I’m running a bath having just returned from an evening track workout at U of T. I thought about missing a post today but then decided that I’ll do a short post until the bathtub is full. The workout went well, 4 times 1000 meters at a fairly hard pace, with 3 x 60 meters before the longer sections and 6 x 60 meters afterward. The circuit training was not nearly as grueling as the other week. No hopping upstairs on one leg. This coach was subbing for the more demanding task master.
And in gala news, we are down to the last 20 tickets. I mentioned the event to one of my teammates and she was interested. She does a lot of work in Africa as a feminist lawyer, specializing in girls and women’s rights. She is also a Canadian age-group record holder at various track distances and can do 2 sets of 25 push-ups, no problemo. What a woman! Now if she decides to buy a gala ticket, she will be perfect in my eyes 🙂
Kudos and congratulations to all those who took part in this historic road race today. It is the Ontario road runner’s equivalent of a season-opener.
While out on Friday we ran into an acquaintance who asked if I was running on Sunday. I drew a blank. It was only on Saturday morning that it struck me that this was the weekend of one of Canada’s foremost long-distance races, the Around the Bay 30K in Hamilton. How could I forget?! Many of those who have been training diligently through the winter have been driven by the goal of racing this 30K.
Last year a record I had established in 2006 was broken. A new course (and Canadian) record for 30K of 2:07 was set by Jennifer Ditchfield. My goal when I set the record was to run under 2 hours and 10 minutes. I was disappointed to run 2:12 and that did not feel easy.
Around the Bay on a warmer day.
My friend Michal Kapral, a.k.a. the joggler jumped in around 25K and ran with me for awhile. I told him that I was fading and wondered out loud whether any masters women were closing in on me. He immediately started running backwards and let me know that I was in danger of being picked off. That is when I learned that sometimes it is better not to know. Ignorance is more blissful than having a set of eyes in the back of one’s head. The rival masters runner did pass me and it felt worse knowing that this was a possibility so far in advance.
Michal at one time was considering trying to set a Guiness record for the backwards marathon. He holds or held, the record for a marathon pushing a baby jogger and for running an entire marathon while juggling three balls. He has also won the Toronto marathon in a time of 2:31.
With my plan to run Boston next year, it is doubtful that I can do the 30K as it is my view that many a runner has left their Boston best, down by the bay. It is a challenging 30K route that when raced to the full, is not far off the effort of running a marathon. With 3-4 weeks separating it from Boston, there is not much time to recover to put your best foot forward at Boston. This has been the subject of ongoing debate among long distance racers and their coaches over the past century.
Included on this list is the Great Ethiopian Run, Africa’s biggest road race. Here is what they say.
For atmosphere, energy and even anarchy, the Great Ethiopian Run simply can’t be surpassed. In a country where running is the national craze, this mass-participation 10K is a colourful, lively and sometimes chaotic race but also a tough challenge thanks to a handful of climbs and the altitude in the capital Addis Ababa. More than 30,000 runners line up at the start each year and if you join them you’ll be one of the few foreigners enjoying this amazing cultural experience.
Great Ethiopian Run
Earlier this week I mentioned that Chung-Yee and are thinking about doing this race in 2012. The elevation is not the 2500 feet I mentioned but 2500 metres!
Last night my husband and I went to a performance of the Ethio Fidel Jazz Band who will be playing at the People4kids gala. They had a guest vocalist, Fantahun Mekonnen who along with the renowned Girma Woldemichael on saxophone just blew everyone away. Mekonnen also played the krar a traditional instrument.
Krar, Traditional Ethiopian Lyre
I’ve been a bit lax lately about tracking my training miles but I’ve been fastidious in updating my ticket tracking spreadsheet. As Gala chair I challenged the committee to try and sell out by Sunday, April 3rd. We have 28 tickets left, if you would like to buy a ticket, donate a silent auction item contact me at people4kids@bell.net — This is going to be a very special evening in support of an excellent cost-effective sponsorship program that enables *some* of the over 1 million AIDS orphans in Ethiopia to go to school.
I took today off from running, my second day off this year, as I had done back to back hard days, Thursday and Friday.
The prolonged wintry weather has made getting out for my daily run a day-to-day struggle. Once I decided to defer my marathon plans to the fall, I’ve found myself delaying my run and procrastinating daily. As I’ve mentioned earlier, part of this is the focus on the gala. The other factor is that I love my new job, which means I’ve got two intensely great things happening and running, well it is in third place for the moment.
Plans for the usual Saturday run got thrown off-kilter as I have to work tomorrow morning. This threw me into a bit of panic, relying as I do on meeting the guys most Saturdays for the longer run. BUT a plan emerged, a second-wind of motivation jettisoned me to work earlier than ever, with the intention of leaving early (love those flexible hours) to do an afternoon long run. This full scope of this plan was dependent on whether my legs were fresh enough from yesterdays workout to run at least 10 miles.
Running from work involves taking as few things as possible to work and having outerwear that you won’t need the next day or two. As my shoes are at work, I wear my runners to get there and today wore my running jacket under a down vest. I take only the essentials, bank card, credit card, money, keys, camera & BlackBerry.
The only drawback to this plan was that I would miss lunch. Everyday a volunteer or staff person cooks lunch for everyone and today’s lunch, homemade pizza, looked very appetizing. But, leave I did, and I ran down to the lake and then ran east along the Harbourfront promenade where a helpful dog walker offered to take this photo of me by the Empire Sandy.
Empire Sandy has weathered the winter.
Uplifted by the brilliantly blue sky and the wind on my left shoulder, I ran on. My legs felt okay and I found myself seizing on the idea of taking a photo of Cherry beach as if I did that, I’d be getting in 12 miles. This photo assignment took me through the really gritty parts of the Martin Goodman Trail with scenes befitting the Rust Belt or the HBO series, The Wire. I got my photo and thankfully the wind was not too bad going west.
Down by the Docks
I ended my run at Starbuck’s and a little chit chat with the two baristas, both of whom run. Ah, triple-venti-whole milk-vanilla-latte and a cinnamon bun . . . satisfaction plus.
Cherry Beach has got me on the run.
CLICK HERE to see what the Urban Dictionary has to say about the meaning of mojo.
I was off work today and from waking spent most of the morning and early-afternoon working on the gala and found it hard to tear myself away. I had gala related meetings at 11 a.m. and then 6 p.m. and ended up leaving my run to the mid-afternoon. Due to the 6 p.m. meeting I was unable to attend the U of T track workout. So I did short, very fast sections on the treadmill at up to the 10.1 setting. After that I did some of the circuit training including the hopping upstairs from same leg to same leg. That got my heart beating faster than the short sprints.
The committee member I met with in the evening works 7 evenings a week, 5 days a week, has been taking courses and had started a business as an event planner. She has offered to help with the decor for our event. Wow!
A busy woman
We met at C-5 to discuss the floor plan and add a bit of colour to the black and ivory colour scheme. I enjoyed finding out more about my friend and her ambitions and amazing work ethic. She came to Canada via France and has only been here a couple of years. We enjoyed exotic non-alcoholic beverages, fries with blueberry ketchup and mango and coconut ice cream, coffee and tea. It was a quiet night, ideal for getting to know someone better.
Fries with Blueberry Ketchup
At my earlier meeting I also found out more about another committee member who has just finished writing a first draft of a novel which chronicles the political upheaval and turmoil that began in Ethiopia in the late 70’s. This woman, I discovered spent over eight years in an Ethiopian prison.
The more I find out about the orphan sponsorship program the gala is supporting and the country itself, the more I’m beginning to feel that a trip to Africa may occur in the next couple of year. I have already mentioned the Great Ethiopian Run which is a 10K, I did however forget to mention that it is at an altitude of 2500 feet. That could be really challenging. I think Chung-Yee and I are serious about this.
One of the things I love about being a volunteer is that you meet great people who like to get involved. Hat’s off to the committee! This fundraising adventure is raising friends too.
Age-graded tables use a number of variables to compare performances at different ages in track and road running events. These age-graded tables quantify the typical decline in athletic performance as we age as well as the improvement that comes as a young athlete reaches their prime. The World Association of Veteran Athletes (WAVA), the world governing body for masters (veterans) track and long distance running athletes are responsible for the development of these tables as well as ongoing updates.
Masters athletes thrive on the interesting comparisons to open-age athletes made possible by these tables. The tables were updated in 2006 and recently adopted, and to my delight I discovered that the 3:10:02 marathon I ran at age 50 to set an Ontario 50-54 record has been upgraded considerably. According to the 1994 tables my time was equivalent to a 2:50:05 marathon but in the past year I had a look and my time is now thought to be the equivalent to a 2:40:00 marathon. Gee, if I had run one second faster, I would have (virtually) broken the 2:40 barrier.
I’m not sure why they changed the tables but suffice to say that as a 2:50 equivalent I expected that it would not take long for this record to be broken. As far as I know, the record still stands so it seems the table-makers have grounds for their changes. I should mention that I have no aspirations to try and break the Ontario 55-59 record as that mark is an outstanding 3:11:56 run by Paula Hickman of Ottawa which is also the Canadian record. That time is equivalent to a 2:30 marathon and not far off Sylvia Ruegger’s 2:28:36the Canadian open record that has stood for 36 years. CLICK HERE to read an article about speedster Paula Hickman who is planning to go for it when she turns 60.
Paul Hickman setting a stellar Canadian age-group marathon record. (Photo from Digital Journal)
Regarding the discovery of my lowered age-graded equivalent, who knew that you could improve your marathon time without taking a single step.
To celebrate the part-Irishness of my husband and son, I did wear green today. I find that people who don’t know me are a bit surprised to discover that my son is part Irish. As a tribute to this Irishness, I seek out shamrock shaped dishes and collect shamrock tea cups although not Beleek tea cups as they cost far more than I want to pay. We visited the Beleek factory when we visited Ireland and came away empty handed as the Canadian dollar did not buy much.
I joined the U of T workout today and attendance was about one-third of last week. Could it be the lure of a good old Irish pub and a tankard of Guiness? Well none for me today, or tomorrow but I will republish a favourite photo taken at the Guiness factory.
As for the run I was pleased to do 10 X 200 metres in 42-46 seconds per lap. We did some amazingly hard stair exercises of hopping from step to step on the same leg! Give that a try and see what you think. It didn’t help that the stairs were concrete. I’m gonna get faster but it will take time.
It has been a troubling week for the world so instead of the “may the wind be at your back” poem I’ll conclude with this provocative Yeats offering.
The Second Coming
by W. B. Yeats
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
I haven’t felt really perky this last week following my speed workout at U of T. And in the last leg of my 14.5 miles on Saturday I stumbled while running down Christie street and pitched forward completely sliding on my hands along the sidewalk. I was able to pick myself up and continue running but I had a bit of stiffness afterwards from the jolt. Then yesterday I did a bit of gardening which I find very hard on the lower back so this morning I was feeling quite stiff. When I hit the cold morning air, I decided to head straight for the treadmill at the YMCA where I did a very slow five miler.
My thoughts are coming together on the marathon I’m supposed to be training for. I’ve been doing a lot of research but have been unable to come up with a stand-in for Boston. I considered the London marathon but that sold out ages ago. I’m pumped for Boston 2012, and New York 2011 so I’m on the verge of deciding that I’ll start my training for the fall NOW and skip the spring marathon. The next 7 weeks are going to be crazy with gala work, so I won’t be in great shape this spring anyhow so fall marathon here I come.
A part of the decision to skip a spring marathon will be committing to regular speedwork with the Masters group at U of T. For the first time in my life, I’m finding it hard to increase my mileage and increase the quality of my workouts in tandem. With the longer build-up I can take my time to get some speed back and then start building my mileage. So there you have it, my short-term goal. The medium term goal will be to run some shorter distance races once I get a bit of speed back. If things go well, maybe I’ll even do some outdoor track.
I attended a birthday celebration for Ed Whitlock held this afternoon.
Ed is most proud of the 2:54 marathon her ran at age 73. His all-time personal record (PR) is 2:31:23 run at the relatively youthful age of 48. While in the 75-79 age group he has run a 3:04:54 marathon and a 39:25 10K. He is still the only 70 year old to have run under 3 hours for a marathon.
All were encouraged to share Ed anecdotes. I told the story about the pre-marathon lunch with Ed that I had blogged about earlier this week.
Ed's Birthday Bash
Yesterday I had a free cupcake at Starbuck’s to celebrate its 40th Anniversary. Today, I felt I could not say no to a piece of Ed’s 80th birthday cake. We went to a Scottish pub for dinner and my husband insisted that since he had given up alcohol for Lent I should use up my one night of the week for a drink and order a drink given the pub ambience. I’m going to have to rethink my lenten sacrifices as I don’t think I’m off to a good start here.
Earlier in the day I ran 14.5 miles but in spite of the good conditions never felt great on the run although I did feel good about the run afterward. Good things happening in the Gala department. My sister and her family are going to be Family-Patron Sponsors and Franklin Templeton is going to buy ten tickets and the Royal York is donating a certificate for a one-night stay to the Silent Auction. WooHoo!
Yesterday was my first day off from running in 2011, which is a step towards getting faster. Today, I ran just over two miles and this short run confirmed that taking yesterday off was a wise move. My ligaments and muscles are definitely feeling the after-effects of the much-harder-than-usual workout with the U of T Masters group. The day of rest, and the very easy day will ensure that my body will come back stronger, rather than accumulate stress and break down.
So the blogging versus running count for 2011 now stands at:
Blogging = 64 days (65 posts) Running = 67 days (67 runs)
And this day off came just in time to avoid (ever so slightly) comparisons with the overworked rats with heart troubles mentioned in an article in today’s New York Times called . . .
When Exercise is Too Much of a Good Thing.
Recently, researchers in Britain set out to study the heart health of a group of dauntingly fit older athletes. Uninterested in sluggards, the scientists recruited only men who had been part of a British national or Olympic team in distance running or rowing, as well as members of the extremely selective 100 Marathon club, which admits runners who, as you might have guessed, have completed at least a hundred marathons.
All of the men had trained and competed throughout their adult lives and continued to work out strenuously. Twelve were age 50 or older, with the oldest age 67; another 17 were relative striplings, ages 26 to 40. The scientists also gathered a group of 20 healthy men over 50, none of them endurance athletes, for comparison. The different groups underwent a new type of magnetic resonance imaging of their hearts that identifies very early signs of fibrosis, or scarring, within the heart muscle. Fibrosis, if it becomes severe, can lead to stiffening or thickening of portions of the heart, which can contribute to irregular heart function and, eventually, heart failure.
The study was supposed to mimic marathon training as “. . . scientists prodded young, healthy male rats to run at an intense pace, day after day, for three months, which is the equivalent of about 10 years in human terms.” I have questions, serious questions. Were the rats given easy days? Did they wear heart rate monitors and were they able to vary their pace from very easy to very hard with interval breaks between the hardest run sections? Did they have sedentary time in front of computers, at work and at play? Were they encouraged to stretch? To me the training sounds more like a ten year tempo run. The study is published in the journal, Circulation.
My husband had questions as well. The one-hundred-marathon group is self-selected. How many of the rats were truly talented distance-running rats? Did they hold rat time trials to select their subjects? If you are naturally a sprinter will it be damaging to your heart to try distance running?
Due to the short supply of female marathoners available for an equivalent longitudinal study, I’m waiting for science to call.
Mind, Motion & Matter 