Mind, Motion & Matter

Running, Essentially . . .

Category Archives: Marathon


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Getting Things Done

I’ve already blogged about Dave Allen, guru of productivity and positioned the goal of the quest for finding more time, as finding time to run more miles. After some thought it dawned on me that in fact, it is not about finding time to run, or the time to run more miles because running is a part of my daily routine, like brushing my teeth. It is about finding the time to do all the other things I love to do.

Those “other” things don’t have the magnificent health benefits of running, which explains why they don’t fall into the “like brushing my teeth” category. For example, I love to garden and if gardening had the same health benefits of running, it would definitely give running some stiff competition for my time. That being said, I do believe  there are many mental and physical benefits to gardening but that’s a whole other discussion.

I have a voracious appetite for time management books and books on getting organized. I definitely have a bent towards systems and organization, scoring 21 out of 22 on my Meyers Briggs test on that count, referred to in the MB context as Judging (not to be confused with judgmental). Friends often laugh at me when I say, “I have a plan” . . .  so what else is new they chuckle.  This is a very clearly defined aspect of my personality and statements such as the ones below reflect this approach to the external world. I believe it makes me a good match psychologically with the demands of marathon training.

# I like to have things decided.
# I appear to be task oriented.
# I like to make lists of things to do.
# I like to get my work done before playing.
# I plan work to avoid rushing just before a deadline.

Lately, I’ve been listening to Dave Allen’s first book Getting Things Done on my IPod. Both this and his second book, Making It All Work are available on ITunes. I’ve read it before but it is definitely worth a reread.  One thing that struck me was his statement, “You can only feel good about what you are not doing when you know what it is that you are not doing.” He maintains that unless we unload all the things-to-do that are cluttering up our short term memory we cannot do the best thinking our minds are capable of.

Getting Things Done

Whatever your goals for 2011, I recommend that you consider Dave Allen in print or audio to Make It All Work!


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Winter Running Gear – Base, Middle & Outer Layers

“One must maintain a little bit of summer, even in the middle of winter.”
Henry David Thoreau

HTO The Urban Beach - Thursday, January 6, 2011

A tip to get better prepared to run in the cold is to don your running gear ten minutes or so before you head out so that warm air pockets develop between the layers of your running gear.  Those air pockets are one of the reasons why dressing in layers is the warmer way to go.  Unless you overdress, a bit of chilliness for the first 4-5 minutes is inevitable when the temperature falls below -5C.

A favourite running jacket is the Cannondale Morphis jacket I’m wearing in this photo from my morning run to the lake.  It is made of waterproof Gore-Tex and because of its limited breathability is a warmer choice than most running jackets, in the dead of winter.  It is in fact a cycling jacket.  I bought this jacket in Boston prior to the 2008 Boston marathon.  Boston was hit by a severe nor’easter in the days leading up to the marathon and there was serious and unprecedented talk of canceling the marathon.  Thus the marathon chatter was devoted exclusively to what to wear.

I was a very happy camper when I found the perfect solution to the threat of torrential rains in the form of this jacket with its removable sleeves, secured by easy-to-detach zippers and magnetic closures.  And the only size left was my my hard-to-find XS.

Cannondale Morphis Gore-Tex Cycling Jacket

On race day, the sun peeped through the clouds not long after the race start and we experienced the tiniest sprinkling of rain.  Conditions could be described as “not bad”.  I wasn’t long into the race before I removed the sleeves and tied them around my waist and felt comfortable the rest of the way.

Boston Marathon 2008, jacket sleeves tied around my waist & NB lightweight trainers

Before buying this jacket, I had never owned a running vest.  Since I already owned a few very serviceable and good looking New Balance jackets, I was relieved to get a lot of wear out of this emergency purchase afterward, the vest in particular.  The jacket features a two-way zipper, two side pockets, a back pocket and a small breast pocket.  The only drawback is the Gore-Tex material is not very flesh-friendly so it is best worn as a vest, or when the weather is cold enough for a long sleeve-shirt underneath.   I think it was $129 at the Harvard Square location of  Eastern Mountain Sports.

The other outer-layer piece is the New Balance yoga-style pants which at $59 cost much less than most yoga-specific warm-up pants.  I also find the fit more flattering than the upscale brands I’ve tried on

As for the base layer, my favourite sports bra is also by far, the cheapest sports bra I’ve seen, priced at $16.99.  It is a Champion brand item available at Target.  I also purchased mid-weight Champion tights at Target a few years ago for $17.99.

Kombi Merino Wool and Polyester Blend Base Layer

My long-sleeve base layer is a Kombi merino wool and polyester blend top of double thickness.  I think it is regularly $35 but I bought it on sale for $19.99 at a Sportchek type store.  I recently purchased a similar top for my husband at Target for $17.99 and it has become his preferred top for really cold days.

Finally, an additional upper, mid-layer piece for the coldest of days is a thermal hoodie from MEC.  The hood on this jacket is a highly functional, multi-tasking piece.  It looks good enough (without the hood on) to wear about town.  I wore this on New Years Eve with a mauve silk-like top underneath and festive scarf.   I usually wear this on plane trips as it is as comfortable as a pajama top.

Thermal Hoodie from MEC with Seriously Constructed Hood

The one thing I have not discussed is the most important of all, my shoes, the New Balance 759’s which I wore for my marathon. I love my New Balance lightweight trainers! But, that and my running shoe endorsement tale is a story for another day.

Stay warm!

New Balance 759's


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30 years of running, 20 marathons run

As I work towards deciding which marathon to run this spring, I quickly jotted down, in chronological order a list of the marathons I’ve run and my times. It is the first time I have done this and eventually I’ll add more detail to this record which at this point is a draft, more or less. In bold are the top three highlights.

  1. Toronto Marathon, October 1981 — 4:11
  2. Ottawa Marathon, May 1982 — 3:37
  3. Toronto Marathon, October 1985 — 3:15
  4. Shamrock Marathon (Virginia Beach), March 1987 — 3:07 (gave birth to son Steven on December 19th, 1987)
  5. Toronto Marathon, October 1996 — 3:30 (9 1/2 years since last marathon)
  6. Boston Marathon, April 1997 — 3:28
  7. Columbus Marathon, October 1998 — 3:14
  8. Boston Marathon, April 2000 — 3:14
  9. Columbus Marathon, October 2000 — 3:15
  10. Ottawa Marathon, May 2002 — 3:07:02 (personal best, age 46)
  11. Ottawa Marathon, May 2003 — 3:11
  12. Ottawa Marathon, May 2004 —3:10
  13. Detroit Marathon, October 2004 — 3:11
  14. Mississauga Marathon, May 2005 — 3:14
  15. Detroit Marathon, October 2005 — 3:10:09 (Ontario age-group record, 50-54)
  16. Mississauga Marathon, May 2006 — 3:12
  17. Chicago Marathon, October 2006 — 3:13 (1st in 50-54 age-category)
  18. Boston Marathon, April 2007 — 3:17:54 (3rd in 50-54 age-category)
  19. Boston Marathon, April 2008 — 3:22 (7th in 50-54 age-category)
  20. California International Marathon, December 2010 — 3:42 (1st in 55-59 age-category) (2 1/2 years since last marathon)

Ottawa marathon 1982 - Nice headband!


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Boston Marathon a bust for 2011

Perhaps the biggest marathon news of the year was the eight hours it took for registration for the 2011 Boston Marathon to close.  In one of my first posts I stated that I wanted to run in the 2011 Boston Marathon and that to qualify I would run the Sacramento marathon.  The historic Boston marathon sell-out took place on October 18th, 2010 about 6 weeks prior to the date of the California International marathon, where I had planned to qualify.  So while I did run under the qualifying time for my age group by 33 minutes in Sacramento, I missed the boat a few times over  in terms of registration.

Boston Marathon

In 2007 I placed 3rd in my age-group, 271  out of 8000 women and 3061 out of over 20,000 finishers. My goal had been to try and make it into the top five for my age group for 2011, a goal, which was probably not realistic for 2011 but with more time to prepare a possibility in 2012.

The most disappointing aspect of this development is that I had planned to use my Boston marathon goal as a way of raising funds for a sponsorship program for AIDS-HIV orphaned children in Ethiopia.  Which brings me to MY BIGGEST GOAL FOR 2011 WHICH IS TO RAISE FUNDS FOR THE ORPHAN SPONSORSHIP PROGRAM run by P2P Aid Organization Canada. Our family sponsors an 8 year old girl named Tigist and my husband and I are organizing a gala event to raise funds for this program.

Tigist, 8 years old

 

In November we attended a dinner held by P2P Canada.  A good friend, originally from Ethiopia is one of many highly committed volunteers and donors for the sponsorship program.  And, no, he does not run.  Hopefully, the challenges of the over 1,000,000 AIDS-HIV orphans in Ethiopia will be as well known as Haile Gebrselassie and the incredibly talented Ethiopian distance runners who have dominated the Boston marathon for years.

I am training for a spring marathon but have yet to decide which marathon. Entry to the London marathon in April is already closed so I will have to do some research and come up with a new goal race. Meanwhile, training continues to go well with 42.5 miles this week and a very comfortable 11 mile run with good company today. Remember that keeping fit should and can be FUN!

With our P2P friends

LOVED - FED - CLOTHED - EDUCATED


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Best of running 2010

Heading out for the first run of 2011 in a drizzle

Happy New Year all!  Here’s a repeat quote which was my very first blog post, along with my top ten list of running-related bests  for 2010 in chronological order.

Take care of your body with steadfast fidelity. The soul must see through these eyes alone, and if they are dim, the whole world is clouded. Goethe

    Hard packed sand at Cox Bay, Tofino, ideal for beach running

  1. Running with my husband on January 1st, 2010 and whenever his knee allows
  2. Saturday runs with the smart guys
  3. Running up sand dunes in Death Valley, California
  4. Racing 4 miles in Central Park, NYC
  5. Eight days of beach runs in Tofino, B.C.
  6. Discovering the joys of running with a camera
  7. Killer, chest pounding 40 X 200 metre interval workout at Varsity Stadium
  8. Discovering audio books as a pleasant alternative to music while on the run
  9. 8 mile tempo and interval runs home from work, with the fast sections run on the downhills
  10. Finishing my 20th marathon, the California International Marathon in Sacramento

Sand dunes near Furnace Creek, Death Valley CA

Barefoot and running


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Marathon recovery weeks & weight training

After the marathon on December 5th, I took five days off with 6 miles on the following Saturday and a couple of miles on the Sunday.  The next week I very comfortably ran 36 miles and today, completed a 40.5 mile week.  Feels like business as usual and I look forward to running at least 45 miles over the next seven days.

Tomorrow, I’ll start my off-season weight training routine beginning with the muscular adaptation phase of very easy upper and lower body weights in sets of 2 X 20-30 repetitions.  The starting point is about 40-50% of the maximum weight lifted during the maximum strength phase.  I would have started a couple of weeks ago however the weight room at the YMCA has been under renovation and is set to open tomorrow.

My favourite part of weight training is doing squats on the Smith Machine. Here is a good YouTube “how to” on how to use this piece of equipment. The best thing to do when you start up is to use no weight at all, just the bar, in order to get used to how the machine works and the proper motion. Done properly, squats should not hurt your back. My maximum lift when doing 3 X 4-5 reps is 135 pounds which is close to 130% of my body weight. This is about what is recommended for open-age women. I’ll have to double-check my reference book, Triathlete’s Training Bible by Joe Friel to see what the percentage is for men.

The order of lifts should go from the larger muscles to smaller. This is simple to figure out as the more weight you can lift, the larger the muscle.

I figure I’ll be lifting weights for the rest of my life as like running, I’ve grown used to the well-being that comes with sticking to this regime. Highly recommended!


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Dylan Wykes upset winner of the California International Marathon

Congratulations Dylan Wykes!

Leading from start to finish, Dylan Wykes carried the day and is in good position to make the 2012 Olympic team. CLICK HERE for local coverage of the CIM. “On the women’s side, defending champion Buzunesh Deba, 23, of Ethiopia won easily in 2:32:13. She finished 5 minutes 20 seconds ahead of runner-up Erin Moeller, 33, of Mt. Vernon, Iowa.”

As for my race, I was surprised to find my name mentioned in the context of a report on “seasoned athletes” at the CIM. CLICK HERE TO VIEW It was not an expression I had ever heard to describe masters athletes so I had a bit of a chuckle.

Dylan Wykes a Canadian, winner of the CIM in 2:12:39, 150 yards from the finish line

I was a co-presenter with Dylan Wyke’s mentor-coach, Steve Boyd at the Ottawa Marathon race expo in 2005. Steve holds umpteen Canadian masters records and also has a doctorate, I think it is in the history of political thought from Queen’s University. Our presentation was about training as a masters runner. Shortly after that I wrote an article on Steve Boyd which is somewhere on the hard drive of an old computer. I hope to retrieve this one day (so many things to do, so little time) and post it on my blog.  Below are three photos from the California International Marathon awards ceremony.

Defending champion Buzunesh Deba of Ethiopia accepts her award.

A happy but tired Dylan Wykes at awards ceremony.

Out of focus but happy, "seasoned athlete".

 


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The final mile, a state of grace

By the time you get to mile 23 the prospect of the final .2 miles of the 26.2 mile marathon distance seems magnified.  Why 26.2 and not an even 26 miles?

It is helpful therefore when the race course has a one-mile-to-go sign at the 25.2 mile mark, as on this course.  During that final mile I think of myself as running a mile on known terrain such as two laps of Winston Churchill Park or the final mile of various routes out and back from my home to make the remaining distance seem less onerous.

The day before the marathon, a trip to the finish line to visualize race finish

I began to push harder on the homestretch and there were a lot of people along the course to cheer us on.  As familiar as I am with the event when I am a spectator I feel a world away from connecting with the unique mind-body experience of running a marathon and feel at a loss for an appropriate cheer.

There are a couple of mantras that I repeat to myself, “rhythm, relax, focus” and the other which I feel a bit embarrassed about revealing, “strong as a bull, smooth as silk”.   I particularly remember repeating this last one in the 2007 Boston marathon when I placed 3rd in my age-category.

I once read that the difference between your average fitness runner and those running for optimal performance is that the first group disassociates while racing and the second group does the complete opposite.  My experience has been that two elements that have made a difference for me are; belief in the remarkable capacity of the human body and the ability to experience your body in the moment and react accordingly for the task at hand.

For me a part of achieving this balance and fluid mental state involves what you could call prayer.  I recognize that while there are factors under my control that allow me to run and race, there is so much that is out of my control and that is a gift so I give thanks for this state of grace. So, part of being in the moment is a mind-track, if you will of bits of traditional prayer as well as the self-composed.

With around 700 meters to go, my husband spotted me but too late to get a photo.  He was trying to pick out the red singlet that I been wearing in the morning and I had stripped down to my base layer.  He shouted encouragement in very emotional and endearing terms and I increased my pace through to the finish, my 20th marathon completed, the 25th anniversary of our first date celebrated —  in the final mile.  I crossed the finish line and felt a surge of emotion —  as joy, fulfillment, satisfaction and relief converged. 

Hallelujah!

There’s a blaze of light
In every word
It doesn’t matter which you heard
The holy or the broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Leonard Cohen

Finishing my 20th marathon in 3:42 at age 55

A few minutes after the finish with finisher's medal, teary-eyed, elated and exhausted

 



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Mile 13.1 to 25.2 miles

It occurs to me that like doing “minutes” writing about a race experience is a lot easier when done right away.

My state of mind at the halfway point was very good. I tried to focus on each mile and I felt hopeful that I might be able to go under 3:40 which was my dream goal. I found myself looking forward to hitting the 20 mile point and proving to myself that I would NOT hit the proverbial wall.  I wish I could give a blow by blow account of my splits but my inability to read the fine print on tattooed on my wrists created a bit of confusion.  In spite of running well within my heart rate comfort zone for the first half of the race, my pace slowed through the race.

Before the 20 mile mark I realized that the race bib pinned to my shorts was a bit askew.  I was worried that this might result in no race photos as they used the bib number as the identifier.  So, for the second time I had to undo the four safety pins and attach the race bib to my sports bra.

My average pace for the first 5.9 miles was 8:08 and I slowed to 8:16 between 5.9 and 13.1 miles.  From 13.1 to 20 miles my pace was 8:23  and then the most dramatic slowdown was between mile 20 to the finish where my pace averaged 8:55.  It didn’t feel like I had slowed that much because I passed 277 runners and was only passed by two runners between mile 20 to the finish. One of the two runners that passed me was a guy who was pacing a young woman, the other runner that passed me.

So at some point after 20 miles I realized that I was not going to go under 3:40. I worried that I might not go under 3:45 but although I was getting slower, I pushed harder. My heartrate monitor had gone on the blink around mile 20.

Around mile 22 I passed a woman with grey hair who I thought might be in my category and indeed that was the case. She ended up finishing a couple of minutes behind me. I dye my hair so it might not be so easy for another 55-59er to spot me from the rear.   The fact that unlike the open men or women, age-groupers can’t tell who their competition is fairly odd. In triathlons, age-groupers have their age-group written on their legs.

Around mile 24 I passed by a water station where every single marathoner was walking. It was in fact, a little hard to get through that section. I find it surprising that so many people, slowed more than I did. I guess I’m used to running with a faster, more experienced crowd and relative to my time, I have far more experience with the distance, than the 3:40+ marathoners I was running with.

I wish I could have something dramatic or funny to say about the race, like the author of What I Talk About When I Talk About Running who found himself counting the dead cats and dogs when he ran the original marathon route in Greece. I suppose the lack of drama in my account is partly to do with this being a “getting-back-in-the-game” effort rather than a full out race. Nonetheless the final mile is always something special but I’ll save that for the final installment.

Thanks for your interest!


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Holiday intermission from the marathon story

A pitfall of running a marathon so late in the fall is that I’m playing a bit of catch-up with the holiday spirit.  Those cookies I promised to blog about have yet to materialize.  There is not a trace of Christmas decoration about.   Much of that, I hope will happen today and tomorrow.

The evening of the marathon, we had a very slow and rainy drive from Sacramento to San Francisco.  The rain stopped shortly after we arrived and we walked the two blocks from our hotel, The Larkspur (formerly the Cartwright) to Union Square to take in the holiday decorations.

Union Square's trademark palms

Union Square, Macy's quintessential holiday windows

The following Sunday we were back in Toronto and spent the afternoon at the theatre with 3 nieces and 2 nephews. All enjoyed A Year With Frog and Toad at the Lorraine Kimsa Young People’s Theatre. Frog was played most charmingly, by Louise Pitre.

Party of seven