Catch up. Weeks 12 and 13

When we left off, our hero (ahem, me) had developed an ITB/Knee pain problem and was hoping that a combination of Physical Therapy, strength training and adapting workout schedules would help solve the problem. The past two weeks have seen improvement and regression. Sigh.

As you can see, I went ahead on week 12 and took my time to rest the knee more, switching a run for a  45 minute trainer ride on the Monday. Tuesday, I played it smart and  ran a super easy 5k on the treadmill during my lunch hour. The knee felt stiff, but not bad, actually. Still being smart, I did a pre-PT ride on Wednesday and was happy with the way things felt.

Upon hitting PT, my therapist attacked my problem leg and I seriously almost had to ask her to give me a moment the (good) pain was so intense. I joked that I never knew she could hurt me so good. HAHA. I took Thursday off to allow my legs to recover, meanwhile I had been adding in clamshells, leg lifts, butt bridges etc all week to increase strength. By Friday, I decided that I needed to run to at least test my knee before a planned long and hilly run the next day. The run was okay, but that day I headed to the pharmacy to grab a knee brace (ended up being too small) and adhesive spray for my KT tape. I taped up my knee and met up with Jamie Saturday for a challenging, but lovely 27k run around Milton.

Jamie has this way of getting people to agree to climb all of the biggest hills around. I do admit that the view from the top of the escarpment was worth it though! A combo of KT tape, Aleve and a slower pace made the run bearable and I knew I'd be okay to run Around The Bay on April 3rd, but racing it was still in the air. That good feeling was tempted right away when I heard from Sam that she had sprained her ankle on her long run. Man! What is with us training for marathons together!?!?!

Week 13 started well.

It is a privilege to grow older. So many don't get the chance.

A photo posted by Nicole (@macnic05) on Mar 21, 2016 at 3:42am PDT

I turned 39 on Monday and so I took off at 4:36am and run the year. My knee held up really well (with tape, but no Aleve) until about 12k and then it "seized" a bit. I was able to run through and finish. The pain is so weird. It comes and its horrible, but then it just ... goes  away as I run. I have no idea how to temper it.

Tuesday I rested in order to ... rest my knee. I also went back to PT and she used shockwave on me this time. CRAZY! But oh so good! She was telling me that I'd be better pretty much right away and she wasn't wrong! I ran on Wednesday (a treadmill 8k, with 4 at 5:11/km) and had ZERO pain! Again, playing things smart, I decided to hit the bike for a short, if intense ride on  Thursday.

One way to wait for the Swiss Chalet to arrive. #trainerroad

A photo posted by Nicole (@macnic05) on Mar 24, 2016 at 4:14pm PDT

It was all systems go for the now traditional Good Friday Road Races. Per usual, Alasdair was running the 1k but this year Fergus joined in the fun. I like that they stagger the kids races by age, so Alasdair took off with his hockey friend and a few minutes later, Fergus and I were off as well. Both kids put in great efforts with Alasdair coming in 7th (his friend came in 3rd!). Alasdair and I will be running his first 5k race sometime this summer for sure.

Top is Fergus, Bottom is Alasdair. I may not keep up on our 5k!

My friend Kelly came to run the 5k and blasted to a 4th overall victory and 1st in our age group (30-39) with a blistering time of 21:03, netting her a personal best for the distance and a massive truffle filled, chocolate egg as a prize. I forgot to change my 910xt from the display above and ended up running by feel for an average pace of 4:55/km. I'm very happy with the effort, especially considering I managed to call Swiss Chalet with my new blue tooth headphones in the 2nd KM and ended up walking to hang up my phone. I bettered my placement from last year and was 6th overall for F30-39. Net time for 5.11km was 25:07. My knee didn't bother me at all.

On Saturday Ivanka, Sam and I met up to run a double out and back to ensure that neither Sam's ankle, nor my knee would cause us further problems. We ran a very easy flat route in Burlington and kept the pace reasonable. I didn't tape but I did take an Aleve pre run. Not taping was a mistake. My knee was bothersome pretty much throughout the run, even if the weather and company was spectacular. I struggled through the last 8k especially. Sigh. I've got to figure out how to get back into PT this week and I must ensure my knee is taped VERY well for the race on Sunday. But you know what? You can't beat these  morning views.

My knee was horribly painful for the rest of the day and night. Waking up on Sunday didn't offer any relief either. Still, I jumped on my bike for a 45 minute recovery spin. When I got off, the knee pain was gone and hasn't yet returned. Hmm, who knew? This week will likely spell more rides of similar effort and intensity before heading into my fifth consecutive 30k race at Around the Bay. If nothing else, I'm looking forward to crossing  my favourite finish line on Sunday.  I'll be back to set up the goals once they are solidified. Until then, please do some anti-wind dances for us for Sunday, okay? The weather is looking BRUTAL.

Road To BQ: Week 11

Suffice to say, with week 10 ending on the high of the Chilly Half Marathon, I was eager and excited to tackle week 11 with renewed vigour.

The week started with Sam and I discussing if we should look at changing the harder workouts in the Pfitz-Douglas plan I had adapted from their Advanced Marathoning book. Suffice to say, after more than a bit of discussion, we agreed that we'd both do what works best for us, but that a few ending KM at race pace wouldn't go astray and decided to test the theory on Saturday's long run.

The rest of the week went really well in terms of workouts and pace. I nailed my 6x100s workout and ran my final split at 3:33/km pace - or 100m in 20 seconds. I know that my form was awesome and I could feel the difference ensuring perfect form made in the pick ups.

Wednesday was supposed to be 18k with 11k at half marathon pace, but as Sam and I had agreed to run at least 3k at marathon pace in the Saturday long run AND due to the fact that my legs were absolutely SHOT from the previous efforts, I ended up just running an easy 13k before work. The weather was amazing for March 9th and I was over dressed.

Wednesday was my work "Christmas" party and I decided to stay down town in order to ensure I got a really good nights rest. I left the party around 10pm, hopped into a cab and immediately sent him in search of McDonalds. I hadn't had much to eat at the party and sometimes you just need a Big Mac.

Big Mac attack.

A photo posted by Nicole (@macnic05) on Mar 9, 2016 at 7:21pm PST

After an awesome 8 hours of sleep at the Strathcona Hotel, I woke up and decided to finish off my 18k run, with the final 5k on the Martin Goodman Trail. I had mapped out a route in Strava but basically just ran out until my watch said 2.5k and turned around and ran back. What a lovely way to run on a dedicated path in the city. It was nice to wave to the other runners who were out and also to see the city slowly come to life. Too bad it was a foggy (but warm!) day; I didn't get to enjoy all of my normal Toronto views

This run felt fine. I had felt a twinge in my right glute on the Wednesday morning run, but it was totally gone by this time, so I was happy to write it off as a one time random thing.

Saturday was long run day. Sam, Ivanka and I met near the lift bridge in Burlington to run the Around the Bay route, plus 2k for a total of 20 miles. We started at the 14k point of the Bay Race course which is awesome because it front loads the run with all of the hills which hit normally from about 19-24k. Right away, the run was a gong show. I forgot one of my gels on my front hall table. Luckily, Sam had a French candy thing from Zindine which was absolutely fine at 24k, but not something I'd go back too (just a taste thing). Ivanka and I were both running with the new Spi Belt Bottles and we kept losing them. Turns out, we were both weighted down too much to keep them still. Then, my ass was frozen. Like bad. Turns out one of the bottles had broken and spilled water all the way down my ass. Awesome. Finally, my left knee basically gave out around 12k or so. I had to stop every so often to stretch it out a bit and take Ivanka's emergency Advil to get through the run.

With about 4k left to go, I noticed a good spot for Sam's regularly scheduled Insta post and we laughed our way through yet another fun video capture

Just hanging out on the @atb2016 route with @macnic05 & @vankieyeo as one does

A photo posted by Sam J (@sammykaye71) on Mar 12, 2016 at 9:01am PST

As soon as I straighten up, I knew I was in trouble. Right away, I told the girls that I'd start to walk a bit before running to give my knee some time to get used to the movement again. I started a light jog and fell into a good running pace again by the time they caught me, but soon after my knee buckled. IT Band Pain is real, yo! Sam yelled at me to walk the rest of the way, but I didn't listen. I did end my run right at 31k though when I made it back to the parking lot. I came home and took an Aleve, had a shower, rolled and taped up the knee as best as I could.

Yesterday I was still in some pain, but doing little jogs or lateral movement while playing catch with my son, didn't hurt, so I think (I hope) rest, a massage and more rolling TLC will do the trick. Oh and focused strength training as well. I guess. 7 days away from birthday 39 and my body is telling me that I need to focus on the TLC part of running too.

Needless to day, there was none of the planned 60 minute recovery bike yesterday, but I hope this is a mere bump in the road and recovery will come quickly.

Totals on the week:

I'll take it. Wish me well for week 12!

Week Three: Bring in the Winter!

So week three was last week. I had super high hopes for this week after how well everything worked for me in week two. There was only one high stress workout on the plan with Thursday's run scheduled to be 13k with 6k at half marathon pace. I've resigned myself to the fact that I will be hard pressed to PB a half marathon in the late winter (when I'll be racing at Chilly), so my goal for these paces right now is to not fall below 5:05/km. I was pumped and ready to go on week three!

Monday: I knew the night before that the morning would be freezing and so I planned to get to the gym early and throw down as much as I could out of the 16k on the plan before work, making up the rest in the afternoon. Yup, two sets of clothes, two towels, two shoes etc, etc. Mainly because, two runs, two different gyms. I love my Goodlife all gym membership.

Run one of two today. Plan calls for 10 miles total. #bqorbust #treadmill #justrun #likeagirl

A photo posted by Nicole (@macnic05) on Jan 11, 2016 at 3:58am PST

Plan called for 10 miles. So run 10 miles. #justrun #likeagirl

A photo posted by Nicole (@macnic05) on Jan 11, 2016 at 2:27pm PST

16k in 1:31:03

Tuesday: Poor Fergus was home sick, so I stayed home as well. It was snowing all day on and off, so it ended up better for me as I didn't have to do the 3hr round trip commute. When my husband got home, I took to the clear bike lanes and ran my 6k as scheduled 33:11

Wednesday: I took it to the bike and repeated Goddard 45 on Trainer Road. Man, this felt amazing! I'm getting better on the bike for sure! 17.4k, 45 minutes.

Thursday: The aforementioned high stress day. I decided that I couldn't take another 8 miles on the treadmill in the week and figured that I'd be fine on the bike path again, so decided to hit the roads early (aka 0420 alarm) and get it done. Well, real winter had other ideas and it snowed overnight, rendering everything snow covered and slippery and gross and I barely broke 6 minute kilometers while slugging through 9k in 53:28. The run was a huge disappointment at the time, but I've since decided that one run (which wasn't even bad, it was just thwarted by weather) won't a bad training cycle make. Also, it yielded my most liked 2016 Insta so far.

Safety first. Overnight snow cut my run short and cut speedwork completely this morning. Neither roads nor paths were clear. Still, I got in 9k and the temps were beauty. #bqorbust #teamnuun #justrun #likeagirl

A photo posted by Nicole (@macnic05) on Jan 14, 2016 at 2:49am PST

Friday: Rest day!

Saturday: Run the hills! Met up with Gerald, Sam, and Emma and ran the Northshore Hills out and back. These easy long runs need to be done on this route as its part of Around the Bay, which is my goal race. With limited to no plans to run hill repeats within my plan, I need to prepare for this race and doing it on a Saturday morning with friends is the best way possible! 23k, 2:11:02

The #teamnuun that runs together, stays together. Great 23k with fellow ambassadors @egrrrl and @sammykaye71 today and Gerald. Northshore both ways. #obvs

A photo posted by Nicole (@macnic05) on Jan 16, 2016 at 6:39am PST

Sunday: Don't ask me why (though the answer is probably that Trainer Road is somehow a cult and I've been assimilated), but I wanted to ride a bit longer and a bit tougher on Sunday. I found a ride called Blackcap and Emma assured me that it was a good one to try. I believe she calls these rides REWARDING. Well, she's not wrong. The ride felt difficult after a super busy day, but after 75 minutes on the bike (my longest trainer ride to date), I felt awesome! I'm super happy about this! Total KM were 29.2.

Total KM: 100.68k (62.55mi), Time: 7:08:44
Run: 54.08k (33.6mi)
Bike: 46.6k (28.96mi)

There is more snow and cold on schedule for this week, so I'll have to determine if that means more treadmills or risking the roads, but my head is settled back on straight after Thursday and I'm ready to tackle week four with renewed vigour! I hope your training is going just as well!

Race Report: Around the Bay 30k!

This past Sunday was the 121st running of Around the Bay and like the past three years, I was eager and ready to take part! I didn't have to go to the expo as the bestest running partners ever, Sam and Emma went down on Friday and got my kit for me. I was eager to see the shirt colour, until I got the text from Sam showing me the comparison between these and the 2013 version:

2015 and 2013

To be fair, the 2015 shirt is MUCH nicer fabric and fit, so I don't mind. Saturday passed by uneventfully and I settled into fish tacos and oven fries for dinner. Normally I would have pasta and chicken. This change of meal ended up being a mistake as we'll soon find out. I've given up potato chips for Lent (SO. CLOSE. TO. THE. END.) so I ate some rice crackers as a snack instead.

Sunday morning 6am came and I was up, dressed and on my way to pick up Sam and Patty after a quick stop at Tim Horton's for my now traditional pre-race meal of a plain bagel, butter and cheddar, with a small coffee and half a Powerade. A banana before the race completed my pre-race fuel. One last hurrah and it was time to head to the C corral with Patty and Sam.

Back row: Kimberley, Sam, Peter, Me. Front row: Emma, Patty and Zindine. Photo from Irina

Getting outdoors in our throwaways let us know that yet again, the weather predicted for this race was wrong. It was far warmer than the predicted -14. I didn't worry about my vest - then.

KM 1-10: Best race ever!

The gun went off and the crowd surged forward. Sam and I surged as well. The plan was to run 3-4k warm up around 5:25/km and then drop to marathon pace for the rest of the run (5:08/km), or if feeling poorly, attempt a long run with an average pace at 5:15-5:20/km (good thing there were two options).

Any-way.

We started off strong and fast. WooHoo! I smell someone smoking and yell, "I love the smell of smoke on race day!" Sam tells me a funny story about her husband. There are lots of people cheering us along and before long we're downtown. Downtown Hamilton at its finest with all the runners running their runs. Including Sam and I. Running. Sweating. Running. Too fast.

Sam: Oh my God, I'm so hot.

Me: Yep (tosses Dollar Store ear warmer). We should slow down... got a sub-5 here.

Sam: What? Jeeze

30 seconds later

Me: Good thing we slowed that down... by 1 second. HAHAHAHA

Sam: HAHAHA

And thus is the feelings when you start a race strong and everything is just feeling so, so, so good. Which the below photo lies about as we don't look awesome, but we were feeling great. Check out the splits.

I know this is the first 10k because I haven't dropped my gloves yet.

5:06-5:05-5:05-5:13-5:11-5:05-5:19-5:09 (GU)-5:08-5:06, split: 51:26

KM 11-20: Things begin to fall apart

The first 10k features three inclines up and down highway underpasses. As you can see above, these didn't make much a difference to Sam and I. Oh no. Things were A-Okay! We were chugging along, taking in water and Gatorade at the stations and enjoying our own from our hand-held supply. After the third water stop, we head on to Beach Blvd. amongst the crowd of runners and its all familiar territory. My back starts to feel a bit tight at this point and I try to not think about it. It was all too much like the Mississauga Marathon all over again and I tried not to freak out because it resolved the last time. So we kept running along, the entire time with me trying to figure out if I should take another gel even though I had taken one around 9k and trying not to think about my back. I know that there is water before the lift bridge at 15k and I figure I'll do a huge drink of Gatorade at that point. Then I smell marijuana. Sam smells puke, but details. There'll be time enough for that. Funny thing is, I smelt this as we ran by Wallenberg Castle. Where the old lady in the fur coat always sits and cheers on runners. You go old lady!

So we get to the lift bridge and Sam mentions something about Zantac. I tell her my back is tight. We momentarily forget about it all when we see Paul waiting to run the second half of the two person relay. Then we really forget about it when we navigate the lift bridge. In case you're wondering, yes, the footing still sucks. It takes major brain power to get over the bridge. By 16k, I tell Sam that I need to stop and stretch out my back. Its horrible. I stand up again and start to run and Sam's refilling her handheld from her Penis Bottle. "Stretch more!" she demands and I do and she refills and we're off.

At 18k, there is another water station. We both take a gel before this station. It takes me four goes to get the damn thing down. UGH. Funny thing is, I was starting to feel cloudy. I simply needed the carbs. The meal the night before was not sufficient for my needs on this day, that's for sure. So I take the GU and then at the station, I drink a huge cup of water and a huge cup of Gatorade (Yellow. Gross. My theory is that they don't sell the powder of yellow the same way they do the other flavours so they give them to the races. No one likes yellow).

The hills begin and a man charges past Sam and I, "WooHoo! Hill One!!! Here we go!!!" I look at Sam and declare, "This is going to suck." "Yep," says Sam. Next thing I know, I'm puking in my mouth. Oh good God. At least my back isn't hurting. I stop Sam and ask her to pull over to the side so I can try to puke properly, but I can't. Oh well... time to climb the hills.

5:11-5:07-5:08-5:08-5:32-5:33-5:09-5:57-5:16-5:35, split: 53:57, Total time: 1:45:23 (aside, we can totally get that 1:45 half marathon!)

KM 21-30: We totally have th... SRSLY HEADWIND!!!

And the race slowly falls apart. We tackle the hills as best as we can. We run them all because the first ones are easy and Sam basically threatened me with death if I didn't run the one up to La Salle Park. "My sister stands at the top of that hill and WE WILL BE RUNNING  past her." So on and on and up and up we ran and Sam's sister was no where to be found. Oh well, the threat got us up that hill. Then we coasted down the other side before climbing again. Sam was ahead of me, but I kept running. She actually kinda stopped and looked back at one point, surprised to see me so close to her. I guess I wasn't death breathing like the old man we played leapfrog with in the first 15k of the race. I felt like so much shit. I think Sam did as well. There was an unofficial water station on the final mini residential climb up to Plains Road and we stopped to walk through it.... and kept walking. Sam was taking a gel and I totally SHOULD have, but didn't. Before we knew it we were on Plains!

WooHoo! Hills were over!!! No turn on to Springbank. no Valley Inn! No. More. Hills. Things were looking up! Then a car drove by and honked at us (must be my great crops). Sam freaks out. Then there are a bunch of people yelling at us and waving and Sam's waving and someone is asking how we are and Sam's lying and saying, "Great!" and I'm giving cut eye and being truthful. "This is SHIT."

Photo credit: Sam's Sister

At 23k, I tell Sam I need to walk. I 100% look at my watch and count down the one minute. "Let's go." and off we go again. I feel so badly about ruining Sam's race AGAIN with my antics, but she is truly the best and just keeps running along with no complaints. "Four miles left, Nicole. Let's go." The wind is starting to kick up, but our paces seem okay. We hit the water station at 25k, walk through it and get going.

I start to do mental math. I think that we should make a sub 2:40. I'm not too far put off by that. I had predicted a 2:37-2:38 and right now after everything a sub 2:40 sound great! Hey, my back feels fine. I'm not going to puke any more. And we're running pretty quickly. And then the wind hits up. And then it REALLY starts to blow strongly. Sam and I laugh. Really?!? Really!!! I guess it was Mother Nature's way of getting us back for the lack of Valley Inn hill (I'd rather take the hill).

I KNOW there is another water station at 28k, but it seems So. Long. Away. and I start to give up hope. I don't even look at my watch when I gasp out, "Sammy. Sammy. I need to walk." (I never call her Sammy unless we're racing).
"What?" says Sam, "No! No!!!"
"Wait is that the water station?"
"Yes"
"Okay, I'll get there."

And we do and we drink and we are head down, down hill to the end. At this point a man on a bike is behind us with a lady. And he's encouraging her like its his JOB. "You got this. 5 minutes left. One 5 minute kilometer. You can do it. What's five minutes. Look at the finish. Its right there. Five minutes. You got this." And he was my personal cheerleader too.

I hit the 29k sign and run the longest kilometer ever. I wasn't so out of it that I forgot the photographers though (I've joked that I could complement Kenny's Race Strategy with a photo strategy guide).

And finally, we make the turn into First Canadian Place and to the finish. This expression got me a, "you GO 923!!"

And we cross the line, no hands held, but together with Sam crossing the line 0.6 seconds in front of me.

5:36-5:39-6:03-5:29-5:27-5:30-5:21-5:41-5:09-4:31 (4:51 pace), split, 54:46, Total time: 2:40:07

Gun Time: 2:41:09
Chip Time: 2:40:07 (2 minute, 2 second PB!)
Place: 1741/7277
Gender: 472/3426
F35-39: 78/525

Final thoughts

I learned a good lesson about pre-race fueling on this one.  This is the first time I haven't eaten pasta the night before a hard, long race and it showed in my early "bonking". This caused me to shot gun Gu, water and Gatorade which lead to the puking. Good times! First time I've puked on a run since I was pregnant. Which I'm NOT right now. Not at all. I also think that I need to up my GU intake on course. Coach Phaedra and I have already discussed this.

I learned that I still need to tough it up mentally. The last 12k of the marathon are going to be hard and I need to find the gear to push though any negative thoughts. I think I may need music in this part. I don't think it will matter much; Sam and I won't be talking a whole lot.

Sam is the best racing partner ever. No ego on her at all. She is just there for the run and sticks with me no matter what. I'm not sure I would be as kind. I'm so lucky to have found her. I can't say enough kind words about her. Rewards will come in the form of chocolate and donuts.<3 p="">

Ottawa Marathon Week 8!!!

Time is just ticking away and I can honestly say that this week was amazing! I had emailed back and forth with Coach Phaedra at the beginning of the week, saying that I'd have to move my long run to Sunday as my son was still playing in the OMHA finals on the weekend. The Milton Winterhawks were up 2-0 and if they won on Saturday in Alliston, they'd win the entire championship! Then, the team organized a bus to take the team and family members to the game. And Saturday was my birthday (38! Last chance to get to Boston in the under 40 club is this year)! Then, my husband and I decided to invite the entire team back to our place on Saturday night win, lose or draw!

So... I took Friday to work from home and Phaedra moved my week around so that I could run long on Friday.

Which turned out to be a great decision considering this:

The team won in overtime, due to a shot MY SON took while dumping the puck and heading to the bench. I seriously wish I had worn a heart rate monitor during this game because I totally had my heart rate over 200 BMP at times. It was super exciting!

Anyway! On to the week of training.

Monday: I did NOT want to get on my spin bike for the my 45 minutes of cross training, but I did. I felt much better for it after!

Tuesday: This was a recovery week! So I "only" had to run 10k at a moderate pace. The goal was 5:25-5:30 and I was amazed when I hit it even after the first 3k were slow.


Wednesday: Hills! Back to Thomas Street for the first time in a year and I went up and down 7 times. It was awesome! I can't believe how fast I was! My average pace was 5:39/km for the 12.15k

Thursday: Rest day! Don't mind if I do!

Friday: Long run! It was going to be an early one and also a challenging one as it was my first time running such a distance alone (27k), and I was determined to hit the paces Phaedra had prescribed: 5:30-5:35/km

BOOM! 5:33/km on average and I felt good throughout. Confidence grows!

Saturday: Rest day. Birthday. Championship day.

Sunday: My fitbit tells me I slept 6.5hrs. I sure as heck drank a lot on Saturday, but I must have also followed up with a lot of food and water because I woke up absolutely fine. I spent the morning tidying up the house (which was actually pretty darn clean, just FULL of empty bottles, LOL). Then, my champion Alasdair and I went and took care of one of the things he wanted to do the second the hockey season was over:

Finally it was time to run. Man, I was tired and did not want to. But the day was glorious and sunny if a bit windy and cold. Off I went. I played wind roulette and won! And I ended up with a progression 5:46-5:43-5:35-5:32-5:22-5:13. I'm still not quite sure how the heck that happened, but man it feels good!

In total, I ran 55.18km in 5:06:35 with a 45min spin and a 46:30 minute heart rate busting final game. What a truly fantastic week!

This week brings Around The Bay! I can't wait. I love this race. Considering the long runs I've put together in the past three weeks, I'm looking to go in and own the plan Coach Phaedra gave me for this one.

Ottawa Marathon Training Update: Weeks 5, 6, 7!!!

Wow! Its been a while. I'm sorry to have been away so long, but its been a very crazy time at work and with my son's hockey! The additional entry Milton Winterhawks are now 16-0 in Ontario Minor Hockey Association playoffs and are one win away from winning the whole damn thing. Its a super exiting time!

He shoots, he scores!

The plan is going to plan. I've gotten in long runs, I've run hills. I've gotten in cross training and weight lifting. I even got out on the mumbike last Monday!



Let's see. My tempo work has not been the best. I've been super frustrated. First, I just couldn't push through on the treadmill without stopping from time to time to take 15 second breaks to drink or breath or get my mind back together. Then, finally, FINALLY, I was able to get outside last week for a planned 11k run with 9k at tempo (4:55-5:05/km) and it really sucked. The melt was frozen still in a lot of points on the paths, but I was able to get in 6k at tempo pace (instead of 9k). Phaedra has been very kind about my lack of suck-it-uppage and is trying to work out a solution which will do the work that I need while keeping my confidence from sinking into the ground with the melting snow.


Of course, a lot of this confidence problem stemmed from not having the best day at the Chilly Half Marathon. I owe a race report and that's next on my list, but let's just say that I had a cold and after nailing the first half, I was over come with dizziness and the last half was a huge suck. UGG.

Now for the good news! Phaedra has given me pace goals for my past two long runs. The first was a 26.5k effort along the Northshore hills at a goal of 5:40-5:35/km. I was lucky to run with Ivanka again, and  Sam, and Emma as always. Even with the rollers of Northshore, we NAILED the pace at 5:33/km on average. If nothing else, I think Emma can be sure that she's going to SMASH her goals at Around the Bay.

The sign is from a wedding. The bride and groom are fellow hockey parents.

This past Sunday brought my longest run since A Midsummer Night's 30k run and Phaedra dropped the pace again (target: 5:35-5:30/km). Emma needed to run 21k at that pace and Sunday worked better for her so she joined me in Milton and we ran the Milton Half Marathon route together with me running 8k alone first. I'm thrilled to announce that we NAILED this pace at 5:29/km on average, despite some brutal headwind.

In week 5, I ran 47.3k, in week 6 it was 54.5k and last week was 58.1k with 10.3k on the bike.

Things are going generally well. Now its time to start nailing some speed and increasing that confidence.

First up? Let's win that OMHA cup! The next game takes place on my birthday and I honestly can't think of a better present than having my son win the championship!

Hope things have been well for you! Is anyone in the final stretch of training for Around the Bay?! That's my next race and I'm excited for it!

Around The Bay Race Report

This past Sunday, I was able to take part in the 120th anniversary run of the oldest road race in North America, The Around the Bay 30k Race. As you may know, I had goals. As you'll learn, those to do with time, didn't work out.

I got to Copps (er, First Canadian Place) in plenty of time and secured parking around the 29k mark, paying the $20 fee without complaint. I liked the fact that I could get out right away if I needed too as Alasdair was playing his semi-final hockey tourney game that morning and if they won, the final would be at 1:45 and I would do my best to make the game (they made it to the final, but lost 5-2 with Alasdair scoring both goals). The lot wasn't the best as they blocked in cars without taking keys, but I got lucky and the car behind me had someone in it when  I went to leave so I was able to get out and enjoy the game:

Anyway. I met up with everyone at the assigned section. There were blogger friends, DailyMile friends, Running Room friends etc. It the race that seemingly EVERYONE runs if they can. Before long, it was time to hit the final potty stop and head to my corral. The green one.

KM 1-10. OH-EM-Gssss. This isn't like the old course.

Right away upon getting outside, I knew I had made a an outfit error.

I ended up in the first outfit except with my Nike base layer (which is really light fleece) instead of my super light lulu grey shirt. Total mistake, but nothing I could do about it. I should have even wore the skirt, even if it only meant that I could get in on the #burlingtonskirtbrigade photos for a group whose group name I coined. So, I mill around at the top of the corral and then they pull the dividers and start to count it down so I put on my music as I'm racing alone and get ready to pace myself. 

Finally the race does start and we're over the line about a minute after the gun time. This is good to know if I ever try to go for the silver medal which is awarded to females who finish the race in 2:30 gun time or less. We get going and I'm happy that its not crowded and I'm speeding along. WAIT. I'm speeding along. WAY. TOO. FAST. I just can't reel myself in though and I have flashes of Kenny's race strategy where the specifically says not to get caught up and go out too fast too early. Which I'm totally doing!!! OH-EM-GEE! Wait! There's Chris, my Running Room leader and 2:30 pacer. Okay, let him get ahead. I take my time and yell at him, "Chhhrrrrrissss Chivers!!! Looking good, 2:30 pacer! Hey! Hey pacer group, ask that Bunny about tacos! He loves tacos! He will talk about them all day. And coffee!!! MMMM.... it'll sound great at 28k!" So that works to slow me down finally and then I decide that at the next station I'll take water and a gel. I figure the next station will be at 8-9k, but it comes up at 7k and I take the gel even though its pretty early. I figure it won't hurt because I shared my pre-race banana with Sam (even though she didn't ask me to join the brigade photo. :-/). ANYWAY. This new part is where we start to go over the new highway overpasses (three in total) which bring us some... rollers! WooHoo!!! Just what this race needs, hills at the start, hills at the end!!! We run along a highway like road for a while but its no where near as fun as Road2Hope. And its windy! The new awesomeness of this 10k never ends.

5:04-5:00-4:59-5:07-5:17-5:09-5:27 (GU)-5:17-5:11-5:07, Total: 51:38, Pace Band (2:35): 51:40

KM 11-20: Just get to 15k. I like water.

I'm not really sure what happened at this part of the race. You know, the part which is now the easiest part of the race EVER!!! Something just slowly came apart. I felt okay; my legs were pretty tired which makes sense considering the first part and the fact that I had run 82k the week prior. My mind was fine, no repeat of Scotia, but then I truly LOVE Around the Bay. But things just started getting tough. I was mad that I hadn't brought my own water. When I saw people drink, I was jealous. I thought a lot about water. Mmm. It tastes so good. I wonder where the next station is.... That's a nice water belt. HEY! Someone lost a 6oz bottle, I should pick it up and use... that's disgusting and I'm past now anyway. Whew! There is measles going around, macnic. Water. Wait! There will be water around 15k, right? Yes!!! And I'll take a gel! Good good! 15k is the lift bridge, sweet!!! Just get to 15k. I could really use a gel. And water. Any my legs are so tired.

So I get to the water station and drink water and walk and get two more cups to take with my gel. Which I pretty much almost throw up, but force it down because my legs are oh-so-tired. It was orange this time which was way better than my first of mint-chocolate. Sam's totally right; chocolate is a winter flavour. Which makes sense considering the outfit I'm wearing, but not the weather. That the weather network lied about causing me to over dress and then to need more water. WHICH I HAVE RIGHT HERE!!! Glug, glug. Hit the lift bridge and the footing - yep still sucks. I think about Peter and wonder if he's running in his vibrams and hey! There's a photographer:

Alright! Time to make that turn onto Northshore and there is more glorious water (and I'm taking advantage and walking through all the stations, which I shouldn't have done - I didn't need too) and then we're into the rolling hills of the Burlington Golf Course and I'm hanging on to get to 20k and begin the single digit countdown to the end.

5:13-5:22-5:12-5:15-5:39 (GU)-5:17-5:27-5:29-5:17-5:18, split: 53:29, Total: 1:45:07, Pace Band: 1:43:20

KM 21-30. No matter what, I LOVE Around the Bay!!!

So, something happened here. I just stopped full out looking at my watch. I had the pace band for a 3:40 marathon (5:12 pace - I was aiming for a 5:10), but I stopped looking at that. In fact, I think I only looked at it once during the race. Somehow, I had decided to run by feel! I promised myself that I wouldn't walk up any hills as I was walking all water stations and I could actually feel the energy leaving my legs around 23k. Good thing there was a water station and good thing I had the foresight to bring a third gel, because I took it and got ready for the Valley Inn Hill. I made it down to the valley and decided way too late to try and high five the little guy who sits at the bottom playing we will rock you so I missed. At this point, my running room friend Yan caught me and I said I wasn't having the best race; the first 10k were a bit killer. He agreed and said, "As long as I stay in front of the 2:40 pacer." I was hopeful for the same but had only just passed the pacer and wasn't sure I'd be able to hold on. I told Yan to go on ahead and the pacer paced me going up Valley Inn. I held on with everything I had and forced myself up that hill (looking at my watch, expecting to see 7min something and seeing 6:30 pace which is great) and promised that I'd let myself walk the turn onto York street. Which I did. HA! I only walked for about 30 seconds to catch my breath and then began running again. Run, run, run! Hold on, 4k left and "Its LITERALLY all down hill from here people." I scream to those around me. I'm just looking for the Reaper and his signs and I see him and try to get in a good photo-op with him without stopping but it doesn't work. And then... the 2:45 pacer pulls up to me.

And so I BOOK it to get the hell outta there. I've got the downhill in my favour and my quads may hurt like... well like hell, but ain't nobody got time to fall apart that badly. 

But then I walk through the 28k water station.

No matter! My next target is the 29k sign which I hit with as much force as I can (that slowed me down as well) and then its all about ripping down York, getting a clear shot from the photographers before the turn

And enjoying the very best part of this challenging and fun, fun race: The stadium end:

That's a smile that says, "ELEVEN MINUTE PB!!!"

5:24-5:52-5:29-5:48 (GU)-5:33-5:13-5:53-5:26-5:40-5:04-1:45 (320m), split: 57:07, Total: 2:42:14, Pace Band: 2:35

Gun: 2:43:15

Chip: 2:42:09 - 10:51 PB!!!

Place: 1755/6764

Females: 504/3307

F35-39: 93/491

So, I didn't do the best,  but I still love this race so much! I also am glad to run it because it really points out what I need to do for the marathon. The Mississauga Marathon course is no where near as difficult as this one, but I need to get some longer stints in at Mpace while fatigued. This is not part of the  Daniel's plan, but I really feel I need it for confidence and to be sure I'm ready for race day. I've got five weeks to work on maintaining pace and I've got to look at redefining some goals as well. Let's hope I don't have to re-write those goals altogether and that the next five weeks builds confidence along with everything else.

Until next time, remember always celebrate at the end of the run! You've earned it

 

Around the Bay Race Goals!

Its that time again! Around the Bay time!!! This year is the 120th anniversary of the oldest road race in North America. This will be my third time in a row running this race and for the first time, I'm going to race it!

I've always had an amazing time at this race and I hope the fact that I've decided to race it will make no difference in that area

2012

2013

If you want to read about those races, look to the left hand race report navigation and read away!

This year, as I said, I'm not going to run this as a Long Slow Distance run, I'm going to race it. And so, the goals are:

A+ Goal: 2:33

This is my ultimate goal marathon pace of 5:06/km (8:13/mi). It will be a stretch, I think to be able to finish in this time. The 8k of rolling hills which start at 19k is the main reason why.

A Goal: 2:34

This ticks the pace down a bit to 5:08/km (8:16/mi). This may be a stretch as well, dependent on how I do handle the hills and how the wind treats us.

B Goal: 2:35

Do you see a theme? 5:10/km pace (8:19/mi). In reality, this is my sweet spot. I'll be extremely happy if I finish in this time.

C Goal: 2:36

Perfect BQ marathon pace 5:12/km (8:23/mi). Not a disaster by any means!

D Goal: Don't crap my pants. HA.

So, its a bit of a different race. Yes, I have those tiered goals, but I'm not really confident in any to be honest. I mean, you never know when the poop-monster will rear its ugly head! What I want to ensure, not matter what the watch says at the finish line, is that I gave it my all and still managed to have fun.

See you on the flip side!