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.  

Well Excuse Me

You might have seen this photo on Facebook or other blogs.

I understand her point, sort of. She claims she does not mean to be judgmental but it does come across this way to many people.  A long time ago I saw this and it was way more motivational but basically says the same thing



I have worked hard for the last 4 years and I will never, never look like this or any other cover model.  I have a jelly belly, thighs that rub together and wrinkles, lots of them.  I have been told by others that I inspire them, maybe, but others truly inspire me.  I am surrounded by a large group of ladies who inspire me weekly with their accomplishments and struggles, we do not have perfect bodies but we work hard to accomplish our goals and do amazing things.

Today this video came across my Facebook, this is way more inspirational to me then Maria Kang's poster. I asked Leslie if I could share her video and she said yes so please enjoy her journey.


Leslie's journey: From Couch to Triathlon

Everyone journey is different, we are individuals and what is inspiration for one may not work for another.  Even before I saw Maria's poster I had spent the last few weeks feeling bad about myself, hating my jelly belly and thinking I am less then perfect. Instead of upsetting me it made me realize that I went from this

 to this

and I need to be proud of this body it allows me to do amazing things, jelly belly and all.

End of Season wrap up

So I have spent the week thinking about the last 6 months of my training.  In May it seemed such a long period of time and now my season is almost over and it is time to start winter training.  I have run a 5K, a 10K, a 15K, 2 half marathons and a Marathon since May and I got a PB in each.  I also did a Sprint tri, an Olympic tri and a Half iron Distance tri, all firsts for me, well maybe not the sprint since I tried one last summer but this was the first one I finished.  It was a crazy summer and I am looking forward to a few weeks of reduced training and some new things this winter.  Looking back is important to me, remembering where I started so I can see how far I have come, what worked and what did not work, what I want to improve and what I want to change.  I thought I might share some of this with you, it might help you or you might be able to help me so here goes...

After May I knew I could not do this alone so I explored getting a coach.  I had had a less then successful coaching experience in the past and I wanted to be sure this time.  It is hard to schedule the running and triathlon programs independently of each other, I needed to coordinate my workouts and do a good job of both.  I found the perfect coach for me and we started working together in July.  Poor Laura was in for a challenge, she had 9 weeks to get me to my first HIM triathlon with a 15K and an Oly tri thrown in for fun. We were also planing a November marathon but when the marathon man got injured that changed and I added a half marathon in Sept and a marathon in Oct to the training plan and once again she got me to the start line.  I have worked hard, I followed the program to the best of my abilities and it paid off, big time.  Getting Laura as a coach was one of the best decisions I made this summer and I have recommended her to friends so they experience her brilliance too.  

I also realized that I needed to work on my nutrition this summer.  I was having issues training for over 2 hours and half marathons where a challenge to finish without a stop.  I had food sensitivity testing in May and was surprised to find out I had to give up dairy, eggs and gluten plus a bunch of other foods.  I was thrilled that I got to keep coffee, wine and chocolate, I could survive as long as I had those.  It was a challenge, finding foods that fit these restrictions (and expensive) but so worth it.  I started to feel better, I had more energy, I was sleeping better and those around me noticed as well.  It was a good thing that I had more energy since I was doing really long bike/run workouts on Friday and long runs on Sunday but I survived and thrived.  I also lost 14 pound during this time, I am not sure if it was the training or the food or both but trust me I was eating, eating a lot.  This week I tried gluten and egg again and had no big reaction but I think I will keep eating the way I had all summer, I like the way I feel.  

I also worked on my race nutrition during training so on race day I knew what worked and what did not.  It was a trial and error process, too much sugar is still not a good thing for me so I limit my gels and chews during a run.  I tried other foods for the bike, some worked like Thoz Barz and some not so much like PB&J on vegan bread (cue coughing fit).  I tried Super Food blocks, cashews and Lara bars, some worked and some, not so much.  The good thing was on race day, I knew exactly what to eat and drink and I never experienced issued during a run that hurt my race day.  

This is getting a bit long so next post I will blog about what did not work and what is next so stay tuned....

In the Club

My name is Allee and I am a Marathoner.  I still can't believe that I have entered the marathon club, I have conquered the runners Everest, well at least mine and I lived to tell the tale.  Since I was running under my marathons mans bib, I do not want to get him into trouble so I have deleted a few posts and will refer to the marathon as "THE LONG RUN" in the "city that shall not be named".  Apparently they do not like you running under some other bib, a big no-no but you know you us runners, we've got to run.  

It was a great first marathon. perfect running weather, great runners and great crowd support.  I had a fabulous run, I felt great and with the exception of a few bathroom stops, it went as planned.  For a first marathon, I think it went as good as it could, there are always things I wish I could change but no too much.  My nutrition was good, only slight stomach issues, my legs felt great until the 18 mile mark and I managed to avoid THE WALL and any negative thoughts.  My time did get slower for the final 8 miles, I was getting tired but that made sense.  In my training most of my long distances were at a slower per km pace and race day I was running 45 seconds faster each km.  In future I will want to add race pace runs at the end of my long runs to help me get better. I had the same issue with my half marathon until this years Army Run so I know you can get better and stronger at the finish.  I was aiming for 4:40 to 4:45 and hit the half marathon point bang on pace, 2:21. I ended up running 4:52 so I lost time in the second half, I felt it and there was nothing I could do about it but I ran as fast as I could and never gave up.  I saw a lot of people walking for the last 2-3 miles, I am proud that I never stopped.  I saw my marathon man at the 23.5 mile mark and had my last gel and just kept running to the finish line.  I did have my scheduled walk breaks, every mile marker and I walked through a few water stops to refill my bottles but I never walked when I should have run and I am really proud of that.  

After THE LONG RUN, I felt great, I had a few sore muscles and my toes hurt (which is normal) but I went for a walk to keep my legs from getting stiff and it worked.  I had a celebratory meal, a hamburger with bun and fries and enjoyed every bite.  I had not had gluten in 4 months but I did not care, I was having the burger bun.  I figured my body would hate me the next day anyway so I might as well enjoy my treat.  Well the next day, my body was not too mad at me, I felt great, the legs felt great and the burger bun did not seem to affect me too much.  Now a few days on, I feel back to normal, I wanted to go for a run tonight but knew I should wait another day or so but I am looking forward to my first run back. I have a few weeks of reduced training and then it is on to the next challenge, I can run 13.1 miles and 26.2 miles so why not try one each on consecutive days...well it seemed like a good idea at the time.  

A Special Kind of Crazy

Twas the night before my last long run before my first ever marathon and I am excited.  I know who gets excited for a 40K run but I am.  I was calling my friend Peter out the other day on Facebook about his fall running schedule, 3 marathons in 3 months, a few other runs and then the Dopey in January.  The fun people at Disney decided that they were not getting enough money out of runners for the Goofy that they created a new race, THE DOPEY.  You run a 5K, a 10K, a half marathon and a marathon on consecutive days for 6 medals.  Now I like bling as much as the next runner but I am not that crazy.  I am running the Goofy, the half marathon and the marathon portion and that is enough for me. 

Dopey medals

Another friend Vincent is running marathons on consecutive weekends, I told him he was crazy as well.  It was then  pointed out to me that I was just as crazy doing a half Iron distance triathlon, a half marathon and a marathon in 6 weeks.  I guess when you look at it that way, I am a little bit crazy too. It turns out I am surrounded by this special kind of crazy people, my coach Laura runs 100 mile ultra marathons and wins them, by a lot.  My friend Sylvie is running 2 ultra marathons next year, she is the cheerleader to our group. My hubby is branching out and signed up for a half Ironman even though he can't swim, he is even thinking of 2 next summer with me and while we plan on completing the first one together the second is a race, every triathlete for themselves (bring it honey). I am surrounded by these crazy people and I love it! We encourage each other to dream BIG, we cheer each other on and celebrate everyone's success.

I am so happy that I am surrounded by people that are this special kind of crazy, it makes life FUN!

The Army Run

So my last post was about a very, very bad run I had, 35k of pain and agony.  I had a few great ladies smack me upside the head asking me what did I expect the week after a Half Iron Distance Triathlon, sunshine and daisies?  Well maybe I did, silly me, I had done back to back epic workout all summer and I did not think this would be any different.   A few days later I ran 38K, 15K at the pace I planned on running my half marathon at and the rest at my LSD marathon pace.  It was a much better run, 15K non-stop at 6:30 per km and the rest at 7:30.  I started to feel better about my marathon.

Today was the Army Run, last year this was my first half marathon and it was not a great race.  I struggled through it and was sure glad when it was over.  Since then I have run 2 more half marathons, the Disney Wine and Dine and the Goodlife Fitness Toronto half marathon.  My time for the Toronto one was much better then the Army run but I still struggled for the last 5k, something I wanted to work on over the summer. All my training during the summer, the swimming and brick workouts were great for triathlons but I was unsure how it would translate for my run today.  Well I had nothing to worry about, today was a great race!  

Since I have a marathon in 3 weeks I wanted to run fast but not too fast and I ran what I will call a conservatively aggressive race, a nice steady fast pace for 16K and then picked it up steadily for the last 5k, running flat out the last 3.5 k non stop.  My plan was to run 6:30 per km but that never happened, except maybe on the odd hill, we struggled to keep the run pace at 6, we wanted to go faster but I wanted to make sure I had something left for the last 5K.  We took our walk breaks and I stuck to my nutrition plan and I felt much better then any other race.  Last year when I passed the 51 Air Cadet cheer station (my son's squad) I felt terrible, this year I high fived them all and ran strong through the row.  I started to fade the last km but I was not giving up, we were so close to finishing and I wanted to finish strong.  At the 16k point we were 3 mins up on my per race pace, at the end we were almost 6 mins ahead, we picked up 3 mins in the last 5k, we were on fire.  

The final stats are 2:11:33 and a 6:15 per km pace. That is almost 23 mins faster then last year and 13 mins faster then my Toronto time.  I will keep today's feeling with me as I run that day, the gratitude I felt, the joy of running and the strength of those who believe in me...I can't wait.