Tag Archives: motivation

RTT Week 3; plus – a new triathlete is formed!

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It’s going to be a beautiful week in Victoria, and I’ve had a lot of interest in Running for the Truly Terrified (RTT). For the past two weeks I’ve been joined by Scott and Derek. This week my hairdresser Marion says she wants to come with her friend, and a couple of other people on Twitter have expressed an interest as well.

I volunteered on the run course at the Victoria Youth Triathlon this morning where I ran with a little girl “K” to get her to the finish line. K had a good race, except when she came off the bike for lap 1 of the run her stomach started to hurt – bad. Through tears, she insisted she was DONE. I took her off the course to the finish area where she had a bit of juice and some bread. We waited for her mom who – I realized as soon as she arrived – was my friend Cathy from Twitter!

Soon after K saw her mom she started crying again – she wanted to get back on the course and finish her race. Not finishing is worse than finishing in pain – I know that feeling — that’s the spirit of a strong, determined young woman!

I took her back to my station where she had left off and said “When you make it back here to start lap 2 I’ll run the rest of the way with you — if you want.”

Sure enough (and sooner than I expected) K came roaring around the corner toward my station for lap 2. “Do you want me to come with you to the end?” I said as she whizzed by. She slowed a bit and said “Yes,” so I took off my jacket and brought her all the way around, cheering her the whole way, encouraging her to keep going. Cathy was in tears when she saw her little girl finish, and she was even more surprised to see me right there with her.

“I can’t believe you ran with her, thank you so much!” she said, over and over again, giving me a big hug. Or two or three.

For me it was no big deal, or so I thought. I had been a bit bored, standing around waiting for runners from 7 am until noon, even though my own daughter was with me and we always have a great time volunteering at races. I was happy to run a bit and get the blood going.

Except that, when I jogged back to my station where my daughter was still monitoring the run course, I found myself in tears as well. And here I am, again in tears as I write this. I was so proud and honoured to be able to help someone achieve her goal, even after all seemed lost. Everyone is an athlete who shows up, day after day, race after race, and does their best. Everyone is a hero who digs down real deep and finds the courage and the heart to cross that finish line, no matter whether they’re first or dead last.

I remembered what I told K after she finished: “This is yours, all yours. You finished this race, you are a triathlete and no one will ever be able to take it away from you, ever.”

I hope she’s as proud as I am of her.

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Race report: Oak Bay Half Marathon

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First, the quick recap:

  1. Official time: 2:08:04
  2. Personal best by 4:20 (previous PB 2:12:24)
  3. By any measure, that’s a huge jump in performance.

Why am I not really satisfied?  (Or more importantly – I’m feeling guilty about not being satisfied because in fact today was quite an accomplishment! At age 45, I have never run so fast for so long in my life, and I know I could run faster! Isn’t that amazing when you really think about it?)

Because I think I could have done better; because every other person I trained with (except one) finished faster (look at that handsome bunch of healthy people in the picture!), because I knew I wouldn’t hit my “A” goal just after the 5K mark, and I knew I wouldn’t hit my “B” goal before the 15K mark, even though my pace was stronger than ever before. It’s tough to recover from negative self-talk like that in the middle of an endurance race.

Let’s back up: here were my tiered goals for today:

  • “A” goal that I set in January: sub-2 hrs. Reward: that tattoo I’ve been wanting for 10 years.
  • “B” goal: sub-2:05. Reward: 2 summer dresses + necklace I picked out at Lark & Sparrow yesterday.
  • “C” goal: sub-2:10. Reward: 1 of the dresses. No necklace.
  • “Just finishing:” A spa day with a friend. Ok ok, I was going to do that anyway.

So – even though I realized that my stretch goal of sub-2 hrs was improbable, my goal of 2:05 was well within reach.

I felt crappy from the start. Even though I came to the first 5 K at about 29:00 I felt like I was pushing it too much, I was worried I wouldn’t have enough for those tough hills at the end of the course. I got a stitch in my side that took from the 7 until the 12 K mark to disappear. My legs felt heavy and tired. Many times, even before the first hill, I wanted to quit.

You are what you pay attention to: this was a self-fulfilling prophecy. I did the same workouts as my pace group friends who came in ahead of me; I was trained and ready. My own brain failed me: we now know that our brain tricks us into experiencing fatigue and pain when in fact our muscles are far from failure.

Brain training starts next week, find out how after the jump…

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Half Marathon playlist

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I don’t usually listen to music while running – I’m considering it today during the Oak Bay Half Marathon. I might need something extra to keep me running at 5:40 average pace per kilometre for two hours! If I do, here’s what I’ll be listening to:

  • Is There a Ghost – Band of Horses
  • After Party – Ozomatli
  • Persion Griot – Dharmakassa
  • Blitzkrieg Bop – Ramones
  • You Gotta Help Me Out – Killers
  • Motivation – Sum 41
  • Vertigo – U2
  • Shut the Club Down – Girl Talk
  • Priscilla Blues – Rusty Augers
  • Pump It Up – Elvis Costello
  • Gutless – Hole
  • Grounds for Divorce – Elbow
  • Celtic Raga – Dharmakassa
  • Switching to Clide – various
  • Kalasnjikov – Goran Bregovic
  • Here’s the Thing – Girl Talk
  • Saw Red – Sublime and Gwen Stefani
  • Arezou – Niyaz
  • Road – Refractory
  • Monster Hospital – Metric
  • Galaxy Bounce – Chemical Brothers
  • TKO – Le Tigre
  • Romantic Rights – Death from Above
  • High Fidelity – Elvis Costello
  • Help I’m Alive – Metric
  • Set it Off – Girl Talk
  • Alive – Daft Punk
  • Credit in the Straight World – (Hole)
  • Absurd – Fluke
  • Move Your Ass – Scooter
  • Salaam – Gipsyland (feat. Anoushka)
  • Love Like a Sunset Pts 1-2 – Phoenix
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Why I’m not running Vancouver this weekend

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Oak Bay Half, here I come!

I was excited about running the BMO Vancouver Half Marathon again as recently as Tuesday.

Tonight though (Friday), when it’s time to be packing and hydrating and fueling, I’m looking forward to spending a few days at home instead.

I love Vancouver, but I’ve been back and forth a lot lately and one more trip just looks like No. Fun. At. All.

I just got back from there yesterday. If I was to go to Vancouver tomorrow, I would return by ferry Sunday afternoon, then turn around and go back to Vancouver Tuesday through Saturday next week. I’m getting exhausted just writing all that, let alone running a 21.1 km race on Sunday to boot.

I don’t think M. feels all that great about my traveling either, and we discussed it tonight. If she were to come with me she would have to work around my race instead of having fun with Mom in the city.Training run

I’m not without choices though: most of my other running clinic buddies are signed up for the Oak Bay Half Marathon on May 16. I can sign up for that one, hop back on the final two weeks of their schedule by running 1:30 or 1:45 tomorrow and some hills on Wednesday, then taper (again) for another 10 days. Heck, it would even be cheaper than taking the ferry over and eating all our meals out, etc.

In the end it comes down to this: I run for fun. It’s not an imperative, it’s not a job. It’s a way to challenge myself and feel great afterward. It doesn’t matter if I run Vancouver or Victoria; it doesn’t matter if I run sub-2 hours or 2:15. What matters is I show up and feel good about my effort.

So, the plan has changed – I’m in training for another 2 weeks and I’ll run in my own town May 16, after sleeping in my own bed the night before.

Photo: me (front & centre) and my gang, about an hour into a long run, about a month ago.
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Seen on my run

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Suits, heels on downtown city streets, tired faces dodged. A former colleague from the Ministry. A smile hello.

Long steps down to the seawall from the new convention centre. Float planes and large yachts. Bejewelled harbour; I feel glittered in my running shoes. I’m only going for 45 minutes; the race is only a couple of weeks away.

Two men pass me: one wearing a toque and long sleeves and what appear to be skate shoes with only the most minimal sole, the other older. I keep pace just behind them and soak up their chatter as ambient camaraderie.

Bikes, rollerblades on the shady side. A strong pace. Bliss. Just ahead, the lookout point, my estimated 4 k turnaround. I brought water, should I just keep going?

Just one more kilometre.Seawall Run

Rounding a bend I can see the Lion’s Gate bridge. Beyond that I know is the open strait, brilliant sun, cliffs shiny with runoff, more water fountains, beaches. I stop at the 5 k point and take a picture.

Some military-type men run by – their dark blue shirts and muscled arms. They catch my glance, smile and say hi.

“I’m wondering whether I should keep going around,” I call out.

“Go for it, it’s not as long as it looks!”

I know how far it is. If I turn back now, it’s a 10K run. If I keep going, it’s 15k, an extra half hour onto what should really be a taper run.

I keep going, because runs like this are worth more than any Personal Record.

I keep going, because this is why I run.

Photo: Seawall Run, by Tori Klassen

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Beginning the ascent

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Mystic BeachSeveral times in the past three weeks my mouse has hovered over the “submit” button for another fall marathon.

Each time, a little voice in my head says: “Wait until after your Half Marathon in May. Don’t you want to start climbing again? Remember – you don’t want to climb and train for a marathon at the same time…”

Climbing, hiking, trail running – getting out of the city and off the beaten path. It’s what I long to do, but it means a different level of commitment than training for a road race.

It’s a lifestyle change, is what it is.

Road races are – well – urban, and therefore populated. One of the things I really like about the Vancouver Marathon/Half Marathon is the sheer number of participants and spectators. There is always someone cheering you on, always someone to pass going up to Prospect Point (even for a slow runner like me), always someone holding a sign that says “Run like a Kenyan!” There are entertainment stations with music and dance, and usually the Hash House Harriers with a beer table somewhere along the way.

Climbing/hiking/trail running is more isolated. Wild. A little bit risky. A little – on the edge. It brings you into closer contact with your climbing partner(s). It’s more intimate. There’s no crowd cheering you to the finish line, announcing your name. At best there’s a notation in a guidebook, or a scribble in a summit register, and some scrapes and bruises for bragging rights.

This hit home to me as I scrambled around gearing up this morning for a little 5k hike from China Beach to Mystic Beach and back this afternoon. I located my little Adventure first aid kit, an extra layer, emergency rain gear, fuel, water, map (not that I needed one).

As I rummaged through my gear stowed in my locker downstairs, I heard my physiotherapist’s voice in my head saying: “Your toe joint is healing well, you should be able to start climbing again this spring.”

I want that thrill of going into the back country again. I want to be at a campsite, climbing gear spread out, consulting the guidebook, deciding with my partner what to take (one rope or two? Full rack or save weight and leave a few pieces?). I want to share a beer at the end of the day with friends who have literally held my life in their hands at the end the rope.

It’s time again to begin the ascent.

Photo: Mystic Beach, April 5, 2010, taken by Tori Klassen with iPhone using the Best Camera app.

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My 101st post is about workout music…

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Exercising in middies & bloomers circa 1915 (thanks to Cornell University Library)

In March I had a request for workout music playlists, so I posted this. Recently I had another request, so I decided to publish this post as a page too. After the jump, you’ll see a couple of my playlists. Apologies to those who (when I polled readers a while ago) told me they are not interested in my music playlists!

Now on to the music >>

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Running with the tide

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Listen – hear that? it’s the ocean, only four blocks from here. Its waves are washing up on the shore, desperately calling to me – “Come out, come out Tori – we are waiting for you to run past and to delight in our relentless tides, our frothy foam, our detritus and our seaweeds, our stories drowned and washed up on shore for you to witness and tell the world. Run Tori, run!”

I have yet to go for my run today, and it’s 7:30 pm. Normally my run is over by 7:30 am. Tonight, I feel like crawling into bed. However: I am on a training plan and that plan calls for a 45-min easy run today. Consider this my kick-myself-in-the-pants to get the hell out there on the moist and mild (or is that wet and wild?) streets of Victoria.

Tonight I run for one who would run but cannot — for who am I to blow off a run with a race coming up, a PR to be set, a victory to be savoured — for a friend who could only wish he had a choice? Hoping he is back on his feet soon, sorting out his smelly gear, hitting the trails on his continuing Road to Ruin - although from what I hear it’s more like a road from ruin, but I’ll let him explain for himself.

And so I shall.

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They can't all be good runs

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or .. I really regret not eating more than two cookies, a Bounty and some veggie soup yesterday

marathon runner

Marathon Runner Tori. Hard to believe this was only three weeks ago - RVM 2009

I bonked during my run this morning. Just as I finished my warm up.

I ran down Cook St to Dallas Rd, then headed over to Moss, intending to finish the w/u along the flat and straight, then go right into the hill workout when Moss starts to climb.

Instead, I walked home after about 20 minutes into my run, completely out of gas, cursing silently and outlining the reasons why: chief among them the fact that I ran my first marathon three weeks ago. Michael warned me something like this might happen — it takes 3-4 weeks to recover fully from a 42.2 km race.

But my atrocious nutrition the day before (see above) had a lot to do with it too.

Now I sit with my oatmeal in hand and my feet in ice water, vowing to grab a super-veggie burrito from Hernandez’ for lunch, enjoy a drink after work with a friend, and try for the hills on the weekend.

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