General Training Update

^Creative title eh?

Life has been ticking along.

Training post-marathon was very light, which was a nice mental and physical recharge. It was quite satisfying to include a bit of time to just go with the flow and do what my body felt and for the most part, I think I have recovered very well. Even my disgusting black toenail that looked like it might fall off in the days following the marathon has stayed put and seems to have re-bonded with my foot.

Because who doesn't love a good toe shot!
 

The only slow down to recovery has been a bit of a cold that struck me just in time for the Victoria Day long weekend. I spent about a week coughing up phlegm and slowly getting back to my normal healthy state. I suppose it was the best time for it though and am feeling really ready to jump back into things as training gets set to ramp back up again.

As for this past weekend, well, it was spent biking, cheering, and running.

On the biking front, Kirsten, Shane and I headed out for my longest ride so far this season. At just under 2hours, it wasn’t in fact that long of a ride, but it did include a decent amount of rain and a Malahat summit, so it wasn’t entirely easy. Once the rain stopped pelting down on us and I could see the roads through my sunglasses, it was actually pretty fun.

Side note: Shane and I have been watching a lot of cycling on TV lately, so most of our rides are punctuated with Shane “making a break” and me trying to (unsuccessfully) reel in the break. Sometimes I like to accuse him of being a doper (jokingly of course), because really, how else is it possible that he can climb hills so much better than me? On top of that, we spend a lot of time commentating our rides in our best excited British accents.

Chapeau Sir!

Favourite Giro Moment(s): Cav's awkward reception of podium kisses.
Looks so goofy and makes me smile every time I see it :)

As for cheering, well that happened at home in Shawnigan, and via text messaging with my folks in Ottawa.

This was the first year in many that I have not participated in the Shawnigan Triathlon. I waffled back and forth about entering in the weeks leading up to it, (as I always kind of like taking part in my “home race”) but when I came down with my cold the week before, I knew it wasn’t meant to be this year. So instead, we spent the morning cheering on one of Kirsten’s students as she participated in her very first tri as part of the BC High School Championships. It was a lot of fun and Jacqueline did awesome on her first go at swim-bike-run.



Jacqueline coming in for the big finish!

 

At the same time, my Dad was taking part in the Ottawa half marathon with his best buddy of 40-some-odd years, Jesper. I think we all (Kirsten, Shane, myself) wished we could have been there to cheer them on in person, but it was still fun getting updates from my Mom via text. I haven’t gotten the full scoop on how their race went yet, but I’m sure they had a blast doing it, and well, they got the best post-race snacks ever!

Jesper & Dad enjoying the most delicious post-race snacks ever ~ Beavertails!!!

After cheering all morning, Kirsten and I headed to Thetis with the intention of doing an 80-90min run on the Stewart Mountain race course. For the record, I have never run Stewart Mountain before and Kirsten has only done it once, so I tend to leave her in charge of the navigation. We have (unsuccessfully) attempted to find the course together before and well, Sunday turned out to be just that – another attempt.

We covered some big hills, some very rough single track (that were probably actually just deer trails), got a bit lost and had a lot of fun (for the most part) and yet we still did not get to the top of Stewart Mountain. I think it frustrates Kirsten more than me that we are so navigationally challenged, but one day, I would like to actually find the route and get to the top of Stewart Mountain too. Anyway, we ended up being out in the bush just shy of 2hrs, and by the end, my legs were beat! (in a good way of course).

Looking ahead to this weekend, well, guess what is on the agenda? Hills. Trails. Very Hilly Trails! 
Friday is repeats. Saturday is supposed to be VERY hilly, while Sunday is also supposed to be hilly, but you know, “slightly easier” hilly.

I imagine it’ll look a little something like this:



Four.

Today is four years since my PE.

On the first anniversary of my clot as I anxiously awaited the one year mark, I wrote “… I suppose what is most likely, is that there isn’t going to be any particular date or event, and one day I’m just not going to think about it so much anymore.”

Well, I can finally say that day has arrived – without me even realizing it.

On Tuesday a friend asked me how many years it had been and I was confused. I actually didn’t know what she was talking about at first. It was kind of an awesome feeling. That day finally came – the one where I “just don’t think about it so much anymore.”

Sure, I’m still hopped up on anticoagulants, but that is just part of life. It is my “normal” now. My INR remains mostly constant and I’m easily able to manage my diet and lifestyle, and because of that, I don’t have much worry. Life is good.

So, on that note, how about 4 random things to mark 4 years.

1) The Monday post-marathon my ankle blew up like a balloon. It hurt and was approaching cankle status for a day or two before it started to feel normal again.

On the Wednesday post-marathon, I had a massage and the wonderful Lysanne decided we’d test out a new little tape job. This wasn’t a tape job that was for support. Instead, the technique she applied was supposed to stimulate my lymphatic system (I think) to help reduce the swelling. She told me she understood the theory of it, but hadn’t really ever tried it, so didn’t know how well it would actually work. It was kind of a “can’t hurt to try” scenario I think.

Well… by Wednesday night the swelling in my ankle had started to come down and on Thursday morning, it looked like normal. For the first time in ages, my right ankle was actually the same size as my left ankle ~ shocking! (but cool).

So while I suppose it could just be timing and the fact that I wasn’t really running, I like to believe there might actually be a little something to the theory behind the tape.

2) Shane and I are going to be doing a ‘Learn to Ride’ and ‘Learn to Race’ clinic at the Velodrome this summer, which I am super excited about. There is just something about ripping around in circles on the track that is really really fun.

Anyway, we were supposed to do our ‘Learn to Ride’ clinic last night, but it got rained out. It was a bit of a bummer to cap off an already bummer day. So instead, (being the top notch athletes that we are), we ate frozen pizza (and salad!) for dinner. Shockingly, it was exactly what I needed and helped perk me back up.

3) Do you ever have one of those moments where you are talking to someone and you say something without really thinking it through, and then a few seconds/minutes later think “that was a complete lie” but you don’t really know how to back pedal, because of the time that has passed, so you just go with it and hope you never get called on it?

Yeah, I totally had one of those moments at the pool the other day.

I was talking to a guy I see there regularly, that also does triathlon. He knows I’m doing TRR this summer and asked how training was is going, etc. etc. (you know, the usual back and forth you tend to have with strangers who happen to have common interests).

He then asked how many miles I was running a week, to which I honestly replied that I didn't really know, as my training in largely based on time. So he asked how many hours I was running and I said "oh, about 12hours a week" thinking of my total training time over the week (including swims and bikes and yoga). He, of course, was like "wow, that's crazy, yadda, yadda, 12hours running, yadda… how’s your body handling all that, yadda, yadda, 12hours running is a lot...."

I then realized I had completely exaggerated (although, I wouldn’t doubt it if I got up to 12-13hours of running per week as the summer wears on), but didn’t want to be like “you know what, I totally just lied – I don’t actually run that much.” So I just kinda went with it.

So, to the guy in the IM Florida swim cap at the pool, if you ever read this, I totally lied. I don’t run that much… yet.

4) I’m currently reading the book “Drop Dead Healthy” by A.J. Jacobs and so far, am really enjoying it. It has made me want a treadmill desk. I really have nothing else to add at this point, but if you’ve never read any of his books, they are pretty fun and definitely an easy read. Worth (in my opinion at least) checking out.

That is all. Happy FOUR!

BMO Vancouver Marathon - Race Report

Things didn’t go quite as I had planned, expected, hoped, or imagined on Sunday at the Vancouver Marathon.

In fact, if you were to compare the actual race to the goals I had declared to the ol’ world wide web last Monday, you would probably think the day was a complete failure.

3:45 – Fail
Sub 4 – Fail
Negative Split – HAHAHAHAHAHA, obviously I was delusional when I thought that was a possibility, because, well, HUGE FAIL!

On the plus side, my 'no urgent bathroom breaks' goal was a big win!

Anyway, even though looking from the outside in, Sunday’s race could seem like a bit of a failure, I wasn’t as disappointed with myself as I thought I might be.

Sure, I came up pretty short on my goals and shortly after the finish line I probably declared I was done with the marathon distance forever, but then I found myself lying in bed last night thinking about the Victoria marathon in October and wondering if I was just crazy enough to do another one.
[Shane, who has officially sworn off the marathon, will be shaking his head, wondering how he ended up married to a crazy person when he reads that last sentence].

I definitely learned some valuable lessons on Sunday.
Lesson 1: A marathon is hard. If anyone every tries to tell you differently, they are a liar.
Lesson 2: 42.2km is a long long way. Like, it’s far. Really far.
Lesson 3: Things can be feeling awesome for 25k-30k, but things can also change very quickly.
Lesson 4: 10k at the end of a marathon can feel like a lifetime.
Lesson 5: When you pour copious amounts of water on your head to keep yourself cool, you’ll discover chaffing in all sorts of strange new places (hello butt crack!).

Okay, so I already knew all of those things and they aren’t really new lessons learned, but Sunday was a good reminder of these truths I suppose.

Also, while Sunday’s events definitely gave me a good scare and worried me a little for what is to come at TRR this August, it also got me really pumped to get off the roads and hit the trails.

Anyway, I’m rambling. Let’s get to the race report….

It started well, really well in fact.

I was incredibly nervous when I woke up and the nerves stuck with me right up until the gun went off. Thankfully, they didn’t get the best of me and I was able to take the first km or two pretty easy and settled into a nice rhythm.

I kept the 3:45 pace bunny in my sights and was feeling great. As I passed the 15km marker my watch was exactly – like, to the second – where it should have been.

I was feeling strong and happy and like this was going to be an awesome day.

I got a bit ahead of pace just before the half way mark, but I think that had a lot to do with that huge downhill out of UBC, so I was still feeling pretty good about my 'smart race, steady pace' goal.

That said, the downhill was tough. More so than I thought it would be. It definitely took a toll on my wonky ankle (which is the size of a baseball today), and I could feel a real hotspot on the outer edge of my foot that came back to haunt me a bit later (it turned out to be a nasty blood blister that somehow formed underneath a callous – weird, right?), but I was still feeling mostly good.

Anyway, I would say I felt pretty great up to about 25km and then it was just like my legs stopped wanting to turn over. At that point, I just reminded myself to keep running, and wasn't too worried about my pace slowing a bit. I actually still felt pretty good mentally at that point, but in reality the doubts were probably starting to settle in and plant the seeds for the struggle that was to come.

Just before 28k, I lost sight of the 3:45 pace bunny and gave in and walked for a moment up a little hill while I took a gel, but was able to get back to running again pretty quickly (although, much slower at that point).

My pace really started to fall as I climbed up the Burrard Bridge and the hotspot on my foot really started to get into my head. It felt like a dagger every time I stepped down and I was having a hard time ignoring it.

Not long after I got onto the seawall, the 3:50 pace bunny passed me. Seeing that stupid 3:50 sign trot by me like it was no big thing was a bit of a blow to the ego. I couldn’t deny it any longer – I now knew I was really falling off pace.

I tried to keep telling myself to “just keep running” and reminding myself that it was just a short run left and that 10k was no big deal, but unfortunately my walk breaks kept getting more and more frequent.

This might be a weird statement, but I wish I could say that I bonked or that I was hurt in some way, but I think mentally, I just gave in a bit. Don't get me wrong, everything on my body hurt (my hips and my ankle the most) and I got a really bad side stitch that I just couldn't get rid of, but I think that is probably just the way your body is going to feel after 30-35km of running eh?

Oh, and my ear – I got a really strange ear ache during this time. Like ear infection style throbbing. Anyone else ever experienced that? Tres strange.

But that’s beside the point. It was mental. I didn’t embrace the pain and instead, I let myself give in to it (which is kind of hard to admit).

Anyway, needless to say, the whole seawall was a struggle – both mentally and physically.

I had readjusted my goal time in my mind and now just wanted to get under 4hrs. It was less than 10k. I run 10k all the time! I actually still believed I was going to make it until about the 39k mark when the 4hr pace bunny passed me. I tried to stick with that group, but was fading hard and fast. I don’t know if you could call what I was doing running. A painful shuffle/hobble is more like it.

Those final few kms were ugly. I wanted to try and pick up the pace on the final stretch toward the finish line, but it didn’t happen. The very gradual false flat uphill kicked my butt. I think I was grimacing the whole way and am pretty sure I had my eyes closed for longer than I should have. But, you know, when I actually crossed the line, I didn’t care. I was done. I was happy to be done, and I actually didn’t feel like a failure.

I crossed the line in 4:06:21.
100/381 in my age group.
484/2145 female.
1486 overall.
I’ll take it.

p.s. The Vancouver Marathon course is beautiful (but tough). The volunteers and the spectators were awesome, and the weather was amazing (even if a bit hot). Also, it was hard ~ very hard. Have I mentioned that yet?

The Goal Post

Last Tuesday, the day after I wrote my last post, I went for a run. On pretty much the last step of my run, at the bottom of our [not-so-smooth] driveway, I landed funny and felt a weird poppy-crunchy sensation in my knee. It wasn’t an intense pain, but it kind of jolted me and really just felt ‘off’ (and continued to feel ‘off’ for the rest of the day and the day that followed).

I’m not going to lie - it freaked me out. A lot. So much so, that I didn’t tell anyone for a few days aside from Shane and Adam (and it took me a day and a half to send the "PANIC" email to him). I think I felt like if I didn’t admit it, it didn’t happen. Couple that with the typical anxiousness that comes with the taper and well, look out!

Maybe it was because the marathon is so close, or maybe it was because I realized I didn’t want to be fighting an injured knee all summer training for TRR, but I did something I know a lot of runners don’t do well (myself included), and I listened to my body. I trusted my gut and I rested. I skipped workouts that were planned for Wednesday and only did yoga on Thursday. I iced, I elevated. Yeah, I probably babied my knee more than I needed to, but I think it was the right thing to do.

By the time Friday morning hit, my knee was feeling significantly better – definitely less tender and less stiff. I could walk up and down the stairs without any weird sensations, and so, I went for a run. It took a bit to get warmed up, but once I did, I felt pretty good.

I followed that up on Saturday and Sunday with similar success. Decent runs without too much strange stuff happening in my knee… and so, I'm feeling cautiously optimistic.

Anyway, I know I need to be careful and not overdo things in the coming week, but I feel like maybe I’m actually learning. Learning how to listen to my body, learning how to not be so obsessed with “getting the workout done” and learning to just kinda go with the flow.

So, minor injury scare aside, I think it is time to make a note about some of my goals for this marathon.

Of course, I have time goals…
I would like to say my ‘A’ goal would be to run a BQ, which is 3:35:00 for my age group, but that is more of a dream than an actual goal. I think one day I will be able to do it, but at this time, I feel like it would probably take absolutely everything going perfectly, and well, rainbows shooting out of my butt or something magical (like a unicorn sighting?) to help propel me to the finish line in that time.

So, my real ‘A’ goal, and the one I have been training for, is a 3:45:00. I think it is doable. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t in any way think this will be easy, in fact, holding a 5:20/km pace for 42.2km will be very challenging for me, but I feel like I’ve trained well and it is achievable. I believe I can do it. Of course, even though I believe I can do it, I’d still appreciate everyone crossing their fingers for me and sending positive “speedy” vibes my way on race morning.

My ‘B’ goal would be sub 4. That is totally arbitrary and based on nothing other than the fact that I feel like I should be able to go sub 4 and well, it seems like a lot of first time marathoners aim for that mark. So yeah, that is that.

‘C’ goal is to finish. Although, you know, I don’t know if that is really a "goal", as I know I can finish a marathon. I guess I don’t need a ‘C’ time goal, do I? I guess, if the day turns out to be a "just finish" kinda day, my goal is to cross the finish line without feeling disappointed – to finish the race holding my head high and smiling.

My Non-time Goals are more pace related...
I would like to run a smart race. I want to run a nice even pace and not go out too fast. My goal is to be patient. My goal is to stay steady through 30k-35k and then, if I’m feeling good, try to pick up the pace a bit. I guess what I’m saying is I would like to negative split. I think a negative split is kind of like a unicorn sighting to a lot of newbie marathon runners and, well, I want to see what the negative splitting unicorn really looks like. 

Also, no urgent bathroom breaks please. My goal is to have all that business taken care of before the gun goes off. Good goal right?

So, these are my goals. My race number is 2016 if you'd like to follow along online or if you’ll be in Vancouver and want to yell nice things at me. I’ll be in black tights and a green shirt (haha, that totally narrows it down, doesn’t it).

Oh and one more goal... maybe a good race photo if I’m lucky. :)

2 Weeks

The Vancouver Marathon is now less than 2 weeks away.

That statement right there (yup, ^ that one) is both scary and exciting.

First, might I say, that ~holy crap~  the last 14 weeks (?) of training has absolutely flown by. Something tells me, the next two weeks will zip past equally as quick.

Training is starting to taper off now. I’ve still got some decent workouts to do over the next 2 weeks, but the hard work is mostly done.

It’s been good ('it' in this case, being this training cycle). Really good in fact. I keep saying that, and I actually believe it. I really truly feel like I’ve been running well. Strong even. I’m getting better at judging my pace, and I feel like my head is usually in a good, positive space when I’m tackling a workout.

This past Saturday I had one of my final ‘long’ tempo workouts (the main part of the workout being 90min at marathon pace). Instructions also included a note about “being honest with it” - 'it', in this case, being marathon pace.

I often go a little faster than what my planned marathon pace is, and I know I can’t do that on race day. The last thing I want to do is to go out too hard and suffer through the back half of the marathon. Been there, done that. The agony of IMC ‘12 is still fresh enough in my mind that I don’t want a repeat (granted, that was a fueling issue, but still – I imagine the suffering would be similar in a ‘fade from the front’ race strategy). Anyway, I know I need to be able to settle into my desired pace right away at the marathon and not sprint out of the gates. Patience should be my motto for the day.

So, back to Saturday’s workout...
I felt like this was a great success and a very teeny-tiny, minor failure at the same time.

Let’s talk about the success first, because, well, that’s more fun. Simply, I felt great through the whole 90min at marathon pace. I felt relaxed and comfortable and like everything was really clicking and I was in a good mindset the whole time. The time flew by and my legs were turning over nicely. Good stuff.

My teeny-tiny minor failure would be that my pace was, once again, a little quicker than my goal marathon pace – especially for the first km or two (oops). When I saw my first km split, I did try and reel it in, and managed to settle down a bit, so that’s good, right?

Anyway, overall I was really happy with the workout. It leaves me feeling pretty confident heading into my taper.

2 weeks to go! (Have I mentioned that yet?)

Boston

I’m finding it hard to reconcile my thoughts and feelings on what happened Monday in Boston.

 

It hit me hard. It felt too close to home. While I didn't have any friends at the race this year, these are still my people. This is my community that was attacked - our comminuty. As runners, as endurance athletes, as people who enjoy pushing our limits. The love of the sport, the celebration that it brings, the amazing history, and the joy - it is ours.

 

I don't understand it.

 

I read everything I could find online in the hours following the bombings. I logged onto Twitter for the first time in my life to see if there was anything new. When I finally got home, I watched the news, trying to take it all in – and yet, I’m not sure I actually processed or truly heard any of the reports.

 

All I know is my heart felt heavy. It still does. Tears welled up in my eyes as I ran yesterday and then again when I heard from my Mom not long after getting back from my workout. My emotions are pretty raw right now and my need for a hug is pretty overwhelming at times.

 

My mind can’t comprehend why anyone would do something like this – although I’m not sure I ever want to understand or comprehend it.

 

Anyway, plenty of emotions have been shared online, on blogs and social media – most of it far more eloquently than I can sputter out at this moment.

 

I just know that last year, I left a little piece of my heart in Boston. No, I wasn’t running, but even as a spectator, that race grabs you and holds you. The city of Boston and all the other towns along the course, they make you feel welcome and alive and it is special and it is amazing. It is easily one of the most incredible sporting events I’ve ever witnessed and I’m so thankful I got the opportunity to experience it – even if it was just from the sidelines. I hope to be back there, experiencing it all over again one day. Perhaps one day I will even make it to the starting line as an athlete.

 

I feel incredible sadness for the people killed or injured on Monday, and anger at the person/people who did this. I hate that person/people for momentarily taking away the joy of the marathon, the joy and celebration that should be felt at the finish line.

 

That said, I have a pretty strong feeling the joy and spirit of the marathon will return, perhaps even stronger than before.

 

Sending love to anyone and everyone affected by the events in Boston.

Training Rambles

While out running at lunch today I started to think about the fact that I haven’t been writing much about my actual training on the ol’ blog as of late. Of course, I then found myself composing a little training recap in my head.

I do this often as I run – composing blog posts in my mind – yet, very rarely do these ‘masterpieces’ find their way to paper (or the computer in this case). Today is really no different, I can’t remember exactly what I was thinking about (running, puppies, food, running, blow torches [don’t ask], trails, running….), but now, here I sit, on a Friday afternoon with some time to kill and so, I figured a little ramble about marathon training couldn’t hurt.

Marathon training.

Gawd, it still seems weird to say that I am in the midst of marathon training right now. I’m pretty sure at this time last year (while in Boston cheering on Kirsten at that little marathon that starts in Hopkinton every April), my Dad asked me if being there, in that incredible Bostonian atmosphere, if I ever had the desire to run a marathon. I’m pretty sure I said no. Actually, I know that I said no.

Running a stand-alone marathon has never been high on my list of things to do – and yet, here I am. One month from today, I will toe the start line in Vancouver for my first marathon. (I’m actually a bit excited about it. Who am I??)

At times May 5^th still seems so far away, and at other times, it feels like it is just around the corner. Mostly though, the fact that I’m running a marathon in a month doesn’t seem real.

If I said I’m not a wee bit anxious about it, well that would be a lie. I am. I have lots of little doubts in my mind, as I’m sure most people do when they decide to run a marathon for the first time.

You know, typical little things like:
Am I running enough?
Can I really run my desired pace for that long?
How will my body react after 30k?
What if I get a blister?
Can I trust a fart after mile 1?

Anyway, moving on from the doubts (but keeping with the rambling theme of this post), here are some tidbits about my training as of late…

• I’ve been running a lot.
• I’ve been running on hills a lot.
• I usually have at least one workout a week that makes me nervous. I think the nerves stem from me doubting my ability to hold certain paces for certain times (or some such nonsense). Then, almost without fail, on each and every one of these workouts I nail the paces and come away feeling just a little bit more confident in my ability. It’s kind of cool actually.
• I have the odd day where I am unmotivated and a bit lazy or my ankle hurts and I wonder how it is going to hold up over the marathon distance, but mostly, I'm enjoying putting in the miles and getting the work done.
• I actually find myself not missing the swim and bike as much as I thought I would. I am still getting in the pool a couple times a week, and getting on the bike a bit too, but these ‘workouts’ are more for supplemental maintenance than anything else. (I’ll admit there have even been times when I’ve had a swim or bike scheduled and thought, “I kind of just want to run.” There is something so easy about running – you just put on your shoes and go).
• I’ve been doing the large majority of my training on my own. Even though Kirsten and Shane are both training for Vancouver as well, having a different coach means having a different training plan. It was a bit strange at first, but I’m adjusting and actually really liking it. I’m also trying really hard not to compare my training to others and to just trust in it. My coach is a world record holder after all, so I’m pretty sure he knows what he is doing.

Overall though, I think my training is coming along really well and I am super happy with it. I feel like my goal time is definitely within reach. It’s not going to be easy, but I truly believe it is doable.

I guess I’ll find out in a month.