Mind, Motion & Matter

Running, Essentially . . .

Tag Archives: Marathon


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For those who run every day, this is moderation

As planned, I got in 45 miles this week.  I was also more conscious of eating moderately as opposed to eating as much and whatever I want.  One example is a variation on the usual breakfast I order when my father-in-law takes us out to his favourite breakfast spot. Normally, I relish one of Ricky’s famous big breakfasts, the Perogy and Egg Platter which includes; 3 eggs, 7 perogies with grilled onions, your choice of bavarian, chorizo or calabrese sausage and toast.

To moderate this indulgence I convinced my husband to share this big breakfast with me along with a waffle breakfast.  I call it the breakfast buffet. In case you were wondering, we split the 7th perogy in half.

Big breakfast

Big breakfast, split two ways

Waffles, breakfast dessert

Waffles, breakfast dessert for two

Today I’m baking a pie for my father-in-law.  I love the way he hints that it would be nice if I baked a pie. Actually, the beauty of it is that he says, “Are you going to bake a pie?” and then laughs and says he is just kidding me.  I can’t really tell if he is teasing me or hinting but I always commit  to baking a pie, in this case a lemon meringue pie.  I am quite vain about my pie making prowess so it doesn’t take much to get me going.  This is the third pie I’ve baked in the past month.

I have an internal rating system for each effort.  I baked a blueberry pie for a BBQ for workmates which was a disappointing *C*, about the lowest score I have given myself. Of course, I don’t mention the rating system to the eaters as I know any home baking is usually appreciated and most often better than anything store bought. I’m trying to get over making excuses and being too hard on myself for what I cook or bake for others.  As for the moderation, I never say no to my own baking, after all the joy of running is connected to the joy of baking but I will stick to one serving.

I baked a lemon meringue pie for a departing work colleague which turned out very well, an *A* effort.  What made it fall short of an A+?  That would be the aesthetics.  It looked fine and the crust was nicely browned but the edging was very basic with no fancy leaf patterns or other embellishments I sometimes create.

My father-in-law has good reason to remember me for my pies.  For my in-laws 50th Anniversary I baked nine pies in one day.  We had a very big crowd at a brother-in-law’s cottage which was one part of an all-weekend celebration.  I was very touched by my father-in-law’s public appreciation of my efforts which was really the least I could do.  I baked apple pie, blueberry pie, peach pie and rhubarb-raspberry pie.  Other pies in my repertoire include my famous sweet potato pie flavoured with maple syrup and pecan pie drizzled with chocolate.  Pies I aspire to make are banana cream pie, coconut cream pie and cherry pie.

Lemon meringue pie

Today's lemon meringue pie gets a B+

With increased mileage, I find myself looking forward to baking a little more.  Bring on the pies . . . I mean miles.


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New York City Marathon, A Shot of Adrenalin

Yesterday I enjoyed a longish, leisurely 14.5 mile run on a favourite route. I don’t often run it however as the group I usually connect are oriented to a different part of the city. All the photos from my run were taken with my Blackberry.

Palace Pier bridge

Humber river bridge near Palace Pier

Running west along the lakeshore, past the Boulevard Club, Marilyn Bell Park, the Argonaut Rowing Club and along the Sunnyside beach boardwalk over the Palace Pier bridge and through what I refer to as the Humber river spit.

My favourite view of Lake Ontario

Favourite view of Lake Ontario

When I get to this spit, I go clockwise once and then counter clockwise for a scenic two-mile section.  On the southern shore there comes a point at which you cannot see a single building.  I love that!

Favourite view of Toronto skyline

Favourite view of Toronto skyline

Regular enjoyment of the most scenic parts of urban Toronto is one of the pleasures of running.  All the better when done in the early morning. The final five miles loop back through the Humber River butterfly garden and through the southeast corner of High Park.  It always feels much easier than any route that goes north as it is fairly flat.

Humber river

View at my Humber spit turnaround point

While crossing the Humber River bridge at Palace Pier the image of marathoners crossing the Verrazano bridge during the NYC marathon flashed through my mind.  I felt a surge of adrenalin.  Yes, I am training for the NYC marathon.

Later in the day I received an email from the NYC marathon telling me that the deadline for choosing transportation to the start line is July31st.  Yikes . . . such is the way when you run the mother of mega-city-marathons and I’m already too late for the bus option which loads a block away from my hotel.  So I chose to travel to the start on the 6:15 a.m. Staten Island ferry, followed by a bus to the start. Marathon morning anxiety begins to kick in and I ask myself, though I feel confident I know the answer, is this marathon worth the logistical hassles?

For past marathons and Around the Bay 30K I have printed out tiled route maps as part of my visualization process.  I think its time to print out the large map of the NYC course to be hung in a prominent location. Yesterday I jotted down a 17 week training plan.  The peak training weeks will be the last week of September and the first week of October.  If all goes well, I hope to hit 80 miles or more for those weeks.

A few years ago I would have aspired to place in the top three for my age category of 55-59 however, I’ve had a hard time keeping focused on intensifying my training lately and I think my goal will be to better my 3:42 time at the Sacramento Marathon.  This time was run on a net downhill course and New York is not a fast course so, that in itself will be a challenge.

But I’m feeling fitter with consistent mileage since our vacation and last week I started weight training again, and it feels fantastic.  I’ve done upper body weights for most of the past 30 years and lower body weights for the past decade. My recent lapse of a couple of months from this routine was unusual.  Partly to blame was a vague plan of replacing some of the weight work with plyometrics and circuit training, a plan which never took shape.

I’ve done four sessions of the anatomical adaptation phase for weight training as described in my post:  Weight Training, Love It or Lose It and I’m looking forward to the maximum strength phase when I get to bulk up a bit.  The goal of the lower body weight training is to maximize the the musculoskeletal system in preparation for the heavy mileage that will come later on.  While I won’t be trying to log the 100 mile weeks I once did, the time has come come to run, run, run as much as I can!


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Ed Whitlock’s Advice: “Run as much as you can!”

Recently, I was reminded of the virtues of simplicity while weight training at the local gym.  A group of women and one man were involved in what appeared to be resistance training on a small 15- laps-to-the-mile track that circles the weight training area.  Some were hunched forward pushing 25 pound circular barbell weights, made slide-able  by a towel underneath in an inverted “V” posture that seemed to lend itself to back strain.  Another participant was pulling a couple of these same weights  with a makeshift rope and belt combination attached to her waist.  My impression was that this complicated endeavor had something to do with improving leg strength.

Toddler running

My three year old niece in the 20 meter dash for toddlers

While trying to figure out what they might be trying to accomplish, Ed Whitlock’s deceptively simple words popped into my head. “Run as much as you can!” is was what he told me when I asked him for advice. And then another thought, variety for its own sake, is the mother of ridiculous inventions.  One place where odd physical challenges are at home is the community picnic, summer camp or team building activities.  During this busy summer we’ve had our share of those, along with the hilarity and laughter while taking part.

At the Toronto Japanese Community Picnic, despite my protests, I found myself in a three-legged race with a brother whose strategy was to go out hard and if we get in a groove well great and if not . . .  Well, you get violently pulled to the ground by your out-of-synch bound legs, experience near concussion and scrape your face as I did and still come up laughing.  Of course this was recorded by numerous family members on video, footage I’ve yet to see.

Japanese getta race

A traditional competitve event at the picnic

My husband and I were the winners of the egg-on-your face award during the egg toss competition.  Couples toss an egg back and forth, at increasing distance until disqualified by a broken egg or a grassy landing.  My husband got egged by the splatter from the couple next to him and I got splattered by his inaccurate toss, causing great laughter. I have fond memories of summer picnics and park track and field days as they were the scene of my earliest running victories.  My memory is that my skinny  self never went down to defeat in the short dashes we took part in as kids.

My husband and I were at a camp in the Muskokas this weekend and took part in various team challenges which included a relay race where you had to spin around five times at the turnaround point, causing utter disorientation on the homestretch, a tug-of-war and wild multi-age soccer and volleyball games.  My two camp mornings started with a multi-age run, as all were invited to join me on my laps of the dirt track surrounding the playing field.  I ran 5 miles the first morning and 6 miles the next morning with companions dropping in and out.  The first part of my run involved going round to each cabin and bunkhouse to do wake-up calls at 7:15 a.m.  Never did my morning run feel quite so useful.

Tug-o-War

Our team wins the tug-o-war

The other team

But going back to Ed’s advice, he’s telling us to RUN not cross-train or push weights around on a track but run.  His regime of 2-3 hours a day of running gives testimony to the amazing capacity of the aerobic system to improve à la Arthur Lydiard.  If injuries limit how much you can run, that is the time to look for strength and flexibility training to increase your capacity to run.  In addition, “as much as YOU can” points to the wisdom of Matt Fitzgerald, author of Mind, Body, Running who advises that to improve as a runner the role of all the other stuff should be to strengthen your vulnerable spots, those the keep you from running “as much as you can”.

Apart from taking up an inordinate amount of space on a track meant for running or walking, the complicated weight pulling and pushing activity seems wildly off the mark in anyone’s total fitness package.  Grandmaster Ed’s advice points us all in the direction of better running but also vitality and quality of life. Advice well demonstrated by the natural instincts of toddlers as they enjoy their first years on their feet.


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Running in the Seventies – Some Differences

Writing about my husband’s past running accomplishments in my last blog reminded me of some of the changes that have occurred over those years.

Looking smug at the start of Ottawa Marathon,1982

  1. Conventional advice for winter running was to wear woolen socks to keep hands warm. Who knew that you might dedicate a pair of regular mitts or gloves to exercise, let alone spend money to buy special ones to run in.
  2. Runners used string to measure routes on paper maps.  The really high-tech folk, of whom I knew only two, bought special map measuring wheels.  My upgrade was to use candle wicking which had wire inside and improved accuracy while measuring around a bend.
  3. Not all results were made public for the Boston Marathon.  Not only were the qualifying times more difficult (sub- 3hours for open men) but you only got your name in the official program if you were 3:15 or faster, whether male or female.
  4. There was no such thing as a personal music device.  I owned the first Sony Walkman, introduced in 1981.  The prototype was a behemoth and to run with it involved a complicated system of belts and strapping which felt like being wrapped in a very wide tensor bandage.
  5. There was no affordable stopwatch available until 1974 when Casio produced the first, priced at $150.  A bargain compared to the $2100 Pulsar by Hamilton a few years earlier.
  6. Instead of chip-timing, the popsicle-stick-timing system was commonly used and believe it or not, fairly effective.
  7. There was no Olympic marathon for women. The first Olympic marathon for women took place in 1984, three years after I had run my first marathon at age 26.  Joan Benoit stepped into the record books with her historic victory.

To hear Joan Benoit read the poem below CLICK HERE

Wanting to be able to
by: Piet Hein

“Impossibilities” are good
not to attach that label to;
since, correctly understood,
if we wanted to, we would
be able to.

26 miles later, Olivia Newton-John Wannabe feels the pain


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If My Husband had a Tattoo

It might read “I ran a 2:36 marathon”.  I find his time impressive considering that while in his first year of university the three sports he chose for his mandatory physical education credit were fencing, bowling and swimming.  His discovery of long-distance running shortly after, was his first real foray into jockdom, if you can call it that.

Pat Deutscher, Patrick Deutscher

Finish Line Proof, Vancouver Marathon 1982

He ran his first marathon, the Ottawa marathon in 1977 in a time of 3:13.  His second was the Toronto marathon later that year where he qualified for Boston with a sub-three-hour effort, easily going under the qualifying mark of 3 hours.  At Boston on a very rainy day he ran 2:47 another P.B. despite making a pit stop in a restaurant where he ended up using the women’s washroom.  Porta potties were not as plentiful back in the day. His fourth consecutive P.B. was posted at a small marathon in England called the Milton Keynes marathon.  After that he took quite a few runs at going under 2:40 and then finally ran a 2:36 at Detroit his all-time P.B.

Pat Deutscher, Patrick Deutscher

Racing indoors at Hart House, U of T in the early eighties

Injuries, including knee problems, and fatherhood intervened and since then he has only run one marathon.  That was the Columbus marathon in 2000 to celebrate his 50th birthday in what for him was a hugely disappointing time of 3:14:03. I ran that same marathon and finished in 3:15:22.  It is a part of family lore that had the race been 800 meters longer, I would have passed him.  He was in fact, fitter than I was but went out too fast with a 1:30 half-marathon split and a very painful and plodding 1:44 second half. Had he paced himself more wisely, I think he would have gone under 3:10.

So that was yesteryear.  Yesterday my husband ran around Queen’s Park circle, a popular downtown running loop in Toronto and spotted a crew from the local news station.  He made a detour, worried that his knee doctor might spot him on TV, blatantly disobeying his orders to avoid any vigourous activity.  A blog or two ago, I inadvertently offended my husband by referring to the current state of his running as meager.  When he mentioned this to his boss, a long-time and often-injured runner himself, his boss laughed in commiseration. Well, at least my unintended insult had the positive effect of a lightening the workday with a laugh.

Yukon river run

Running together since 1985 (Yukon river run, June 2011)

As for lightening up, that is our current mantra as we are hoping and praying that physics will be on our side and a weight loss of 7-10 pounds might be all that is needed to  put his knee on the right track.

Incidentally, the 5 X 7 proof above was mailed to every finisher by Marathon Fotos, rubber-stamped lightly with the words, “PROOF ONLY Property of Marathon Fotos”.  Things change.


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NYC Marathon, No Longer an Abstraction

When I registered for the NYC marathon, I was not entirely committed.  I was able to get automatic entry based on my time from the California International Marathon (CIM) run last December and entered in advance of firm commitment as major marathons have been filling up in record time the past year.

California International Marathon

Running guaranteed entry time for NYC at the CIM

If you do not have a qualifying time you are entered in a lottery however all potential entrants must pay $10 to acquire a NY marathon runner ID and once entry is confirmed your credit card is charged for the entry fee.  I seem to recall a few years back having paid about $100 to enter so when my credit card bill arrived with a $273 price tag plus $10 charge, I was surprised.  Up to then I had viewed my entry as something of an expensive reservation. Thus it is that I am now commit to serious marathon training.

Sunday is the day when I tally up my miles for the week and this week the total stands at 45 miles.   I consider this my rock bottom minimum mileage at any given time but I have recently fallen off that wagon.  In spite of heat and humidity for my 14 miler yesterday, I was able to complete the distance fairly comfortably, aided by the pace-moderating factor of a companion who is on the comeback trail from a calf injury. I ran about 150 miles in June and my target for July will be to get over 200 miles, including increased quality and a long run of at least 17 miles. I’m also going to get back to regular weight training to start on Tuesday.

Sunday afternoon was spent at the Art Gallery of Ontario enjoying a bit of New York that has recently arrived in Toronto, Abstract Expressionism New York, Masterpieces from the Museum of Modern Art.  This is the first time that a show of these modern masters has left New York.  As an art student in the 70’s I and my artistic peers were naturally enthralled by this group which included; Jackson Pollock, Barnet Newman, Wilhelm De Kooning and many others.

"Edge of Town" by Philip Guston

The work that I found most interesting was Philip Guston’s, Edge of Town from 1969 which expressed his frustration with the lack of explicit social commentary in art during a time of great upheaval with civil rights at the forefront.  The work above with its cartoon like depiction of the Ku Klux Klan is an indicative work, informing the article Philip Guston: abstract expressionism’s provocative pioneer and ultimate critic, a biography from Museum Today.

The November marathon trip to NYC will be a short one as it will be a busy period at work. With careful planning, I hope I can fit in a visit to  an art gallery or two. With eighteen weeks to marathon day the countdown begins NOW!


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Run to the lake and back and back again

Footbridge at Palace Pier

The early Saturday drizzle was not the best set up for a longer run without company.  I got a lot done while in procrastination mode, tidying up, gardening.  My husband offered to run five miles with me however this involved a loop back to the house, and the idea of getting close to home with many miles still to run, seemed mentally challenging.  But once I got bunch of chores done, the mood to run long finally arrived and out the door I ran ready to relax into a two hours or more solo run.

View from Coronation Park foot path

The marathoner in me triumphed as I enjoyed a steady pace through High Park, out to the Palace Pier bridge, then back east along the lake, heavily clothed in fog to just south of the Rogers Centre.  From there I ran northwest, home through the city.

Saturday run by mileage markers

It was our anniversary weekend but different commitments including a party for soon-to-be-parents made it difficult to get away.  Our solution was to travel very close to home and that somewhere was on one of my regular running routes.  A place by the lake of course!

Radisson by the Lake

The only expectation I had of the Radisson Hotel on the lake, just west of Queen’s Quay was that there would be a view.  It was a surprise to find our room nattily attired to a standard one might expect in a NYC boutique hotel.  And then with a little something you might not expect at a NYC boutique hotel, a high powered telescope. Which seemed a bit funny given that the easterly view of our corner room was a wall of condos.

Room with a . . . . telescope!

Coincidentally, the Toronto Goodlife Marathon route passed in front of our hotel, affording the chance to provide a bit of crowd support where none existed. I hope the strong tailwind made up for the drudgery and discomfort of the rain.  It was painful to watch runners slog by, both eastward and westward.  Go, marathoners!  I was impressed at how our cheers, lit up the faces of some.  I’m not sure if I could manage a smile in those conditions.

Brendan Kenny, Toronto Marathon Winner

As for our run, we did a route that took us to the Esplanade, a never run route for us.  This also gave us a chance to see the eventual winner speed by half-marathoners who had started out an hour earlier.

Tourist in Toronto

After our run, we walked over to Terminal Quay for breakfast at the Watermark Pub and an enjoyable browse through the Tilley store. Exiting the hotel parking lot proved easy, in spite of the ongoing stream of marathoners we were delayed barely a minute or so.

All's well that ends with Eggs Benedict

Ah, life by the lake.  I found myself wondering how much space and garden I would be willing to give up to trade in our too-big-for-us fixer upper for a lake view.


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Champagne & Chocolate, the Morning After

Making an Impression

My husband and I were not feeling too cheery this morning after what for us was a wild party night.  He had three beers and I had two piccolos of sparkling wine, which is about the most either of us ever drink at one time.  The kicker was that when we got home we gorged ourselves on chocolate.  This is very unlike us.  Chalk it up to post-event-organizing decompression.

Nonetheless, one of our first morning conversations was to ask him to carry some large  bricks to the front yard.  Over the past few days I’ve been shoring up the front garden with a makeshift cement block wall.  I got to work on reconciling some financial stuff for the gala and before I knew it, there was not much time left to run before work. I ran three easy miles. I weighed myself for the first time in a couple of weeks and was surprised to find myself down a pound to 109.  This is a not-too-skinny weight for someone who is 5 foot 1 inch tall.  It was it bit surprising, given I have really cut back on the miles in the past few weeks but it may be due to loss of muscle mass.

Pat's Pile

Lynn's Pile

CHOCOLATE DECOMPRESSION

The usual group of Saturday runners are injured, out-of-town, preparing to go out-of-town and MIA.  It will be tough to get myself out the door tomorrow morning.  Sigh . . . pass the chocolate honey.



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Don’t stop moving!

In actuality the idea that the pace of my life has slowed is an illusion.   I am now facing an extremely long list of things to do which I call the post-gala list and that does not include all the post-event follow-up, financials and on and on.

Mixed in with high season for gardening, I’m feeling swamped again.  One item that needs to get moved to top three status for the spring and summer is house repair and painting.  At the moment the top three for the month are training for the NYC marathon, garden work and home maintenance including cleaning.

Bleeding Hearts . . . exquisite!

I’m planning to run 3-5 miles but number one task is to plant the Mountain Bluets that were given to me by a neighbour.  They are not that readily available in Toronto garden stores but are long-blooming and tolerate shade nicely.  Our neighbour has the most lovely garden and I learned a lot about gardening from seeing it.  He offered to pick up some dahlia bulbs for us at St. Lawrence Market.

A beautiful gift from a neighbour.

Better get planting . . . have a wonderful day.

Forget-me-not running rampant, but still loved.


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The Glory of Mornings

It has been a real treat to be able to focus on my runs first, rather than preparations for the gala.  Although, I am giving myself a mental break from pushing hard in any area by skipping speedwork at the track.  Of course, all things taste sweet with the satisfaction of having reached my personal goal of organizing a fundraising gala.

Yesterday we got stuck in a traffic jam in High Park.  The park was packed with a predominantly Asian crowd out to see and photograph cherry blossoms.   We let my son out and then skedaddled out of there as nary a parking spot was to be found.  My son had tales to tell of uncivil interactions earlier in the weekend between frustrated motorists seeking parking spots.

The glory of morning

How civilized to view the blooms at 7:30 a.m. with a sprinkling of people about.  And, what a way to start the day.  I was one of four people photographing the stars of the park, at 7:30 a.m.  My run for the morning was about 5 miles.

Later in the morning I cycled to the CIBC building on King street for a work-related meeting and was witness to another Toronto wonder.  Though this sight was of the gilded variety.  I had no idea that the old Bank of Commerce Building at 25 King Street West had an ornate, solid gold ceiling.  It was once the tallest building in Toronto.

Man-made Toronto wonder

I had another errand in the neighbourhood and had planned to stop at St. Lawrence Market to pick up some morning glory seeds.  I have a favourite colour for morning glories, a pale blue variety called Ismay which I have only been able to find at St. Lawrence Market.  Sadly, I discovered that I had left all my money and credit card in my running jacket pocket and was wandering around the downtown core, without a cent.  Very disappointing.

The majority of my time over the weekend was spent on tending our garden.  If gardening had the same health benefits as running, it would be the clear winner on my list of favourite activities.  Glory, glory alleluia!

Not just me taking photos at 7:30 a.m.