Mind, Motion & Matter

Running, Essentially . . .

Tag Archives: Masters Running


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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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Toronto, Lately . . .

For my last few posts I’ve been dwelling on the details of our vacation, with encouragement in that direction as one of those posts was Freshly Pressed.  But, it is time to get back to my blogging basics, my daily run and the life in which that is embedded.

Winston Churchill Park, Toronto

View from Winston Churchill Park, Toronto (Blackberry photo)

The most scenic parts of Toronto are the ravines.  I can do 18 miles from my very urban location and run close to 70% of that on paths or wooded trails.  This route includes the Cedarvale Ravine, the Beltline, Mt. Pleasant cemetery and Moore Park Ravine.  You can check out my favourite route through Moore Park Ravine HERE.

I’m getting back in the groove with training and logged 40 and then 41 miles the past two weeks.  I’m on track to run 42-45 miles this week.  With the return to my regular running routine and avoiding sweets, other than the blueberry and lemon pies I baked, I’ve lost those five pounds gained on holiday.  Those were the pounds that made me deduce that our bathroom scale was broken.  More likely culprits than the scale malfunction are the following concoctions that would add a little zest to any vacation.  My ideal training weight is 107-108 pounds, which at just a bit over 5 feet, 1 inch is considered, by some exacting medical charts an ideal weight for my height.  I was told by my chiropractor that my consistently light weight was one of the reasons why I have stayed injury free for my past 25 years of my 30 years of running.

Lemon Cheesecake

Lemon cheesecake, Rocanini Coffee Roasters, Steveston, B.C.

Mango Bread Pudding

Mango Bread Pudding, Stowaway Cafe, Skagway AK

With the exception of my weekly long run I usually head to Lake Ontario and head east or west on the Martin Goodman Trail.  On Thursday I decided to go northeast as picking up a specialty item for a Japanese dish I was reparing for a Canada Day picnic would be a time saver.  This route took me through the Nordheimer Ravine and two mini-wetland projects, the Roycroft and Glen Edyth wetlands which goes past Winston Churchill park.  Winston Churchill park has a unique view of the CN Tower in that is almost a totally green view.  I did 7 or 8 sections of fast running which included stairs and uphills and then headed home with a stop at the P.A.T. Central Asian grocery store on Bloor, west of Bathurst.

Abura-Age

Abura-age, fried bean curd

On Wednesday my husband went to see his knee doctor.  He was expecting to get another cortisone shot but was told not to play any sports or run and to return if pain returned.  My husband concludes that he will have to wear a fake mustache when he does his meager amount of running, just in case Dr. ______ is around the next corner. He agreed with me that if he wants to get serious about running regularly, he will have to lighten the load on his knee.  So he has set a goal to go under 160 pounds, a loss of 6-7 pounds.  He was about 140 pounds when I met him and still looks slim at 167 pounds but to have any chance of getting back to his two hour weekend runs, lightness matters.

Maze gohan

Maze gohan

In addition to the Japanese dish, maze gohan, I baked two lemon poppy seed pound cakes for the family picnic buffet. I find my own baking the hardest to resist so with the array of fabulous picnic food and a holiday weekend ahead, the new regime of vigilant consumption is scheduled to begin on Monday.

Lemon poppyseed cake

Lemon poppyseed cake


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Run, Jump, Eat Cake & Other Adventures

I managed to get in 40 miles for the week ending Sunday, June 12th, although on Monday I was pretty dead legged after a successful 13+ miler on Saturday.  I had to abandon my husband on his five-miler, as my legs just didn’t have any juice. Later in the day, I was invited to take part in more vigourous activity at a birthday party for a three year old niece.  As I wandered into the backyard of my sister’s home, I was invited by my brother-in-law to join in on the fun in the bounce tent as I was under the maximum weight allowed.

I couldn’t resist the challenge as a former lover of trampolining.  Although, my very worst sports injury took place on a trampoline at age 13, a severely sprained ankle that to this day, remains my Achilles heel.

So in I went, through an opening designed to fit your average eight year old to bounce the night away.

Awkward entry

Getting the hang of it

Look at meeeeee . . . .

Ungainly exit

I was concerned that I would set back my training a few days with this unplanned for training session but I didn’t notice ill effects on my five miler this morning.  Phew!

As for the bunny cake, however cute and delicious, it was not the best start to my week of cutting back on refined sugar.  So, so hard to resist a birthday cake.

Hop, Eat, Jump

The bicycle story started the day before we left for our vacation.  On leaving work, I could not find the key to my bike lock and had to leave my bike parked on Dundas Street. I worried and wondered how much of my bike would be left when I returned.  On my first day back to work, I could hardly stand to look at the spot where my bike was parked thinking I might see a bike frame, with no wheels, fenders and seat.  But hallelujah . . . there it was neatly placed on a the lawn of the home in front of which it had been parked.  That morning, the section of sidewalk where my bike was parked was being worked on by road crews and THEY HAD REMOVED THE POLE FROM THE SIDEWALK, thus liberating my bike.  WooHoo!  I walked over, claimed my bike and carried it to work.  The guardian angel of bikes must have been watching out for mine.

Close to home, I arranged to have my lock removed by Cam at My Little Bike Shop on College street.  Cam also has the best prices on Kryptonite locks. Good price but still not cheap at $80, making the bill for the lost key $110 with the $30 for lock removal.

Cam at work with an angle grinder. Watch out for sparks!

Liberation!

Cam doesn’t do tune-ups but spruces up old or vintage bikes.  This led to a discussion of my old Bianchi road bike bought in 1985.  He decided to make a house call to check it out and followed me home as I led the way on my newly liberated bike.  He paid me $50 for my cobweb covered vintage wheels.  He also asked that I mention to my friends that he is in the market for old bikes.  That took the bite out of my $110 misadventure. Bianchi it turns out is the oldest bike manufacturer in the world.  He asked me to let my friends know he is looking to buy bikes.

So now, it is Saturday, five days after I began this post and having now completed another Saturday run, 14 miles today, finally feel I can spare the time to finish the post. Although, I’m at a loss to connect the dots, if there were any.  All I can say is THE END and I hope to have a smaller gap between this post and my next post. I think I set a personal record for post-less days.


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Where a Peony Was – Return to City Life

The peony down the street

While away, the thing I missed most was our garden.  The peony buds were coming along nicely and I hoped not to miss any of their divine showiness. One peony bud in particular was on my mind.  Nearly three years ago, I was sitting in a favourite spot in Mt. Pleasant cemetery close to the double bed of commemorative peonies that supposedly have one of every type of peony grown in Canada.  The gardener was pruning the post-bloom garden and we struck up a conversation.  He then gave me 14-15 peony roots and told me to plant them.

I rushed back to work and put them in water and a few days later planted all fourteen in my garden.  Nothing green poked through the earth that year.  But the following spring, leaves showed up on three cuttings.  Last year, a bit more foliage grew on two of them and this year many more leaves grew on a single stem.  The only survivor.  To my amazement a bud started to form and I was certain that it would blossom.  My curiousity about what type of peony would emerge was blooming,  and then we left town.

Many mornings in spring and summer I begin my day by checking out our front and back garden with coffee in hand.  My first morning back, I did this and was shocked to discover the mystery peony bud was gone.  I can only guess that it had blossomed and someone stole it as there was a definite jagged, ripped look to the top of the main stem.  Sad to say flowers from our garden are often picked but never did I feel so sad as this time.  Could the thief ever have any idea of how long I had been waiting to see this particular flower. What a sad comment on life in the city coinciding with my return to Toronto.

I console myself by saying that the loss of the flower will create a stronger plant for next year, with more flowers because of the energy saved by this years flowerlessness. Sniff . . .

Above is a photo of a peony on our block that made my heart melt with its beauty.  This photo is my current BlackBerry screensaver.

As for the return to running, I had a better-than-expected outing.  My goal was to run for two hours and I was expecting it to be a bit of a slog as I have gone under my forty-mile-week minimum goal several times in the last six weeks.  The cooler temperature, overcast sky and slightly slower pace to accommodate an injured run mate’s injury made for a very comfortable 13+ mile run with energy to spare.

Men planking at St. Clair & Avenue Road

As we waited at Avenue Road and St. Clair for J, R decided to plank.  Later on at a water fountain stop, R & J decided to plank.  I limited myself to assessing the planking form of my running mates as I find planks difficult and did not want to run with sore abdominals.  I recently learned that planking has branched out into plankstering in unusual places.  Apparently a plankster died while planking on a moving car.  My husband’s intention was not to plankster when he did his on a ferry in Alaska.

Man planking in his boots on Alaskan ferry

A plank a day keeps a backache away. It is a very effective abdominal exercise. Gotta get back to it!  Reverting to the topic of peonies, while my all-male running mates enjoy gardening (we toured each others gardens last year) they tell me that real men don’t like peonies. Hmm . . .


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What’s up with Lynn?

Forget-me-nots & anemones

Forget-me-nots & anemones

While on the way out the door for my run, my husband told me he had checked my blog three times yesterday.  “What’s up with Lynn?”  he asked, in reference to the absence of new posts.  I found this funny and flattering, in that being a think-out-loud kind of person he definitely knows what is on my mind.  But, the written word does offer another perspective  and as we continue our journey of couplehood we’ve  discovered that writing is a preferred communication medium for my husband.

We are part of a unique sharing group.  It is a couples/marriage sharing group and it has a distinct format.  One couple does a presentation on whatever relationship topic they they like and then they pose a question related to that topic.   The couples disperse to separate rooms or areas and then each person writes a letter to their spouse for 10 minutes.   Then spouses read each others letter twice and then discuss the letters, starting with the letter which contains the strongest emotions.  The discussion is 10 minutes long.

Each letter has to begin with telling your spouse what their most endearing quality was for the day, week, month and so on.  There are also guidelines as to how to express your feelings, as just that, rather than as blame.

Then everyone regroups and we “share” our thoughts and if desired, the contents of our letter.  It is a totally enriching experience to learn from each other and to spend time this way with couples who are highly motivated to “dwell deep”.  The ranges of ages for the nine couples in our group is mid-thirties to early-seventies.

Plant from neighbour

Transplanted from the abundance of a neighbour's garden

To partially answer the question of what’s up, I ran about 14 miles on this absolutely gorgeous day but is was a struggle.  I’ve never felt quite so dead legged as I did today, parting company with my friends to walk and run the final four miles home.  About 400 meters from home I realized why the fatigue.  Blame it on the garden.  Thursday was a GARDEN-RUN-GARDEN duathlon and I am feeling the after-effects now.  The garden is also the reason why I am getting so irregular with the blog.  Although, our gardens, front and back are very modest in size.  A number of our neighbours have incredible gardens they have been tending for decades which overflow with plant material, from which I have inherited a few specimens.

Better go plant those dahlia bulbs . . . ciao!

These dahlias may grow as big as a saucer, I'm told.


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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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WooHoo . . . we did it!

I had today off and made good use of it.  I spent quite a bit of time in the garden and then ran, destination St. Lawrence market.  The market was alive with lunch hour in full swing but alas the store that I used to buy Ismay morning glory seeds was no longer.  Then I ran to Staples to pick up printer ink for my workplace and dropped it off during lunch.  There were extra burgers on hand, so I packed one up and ran home, consuming it shortly after arriving.

Then back to the garden.  I love weeding!

With an evening gala meeting by late afternoon, I had to get serious about organizing financial information which kept me quite busy until shortly before meeting time.  Our meeting place was the Emmett Ray bar just around the corner.  The gala photos made their debut and we set a date for next year of Wednesday, May 2nd.  The meeting was about the financial stuff but other committee members decided to join us just because . . . we really like each other!

The music was very loud at the Emmett Ray but in spite of this impediment we had a very gay time enjoying the success of our event and looking ahead to 2012.

WooHoo . . . we did it!!!!!!!

Celebrating our success!


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Metro Morning – Toronto Running with John Chipman

Clifton & Lynn, wired to run with John Chipman.

Well here it is . . . the very short piece about running with one of my many friends at refugee shelter in central Toronto.   CLICK HERE to hear the interview.

Heading south through Trinity-Bellwoods Park to see the lake.


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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.


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CBC Morning – Run to the Tower

A couple of weeks ago, I visited Mountain Equipment to outfit a young man, with running shoes courtesy of MEC. Generously, they also provided him with microfibre warm-up pants, this in preparation for an interview with John Chipman of CBC Radio Morning, the Running Show, to be conducted while running.

When the time came for the run, my friend did not appear and a while later we got a call that he would be another hour. Thankfully, I was able to recruit Clifton to take his place.  In the end, running with Clifton proved more in line with the theme of the interview, that being how running is a great activity to acquaint newcomers to the city.  Although barely a mile from the lake, Clifton was not aware of the lake’s proximity having arrived from Africa barely a month ago.  As well, he had never been very close to the CN Tower.  When asked whether had had seen much of the city, he cited a trip to St. Clair and Yonge.

The show will air this Tuesday, May 10th around 7:20 a.m. and will run for about two minutes.

CLICK HERE for details about John Chipman and running in Toronto.

CLICK HERE  to connect to CBC Radio online.

Spirited sight-seeing

Thanks MEC!