Post Run Dip

Boo-hoo the heat wave is over and summer running conditions have come to an abrupt end, and so has our post run swim in the lake.

Today we started a new post run tradition in Conny’s new HOT TUB!

I think I am going to enjoy fall running a little more this year.

Run Like Hell Chris!

This is my friend/neighbour/teammate/running husband Chris, and today he will be tackling leg 2 of The Canadian Death Race.

A ‘lil about the race from their website…

The Canadian Death Race is a 125 km all-terrain extreme adventure race course on very challenging terrain including three mountain summits and 17,000 feet of elevation change.

The race begins and ends in Grande Cache, Alberta. The five legs may be run individually or in relay teams of from two to five members. The first leg is the shortest at 19 km, the second is the most technical, the third is considered the easiest section, the fourth is the longest at 38 km, and the last leg to the finish line is of (comparatively) intermediate difficulty.

Second leg, 27 km: Flood & Grande Mountain Slugfest
Includes about.1 km of pavement. The rest is dirt trail with rocky and swampy sections, and approximately 6 km of hard packed dirt road.. Net elevation gain is 500 feet, but the total elevation change is well over 6000 feet. This leg of the race is characterized by long sustained climbing with about 3 km of very rough terrain and two creek crossings. The trail from the summit of Flood Mountain to the summit of Grande Mountain is the roughest piece of trail in the Death Race. The power line down the front of Grande Mountain leading back into town is the most dangerous part of the entire course. This is due to the steep, rocky drop-offs and unstable footing while running downhill. The Slugfest is the most technical section and is rated the second hardest leg of the Death Race (although many rate this leg as the hardest of all). Cut off Time: 6 pm

Run like hell Chris!

Mud Sweat Beer

Mud, sweat, beer and a viking hat…how can you go wrong?!  I’m not sure how you would train for this baby, I don’t really know if you can and I am soooo in! There is even a half price race entry on Groupon today ($50 value for $25).

Here are the event details if I have got you thinking:

• Saturday August 6th, Whistler Blackcomb
• 3.07 hellish miles
• $50 CAD until 11:59pm* on Sunday, July 10, 2011
• Waves of up to 500 participants will start in waves every 30 minutes from 11:00am – 4:00pm
• www.warriordash.com

I don’t think that I will be buying a pretty new outfit for this one.

Seattle Rock ‘N’ Roll Report

This past weekend was a big weekend in my running community, the Seattle Rock ‘N’ Roll Marathon and ½ Marathon was on Saturday and the Scotiabank ½ Marathon was on Sunday. Originally I was to Rock ‘N’ Roll the marathon, but injury (there I said it) sidelined my final four long runs so instead I Rock ‘N’ Rolled the ½ marathon.

Wanting to beat the dreaded Seattle rush hour traffic we started our trek Friday morning. We arrived at our hotel with only one extra loop around the block (Seattle has lots of one-way streets), checked in, freshened up and went in search of the Expo where we would pick up our race packages. Before leaving we asked our concierge (or at least I thought he was) how to get to the Expo and he said that there were things to do in town other than the marathon, like the Avatar: The Exhibition…huh?

Unfamiliar and a little frustrated with the city’s public transportation system, we got back in the car and fought rush hour/Mariner tailgate party traffic to Qwest (pronounced “quest” for idiots like myself) Field and the Health and Fitness Expo.

The Rock ‘N’ Roll Marathon Series is the most organized racing event hands down, yes, even more organized than mine. We posed on the red carpet, checked in, changed races, changed corrals, picked up our schwag, all in less than 10 minutes, giving us plenty of time to take in the rest of the Expo.

The official race shirt was a little plain, I was also disappointed because it is navy blue. Race Organizers around the world, nothing goes with navy blue other than navy blue. If you want people to wear your race shirt go white, black, red…anything that you can pair with black pants, black and navy blue don’t work.

There was plenty to see and sample at the Expo; protein bars, juices, pain relievers, recovery drink and deodorant. No Sugar Ray sightings this time, but you never know who you might see.

Continuing with the Rock ‘N’ Roll theme, we decided to have our pre-race dinner at the Hard Rock Café. We sang a little Britney Bitch, harmonized with Spandau Ballet and hair tossed with White Snake. The food was good and our waiter rocked.

You would think that being in Seattle with a Starbucks on nearly every corner, finding an after dinner decaf wouldn’t be an issue. We were shocked to find out that Starbucks closed at 9:00pm and that they only brew decaf in the morning.

We moved from coffee withdrawal to pre-race breakfast. We hit Walgreens and then found an IGA right in the middle of downtown Seattle. It was like it was meant to be; bagels, fruit, plastic cutlery, even single serving sized packages of almond butter, we were good to go. With the bagels divy’d up we headed back to the hotel and retired to our respective rooms.

Attaching the timing chip wasn’t nearly as stressful as it was in Vegas, even after a glass 2 glasses of wine. I laid out my race outfit and everything that I would need for the morning and was in bed for 10:00pm.

I don’t think that I could have possibly had a worse nights sleep, it wasn’t a noise or comfort issue, it was just me. And with slightly less than four hours of sleep it was time to get up. Thank goodness for coffee and Visine.

We had heard that some friends that were also racing left their hotel at 4:30am. Why so early we thought? The race started at 7:00am, we were less than 20km away (most of it freeway), so we met in the lobby at 5:50am took a couple of pics and piled into the truck with our anonymous driver, a little over capacity.

At 6:20am we were a mile away from our exit, and the freeway came to a complete stop. Hmmm. We could see other vehicles unloading their runners who were now walking down the side of the freeway and down an embankment to join a sea of other runners who were also walking. We were well over capacity, had no idea where the start line was and were under the watchful eye of Washington’s finest, we decided it best that we stay in the vehicle and follow the map and the traffic.

The race started at 7:00am and we had only just exited off the freeway.

At 7:25am we finally made it to the racer drop off point. Leaving only a PBOP (ask Colin) we left our patient and anonymous driver and joined the sea of people, who were also late to the start line. Along a couple of walkways, under an overpass and we were exactly where we had seen the sea people from the freeway…SMF!

Through a McDonalds parking lot, an industrial area and finally we could hear the music. We wished each other well, sang a verse or two of “Life Is A Highway” and instead of going out with corral 8, instead we joined corral 30.

My race plan was simple, hydration/walk breaks every 30 minutes and a PB.

With so many people ahead of me, I spent the first hour weaving, stop-starting, with no real pace at all. I had been running along the edge of the roads/freeways/train lines so by 1:15 the outside of my left foot had started to bug me, and not from my injury either, it was from the camber of the road. I tried switching the side of road that I was running on, but it didn’t help much.

Running along Lake Washington was quite beautiful and made for a great distraction. There were so many encouraging spectators along the side of the road with fantastic signs.

• Best signs: “Chafe now, brag later” (that seems to be my running story lately) and “It’s not sweat, it’s your fat cells crying”.
• The worst:  at the 5km water station read “It’s not too late to turn back”. Placed  at the 18km point of the ½ marathon or the 40km point in the marathon it would be ironic and somewhat funny, but at the 5km water station…fail.

The 9.2 mile mark was the ½ marathon/marathon split. I knew I easily had another 4 miles in me, but another 17? After 8 weeks of second guessing my decision to pull out of my marathon training I was finally at peace with it, and happily veered to the left with the rest of the ½ marathoners.

Just past the 10-mile marker we were able to see our first glimpse of downtown Seattle and also when I ran up on a familiar smiling face. I knew that several of the ladies from Lululemon Coquitlam Centre were running the ½ marathon, but thought that the chances of actually seeing one of them in the crowd of 28,000 was pretty slim. It was so awesome to see Mariah. We chatted for a few minutes and then started talking time goals (nothing like doing math to get you through those last few miles), Mariah’s time goal was in our grasp so away we went.

As we entered into the downtown core the streets became lined with cheering spectators. I had lost my GPS satellite in a tunnel earlier and wasn’t sure if what I was reading on my watch was completely accurate but I knew that the end was very near. We passed along a road that I recognized only by smell of the hotdogs from the day before (they smelled so good the day before, today they made me feel nauseous). We as we rounded the corner I could see the finish line, I love that feeling.

After 13 of these, you would have thought that I would have already learned everything that I needed to know, turns out that lucky 14 taught me a few new lessons:

1. Don’t expect to PB when you show up to a race 52 minutes late.
2. Stick to black bottoms unless you want to look like you pee’d yourself…why did I have to relearn this lesson?
3. It is what it is. Forget about what could have been or what you think should be; appreciate what you have, what you can do and do the best with it…no regrets.
4. Carry ID. Even free race beer requires picture identification.

Congratulations to my running family and everyone who ran this weekend, we rocked! Big woo-hoo for Barry completing his first ½ marathon. So proud of Conny, Colin and Soraiya for running the full meal deal. Thank-you to all of the volunteers for keeping us safe, fueled and hydrated and also to my family for putting up with me especially since May 3rd.

When our group ran the San Francisco Nike Women’s ½ Marathon in 2009 we made a pact to run one destination race per year. Although this trip did require entering another country and three hour car ride I am going to say that it was more of a road trip than a destination. Who’s up for a night run in Vegas, say December?

Vistas 2011

It has been said that good decisions come from experience, and experience comes from bad decisions. Whether or not I learned from my own experience or Daryl’s, thankfully I did not attempt to defend my title yesterday at the Vistas Race (retiring as a champion, even if it was in my own mind), returning this year only as a spectator.

When I arrived at the race Starbucks in hand, because that is part of spectating, I met fellow runner/last year’s race winner at the finish line, also with coffee in hand and Conny’s hoody over his arm.

There was a strange yet wonderful smell coming from the food area, I would have to wait to find out what it was until the racers came in because RACE FOOD IS FOR THE RACERS AND THE RACE VOLUNTEERS. This is a bit of a pet peeve of mine, hence the boldface and caps. Food is ordered and purchased for a race on a per racer basis. If you have ever been one of the last few racers to come through a finish line only to hit the food tent to find scraps and mushy pieces of fruit that nobody wants, and hear from a non racer how good the chocolate chip cookies were or how juicy the watermelon was, you know exactly what I mean. Rant done. One of the main reasons why I bring my own coffee to spectate (that and also because Starbucks is much better).

The sun was shining and music wasn’t half bad as Colin and I waited for the racers to cross the finish line. Here they come…

Although the age categories were wide, top finishers did receive medals this year.  Race results have now been posted here.

Congratulations to everyone who participated in the Vistas 2011 run.

I’m Gonna Rock And Roll At Night, And Fuel And Hydrate During The Day

It was officially announced last night, that the Las Vegas Rock and Roll ½ Marathon and Marathon will be a night run, being billed as “the world’s largest nighttime running event”. I personally liked their Facebook post “the only one night stand you won’t regret”!

The news was not a huge shock as the rumors have been circulating on the Internet and race organizers have been alluding to it for the past couple of weeks. I was pleasantly surprised to hear that the full marathon will start at 4:00pm and the ½ marathon will start at 5:30pm. Last year both distances started at the same time which made for some lengthy wait times if you were supporting both groups, and for those finishing the marathon in over 4 hours 30 minutes most of the festivities (Bret Michaels concert and free beer tent) and food were already finished.

I was however shocked to learn that there is a “strictly enforced” time limit of 4 hours and 30 minutes for the full marathon, the ½ marathon has a time limit of 4 hours, which is not that shocking. Both races start from the same location, Las Vegas Boulevard, and finish at the same location, in the parking lot of the Mandalay Bay Hotel. From the website “The full 13.1 miles of the half marathon course will be on the Strip and the marathon runners will be right alongside for nearly eleven miles”. Now I am not a logistics expert, and certainly not in Vegas, and am sure that they have their reason but doing a bit of math, if the strip is closed from the start of the full marathon at 4:00pm and remains closed until the 9:30pm time limit of the ½ marathon, again not a logistics expert, wouldn’t it make sense to do a double loop of the strip for the full marathon and have a cut off time of 5 hours 30 minutes since the strip is already closed?

I ran last year’s marathon in 4:26:48 and by the skin of my teeth (by one) finished in the top half of the 5180 marathoners, and that is coming in just under the 4:30 mark. Doing the math once again, half of the marathoners from last year would not be able to complete the race under the new rules.

My plan had always been for the ½ this year, you had me at Vegas. But Sincity was my first marathon, and I could not think of a more perfect place to give up my marathonginity, and at night under the lights to boot. But with the new time limits imposed there will definitely be many disappointed who sadly won’t get the chance to regret this one nightstand.

And the award goes to….(not for the squeamish)

And the award for Best Visual Effects in the documentary “The Long Run” goes to …

DAVE!

This documentary is also nominated for “In a Supporting Role – Male” – B.MacK, “In a Supporting Role – Female” – Raeanne Fabulous, “Best Costume Design” and of course “Soundtrack”.

Marathon Recap: Vegas Baby!

When I left Vegas last time, I certainly didn’t think that the next time I would be there would be to run a marathon, who would run a marathon in Vegas? But on Sunday December 5th, 2010 at 11:45:14am somewhere on the property of the Mandalay Bay I became a marathoner! Oh yeah, done and have the medal to prove it, and it is quite the medal.

I have to say that Maple Ridge was well represented at this race; our plane was full of familiar faces. Also well represented were cowboy boots and large belt buckles as the National Finals Rodeo were also in town.

Famished after we landed, we dropped our bags in our rooms and went in search of food, and our fascination for pork belly began much to Soraiya’s disgust (hey,don’t knock it til you try it).

Finding race package pick-up was a bit of a wild goose chase, but it did give us a chance to ride the monorail, see Toby Keith’s bar (mmmmm, I love that bar) and walk the catwalk at the Wynn. After picking up our race packages we headed into the health and fitness expo and had a celebrity encounter (Soraiya also had one earlier in the day when she saw Haiden from BB) with Mark McGrath aka Sugar Ray.

We finished Friday evening off by mostly getting lost in our hotel lobby and with some fantastic people watching at Studio 54.

We swore that we weren’t going to do any walking on Saturday, and save our legs for the race…whatever, we visited Freemont Street (FYI – Freemont Street is best viewed in the evening) and then travelled at warp speed back to the strip where we enjoyed the sights, sounds and food at the Bellagio and some successful gaming at Planet Hollywood.

After getting lost again in our hotel lobby, a mediocre pre-race meal, and witnessing two ladies in the same zebra print dress pass and look at each other in astonishment, we shut the lights out 9:30pm, yes 9:30pm.

Surprisingly I did manage to sleep and got up at 4:55am without much difficulty. After successfully executing my pre-race routine, we headed down to the lobby to meet the gang, and then over to New York, New York (again getting lost) to meet Tanya, Selena and Tanya’s fabulous husband Doug who had flown in the night before to surprise her, and thank goodness he did as he ended up saving our bacon (nothing to do with pork belly) on more than one occasion. It was kind of funny as we were getting into the elevator at 6:00am, people were getting off to come back to their rooms after a long night/morning out.

Thanks to Doug dealing with all of our gear check items, we made our way to our starting corrals as the race was starting. The energy was amazing, the music was pumping, the Blues Brothers were dancing on top of the start line arch…this was it. The first wave (including Colin) went out at exactly 7:00am; our wave crossed the start line at 7:18am.

My plan :
• Run 10/1 for the entire race.
• Walk and drink at each of the water stations because I was unable to carry enough fluid in my pack.
• Eat ½ Cliff Shot every second set.
• Run a 10 minute mile, with the goal of finishing in 4 hours 22 minutes
• Finish the race in 24 sets – 4 hours 24 minutes.
• To make the noon last call at the MGD tent for my free beer and to see Bret Michaels play at the Finish Line Festival.

Running down Las Vegas Boulevard was totally surreal. I knew that I would probably have an anxiety attack if I got too caught up in it, so I put my headphones and game face on. I had tried to come up with a profound mantra before the race to help keep me focused without success, but once out on the course it came to me “Don’t think, just run!”

The ½ marathon and the first ½ of the marathon route was an out and back that went from one end of the strip to the other (that’s a $20 cab ride each way), it was really cool to see the wheelchair athletes as well as the first ½ marathoners (including Colin) on their return. Although I felt that I could run faster, it was pretty crowded so I stuck to my comfortable target pace for the first half of the race.

As we approached the Luxor I could see the marathon turn right sign and ½ marathon straight ahead sign. It was hard making that right turn knowing that the ½ marathoners would cross the finish line in less than a mile and I still had another ½ marathon to run…”don’t think, just run!”

The only redeeming quality of the next 13.1 miles was that they weren’t totally flat, and of course the glory! Because there were a lot of out and backs along the streets it gave me an opportunity to see everyone. I saw Conny and Tanya a couple of times, we even stopped for a hug, Chris saw me but I never did see Soraiya.

Hitting the 17-mile marker was a big deal because it was a turn back point and once we turned back you could see the Luxor again. Kilometer markers were also used on this part of the course, which kind of messed with your mind a bit…”don’t think, just run!” Passing the 30km mark was interesting because this was the point where my Dad thought that I would seize up and hit my wall…”don’t think, just run!” By this point my pace was slowing and my body was starting to hurt. In my mind I thought that it would be my left foot and right IT band that would give me the most trouble, instead it was my quads and hamstrings on both legs. From set 19 on it got progressively harder to go from my walk break back into my run.

At mile 23 I hit my wall. I wasn’t out of breath or anything, my legs hurt, there was no end to this out and back, I could see mile 25 on the other side of the road and I was just ready to be done. I thought about something that had stuck with me that Peter Shankman said last month “did you know that when your brain says “I can’t do this anymore,” your body can still give another 50-70%”. As much as I wanted to, I didn’t stop until my next walk break, I think that may have been the hardest 4 minutes of my entire race.

As I approached the 25-mile marker, Tanya was on the other side of the road and yelled to me that I was just about done; we stopped for a quick hug…”don’t think, just run!” I passed the 25 mile marker and up onto West Hacienda Avenue one last time. As I went over the final overpass there were so many people cramping up and hobbling, and although I felt that my run wasn’t much faster I felt awful for passing them.

As I made the final right turn onto Las Vegas Boulevard the street was lined with smiling faces and people cheering. It absolutely killed me to do so because I was so close to finishing but I had to take my last walk break. I re-focused and started my final approach to the finish line. As I came into the chute and could see Colin cheering me in, I had no kick left so instead I threw up the horns and crossed the finish line.

So how did I do?

Pace	5 Km	10K	10 Mi	13.9 Mi	16.8 Mi	20 Mi	ChipTime
10:11	30:18	1:00:34	1:38:28	2:19:27	2:50:14	3:21:32	04:26:48

Overall: 2584 out of 5154 · Division: 145 out of 391 · Gender: 806 out of 2141

Proudly wearing my Rock and Roll Las Vegas Marathon medal I quickly found Chris and Soraiya (who qualified for Boston) and the celebrations began. The finish line was broadcast online so although my family couldn’t be there, they were able to see me finish the race and before I had a chance to call them they had already sent me a couple of congratulatory texts. We also received texts from some of our Maple Ridge running family who had also watched us cross. What a feeling!

I never did get my free beer (there was some confusion about needing photo ID), but I did get to hear Bret Michaels, I even saw him in the distance. Thanks for coming Bret!

After a quick shower, another pork belly sandwich, some well deserved wine and a power nap I slowly made my way down the strip with Conny and Colin to Vince Neil Ink to immortalize the day.

The rest of the evening will remain in Vegas.

I would like to thank all of the race organizers, volunteers, amazing cheer squads and bands on the race route. Although I did not indulge I would like to thank the Naked Sandwich Shop for handing out beer, as well as the ladies giving out M&M’s and the lady serving rice crispy squares, your hearts were all in the right place. Thank you also to my family, my running family, friends and clients for all of your love, support and encouragement. Special thanks to D for getting this all started, Conny, Colin (Quarter-turn), Soraiya, my running husband Chris and his beautiful wife Lysa – love you guys!

October goals

Really, where did September go?  Vacation, birthdays, anniversaries, school starting, going back to work, finishing the trail running season, another birthday…yup that sounds about right.  Through all of its mayhem, I did stay true to my September goal and spent some extra time in my kitchen.   I froze chili, made pumpkin muffins, blah, blah, blah and finished the month off by whipping up (yes, from scratch but with the notable exceptions of the low sodium chicken broth and copious amounts of white wine used) a fantastic cream of broccoli and cauliflower soup, look out Martha.

New month, new goals.  I received a newsletter from the fabulous Business Coach, Educator and Motivational Speaker Donna Hutchinson earlier this week, titled The Power To Know What You Want And Get What You Want.  I know that she sent it to all of her clients and contacts, but I really felt like she was speaking to me (she has that power).  Here is a little of what she said:

The path to your dream is typically not a straight line. There are many peaks, valleys and sometimes even road blocks along the way. It’s all part of the journey. You will have many great successes and probably many great challenges. It’s how you perceive and tackle these times that will see you through to your goal.

At the end of the day if your goal is worth it to you, then you will find a way to make it happen. Through focus, determination and nurturing anything is possible if we believe in ourselves.

The days are getting shorter and as we sit between seasons this may be a good time for you to re-focus, re-position and review what you truly want out of your life. I have my direction and I am working on it everyday. When my goal will be achieved I can’t say but I know I will get there someday and will enjoy the journey along the way.

Earlier this year I started writing a book.  I’m not sure if I have been in a valley or hit a road block, it feels more like I stopped at the side of the road and had a six month picnic (homemade of course), whatever I was doing I was not writing my book.  Thanks to Seth Godin‘s Linchpin, I left my lizard brain in September, and thanks to Donna, today I re-commit, I am back baby, I am a re-focused writing machine!

I went first.  How are you going to start the journey to accomplish your dream this month?

Woo-hoo!

I am feeling pretty good about myself. As today is the last full day of summer and still being 6 seconds short of my summer goal of a sub 50 on the Grouse Grind, I gave it one last try.

Oh yeah baby, 49:41! Doing the math that is an overall 5.5% summer improvement, and I took 57 seconds off my time from 12 days ago!

So what was different from grinds prior? Pilates last night, a good night’s sleep, shutting off my lizard brain, bringing music and my ego. I would like to thank my mostly masculine playlist: Aerosmith, The Trews, Matt Good, Jesse McCartney (I know what is wrong with this picture), Theory of a Deadman, Metalica, Nickelback, Tommy Lee, Finger Eleven, Sam Roberts and last but not least, Pink.

I guess it’s a sub 45 next summer.

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