Runventurer

Here I find myself again combining 2 weeks into one blog.  It’s been a super busy couple of weeks with a running event, training, work and work travel.  I know that this is the part of the training cycle that can be particularly fatiguing and being disciplined enough to take care of yourself through good sleep and nutrition is so important.  But man, is that difficult when faced with all of the temptation around you…so hopefully balance will work.

Rum Runners is one of my favourite running events!  Now I know some may be wondering just how many favourite running events I have?  Well … yes there are many and for many different reasons!  This one combines the best that running fun and friends has to offer.  You get to test yourself against yourself or others (if you so choose) on some very challenging terrain along the beautiful South Shore of Nova Scotia with an amazing family of runners.  As a one day event, it makes it easier to stick together as a team throughout the whole relay without burning yourself out….too much;) and as you run only one of the legs, you get to chat, hangout and reflect for the rest of the day.  Oh and get a yummy burger at the end of the day!

Here are a couple of random thoughts from that day:

• Never do a long run during the relay….you miss too much.  I had a 32K on deck with 8K of that at marathon race pace during my leg 2.  Got my warm up in, thanks to super supportive LTMer Lindsey!.  Ran my leg a bit too fast, but used one of my idols Malcolm Pain to pace me appropriately….how cool is it that an 82 year old man with an incredible running history paced me!  Until he told me to go towards the end;) Then I ran back to the beginning of the relay alone, into big oncoming fast traffic whizzing by me, on roads not meant for runners and increasing heat.  I know I make that sound so attractive….but it really wasn’t 😂  What made it even less fun is that it took me so long to catch back up with the team that I missed so much and even some of the runners.  This will not happen again!

• Sometimes we get so caught up in what we know our bodies can do and then we find ourselves in a situation where it simply just doesn’t happen.  What many of us mere mortals don’t acknowledge, is the incredible weight of the joy and responsibilities we have in actually living our lives, being parents/caregivers, paying the bills, making a difference and quite simply being awesome human beings.  We read professional athlete biographies, listen to their podcasts, follow their Instagrams get weekly updates and while there’s so much valuable information in these, the reality is that it’s more than likely NOT our reality.  Good thing we have Coach Erin to bring us back to earth!  So when #fierceandfearless is overwhelming #findingfierce is most admirable and must be celebrated wildly.

• You just don’t really know what others are going through (mind you on our team, we do find ways to bring it out and hopefully be supportive)… so be kind.  I’m going to leave this self-explanatory wish hang out there without an explanation for obvious reasons ❤️

• An event like this simply cannot be pulled off without the amazing support of the organizers and volunteers; and community support!  To that runner who told a volunteer to F Off…. not cool.  AT ALL!!!  From organizing roster sign in (yes, it can happen to me of ALL people Nancy Holland!!), to keeping us safe (Mark Stein I could have used you and your team on my solo trip back to the start), to manning the team water stops (the teams that can manage this are truly appreciated), to preparing the feast (Riverport & District Lion’s Club) and to cheering random folks who wonder what in the heck is happening to their quiet little communities as we roar through and then they turn on the full support!  It is quite overwhelming…. Merci beaucoup !

• Oh….and I was able to check off a 2019 goal as I hit the 2019K ran this year on September 28! 💥🏃‍♀️💪✅💥

It was a busy relay day and before I knew it the weekend was over and then I was preparing to go to Ottawa on business.  The best part of the whole time away?  While I missed her at the relay, I was able to spend a bit of runtime with longtime running pal Jody along the Rideau Canal after a mid-week intervention.

Intervention?  Yes I apparently needed an intervention;). My running friends (and you know who you are…) have been hinting about and questioning lately my attitude towards running a 42.2K.  I’ve been joking that the goal actually was qualifying for TCSNYC, not running it (semantics BUT the whole trip is paid for now 🤪).

1. I’ve been struggling on my long runs. (I can’t get my brain to stop quitting on me)  
2. I’m doubting my #fierceness and whether I can #BeTheStorm for a whole 42.2K. (I’ve even caught myself negotiating a walking plan.) 
3. I’ve forgotten how my body aches in these cycles (and that’s actually what it’s supposed to be feeling like) 
4. I keep on talking about coming out of marathon retirement and yearning for the shorter distance training cycles (that’ll happen again….AFTER this marathon)

My intervention chat with Jody was one of those very kind but firm chats, pushing me to realize that my joking was bordering on self-sabotage. Her questions made me a bit uncomfortable but made me start thinking about WHY I am sabotaging myself and that if I don’t change my attitude soon, this marathon would have a whole other level of hurt and regret that I REALLY do not want!  I need to start thinking about WHAT I am looking forward to on this rather long run through the 5 boroughs in less than a month.  Fodder for another blog entry at a later date 😉 

It was a good kick-in-the-butt chat followed by a most lovely long run along the Rideau Canal and I am lucky to have such GREAT friends!

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I had a glorious pity party yesterday!  It’s been a tough week in that my expectations were more than likely exceeding reality and I was in no mood to see the rosier side of things.  I can usually find the positive in most situations and can turn most crises into lessons learned and move on.  All those years working with teenagers have primed me for that 😉 I have also from time to time been accused of being a Pollyanna with an attitude….and I’m more than OK with that.  But yesterday, I had no fight me in me.  I know stories like this do not inspire and I try to avoid them at all costs, but I’ve decided to embrace it and explore it a bit…

My hip was been whiny, my legs had yet to recover from a stellar race last weekend and my right groin was beginning to make itself known.  So Coach wisely took out my speed work and reduced my distance this week.  I also had a regularly scheduled visit to Massage & Chiropractor (self care is critical and my age !).  So with a bit of care after a test run on Friday, I felt ready to tackle a 30K steady on Saturday:)

Everything went well….until it didn’t; and it never got better after that.

I was running with Allana and Sarah who had a few intervals to do.  We were doing our best to maintain paces and not overdo things.  We were having great chats, the kinds that stay on the run and we even stopped for a harbour view selfie:). It was a gloriously beautiful day and everybody and their dogs were out and about.  I waved good bye to Allana as she finished left to finish her run and Sarah had gone on to do her intervals. So I was solo for the last 12K.

No biggie, so I put the tunes on and then bumped into many runners and stopped to have quick chats.  Had a quick chat and pep talk from Coach Erin and continued on my way.  I felt pretty OK, this was supposed to be a relaxed steady run and at that point was certain this was going to be a good run day.

As I came into the 23rd K…I started to fade.  The heat was building (What happened to that beautiful Fall weather we had last week?), my energy was tanking, my hip began hurting and my brain went into useless overdrive. I walked.  I put Redmond rules into effect (the one where I have to walk back 100m and start over every time I walk).  So I began running again.  And then I walked again…Redmond rules weren’t working.  Then I began the “suck-it-up-buttercup” self talk.  So I began running again. And then I walked again…the general was failing me.

Usually at this point I dig deeper into the tool chest…but I couldn’t.  I believe in hindsight that I was determined to have a sufferfest.  Even though I know better the “how can you ever run a marathon if you can’t run 30K” and “you’re supposed to be stronger than this” thoughts were pervasive. I even debated cutting the run short….I mean quit the run!  Definitely not my style.  At points I was talking to myself out loud and I’m sure I scared a couple of innocent bystanders.  I’m not going to go through every thought or debate as I wasn’t looking for any useful strategies to bring me through this. 

In all of this negative self talk, I had one thing that seemed to be directing me a bit more purposefully:  I wasn’t allowing myself to count one walk-step on my total distance, so I stopped the watch every time I slowed to a walk.  If I was going to show a 30K run on Strava it would have to be running-steps.  This was going to be long and painful and I was going to make myself suffer through it.

At one point I even told myself that I was looking forward to my ice bath!  I’ve NEVER said that before!

Somehow I ended the run at my door at 30K and felt nothing.  No “WTG girl, you got this done”. No “phew, that was tough”. No “glad that’s done, what’s next?” Nothing….

Once through the door, I started pouring the bath, took some amino acids & electrolytes, drank a tonne of water, stretched, grabbed the ice and sank into the tub.  Of course the run needed to be loaded into Strava and I titled it “Never Judge a Run By Strava”….definitely a double-entendre and at least I began to feel the mood lift slowly.

It wasn’t until the following day that I could really put this into perspective.  Had a most beautiful recovery run today with Sarah and Barry and even stopped for a photo up at the Bengal Lancers 😍

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I know there are plenty of reasons why this was a tough run and many of you have already shared them with me. Too often we try to package the not-so-good events and try to find ways to feel better about them.  

So here’s what I’m going to do.  I am going to embrace the suck. I feel like I failed myself on this run and I need to remember these feelings.  Suffering is heightened when I try to justify what happened or search for the reasons why.  I already know what I’m supposed to be doing.  I’m by no means an expert at it 😂 but I do know. To move forward and stop the suffering, I need to chalk this up as a truly ugly run, live with it and leave it there. The memory of this will be my lesson. 

The suck is embraced and it’s time to look forward to the next week of training.  The marathon is only 42 days away and hopefully the toe I stubbed this morning stops throbbing soon🤪

Starting this blog with an excuse as to why I didn’t meet my weekly “blog to #TCSNYC” goal: 51 hours without power due to Hurricane Dorian gave me an appreciation of how dependant on electricity I am and of how lucky we are…period.

What a difference a week makes.  It was an absolutely gorgeous Saturday run day and I’m back to a race recap with some experiences and lessons learned to put in my running toolkit.  It is hard to believe that my marathon is 48 days away and frankly it’s scary too.  I’ve been struggling a bit about this whole marathon thing as I had retired from full marathoning 3 years ago. I had settled into being very happy with working on half marathons, 10Ks and 5Ks distances and at my senior master’s age, I’ve been getting some PBs!  Totally OK with me:)  The struggle is between the part of me doesn’t want to do a marathon distance again and the bigger part of me wants to run NYC.  Therein lies my daily inner debate and that can be tiring!  

Maritime Race Weekend is a regular event in my run calendar and this year I had Coastal 10K in my sights.  I love this race weekend from the volunteering at race kit pick up to running a race.  There’s a certain buzz that is contagious and you just can’t help but feel the running community vibe.  There is a perfect balance of camaraderie and competition. Regardless of the weather (which you know can be any one of the 4 seasons in September), this event never fails to amaze me and feeds my runner soul.  The spirit of Michelle Kempton with the magical backdrop of Fisherman’s Cove is pervasive and if you’ve not run it you must!  Check it out here: https://www.maritimeraceweekend.com 

….AND on top of everything I had been given permission to wing it from Coach as I am in a marathon build and this is by no means a goal race.  Liberating !  But the Coastal 10K was only 10K race on my schedule this year and when I set my yearly goals in January I did put down a sub-50 minute 10 K.  At that time, this felt like a lofty goal for me as I’ve not gotten close to my PB of 48:59 5 years ago.  My average 10K results in the past couple of years has been around 52ish minutes (with one high 50 minute last year) and in January I had never cracked the 25 minute mark in a 5K.

With a “wing it” spirit I came up with what I “should” do to meet the goal and of course the just-in-case-there’s-a-PB-in-me plan.  I also gave myself some mini goals of not walking at the trouble spots on the route and permission to pull waaaaay back if I felt a twinge.  There is a bigger goal in mind for November 😉 Winging it was really about being pleased with effort and execution while being smart.

I lined up for the race after a pretty sucky warm up, despite having Amy for company and Coach reassuring me that not feeling good during a warmup is really OK.  (Right…not quite sure about that!) Runners and supporters around me were super chatty; my watch was ready with my 3 laps, the sun was coming up and I was a bit too relaxed.  The horn blasted and we were off.  

Lap 1 (5K):  My legs were moving smoothly and I kept on scanning the body for twinges….surprisingly nothing was whispering impending discomfort so I settled into the race plan.  I was feeling pretty good and worked hard at reigning myself in.  I did not want to blow up in the first 5K 😉 The first hill was slow but did not impact my overall pace and I finished the lap exactly where I wanted to be. Confidence began building especially for hitting the prescribed pace.  I’ve been know for my “ish” paces…and there was no “ish” about this. I nailed this one! Lesson #1 for the day:  Nothing beats being able to put a check mark next to a race plan to build confidence for the rest of the race and in this case reigning in my pace DID give me the legs & lungs required for Lap 2.

Lap 2 (3K): I was still feeling pretty good, but I knew this is where the real work happens.  It was getting difficult to keep the pace, but I was ready for the work.  I kept glancing at my watch and saw that I was close to PB territory and this was exciting me.  It did get tough and didn’t a runner stop right in front of me at the exact spot that I’ve been known to take a break…. argh! I needed something to snap me out of wanting to stop with her, so I muttered a “you got this”, passed her and desperately looked for something to distract me from this temptation.

The sun was rising at our backs and all of a sudden THE SHADOW appeared…and it wasn’t mine.  I began to realize that the shadow was running with me step for step.  When I sped up the shadow sped up, when I slowed down, the shadow slowed down.  Distraction presented itself to me so I made the decision that I was not going to let the shadow pass me.  Before I knew it my watch was buzzing me into the 3rd lap and my pace under the 50 minute goal but not quite in PB territory.  Lesson #2 for the day: You don’t need to look far to find good distractions and make them work for you….but you still have to look!

Lap 3 (2K): Then it got real.  The 9th K has tiny little bit of a hill that feels like a mountain regardless the distance your racing.  The teensy negative thoughts crept in, but the SHADOW was consistently there pushing me.  The pace slowed and the heart rate soared going up that hill and by the time I could compose myself, Fisherman’s Village was within ear shot.  I was NOT going to miss that sub 50.  The SHADOW wasn’t enough, so I conjured up Coach Erin stomping on that pain box, repeated over and over again the MRW mantra “Dig Deep” and just ran as fast as I could.  My watch buzzed for the 10K….and I wasn’t at the finish line….soooo

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Lap 4 (90m) OK normally I don’t count these little overages, but today I am for a couple of reasons.  1). I was done and somehow my legs were still moving.  I could hear the crowds and Coach.  All the motivation necessary for that last spurt. 2) I will never have a lap that is that fast again and it is now recorded in Strava ! Lesson #3: Keeping a bit in the tank for the finish is always a good thing!  Each one of my laps was faster than the previous one….and I didn’t die !

So a successful race day of a 49:34.  My fastest on this course and my fastest since my PB 5 years ago.  I have the most awesome Coach who reminded me that I was even closer to the PB than I thought due to the extra 90m, but even more, that it was a PB day after all.  I ran at a faster pace than my 5KPB pace over twice the distance!  To reward me for this accomplishment, she has made my training paces more challenging….and yes that is a reward🤪

So who’s winning that inner debate about this upcoming marathon?  Well the scales have decidedly tipped to a “woohoo”!  How can it not with a boost from the #SeniorMasterRunners-can-improve camp topped with the inspiration about the race itself in “Brittany Runs A Marathon”. If you haven’t seen it yet….it’s a must ! Click here for a little preview🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️

Pre-read warning!  This is not a Mom tribute for she is much more than what I’m about to reveal…this is just a slice of life ❤️

My Mom is special.  I know all mom’s are, but you all know that your very own is a very special kind of special.  As a mother of a senior master runner, she is of a certain age (that will not be revealed by this blogger) and she is a force of nature.  She has always been very energetic, very purposeful and very stylish.  For those that know both her and me, I have lived my whole life as “la fille à Yvonne” giving me an awesome role model to guide me and revel in.  

So when this force of nature had to have a knee replacement recently, I figured she would fly into recovery without skipping a beat.  Well you know the saying about the caregiver not being a great patient?  This is what she embraced instead!  Only my mother would think that she could bounce off that operating table, put on her heels and dance off into the sunset the next day.  OK that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the picture.  So I needed to channel all of my best lessons learned from working with teenagers and my mentors; but most of all my own experience with injuries, journeys of returning to running and my Coach Erin nuggets.  

In a totally random order, here are a couple of things I shared with my Mom when she was less than 2 weeks out of surgery woven with some running lessons.

Why am I still feeling so weak? You can’t expect to get off the surgery table and start walking.  You need to prepare your body for the healing/training you’re about to embark on.  Get that good nutrition and hydration going.  Build that base and then you can start piling on the big girl physio and training. 

Create a positive mindset. You are your own worst critic.  Make sure that you are celebrating the smallest of successes and improvements.  Don’t second-guess yourself and don’t be too hard on yourself.  Know where you are and be pleased with that.  You have enough on your plate to get better, you don’t need the added burden of the Negative Nelly!

Learn from your journal. Be honest with your physio/coach, she knows a lot and will adjust as necessary.  Even though the plan may be laid out and you complete every step, how you feel mentally and physically doesn’t show up in a check list.  My journal has a lot of anecdotes and quite often does not keep to the script or have anything to do with the task at hand, but it gives my coach insight into me and how I deal with the ups and downs of running.  This allows her to track my spirit.  All of these things are important to physio/coach as they can adjust the plan as you move forward in healing up or accomplishing that running goal. 

Shortcuts will not help. Getting every exercise accomplished, every interval done, every pace met, etc may not happen on that first try.  Sometimes you will feel like skipping it because it’s too hard.  Point is you at least need to show up to every run/session.  If you can’t get through all your exercises, that is OK…just make sure you show up EVERY TIME.  It will get better.

Create opportunities for short-term successes. It’s good to have what you want to achieve in 12 weeks, but what can you do today or this week? Look at breaking down your goals to short term achievable ones.  You may not be able to walk today without that walker or run that full marathon today.  But you need to know what limit you can push today so that you can get to that end goal eventually.  Besides, who doesn’t feel better being able to check something off the list every week. 

You know your body. You know the difference between an ache and a hurt.  You can and need to push the aches but you shouldn’t the hurts.  The physio/coach can help you push through the aches, but you’re the only one that knows when it hurts.  Be honest and let her know!

There is no turning back. Listening to my Mom made me remember the deep discomfort I felt when I had my ACL replaced and at one point questioning what I had gotten myself into.  I actually had the medical equivalent to “buyers remorse”.  It was a weirdly LOL moment and pivotal in snapping myself out of the self-pity I was feeling.  This is something close to what I feel in the first little bit of most races.  The “what have I got myself into” thought is quickly replaced with “you wanted this and you paid for this”.  Point is: there is no turning back and the only plan of action is to go forward with everything you’ve got.

It’s hard because it’s hard. It will hard, if it isn’t you’re not working at it.  I can’t count the number of times I’ve had this said to me or that I’ve said this to myself.  Every new exercise, extra interval, added kilometre and set will be more.  It supposed to be harder.  You’re supposed to be tired and out of breathe.  

I’m not sure where I saw this nugget this past week, but the timing is perfect!

Bottom line is I know that my Mom is a trooper and that she wrote the book on perseverance. My little reminders were just that : reminders and she will fly through this and have those dancing shoes on soon enough!

Can’t leave this week without a couple of special selfies from a special weekend of running!

I don’t know about you, but I find that technology can sometimes be rude.  I have a Garmin that keeps chirping at me about my training status and keeps on predicting race times that are not realistic and stating that I’m unproductive when I feel great amongst other unfounded statements.  Now I know that I shouldn’t be paying THAT much attention to a watch, but there’s always a part of me that wants to prove that piece of expensive metal and rubber wrong…. and we all know where that can lead ;). Your paces creep faster than they should and you question all the logic and good sense that you’ve painfully learned through reading, experience and great coaching.

This has been a bit of a challenging week for running with making sure I get my runs in during our trek back from Mont Tremblant and the crazy humidity.  While I’m still on a high from witnessing the amazing Ironman triathletes including our own Allana, my energy level has been a bit low and I am in week 3 of another mileage build.  I know I know better, but I even had to e-mail Coach Erin to confirm that I shouldn’t squeeze in a run that I had missed due to the weather (more than likely a sub-conscious move on my part).  She even added a warning of not adding little bits to my other runs to make up for it…..she knows me well!  #FierceAndFearless needs to be tempered with #RestIsTraining & #TrueSteadyPaces

As the week was ambling along I received the recent McMillan Running newsletter and it felt like the first article was aimed directly at me.  He quoted a couple of his mentors on how important recovery is and suggests some strategies to accelerate recovery.  ACCELERATE RECOVERY….he got my attention!  Now there was nothing earth shattering about this.  Most of these things have been mentioned to me in the past couple of weeks but sometimes it takes a little sign like this article to motivate me to action.  So based on his suggestions, this is what I did for recovery in the past 2 days.

Rest ✅ Have been getting good night’s sleep and took advantage of an extra rest day this week.

Hydration/nutrition & “slumpbuster” meal) ✅ ❌ ✅ Been hydrating very well, still need to work on my on-the-run nutrition plan and finished my long run day with the yummiest burger, fries & an Old Fashion at 2 Doors Down. 

Funny shows/News fast ✅ Ignored the news & took in the movie Good Boys today and had some great belly laughs.  Highly recommend this coming of age movie that will make every adult LOL!

Ice baths ✅ My husband took way too much pleasure in dumping ice onto me in the bath tub after my long run yesterday. I will do more of these in the coming weeks….they work!

Mobility ✅ While I would benefit from yoga, my 15 minutes of mobility & prep before my runs and my 15 minutes of stretching afterwards have been working well. 

Modulation ❌…. not ready to put the check next to this one yet….

After I read this article, I shared this with one of my tribe mates Sarah.  She was going to be with me for 20 of my 28K on Saturday.  I figured this would be a great read for us prior to our run as we both kind of have an issue with finding a steady pace.  She’s faster than me, but we’re close enough together that I can hang on to her steady paces. She even reminds me of this as we start our run.  Of course, typically we had to consistently pull ourselves back throughout the run.  She even let out a ‘tsk’ when I used one of our best excuses: “But it’s downhill!”  I knew by the 19th K that I had run too fast (it takes me awhile🤪) and by the 25th it was clear my on-the-run-nutrition plan didn’t work and while I finished my run on a high note, I knew I needed to get my steady pace under control.  I still have 9 weeks of long runs to go before the big show in New York.

So….what to do?  Had to start with my recovery run (even these have been a bit too quick….) the following day.  It was a beautiful sunny Sunday that had just that little touch of coolness that adds a spring to your step.  This could be dangerous, but I didn’t let that deter me.  I kept myself in check, I held back on the downhill, didn’t push on the uphill nad cruised to a stop at only 2 seconds too fast off my desired steady pace !  Success…..for today at least 😃

So not quite ready to ✅ the modulation yet but am happy to see there are more ✅ than ❌.  I can certainly see how recovery allows me to train harder. Safe to say that I’m still searching for steady… One of my goals is to get to #TCSNYC ….uninjured !

Any other suggestions for recovery tips for me to consider?

A little late this week on this post as I got caught up in an Ironman Triathalon experience this past weekend.  If you’ve never witnessed one of these events in person, I highly recommend it!  It was a bit serendipitous, but Barry and I had the pleasure this past weekend to witness Ironman Tremblant up close.  I’ve been running with triathlete Allana for quite a few years now and I’ve heard about these things, I’ve seen the gear she needs and I’ve heard about her preparations. OMG the preparations!  Just listening about the stuff needed to train, let alone the race, is exhausting. 

You know how different things are when you actually get to witness something you’ve heard about for years?  It is actually crazier than I had imagined !!  Allana has a Mary Poppins bag and it is amazing what came out of that bag.  Every time I turned around, more stuff appeared.  At one point, I mentioned out loud that it would be nice to have some tin foil and she pulled a full roll out of the magic bag!  Who travels with a full roll of tin foil?  Triathletes apparently…

And if you think running gear is expensive, it is nothing like Triathalon gear.  One high quality top is more expensive than what I wear from my ankles to my shoulders on race day.  Their bicycle wheels and tires are more expensive than car’s and need to be changed way more often!  And the rules…there are so many.  There are of course the safety ones, the littering ones, the be-polite ones and the no-taking-aid-from-anybody-but-official ones.  Pages and pages of them… How to keep all of that straight when you’re in race made is a special talent in itself. 

Besides our Sherpa duties for Allana, we also figured it would be good distraction on Race Day to volunteer.  Barry manned a water stop on the bike portion and I had the best gig of all in the bike to run transition area for the relays. I got to guide the transfer of the ankle chip and was thankful for my French and English skills, as both were needed.  Runners were waiting for their cyclists and this gave me lots of time to chat with them and let them know about the course they were about to run.  Most of them had not run the course before and some were first time marathoners. I had run the course the day before for my long run so was able to talk them through their race plans. The athletes are given these red bracelets to give to volunteers and I was honoured to be given a few of them….what a very cool idea!

While I learned so much and enjoyed every minute, I can safely say that I am more convinced than ever that I will NEVER do a Triathalon….of any distance.  For those in the never-say-never camp, I’m OK if I’m proven wrong as it will mean a cataclysmic event will have happened to have changed my mind. But I KNOW this is a NEVER kind of thing. Though I do wish that running gear would integrate some of the tri-gear features. Especially in running shorts (what ever happened to good compression shorts with the lovely sticky patch on the bottom) and pockets in the the back of the tops (great spot for extra gels which would come in handy for the New York City Marathon in November ;)). We can put a man on the moon, but we can’t seem to get better running gear?  

One of the vendors and sponsors of the race, Base Performance, had some really cool shirts with funny sayings that got me thinking about this week’s post. … and yes I do have their permission to post photos of their merchandise;)  Of course I needed one with meaning for me….

Life is Short….run fast!  – How could this not appeal to me! I’m a runner and I want to run faster and faster even as I get older and older…. Unfortunately this one only came in XL and apparently they won’t be making this one any more.  A bit sad, so need to continue the search. 

But did you die?   This was perfect for me…..I’ve said this to myself and to my coach many times. Especially after workouts I thought I’d never be able to complete or paces I’d be able to sustain.  You know that sinking feeling you have going into a workout because you’re warm-up was so difficult, then you just launch into the workout, somehow you complete it successfully and then you mutter:  I didn’t die!  I figured I had a winner, but my triathlete Allana was distracted by something that made her laugh hard.

That’s a horrible idea….what time?  Allana and, later, every triathlete I bumped into, LOVED this one. As in, serious laughing when they saw it.  This one didn’t resonate with me as much yet I felt with these interactions, that this was the gear to get.  As a runner of a certain age, even though I do push my limits, I tend to be cautious (ish) with my training.  At least I can say that I start with good intentions and want to follow the plan.  I usually do what I should and sometimes I overreach, but this usually occurs in the moment. Not something I plan.

One of the things I witnessed from these super athletes this weekend is that they embrace that horrible idea and figure out how to get it done. I’m not sure they know what a limit is.  What does a triathlete do to mix things up or do something new?  I can only imagine that it falls into the “WOW” category and they don’t even think twice about launching into it.  They don’t question IF they can do it, they figure out HOW they’re going to do it. 

As I question myself about this awesome yet fearful experience of another full marathon in November, I need to embrace this attitude.  Thank-you Allana and thank-you Base Performance for my weekly inspiration to not question the “if”, but to execute the “how”.

I will say NEVER to a triathalon, but to #TCSNYCMarathon: what time ?

I am lucky to have a great running tribe that is ever-evolving, flexible, supportive and very creative!  

When I first joined Love Training More, I was concerned about losing a group to run with as I was definitely a dog runner. I love running in a pack and for the longest time I was part of a running group that was pretty structured. There’s something to be said about having a group to chat with or suffer in silence with; to celebrate with or hold hearts with; or to learn, to compare notes, to laugh, to cry, to be….  But it is such a challenge to balance life, love, work and running schedules and getting to defined practice times can sometimes be impossible, so in order to have access to awesome coaches like Erin, Linda and Janet (check them out! https://lovetrainingmore.com) meant going to a personalized on-line model and having to access the cat runner in me. I would need to leave the pack, embrace more solo runs and find a different kind of a tribe. 

My biggest fear turned out to be my biggest surprise!  Turns out that an on-line tribe is more present and possibly more connected than I ever thought possible. Another very obvious thing, while we have our own tribe, all the other runner tribes our there so very interconnected. While runners can sometimes feel lonely, they are NEVER alone. 

This runner has been feeling a bit lonely lately and knows that some of her tribe have been experiencing that too.  We all seem to be on different plans, with different goals, different long run days and different paths. Some are doing triathalons, some are travelling to far-off places, some are coming back from injury, some are doubling down on goal pace, some are vacationing… But we always try to reach out and see if we can get one run, a start of a run, a warm-up to a different workout or a portion of a run in common.  Anything to connect, to touch base…it really does matter. 

So for this past Saturday, the call goes out to the tribe and it turns out that 4 of our 5 regulars (Allana is tapering for her IronWoMan next week) were in….so how to plan a 14K, 15K, 20K with intervals and 26K to get the most time together as possible?  Oh and did I mention that none of us start from the same spot?  While challenging, it was going to get done.  We would at least spend around 10 plus K together and then everything else would fall into place.  It was made clear though that for me who had the 26K, this was going to be the NO WORRIES LONG RUN.  Not worrying about pace or about time.  This was about being with my tribe, reconnecting and having a great chat. While we ended up being 3 and not 4, the run was fantastic and the tribal lessons did not disappoint….

“We’re sticking to our distances this time….this is a good thing”, Sarah tells me after she’s just rocked her intervals on rolling terrain that I convinced her would be a good thing to practice for her Valley aspirations.  We are both infamous for pushing limits, different ones maybe, but pushing nonetheless! That she was saying this out loud and replanting her route due to some creative parking lot running to finish off an interval, reminded me that I need to be careful as my weekly Ks are building to long forgotten marathon training territory. Not only that, she inadvertently made me remember that I’ve not felt solid in a run past 22K in a long time… time to stick to the plan!

“I’m determined”, Jody whispers in my ear as she’s catching up to me after she’s told us, in her under-no-certain-terms-are-you-to-argue-with-me voice that she so very rarely uses, to keep running and to NOT wait for her.  This is not something runners do, especially on a NO WORRIES LONG RUN but Sarah & I just looked at each other and knew not to argue with her so we kept on running at a moderate pace across the bridge knowing we’d stop at the other end and wait for her anyway.  Win-Win as far as I was concerned.  Then there she was, right there. I was struck by her strength and her spirit coming back from injury.  And to be more amazing, she followed that with “I know I’ve got that determination in my favour”.  She was running in her kilometre.  That was awesome.  Runners need to know where and what to dig for in the moment they need it.  I told myself not to forget this later on at the 22nd kilometre.

“Never Give Up”, a shout out to my inspirational Coach Erin.  She just smashed her 5K PB on a bridge in the middle of the night.  While she doesn’t run with us, she is the chief inspiration for our tribe.  She showed us her #FierceAndFearless mode and inserted the #IAmTheStorm 4th K.  This gave us our buzz for the run….we were motivated! She is Maritime Runner Famous : https://maritimerunner.ca/midnight-magic-on-confederation-bridge

“Are you with Love Training More?”, a random runner asks Jody and me as we are trying to figure out where Sarah is with her intervals.  We had just had some strange interactions with random walkers (it is weird what people notice when out for a Sunday walk), and this strong looking runner stops for a chat.  Turns out that Suzanne is also a LTMer with Coach Linda and recognized us from our on-line community activities.  We do the typical runner chat about distance, route, weather, training plans and in this case, how awesome Love Training More is!  The tribe became clearer.  Here was a lone runner and this flyby connected her to our tribe.  What a great reminder that runners are NEVER alone.

So today I’m celebrating my tribe.  We were able to connect on a NO WORRIES LONG RUN. I know we won’t be able to do this every weekend, but it is reassuring to know I can look forward to it happening every so often.  I love that our tribe is ever evolving and the potential to add new runners is only as far away as a message.  That is an invite folks….looking for a tribe?  Reach out.  This goes both ways:) 

Can’t leave this blog today with also celebrating a successful 26K run….thanks to my tribe.  In the first half, they provided me with the nuggets I needed to get through the second solo half. You NEVER run alone.

I had one of those moments today where running and life questions intersected and morphed together.  As I’ve dragged myself into this marathon training cycle, I’ve been trying to be more mindful of the types of running I should be doing, the paces I should be respecting and the distances I should not be overreaching.

I had the most loveliest of long runs yesterday with one of my oldest and most faithful running buddies, Jody.  As you know, what is said on the run stays on the run, but I want to share some of what we talked about without divulging the specific details.  It was a rather difficult week for those of us that work with student athletes and youth in different capacities.  We talked about the pressures and dangers our high flyers in school deal with when they leave grade 12, the challenges of high school sport, the importance of letting our children/students lead us to where they want to go….and to balance needing to stay out of their way and guide them with our experiences.  We also talked about our how scary our own adventures and opportunities even at our advanced ages can be.  The juxtaposition of our deep conversations, really made me think about how vulnerable we all are when we’re learning something new, experiencing new adventures or embarking on new career explorations.  And then to add to it Tina Muir had David Epstein as a guest on her podcast this week.  His work on youth; early specialization vs generalization; and making the obvious link to the importance of cross-training…this was a run that had a tonne of potential blog possibilities.

Then the Sunday recovery run was on deck….

What is the purpose of this run today?

This question struck me during my recovery run this morning. It was a pretty typical recovery run in that it went according to Coach’s advice that you know you’re doing it right when the first third is “ugh”, the second third is “meh” and the third third is “OK”.  Actually, those are my descriptors as Coach Erin is much more eloquent than that ;).  Early on, during the most difficult part of the recovery, I began having those doubtful training thoughts.  This is harder than it should be.  I’m coming off a down week and I had a short long run of 18K yesterday….why is this so hard.  Maybe I’m not ready to train for a marathon…AGAIN!  The thoughts were about to spiral when I thought about the purpose of a recovery run.  But it wasn’t working.  So then I went to the science Coach talked about and went deeper into the why and started to imagine my muscles getting what they needed.  This calmed me and then it struck me that I needed to slightly change the question into something more action-oriented.

It’s really about : How purposeful are you being in your run today?

Once I took control of the purpose, I felt myself go through each one of those stages of the recovery run. For me, this is one of my biggest challenges, it is time that I take all of the advice, reading and expertise that I seek and receive to bring a bit of me into this.  It’s time to be purposeful.  We all know that we can follow advice, paces, times, practice, etc. But how much do we actually act on it purposefully? 

While today is but a single action, I’m beginning to see that for me it is not enough to simply know the purpose, but to be more active in acting this purpose purposefully.  I’m still freaking out a bit (maybe a lot) that I’m actually in a FULL MARATHON training cycle.  This was not my plan 3 years ago, but here I am…NYC here I come!

Without belabouring the point…..how can this lesson not be applied to anything else in our lives ?

Saturday Workout = Sunday Recovery and a Yellow Light Workout is not the end of the world!

Why do runners have such a hard time taking a short break to recuperate from injury?  This coming from a warrior-athlete friend of mine, Kimberly, as our paths crossed at the clinic.  She was coming out of massage with orders to relearn how to walk first for 2 weeks before running again and I was going into physio, trying to avoid a panic over weird sensations in my hip.  I had been questioning during a run with Jody and Allana whether it was pain or just an ache (as if either are good news), and the decision was to just get it checked out.  Stop the guessing.

Over the past couple of weeks, I had not been able to stretch my hip flexor enough.  After some runs, it would be achy and sometimes sore and then it would disappear for a day.  I had fessed up to Coach so she reduced my runs by one and yellow-lighted my workout for the week. Physio was great and she gave me some hip flexor exercises and lasered the heck out of it for 3 days.  When my 24K came along on Saturday, it was all systems go.  By the time that run was finished, my hip was one of body parts that survived the best 🙂 Need to rework my on-the-run nutritional plan though….That’s another story!

I’ve just recently switched my long runs to Saturdays and it’s not been easy.  Being a creature of habit and a distance runner means that particular routines around food and sleep are quite often non-negotiable.  I usually feel more rested on Sunday especially a lovely pasta feed, so as a result I had convinced myself that long runs on Sunday are easier. Now that I’m in my third week of Saturday long runs, I have realized the benefit of Sunday recovery…..not just for a run, but we can now go out on a Saturday evening!  To celebrate this realization, the hubby and I spent quality time on a Saturday sunny patio sipping strawberry rhubarb ciders.  Sunday recovery runs are now multi-purpose 😂 and I can get used to that !

This week brought a couple of lessons about balance and while I did not need to take a break from running, Kimberly’s question still haunts me.  Yellow-lighting a training schedule certainly helped this week and yet there’s not enough wood around to knock on to state that all is good.  There’s still that little niggly voice at the back of my head warning me to be careful …. or else.  Or else what?  Runners are funny creatures that way.  The dreams and the possibilities of running faster, farther or better than ever before…regardless of the kind of runner you are this is a tie that binds us all.  So what do we fear from a rest break when we’re injured or even flirting with injury?  

Remember that feeling as a kid when you climbed that big tree and came to that realization you didn’t know how to get down?  You got up there, so there had to be a way down, you just couldn’t figure it out.  You probably ended up taking a deep breath and figured you just needed to trust your feet and go.  Knowing now that I lived to tell that tale and others where I found myself in knee deep in whatever situation I had put myself into, I came to realize the benefit of being knee deep.  Being knee deep doesn’t always mean you’re stuck, it also gives you a chance to stop, reflect and be in that moment. 

Simarily, ever start a run knowing it’s going to be a tough one and vowing to not give in…especially when it’s a solo long run?  I know you have!  This week’s long run was a mere 22K.  I say mere in the context that I will need to run 42.2 of these kilometres in just under 4 months and 22K already feels long.  It shouldn’t feel long as I’ve done 10 of these before, but it’s been a while and I know what I’m in for. For these kinds of special runs, I am a music gal.  I do not want to hear the debate with myself; I do not want to speculate on what’s feeling off or on; and I certainly do not want to hear my breathing or my feet!  I am just not that kind of “one with my running” and huge props to those who are ❤️.

So off I went, picking a route that was relatively shady, necessary for an early hot and steamy bluenose morning.  First 11+K were OK, I was grooving to the music and was pleased that I hadn’t melted yet.  I geared up for the 6K at Marathon Pace as prescribed by Coach Erin, with the understanding that if I didn’t quite hit the pace, I’d be OK with that.  The interval went really well except for one overwhelming thought that distracted me from my singing and it brought me to a screeching halt.  This feeling came from nowhere and caught me off guard but the interval wasn’t done.  My first thought was that I was knee deep into this so shake it off and go!

Back on track within 15 seconds and pleasantly surprised that I managed the right pace ….a bit too quick…but not way too quick.✅

Interval finished in the wide open industrial part of Marginal Road and then came that moment I realized I was knee deep into this run and there were 4+ measly kilometres left and I was going to struggle the rest of the way home.  It was uphill and very little shade and the heat was radiating from all directions.  It was going to be a run/walk home.  Not what I wanted, but it was what I was going to get.  Then a tune came into my head, I have no idea what was playing at that moment but the words of this song were shouting at me:

🎶Gonna put the world away for a minute, Pretend I don’t live in it, Sunshine gonna wash my blues away….🎶

And then….. 🎶Never been so happy, Never felt so high, And I think I might have found me my own kind of paradise🎶

Bless you Zac & Jimmy for the rescue and help to set the tone for the rest of the run 😉 In that flash of a thought I was able to stop and think about that very moment.  I was out for a long run on a challenging day and accomplishing it.  There is much to be thankful for in this training run and much to celebrate. There would be no pity party for me that day….not for one second! What songs or thoughts take you away to your own kind of paradise?

🎶…Otherwise you’ll never know until you try, When you lose yourself, You find a key to paradise!🎶