Monday, September 27, 2010

Toronto 1/2 Marathon - Success!!


What a terrific weekend...being with your best friend as she completes her first half marathon, hanging with your Running Room buds as they complete their first marathons and getting a PB! 

Our trip to Toronto began with Lindsay, Megan and me driving to Toronto and hitting the expo.  It was small but great.  Lindsay and I even found our Chicago shirts - funny ones - stay tuned to see them.  We then drive to the hotel, had a pasta dinner and walked around the start/finish of the race to get use to the sights.  We all went to bed and woke up excited.

As we headed to the start line we saw all our running friends and were able to wish everyone good luck.  I even saw a friend that I use to teach with - imagine that - in a crowd of almost 20,000 runners I see my bud. 

I really wanted to get a PB so I set my sights on 2:49 - I wanted a 2:4??? So what would it be?  I hadn't run all week as I was very burned out from last weekends 35km so in my mind I had a few doubts.  Megan, our friend Madeline and I started out running together and the weather was perfect.  I chose not to run with my water belt and I had on a new gel belt that I always wanted.  It was holding my chews, Kleenex, camera and Tylenol.  We crossed the start line 7 minutes after the gun.

We ran quick and I felt good.  The crowd spread out so there were no problems with crashing or having to pass a lot of people.  I knew from my pace band that I needed to hit the 10k mark at 1:18.  We hit the marker and the clock said 1:24 - perfect even 1 extra minute to spare.  I decided that I would move ahead as Megan and Madeline were chatting and I was in the zone. 

All of a sudden I was at 13km, then 16km then 20km and running up Bay street - holly smokes - I feel great and I see signs along the street saying 500m to finish, 400m to finish etc.  I hear lots of people cheering and calling my name (my name was on my bib but I didn't care).  I see the finish line and the clock is at 2:50 - are you kidding me??? That means my time is great - I throw my arms up in the air like Rudd at the Running Room taught us and hit my watch - 2:43:01 - holly smokes - I, of course start crying but realize Megan is behind me so I have to turn around to see where they are.  I wait a couple of minutes and there she is smiling and crossing the line at 2:46 - fantastic.

Megan and I got our blankets, medals and photo taken and I spot my cousin Laird and his wife with signs cheering for us.  We snap a few photos, find Lindsay who had a great race, and head back to the hotel room to shower. 

We came back to the finish line a while later so we can see our friends complete their marathons.  I was crying the whole time as they all passed us to complete.  Everyone finished, looked great and we are so proud.  I can only imagine in 13 days what it will feel like.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Success - friends and husbands make a difference

I don't have to tell you that very little can be accomplished without support.

Well this weekend was a perfect example of how having a great support system contributes to success.

Saturday night Lish had Lindsay and me to her home for a carb load dinner and movie. She cooked whole wheat penne, salad, bread and a delicious peanut butter pie. Then we watched Spirit of the Marathon - an amazing documentary on 6 people's attempt to complete the 2005 Chicago Marathon. What a great night to psyche us up for the 35km run the next day and October 10th!!!

A couple of weeks ago when Lish, Lindsay and I ran the "reach the beach" 32km run Lennie, my husband was a great supporter. He drove the car up and down the highway checking in on us, giving water/drinks and encouragement all the way to the beach.

This weekend, Lish's and Lindsay's husbands; Connor and Jamie took care of us. I left from the start at 6:15am knowing that it was going to take me about 5 hours to complete the 35km course. Lish and Lindsay were going to start at 7:00am. As I passed the first 3km marker I saw Lindsay drive by on her way to the start. Then about 30 minutes later, Connor rode his bike by and refilled my water bottles. Several times, he rode by or was stopped on the road to give me more Gatorade. Later, Jamie drove by in his truck offering water and support. Near the end, both he and Connor were up and down the highway checking on us, eventually taking our pictures at the end and driving us all the way back to our cars in London. Jamie even bought us all chocolate milk (special treat after all the long runs) What sweet guys as they kept telling me that I was looking great and encouraging me all the way to the end.
I felt great the whole time mentally with some pain in my knees and feet. I finished without stopping in 4:59.12 that is pretty awesome for never running that far before, by myself and it was suppose to be a long slow run - that means that I only have 7km to go and I can do that in less than 1 hour to break the 6 hour marathon mark - I totally think that I can do it in sub 6 hours because I know I will go faster in race mode.

There is NO way I would have ever thought that I could have run and finish 35km and I know without all these fabulous friends in my life I could never have done it.
Thank you guys for making me laugh, continually filling my bottles, and for all the encouragement and cheering me to the end.
I can hardly wait for 10-10-10 and getting a photo of us all wearing our Chicago medals.
Next weekend is going to be a riot in Toronto as we head down to run the Scotia Bank Toronto Waterfront 1/2 marathon and cheer our other clinic friends as they run the full marathon. Stay tuned for updates as Megan my best friend runs her first 1/2 marathon with us. Secretly I am aiming for a time that has a 4 in it shhhh don't tell anyone but I want to finish with a 2:49!!!

Monday, September 6, 2010

I can actually run

So, last weekend I was suppose to run 32 Km. Meg and I met at Springbank park to run 4 loops of 7km each and then a bonus 4 km route for the 32km. Megan was only going to run 18km in her prep for the Toronto half so I went early and completed 1 loop before she got there. We did 2 more loops and felt pretty good. She had bought us some new chews to try - some sort of organic honey things that were recommended by our leader at the Running Room. Needless to day on my 4th loop I started to feel AWFUL!!!!! I had to sit at 26 kms and then walked the final 2km to get to the car, drive home and pretty well spend the rest of the day lying down.
I was very discouraged as I thought - if I can't even run 28km how the hell am I going to be able to do 42. I really believe I was tired, too hot and the chews killed me.

I was in a huge panic for this week as we had 32 km to run - no way was I going to be able to do that. Then Lindsay e-mailed to say that she and Lish were running the Runners Choice stores Lambeth to Port Stanley run. I remember hearing about this cool thing where Runners Choice lets you start where ever you want along highway 4 - 5k, 10k, or even longer and everyone then runs into Port Stanley to touch the beach. Lindsay said that if we leave from Lambeth Coops store it is 32km to the beach. They signed up and were scheduled to leave at 7:09am. I called the store and signed up too - $5 - pretty cheap for a training run. John, the manager of the run asked what my pace time was and I said 7 minute km - really that is fast for me but I knew that Runners Choice poo pooed slow runners. He said my start time would be 6:55 and I had to reach the beach by 11:15am - that is only 4 hours and 15 minutes - no way could I do that so I planned to leave earlier. He said there were 11 water stops along the way so I did not panic able running out of water.

I spent Saturday preparing - drank lots of water, bought my chews that I like - the Guu Blueberry, bought new glide for any chaffing, ate a good meal at 4:00pm and rested the rest of the time. I had Lennie drive me to Lambeth and drop me off at 6:30am so I could give myself 4 hours and 45 minutes - plenty of time to complete in the required time - a big fear of mine is not making the 6:30 time allowance for Chicago.

I felt great as the temperature was about 10 degrees and I had a great sleep. Before I knew it I was at highway 402, then highway 201 at the Stoneridge, then Ford Talbotville, then Pecards Peanuts, then the railroad tracks and right into the St. Thomas turn - how could I have run all this way already and feel so great? I had great music, tons of water and was running so well - no back pain or anything.

Up the hill into St. Thomas I went with Lennie passing in the car every once in a while. Then I passed the Tim Horton's corner of St. Thomas, then Canadales nursery, then the psyche hospital. How could this be happening? I feel amazing, are well over half way and feel so strong. The other weird thing is that I have not been passed by anyone - I know there are a ton of people who started after me and are so much faster - what is going on?

As I left St. Thomas I see a sign for 10km to Port Stanley - are you kidding me!!! Only 10km to go. Slowly people start passing and the road gets busy with runners - this is really fun. I can feel the beach - cooler air and it was slightly down hill. I hit the last water station that several people had stopped at, grabbed some G2, watermelon and went on my way. One last corner until the downtown strip - I can do this.

My buddy Ron passed me and we laughed as I wanted to stay ahead of him the whole way - I am still not sure where Lindsay and Lish are but how cool would it be for me to finally be cheering then across a line instead of them always waiting for me.

Final turn on the main drag, across the steel bridge onto beach lane. I can see everyone at the beach, Lennie waving and the final round-a-bout to the famous sign you have to touch. I passed all the cheering people, ran through the sandy road and touched the sign - 4:24 - are you kidding me - oh my God I feel so fantastic and made a good time too - maybe under 6 hours is possible in Chicago. As I walked back Lennie and several friends were there and we got to cheer Lindsay and Lish finish strong. What a terrific day.

We took some pictures, Lennie drove me home, I took a long bath with Epsom salts and relaxed. I actually ran 32km from Lambeth to Port Stanley - I ran!!!!!! Maybe I am finally a runner after all.