Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Toronto Woman's Half Marathon Recap

I went to bed at my normal time and actually slept well till 4am where I woke up thinking I missed my alarm and then just couldn't fall back fully asleep. Finally at 6am I got up and started getting ready. I had everything laid out the night before so all I had to do was get my water and gaterade out of the fridge, eat and get dressed. I had a hard time eating due to nerves but I knew they would calm once I got to the race site.

The plan was that I would take a taxi in by myself and then all the boys would come by later on so that way they wouldn't get to bored nor would we have to wake them up early and screw with their sleep. I got to the park and wandered around for a while. At 7:30, about 30 mins before the start I hit the bag check and the porta potties. Then I went over and stood in the corrals. I was in corral #2 which would start 2nd at 8:03. Finally my nerves calmed down. I'm always so panicky prior to that point but once I'm in place I'm set.

We listened to the announcers and I chatted a bit with those around me. A couple of us made the same comments about how if you're in the first wave don't wait till the last minute and then have to push through the other packed corrals to get to the front. Then we all added that we didn't see ourselves up in the under 2:00 group any time soon. Finally it was 8:00 and the first wave went off. Once they were gone we got to move up and get ready.

The gun went off again and off we went. It was crowded but nothing to bad. I decided to keep it easy for the first couple K just to warm up and get ready to keep a good pace the rest of the way. As we were coming up a little hill there was a photographer at the top and someone said to smile! I mentioned Marlene and her ability to know how to get great race pics. A couple of the ladies around me asked for her secret. The first water table wasn't until about 5k so with the humidity that we were getting I was happy that I decided to bring my own water. And it was the fireman one, though they were all wearing t-shirts the first time we went by. We turned into the Lower Don and heres where it got interesting since all the rain we had was still on parts of the path, and the path had narrowed. NO one wanted to get wet or muddy if we didn't have to so every so often we'd all have to slow down a bit and get around the huge puddles. The small ones were no big deal and I'd say all of us got mud splats up the backs of our legs. It was around 6k that
Barb saw me and we waved at each other. I tried to keep an eye for her at the turn arounds (there was techically 4 in total) but it was a sea of runners so I didn't spot her again.

Of course we headed back to the fire fighter water station and wohoo some of the younger guys took their shirts off. Yummy! We passed them for the second time on the way into Taylor Creek. And thankfully the race orgainziers had covered up a really muddy part of the route with some stones so no bottle neck at that point. I was feeling good for most of this, other than regretting not wearing shorts rather than capris. I started taking some of my gel and got a 1/3 of it before the 14k mark. We did the turnaround by Vic Park and it was funny that it was the base of the hill where I did my hill training and now that the trees had foilage on them I hardly reconized the spot till I saw the signs around it. Not even thinking when I got to the next water station was that I grabbed some E-load apparently that was in a water cup, and took a huge drink before I realized it wasn't what I thought it was. I should have spit it out but didn't. I've never tried that before and its why I made sure to bring my own gaterade. So now I had a new drink and my gel sitting in my stomach and it didn't feel good. by 16k the nausea had kicked in full force and all I wanted to do was throw up to get it all out but couldn't.I did notice though that more fire fighters had taken their shirts off by my 3rd pass. By 18k I felt like crap and just wanted to be done. I was trying to stop myself from mental kicking myself about what I did and to just focus on finishing. I wanted to be done and even thought of just walking the last 3k. The only reason I didn't was because running slowly would still get me there faster than walking and then I could be done sooner.

Coming to the finish line I saw my boys. I almost cried at seeing them cheer for me. I put on my biggest smile and had Bug not been eating I would have brought him up to run that last bit with me. And then I saw how close I was to the finish and I gave it all I got. I didn't care of I threw up I just wanted through that arch. After getting my necklace I grabbed some water and sat down since I wasn't sure if I wanted to be sick or pass out. Once I was feeling settled I went and hung out with my boys and cheered some more runners in. We saw another family from Beavers who had a family member(the kid's aunt) running and they had come to surprise her. It was great to see her face light up at seeing them. Finally the boys were bored and wanted to head home so we headed to the car after I got my food and my stuff. Of course I had to stop for an offical picture with the back round.

It was great event. I'm kinda kicking myself for it not turning out like I had planned and hoped for. But I've gotten a great lesson in paying more attention to things(Like just because they are annoucning water at the water station and the drink is in a water cup, doesn't mean its water and its ok to go off to the side and spit it out.) and sticking to the plans. I would definitely do this race again and maybe next time with a friend.

I'll post pictures when they post them if theres any I like. :)

Monday, May 30, 2011

Done!

So....

Yesterday was the Toronto Woman's Half Marathon


Garmin Time : 2:16:52 for 21.05k (6:30pace)


Offical Time

Gun: 2:17:29

Chip: 2:17:08

Pace: 6:32

Overall: 567/1116

25-29: 65/105


Race Report to follow!

Friday, May 27, 2011

Foto Friday



If you see me come and say Hi!

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Three Things Thursday

1. 3 more days till my half! I'm even starting to think there is the slightest tiniest chance there might even be a PR there. I'm thinking of asking Handy Manny to come home a bit early tomorrow so I don't have to bring the kids to packet pick up.

The weather has changed and now they are calling for a high of 26. Last week we were hoping it wouldn't be to cold at 8am now we're worried about it being too hot. I'm even looking at changing my clothing plans. I'm going to leave it kinda open for now.

2. In anticipation of the race and the fact that I'll not have to run the week after I'm getting lots of cleaning in now so I can literally spend at least 2 days on my ass watching movies or cheesy shows on Netflicks before the training starts up again. I fully believe all this cleaning is helping keep the nerves at bay. Especially since I have two young and active boys and there is always something that needs cleaning.

3. Saturday night I'll be checking out some Roller Derby! Thanks to Netflicks we finally saw Whip it and knowing that Toronto has a league we googled it and found out that a not for profit less serious league
GTA Roller Girls has a game like a 10 min walk from here so we're going with a friend of mine. I'm excited to check it out.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

A home of his own

This is why I love my husband (well one of the reasons).
Bug asked him if Appa could have a house. 10 points to anyone who knows where Appa is from!

Handy Manny said sure, cause really who could say no to this face?


This weekend it was done!

The front

BTW That's Appa in the doorway.

The back


And then of course we had to paint the house in Appa's favourite colours.(if you didn't know that we're in Canada those last two words just gave me away huh? LOL)





Now we just have to find the place to keep it. Oh and now apparently Trouble's baby doll needs a house too.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Taper Time

Its kind of surprising that its here already. Granted I only have 1 week of taper so thankfully I should be ok about going crazy. Its funny that I've been tracking my runs on dailymile and even in an excel file and I keep watching that number for the distance covered go up, but yet now that the race is 6 days away I'm kind of in disbelief almost.

Did I really do all that running? Of course I know I did. But this time around for some reason I expected to feel different. Like more running evolved I guess.

Not more sure of myself. I do know that I can run the distance. I've done a half before. I've put in the training. I'm ok in that front.

Its I guess just the disbelief that race day is almost here. Now its time to check the weather(a couple dozen times) so I can make sure I'm dressed ok. Check(and double check, triple check, you know) that I have the stuff I need.

Oh fun! Can't you wait to see what I'm like before my first full? Hahahaha.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

So that's what happens

Me and running in nice sunny warm weather have this thing so far this year.

I head out the door and run and it feels great... amazing... fast.
I check my watch and see I'm going faster than normal (ie anything faster than 6:00/km). After that last attempt at holding on to the pace and getting a faceful of wind for 2kms, I decided that well lets see what happens.

Well a just over a 2 min PR kind of thing happens. Talk about getting some speedwork in.

And now I know what some people mean when they describe running so hard they feel like throwing up.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Going Mental

I push yesterday's run to today. Thankfully since I only run 4 days a week I have that extra day to play with. Yesterday I wasn't a fan of the winds. In my neighbourhood regardless of what direction I was going there was a head wind. So I came back inside and just did a DVD instead. With the thoughts that regardless I was getting out today.

I did and thankfully no crazy winds. Bunch of humidity that I paid for since I totally didn't think of "hey its foggy out and getting less so as the morning was going. hmmm what lifts fog up? That would be humidity." Yeah that never crossed my mind till I was out to far to want to return home to change into shorts and to lose the light jacket.

For the mental aspect, my legs felt heavy but surprisingly I've been finding that they feel less so if I'm going a bit faster than normal..... but my mind today was just tired. I've been feeling like that a lot lately. Not phyically tired just mentally. Today, when my body was wanting to push it and pick up the pace even though it meant being a bit more tired and of course the heavier breathing my mind keep wanting to hold back.

It kept equating pushing it as hard and that I should stop.

Take a minute.

Catch my breath.

A couple times I did. Most of the times I told myself "Lets just make it to the next light. I can go a bit more before I really need to stop. It was definitely a battle. I even had to push away the thoughts that if this is so hard, maybe a full in the fall is too much. Talk about setting yourself up for failure.

Thankfully there was the smart part of my brain still there.

You can do 10k.

Hell you've done 21.1k AND felt great after.

With hard work and training you WILL be able to do 42.2k

Going the distance (literally and figeratively) can be harder on your mind than it is on your body sometimes. But really what a more perfect time to read THIS and remember how awesome it was.

Monday, May 16, 2011

First marathon stories?

Got Any?

Actually everything but my nerves are telling me to go for the orginal plan of trying for a full in the fall. Theres that small but LOUD part of my brain thats making me question my sanity.

So I need stories. If you have it on your blogs links would be amazing. I need to see what craziness I'm thinking of getting myself into.

Eek!

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Last Long Run

Done!

But before I get into that first go say Congrats to

Marlene for both her and her hubby getting BQ's at the Mississauga Marathon!
Siobhan did the Goodlife Half.
Aneta did the Mississauga Half.
Katye did the Preakness 5K.
(I don't know how they did yet since they have lives and all so haven't updated)
Cindy got a PB at the Oak Bay Half Marathon.
Marica got 1st in her AG at Run for the Fields 5k.


This was rainy weekend. Me and all my boys spent most of the day enjoying Netflix. I did get some household stuff done but my main goal was to make sure I got lots of water. This morning it wasn't really raining when I got up and even when I headed out the door it was ok. The drizzle was so light I totally forgot about it. When Toronto was the around town feature in Canadian Running maybe a year ago they showed a 20k long run that basically went around East York. I remember when I first saw it I wanted to do it but I wasn't at this distance yet when I started half training last year. So I did it as my last long run of that training cycle. So of course I had to do it again. For no other reason then that's its a great mix of city streets and the Rec Trails that are surround by trees and the Don River. The only real downside to this route is that on a Sunday morning you're going to be running along Queen East for a couple of kms and there are lots of yummy smelling breakfast places there.

Once I got to the part that brings you to the "trail" it was a surprise to see some of the people running the Goodlife Marathon. Since I wasn't running it, I didn't really pay attention to the route they take. All I really knew that was that they went down Yonge. So I cheered for them a bit as I was going off in the opposite direction. The winds and rain still hadn't really picked up yet and I was hoping it could hold off for another hour before going crazy so I could be at home first. Didn't quite make it and had some spots where the wind was being a pain.

The other issue I had was that I had 1 gel with me and I apparently lost it at some point when I'm guessing I was getting tissue out of my belt pack. Thankfully I had a couple sour patch kids in there as well so I used those for a pick me up. I probley could have keep up my pace more had I not lost the gel but its still feels good to know that I could make the distance without the extra help. **Yes I know that the candy could have helped too but since I'm a candyholic I doubt 3 little candies did too much**

Of course I remember my mistake from last week and I did take an ice bath when I got home. I still felt tired for a good chunk this afternoon, but still better than last weekend.

Two weeks to go. I have my distance in, and just have 8 shorter runs left til the big day. I just have to keep up my water and good eating and I'm sailing. Plus some constant occasional checking of the Weather Channel.

Friday, May 13, 2011

Some days it’s just not there.

I’ve heard lots of people talk about how the first 10 minutes of a run isn’t fun. It sucks and we make agreements with ourselves that if after those first 10 and it still sucks we can stop and go home. Usually once I’m past that 10 minutes or really even just that first km I’m ok. I’m good. My body in is the groove and we’re going. Rarely do I feel the need for my music in that first bit where I’m reminding my body what we’re doing. To make sure my pace is ok, my posture.

Today was not one of those days. I kept getting side stitches that I was having issues running through so I’d walk or stop and stretch but as soon as I started up again, the stitch would be back. The plan today was 10km. By time I hit 1km I pushed it down to my usually 6k loop. Figuring at least I’m getting out there. I was doing anything in my head to convince myself that I didn’t need to walk. I didn’t need a break.

Then I remembered that pushing myself through a crappy run where I’m hating every step isn’t a good idea, and that I could stop. I could call it and go home. Not every run is going to be a good one. You need to have a bad one every once in a while to remind you why the good ones are so fantastic.

I run more for my mental health than anything. I enjoy the perks of running on my body but losing weight and getting fitter isn’t my main goal. As much as my body craves a run some days, my mind needs it more. That’s when I can take the time to think things through. My to-do lists get done then, I figure out meals, what we’re doing on the weekend. I can bitch to myself about the things are stressful or just bugging me. I can just sing along with some great songs. I’m free to think of whatever I want. But when my mind isn’t in the place that allows me to enjoy my run I know I need to take a break. Call it a day and move on.

There will be other days, there will be better days.

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Three Things Thrusday

1.


So I've signed up for the Acura 10 miler. It takes place August 14. Its going to be interesting seeing as how the week before I'll be portaging in Algonquin with Handy Manny. But it will help make sure I keep my distance up and not let it plumpt like it did after my last half.

2.
Last night Bug's Beaver troop had rocket night. The leader in charge you ask? Why that would be none other than Ringtail aka Handy Manny. We've done rockets before with just our family but this was the chance to introduce it to a large group.

3.
I'm getting to the point where its going to be time to pick up some new shoes. I'm a bit under 600k on my current pair. After the half(two weeks to go!) I'm thinking I'll see about what to get. Should I stick with my regular ones or should I give it a try and check out another brand? I always figured everyone was very brand loyal regarding their shoes and I see from other blogs thats its so not the case. I was thinking of trying a minialist shoe. Mostly for the summer, since a bit less bulk is a good thing when its already hot out at 5am.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Picking Up Speed

Well yesterdays run didn't happen. I had a dentist appointment where she was 30 mins late to which totally messed up the point of me having the first appointment of the day. I could have gotten my run in but oh well. The plan was for getting it when Handy Manny came home. Well he had to work a bit late and then he wanted to head over to the park after dinner to do the test flight of the rockets the Beavers are doing tomorrow night. So no run for me. I mean techically I couldv'e, but Glee was on and well I wanted to watch and we don't own a PVR.

But thats ok because I got out there this morning and did my usual 6k loop. I knew I was going fast but decided to just see what happens and how long I could keep it up for.

1k- 5:54
2k- 5:58
3k- 5:43
Then I turned a corner and wham Wall of Wind!
4k- 6:38
5k- 6:34
Finally got to turn and only have the wind on an angle and Wohoo
6k- 5:24

I really wish now that that wind wasn't so bad out there for those 2k. I can just think of how great it would have been to have held on to that speed. Oh well another day.

Monday, May 9, 2011

Why hello there.

Things here are going well. Just nothing really exciting to post about. Aside from our wonderful 15C(59F) weather we're having right now. And we're not even at the high today yet!

We've been taking advantage of this wonderful and doing lots of parks and walks. I did take some pictures with my cell but apparently they didn't save since I can't find them. Boo. I had some cute ones of the boys feeding some ducks.

I've been getting out and running. Last weekends missed actually got me out there 5 times for this past week so that gave my milage a real boost. I'm 20 days away from my half and I got my 18k run in yesterday. I felt pretty good thoughout it all. I did my run on a race course and seriously of you can do that, do it! I was able to go up the hills and manage well so I'm really happy with that. My only issue is that I kept getting stitches after taking a water break(I would do one break = water, next break = gatorade) for the last half of my run. I don't drink a ton during my runs but I'm curious if this means I wasn't getting enough water in me before hand?

I also need to learn to just do what I need to first. Basically after my run yesterday I showered, had a snack and off we went to TCAF(Toronto Comic and Arts Festival) I'm pretty sure we did around 5k of just walking between that and looking for a late lunch. I had my first Korean hot pot and it was kinda cool. But by time we got food my legs were killing me and I regreted not taking the time to get a quick ice bath in before we headed out. Oh well lesson learnt. Otherwise it was a fanstastic Mother's Day.

Hope everyone had a great weekend! What did you do?

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

One step back, Two steps forward.

Trouble is doing well now. Honestly not long after the first dose of his antibotices and he was back to normal.

I had the crazy idea of trying to do my long run yesterday instead. Then I looked at my dailymile and realized it had been 4 days since I ran last and that kind of jump would be bad. So I did a nice and easy 10k to get back into things. It was drizzling for a bit of the run but then it was just nice and cloudy. Today I got back out there again and just did 6k. Mostly since it was raining more and I was worried it would be windy. Had the rain eased up it would have be great running weather.

But I need the sun. Honestly its so hard to NOT be in a funk when it looks cold and miserable outside and its May! I don't even need Summer to come. I can wait. I just want a few less rainy days. I want to be able to take the kids for walks. I want to start getting my backyard ready for it to become our living room.

But on a happier note. Yesterday we got the offical email about our portage trip this Summer. You know Handy Manny and I so alike when both of us when we saw it both thought "Shopping trip to MEC!" #1 on our list is a waterproof camera. If you're going to spend 4 days around lakes, knowing me I could lose a regular camera there.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Mommy of the Year Award

Right here! and no the good kind.

The boys have been battling one bug or another for a while. Fevers have been crazy in our house. Bug had a fever and signs of a virus for a over week and then Trouble did. The nights were crap. The lack of sleep not fun. Both children who don't normally nap, were napping fitfully. I even came down on Thursday with something that had me with fevers, chills, sore neck, and a dizzy hungover/dehydrated feeling in my head (Thought I knew it wasn't a hydration issue). Today I was down to sore neck only and was going to attempt my long run today.

Instead Trouble started saying his ear hurt. All parents generally know what this means. So off we went to the crazy overcrowded children's walk in clinic. To find out that not only did Trouble have a ear infection it was a dozy. It had clearly been there for almost a week and needs aggressive amounts of meds.

Now I feel bad for being so upset with his clingyness. His want of mommy, his need to sleep next to me every night. I'll get over it and I know it was a mistake that it went unnoticed for so long. But man for that first little while after walking out of the clinic I was hard on myself.

Trouble really won out though. We stopped and got a treat(some cookies). I called Handy Manny(Hubs suggestion for his name on here) to let him know. He and Bug were getting groceries and apparently they decided to get Trouble a treat too (big pretzels!) We even let him pick the rainy afternoon movie.

Needless to say I think he's going to be fine.