Looking Back

Well, I can not believe that 2013 is almost over, what a year it has been.  

First I will start with an update of my vacation, I went to Cocoa Beach for a cruise in the Caribbean. Goofy training did not stop because I was on vacation and I had some serious training to do that week.  The highlight was meeting Kate in Cocoa Beach for a run on Sunday.  I posted on a Facebook group I was going to be running in the area and did anyone know a route.  Enter Kate who lives there and she suggested a route.  I asked her if she wanted to run part of my 21K with me and I was delighted she said yes.  Neale and I ran 11K first and Kate and I ran 10K together.  I loved running with her so much that I said I would come back to run the Space marathon with her when she was ready.  

Kate posted this on my FB page and I agree

I had to do back to back 25k runs on Friday and Saturday on the cruise ship. Let's just say that running on a treadmill on a rolling cruise ship is not easy so on Saturday I did part of my run on the treadmill and part on the outdoor running track, that in itself had it s challenges but I finished 20 out of the scheduled 25K.  Anyway, I got them all done and was quite proud of myself.  

As I type this I have done 11 out of the scheduled 12 races this year, 3 triathlons and 9 running races.  Each triathlon was a new distance for me and I completed my first marathon, another first.  I got a PB/PR in each distance I raced and for the new distances, I did better them my anticipated time.  Most important I learned a lot about myself and my abilities and that is what I will remember more about this year, this year was about proving to myself that I was worthy to be called a runner and triathlete.

I learned to speak up for myself and what I need.  I started the year with one coach and end it with another, I learned what I needed from a coach and would not settle for anything less.  I want to say a huge THANK YOU to my coach Laura.  Thank you for helping me achieve all my goals this year, it has been a blast and I can't wait to see how 2014 turns out.

Laura and I after my Half Iron Distance Triathlon

I learned to make lemonade out of lemons.  Both Neale and I suffered injuries this year, his worse them mine but they both had an effect on my training plan.  I was out of action for 4 weeks this spring and it played havoc with my training for my May races.  I did manage to run them all but I knew I could do better.  I was running the half marathon for Team Diabetes so that became my focus, finishing it for my friends who had diabetes. That was the plan but the night before the race, I found out my SIL died and I added her name to my shirt and ran for her that day. The last 5K I struggled but I kept going, thinking of her and as I crossed the finish line, I let my tears flow.

Barbara and I after our race, Barbara the marathon, me the Half marathon

Neale's injury had the biggest impact on my training, I ran the Army Run half marathon since he could not and I ran his marathon in October instead of us running my first together in Philly in November.   In the end it turned out to be a blessing as I ran a PB for that half and had the best first marathon experience, better then my expectations in a fabulous city with fanatic crowd support.  

I learned I was stronger then I thought.  I did workouts that I could not even imagine last year and then I did them again and again. When I signed up for the Goofy last March, I planned on walking most of it but now I know I can run it and have fun doing it.  I cant wait to run with Barbara and Lori which leads me to the biggest thing I learned this year...

Running is better with friends and I have the greatest running friends.  After doing most of my training solo for the first 6 months, I signed up to be a marathon group leader his summer.  I was looking forward to running with people, to share experiences and stories and km...lots of kms.  I was the 4:45 group leader but usually headed out with Lori, the 4:30 group leader since my group consisted of only one other runner.  It was just what I needed, I loved the experience.  When I had to do my last long run for my marathon, I asked for people to run with me and I had plenty of runners to run with, I only had to do 7k on my own.  This kind of support makes such a difference. 

Vincent, Lisette, Gilles, Leanne, Lynn and I ( and Judy taking the photo)

My friend Barbara can through big time for me this summer, I asked her to run the half marathon portion of my Half Iron Distance Triathlon with me...and she did!  She was instrumental in getting me across the finish line, she kept me going when I was struggling, and there were a few of those portions and she helped me finish before my goal time of 7:30.  This year Barbara and I traveled to Toronto together for her first marathon and my half, she ran my first Half Iron distance tri with me and next we tackle the Goofy together.

Barbara and I running together, another loop done.

Words can not express my gratitude and thank you does not seem enough, you are my running hero and my friend, my life is richer for having you in it Barbara. 

As 2013 closes out, I will have run almost 1100 miles or 1830km, I will have bike almost 900 miles or 1500 km and swam countless laps and km, too many to count.  I am 15 pounds lighter then last year and in a much happier place personally and with my training.  I am looking forward to 2014 and the races I have planned, first up the Goofy on Jan 11 and 12th. This year I proved to myself that I am a runner and triathlete, that I am worthy.

Taking a break for some R&R, be back soon

I Believe

Weekend 2 of my long Goofy runs, 19K yesterday, 31K today, 50 K total.  I have a few more of these long run weekends ahead of me.  Life is getting busy, we leave for a well earned vacation on Friday but training programs do not take a vacation.  I got my schedule from my coach and realized I could not do it as it was and made a few changes that she approved and now I have to execute.  Here is the problem, I have my own business with clients who depend on me, I am a co-owner of another start-up business, I have a family so I need to get Christmas organized before I leave, a dog that needs to be walked and a training schedule and coach that expect 100% of my efforts. I am trying to juggle everyone's needs and I truly believe I can get it all done or at least the important parts.  

One thing I am looking forward too is running in the sun and heat, I have a 21K run on Sunday and I will run an hour with Neale and the rest with a runner I met through Facebook who lives in the area.  I have a few small workouts to do on the cruise and 2 long 25K back to back run on the last 2 days we are at sea.  I will have to get to the health club early to get my runs in, almost 3 hours on the treadmill each day but I will get them done.  

I believe in myself, I believe in my dreams and goals and if I try my best, it will be enough, I believe that with all my heart. 

Run Ally Run...maybe

So I probably told you I signed up for the Goofy in January 2014 and December is my biggest training month and I am ready...sort of.  This weekend I had 3 runs in a row, 10K Friday, 20K Saturday and 30K on Sunday.  I did the 10K on Friday on the treadmill and felt great, I like running on the treadmill.  I did the 20K outside on Saturday, it was cold -15C but sunny and the roads were OK for the most part.  The last 3K was slippery but OK and my quads were sore after.  I was covered in frost after the run and I had to wear my water bottles inside my jacket to stop them from freezing. 

me after my run Saturday

Today it was warmer but it had snowed and the sidewalks were hard going, one step forward half step back and a killer on the calves and quads.  12 mins into the run I turned over my ankle but I kept on running, it did not hurt too bad at the time.  So I guess my high pain threshold is a curse sometimes because my ankle did not start hurting until the 22k point of the run and now I cant walk on it.  I ran 23.3K today, not quite my scheduled run but given the conditions and my ankle, I am happy with my effort.  Now I have to wait to see how hurt my ankle is so I can figure out what effect it will have on my training plan.  I remembered today why I like running on my treadmill, it is warn, it is not slippery and I have a bathroom near by whenever I need it. 

December is always a busy month in our house, birthdays, Christmas, school stuff and now a vacation the week before Christmas.  The week I am on vacation is also my biggest training week, I can not do the schedule as it is but I am trying to figure out how much is do-able, how much I can shift around and how much I need to change so I can still enjoy my vacation. Life is all about balance, balancing work, family, friends and training and I constantly struggle to maintain the balance.   I am looking forward to this vacation, I really need it so I will do my best to balance it all and have fun....because without the fun, what is the point. 

Think positive

Knock, knock....anyone home.  Sorry I have not been around lately, it has been crazy with family, work and training...training for the Goofy is tough.   

It has been an interesting time in my brain lately, lots of smack talk and self doubt and I am working my way through it.  When you are overweight, you think once you lose a certain amount of weight and hit into that magical size life would be wonderful and it should be but sometimes it is not.  For some reason when I lost my latest bit of weight this summer, I became dissatisfied with my body.  Instead of seeing a strong confident women I saw stretch marks, lose skin and a jelly belly; I should have been happy but instead I was miserable.  I know it does not sound logical but it is the truth, my truth and I have to work through it.  I think that learning to love myself is a process, work in progress and I am not afraid of hard work. I need to love the new me, jelly belly and all because I do not have the spare money for a tummy tuck and bust lift and I really don't want one.   A friend challenged us to find a positive body intention for  the week, this is mine.  

I choose to embrace my body, this body is mine, I earned every wrinkle, stretch mark and sag. This body is the vehicle that allows me to do amazing things and as such, I will honor it, without reservations, judgement or disclaimers.  

A few weeks ago I went to a fitness assessment at the gym I joined.  While I did not lie, I was not forthcoming with the consultant since I wanted to see how much of a sales pitch it was.  At the end of the hour she had decided I was a middle aged women who was not active and had put on weight recently and needed someone to push her to achieve her goals.  She also said I needed to lose 5-8 lbs and a few % of body fat.  I think it messed with my head a bit, I wondered if  that was what other saw as well.  I have decided it does not matter what she thought, I know the truth...now I have to live it.  

Running for a Cause

Sorry I missed a post last week, it has been crazy.  On Nov 2nd I did a 5K fun run for a cause.  I was away for the weekend scrapbooking and found out there was a run in memory of a young girl in the area.  All I knew at the time was the name of the event, the Healther Salltink Memorial run, that it was free and it was timed.  They were asking for donations to Arrive Alive so I figure there was a connection there but I did not know what it was at the time.  

I headed out for my weekend of fun and was happy to pack my running gear, I wanted to see how much my 5K time had improved over the summer.  While scrapbooking I met people who knew the family and I found out the story behind the run.  Heather and her father where driving home from Ottawa to Cornwall and they were hit by a drunk driver and Heather was killed.  The irony was that Heather was driving because her father had a few drinks and knew better then to drive.  The family was a member of the Cornwall Multisport Club and avid runners.  I was really glad I was running now and even the bad weather was not going to keep me away.  It was wet and cold, not ideal running conditions but I did not care, my discomfort was nothing.  

The run started on a nice flat road, I had no idea what the course looked like but I soon heard it was 4k of rolling hills, great not what I wanted to hear.  I had an idea of what time I was aiming for, I had a OMG, I can't believe I did it goal of 27:30, a I am really happy goal of 27:45 and an it's OK goal of 28:00.  At this point I was thinking 28:00 is likely good enough for today.   I had warmed up so my first K was at my goal pace of 5:30 and my second was 5:16 and then the hills started to kick my butt, just past the turnaround I turned my watch to time, I did not want to see my pace and found someone to follow, a young girl who was running a good pace.  I was still running fast and breathing hard as I enter the last flat section. I kept up to my pace buddy until the last 200m where she sprinted away and I had no extra gear, oh to be young again.

my pace buddy sprinting away...bye bye

see I can take a bad race photo

I had a rough idea of my time at the finish but even though I thought I turned off my Garmin (see photo above), I did not and it was showing 35:34 when I finally turned it off.  I was thrilled to find out my time was 27:25, more then 2 mins off May's time and faster them my OMG goal.  I had a great time, met some new running friends and helped a great cause.  I headed back my scrapbooking with a warm heart, wet feet and a new 5K PB.  

End of season Wrap up Part 2

So I finally have time to sit down to finish this post, it has been a busy week.  So where did I leave off...right, what worked and I was going to move on to what did not work and what's next.

So what did not work.  In April I contacted a local company for VO2Max testing for zone training, what a disaster.  I was suppose to run my slow runs really slowly, almost walking in order to increase my zone 1.  In my opinion, it made me a worse runner, I felt sluggish and s l o w.  I gave this up after 2 months and joined the marathon clinic at my local Running Room.   

Something else that did not work was my biking, I am a terrible cyclist.  I really really need to work on this during the winter.  Biking is the longest part of a Triathlon so not being a good cyclist really hurts your performance and time.  I will work on my strength and do some hill training on the spin bike this winter, I am an OK runner and swimmer, next year is all about the biking.

So this leads nicely to whats next.  This year was about growth, doing new distances and pushing myself to prove I could do it...and I did.  Next year is about speed and constancy. I am working on strength and speed during the winter, in all three disciplines.  Next year is about building on this year, I can go the distance so now its about time and endurance, doing it better, faster, stronger then before.

Ironman: the final frontier. These are the blogs of the athlete Allyson. Whose three-year mission: to explore strange new races, to seek out new PB's and new distances , to boldly go where she has not gone before!...... whoop my Star Trek geek is showing.

So I have 2 fun runs left for this year, a 5K tomorrow and a 10k on New Years Eve.  I am looking forward to these races, to run with abandon and enjoy the run and the runners beside me.  After that is the Goofy, I am running that with my friends Barbara and Lori. This is for fun, time is not even in the conversation.  We are sorting out costumes and planning on taking photos along the way.  I then start the speed portion of my year, I have aggressive time goals for Around the Bay (30K) and my Half Marathon in May here in Ottawa.  The summer is Triathlon, a summer that will be book-ended by 70.3 Ironman events, with a few shorter ones in the middle and a late fall marathon will finish off my year. 

I have a solid plan, goals and a great coach, I also have a secret dream/goal for next summer not running or triathlon related, crazy I know. I am looking forward to the journey and what it will teach me about myself. To me the race is the icing on the cake, the exclamation point at the end of the sentence, its the training I really love. Who would have thought I would say that, me the confirmed couch potato who though those who did these things were crazy.  I could not have done these things without a community of runners and triathletes who train and motivate me, my awesome coach and my family, especially my marathon man, who love me unconditionally and put up with all this training and expense.