Slowly and surely....

BLAH BLAH BLAH!


It's always the same process after a race, a little bit of melancholy. A few pounds of regained weight. A little bit of consideration if I'll never run again... Nonetheless, trying to get back into it's tough.

Here are my goals for the next 4-6 months:
1: A sub 30 minute 5k training run. (I think I'm out of races this season anyways...) I'd like this BEFORE the snow flies, my current 5k time is approx. 32-34 minutes.

2. A sub 60 minute 10k. This one's not entirely unattainable considering my PB for a 10k is 66 minutes -- but it means I DO need to make an effort to make it happen.

3. Get into the habit of running 3-7km 3 times a week (1 night can be subbed for another activity like Tennis)

4. Do a 12km or longer run once a week.

5. Learn to run at least 4km at a steady run pace.

That's it.

In terms of races here's on my (tentative) schedule for the 2007 season:

March 4 -- Chilly Half Marathon, Burlington
March 28 (?) -- Around the Bay 30k Race, Hamilton
April 22 -- Montreal Half Marathon, Montreal (VERY tentative -- this is a "wish" race)
May 6 -- Sporting Life 10k, Toronto
May 27 -- Ottawa Race weekend (either Half or Full marathon -- depending on what kind of shape I'm in)
July 1 -- HBC Run for Canada 10k, Toronto (another tentative one... depends on what's happening in the summer...)
September 30 -- Scotia Waterfront Marathon - half-marathon (or Full, depending again... on weather...)
October 14 -- Toronto Marathon, either the half or the full this year!


Ideally I'm aiming for at least 2 Half-Marathon's and one Full for the 2007 year. I'd like to beat my time for last year's Sporting Life 10k, but really --- we never really now how it'll all work when it comes to running!

Group Run tomorrow!

Ipod's charged, Fuelbelt is ready to go with Water and Gatorade...Clothes are all laid out. Yup. I'm getting my butt up early for a run tomorrow morning.

I've been...okay, with my short runs this week. Not as good as I'd like it to be, but it was a very stressful week and I had other things to look after. Tomorrow though I'm out for at least 10k. I'm thinking I'll get up early and head out at 8am for a half hour or so, and then swing by the running room around 8:30 to finish off my run with some of the groups I run with normally. Who knows -- we'll see, I figure by that point I'll be nicely warmed up, and I can push myself into a brisk 10:1 pace for about 5k or so.

Anyways -- I should go to bed soon. It's 11pm........

An actual training program I wonder?

After the half I VOWED that I would start doing my shorter 5k runs. I skipped all the little runs while training because ---- well, short distances suck for me.

It takes me forever to warm up, so they're always a bit of a challenge, and really -- it's alot of work for just a little distance! I always find 10k+ more fulfilling.

That said, however, being able to run a decent (read: under 30 minutes) 5k without feeling like I want to throw away my running shoes is a definate goal.

I've been good this week --- and easy 8k on Sunday, a slow 5k this morning.... and another short one planned for Wednesday morning....

I just have to keep reminding myself that it WILL get easier to run the shorter distances eventually :P And they'll only help my performance on the longer ones!

First Run back...

Went for my first run out today after last week's race. An easy 7-8km run/walk through varied terrain and a good excuse to go see the animals in the small zoo near my house. It went well -- of course the spots that were bothering me after the half were a little finicky about 5k into my route, but I made a special effort to stretch better when I got home so it should be good.

I also tried the Blue "Sport Beans" today ---- they weren't so bad. I'd give them a 4/5 for taste (good, but the texture was a little grainy which threw me off a little), as for effectiveness -- mmmmm, I'm going to stick with my GU gels, but they're sort a fun treat for a shorter run :P

That's it. The great thing about running is that now I can justify the pub food I'm having for dinner! :P

Where to go from here?

So as I recover I'm left with the question of --- What Next?!

My legs were SO sore yesterday. I could barely walk. Today they're slightly better, but going down stairs isn't really pleasant just yet. I think this is perhaps the worst factor from running the race on the weekend without much running in the weeks before ---- my recovery time is going to suck from this because I basically just shocked my muscles into submission. At this point my legs are still randomly spasming.... Running for the bus isn't even an option, let alone something I'd even consider!

Awww well though. This too shall heal soon enough. And then we're faced with the question of -- What next?


The Chilly Half-Marathon is in March 2007. That one's usually the first major race of the year for most of the runners in the area......... and is a nice way to lead into Spring/Summer running. But that said --- a half in March means running OUTSIDE in January & February! I'm not sure I have the stamina for that! Let alone the desire!

But the Hamilton Around-the-Bay 30k race is March as well ---- that's one I'd really like to do this year. Which basically means I should probably resign myself to running in the snow. We'll see.... I guess we won't have any really packed stuff until Januaray........... bah!


So at the end of the Half - Toby (my friend who ran me in) --- told me that if I just finished strong I'd never have to run again! At the end of the race I think I was willing to hold him to that.......... now........ well, I guess we'll see!

2:40:32.7!

So. When I started my blog I decided to name it "2-2-21-point-1 because", well, that was my journey. When I started running I could go about 2km before collapsing. Two kilometres to 21.1 km for this half-marathon.... that was my mission.

I did it! Yay! Seriously, it feels so awesome to have accomplished one of my major goals this year. And it's seriously cool to be able to look back and see the process...

I don't even know what to say about the experience... so I'll just describe it.

Race morning I was up at 6am, after a not-so-great night's sleep. I was up, packed the last little bit of my stuff, and called myself a cab around 6:35......

I was in the cab at about 6:45 and 30 minutes, and $40, later I arrived at Mel Lastman Square. There weren't too many people there but I was glad I arrived early. I found a quiet area and gathered my stuff up, used the washroom (just in the knick of time before the LONG lines too), stretched a little and had someone take a pre-race picture of me. As I wandered around, keeping my eye's out for Sonia's purple shirt I noticed the baggage check line was getting HUGE ---- so I started trying to find the end of it....... Luckily Kathryn - the manager at the Running Room I work at occassionally -- spotted me and pulled me into line with her. It was great to see a friendly face in the crowd who was also running. Then -- to my surprise, I turned around and there was my friend Kenneth! He was in the area that weekend and walked over to the start line from his Grandma's house to hopefully see me off. That was awesome.

At 8:30 the race started. I started running with the 2:30 pace bunny but lost track of her around the 3rd km when I got a KILLER cramp. It was the worst cramp ever --- probably from my body's shock at running again after 3 weeks of illness. I walked a few minutes, and made an effort to slow down my pace. Thank god that it worked. By the 5th kilometre I felt like I was in good shape and I just watched the race go by under my feet. Don't get me wrong, it was tough --- running always is --- but I couldn't possibly ask for a better first 18km of the race.

At the 10k mark I was at 1 hour 15 minutes, and maintaining my pace --- I couldn't believe I was still on pace for a 2 1/2 hour half! I maintained the same pace all the way to the 18km mark.

My amazing friend Toby met me at the 17th and a half kilometre to run me in those last 5k. He was AWESOME. Without him I guarentee I would've come in closer to the 3 hour mark. He kept encouraging me and pushing me to run even when my body was giving out.

By the 19th km my body was DONE. By the 20th I wasn't sure if I could run another kilometre. The Queen's Park loop (the end of the race) is a sadistic finish. It's uphill around a curve that's so sharp you can't see 200 feet in front, let alone the finish line. I couldn't see the finish line until I was literally 100 feet from it. Toby urged me on though -- we ran in the last 400 metres or so, and he urged me on to a strong finish at the end (I didn't think I had it in my to run like that for the finish line!). At the end I smiled for the photographer, high fived SpongeBob Squarepants and collapsed into a hug from Toby. Then it was all about getting the chip off, getting my medal, and wrapping me up in a Thermal blanket! Low and behold Kenneth was there at the finish line waiting for me too!

I got a massage, ate a green banana and found my friend Sarah. Then I hung out with my friends and some other running buddies who were there as spectators while we waited for Sonia to come in.

I think the biggest surprise of the day was that the marathon winner finished about the same time I did. I kept expecting to get smoked by some long, lean Kenyan who had run twice as far as me that morning, but it never happened! Apparently the winner was from Vancouver and finished either right before or right after me --- I don't know, I was sort of out of it on both ends :P

So. 2 hours, 40 minutes, 32.7 seconds. Not too bad at all! My original goal was a sub 2:30:00 half, but when I got sick I inflated my goal to "anything under 3 hours is awesome". Well, I definately came in under 3 hours --- and the race went better than I could have ever expected so I'm totally happy with that!

I'm not even thinking about the next race yet. I can barely walk today afterall! But it was a good race --- I was inspired by Katherine Switzer's speech at the Carbo dinner the night before (she is AMAZING to hear speak!) --- as well as the thought of Sonia pushing through the marathon drove me on....... You'll have to hop over to her blog to read her marathon story - but it was awesome to see her come in still running!

That's it. I'll update about my sore muscles later!

Tomorrow is RACE day.

OH my gosh.

I can't believe tomorrow is the race.

I met the lovely Sonia this afternoon (who by the way has lost a ton of weight since the last photo I saw of her! Luckily she recognized me :P) and we hung out doing pre-race stuff and going to the Carbo dinner.

Now I'm home, frantically searching for things like lycra pants, coolmax socks and t-shirts that aren't going to drive me insane while I run. My ipod is updated with a bunch of new music. I have gatorade pre-mixed and ready to go in the fridge. I have a million litres of Chocolate Milk in there as well (okay, that's unrelated -- but it was on sale!)

I'm just gathering the last few things -- a change of clothes, advil, rub*a535, food and a bottle of water..... and then I'm off to bed. Only to wake up at 6am and continue the frantic pace of getting race-ready!

So I'm running tomorrow. We'll see how it goes. I'm not in the best shape, but I know I won't come in last ----- and I know there will be many friends cheering me on so it's extra motivation. Mostly --- I've come to the realization that this is 2 1/2 hours of my life (with any luck anyways) --- and I need to just put my head down and DO it. That's it. It might hurt, I KNOW it'll be tough mentally. But really --- this is a mental thing.

Physically and mentally I've been through things that are FAR tougher than this race will be. It's time to suck it up and realize that. And just run in for all its worth.

....the last two weeks just don't count anymore.

It sucks kissing a Goal goodbye.

Well -- I'm being forced to concede that the half-marathon is slowly becoming a lost cause for me.

I was in the hospital yesterday for a wicked-bad case of bacterial tonsilitis --- today I'm lying on the couch mustering all my energy to drink 1/2 a cup of water an hour and swallow down my huge amounts of antibiotics and painkillers. I can't open my mouth -- and running is a distant concern right now.

I'm still deciding about what to do about the half. I KNOW at this point I'm not going to be in good form for the race ----- there's no way I'm going to hit my 2 1/2 hour goal time. I'll likely end up running regardless, and extending that goal time to around 3 hours -------- but it's still dissapointing that I won't be able to run my best race that day. Especially since I've been working toward this for so long.

I have to keep reminding myself that there WILL be other races - and that the fact that I'm sick doesn't make this accomplishment worth any less..... but it's still sad :(