Mid May Already?

Where is time flying ?  It's almost half way through May, though the temps outside would make you think we were still stuck in March!  I would hope that by this time in my training schedule I would be happily posting about my awesome swims, rides and runs, but unfortunately I've hit a bit of a bumpy stretch.

I think it all started back a couple weeks ago at the Toronto Younge Street 10k.  I ran my little heart out in that race and felt pretty darn good about it.  That following week I took a little downtime on the running, coming back 4 days after the race and putting in a solid 12k run at 4:40/km pace and according to my notes and recollection, my right leg was feeling fine.

That weekend we had our first outdoor ride and it was glorious   Windy as heck but fun to get out and ride outdoors with Barry.  We left from Angus Glen CC and rode up Warden 35k to the top of Ravenshoe Hill.  We met a nice guy on the way who gave us some great riding pointers.

Then two days later I hit the treadmill for some speed work and this is where the injury story picks up. 5 x 1,200m, each interval taking 5mins with 3 mins recovery in between - it's a work out I really enjoy.  Legs felt pretty good until half way through my forth interval when my right hamstring started pulling.  Instead of bailing on my fifth interval I pushed through.  And ever since I have been having an uncomfortable hamstring.   It originates up near my glute and runs behind the knee into the calf.  My Chiro's assessment is a tight right QL (those pesky lower back muscles that attach to the pelvis).

I took some time off from running and basically pulled back for a few rest and recovery days.  You would think this would be a great time for me to focus on my swimming, but instead I almost dropped swimming completely over the past 13 days.  I've hit the spin bike a couple of times and have put a 100k and 80k in on my bike.   A week ago  I tried to do a long run - by 5 km in I decided to turn it around and cut it short due to the "discomfort" in my leg.  I haven't run since.  It's been a week. I miss running.

So I've been stretching the QLs and trying to get mobility back into my hamstring through heat and stretching.  Aggressively stretched my QLs and legs last night and followed that up this morning with a hot Epsom salts bath and a good long core and stretch workout.  Now I'm currently sitting on 2 ice packs and feeling optimistic.

My training calendar looks pitifully blank for the next 5 days - I'm taking it day by day.  I hope to get to the pool tomorrow and Wednesday as well as do a couple spin classes to keep my fitness up.  We leave on Friday for our Toronto Triathlon Club Training Camp in Collingwood where I hope to ride close to 200km over the 3 days.  I'm really looking forward to getting away from home for a few days, hanging with some of my favourite triathlon friends, talking all things swim, bike, run and doing some seriously climbing on the bike.

Running might just take a back seat until I run the Ottawa Half Marathon in 2 weeks.  I had some high hopes of hitting a HUGE PR by running a sub 1:40.  While I'm optimistic that I will be able to run the race that pace might be out the window.  I need to remind myself that the Ottawa Half is not my "A" race.  I should be happy to run a sub 1:50 for a PR!

Happy Training and swift healing!

2013 Toronto Yonge Street 10k Race Report

On Sunday, April 21, 2013 I ran my first Yonge Street 10k and I cannot wait to run it again next year.  It was a great race from start to finish.  The organization,  the volunteers, the course, the post race - everything was pretty much exceptional.  To make this race a little more fun, I was running with Team "9 Drunks and a Runner".  It was my first time running with this team but the 10th and apparently final year the team will run.

Also, like most everyone else running on Sunday, I ran for Boston.

It was a cold start to the day - but not nearly as cold as I feared.  The race starts up north of Eglington and finishes a Fort York - it's a net down hill run with only 1 substantial climb and a few flats.  It is a fast race for sure!  I had signed up to run this race as a time trial for my pacing at my up coming Ottawa Half Marathon in May so I knew I wanted to run it hard and as fast as I could.  I was looking to break 45 mins, but like always, in my head I was thinking 42 minutes.

Course Map

Me, Barry and Carole at the start line - it was COLD

We got to the start with plenty of time but before I knew it, they were calling last call for checked bags.  I ran all the way to the back of the corrals and made it with seconds to spare.  I have to say, the bag check was so well organized!  I don't normally check a bag but since it was so cold I figured I would need something warm at the finish.

I made my way to the Red corral and luckily found my training buddy Chad who so graciously decided to pace me.  We made our way near the front of the corral and we were probably only 10 feet from the start line.  Next thing we knew we were off.  Running a 10k race is actually a crazy distance for me since I have been endurance racing for the past few years.  It's full out effort the entire way and when your lungs and heart are screaming at 5k you still have another 5k to go.

My coach had told me to shoot for around 43 minutes, averaging about a 4:15 min/km.  I clocked my first kilometre in at 4:16 and thought not bad.  However, my heart rate was pretty high and I knew I had to get it under control if I was going to hang on to this for nearly 40 more minutes.  The only real climb on this run happens around the 2nd km mark and I was huffing and puffing when I made it to the top.  It was nice to see a fellow Toronto Triathlon Club member at the top of the hill - I gave Graham a big wave but didn't have the talking ability to say hi (Our club was volunteering so there were quite a few familiar faces on the course).  I focused on my exhale and tried to allow the down hill to bring my heart rate and breathing rate down.  Listening to Chad chat was also very helpful but it was definitely a one sided chat!  We clicked out the first 5 km in 21 minutes (4:16, 4:09. 4:11, 4:03, 4:16) - my fastest 5km prior to today was 23:04.

By the 6th kilometre I was really feeling it.  My legs were fine, my heart and lungs were screaming.  I got horrible cramp right in the middle of my diaphragm and it became painful to breath.  This is where having a buddy pace you really comes in handy.  Chad said all the right things to keep me moving though my pace slowed to 4:16 and 4:17 for the 6 and 7th km.  We saw LeanneB (another TTC member volunteering on the course) and she gave us a big cheer and ran after us a bit.  That was uplifting because I was really starting to fall apart at that point.  Again, Chad continued to say the right things - "imagine we just got off a 80k bike ride and we are going for a 3 1/2 km run".

I continued to focus on my breathing.  Kilometre 8 clocked in at 4:06 and I though maybe I would sustain that for the next 2 but I was definitely losing steam.  I put my head down and ran.  Kilometre 9 was a disappointing 4:15.  We made the turn over the railway bridge and we only had 500 meters to go.  I knew this was when Chad would turn on  the burners as we had discussed.  He looked over his shoulder and said "just follow me".  I tried - I really tried - I turned on my burners and there was nothing left.  I pushed and I tried to pick up my speed but alas, I was done.  My 10th km clicked off on my garmin about 20 feet from the finish and it was a heart breaking 4:19.  I put my head down and ran that last 20 feet as fast as I could.

Chad was in the finishing shoot waiting for me.  The sun was shining and it was temporarily very hot.  I remember walking in the middle of the shoot and saying "guess if I'm going to puke I shouldn't do it in the middle of the road".  Luckily the puking sensation abated (hey, if you don't feel like you are going to puke then you didn't run hard enough right?).

Of course I forgot to hit the stop button on my Garmin so I wasn't sure of my time but I did see the clock and is was around 42:30 - later I found out my official time was 42:25.4. 10/370 in the F 40-44 age group, 49/3089 woman and 353/5610 overall.  I missed my 42 min by 25 seconds, but in the end, I took  almost 7 minutes off my one and only other 10k race I have done (Tanenbaum 10k 2011 - 49:22).

The finish area of the race is very well laid out.  I had no problem at all getting my bag. There were a couple of food tents so line ups weren't bad.  There was just the traditional post race food: bagels (not great for this GF gal), apples and bananas and plenty of  gatorade and water.  There were a few sponsor tents as well but I didn't really check them out.

We wait for the rest of our team to finish and we ended up being the 4th mixed team out of 20.  And as I suspected, I was the runner of the group with the fastest time.

9 Drunks and a Runner (yes, we are aware there are more than 10 people on the team)

We grabbed a cab back to the start line - I will not go into the awful details of this very expensive cab ride (next year we will buy the shuttle bus tickets), and met up with the team for brunch and of course a few beers.

Sadly, it seems this team has run it's last Toronto Yonge Street 10k, though personally, I hope to change their minds next year!  I'm sure if I had been able to stick around while the group put down 14 pitchers of beer I would have succeeded!

Looking back on the execution of this race, I'm not sure I would have done anything differently.  I could have tried going out slower and picking up time along the way but with a 10km it seems like a constant effort is needed.  I didn't negative split, I was 25 seconds slower on the back 5km, but again, with such a short race does that really matter?  My next 10km that I run will be the last leg of the Toronto Triathlon Festival in July and if I can break 45 minutes on that day I will be happy.  But for now, I will continue to train for my next race - the Ottawa Half Marathon in May and of course Mt. Tremblant 70.3 in June!

To recap, I loved the course, the organization was great and the volunteers superb!  I would highly recommend this race to everyone and I look forward to running it next year!

Boston - I'll see you next year

Yes, I will run Boston next year and no I'm not afraid.  I'm not afraid to run Ottawa in 6 weeks,  I'm not afraid to spectate at the Toronto Goodlife in a few weeks.  And I will not be afraid to run Boston next year, or New York, or Chicago, or London ... the list can go on.

Yesterday I went through 3 huge emotional roller-coasters.  When I first heard the news from my husband, I was sick; I literally dry-heaved.  Then as I got sucked into the CNN coverage and the social media coverage  and I was overcome with a huge amount of sadness.  Sadness for those poor, unsuspecting spectators, for the runners at the finishing area at the time and for the runners being stopped in the middle of their biggest race of a lifetime.  And then I got down right angry.  Angry that someone, some group, chose a venue that offers nothing but good, to perform their act of terror for whatever sick reason they had for harming innocent people.   What happened yesterday in Boston will leave a scar the running community will never forget.

Of course now we hear talk about "beefing up" security at the large races or even the preposterous notion of cancelling races.  Might as well discuss cancelling every large parade out there if that is the case - there really isn't much of a difference between a race and a parade now is there?  What about rush hour in the big cities?  Are we to now avoid any circumstance where a lot of folks are gathered?  Do we make our world a police state?  We all should give our heads a shake.

As the news trickled out yesterday, I grew more and more angry.  Angry that many of those injured had their  legs amputated.  Angry that one of the murdered was an 8 year old boy.  Angry that my father sent me an email simply saying "This is where you want to run???".  Angry that the dreams of so many marathoners were crushed by such a senseless and cowardly act.

And it's so easy to place yourself there - to calculate your time and think, wow I would have just been finishing, to think of my husband who always climbs on top of things, notably garbage cans, to get a better vantage point for photographs, to imagine my children waiting impatiently to see me cross the finish line.  And then, in the pit of my stomach, the sickness comes back.

So today, I grieve.  I grieve for that poor father who lost his son, and has his wife and daughter in critical condition.  I grieve for the families of the others that were murdered.  I grieve for all those who lost their limbs, whose lives are forever changed by their injuries.  I grieve for all the children who witnessed and have lost their innocence forever.  I grieve for all of Boston as they pick up the pieces and move forward after an attack on not only their city but their beloved Patriot Day and their iconic marathon.  And I grieve for myself and my entire running community because our beloved sport is scared forever.

But I will not be afraid and I will continue to run.

Spring Cleanse Challenge

It's APRIL!  That means we are just under 12 weeks out for Mt. Tremblant 70.3 and under 8 weeks until the Ottawa Half Marathon.  While I haven't been keeping up much with the blogging, I have been keeping busy with my training and my diet, and trying to ignore the still freezing temperatures and flying snow!

While I haven't blogged about it, I have now been gluten-free since mid January - so that's about 2 1/2 months.  Have I noticed any thing different?  Besides my intense cravings for a big sandwich every now and again, I really haven't noticed much being gluten-free.   I have not lost any weight and maybe the tummy fat has gone down a tiny bit, but all in all, I'm pretty sure I'm not Gluten Intolerant, however, I am going to stay on this path as I feel it has helped with my healthy eating!

Currently, I'm on day two of a little 5 day Spring Cleanse Challenge put on my a tri-friend and nutritionist I know, Tara at Healthy Eating Active Living.  The challenge is to eliminate caffeine, sugar, wheat (gluten), dairy and alcohol.  Well, if you know me, the first is out the window - I will take it black, but I must take my morning cup of coffee.  Besides that however, I'm sticking well to this little challenge and after the amount of sugar and artificial colouring and flavourings I had over the Easter Holiday - I need it.   I really missed my chocolate milk this morning as my refuelling option, but I'm managing pretty well.

Breakfast Energy: kale, spinach, cucumber, lime, mint, chia seeds and Vega-1 Natural

Desert Last night accompanied my a few almonds

Yesterday's lunch juice: beet, carrot, green apple

last night's supper: brussel sprouts, quinoa with black beans and a little beef tenderloin

So you can see, the cleanse isn't too brutal - though 5 days without wine - that is going to be a challenge!

Training is going ok - last week was a recovery week and I had a twitchy hamstring so I took it easy.  My running is going fabulous and I'm really feeling fast and strong.  We have purchased a used computrainer for Barry's birthday and as soon as we get a computer strong enough to power the darn thing, and the right cables to hook it up to the TV, and get it all running, I'll be hitting the bike harder than I have been.  While everyone I know went out for a ride this weekend - it was still too cold for me!  I'm still training hard on the spin bikes at the gym and feel very confident in my bike strength so I'm allowing myself to take liberties with the numbers on my plan when it comes to riding!

Finally, I purchased some new running kicks ....

These are the Nike Flyknit One - the upper is made from one piece of continuous yarn.  They are amazingly light while still providing almost the same cushioning as I'm used to in my Volmero's.  I'll be hitting the treadmill in them later this week to see if they are keepers!

I hope to get back to updating the blog with more interesting training - but until then - clean eating and happy living to you all!

2 weeks in: Getting into the swing of Training!

Here we are, 14 weeks out from MTB half iron and 10 weeks out from the Ottawa Half Marathon - Im training for both officially, though I seem to be favouring the Ottawa Half plan over the half-iron plan.

I'm sucking up my dislike of getting wet every Monday and Wednesday night and hitting the pool for my master's swim class.  I find the practices very challenging and I either leave thinking "WOW I really nailed that" or "crap, I'm never going to be any good swimming".  I figure if I just keep at it, it's got to be good for me.  I'm longing for the days of open water swimming and ditching the eau de chlorine.  But the sad reality is I actually need to add another day of swimming into my plan at some point and it will not be warm enough to be in Open Water!

Now, let's talk about running!  I am LOVING the run right now!  After smashing my huge PR and BQ at the Ft. Lauderdale A1A Marathon, I have decided I like being a fast runner.  I am sort of following my coaches plan - as well as I can that is.  I was supposed to do a LSD (long, slow, distance) run yesterday at a 5:33 min/km pace - and I came in with 19km at a 4:57 min/km pace (hey, it was cold and I wanted to get through it!).  I've sent the good coach an email asking if this is good or bad.  Fingers crossed it is a good thing.  I don't like getting in trouble for going too fast - wait, I've never had that problem before!  I have really embraced the treadmill for my mid-week intensity, steady state and fartlek runs.  I cannot wait until the weather allows be to run freely outdoors!

My first run out the Leslie Spit of 2013!  Cold but beautifully sunny day!

Anyway, running is my highlight right now and I'm even considering applying to be a part of the NUUN Hood to Coast Relay.  I'm sure my blog isn't read enough to qualify, plus I have to get my editing skills going to produce a video to convince them that I would like to spend 24 hours in a van with a bunch of other girls and run down a mountain to the ocean.  AND I'm not even sure they let Canadian's do it (though, you know I'm an American by birth so I'm sure I can figure something around that!).  But one thing is for certain - I do love NUUN and I drink enough of it to put me as a front runner if that's a metric they are using!

And finally, back to talk about training.  I'm not really embracing the bike portion of my training as of yet.  My bike is still not completely together and isn't even close to be put on the trainer or the road for that matter.  I am, however, making great use of the awesome new spin bikes at the gym and I'm hoping that my high intensity, mega power pushing sessions are keeping my cycling legs strong for when I do decide to get my but back into the Cervelo's saddle for the season.

So that's the update on the training, slow and steadily working my way through my plans!

Mont Tremblant 70.3 Training has Started! 16 weeks minus 2 days until race day!

Spring is just a few weeks away and I cannot wait to get outside on my bike!!!  Here we are in the beginning of March and I'm just shy of 16 weeks out from my third Half-Iron race - Mont Tremblant on June 23.  It's only been just over 2 weeks since my huge BQ at the Ft. Lauderdale Marathon so I think it is safe to say I'm coming into this 16 week training cycle with a huge running base.  I rode 2 long rides over the Christmas holidays and have been on the spin bikes at the gym pretty regularly so my cycling base is decent; and I've sporadically been attending my Master's swim classes so I can even say I  have a pretty good swim base.

But, before I get to the Mont Tremblant 70.3 - I'm running the Ottawa half marathon - which was supposed to be a little fun destination race with a few friends - 2 of which have never run a half.  BUT, then I went and got involved with a running coach and now I've got a plan, that starts next week, to put me on a very fast track to very fast half!  He has me running between a 1:35 and 1:40 which has me shaking in my runners just a bit! I sort of like picking goals that I'm pretty sure I can achieve and that, my friends, does not seem so easy considering my PR is 1:50!

Anyway, 2 days into my 70.3 plan and I'm happily hitting my targets and then some.  I do, however, have to put my bike back together and get her set up on the trainer unless by some stroke of global warming happens as I have a 2:30 on the bike planned for the weekend.  And don't forget, next week I start my 12 week plan for the Ottawa half - will be interesting melding my two plans and seeing how it turns out.  I figure training for a fast half marathon can only help with the training for a 70.3!  And finally, I have to get my butt to the pool EVERY Monday and Wednesday night for Master's Swim!

That's it for now - happy swim, bike, running and let's pray for warm weather sooner than later!

2013 Ft. Lauderdale A1A Race Report: The time I got my BQ

After much hemming and hawing, I decided to run the Ft. Lauderdale A1A Marathon this past weekend (February 17, 2013).  Barry I drove down from Stuart to Ft. Lauderdale on Friday and the weather was just miserable - rain, rain and more rain.  We checked into our hotel (the Sheraton Ft. Lauderdale Beach Hotel which was RIGHT at the finish line) and made our way to the expo.

Finish line from our hotel room!

Great Expo for small race - TONS of free stuff!

Packet Pickup went smoothly though there was a line up to get the swag bag and the T-shirts were poorly sized.  My extra small fit Barry!

The Marathon Course

After the expo we headed out for a bit of shopping and dinner before heading back to hotel.

 We spent Saturday walking, Barry swimming and taking in the Fla/Tampa hockey game.

We stopped in at the dollar store to pick up some cheap throw away gloves for the race then retired to the room.  While lights were off by 9am, it was the typical pre-race night of non-sleep.  It seemed like forever before the 4am wakeup call.  Like every race morning I jumped out of bed and got the coffee made.  Due to the weather there was some decisions that had to be made about the clothing choices and I ended up going to my grey and pink lulu pants and long-sleeved shirt.  I figured I could always take the shirt off  and I like running in the tights - it really cuts down on chafing!  Like clockwork we were ready to head out the door at 5am.  The shuttles were right at our hotel so it couldn't have been easier.  We joined up with a bus full of runners and we were off to the starting line.

I was incredibly nervous on the bus ride to the start line.  There was a lot of chatter on the bus and my stomach was flipping and flopping.  I even came to tears at one point, doubting my training and fearing my goal.  I was more nervous than I was at the start of IMFL!  Barry, being the rock that he is, continued to reassure me that I was going to kill this course and it was going to be a great day.  We were thanking our lucky stars we were dealing with the cold and the wind instead of the heat and humidity!  It seemed like a long bus ride but I don't think it was.

We had pretty perfect timing and the event was well organized.  We got off the bus at 5:30, lined up for the potties and got into the start corral around the 3:45 bunny and waited for the gun.  It was a bit of a late start for some reason but finally the national anthem, the wheel chair gun and then 2 minutes... 1 minute.... 15 seconds .... BOOM.

It was a small race - probably about 4,000 runners total.  The Half and the Full start together and run the first 9 miles together.  The course was fairly narrow which caused for a slowish start dodging all the people who don't seed themselves properly - just a note for those uninformed - if you are going to be walking at all in the first mile - don't toe the line.

The first mile was the slowest of the day.  I felt great and it felt great to get warmed up.  The 3:45 bunny was  running too slow for me so I made my way in front of the group.  I found myself running with the 1:50 half pace group which felt good.  Just before mile 3 we hit the only "hill" which is a very short bridge over the Inter-coastal and I passed the 1:50 bunny.

I had 2 "opps" moments in the race and probably ticked some folks off.  When we got to A1A and turned north my visor blew off my head - I was in front of the huge 1:50 half marathon pace group so me stopping, turning and running back to grab it was not pleasing to some.  Then when we were running through the little park around mile 6 or so, my water bottle, which I had been running with stuck down the back of my pants flew out - again I was in front of the (SAME) 1:50 pace group and again - I think I ticked some people off.  SORRY GUYS!

The first 9 miles went along great - every time I hit a mile split I would look at my race band and think - oh, I had better not blow up on the back half of this thing because I'm flying.  I was supposed to be running 8:30 min/mi and I had been clocking in well under 8:20s.

Just around mile 9 the Half Marathoners turned off and the crowded race became very lonely, very quickly.  This was not a spectator race at all - in fact, once the marathon split from the half - i think I can count the spectators on one hand.  Shortly after the split the winds really started to pick up and we were running into a pretty strong headwind.   My 5 slowest miles (besides the first) were miles 10 - 14.  I had studied the course and knew the turn around was at 15 1/2 miles so I just put my head down and ran.

My body felt pretty good and I was very pleased with my splits even though they were much too fast according to the plan.  I was happy to make the turn south at the 15 1/2 mile mark and settled in to my last 10 miles.    While I thought the wind would be at my back but instead of a tailwind - the winds just picked up and swirled around.  I passed quite a few people between mile 16 and 24.  I got a lot of encouraging words like "you look strong girl" and "keep it up".

I banged out mile after mile.  I took my Gu's every 5 miles and felt pretty good for the entire run.  I had started out the race with a disposable bottle of water with NUUN and I told took sips of water at most of the water stations after about 10k.  At about mile 21 I knew I had nailed my Boston qualifying time and I also knew I had blown my new coaches plan out the window.  I kept telling myself that I couldn't blow it now - not after going out so fast for the first 21 miles. I kept my pace fairly steady and tried to enjoy the beautiful ocean views on the last 3 miles of the course.  The balls of my feet were hurting a little bit and my right calf was a bit sore.  My Quads were screaming at me.  I just kept thinking the finish line is coming - just 45 more minutes, just 30 more minutes, just 2 more miles - LESS THAN 20 MINUTES .... and then I'm entering the parking lot and it's all out sprint to the finish.  My fastest mile split on record was mile 24 at 8:01 min/mile (4:59 min/km) though I didn't hit the stop button at the very end so my last split had to be faster.

Finish: 3:36:57 chip time. 127th overall.  4/60 in my Age Group

I left it all on the course

beautiful sand sculpture

COOLEST medal ever!

Best place for a finish line!

Obviously, I had a blast running this race!  If I'm in South Florida at this time of year - I would definitely run it again! It was well organized and except for the miss-sized T-shirts and few short staffed water stations, it was a perfect day.

 And for now, all I know is I'll be running in Boston in 2014!

Here are some of the race photos:

it was dark for the first 45 mins

feeling good

smiling for the camera

BQ in the pocket

always great to have Barry at the finish line!