I’ve mentioned (too) many times that I started running late in life and I’ve never benefitted from formal training or coaching in my highschool/university years. I’m entirely self-taught. Continue reading
Posted in Running Tids & Bits
Tagged Around the Bay, biomechani, exercise, fitness, health, running
Well, that went better than expected. Way better than expected. By that I mean Around the Bay 30K, edition 118. This was my 5th time running the race, so I knew what to expect. Except I wasn’t expecting a humidex reading (it is March, where’s the windchill?), or the plague (again!), or another tendonitis flare-up (back on prescription strength anti-inflammatories) … so I also wasn’t expecting a great run. Which I said, publicly.
I wasn’t sandbagging. Really. Really!
Posted in My Amazing Races
Tagged Around the Bay, exercise, fitness, health, race, race report, race results, running
For the Annals of Stupid Things I Do to Food/Drink During Races, I have not yet exhausted my supply of stories from Around the Bay.
I packed my race kit the evening before the race (I’m organized!) in the dark because it was Earth Hour and I’m awesome in a turn the lights out way (I’m not organized enough to finish before Earth Hour!) and thus my gel selection was touch based. I quickly discovered that my gel selection was limited to two choices: lumpy or really lumpy.
I opted for Lumpy. Lumpy, I later discovered by candlelight, was over a year expired. Really Lumpy was nearly two years expired and intelligently went right to the garbage bin. You may recall my recent brush with expired products. I lost. Sweaty Kid reminded me of a recent tangle with gels during a race. I lost. Someone with more foresight than me could have easily avoid certain tragedy.
But Lumpy seemed fine except for the bottom lumpy bits. I reasoned I could eat around the lumpy bits, which would helpfully stay put at the bottom of packet. I estimated 5/6 of the packet was edible. The odds were in my favour.
I saved my gel for 21K, a sugar kick for the final push. In my race haze I greedily consumed the entire packet, lumpy bits and all, then immediately freaked as the disgusting and no longer vanilla flavoured lumps bumped down my throat.
I do not know the physical side effects of expired gels, but the psychological side effects are an urgent need to go and to go is code for two not one, obsessive worrying about the side effects of ingesting expired chemicals, and the constant feeling of not vanilla regurgitation.
Not one to let a near poisoning throw me off my game, as you well know, I stoically soldiered on.
Title: Presidents of the United States of America - Lump. 1995.
Posted in My Amazing Races, Running Tids & Bits
Tagged Around the Bay, exercise, fitness, food, health, marathon, running
Dear Runshorts,
I’m not sure I can trust you. I think you need a gentle reminder that, for you, the Around the Bay 30K is a run, not a race. An expensive run so you can avoid the hated stop lights that are at least 20 minutes long. In case you start getting silly ideas, I must remind you that last Saturday you ran 37K. On Tuesday you ran an easy 8K but in minimalist shoes that graced your weary feet for the first time since September. On Wednesday you ran slippery hill repeats in a snowstorm. On Thursday you enjoyed a 75 minute athletic (euphemism for painful but in a good way) massage. On Friday you went to the track for the first time in 20 weeks and ran loops into the wind, mysteriously in every direction. Sunday is your day of rest. 30 restful kilometres.
Do not screw this up by running too fast.
Sincerely,
Your voice of reason
Title: The Police – Message in a Bottle. 1979.
Posted in Running Tids & Bits
Tagged Around the Bay, Boston Marathon, exercise, fitness, health, marathon, running
In an effort to coax my reluctant body into running faster than a snail’s pace I signed up for a couple of pre-Boston race-runs. This weekend was the Chilly 1/2 marathon. Although it was not so much chilly as it was snowy and slushy (and windy). The 35-40km/hr winds were not as bothersome as expected, just a little tough on the few short northbound portions. It could have been much worse. ATB, coming up in three weeks, is always much worse.
Now that I’m in Monster Month 21.1k isn’t enough mileage, so I also ran an easy 10k before the race, ran the 1/2, then finished with a 3k cool-down. A little choppy, but I got in the distance. The aim was to run the 21.1k at marathon race pace or a bit faster and Mission Accomplished. The road this year was a slushy foot-soaking mess (near record rainfall followed by an overnight blast of snow), so I think my miles are worth an extra 10% in effort.
This popular event is worthy of a few words. It’s the only local (local = within 90 minutes) 1/2 marathon in the early spring, but given the location (the ‘burbs) I’ve never run this race. I would definitely go back to run it again. It wasn’t the stereotypical suburbs of identical houses and expensive sounding street names, but a quaint waterfront village. The organizers are lovely (the same group puts on the Santa Shuffle – you may recall my one and only foray into costumed running) and have a reputation for well-run races. The start line corrals were a bit broad (e.g. 1.30 to 2.00 hours) but for the most part people did an okay job of self-sorting and there were lots of pace bunnies around for folks looking for company (including this guy). I wasn’t blockaded before kilometre three, as is the case when there is rampant over-optimisim in the starting corrals. The aid stations were reliably spaced every 3K and the volunteers eager and at the ready. They even had a gel station and an orange/banana station, which is rare for this distance. The course is scenic, running almost entirely along the shores of Lake Ontario, and traffic free. It’s also relatively flat, which I know is appealing to some. There were some slight elevation changes to relieve the repetitive stress of flat running. So all in all, a decent event/course and well worth the drive out of the city. My one recommendation is same day kit pick-up for out-of-towners … it is a long drive to get the kit and then return the next day to run. If it helps my cause, same day pick-up would be better for the environment and not just my lazy ways.
My own run was uneventful. It usually is. I ran like a metronome, without varying from my pace even when briefly chatting with friends on the course. I’ve never been one for k by k breakdowns, mostly because I forget things almost as they are happening. A few notable exceptions: I kept my record intact and finished ahead of the costumed runner (a red hot chilly pepper, of course), I narrowly missed a direct hit by a giant spit ball (the man apologized multiple times as his phlegm grazed my eyelashes), I felt sorry for one poor lady who never learned the ‘do not wear yoga pants in soggy weather because they will grow to three times their length’ lesson and by 2K she was already struggling to keep her pants up, a hyper-competitive woman with no control over her flailing arms and legs raced passed me then slowed three times -tripped me once- before falling behind never to be seen again around the 10K mark, and I sped ate a powdered doughnut at the finish line before my cooldown and ran the next 3K with bright white lips.
Title: the Eagles – Desperado. 1973.
Posted in My Amazing Races, Running Tids & Bits
Tagged Around the Bay, exercise, fitness, health, marathon, race, race report, race results, running, weather, winter
I recently announced that the Around the Bay 30K was my spring training kickoff kick-in-the-ass. Did it work? Well, no in that I ran a course PB (but not a distance PB), thus reinforcing my lackadaisical approach to training. It’s reminiscent of my all-night study sessions in undergrad. If there are no consequences how will I ever learn? But yes in that I ran a course PB and now I know that if I had trained properly all winter I may have been poised for a marathon PB in a few weeks, but 30K is not 42.2K and I’m not delusional and now I regret my mid-life crisis laziness. And yes in that I now have not one, not two, but three shiny ATB silver medals and more evidence that I am stuck in a pace rut from which I want to break free. So, two yeses minus one no = one successful kickoff kick-in-the-ass.
Title Reference: The Commodores – Three Times a Lady. 1978.
Posted in Running Tids & Bits
Tagged Around the Bay, exercise, fitness, health, marathon, running, spring
As a proud Facebook Fan of The Earth it should come as no surprise that I participated in Earth Hour on Saturday March 27 from 8.30pm to 9.30pm. The precise hour during which I planned to pack my race kit for the Sunday ATB 30K (truth: I procrastinated packing and forgot about Earth Hour until TV reminded me that the CN tower was about to go dark).
There is something romantic about packing a race kit by candlelight. There is also something chancy about it, as in you are taking a chance on packing mismatched socks. Or two left gloves. It is definitely not the time to try to find an old mylar blankets in the depths of a storage box whilst trying not to ignite my FuelBelt with a tipsy candle. As muddle-headed as I am the morning of a race I am reliant on sensible night before packing. I grab my bag while half asleep and Husband leads me to the car. The morning is not the time for me to match socks or remember something I forgot or find something I accidently put in the wrong bag while under 60-minute cover of darkness. Morning is the time to coax banana bread down my throat and mindlessly layer clothing on my weary body and fret about the weather.
My arrival at the race start had an adventurous feel as I reached into my race bag to see which treasures were packed within. To my great relief I was well supplied and arrived at the start line reasonably attired with all my crucial bits and pieces in place. I did put my pants on backwards after the run (to clarify: I’m referring to my post-run pants, I put on pants -capris technically- prior to the run), but I suppose I can’t blame that one on the self-imposed blackout.
Title Reference: Joni Mitchell - Big Yellow Taxi. 1970.
Posted in Running Tids & Bits
Tagged Around the Bay, exercise, fitness, health, marathon, running, spring
On Sunday I’m running for a good time, not a good time. Good meaning fun, not good meaning fast. This is not the season for a fast me, even by my slow standards. I have mostly come to terms with a bronze medal tarnishing my silver collection. I have mostly come to terms with my decision to forgo a spring marathon. Mostly.
I am slowly recovering from an unexpected midlife crisis. If I multiply my age by two I’m dying regrettably young. At the peak of this crisis I lost the will to run. And eat. And sleep. And the less I ate and the less I slept the less energy I had to I run. It’s a vicious hungry, tired, lazy cycle. I even lost my will to eat chocolate. Husband was concerned. Deeply concerned. I’m still not sleeping, but I am eating. And running. Slowly running. My marathon race pace has become my “tempo” pace and although I haven’t hit a pace target in four months I’m running regularly again. Sunday will be the kickoff kick-in-the-ass I need to revive my training plan and gear up for a fall marathon. Yes, this hilly, windy 30K race is my kickoff to training. My run crazies, it seems, are intact. Anyone up for celebrating 2500 years of marathoning in Athens this fall?
Title Reference: Trooper – Here For a Good Time (Not a Long Time). 1977.
Posted in Running Tids & Bits
Tagged Around the Bay, exercise, fitness, health, marathon, race, running
My quest to run 2009K in 2009 has hit a speed bump. A speed bump with a warning sign stating “PMS” ahead. PMS meaning Post Marathon Slump, not that other thing. My logbook is covered in cobwebs – I’ve neglected recording my “workouts” as a delusional means of avoiding The Sad Truth. The Sad Truth: my mileage has been dismal and my cross-training non-existent. I may need a map to help find my way back to the gym, it has been that long. I’m a low(ish) mileage runner at the best of times, supplementing a few high quality runs with spinning, swimming, and yoga. This new low mileage, low quality, no cross-training plan is not doing much for my conditioning. A concern, as I am running a half marathon in two weeks and a 50K ultramarathon in five weeks. My quadfecta is still a pitiful bifecta.
Some of this fall-off can be directly linked to my own sinful sloth, some of it to plain old bad luck. The descent into laziness started at the end of March. I was away at a conference and managed one measly run on that instrument of torture known as a treadmill. Then I enthusiastically embraced a mini-taper before Around the Bay; followed by an unplanned mini-recovery (unplanned because it followed a – stupid in hindsight - spontaneous run at race pace, rather than at a less taxing training pace – oops). A scant two weeks later the more lengthy Boston taper began. Then a few brief, but enjoyable, days of post-Boston recovery. Still in post-Boston rest mode, I was inflicted with a flu virus, the likes of which I haven’t experienced since fifth grade. Laid flat out for one long week (another minute of daytime TV and my next stop would have been the asylum), my daily workout consisted of a10-metre lap from my bed to the sofa, to the washroom, to the sofa. My heart rate once spiked so high from the effort of pouring a glass of orange juice that I needed to rest en route from the fridge back to the sofa. My eyelids hurt when I blinked. It was all kinds of ick. The following week I commanded my legs to run and they responded with a resounding hell no. Then Husband’s appendix exploded and although I logged a lot of time at the hospital, my running shoes remained in the closest untouched. And here I am now. Stuck in a rut of inertia.
I need to scare motivation back into my idle legs. That means facing The Sad Truth and all those horrifying blank entries in my logbook. I need to quantify my inactivity. Cold hard numbers will galvanize my spirit, once I recover from the initial shock of facing my secret laggard. Gulp. The Cold Hard Numbers: eight-hundred and ninety-one kilometres (it seems more impressive when written in long form) and counting. Um, gotta run.
Title Reference: Beck – Goin’ Nowhere Fast. From the Album Banjo Story. 1988.
I don’t think it is (much of) an exaggeration to say that the FuelBelt changed my life. Before FuelBelt I carried around one of those contraptions with the single large plastic water bottle at the back, pressed up against my spine, sloshing and bouncing every which way. My water bottle should not have more momentum than I do. With the exception of those hats that hold the beer cans, I can’t think of a more vexing on-the-run hydration system design. I also tried the camelback – perfectly fine for cycling, but it became a heat trapping, skin chafing torture device on a long run. My endurance running career (fine, hobby) hung in the balance – how can one run far and long without an adequate thirst quenching system? Would I forever be reduced to runs not exceeding 60-minutes in duration? Then I discovered FuelBelt, with its nifty wee pockets holding four mini bottles. The options! Not only can I choose how much fluid to take on any given run (is this a two or four bottle day?), but I can bring an assortment of liquid indulgences along for the ride, err run. Can you do that with a big floppy bottle? No you can not. I have one of the older models, before they made all sorts of fancy schmany (read unnecessary) changes. It’s a classic. An irreplaceable classic.
Sadly, my much used (and occasionally abused) FuelBelt has been slowly slipping away. The signs were all there, but I refused to see them. My belt continued to fit bigger even though I wasn’t getting smaller. The velcro fastener at the end of the elasticized waistband could no longer adjust to keep the belt at waist level. Layers of winter clothing helped disguise the slow loosening of the belt. Mostly I pretended not to notice. When the water bottles started torpedoing out of their little elastic pockets, all too often landing directly underneath my foot (try explaining to someone how you managed to trip over your own water bottle on the run) or smacking a less than impressed puppy in the tush, I blamed myself. Maybe I didn’t put the bottle in the pocket correctly; I should pay more attention to what I’m doing. Or I blamed winter. Everyone knows elastics don’t work as well in winter. It’s common knowledge. In spring everything will be fine. Sigh. I didn’t want to acknowledge the truth, the full extent of the loss of elasticity. And sometimes everything worked fine. The brief moments of rebound, of full functionality, gave me hope. False hope, as it turns out.
In every elastic’s life there is that one moment, the final moment when it can’t hold on any longer. It’s the kid who’s gym shorts gave up in the middle of a dodge ball game, standing there wondering ‘why me’ as his shorts slide down to his ankles. Every elastic has an expiration date. For me and my FuelBelt that moment was 2K into the Around the Bay 30K Road Race. That already less than snug elastic waistband lost all of its remaining powers of stretchiness. As it flopped ridiculously around my hips, the weight of the Gatorade and gel packs created some sort of trampolining effect and my bottles started rocketing in every direction. Remarkably, the little elastic pockets held on, so every time the bottle rocketed away from my body the elastic pocket pulled it back in. I’m covered in bruises. Little plastic bottle shaped bruises. I had no choice but to clutch the sides of my belt to minimize the shock-waves and soldier on. Running with your arms clutching a FuelBelt is surprisingly difficult. Unexpectedly, a lot of that helpful running rhythm comes from the arms. As I slowly consumed the Gatorade and gels the momentum lessened and the bottles stopped attacking me with such vigour, but by then the damage was done. I may have internal bleeding.
I often (nay repeatedly) thought about tossing my FuelBelt on the side of the road, but it seemed a poor tribute to those (probably toxic) bottles that have been my sidekicks on countless runs. Instead I resolved to give my FuelBelt one last hurrah, one final race, before “sending it to live on a nice farm” with my dog Skipper.
Title Reference: Jackson Browne – Running on Empty. From the album Running on Empty. 1977.
Older than Boston. No, not me. I’m considerably younger than both the city (founded 1630) and the marathon (founded 1897). But the first race in my spring running quadfecta, the Around The Bay 30K Road Race, is older than Boston. As the story goes (i.e. according to the official website), “The Hamilton Herald Newspaper and cigar store owner ‘Billy’ Carroll, originated and sponsored the first Around the Bay Road Race, run on Christmas Day, 1894″. It tickles me that the first race was sponsored by a cigar shop. It is the oldest race in North America, beating Boston by a three year margin (although Boston does have that whole world’s oldest marathon not counting the Olympics claim to fame, but one must grab glory wherever possible). Displayed prominently across the back of every famously fluorescent race shirt is the tag-line “Older than Boston”. The shirt is a little awkward for those of a certain age to wear. I count myself among those of a certain age. Nothing like explaining to your 12-year cousin, no I am not older than Boston. Yes I know that’s what I says on my shirt. I am considerably younger than [insert spiel].
The course isn’t wicked hard, but it’s not an easy one either. As the clever among you might deduce from the name, the route encircles a bay, which is situated beside Lake Ontario (from 12K to 17K or so you run with the bay to your left and a great view of a great lake to your right) – which is scenic, but also screams ‘lake effect weather patterns’, most notably wind and rain. Today, with the driving rain and just enough wind to chill soaked bodies, was no exception. The first 15K is relatively flat, but the wind kicks in around 10K as you enter aquatic territory, and the last 15K is a steady stream of undulating hills, with a dandy make it or break it climb around 25-26K. They also throw in a couple of cemeteries, lest you get too cocky. This is the race that would-be spring marathoners use to test their fitness and to practice race strategy, in anticipation of the spring races to follow in five or six weeks. Or in my case, three weeks later (and, being as insane as I am, I added on another 3.5K to the route to get in one final over 30K run before Boston – certifiable, I know).
No, not an easy course, but a good one. From Tin Pan Alley (sadly, this year it was just a lady, a sign, and a frying pan), to the dude playing We Will Rock You on loop at the bottom of the final hill, to Superman at 26K encouraging you up that hill with an awesome ”you are super” sign, to the Grim Reaper (now with a lady reaper – did Grim find love?) trying to fill his graveyard at 28K, to the graduated finishers’ medals (gold, silver, or bronze depending on your gun time), to the roar of the crowds in Copps Coliseum as you cross the finish line, this is an enthusiastic event. Not even buckets of rain and treacherous water-filled potholes can dampen the spirit. This year my personal highlight was the guy who staggered into his lane-way and puked up his last three meals (all liquid I suspect) at my feet before sharing with me his wise words: “drinking all morning is hard work”. If only he had an easy morning running around the bay like us.
Title reference: Creedence Clearwater Revivial – Who’ll Stop the Rain. From the album Cosmo’s Factory. 1970.
Posted in My Amazing Races
Tagged Around the Bay, Boston Marathon, marathon, race report, running
My Running Shorts: short stories about my life on the run.
