Arrival, San Francisco Airport, 9:30 a.m. Pacific Time
CLICK HERE for LINK to ATHLETE TRACKING
My race number 3771
CLICK HERE for LINK to RACE WEBSITE
Race starts at 7:00 a.m.Pacific Time
My goal is to run under 3 hours and 45 minutes.
CLICK here for Course Map and Elevation Profile
More later!
Just over three weeks ago, I made a post about an outing with two friends, well Friend 2, the expectant mom gave birth to the adorable Henry 2 1/2 weeks ago. She has a blog which you can click on here, called Frugal and Fit and no surprise, the pace of her posts has slowed a lot.
One rule of thumb for getting things done with a newborn is to expect that anything that used to take one day, will now take a week. The meaning of busy and tired are dramatically redefined. Best wishes to the happy but tired parents! And welcome to the world, Henry.
The beautiful, and sometimes inconsolable Henry!
In our household, the 2 1/2 week mark was when my husband began to panic, thinking that I might never get back to running. Or perhaps, thinking that a nice run was all I needed to perk up a bit. He insisted that I go for a run with the stern directive that he was kicking me out of the house and locking the door for 45 minutes. That would have been early January and I can still remember the weird spacey sensation of running in the cold, weighed down by an otherworldly fatigue.
I ran erratically after that, until week six. I was elated to discover that the Central YMCA had a childcare service, not too common at that time, and those places with childcare generally did not accept infants until at least 6 months.
So I was there on my son’s 6 week birthday, ready to produce his birth certificate. I was there every weekday, arriving dressed to run and skipping a shower as I only felt comfortable leaving him for 30 minutes. These 30 minute runs took place on the tiny indoor track as parents were not allowed to leave the building and there were no treadmills at the YMCA back then.
I had my son a couple of months after turning 32. The age at which my mom had the youngest in our family of six kids. When I have the time to give justice to the story, I’d like to write about how my mom passed along her love of sports to all her kids.
Thank you mom!
My mom at age 32 with the last of her six children, my baby sister
21 mile route - November 6, 2010
I’ve had a great month of training, with very solid long runs, of 19, 18.5, 21 last week and finally, 21 this week. I’m due for an easy week and will be heading off to New York state next weekend for an overnight getaway with my only sister, and one of four, sisters in-law. Both run, and due to the demands of parenthood, have treadmills. My sister has 4 kids age, 8, 6, 4 & 2 and my sister-in-law is mother to an 12, 9 & 6 year old. In addition to running, my sister, who is an excellent hockey player, plays a couple of times a week.
Queen Street, still sleeping
Early in the run I made a pit stop at Starbuck’s and recognizing the barista, formerly at our neighbourhood location, chatted briefly about running. I asked if I could take his photo for my blog however he said there are protocols in place regarding photos of staff. I quickly scribbled down my blog address for him.
Then east on Queen street, north on Spadina and over to R’s, where B & D were also waiting. We ran over to J’s and then an uphill trek up Russell Hill Road, and through Forest Hill to the beltline.
I felt the need to take charge of our route, as it is very hard to stay focused without a route to visualize. Because of this, a few minor insults were bandied about, the way guys will do but everyone soldiered on, in spite of the more-challenging-than-usual-route. I have four younger brothers and I’m sure there’s a kind of familiarity and comfort in being the only female in our running group. A little sister, for which I prayed constantly, only arrived when I was 11 years old, and my role was more like that of a second mother.
I parted company from B and R at St. George and Dupont and ran south to the Lakeshore. Once I hit the lakeshore I got a bit distracted with with the sights and picture taking on this chilly but fresh and sunny day.
Art on the run, outdoor photo exhibit, Harbourfront
I weave through the outdoor photo gallery on York Quay, the subjects are always Canadian content and enviroment and landscape related. Then east to the Music Garden where a large team of teens were involved in dismantling the rigging for two tall ships. Three miles to go, seems less so, when it is a well-worn route.
4 miles to go, time for a photo
Getting ready for winter?
On the home stretch I muse on mental strategies for marathoners. While running a marathon it is helpful mentally, to practise a kind of forgetfulness and forget how far you have run, and try and relax as though you are out for a short run. A useful life skill as well, the ability to willfully forget is closely tied to the ability to forgive and start anew. So I imagine this as one of my easy morning runs, and the end of my 21 miler does not feel quite as taxing. As I run through the apple orchard near Ossington-Old Orchard School, Renee Fleming is on my IPod singing Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah. I’m almost home, Hallelujah, Hallelujah!
To hear Renee sing CLICK HERE
There’s a blaze of light
In every word
It doesn’t matter which you heard
The holy or the broken Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Leonard Cohen
Lake Ontario moment, November 6, 2010 10:30 a.m.
So today, on the heels of yesterday’s exhilarating run I woke to wet, cold rain. It is time to mulch the garden and pull out the cold weather running gear. I had some speedwork planned, and there is some risk involved in running fast in the cold and wet, so I ran to the YMCA and hopped on a treadmill.
There are positives to running on treadmills; shoes last longer; the rubber running surface is easier on the legs; you can readily monitor your effort and pace; among other things. One aspect of my running psyche that keeps me going is that I am very flexible in the ways I enjoy running be it; fast or slow, with or without company and indoors or outdoors.
Running on the treadmill means less stopping, no worries about pit stops and a chance to catch up on TV news. Sometimes I focus on devoting a chunk of treadmill time to work out practical issues and make chore lists while running, with pen and paper close at hand. I ran 8 x 1 minute hard and the run totaled 8 miles.
On the nutrition side, I’ve had a couple of good weeks of healthy lunches. Last week, and so far this week, I’ve taken my lunches, bean salad and quinoa pilaf from Thanksgiving dinner (augmented with chick peas). It’s time to be more thoughtful about fueling up.
Here’s a recipe for quinoa patties from the Whole Foods website. Click here for the RECIPE My husband has been a quinoa devotee for many years, having discovered a recipe in the New Basics Cookbook 15 or 16 years ago. The nifty thing about Whole Foods is that you can find the recipe for most items sampled in their cafe on their website.
We passed through Las Vegas earlier this year, while en route to Utah and he had a delicious quinoa burger at the Whole Foods. You can make a batch and freeze them as well for a thrifty and healthy meal.
Quinoa patties from Whole Foods
Monday, September 13, 6:45 a.m. Lake Ontario
I woke at 4:30 a.m. today as I’ve decided to try and move my sleep pattern towards the upcoming time zone change. My run started in the dark with a fairly steady downpour. When I reached the lake the sun was beginning to break through the cloud cover, as seen in the photo. On arriving home, the day fully emerged as one of those quintessentially lovely, late-summer days.
Also in preparation for my trip to Germany, I have become obsessed with the goal of traveling with one carry-on bag. I have been scouring the internet for tips in order to achieve this. Marathoners know, that every extra pound carried over the 26.2 mile trek requires extra energy. As travelers we runners are at a slight disadvantage (although not to the extent as golfers or pole vaulters) to traveling light, as we must pack our space consuming running shoes. If you are traveling to a race, add to that a pair of racing flats. And, if you are racing a marathon in transitional weather, then racing gear for 3-4 seasons might be required.
I confess that while I am an experienced marathoner, I am a beginner at the one-bag-carry-on challenge. In fact I am trying to kick my over-packing habit. My desire to be organized and ready for anything works against me when it comes to packing. The name of the game for the one-bagger is multi-tasking clothing items. An additional challenge is finding multi-tasking clothing for a trip to the opera in Frankfurt. I am someone who likes to be dressed appropriately for every occasion. I hope to compile these tips to once I successfully enter the realm of the one-bag-carry on living.
For starters:
Tip #1 – Take along an old pair of running shoes for your runs and leave them behind at the end of your trip to make room for any purchases.
Tip #2 – A stylish pair of sweatpants can do triple duty as PJs, casual wear for a plane trip and exercise gear
Tip #3 – Wear the running top for the next day as your PJ top
Tip #4 – Don’t take more than 2 versions of a running outfit suited to one particular type of weather
Tip # 5 – If you wake early to run and your traveling mates sleep in. Make sure all your gear is assembled before you go. In IPod can be used as a flashlight if you have to navigate in the dark.
Please feel free to comment and add your own tips. Thank you!
For someone who is used to running high-mileage in marathon training. Running 50 miles a week hardly takes a thought. I run about an hour a day with a 2 hour plus run on the weekend – this is the default. However, with 15 weeks until my pre-Boston, marathon outing in Sacramento, the moment has come to either train seriously, forget about it or suffer in the final miles of the race.
2007, Sacramento 30K
So, I’m formulating my plan and the mileage build will go like this 57 miles this week, 61 miles next week and 57 miles the following week (including a rare day off for travel). I like to do 2-3 solid weeks of building miles and then take an easier week. Fortunately, this easy week will coincide with a trip to Germany. My long run will increase from 12-15 miles to 17, 18 and up to 22 miles.
In addition to the increased mileage I have to start speedwork. I’ve committed to hitting the track with a group. For the past two years I’ve been taking evening courses, this year I will go to track school. I’m excited about running on the new Varsity stadium track. The very scene of my first marathon finish. The coach, Paul Osland is a former Olympian who is now whipping a group of motivated masters into tip top shape. I’m apprehensive about the return to the intensity of speed work. My fast running for the past two years has gone something like this . . . run fast when I feel like it for 30 – 120 seconds. Take as much rest as I need.
From what I can tell, the plan for Thursday is to run 150 meters at a very fast pace, 18 times and the do it again for a total of 36 fast repeats. Then we are to bound up stairs, 2 steps at a time, 5 times and then repeat. I’ve never done circuit training, of which we are to do 4 laps. Hmm . . .
This could be painful. Given that most of these runners will be peaking in the early fall, and my timing of a December marathon is unusual, I hope to get some sort of just-starting-out dispensation. I’m reminded of how once, when in top form I remarked to another runner as we readied ourselves for a grueling session a la Zeba Crook that his workouts were effective because they helped us to increase our pain threshold. The runner turned to me and said, “but that is not what I signed up for”. No doubt . . . I’ll soon have a tale to tell.
Gulp . . .
Mind, Motion & Matter 