Hey there – my latest blog post for Life As A Human is up:
“Can you tell I’m missing a toenail?” I asked M. the other day. For some reason I consult with my daughter on matters of fashion and appearance, probably because at age 16, she is at a stage of her life where she is inordinately focused on such things. Sometimes I appreciate her keen eye.
Please read the rest here. And Stumble it, Digg it, Tweet it, etc. And leave a comment. And send me chocolate (or gin).
I gotta say – this last week, even though it was low mileage – got me. I did my speed workout (a progression – barfy hard!) Thursday night, then a lake run (a little faster than I should have) on Saturday – not enough rest time in between for this 45-year old body.
I’m tired. I’m sore. I need a massage (especially calf, shin, hamstring, glutes, lower back, upper back and shoulder muscles .. hah) – I need a hot tub.
A sure sign it’s time to rest! and soon (next week) I’ll start tapering the training. Now’s the time to be extra-cautious and not get injured!
Tonight I’m watching The Red Violin again (just because I love that movie and it was on my mind the last couple of days) cuddled up on the couch with — well myself. I’ve got to admit though, having someone to cuddle up with (just for tonight maybe?) would be nice.
Not to worry, I’m sure this too shall pass. Now, off to the video store.
Tori with grandson Oliver, 3 days after running the 2009 Royal Victoria Marathon
I love a running group: meeting new people, finding out why they run, what they do besides running, what motivates them. It makes the hours and the effort float by effortlessly. One new running buddy is a woman with two children, aged 6 and 9.
I must admit – at this stage of my life, with a self-sufficient teenager at home and two grown children (including one grandchild) – I couldn’t imagine at first how one trains for a half marathon with little ones. Case in point: my new running friend was going home after our run to prepare for her son’s birthday party and host a family dinner –that same day.
“Whoa – I usually go home and have a nap on Saturdays,” I said.
“Yeah – I’m going to be exhausted,” she said.
In contrast, I went home to have a glass of chocolate milk, a leisurely soak in the tub, eat some lunch, do some errands in the Village, have coffee with friends, make some appetizers and then, later on, shake some martinis a small get-together with some other friends.
I do remember training for a half marathon when my children were that age. It can be done! with a little creativity and trusting that your kids are all the better when their mom takes care of her health. For instance, my kids and their friends loved that I could do cartwheels, especially when they were really little.
Here are some of my tips I shared with my new friend:
• Figure 8′s: while the kids played with each other in the front yard, I ran 800 m figure-8 loops around the two blocks surrounding our house, waving at them as I ran by. Even if it’s a short run it’s better than nothing.
• Candy Cane Park: along the same lines, I found an open play park with a nice loop where I could keep an eye on the kids playing while I ran around, and around, and around. Hey, it gets boring, but you can join the kids afterwards and do stretches and pull-ups on the playground equipment. Note: tracks are really boring for little kids, try to find an open playground instead.
• Cheap child care at rec. centres: take advantage of it! Look around – most of them have some child care times. They’re usually bedlam – but they’re only there for an hour or so, and most of the time the kids have a ball and you can get your workout in.
• Swim or skate lessons: most facilities have a workout area that’s available for you while kids are in their class. Get on that treadmill and work out when they do!
• Bikes: kids on their bikes, you running. Try and keep up, will ya?
• Take them running with you! This usually meant my son – he’d sprint ahead and stop to catch his breath. When I caught him he would sprint ahead again .. and so on. Make a short loop so that when child decides he’s had enough, he can go play with friends while you keep going. (P.S. my son – now age 22 would still be running if he hadn’t torn his ACL playing football last summer.)
• Get Dad (or a friend) in on it to trade off child minding duties. My ex-husband and I liked to run together, but it was a treat because usually we could only go one at a time while the other stayed home to mind the children.
• Get up at an unseemly early hour. I still do this. It’s my “me” time: 5 – 6:30 am.
• The running stroller. Never had one, they were out of our price range – but I always wanted one. Train while pushing your child, and when race time comes you feel so light and free! Actually, I did wear out (very quickly) one cheap stroller when my youngest was about 18 months old. We found out the hard way – I was running down the street and the thing just – disintegrated. Wheels fell off, I’m eating pavement, daughter is laughing, tipped over sideways on the sidewalk. Luckily we weren’t far from home, and I only wounded my pride.
No excuses – just do it. You do have time to take care of your health – if you make it a priority.
Last post I fibbed just a little – by omission. I neglected to state my goal for running this year:
In 2010 I will run a Half Marathon in 2 hours or less.
Gulp.
My PB for that race is 2:12:24.
In 2003 I did the Queen City Half Marathon in 2:20:21; and in 2005 in 2:16:16
Don says I can do it, and I don’t think he’s just saying that because it’s His Duty As A Good Boyfriend to say things like that. He says it based on my performance at the Run Through Time on New Year’s Eve – a 5 K “fun run” at UVic.
I ran it in 28:04, which I think was a PB for me but I can only find results online for one other 5K I’ve done – the rest I did before the days if the interwebs and timing chips.
Apparently I ran the 34th Annual YMCA Regina Buffalothon 5K in 2005 in 29:17. I don’t remember running it at all, probably because I was training for the Half Marathon that year, or perhaps because I was crazy in love: earlier that month I had visited Victoria and decided I wanted to move here.
In any event, I decided on Dec 31 not to treat the race as a “fun run” but as a test/training run. I wanted to see how well I would do giving it some effort. Don did run it just for fun, having done his real workout earlier that day, so he stayed behind in he pack to run it with me.
I did better than I thought. I went out with my Garmin at the ready, but after a couple of kilometres I stopped looking at it and asked Don to keep us at a 5:45 per kilometre pace. I started out back of the pack and slow – about a 6:15 pace to start. I like to pass people at the beginning and I like to do negative splits (first half slower than the second, finishing strong).
The race is two laps around a circular drive at the University of Victoria. At the second lap I started to pick up speed and there it was again: the focus, the tunnel vision I get when I’m working hard and I’ve got the finish line in sight. I passed a whole lotta people. That’s when I asked Don to keep us on my goal pace.
About 1 K before the finish I made the mistake of asking him what pace we were on. I was working hard.
“I shouldn’t tell you,” he said.
“Tell me!” I gasped.
“4:31.” he said.
“Holy crap!” I said, still gasping.
“It’s OK – you’re doing fine. Breathe deeply. Don’t slow down your breathing, just fill up your lungs, use your diaphragm.”
I did back off that pace for the last couple of hundred metres. Don explained that I was probably running at my lactate threshold pace – a pace close to which most serious runners run every race.
“Even marathons?” I said.
“Yes, I’m running that way every marathon,” (he’s done 18 of them). “That’s why you do speed work, to get yourself used to going the distance at pace. You could have run the entire 5K at about a 5-minute pace, you just didn’t know it.”
Later we went out to celebrate New Year’s Eve, but I was so tired I had trouble staying up to ring in 2010. That’s life as a runner!
Last night we played around with paces and race distances on a handy calculator on the Prairie Inn Harriers web site. To run a 2-hour Half Marathon means holding a pace of 5:41 per kilometre for 21.1 kilometres.
Gulp.
I can do it.
I don’t abandon runs that often. When I do it’s for one of two reasons: illness or injury. After this morning I’m adding #3 to my list — plumbing problems. (Content warning: ladies’ bits discussed further …)
Out Outhouse by Rusty Boxcar
Especially if she has given birth to four babies (as have I), there comes a time in every woman runner’s life when either her period starts/gets unexpectedly heavy or she really has to go pee while running. At that point she has a choice to make:
Oh well. They can’t all be good runs, and I will live to run Beacon Hill another day, well-hydrated and well-plumbed.
Am I tired? No, not really – legs a bit heavy, but otherwise I’m ready. I’m fully trained for my first marathon, it’s all in my head at this point.
Besides, I don’t have a right to feel tired after reading Jarhead’s blog.
He’s running the Royal Victoria Marathon too. Same day I am. Except race day will be his 7th time around the route — in 7 days. Yep. With his running partner for Big Brothers Big Sisters – an organization I fully support, they do great work – he’ll be running a total of 300 km in 7 days.
So go – click on that link and donate some money will ya? C’mon the guy’s running a marathon a day for SEVEN DAYS!
(Psst Donald next time you see me on Frontrunners don’t be shy! Come up and say hi to me!)
I have about 20 pairs of shoes. That’s not many, considering how much I love shoes, but alas my budget won’t allow me to indulge my obsession too much. I love high heeled shoes especially. A good pair of heels makes me feel powerful, sexy, professional, competent.
Irene Bordoni flashing leg in some great shoes, circa 1912
I’ve slowly come to terms with the fact that I may never be able to wear my pumps around the office all day/every day, ever again. I haven’t worn heels since I discovered my chronic foot injury in February (they think it’s a mild form of arthritis brought on by biomechanical imbalance + years of wearing heels + putting on the miles in training). I’m so focused on crossing the finish line at the Royal Victoria Marathon on Oct 11 that nothing will stand in my way. Not even pretty shoes.
Running shoes are a whole ‘nother matter. Comfort is key. After a long painful bout with plantar fasciitis years ago, before my first half marathon, I always wear orthotics. Recently, I had new orthotics made to better help with the newfound arthritic toe joint. At the time the orthotics guy said “You need a more stable shoe, more rigid in the forefoot to help stabilize – even with the orthotic.”
But I was moving, and cash-strapped, so I put off buying new running shoes, while still trying to run 40 km per week or more.
Then the shinsplints came, and I was off for a couple of weeks, getting physio and massage (ever had your shins massaged? It’s NOT FUN. It’s PAINFUL). Then, the knee pain began. Enough, I said to myself. Get new runners. Now.
Asics Gel Fortitude
So I left myself a good week to try out some new shoes. Instead of a hill run, I stayed at Frontrunners one evening determined to find shoes. Amazingly, the first pair I tried (Asics Gel Fortitude) felt – well – great! Just to be certain, I headed over to the Y to do a 30-minute treadmill run. As long as I didn’t wear them outside, I could return them and try another pair.
*Aside – if you’re ever tempted to cheap out get new athletic shoes from a generic big box department or sporting goods store, let this blog post be a lesson to you. Get thee to a specialty store and let the staff take care of you. It’s about your health and well-being and it’s worth every penny.
Amazingly – my knee pain disappeared. My shins felt great. Just to be certain, I kept them for a couple days, and did another treadmill run. Same deal – no pain, just the joy of running.
Classic red peep-toes, from Markusram
Can simply getting the right pair of shoes make that much difference? Yes, it can. After our 2-hour, 20-minute long run (including hills and pick-ups) on Saturday, I felt like I could go the whole 42.2 k distance pain-free.
Epilogue: last week I forgot to bring what I call my “granny shoes” to work (they’re somewhat stylish Clarks “un.structured” line low-profile wedge heel) and instead had to put on a pair of 2″ heels from the collection I keep in my office.
Tah-dah! No foot pain! I’ll be sashaying downtown in my 4″ London Flys before you know it!
Whose idea was it to move house in the middle of training for a marathon? Or try and begin a new relationship?
I’m moved, but still have no sofa, bed for my daughter, end tables, living room lamp or desk chair for this computer. Not only that but the new place (why didn’t I notice this before?) has no linen closet. I need trunks or some other storage solutions. It’s going to take a bit of fussing to get settled. No problem, right? Right.
Grin and bear it
Except for an increasingly punishing training schedule, looming deadlines and staffing shortages at work and a frustratingly ambiguous yet potentially very exciting love life at the moment. Oh yeah, and then there was the fall down the back stairs in the rain on Monday, from which I got a bruised tailbone and elbow. I still can’t quite sleep properly (I never realized how much I like to sleep on my back…)
A wise massage therapist once told me that once you’re running over 15 miles a week you’re not doing it for your health, you’re punishing your body. At that point you’re doing it for some other reason. Marathons are for fit people, for determined people, for people who perhaps have something to prove. But they’re not going to keep you healthy.
Well, I am kinda crazy and determined to reach my goal, so I push on, trying to fuel up, get enough sleep and resist the urge to freak out when some new surprise in my new place, my new neighbourhood and my new sorta-relationship comes up. (Um, ok, so I have freaked out. Once. After tempo run/hill repeats this week. So sue me, I’m not a saint.)
I saw a counsellor/coach yesterday who taught me a relaxation-meditation exercise that seemed to work instantly – in her office anyway. The trick will be to use it when the stress response starts to kick in. I’ll try it after the next set of hill repeats.
Come rain … or come rain
A ritual journey to the wall
Around the lighthouse seven times
Under the towering eye of the Sea Princess
I return holy drenched and misty-eyed.
Tonight we ran the Seven Sisters in Victoria: Hill workout! The Seven Sisters slay me: Fairfield; Oakshade, Gonzales, Lotbiniere, Robleda, St. Charles, Moss. I learned (re-learned) a few things:
All in all – great to be back on my feet with little to no pain what-so-evah! Woot!