Manzanita, Oregon, two hours from Portland and a three-night stay with three morning runs. Manzanita, Manzanita, let me count the ways I love beach running. I am a daily runner so any place that has great running makes for a great start to my day as a tourist. We stayed at the the wonderful Inn at Manzanita just a block from the beach. Two years ago we spent eight days in Tofino, British Columbia on Cox Bay which I thought quite heavenly with its cozy and quiet 3/4 mile beach. The beach at Manzanita is billed variously as being as little as four miles but up to eight miles long.
The north end of Manzanita Beach
South end of Manzanita beach, nearly 6 miles later
My experience was that it is close to six miles long. I guess it depends on the time and tide. By Tofino standards it is a very quiet beach, even on the morning of Independence Day. My goal was to run to the farthest point of the beach but I fell short by about 200 meters. I got a bit spooked (I hope my mom is not reading this) by being the only person on the beach for the final mile or so. Over the prior two miles, I saw three people. I ran a beautiful, dreamy 9 miles which helped me get to 40 miles for the week. Fantastic! This beach gets a perfect 10 out of 10. The only not-so-perfect thing about the run was to be without my husband’s company. He now limits himself to three miles, three times a week due to his torn meniscus. It makes me sad to enjoy such a beautiful run without him but as he says, “You have to run for the two two of us now.”
The week leading up to our getaway was busy with work deadlines, a visitor and preparations for some painting at our home. Thankfully, our son and our roommate Alain took care of moving the furniture from our guest room and bedroom in our absence. We’ve been away for just over a week and spent three days visiting with my husband’s 96 year old dad. His dad is under the watchful eye of his son the rehab med doctor and continues with a weight lifting routine of many decades.
From Edmonton we took the 100 minute flight to Seattle and stayed at the Sorrento Hotel where we were the lucky recipients of a fabulous room upgrade. At check-in, we were offered the chance to upgrade to a suite for a small increase, which we agreed to this but checked to make sure that our room had a bathtub. We’ve discovered in our travels that increasingly, hotels that have undergone renovations oftentimes have only spa-style showers. And, indeed when we found that our suite only had a shower so we asked for another room. This error was corrected in grand style as we were given a room that was three times the size of the tub-less suite.
We are sorry to have inconvenienced you. Please accept our apologies.
The concierge told my husband that this corner suite was once occupied by Francis Ford Coppola. He also said that it was used as a set for “Sleepless in Seattle” to mimic a Manhattan apartment. Thus enjoying great hotel coffee with our laptops perched atop a large round, wood table, set in a very large bay window area, with a tiny bit of waterfront peeking through tall buildings has become a memorable urban holiday moment. The suite included a large bedroom, a large wooden bar, an office area and a living room area. The open style lobby-bar area was extremely inviting but we never did check it out, due to the excessive comfort of our room. The only down-side to this luxury was the worry that our tipping was not as generous as that of Coppola.
Volunteer Park, Seattle
When I asked about running routes at the front desk, the young man who checked us in admitted that the running in downtown Seattle is not great. My vision of a scenic waterfront running path did not materialize. He pointed us towards Volunteer Park as preferable to the waterfront. I’ve heard that the Seattle marathon is hilly, but the reality of hills only sunk in on our first short run of four miles. Not great for my husband’s knees but it did lead me to finally use the googlemaps pedometer elevation function for the first time ever.
Volunteer Park is home to the Asian Art Museum. It is not a large park with a running circumference of about one mile but it is lush and has well-maintained washrooms. The residential areas surrounding the park are very well treed, with beautiful gardens and colourfully staid facades that matched the Seattle of my imaginings. The hills in some of these residential areas seem frankly, improbable. In doing some research on Galer Street, which seemed one of the steepest hills I’d run, I found it listed on a blog which offered advice on training for hiking in Nepal I ran up this hill after exiting Washington Park, home to Seattle’s Japanese garden.
Run for the treats
Three of my Seattle runs ended at Sugar Bakery and Cafe just around the corner from the hotel. And the treats were sweet and a cut above the usual including; salted caramel croissants and blackberry oat scones and supremely moist carrot, walnut muffins. I ended one run in the fitness center to maintain the momentum of my weight training regime. My husband joined me for his workout and took two photos of my routine, one dignified and the other not so dignified and possibly hilarious.
In control
Showing the strain
Apart from the hills, a highlight of our Seattle story was very much about our stay at the Sorrento. The crowning moment of the energetic and superb service at this hotel came as I ran up to the main door at the end of one run and wondered what the doorman was doing as he quickly ducked behind a curtain by the lobby door. He emerged with bottled water which he handed off to a grateful me.
One item for the to-do list: Write a positive TripAdvisor review of the Sorrento Hotel.
All wound up as the racing season comes to a close
Dropping my mileage in preparation for my last “serious” race of the training cycle on Sunday, June 10th gave me a bit more flexibility to get out and about, and enjoy some good eats. Last Tuesday, I ran earlier than I have for a long while, leaving the house at 5:45 a.m. to run with a friend. This worked out well as I had a 7:30 a.m. breakfast meeting at Fran’s where I was pleased to order a breakfast favourite of mine, corn beef hash.
Fran’s corn beef hash
On Wednesday, I had a short meeting downtown to which I cycled and on the return journey to the office stopped to enjoy an excellent Korean meal of bulgogi and rice at a food vendor on Dundas, just east of Bathurst. This food stall stopover was like a “taste of Portland”, a teaser for our upcoming holiday to Portland, Oregon.
Kim’s a la Kart – Portland style vendors on Dundas east of Bathurst
Portland is famous for its street vendor food stalls, distinguishing itself from other U.S. cities with its absence of fast food venues in the downtown core. I’m reminded of another Portland food memory, the corn beef hash at Kenny and Zuke’s deli! A photo of this breakfast was part of my blog post I Think My Bathroom Scale is Broken which got freshly pressed last year leading to over 2000 hits in on day one and over 1000 hits on day two.
On Thursday, I ran with a new friend from Iran who has a black belt in Judo. He is staying 2K away from Lake Ontario but had never seen the lake, so to the lake we ran. That afternoon I took my dad and son out to lunch at the Osgoode Hall Restaurant and enjoyed a very reasonably priced lunch of Arctic char.
My son and my dad at Osgoode Hall Restaurant
My dad had only been here once before for an event for the Japanese Canadian community where traditional big-sound taiko drummers performed on their mega drums. He told us that the vibrations from the pre-dinner performance loosened the accumulated century plus, dirt from the paneled wood ceiling and peppered their meals with some very aged seasoning.
Oyster Caesar
That night we belatedly celebrated our wedding anniversary at Lee’s Restaurant. I chose Thursday rather than Friday as I wanted to avoid alcohol two nights before my 5K race on Sunday. Deep sleep two nights before a race is important in order to be at your best on race day. While a glass of wine might make you sleepy, the bottom line is that it adversely affects your REM sleep. I enjoyed an oyster Caesar while my husband’s salute to me was to drink two Japanese tequilas. The dish to order at Lee’s is Susur Lee’s signature Singaporean cole slaw which is absolutely unique, scrumptious and healthy!
Singaporean cole slaw, a must!
Race day was very warm and the sky had a smoggy hue. I opted for a warm-up routine that included a 10 minute run, 3 hours before the race start. The benefit of this early morning jog is that it loosens you up and allows you to get a good stretch earlier on. It also helps to alleviate pre-race jitters and anxiety about getting a full warm-up in later on. While warming up on a side-street near the race start I ran into a former teammate who I had not seen for a few years and learned that his wife had died five months ago.
Shortly after this emotional moment I found myself in a stand-off with a fellow participant. A group of older (well that being my age actually) female recreational runners were positioned at the very front of the start line and it sounded like the goal for one of them was to simply finish her first 5K race. I politely mentioned the pace I was intending to run and asked if they would mind if I moved in front of them. One of the women was obviously unaware of race etiquette and let me know that they had done their “due diligence” in arriving early and based on the first-come, first-served principle of a grocery check-out line were entitled to be at the front. I tried to explain that for the safety and enjoyment of all, race line-ups are organized by pace. My husband says I should have just moved in front of their group rather than trying to be polite and explain. Comments?
A meal prepared for us by our son
I could feel a bit of an adrenalin rush from this exchange and mentally directed it to my race and let go of any negative thoughts. Inwardly I wished them a happy race but realized that if I were to verbalize this, they would probably think I was being sarcastic.
I ran a good steady-hard pace throughout and was satisfied with my time of 21:56 at the Toronto Challenge 5K on a muggy, hot day. The route was changed from last year and I noticed that times were much slower than 2011. One friend wondered if the course might have been long by 400 meters. It was not an ideal course to run a season’s best but psychologically it felt shorter than the many-cornered 5K I ran the week before. The course had only four turns. For me the main factors in falling short of my time were ideal racing weight, the heat and a need for more speed-endurance, tempo training. I still hope to go under 20 minutes but I can see it will take a lot of focus, along with more mileage while maintaining the quality speedwork I’ve been doing since February. With my plan to run a marathon in the fall, my fast 5K may have to wait until next spring.
A basil and tiny tomato quiche baked by me for a group of dedicated volunteers at my workplace
About that marathon – well I’m in the process of setting my goal and considering that of going under 3:30 which according to the age-graded calculator is a 2:41 open-category equivalent for someone who on October 14th, marathon day, will be two days away from turning *57*. Egads, I don’t really like the sound of that number. I’m a person who generally likes the idea of five-year plans but now that they take me to age 62 I find myself wanting to put a pause on long-term planning.
Anyhow, my winter-spring race season is finito! And it’s time to look ahead to late-summer and fall races. I’m in much better shape than I was last June so that makes me feel motivated and excited about summer training. But first there is a bit of down-time to take (no speedwork) and holiday time to enjoy.
What saves a man is to take a step. Then another step.
C. S. Lewis
Pity the man, who must console the racer, faced with a disappointing race, morphing from his role of Sherpa into that of sports psychologist afterward. Such was my husband’s lot as I was thwarted in my quest to go under 21 minutes for 5K. Buoyed by a 21:04 on March 31st, I set my sights on breaking 21 minutes in the short-term and am hoping that my 50-something legs might still carry me to run under 20 minutes – just once more is all I ask.
My Sherpa takes great photos too!
As I stood waiting for the race I gathered my thoughts, meditating on my good fortune on being able to set ambitious race goals although, what I might like to call ‘prayer”, in the context of the quest for fast times, seems suspiciously closer to a less mature desire for wish fulfillment.
Prior to the race, I gave the course 8.0 points on a 10 point rating scale for fast courses. Memory however did not serve me well as a decade later, I’ve downgraded m its rating to a 6.0. My time was 22:14 seconds at the Bread & Honey 5K.
Here are four things that were different from my last 5K and what I think it cost me in time . . .
Last race, I was very pleased with my evenly paced effort, aided by my watch and the kilometer markers. Yesterday my watch malfunctioned and I could not gauge my effort (+15 seconds)
Last race the course was out and back with the turnaround being a gentle curve, similar to the curve of 400 meter track. Yesterday there were eight sharp corners on the course (+16 seconds)
Last race the course was pancake flat. Yesterdays course was not hilly but rolling and not at all flat (+20 seconds)
Last race I was four pounds lighter. According to Tom Osler every pound above your ideal running weight will cost you 2 seconds per mile so 2 seconds times 4 pounds is 8 seconds times 3 miles . . . (+24 seconds)
I made these time estimates off the top of my head and was surprised when I did the calculations, that the total of 75 seconds, when subtracted from 22:14 equals, 20:59. WooHoo . . . I know I can do it! It is said that high performance athletes internalize good results, and externalize bad results 🙂
For the record, I am 5 feet 1 1/2 inches and currently weight 111 pounds. My ideal racing weight is between 104 and 107 pounds and according to some medical charts, 107.5 pounds is the perfect weight for someone of my height. When I was a child we had the World Book Encyclopedia’s Childcraft series. Part of the series was a parent’s guide to child development with a chart of height-weight ratios. I studied this chart intently, obsessively in fact and was troubled that I never made it into the low end of the chart through childhood. I was that girl who disappeared when I turned sideways and I never did break the 100 pound barrier while in high school. At age 56, I’m no longer complaining about having good genetics for distance running.
As for the good habit of running, I expect to have more to say about that once I finish “The Power of Habit” by Charles Duhigg. I picked this book up yesterday afternoon and am halfway through its 350+ pages.
You can hear the audio interview with Charles Duhigg that piqued my curiosity HERE at Great Work Interviews.
Candid Camera – à la Sherpa – Napping, a GOOD post-race HABIT
I’ve only blogged once in May due to ongoing busyness and a backlog of chores. A major highlight was Mother’s Day brunch at the InterContinental Yorkville where I received a Jeremy Lin jersey and consumed a dozen oysters among other things. Another high point was taking my parents to Auberge du Pommier for lunch as a late Mother’s Day and early Father’s day outing.
Happy Mother’s and Father’s Day
So I have been running long, or at least long enough for 5K training. After racing indoor track in February and March and then 5K and 10K in March and April, I felt I had reached a bit of a plateau so I took three easy weeks which coincided with my busy period. After that I hit the track and was pleased that our track repeats were on the short side. The past three Saturdays I’ve done three decent longer runs at a faster-than-usual pace. I’ve been having trouble sleeping in the past year or so, so I’m not as eager to head out super-early on Saturdays despite the great feeling of finishing 10-18 miles by mid-morning. The body will not properly absorb training without a good supply of deep sleep.
I ran with a teammate a few weeks ago, who normally would be too fast for me but as he was recovering from the Boston marathon, sharing a run was doable. He told me that he remembered my name as the woman in the 50-54 category who was faster than him in one of his first half-marathons when he took up distance running six or seven years ago. He told me that as a young runner his benchmark had been that he was always able to finish ahead of girls his age. So he was startled to discover that a woman ten years his senior beat him in the half-marathon. He was also startled when I told him that his easy, recovery pace was putting me into the threshold heart rate zone as we ran. Ah, I was so much faster then, I’m older than that now.
Another Saturday I ran with a teammate who is very new to running and has run excellent times for his category of 60-64. At our pub night a few weeks ago, I was astonished to discover that the farthest he had ever run in training was 12K. Following our conversation he ran 17K on his own and then ran 16K with me the week after.
Last Saturday a friend, who now lives in Regina dropped in to join the usual Saturday run crowd. What a treat to catch up on the run. The last time I saw him was last year when he lived in Ottawa. We had breakfast at the Chateau Laurier which is perhaps more of a treat than a hard 13. 5 miles run. I was having a hard time sleeping and woke that morning at 4:30 a.m. I left for the run at 7:00 a.m. It felt fairly hard and I was bagged when I got home, taking a cat nap shortly after. In the afternoon I napped from 1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. My recipe for a sound sleep – wake early, run hard, nap . . . hmm. There must be a better drug-free way to deep sleep.
One reason why the run felt hard was that on Thursday I had a great track work out of 8 x 300 meters. I ran the final 300 in 56 seconds! Not bad for an aging racehorse. I’m gearing up to run a couple of 5K’s in June. I think I’ve got the speed honed and will concentrate on speed-endurance for the next couple of weeks. I’ve started back to my weight lifting routine and as is always the case upon returning to this routine of a few decades, it feels great to flex those muscles. My goal for this training cycle is to go under 21 minutes. Weather will be a factor as I do not run well in the heat so cross your fingers for cool June mornings.
Due to lack of photos of the above, I leave you with photos of what fuels all this activity 🙂
Sea bass and best Brussels sprouts ever!
Eggs Benny and oysters for Mother’s Day
Our twenty-something roommate cooks for us
Classic dessert mille-feuille, deconstructed à la Oliver & Bonacini
We did it! Last Wednesday we pulled off another gala at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) in Toronto, Canada. It was hard work and as we were in the homestretch of organizing my husband, who was on domestic duty while I did my special events schtick, asked if he should spoon feed me, chained to the computer as I was. So we raised enough money to provide support to over 65 children orphaned by HIV-AIDS in Ethiopia. That felt great! And many thanks to our supporters and the outstanding People4Kids Gala committee.
People to People AID Organization Canada, Board Chair, Tigist Abebe (left)
Favourite photo from 2011 Gala of my son and his girlfriend
Two doors west of the ROM is Varsity Stadium, home of my running club. The day after the gala I went for drinks with my running pals. Last year while in event-organizer mode, my training suffered greatly. This year, thanks to the regular workouts and support of my club, I ran some solid races and was awarded Athlete of the Month status for April. That felt great!
What the running club bought for the newborn twins of one of our teammates.
In between the ROM and Varsity Stadium is the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) and guess what! On Friday, we were there to enjoy the music of Egberto Gismonti in Koerner Hall, located in the RCM. I saw Gismonti perform about 30 years ago at the Bamboo Club (now LUSH Handmade Cosmetics). It WAS great!
Still on-the-go two nights later, just next door to the ROM
I’ll be hard pressed to pack in that much excitement into a one-block, three-day stretch again. Triple-dipping on Bloor Street . . . WooHoo Toronto!
Look up! It’s C5 at the ROM, scene of the gala – as seen from the lobby of Koerner Hall
Where we were on Wednesday, Thursday & Friday last week
Since running in a 10K race last Sunday, I’ve been pushing steadily on the homestretch of gala planning. I was satisfied with my race effort of 43:25 but felt that I was sharper for the 5K run on March 31st. I placed 1st in my category by 7 1/2 minutes and was almost three minutes faster than 10K I ran last fall. Training with a team has really paid off. My post-race plan calls for 10-12 days of reduced mileage and lots of recovery time in order to boost my energy stores for Wednesday, May 2nd, the day of the People4Kids gala fundraiser for children orphaned by HIV-AIDS in Ethiopia to take place at the ROM.
Team Spirit - with work to do
I ran eight miles this morning with two friends. The pace was brisk as I was eager to get on with my day. I woke at 4:30 a.m. in order to prepare all the materials to for a big work session at our home. A couple of hours after the run cookies were packaged, envelopes and goodie bags stuffed and decorative elements created, all in a few hours with the help of ten volunteers.
Envelope stuffers
Expert goodie bag stuffer, John, oversees kitchen crew
Rewinding to last Saturday, I rested up for the Sunday race by baking 35 dozen cookies with a friend. THANK YOU ROBYN!
I can't believe we baked 35 dozen cookies!
Our event is technically sold-out but we are open to overbooking the few spots that will be free on event day due to usual unforeseen circumstances that will inevitably arise for some guests. As I work away with four days to go, I’ll be humming this song to myself and thinking about the little girl we sponsor and the estimated 123 million or more orphaned children in the world.
Guide my feet while I run this race.
Guide my feet while I run this race.
Guide my feet while I run this race,
for I don’t want to run this race in vain!
Hold my hand while I run this race.
Hold my hand while I run this race.
Hold my hand while I run this race,
for I don’t want to run this race in vain!
Stand by me while I run this race.
Stand by me while I run this race.
Stand by me while I run this race,
for I don’t want to run this race in vain!
I’m your child while I run this race.
I’m your child while I run this race.
I’m your child while I run this race,
for I don’t want to run this race in vain!
Search my heart while I run this race.
Search my heart while I run this race.
Search my heart while I run this race,
for I don’t want to run this race in vain!
I accomplished a lot in March but one goal I missed was to blog at least four times. Two activities that are “fun” for me are blogging and running but while blogging may have some mental fitness benefits, the physical and mental benefits of blowing out your lungs while running aerobically and anaerobically just can’t be beat. Running with my track club in the evening is an amazing way to be transported away from the worries of the world of work. There’s no room to squeeze in any stressful thoughts while focusing on running 6 X 1000 meters really hard with a 2 minute rest in between.
I ran the Beaches Spring Sprint on Saturday and ran very close to my spring-summer goal of going under 21 minutes for 5K. I had hoped to run about 21:40 but ran 21:04 a time over 2 minutes faster than the 5K I ran last fall. I had really begun to think that I would never see the other side of 20 minutes at age 56 but sub-20 minute 5k, here I come.
This 5K is packed with high school track stars who run 5K’s for strength. Normally, young runners go out too hard and fade in the second half but there were a ton of great times run by the youngsters in this race including the male winner (13-17 year old category) who nearly set a course record in a time of 14:53 and a junior girl who ran under 18 minutes.
A cautious start
I concentrated on holding back in the first half and had a very strong finish, passing one young woman whose coach helpfully shouted out that she was on 21:30 pace with about 600 meters to go. I knew I would get my time and put on a final burst in the last 20 meters to pass a couple more runners right at the finish line. My confidence has come back in droves. After years of marathon training, my weary legs are remembering what it is like to run fast.
I’m trying to boost my mileage a little but this week had to be satisfied with matching the 45 miles or 72K that I ran two weeks ago. Commuting to Mississauga for a four day in-class session of my four-month course cast a pall on my running ambitions for the week. To make it to my destination meant leaving home around 6:45 a.m. Adding to this were two evening engagements with start times not far off my usual bedtime on days when I leave home for work at 9 or 10 a.m.
Getting lapped in the mile by teammates
I’ve been too busy to write much about my renewed commitment to increased racing fitness but joining a track club was something I finally did in January after nearly two years of thinking about it. My 2012 drive to get fit was set back by turning my ankle and a bad cold over the couple of weeks while I was on holiday and this week’s challenge was to merely maintain my momentum. But I’m excited about applying myself to speed work with the track club and feel confident that I can maintain this momentum alongside my volunteer commitment of organizing the People4Kids Gala to take place on Thursday, May 3rd at C-5 in the ROM.
Part of my confidence is due in part to focusing on quality rather than quantity over the next few months. Last year at this time I was hoping to run a marathon however, the commitment to high mileage was too much to maintain while organizing the gala. I’m also banking on the hope that having a club to train with at regular times will reduce the amount of determination I need to get myself to do interval sessions.
Here is what I did this week:
Monday – 10 miles easy (day after 800 meter and mile race)
Tuesday – 3 miles easy (left for run at 5:15 a.m. and went to bed at 8:30 p.m.)
Wednesday – 7 miles (Decided to stay at a hotel near the course site in Mississauga to facilitate an evening run)
Thursday – 4 miles (threshold session on hotel treadmill)
Friday – 2 miles (left for run at 5:30 a.m.)
Saturday – 14 miles solo
Sunday – 5 miles
Total / 45 miles
My husband joined me at the hotel in Mississauga and assumed the stress of commuting to his workplace. Thankfully, the week was not as crazy as expected as the two hour commutes back to Toronto did not materialize as I received a lift home on three of the days. This allowed me to nap on Thursday before attending the gala opening of the auto show. This event is very popular as there is a lot of complimentary food and drink. In order to conserve my energy I did not take advantage of the drink offers other than juice and coffee but was extremely happy to enjoy the free oyster bar among other things.
Free oysters courtesy of Lexus
On Friday, I was also able to nap and along with members of the gala committee went to hear Waleed Abdulhamid perform. We were in negotiations to have him play at our gala and were well satisfied by his performance that he is our man.
Fellow talent hunters
Saturday morning brought sludgy snow and overcast skies which made getting out the door, with no company, difficult. But my husband reminded me of how lucky I am to be able to run injury-free and tells me that I have to run for the two of us, thus helping to prod me to hit the roads. Part of the process of getting out the door involved downloading some new music and creating a new playlist called “long run”.
I had fully intended to run to the Athletic Centre at U of T and run indoors but as I left the house it stopped snowing and the sky cleared. So with uncleared sidewalks predominating I decided my best bet was to run along Bloor the whole way, which I did for a very long stretch from St. George to Woodbine. I ran back the exact same way. Not bad for a winter run but the tips of crocus leaves have been showing for a couple of weeks and wouldn’t it be nice if spring was early this year. Training without the company of my favourite training partner, my husband over these past few years has proven a challenge however his encouragement is at the top of the list of my arsenal of motivational tactics and inducements to get out the door nearly every day of the year.
I’ve been busy with an intensive course, on-line for the most part but this is the one week of in-class instruction. It takes place in Mississauga so I’ll have to leave home just before 7 a.m. to get there for 8:45 a.m. Additionally, planning for the gala my husband and I Chair is in full gear so getting my runs in this week will be a challenge, particularly since I’m hoping to boost my mileage after focusing on quality last week.
Last week I had some intense work outs and in fact – surprise, surprise – one of those was to race on the track for the first time since 2002 or was it 2003. So how does it feel to run 800 meters after nearly a decade of focusing on the marathon? Truly, a picture is worth a thousand words.
Waaaahhhh!
I had hoped to go under 3 minutes and missed by .04 of a second. Boo! I had trouble during the warm-up while jogging with my spikes, as my low-to-the-ground marathoner’s stride sent me sprawling to the ground with my heel toe motion catching the 5mm pins at the wrong time. I was a bundle of nerves, the only thing keeping me going was the knowledge that I would feel a sense of satisfaction afterward and that my leg speed will benefit from my efforts. To help our team garner more points, I also ran the mile which took place an hour later.
Prior to the race I was wishing for the anonymity of running with 45,000 others in the NYC marathon. Track is an intense affair as spectators can watch you every step of the way so you really feel under the microscope. If you go out too hard and finish miserably in a road race, your splits may tell the story but no one actually sees you slow down at each 200 meter split. I ran the first lap in about 42 seconds which for an evenly run race would mean a time of 2:48 but alas, that was not to be but I did manage a decent last lap.
The rarely run mile
I wore regular lightweight racing flats for the mile as I was worried that I would not be able to stride strongly on the heels of the 800 meter race and that I would again be hurled to the ground.
I was disappointed in my time of 6:48 although it was relatively a better time than my 800 meters. I have good base endurance, a modicum of strength and little speed at this point but I’m looking forward to speedier times in the late spring and early summer with consistent interval and speed work.
I’m very happy to have finally joined the masters group at U of T. Were it not for the team scoring component, I may never gotten back on track. It’s time to kick up those heels!
Mind, Motion & Matter 