are local to their area - all sorts of different types of people! I did the shoot yesterday with Mitch the pro baseball player - I felt bad he didn't get a jacket - because it was chilly!
I also have to say, if you are looking for a new pair of running tights, the tights I wore yesterday (and today.....and likely tomorrow) are awesome - definitely the most comfortable tights I've ever worn!
(And I've worn lots....)
Anyways, here's the link:
Lululemon Product Notification for January 25, 2011
Enjoy the rain while it lasts....spring is around the corner!
Monday, January 24, 2011
garmins are for cool kids....let's go run
A quick link to my Sunday afternoon project while procrastinating going to the pool...
It may not all make sense to you, as it was made in the spirit of the ongoings of our running group.
Click on this link:
Garmins are for cool kids....let's go run.
As I said, this is the first of the series. Look for more to come, especially on Sundays when it rains a lot.
It may not all make sense to you, as it was made in the spirit of the ongoings of our running group.
Click on this link:
Garmins are for cool kids....let's go run.
As I said, this is the first of the series. Look for more to come, especially on Sundays when it rains a lot.
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