Mind, Motion & Matter

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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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Challenges to Young Poets, (Bloggers and Runners)

“Challenges To Young Poets, (Bloggers and Runners)” With apologies to Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Ideas, inspirations, and starting points for poets, as proposed by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, the poet laureate of San Francisco with my additions and very slight changes in italics.

Climb or run up the Statue of Liberty.

Reach for the unattainable.

Dance or run with wolves and count the stars, including the unseen.

Be naive, innocent, non-cynical, as if you had just landed on earth (as indeed you have, as indeed we all have), astonished by what you have fallen upon.

Write living newspapers.  Be a reporter from outer space, filing dispatches to some supreme managing editor who believes in full disclosure and has a low tolerance level for hot air.

Read between the lines of human discourse.

Avoid the provincial, go for the universal.

Think subjectively, write objectively.

Think long thoughts in short sentences.

Don’t attend poetry or running workshops, but if you do, don’t go to learn ‘how to” but to learn “what” (What’s important to write about).

Don’t bow down to critics who have not themselves written great masterpieces or have run masterfully.

Resist much, obey less.

Secretly liberate any being you see in a cage.

Write short poems in the voice of birds. Make your lyrics truly lyrical. Birdsong is not made by machines. Give your poems wings to fly to the treetops.

The much-quoted dictum from William Carlos Williams, “No ideas but in things,” is OK for prose, but it lays a dead hand on lyricism, since “things” are dead.

Don’t contemplate your navel in poetry and while running and think the rest of the world is going to think it’s important.

Remember everything, forget nothing.

Work on a frontier, if you can find one.

Go to sea, or work near water, and paddle your own boat.

Associate with thinking poets and runners. They’re hard to find.

Cultivate dissidence and critical thinking. “First thought, best thought” may not make for the greatest poetry. First thought may be worst thought.

What’s on your mind? What do you have in mind? Open your mouth and stop mumbling.

Don’t be so open-minded that your brains fall out.

Question everything and everyone. Be subversive, constantly questioning reality and the status quo.

Be a poet, not a huckster. Don’t cater, don’t pander, especially not to possible audiences, readers, editors, or publishers.

Come out of your closet. It’s dark in there.

Raise the blinds, throw open your shuttered windows, raise the roof, unscrew the locks from the doors, but don’t throw away the screws.

Be committed to something outside yourself. Be militant about it. Or ecstatic.

To be a poet at sixteen is to be sixteen, to be a poet at 40 is to be a poet. Be both.

To be strong at sixteen is to be sixteen, to be healthy at 50 is a to have good genes, good luck and good habits.

Wake up and pee, the world’s on fire.

Have a nice day.

First read at the 17th Annual San Francisco High School Poetry Festival, February 3, 2001

My first exposure to Ferlinghetti was in a grade nine art class where we read from Coney Island of the Mind and did drawings inspired by these poems.  I also recall creating a giant papier mache pizza a la Claus Oldenberg.

City Lights, a must see when in San Francisco

During our short 1 1/2 day stay in San Francisco earlier this month we visited City Lights Bookstore which was co-founded by Ferlinghetti.

Wishing you a Happy New Year filled with poetry, running and blogging or whatever you like to do for FUN!

Purchasing Nox, by Canadian poet Anne Carson

Extensive Beat literature and poetry section


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Carrots, the breakfast of champions

If you started your day with a chocolate, raise your hand please.  And carrots?

Today is the day that I try and remember how bad it feels to overeat with the inevitable sluggishness, torpor and lethargy that follows. I did well in the early part of yesterday with a mandarin orange, banana, YOP yogurt drink, grapefruit juice but after my late-morning run I had a large turkey dinner and finished off with more than half of a fair sized chocolate bar. The fatigue of overeating ensued and I had to take a little nap. Bonking on a blood sugar high is not the way I really want to spend my time.

Heading out for a run in High Park

Busted!

For the third time in the past seven days I ran with my Saturday pals. This may be a record for us. I appreciated their availability as I find it far more difficult to get out the door when I have all day to run.  Too much choice seems to  lead to much procrastination. I resisted a momentary urge to have chocolate before my run and returned from my 7 miles with thoughts of a healthy breakfast.

Carrots for breakfast, yum!

Earlier this month I learned of a Carrot Cake Oatmeal recipe from a friend’s blog Frugal ‘n’ Fit, who learned of it from another food blog called Oh She Glows. I have always been an oatmeal lover and my early days of marathoning involved double bowls of oatmeal for breakfast. Here is my adapted version of the recipe with a holiday twist.

Holiday Carrot Cake Oatmeal

Holiday Carrot Cake Oatmeal (adapted from Carrot Cake Oatmeal)

* 1 cup regular oats
* 2 cup almond milk (or any other type of milk)
* 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
* 2 large carrot, finely grated (1 heaping cup)
* 2 tbsp whipping cream or coffee cream
* 1/2-1 tsp ground cinnamon, to taste
* 1/4 tsp ground ginger
* 1/8th tsp ground nutmeg
* Pinch of kosher salt
* 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
* 3 tbsp pure maple syrup
* 2 tbsp crushed walnuts, divided
* 1/4 C. coffee cream or whipped cream + 2 tablespoons maple syrup (to drizzle on top)
* Shredded coconut, for garnish
* Cinnamon, for garnish
* Raisins and coarsely chopped pecans, for garnish

Lynn’s Cranberry Sauce
Add one bag cranberries, zest of one orange and juice of two oranges to a microwavable dish. Microwave at high for 10 minutes and then at medium for 5 minutes. Add sugar to taste (1 cup or more).

Directions: Finely grate the large carrot to yield 1 heaping cup of grated carrots, using the fine grate, so carrot shreds are very small.

In a medium sized pot over medium heat, add almond milk, lemon juice, and cream. Stir well. Add spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger) and salt. Stir until mixed.

Stir in grated carrots and oats. Adjust heat if necessary or reduce heat to low if mixture boils. Cook about 8 minutes, stirring frequently. When mixture has thickened, stir in vanilla extract and 2 tbsp of maple syrup. Remove from heat and pour into a bowl.

Top with pecans, raisins, coconut and a dollop of cranberry sauce. Mix cream + maple syrup mixture and drizzle over top. If desired, sprinkle with cinnamon to garnish.  3 servings

Homemade cranberry sauce goes with everything

The original version of this recipe calls for coconut cream instead of cream but we only had coconut milk in the house.  When my friend posted the recipe I commented that the original recipe is quite high in calories.  A whopping 1200 calories for one large serving.  I’ve doubled the recipe and consider it enough for 3 medium servings.  I would estimate that each serving has 700-800 calories which is still quite high but at least you get your carrots and ingredients that will metabolize more slowly than chocolate.

Happy breakfast!


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December 19th, a special day

Indeed, the 23rd birthday of my son. Did I run while pregnant you may ask? I first knew I was pregnant when I started to experience morning sickness while on a routine, easy run and had to stop. The hardest period of running was during the heat of the summer, with the already internal temperature of pregnancy, I backed off quite a bit during the summer.

Wrapped with love

Here is a famous family story which my son has heard much too often. I was running on the track at Hart House prior to the informal race that has been held every Friday for a few decades. My husband was a regular participant of these races which still go on today. The organizer announced with a megaphone that the racers should be careful as there is a pregnant woman on the track. This was my final run before giving birth 11 days later.

Good runner but likes basketball better!

As for Steven, we are lucky to have as our son a fine young man with good judgment and good friends and a promising career as a computer software engineer on the horizon. Although, promising enough that he dreams of moving to San Francisco to work in Silicon valley.  NOoooooo! Don’t move too far from your mother 😦


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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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The first half

And we are off – sort of.  Although I was only 20 meters from the start line where the transponder chip attached to my running shoe registers my start time, it took me 37 seconds to get there, more than the 23 seconds it took me to cross the mats at the Chicago marathon.  So there you have it, the distinction between “gun” time and “chip time”.

Transponder chip, tied to running shoe

Concerns going into the race; would my heart rate watch behave, would the hitherto unknown sports drink Ultima throw off my usual routine of marathon beverage consumption, would I be able to read my pace tattoos with my rapidly deteriorating middle-aged vision and would I experience foot cramps which I’ve had bouts of recently.

Pace tattoos in place

Following the advice of the three, 27 time-CIM-runners I took the significant downhill in the first mile very easy.  I was relieved to see my heart rate register on my watch as the night before I realized that I had brought the more complicated watch of the two I own, the one that I don’t really know how to operate.  I had frantically downloaded the manual and spent much time pressing this button and that, each press triggering a high-pitched beep, to my husband’s dismay as he quietly read.  Together we were able to get the watch into a mode that would display both the heart rate and elapsed time.

I missed the one mile marker but was running around 8:25 pace at the two mile mark and it felt quite easy.  I noticed some runners stop at porta potties and realized that I too, had to pee.  Canadian masters legend Diane Palmason suggests that you should drink continually up until an hour before a marathon.  And then, have another drink 10 minutes before the marathon.  I had forgotten this and so I spent the next 8 miles in search of a porta potty with no line-up or a some sort of private spot a little forest or such.  In spite of this slight discomfort the pace was very comfortable as I ran with my heart rate from 140-145.  At this point I had no trouble keeping my heart rate under 145.  What was interesting is that a few times my heart rate went down to 135 a lapse of concentration perhaps.

The weather was turning out to be perfect.  I had tossed my hat at the one mile point and knew that it would not be long until I would feel the need to take off my vest.  That would be a complicated maneuver as my race number was pinned to the front.  But, first I had to find a pit stop.  Shortly after mile ten we went by an industrial park which had a freestanding brick wall as part of the landscaping.  I had no choice but to quickly and discreetly duck behind this makeshift porta potty.  Ahem, well on the subject of  TMI my husband overheard the following conversation on marathon day.  A woman was explaining to her male companion how she had made a pit stop but that her muscles were very tight and she could only pee very slowly.  The lack of modesty shown by long distance runners in discussing these matters has something in common with the intense physical rigours of childbirth and the willingness of participants to discuss the details thereof.

Race bib

The logistics of removing my vest while running loomed.  I relaxed into the race for a couple of miles and then tackled undoing the four safety pins holding the race bib in place and redoing these same pins to attach the race bib to my shorts.  Then I removed the vest and tried unsuccessfully to tie it around my waist.  There was not enough length to do this.  So I put placed the vest around my waist and fastened the lower part of the zipper so it encircled me.  Then I twisted and twirled the vest so that it fit snugly around my waist.  You may ask would it not have been easier to just stop.  Well, as I write this I wonder too.

I ran the rest of the race in my short,shorts and sports bra, a racing outfit that my son used to refer to as a bathing suit.  Consider the embarrassment of teenager who has a mother who has raced down Yonge street in her bathing suit.  Now that I’m closer to 60 than 50, I do not feel inclined to expose so much of my body and avoid this “bathing suit” look when at all possible.  However, such were the weather conditions on this day and with all that training on the line, the seconds gained by cooler body temperature won out over vanity and dignity.

As for the race tattoos.  I should have given more thought to their placement as they were virtually unreadable in spite of pulling my skin this way and that.  Bottom line, print too small for middle-aged eyes.  I should have stuck to my old method.

So the first half passed with much distraction.  My time for those 13.1 miles / 21.1 km was 1:48:19.  It felt great to be able to finally focus on the race.  And as they say for the marathon, the race really begins at mile 20.


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Photo finish

Taking photos of runners is not easy.  One of my favourite photos was taken by a friend who had his wife positioned 50 meters ahead to alert him that I was about to run by.  The wisdom of this method is illustrated by this photo from the Sacramento marathon taken by my husband of where I was seconds before. He made up for the photo-less-ness with some very exuberant cheerleading.

Where I was . . .

Fortunately, there are always professionals along the course and at the finish ready to record our moments of glory, for a price. In this case, I purchased three of the digital images taken of me during the race. While $49.99 seems pricey the logistics of taking all those photos and sorting them by race number must be onerous, not the easiest way to make a buck.   Here is one of the shots of my finish.



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Marathon morning

False start, awake at 2 a.m. Head to the washroom in the dark to the sound of heavy rain and run into the end of the partially opened bathroom door, smack on the bridge of my nose. Why, why, did I ever decide to run this marathon, why!?

I was able to fall back to sleep for nearly two hours. Rising just before the planned 4 a.m. I go down to the lobby and step outside to a light drizzle and warmish temperature. I have never run a marathon in the rain. Will this marathon my 20th, be the first?

Folsom to Sacramento

The tedious but important decision of what to wear looms. I decide on the short shorts, lighter vest and tank top over sports bra and lightweight microfiber cap. Then I bundle up with tights, warm up pants and t-shirt, arm warmers and jacket. Since rising I have been constantly drinking Gatorade.

There is a bus to the start line that stops at the hotel. I head downstairs and am the last runner to trundle on. My seatmate is eager to converse. All very well, since I discover that she is a pacer and only running about half the course. She is assisting a blind female runner who is hoping to run 3 hours and 30 minutes. We chat briefly about the Achilles Track Club, which I correctly gathered was the source of her involvement.  Any other time I would have liked to converse more fully but I am feeling quite apprehensive, especially when I find out that the race starts at 7:00 a.m. not 7:30 a.m. as I had thought. D’oh!

My friendly seatmate offers to lend me her cellphone to text my husband this news. I confess that I’m not really sure how to send a text message. I start to think about how disappointed he will feel if he misses the finish but force myself to FOCUS on the task at hand. The 26 mile drive takes nearly an hour so by the time we get to the start area, it is nearly 6:30 a.m. and I am feeling quite tense. There is a long, line-up at the porta potty so while waiting I strip down to race gear. The day is dawning with no rain and I decide to forgo the singlet, wear the vest, which can be worn around my waist should conditions warm up markedly.

Ya gotta go

Liberated from the need to pee, I dash to the baggage truck and toss my bag. Having read the runner comments about this race from marathonguide.com was helpful in giving me confidence in the bag check process. Generally, I never leave anything I would mind losing, with baggage check.

My competitive hope is to place in the top three so having noticed that age-groups prizes are awarded on gun time, not chip time, I make my way close to the front, near the 3:10 marathon aspirants, recalling the thrill of being the oldest woman in the 3:10 corral at the Chicago marathon in 2006.

Daylight is upon us with a mainly blue sky defying the predicted steady rain. I feel ready so let the party begin.  Three, two, one and we are off . . . Hallelujah!

Listen to KD Lang sing Leonard Cohen’s HALLELUJAH at the opening ceremony for Olympics.  Stunning!


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Mission accomplished

Boarding bus at 5:30 a.m. to race start

15 minutes after finishing marathon, sweats hastily donned, feeling tired

I ran 3 hours and 42 minutes and was surprised to find that I was first in my age-category.  Below, four hours later, after short nap, I’m feeling a little perkier enroute to awards ceremony.

Peace!

San Francisco, here we come!