Goodlife Toronto Marathon Race Report

In the days before the Goodlife Toronto Marathon, I settled into a quiet nervousness that seemed appropriate given the task at hand. My body wasn't in perfect shape. My knee and IT bands were still not 100% (though a few Chiropractic sessions had helped, a lot), I hadn't made any gains on my core strength and the fasciitis was acting up in my left foot.

Still, I was confident. I had a great season of training behind me and I had nailed the last few long runs which ended at (faster than) pace. I would be at home the night before the start of the race and in full control of my diet and sleep. The weather was looking increasingly worst, but I took to heart the advice from the Canadian Elite runners I follow on Instagram and focused on controlling what I could control.

I kept my mind positive.

18 weeks of training with @macnic05 & @vankieyeo to run 42.2km in the wind and rain. Good times. #torontomarathon

A photo posted by Sam J (@sammykaye71) on May 1, 2016 at 4:01am PDT

Race morning dawned as predicted: cold, rainy and windy. Still, meeting up with Sam at the carpool lot and Ivanka at the shuttle buses to the start settled my mind. We've done this before. Today, we would go for that elusive Boston Qualifier time, if not, at the very least, Personal Bests. So, out to the porta-potties one last time and here we go, time to line up, the race is off!

Racing: The First Half

First off, my Garmin went wonky due to being downtown, so pacing in the later half of the race is all a great big question mark. But for the first half, things were okay. We took off fast because we were following a pace band that saw us with a positive split, which is what Sam and I favour in races. We had a pace band from paceband.org that was also specific to the elevation of the course, so it was very helpful in knowing when we could slow down, stay even or push. Or, it would have been. If we had followed it.

It was hard to get on pace right away (as it always is) and so our first split came off too slow at 4:58. We were targeting an average pace of 5:16/km (8:28/mi) for a finish of 3:42:00. A BQ for Ivanka and me with 3 minutes to space and for Sam with 13 minutes to spare. No worries, we were still well under pace and lots of race to go. We made up for it, sticking together through the first 5km with an average pace of 4:57. 

Then came Hoggs Hollow. 

So this hill isn't bad. Really, considering its the only one in the race and it comes so early, its just one to get up and over and forget about. But I was struggling and felt my heart rate climbing. Ivanka quickly surged ahead (such strength!) and I knew Sam could of as well, but she stayed with me, even when I called a walk. I felt really comfortable doing so as I knew we had a buffer and I also knew we'd have tailwind at some point. No big deal, the hill was negotiated with a 5:41/km (9:09/mi) pace and off we went to tackle the rest. 

My watch was off by almost 40m at this point so I hit lap, hoping it would reset itself. In hindsight, I wish I had just left well enough alone as by the end of the race the watch was just a pretty looking thing on my wrist. I couldn't trust it at all in those downtown buildings. Still, Garmin Connect shows some strong and consistent pacing here and I have to trust that we kept things in check until about the 12k point. 

This is when I called my first of about four stretch breaks. My quads were fried. The plunging downhills so early in the race had come too fast and I was paying for it now. I stretched and prayed for more gentle rollers. Flats were hurting so freaking bad. Sam was fine with stopping. While the wind wasn't much of a factor yet, we were both soaked and this may have been the first of many times that we agreed, "this race is ass."

We carried on, hitting strong splits again despite our discomforts and hit the half at 1:53:27 on PB pace of 5:22/km (8:39/mi). PB for me, BQ for Sam. Things are looking good.

Surviving: The Second Half

After the half, we are in totally familiar territory for me. River Street, my folks old hood. Sumach: look right and there is the house my mum grew up in. Past the Berkeley Street Theater where I worked for a few years in sales, calling people to get them to renew their season theatre tickets. The Flatiron building, the Tim Horton's I used to stop at when I worked at Zenith. And on and on. This stretch was a bunch of holding on and having zero clue what our pace was. My watch was in the low 4s per KM. I couldn't judge a thing, so instead, I watched my footing on the streetcar tracks and hoped that the tailwind would be glorious.

At this point, I'm visualizing the 27k route marker that we saw on our way to the shuttle buses and I just want to get there. My only discomfort is those quads. Just brutal pain and I can't believe I just kept running. Sam's stomach is going off and she's digging around for Zantac to help. What a pair we are!

We pass through the Exhibition and I take out my ear buds to hear the finish line. Jerks. They are celebrating the winner's expected finish time, though he hadn't come in yet. I know a load of people feel discouraged by this kind of out and back, but at that point the distraction was 100% worth it. 

We plod on out to Lakeshore and I'm mad that I didn't look at the map closer. I have no idea when we are turning back around and it sucks to keep pushing through the MGT in ignorance. I'm not sure when we made the decision to hit 10s/1s (run/walk), but we did. Sam really started to suffer and tried to push me ahead to a finish without her, but I wasn't hearing any of that. "Why? My goal is gone. We are on pace for you to PB. Where am I going? Let's do this together."

In my head, the entire time I'm thinking, Don't rob Sam's PB. Stay on pace. Don't rob Sam's PB. And so on we plod. 

We see Kenny coming home. Man, he looks horrible. We see Mark (husband of Marlene); he looks defeated. God, this race is ass.

We finally make it to the turn around and understand why.

Oh. My. God. The. Wind.

The turn comes with 7k to go. The wind hits at 36k. It NEVER ends. 

We catch up with Ivanka and lose her. Marlene passes us looking amazing. 

At one point, a blister under my right big toe pops and its amazing because it gives me something other than the pain in my quads or the wind to focus on. 

Sam and I don't speak. I don't bother with my music as the wind would make it impossible to hear. We walk through every water station and grab water and for me, Gatorade (yellow, gross). We thank everyone for their support. Many, many, many people tell us that there is beer and donuts at the end (there aren't. There isn't water either. This race is ass). 

And we plod on. We stick to the 10s/1s. 

At the 41k route marker, I hit the sign as hard as I've ever hit one and scream, "Fuck you, Goodlife."

The woman in front of us turns around and agrees, "FUCK YOU is right!"

And still, we are on pace for Sam's PB.

And somehow we are passing 10 people. 

"This is horrible" I scream to the photographer.

But still, we finish. And we get Sam her PB.

The race may fall apart, but the friendship never ends. 😙😙😙 #thatwaseasy

A photo posted by Nicole (@macnic05) on May 1, 2016 at 8:52am PDT

Ottawa Marathon Training: Week 4!

Oh week 4! A beautiful rest week with a small cutback in distance and an actual cutback in tempo! It was also a short week as we had a holiday on Monday (Family Day), so it was win, win, win all around!

Monday: 45 minute spin in my basement at the glorious time of 10am! I love statutory holidays! Then, I did AllTheLaundry and baked bread. Beauty!

Tuesday: Treadmill Tempo, but a cut back. I actual wrote to Phaedra in the training log, "OMG, I love you!" The total was supposed to be 9k, but the gym didn't open until 530a, so I cut it short to 8k. I did the 5k in the middle at about 5:03/km and it felt great!

Wednesday: Easy running - 5k in 28:50. I wanted to add in ab work but the gym is replacing the carpet and there was no space to do them in the regular "stretching" area.

Thursday: Return of the hills! It was my first time running hills on the treadmill as I couldn't make it out to Thomas Street that night. This ended up being for the best as it was stupid cold by the end of the day. I ran 3 hills at 6% incline for 3 minutes each. Normally, I'm running on the treadmill around 6.5 miles per hour, but I had to reduce the speed to 6.0mph for the hills. I didn't mind being on the treadmill for hills, but I can't wait to get back to Thomas Street (yes, I've clearly gone mad)

 Friday: Rest day. Okay then! And my new toy came:

Saturday: I was supposed to run 20k with a local friend who I met on DailyMile, however I woke up with a stomach ache that didn't resolve so I called off my run with Phaedra's blessing. I started to feel a bit better and I had to go and grocery shop anyway, so I decided to hit the gym above the grocery store for an easy spin on the upright bike. I ended up riding 16k in 34 minutes and kept my heart rate under 140 beats per minute. I was happy that my stomach stayed okay throughout.

Sunday: When I cut on my run early Saturday morning, I quickly reached out to Emma who I knew was planning a 30k run for Sunday morning. She was willing to take me out for about 22k of her run and we agreed to meet up at La Salle Park as long as she didn't make me run the "butch" hill up to the park (what my phone corrected bitch to). The weather was chilly, but we were both dressed well and Emma planned a fantastic route that took us onto the multi use trail in Hamilton to avoid the cars and take advantage of clear-ish paths. Emma was supposed to target a 5:50/km pace and I'm thrilled we ended the 22k almost bang on at 2:05 and 5:48/km pace. Did I mention it was cold?

Thanks for the photo, Emma!

In other news, my son's rep hockey team won their first semi-final game against a tough team and not only did he score a goal, he won the "hard hat" for defensive player of the game

Finally, my Wishes for Olivia campaign continued its positive momentum and has reached $1,245.58 raised!!! That's almost 50% of my goal! If you haven't had a chance, click on the link and please, donate if you can!

Total KM Run: 42.6k, Total time on the run: 4:04:40 (neat!), Average pace per KM: 5:45

Total KM Cycled: 16k+, Total time on the bike: 1:19:04

I hope your week was just as good!

Next Sunday brings my first race of the season, and Phaedra's got a race plan that I'm ready to tackle. I'll swing back sometime this week to lay it all out. I hope you do too.

2014: The round-up

Well, its safe to say that 2014 did not go as planned.

At all.

The big plan was to qualify to run the 2015 edition of the Boston Marathon. I got a big, fat fail on that one.

However, there were highlights for sure! Let's take a look, shall we?

JANUARY 

I started week six of marathon training and enjoyed a long run of 20.14 with the #burlingtonskirtbrigade and then some. One thing that I really relished in this year was the continuation of the friendships I've developed from DailyMile and Blogging. 

Group selfie!

We also left on our second Disney Cruise aboard the Fantasy. This time, we'd be joined my my BFF from highschool and her family. 

Waiting to board 

Disney owns a private island in the Bahamas (obvs) and while at port there, they hold a 5k race. A free race on a private island in the Bahamas? Yes please!

Skirt to represent, yo!

We are hoping to get to another Disney cruise in late 2015 or early 2016, but it will really depend on other travel plans for the first half of 2016 (BOSTON, PLEASE!!!)

I ended the month setting a 5 second PB at Robbie Burns in the freezing -24c temps. I didn't really try to PB this race and it wasn't until the very end that I realized that if I pushed, I'd have it and so I did. Sadly, Robbie Burns is not in the cards for 2015, but I have a feeling I'll be back in the next few years to really lay out what I can do on that course.

My custom race shirt makes its first appearance. 

FEBRUARY

Well, February brought a huge, huge month. 267k run in total. But it also brought the return of stupid-crazy Polar Vortex weather and stupid-stupid Plantar Fasciitis. But hey, Canada won a crapload of medals at the Olympics including the coveted hockey gold for both the men and women. I watched a lot of the Olympics in the early mornings while running on the treadmill at the gym. I ran a lot of treadmill miles this month.

There was one day that I got to run in the sun, but the run sucked. Thank you, PV and PF.

MARCH

Well, March brought the return of my two favorite winter races. The Chilly Half Marathon and the Around the Bay road race. 

Chilly was not going to be a PB effort for me, rather it would be a test to see if I could maintain BQ pace over a half marathon. Ideally, I would have gone out and run 5:06/km consistently, but my Evil PF was saying, "NO!" In the end, I decided that I'd run with Emma in an attempt to get her a PB of sub 1:51:24. With tough conditions (snow, slush, -20c), we pulled out a nice 5 second PB for her that day.

If I'm pacing you, you're always finishing first

So next up, after a few more weeks of peak training, PF treatment and not really hitting tempo paces was Around the Bay. I had decided to race it for the first time ever. The route had changed this year and it added in rollers in the first 10k which were difficult to say the least. And I was over dressed (as always!). However, somehow I pulled out a 10 minute 51 second PB. So, that was good. HA.

I"ll be back, ATB!

APRIL

Last month to give'r. Except, man. I was not feeling it. Ongoing PF and a 23 week plan just drained everything out of me. I put on a brave face and tried my best to conjure up a positive attitude, but in all honesty, it was all a big, fat lie. I was NOT feeling it at all. There were highlights, of course.

I was able to hit my fundraising goal for Wishes for Olivia and Make-A-Wish Canada. In total, I raised $3,705 for the fabulous cause. Now, don't worry if you missed contributing last year, you can surely contribute  again this year! (Get it in now for a final 2014 tax benefit!)

And Alasdair ran his first race at the 1k Good Friday Kids race. I also ran the 5k in perfect marathon pace (and my second of 3 runs for the day). Obviously we HAD to wear the custom race shirts.

Booking it

MAY

Marathon Day. Preceded by First Communion Day. I'm going to suggest right now, that there should be no hosting of a major life event the day before a major goal race. None. Even if it involves good food and company and dressing up. Nothing I could have done about the dates though. Instead, I enjoyed and the family looked good.

Marathon day brought stupid winds, breakdowns and no PBs or BQs. Instead, it involved character building, wind, great friends, a cute skirt and wind. To be honest, I'm not sure I would have finished if it hadn't have been for Peter. 

After the marathon, I took a week off. My PF flared big time. HUGE. I was a mess. However, more treatment, time on my mum-bike and a easy return to running and I was ready to conquer my first trail race - the 25k at Sulphur Springs.

Emma, me, Sam and Bridgett. Stock photo, right?

JUNE

In June, I started the month by returning to pacing. I ran the amazing Niagara Falls Women's Half Marathon, leading the 2:05 group and coming in at 2:04:54. I loved this race. LOVED. I've been in contact with the race director who read my blog post and will be back to pace in 2015 for SURE. LOVE!!!

OMG, I lurve this race!

Then the very next weekend (my third in a row for racing), I ran the Bread & Honey 5k. This is another traditional race for me and originally I had thought I'd attempt a PB and podium finish. However my stomach acted up so I paced my friend Kerry through her first post-baby race. 

Applauding Kerry's finish from behind.

Finally, I set the fall plan in place. The plan was supposed to set me up for my first ever Gran Fondo (80k) and a PB attempt at the Oakville Half Marathon in September. On yer (mum) bike!

JULY

Holy crap did I ever fall in love with cycling. Despite the fact that my mum-bike was the shittiest in our peloton while I was on group rides, it didn't matter. I got faster, I got better, it didn't hurt my Evil-Stupid-Stupid-PF and man, there are planned stops for coffee and donuts. Cycling is a total win. WIN!

Kimberley, me, Emma, Sam

Sam, me, Irina, Emma

Photo Credit: Irina (mad cycling selfie skillz)

Running was running. 3 times a week. No speedwork. Evil-Stupid-Stupid-PF and all that Jazz. But the CYCLING!!!!

AUGUST

I think by now, I knew that there would be no Fall PBs to be had. Evil-Stupid-Stupid-PF wouldn't really go away and I was focusing on the bike and pace work to get ready to pace the 3hr gang at A Midsummer Night's Run. I had a fantastic time at that race and finished in 2:59:24! A huge redemption from 2013 where I was over time and I still managed the #runnerd photo at the end (obvs)

SEPTEMBER

Things hit the fan in September. My husband has surgery on September 5th to remove a rather large Dermatofibrosarcoma Protuberans from behind his knee. On the 7th, I took part in the Epic Tour as planned and it went well. It was hilly. Lots of hills. Holy crap, I thought Halton was flat. Its not. FYI. I'll be back for 110k in 2015 with a road bike.

Right after that, the focus switched to running. I had Oakville, Niagara Falls Half (pacer) and potentially Hamilton half to run along with the 25k at the Run for the Toad. My foot was feeling good! YA!

#seenonmyrun

On September 17th, my husband drove himself to the hospital with a heavy chest and the taste of blood in his mouth when he coughed. He was still on Oxy and got shit for driving, but kudos for paying attention to his body. In the morning, he was still waiting to get confirmation of what was wrong, so he told me to go to work. Around 1030, I got a text that he had a blood clot in his lung. Guess what guys? That shit can be fatal. 

Alls well that ends well anyway. Because he listened to the "not right" feeling he was having, Ken got to the hospital in time and a few nights there allowed them to treat the worst of it. He's been on blood thinners ever since, but he takes his last ones in January. He's already planning his first drink. 

The highlight of September was being in Windsor with my son for his first rep hockey tournament. It meant I had to miss Oakville and had my first DNS, but you've just gotta roll with life sometimes.

They won the whole damn thing

OCTOBER

Things settled down. Ken started to recover (at this point though, his life involved getting his leg dressing changed daily). We settled into school, work, hockey. Rinse and repeat. Don't hurry to grow up folks, its pretty much the same damn thing every day. 

Evil-Stupid-Stupid-PF continued to stay away and I got in 163k with two quality and fun races: Run for the Toad 25k and the Niagara Falls International Half Marathon, where I was the 1:55 pacer. Both races were treats to run:

Getting ready to toss my long sleeved top, its that warm (TOAD)

This is what happens when you fall on the trail

Niagara could not have gone any better

I still continued to LOVE the bike and in fact, planed my first metric century ride with Emma and Sam for the Friday before Thanksgiving. What a beauty that was. 

NOVEMBER

I started this month with the very last race of the year. The Hamilton Half Marathon. The plan was to pace Emma to a sub 1:50 and end the 2014 season in glory. 

It didn't quite work out that way as I just didn't have the fitness to keep the pace after 12k and had to wish Emma well on her own. Instead, Sam and I finished together for the first time ever in an epic battle of best tights of the year (obvs, mine are)

Enhanced only by my sweat stains

In November, I decided to get a Coach for the 2015 season and put my hand out again to support Wishes for Olivia (donate by clicking the link). 

The month ended with Evil-Stupid-Stupid-PF deciding to show up again and I took the reality seriously. Back to PT, back to massage, more rolling, more heat pads, more stretching. Despite this, paces continued to drop. I can now run a 5:30/km pace easy for at least 12k.

Emma and I also snuck in one last outdoor ride on the 8th, going for a short but lovely 36k around Milton and Burlington.

DECEMBER

I averaged 60-65 hours per week at work in this month, including one epic 17 hour day. I ran, I saw PT twice a week. I let my Evil-Stupid-Stupid-PF heal (heel? HAHA!). I caught a lung infection and took a 10 day hiatus from all activity. I got fat (whoops). Two weeks ago, I started running with more regularity and things have been okay.

I've found a new morning run partner in fellow hockey parent, Lindsay.

In the middle of all of that, we've had hockey

Baking

Christmas

Family time

My sister, mum and me

And an 8th birthday

I will finish the year with 1,150k on the bike in 53h41m39s and about 2,130k running in about 205h58m27s (I still have to get 10.57k in to hit that total). 

I raised $3,705 for Make-A-Wish Canada. 

I made new friends and was able to extend other friendships. 

We end the year with everyone healthy and happy. There is nothing more to ask for. 

Onward to 2015!

Wishes for Olivia part two: The 2015 Plan

The 2015 training season is almost here! And I've got the same two goals that I had last year. 

However, as Einstein has said:

So, this year, I'm going to work with a coach. Not any coach, but the one and only, Phaedra! I'm really excited to begin training (even though the real work won't begin until January). Along the lines of the quote above, my fourth marathon won't be another return to Mississauga. Instead, together with Sam, I will toe the line at the 41st Ottawa Marathon! I'm excited to put in the miles and my biggest wish will be to cross the finish line in under 3 hours and 39 minutes, thus qualifying to enter to run the Boston Marathon in 2016!

On the topic of wishes, one thing I will do over again in 2015 is continue to raise money for Wishes for Olivia and Make-A-Wish Canada.

Olivia Grace White, daughter of my friend, Jennifer White, went to sleep on Christmas Day 2012 and never woke up. She was 5 and a half. It was, of course, the most devastating thing that could happen to a family. To lose a child so suddenly, such a bright, shining light in their lives, has fundamentally changed who they are. 

Olivia was an amazing little girl. Anyone who knew her would tell you how very special she was. Not only was she beautiful and smart, but so very kind to everyone. She adored school and her friends, loved dressing up in skirts and dresses (pink and purple if possible), she loved her little sister Aurelia, but above all, she loved Disney. 

She really, really loved Disney. 

Really. 

The White's were very lucky that they were able to take Olivia to Walt Disney World to visit her dear friends; the Princesses. She would have long conversations with Cinderella and Belle, hug Ariel, and curtsy with Merida. Disney was a dream come true for Olivia, and she talked about it endlessly. She would always say "Mumma? Do you remember when we went to Disney?" followed by her favourite memory; the fireworks, going to the Bibbiddi Bobbiddi Boutique, or throwing a coin into Cinderella's wishing well. She would make a wish and hope it would come true. 

Olivia would have wanted other children to visit Disney. She would have wanted them to make their wish and have it come true. So, in her name, Wishes for Olivia was created. 

Wishes for Olivia is a group dedicated to raising money for Make-A-Wish Foundation of Canada. As part of the legacy of Olivia Grace White, we strive to make wishes come true for children across Canada through fundraising, and attending and supporting group events. 

On Sunday May 24th, 2015 I will toe the line at the Ottawa Marathon, hoping to cross the finish in a time of 3 hours, 40 minutes or less. I will run that day and all training days before that for Olivia. If you can, I hope you support me. I hope you remember Olivia. And I hope we make some wishes come true. To donate, please click HERE. I promise, I will run a little harder to justify every dollar donated.

Mississauga Marathon Race Recap

Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they've got a second.

 Let's play a game of contrast shall we?

2013

2014

This is the story of my third marathon.

Mississauga Marathon: Race Day Strategy

I've gotta say, I had that feeling today. That "I can do this" feeling.

Part of it was my constant re-framing of positive thoughts in my head.

The whole, trust the training mantra.

Getting the play list ready.

Chatting with Peter over Facebook (spoiler, he won't let me get off easy trying to dull the edges on the goal) and confirming that we I CAN do this (Peter's already done it). He said all the right things to me today, that's for sure.

Of course, as always, Sam has been a constant text companion, building up my confidence as well. She will be running the half marathon and will wait around for Amy, Patty, Emma, Peter and I. She's a great gal, that's for sure. She's also given me something else to help boost my mental game on race day

I knew from the moment I opened this that I would wear it on May 4th.

My DailyMile friends, my imaginary chat-board friends, my colleagues, my family - they are all behind me this week, this Sunday. Everyone is tolerating my newest companion as well

The course map

And so, this leads me to strategy. Because it is time.

Strategy: Clothing
Easy. I'm running for a princess. I'm wearing a skirt.

Depending on the weather I may end up with my arm sleeves (which are black). Sunscreen, body glide, and a pace band (even though Peter keeps telling me that my job is to run, not check time) will complete the outfit.

Strategy: Fuel and Water
I will start the day with a plain bagel with butter and cheddar cheese. A small coffee, small apple juice and my Minnie Mouse tumbler of water. I plan to be done by 5:30am as we will leave for the start by 5:45-6am. I will carry a banana to the start line and eat it around 6:45-7am. Mint gum as always. Like each of my other two marathons, I will start with a throw away bottle of water so that I don't have to worry about water stations for the first 10-12k. I'm going to carry 5 gels. Maybe six. While I've only ever taken 4 in my past marathon's, I needed them sooner during Around the Bay this year and I don't want to be caught empty handed. After I get rid of my throw away bottle, I will be using the water stations for water and Gatorade. My goal is to only walk through every other station (I can run and drink at the same time and Mississauga has good, squeezable cups). I suspect that my past success in the marathon has been aided greatly by these short breaks, so I'm not going to worry about walking through stations at all. Peter's game with this plan as well.

Strategy: Pace
Stay with Peter.

We are going to take advantage of the early and easy parts and the downhills but won't allow ourselves to push more than 10s faster on the downhills.

Stay with Peter.

Strategy: Mental
Yes, I can.

Yes, I will.

I will have music. Yes. There will be an eclectic mix of tunes. I will take the early and easy parts in. I will smile. I will enjoy. I will embrace the suck. I will not get ahead of myself as I need to run the first 10k before I can worry about the last 10k. I will enjoy Southdown and look for friends and other runners during the out and back. I will take KM 30-35, one kilometer at a time.

Stay with Peter.

I will stay focused and enjoy the joy of running. I will pull on the strength of everyone near and far cheering for me and wishing me well. I will know that no matter what, I will disappoint no one.

I will run the very best race that I can on that day.