The Injury

No I didn't burn my foot while grilling bacon in bed!

A while back (not sure how long ago because weeks and days and months tend to roll into one another as I get older) I saw a funny blog entry about runners acronyms. I'm thinking it was on Shut Up And Run but again, I'm old and can't remember. One that stuck out to me was FII - F**k I'm Injured. I've had my share of injuries since I've started running, lots I've ignored, some I've gotten treated but nothing that has ever sidelined me. Until now.

Last week the tendon behind the inside of my ankle was feeling tight during my runs, but because I'm good at ignoring stuff I left it. Then on Sunday when I worked on my feet for 7 hours and then immediately went to the gym to run 2 miles on the TM to try out my new shoes it really started to bother me. Like I could hardly walk on Sunday night and my ankle swelled right up. I iced it and hoped like crazy that it would be fine by Monday morning. Surprise. It wasn't. Cue Kenny Rogers. "You've got to know when to fold 'em".

I do fold laundry. I just don't put it away after I fold it. Derek likes to call the laundry baskets our 'dresser drawers'.

I called and got an appointment for first thing Tuesday morning with Kevin and continued icing and hoping. Dr Google told me it was posterior tibial tendinitis but I figured I'd let the real Dr make a final assessment. Turns out Dr Google had it partially right. It is the posterior tibial tendon but it's not tendinitis, it's a strain. So I got some ART and laser on it and was told to keep up the icing to get the swelling down ....

Kevin "Does that look swollen to you?"
Me "Yeah, a little bit"
Kevin "Uh, that's a lot more than a little bit swollen! Have you been icing?"
Me "Yes. But mainly staring and hoping that it goes away"
Kevin "Probably icing will work better than staring"

......and strict instructions not to run. Can I do something at least? Elliptical? Bike? I asked him. He told me that the bike would be the better option but only if it doesn't hurt. Considering when I said bike I meant spin I figured that would probably be a no and left it at that. Dejected I left his office and texted Derek to let him know that he was right and I wouldn't be allowed to do anything but wallow in my self pity. He asked me if I had even left the office before I posted about it on Daily Mile. LOL FYI I was at work when I posted. Just like my boss likes me to. ;o)

So now here I sit with a bag of frozen corn attached to my ankle and popping Aleve like crazy. Self imposed rest periods = no problem. Forced rest periods that I have no control over = driving me crazy! I'm thinking tomorrow I will swim with Mari as long as Kevin says that I'm allowed. Probably I should get permission from my hairdresser too.........

Bah bye November

November was a pretty lax month for me. I was feeling really burnt out after running Road 2 Hope and my monthly stats for the year are proof

 

 

My lowest mileage month in a year! I've been having trouble getting out of bed a lot which has really affected those numbers as well as various other reasons. I have been hitting up the 50/50 spin ab session at the gym on Tuesday evenings all month though so at least that's something. I've always enjoyed spin but fitting a class time in with my schedule is not easy because my gym switches times around like underwear. I'm hoping that this class sticks around on Tuesday nights though because I'm planning on changing the 6th run on the marathon training plan that Nicole gave me for spin. I don't think that my calves will hold up for 20 some odd weeks of 6 day/wk running. I have also been thinking about joining Mari at the pool on Wednesday mornings but haven't actually had the guts to go there. I used to love swimming and was very good at it, making it to provincials more than once for back, free & IM. One of these mornings I'll go. First I have to see if my bathing suit still fits..........eek!

 

I bought new shoes yesterday. The NB 870s that I got in August are just about shot and the toe box is not a good fit for my Flintstone feet and my toenails are paying the price. *sigh* I've been unable to find any NB 1080s locally in my size for ages, actually any NB's at all other than the 870s which I'm not going to buy again. I went down to Foot Tools yesterday and tried on a few different pairs of shoes and left with the Saucony Ride 6.

 

I'm a bit nervous, I've never run in anything other than NBs. I plan on hitting the TM at the gym tomorrow for 5K with them on to see how they are. Obviously I didn't wear them for our hilly 20K this morning but I did wear my new MEC thermal tights which were great. Everyone else said that they had a cold bum when they were finished but not me. I was toasty warm, sometimes a little too toasty.

 

So that's my November. Not much to tell because not much went on. December will be a better month. I'll be bringing my mileage back up for marathon training, starting with placing my alarm clock out of reach of my bedside table. I've been crazy with the snooze button lately. I used to never hit it at all, and now I'm at the point that I'm still asleep the first couple of times that I'm hitting it. Yikes. Bring on December, and advent. Peace be with you.



 

Resting & making plans.

I was feeling super burnt out after running all of my races this fall so after wandering around Fortinos last Sunday afternoon feeling like I was extremely hungover, I decided to take a few days off of running to rest. And just so that I would adhere to this notion, my body decided to let it's guard down and let me catch a cold and develop a cold sore at the start of the week. Cold sores are the worst! I only started getting them when I turned 30, but over the years I've figured out that I get them when I'm run down. Or go to the dentist. It's been a couple of months since I've been to the dentist so I'll have to accept the fact that I let myself get run down. Bad girl! I had also planned on making my way back to the gym on Tuesday (I'm sure that all of the trainers have been wondering where I've been!!) but instead I hit the couch when I got home from work because I felt like complete kak. Gordie didn't even get to go to the park that afternoon

Random action shot at the park footage

and I missed my weekly Tuesday visit with my dad who is at home bored recovering from hip replacement replacement surgery. Yes, he got his 20 year old replacement replaced. I went up to bed at 8pm and as soon as The Biggest Loser was over I rolled over and went to sleep. Nine hours later I woke up feeling a lot better! So much so that by the end of the afternoon on Wednesday I was working the McMillan calculator and getting excited for Around the Bay! I love that course and am really looking forward to running the race healthy this year. I will also break the tradition of eating nachos the night before. So between letting my body rest, working and parenting this week

Grade 9 problems......

 University problems....
 

I've been planning the start of 2014. A few short days ago I was sick of racing, and here I am now planning it all out! Rest. It does a body good. I think that's actually supposed to be milk doing a body good but I can't drink that any way....

CHILLY HALF-  THIS is where I'm supposed to get my 1:45 or better half. Forget the other races I've run, I know this course like the back of my hand. I run Lakeshore every. Damn. Week. Chilly, I'm coming for ya!

AROUND THE BAY- I registered for this the day after I got my 1:47 at the Oakville Half. Corral C here I come! Hopefully I will not have a cold this year nor an upset stomach. Alternating between blowing my nose and feeling like I'm going to puke does not provide the best race memories.

MISSISSAUGA MARATHON- After Patty told me that Robin was going to pace her at this race, I took it upon myself to offer up my and Phil's services to help Mari get her BQ with a sub 3:55. Ha, the look on Phil's face when Mari was thanking him for running with her was pretty hilarious. Details, Phil. Details.

SULPHUR SPRINGS 25K - I heart my memories of this race so much. Unfortunately Marina can't run it this year because it's her daughters bday so I've enlisted Emma to take her place. I hope they give out the same hats as last year. I lost mine and it was a great hat!

MOON IN JUNE 5K - 5K's suck ass but I've AG placed here both times that I've run it so lets see if the third time is just as lucky.

So that's it for the first half of the year. I may do the Canada Day 5K again just because I liked the medal. We'll see if anyone else is doing it. I also do not have a bday weekend 10K on my radar like usual. While I would like to see how I could do at one I have to be choosy about the days that I book off of work in 2014. It's my FILs 80th bday this summer so we'll more than likely be taking a trip out east for the celebrations. Oh! Do they have races in Newfoundland??!!

Hamilton Road 2 Hope Half Marathon





Hamilton ON

Bib # 2811

Chip time: 1:48:27

Official time 1:49:54

Place 552/1750

Gender Place 196/1005

Category Place 37/157

When I registered for this race I had planned on running it for fun. I was already committed to running Oakville and Scotia hard, what idiot tries to race 3 half marathons weeks within one another.....

Hours after Scotia was run and put away Nicole texted me to tell me about her plan to get the 1:45 at R2H. Ok. Guess we all know what idiot tries to race 3 half marathons now. This idiot. I had a slight unwellness in the days after Scotia which I thought would aid in my recovery because I couldn't run. The long run between the two races I went out and nailed 5K at race pace and figured it was in the bag! Enter the busiest 4 days before a race ever, including many many many hours stuck in Toronto traffic 2 days in a row and I was not feeling quite so confident that I would be in good enough shape. Add in a horrific sleep on Saturday night and a time change that I never do well with and the doubts were really starting to grow. Oh well. Just get out there and see what happens right! Gotta try my best, Nicole is making cartoon strips of the two of us and planning our finish line pictures for goodness sakes!

Race morning was cold! -7*C cold. My outfit plans changed as the days went by but the one thing that never changed was the fact that I would be wearing a skirt. In November. In -7*C weather. Why you may ask?! Because I got yelled at in a FB messenger chat when I suggested that I might wear crops. The horror of a #burlingtonskirtbrigade member showing up to a freezing cold race in crops was too much to bear! Fear of being kicked out of the club had me wrapping a space blanket around my legs trying as best I could to keep warm on race day. Nicole drove to my house for 6am then we went and picked up Patty, Emma & Amy. Off to Hamilton we went in the hopes of a good parking spot and a warm area to stay before the race began. In our skirts. In November.

We had a lot of time to kill before the race started and the fact that I could have snuck a nap in at the Dofasco Arena did not go unsaid. I was really tired. And cold. Who wears a skirt to a winter race anyway? We saw Pierre from Daily Mile and our friend Irina (she was my friend from Runkeeper before I was on DM) We took a picture and then made our way to the porta potty line up outside which Nicole assured me would be short. Twenty minutes later we were running to the start line because those lineups were so long! We did see Mike B from DM and Krista DuChene (or Christine DuChamps if you're Nicole) in the line ups so that was fun. For like 30 seconds. Then it was back to freezing and bitching about non runners taking up spots in the lineup. Seriously, what non runner wants to use those nasty things any way?! My husband used one at the end of the Yonge St 10K and said to me "You people are disgusting". Yep.


I think I had a growth spurt? I don't remember that skirt being quite so short last time I wore it.

**So I was thinking to myself that Kenny referred to racing as work. You may or may not know that I have two jobs. They are very different from one another, and in my mind one is work, the other is a place that I go to and get paid for being there. At my serving job I am always on my feet and go go go. At my 'girl in the office' job I sit down, do a little work, fart around on my phone, work a little more, have a text conversation, write some emails, pay some bills, play Candy Crush.....you get the picture. This race for me will be broken up into my two jobs. I worked at this race, just two different ways.....**

SERVING JOB "Hey fellas, can I get you some drinks to start?" "Yes, she'll have....."

I asked Nicole if we were supposed to be on the grass at the bottom of a hill(??!!) to start the race and she said no. Stupid bathroom lineups. We were so far back that first km was nuts trying to get around everyone. Hopefully no one yelled at us for not seeding ourselves correctly like that old guy did at the 10K I did with Kyle in the spring. Pfft. It was really cold out and I was seriously regretting wearing this skirt. This skirt which my shirt was causing to ride up so it looked like I was running in my underwear. Perfect. I'm tired, cold, my feet are numb and I look like I'm running with only a top and socks on. Oh wait. Have I mentioned the wind yet? The cold November wind? I was letting Nicole and her 5' body take the lead, but unfortunately there was not much wind blockage there even if I am only 5'2".  At least I had one thing to keep me amused out here. Watching people's butts. Have you ever noticed how jiggly people's butts are in tights? It's pretty mesmerizing. (Don't worry Nicole, your bum was not jiggly even if I could see your underwear lines) I also spotted one guy with holes in the seat of his tights. Normally I'd point something like that out to someone in case they didn't know (yes, I'm the friend who will tell you if you have food in your teeth. Boogers are another story though. You need to find another friend to tell you about those). I always wish that people would tell me when I've got something embarrassing going on. Like that time that I tucked my skirt into my panty hose and was told about it THE NEXT DAY!!  The km's were whizzing by which I was really surprised about because I was ready to lay down and sleep on the side of the road at the drop of a hat. Around 5K I told Nicole that if I fell back to keep going. We had a quick back and forth (No. Yes. No. Yes.) and left it at that. I was fine for now but I really didn't think that I had this pace in me for 21.1km. Then the downhill came. Yay for that downhill. We were truckin' along and I actually thought that I may just be able to keep at it. I was actually feeling good! Well as good as you can for being dog tired and freezing your thighs off in some crazy cold wind in a dumb ass skirt that looks like underwear. I had a quick gel at 8K, really wanting to stay on top of that because of how fatigued I was. I overheard a girl behind me say to her friend "She must be freezing!". Really?! You think?! What gave it away? My purple splotchy legs maybe? Stupid skirt. We were still flying along, heard Maggie yell out to us (Yay Maggie) and then reality set back in again. The downhill was over and so were my sub 5 paces. Around 11k I told Nicole to keep going. She said no, that I wasn't going any slower than what we were supposed to be. I told her that she could be going faster, that I was holding her back. She said she wasn't leaving me. I said I left her at Scotia. She said Kenny left her at Scotia. I told her that if she stayed with me I would feel bad because I knew that she had the time goal in her today. I did not. I saw the understanding of what I was saying to her sink in and that was that. I slowly fell behind, like Jack slipping underwater in the Titanic (haha) and that was the end of my bar shift.

Why is that girl running in her underwear?

GIRL IN THE OFFICE JOB "Can I speak to Sam please" "This is" "Oh. I was expecting a man"

So the first thing that I do when I get to work in the morning is check my cell to make sure that I haven't missed any messages between home & work. It would be fitting that the first thing that I would do after I lost Nicole would be to walk a water station. Then I ran for a bit. Then I walked that dumb brick hill. The I ran for a bit. Then I walked another tiny hill. I was ready to go to sleep. Oh there's a photographer, better look like I'm having fun running beside this guy I don't know. Yeah that sucked. Hey, isn't Marlene supposed to be down along here dressed up as Super Mario? Huh. She must not be wearing that outfit today. It's too cold! Only idiots don't dress for the weather. Oh this wind sucks. Wah. Why are so many people passing me? God, I hope I make it in under 2 hours. That'll be terrible. No okay it won't be that bad. We hit 10K in 48:xx I can't implode that much can I? I wonder if I'll see my friend Bill who lives on the Beach Strip down here. Oh. I forgot to tell him the race was today. Probably won't see my friend Bill. That's disappointing. Oh there go the leaders. Yikes. That guy is working really hard. He must be at his serving job. Not me. I punched my timecard a while ago. Geez, I'm really hungry. I don't think that I ate enough last night. Doh! Wait, I have candies in the pocket of my water bottle. I'll eat those! Gah! They're frozen. Geez, people are still passing me. OMG, I'm only at 16K?!?! Can I run another 5K? I don't know. I'm really really tired. But that would be embarrassing wouldn't it. Ok forget it. You can do it. Oh, gotta pull the skirt back down again. Some bystander just commented on my shorts. Oh my hands are really sweaty! Take off the gloves. That'll feel better. Should I walk again? No. Too many people are here to see you! Hey, there's Laura! Hi Laura! Glad I wasn't walking when I saw her!! And on and on the inner dialogue went until I looked at my watch and realized that if I quit farting around I could still get in under 1:50. Ok!! Let's get to work!! Just like trying to get those payroll cheques written before the clock strikes 12! Run! Yay, I was passing people once again and working hard. Well, as hard as my tired body would let me. The km's were ticking away and I was running. Up a little incline. No sweat!! 20K I got this! And then it all unraveled again. There was a runner just standing in the middle of the path. Dude! I thought to myself until I realized he was telling us all to move over, that behind him there was a crowd. A crowd surrounding a man. A crowd surrounding a man who was receiving CPR. A man who was receiving CPR who's eyes I looked right into and saw nothing there. "Oh my God" I whispered. Or yelled. I can't quite remember. I just remember being so horrified. So I ran. I ran to find Nicole and touch someone who was alive. On the verge of tears I rounded the corner and headed for the finish line. I heard Sabrina call out to me and I gave her a half hearted wave and made my way to the finish. I found Nicole and hugged her. Forgetting about why we were here today and asking if she saw the man. If she thought he was dead. She assured me that things would be ok and then I thought to ask her how she did. 1:45:57. She made it! I totally knew that she could. The race this day was hers, not mine and I'm fine with that. It's now 12 noon and I'm clocked out.


You may hate watching the sway of a pony tail but they look damn good in race photos!

Do you notice everyone leaning away from me & Nicole?!  Thank you for the picture Kim. Her hubby ran the half in sub 1:30!

Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Half Marathon

Toronto ON

Bib # 10357

Chip time: 1:46:16

Official time none given Weird!

Pace 5:00

Place 1,583/10,093

Gender Place 357/5,371

Category Place 48/652

 

 

It's pretty easy to say that this race began where last years ended. I had a terrible time at Scotia last year and I vowed to go back and fix that. I said the same thing about Midsummer too but unfortunately this year was just as sucky as last year. Was the same thing going to happen to me at Scotia?! Two crap years in a row?!?!

 

Nicole and I have been training for this race ALL. SUMMER. LONG. It was a scary thought, running a 4:58/km pace for 21.1 straight kilometers so when Nicole texted me at work on Thursday night to say that Kenny had agreed to pace us we were over the moon. Then nervous. Holy crap! Were we actually going to pull this off?! It was now looking like we just might!

 

On Friday I picked Nicole up from work and we headed to the Expo. Once again I handed over $14 for parking for the 'free expo' and we headed inside. We got our bibs (which they really need to jazz up!!) and joined the long line to get our chips activated. The expo was kind of a let down but we did get to talk to John Stanton. He came up to us as Nicole was trying to find the 3:30 marathon pace band. Seeing as I am a fly by the seat of my pants racer I couldn't be bothered to take one, although when John Stanton hands  you something you take it dammit so one ended up in my bag. Nicole didn't notice who was talking to her at first and I could literally read the thought bubble over his head "Look up! It's me! John Stanton!"

 

We chatted with John for a little bit about the elites and such and he asked us what our goal times were. Nicole said 1:45. I said same, just 2 seconds faster than her. John told me to let Nicole cross the start line ahead of me that way when we crossed the finish line together my chip time would be faster than hers. Brilliant! Now how to casually pull this off without Nicole noticing....

 

 Sunday morning came and Nicole picked me up. Fifteen minutes early. I kind of figured she might be there early so thankfully I was ready. We drove into Toronto two nervous wrecks. Thankfully the nerves went away somewhat by the time we got there. We parked at the Eaton Centre and made our way to the Sheraton Centre where everyone was meeting (without bothering to pay attention to exactly where we parked in the garage which would spell disaster come time to go home!). We found Emma, Emilie, Cam and Kenny at the meet up point and then stuck to Kenny like glue. Not a chance we were losing him today!! We said goodbye and good luck to everyone, and went to the bag check (bumping into Patty along the way) and then the porta potties and made our way to the red corral. You may remember the red corral as the one that I snuck in to last year, I think this year they may have had my face on a 'corral sneaker' poster because I almost went through a body cavity search to prove that I belonged! We finally got to the corral, dignity intact and Kenny warmed up. Nicole and I are way too cool to warm up so we just stood around trying to stay warm (hello 2*) and people watched. It would seem that when you are in the fast corral you have to dress fast. No frilly skirts in the red corral, no no! Only booty shorts and bra tops were allowed in here. Marina later pointed out to me that this was probably why I was tackled at the corral entrance! I just didn't look the part. Obviously the "guards" hadn't noticed the Kenyans in pink socks like mine! Cam came and joined us while we milled around and eventually the gun sounded! Yay!

 

The first few kilometers flew by (as did Cam) and I was feeling good! Way better than last year. I was actually beginning to think that we may just be able to pull this off! I quickly warmed up and threw away my gloves and took off my arm warmers. The crowds of people cheering was just as amazing as last year but the congestion of so many runners really made things difficult. While running on the streets with streetcar tracks it was impossible to run three abreast so I stayed behind Kenny and Nicole which unfortunately caused me to run up the back of Kenny a few times. SOOORRRY! I recognized a lot of points from last year and when I ran past the spot where I had lost the 1:50 pacer I had a little bit of a panic. Was I going to lose my pacer again this year? Better to push that away for now. The crowds of spectators were pretty heavy and some people were crowding the streets. At one point we passed a homeless man who was giving high fives with his filthy hands to the runners and when he saw us he put out his fist for Kenny to punch which Kenny veered away from like it was hot fire "NO THANK YOU" he yelled. I burst out laughing, and I still smile when reliving the moment. Some runners around us were commenting that the 1:45 pacer was running way too fast and we pointed out that he was doing 10s and 1s but if they wanted to do continuous to stick with us. One guy actually did although we never spoke, The others didn't seem to trust our 1:45 pacer without any bunny ears on and took off. We eventually made our way out onto Lakeshore and ran right into the headwind. It was a bit tough but at least it was cooling. "Are you even sweating yet?" I asked Kenny as I wiped the sweat from my own face. Of course he wasn't. LOL This is always the best part of the race because you get to watch the elites go by (the other way!). Around the 9k mark I tried to take a gel but walking the water stations and then trying to catch up to Kenny was tough so I only took one mouthful of it and held it in my hand trying to take the rest at the next water stop. We hit the 10K split in 49:56 (HELLO 10K PB even if I've only ever done 2 10ks....one a few years ago and one with Kyle) Unfortunately it was around this point that we heard Nicole say "You guys go on" as she pulled back. I honestly thought that she was going to catch right back up and was starting to feel quite bad when she didn't.

According to my Garmin our first 10k splits were 4:43 4:58 4:53 4:55 4:54 4:51 4:50 5:04 5:01 5:00

 

Kenny & me! (I usually like to buy the pictures that I post here but at $30 a digital download consider these ripped off!)

 

 

For the next couple of kilometers I just focused on the turn around. A) It meant we were heading back! and B) I could watch out for Nicole. We lost our tag along runner around here, hopefully he did well. We hit the turn around and I realized as someone yelled out Kenny's name (like they had been all race long) that John Stanton wasn't the only celeb runner that I'd talk to this weekend! Yep, my personal pacer is kind of a big deal! Heading back with the wind at our backs was great! I had assumed that the wind would be in our faces at this point so it was a welcome relief. I kept an eye out for Nicole's striped socks but never did see them. I hoped she was ok. I heard Phil call out to me along Lakeshore, as well as Pierre so that was nice. Kenny told me that there was a hill coming up so to make my way slowly back to him after the next water station and then we'd tackle the hill. Um, no thanks! Trying to make my way back to him was getting tough, add a hill in there and I'm skipping the water stop. I was 2/3 of the way through this race, I wasn't losing him now! Unfortunately the lid to my water bottle had come loose and was a total pain to open now so I didn't bother drinking anything much at all during the back half of the race. Nor did I take the rest of my gel as this picture that Kenny snapped will show. Insert ominous music here.

Is it over yet?!

 

I was starting to get pretty tired around 18K and seeing that final hill coming up on Lakeshore was not a welcome sight! Kenny said something about taking it with a little more effort but I kind of tuned him out. I REALLY wanted to walk that hill. Guaranteed if he wasn't with me I would have. I wasn't able to stay beside him on the incline but that was ok, he was my personal beacon. I actually focused on his water belt and wondered to myself if he'd give me a sip of his water, I was pretty thirsty. Then I remembered how he had arched away from the homeless guy trying to give him knuck's and I thought it best to put that thought away! Just a few more kilometers to go, I can forego water. We made our way past the full and half split as Kenny cheered on the marathoners and made the final turn onto Bay St. The crowds were cheering and Kenny looked like he was ready to go so I sent him on his way. My legs felt like I was running through quicksand and I had rocks inside both of my shoes. I felt like I had absolutely nothing left to give and it was all due to my lack of nutrition on the race. Kenny pointed out later that we've really got to figure out the water stops and he's right. I couldn't take in my full gel or any Gatorade on the back half because it was just way to hard to catch back up to Kenny and eventually that caught back up to me. Thankfully I was able to dig deep within myself and sprint to the end, passing a girl who quickly passed me right back and get to the finish line with 1:46 showing on my Garmin.

Garmin splits 4:53 5:09 5:00 5:00 5:07 4:54 5:04 5:00 5:12 4:55 6:20 0:30 *I don't know that I can fully trust these last few splits due to the buildings and bridges.

 

I'm coming Kenny!

 

 

This picture makes me LOL so hard!

At the end of the day I didn't make my 1:45 goal but I'm proud of my time and so thankful to Kenny for agreeing to run with us. He got in at 1:45:45 so he got our 1:45 for us! I truly think that I'm meant to make the 1:45 WITH Nicole, so in two weeks we'll give it the ol' college try again at Road 2 Hope. Wish us luck!

I look like I'm ready for a nap. Too bad I never got one.

Yay 1 minute 1 second PB!

 

 

 

Looking back at September

So I've really had nothing to say on here lately in case you haven't noticed. Life gets busy and I find a lot of the time I'd rather just blend in with the woodwork in my down time. Right now my boss is away and seeing as a good chunk of my mornings are spent on the phone with him, while he's gone I have time on my hands. I really like when he's gone. I get to catch up on things going on in my own life rather than my work life. Ha.

September was a bit of a rough month for me. Kyle left for university and it has taken me a while to learn to deal with the void it has left. When Kyle is home he takes up a lot of my time. If it were socially acceptable I'm sure I'd still be wiping his butt for him, that's how much I baby him. We both know it and I feel sorry for his future wife for the monster that I have created. Thankfully I realized quickly the error of my ways and Noah doesn't have it quite so easy. Any way, maybe it was post university depression (haha) but I was finding it really hard to get up for my runs in the mornings which is weird because I'd dream about running for the rest of the day. Luckily I've been able to bounce back, just look at my 18k run before 7 am yesterday on 3 hours of sleep! ;o) Monday night football has also returned turning my Monday night shifts into late ones, which has made my Tuesday runs turn my Wednesday runs into sucky ones because I'm so tired. I'll be happy once football is over. Hockey can stay though. I loves me some hockey!

I only ran 211km for September which doesn't seem like much does it? Considering it's the month before my goal race I probably should have run more but like I said, some of those days were tough to get up for. I also decided to give my legs a break from time to time. I like to think that I'm about quality rather than quantity. LOL Give me fresh legs that don't have tight calves or achy hamstrings any day of the week! I'm not going to preform well like that any way so may as well make sure things are in good shape. That's what I'm telling myself any way so don't you dare contradict me! :o) Considering I was able to blast out a 1:47:17 PB half in September so I think that I did alright. Now if I can just keep it up for October I'll be great. Two days after running the Oakville Half I thought that my 1:45 goal at Scotia was definitely doable and of course today I am doubting myself again. I suppose I'll just have to go out there and see where the chips fall. So bring on October! Cooler temps, Run for the Toad relay and Scotia are all in my sights. It's also my baby's 18th birthday and Thanksgiving. I loves me some Thanksgiving.....

Oakville Half Marathon

Oakville ON

Bib # 381

Chip time: 1:47:17

Official time 1:47:48

Pace 5:01

Place 263/811

Gender Place 67/383

Category Place 21/117

 

Apart from the LOOOOOOONG course last year, I really enjoyed the Oakville Half so when I realized that they had corrected the course to a proper 21.1 this year I decided to sign back up. And considering it's 10 minutes from my house, even if you sleep in you can still get there in time! Trust me I know.

I'm not going to lie. I was a little nervous coming into this race. Like any good runner I was starting to doubt myself. Last week my main speed workout was a fail. With a capitol F. Having your last speed work before a race not go so well is not confidence building let me tell you, even if I had been nailing every single previous one. I have also gotten used to running the tough ones with Nicole. How was I going to grit this one out without anyone there to hold me accountable. What if I shit the bed?! Or myself?! So many what ifs?!?!

Race morning arrived and I was able to get up on time. Already winning! I was able to eat all of my oatmeal. Woohoo! I was able to have a poo. Things are looking way up from last year! Then the girls (Amy, Patty and Emma) arrived to pick me up 10 minutes early and I had to scramble. EEK! I got in the car and muttered that I hoped that I had everything. "Chip?" someone asked. "Yep". "Bib?" asked another. "Nope!". *sigh* Welcome to my life. I ran back in, grabbed it and hurried out. Amy drove us to her friends house who lived right around the corner from the park and we walked over and hit the porta potties while the lines were still small. Then we milled around for a bit until Emma and Amy's 10K race began. (FYI there is a photo of us at the start but it's a hideous shot of me as was agreed upon by one of my hockey guys last night who is also a FB friend so it won't be shared) We ran into Pierre from Daily Mile and I was starting to ask myself what the hell I was doing here. Did I really want to do this? Wouldn't I rather be at work slinging eggs and pouring coffee right now? WTF? Hating a race BEFORE the race actually begins is a new one for me. I'll be alright I thought to myself. Just make it to the 16k mark where Nicole has agreed to meet and run me in. I had downloaded a couple of podcasts and borrowed Noah's headphones (after a long pleading session where he made me clean my ears - anal kids are the worst!) to keep my mind off of the boredom. Another friend from Daily Mile, Richard came up to chat and he asked what my goal was. 1:50 I told him. He said that would probably be around his finishing time too as his training hasn't been great due to work this summer. "Want to run together then?!" I begged asked him. He agreed! Someone to run with now?!?! Pfft I've got this!

The race started and we chatted about our sons who are both in first year university while we dodged a few people, but not many. Richard spoke about how he is traveling so much with work right now and I told him that I recognised a lot of the streets that we were passing from blueprints that come across my desk at my morning job. I told him that I like to walk the water stations and he said that he did that with Nicole at Mississauga and he thought that it worked well so he agreed to this part of my plan. The first 5k were easy peasy lemon squeezy even if Lakeshore did get a lot hillier from the last time I ran it.
5:12 4:58 5:03 5:06 5:03

The next 5k had their challenges. There is a bit of a hill around 8k that absolutely gassed me. No idea why but my breathing was crazy and I felt like I was running on empty once we got to the top of the incline. I told Richard that I would have to gel at the next water station and he said that was fine, he was getting a foot cramp so he was going to loosen his shoe while we were there. I suggested that he get some Gatorade at the water station to help with the cramp. We hit the station, did what we had to do and were off. Not sure if it was psychosomatic but I felt a ton better once I had that gel in me. Richard asked me if we were on pace and I told him that I had no idea. I go into races only knowing what pace I'm supposed to be running. I can't dissect it. That doesn't work for me. I wanted to be running 5:10/km or better and it seemed to me that we had been so everything looked good.
5:05 5:05 5:12 *hill* 5:18 *gel break* 5:01

Halfway there! I knew that I could finish this even if it was getting tough. Conversation on my end dropped off a little bit and with his gimpy foot Richard kept asking how I was doing. Doing alright. We were in residential areas for a bit here so Richard interacted a lot with the spectators to keep himself occupied seeing as I wasn't holding up my end of the running partner bargain. I thought it was funny that he asked if he was embarrassing me. Obviously Richard has a teenage daughter at home! We soon saw another Daily Miler, Kim on the sidelines cheering and she snapped our picture and came and ran with us for about 500m.

Peace! Oh look, someone with the same shirt as me. EEK!

Heeheehee look how happy we are with our foot cramps and tired legs

I introduced Kim and Richard and told Kim how excited I was for the Run For The Toad relay that I am doing with her, Emma and Phil in a few weeks. Then Kim wished us well and turned off to finish her run and let us get on with ours. Richard was getting a little concerned that he would have to stop and stretch out his foot as the cramping was getting quite bad, but at my suggestion of more Gatorade the cramping soon gave up and went away. Yes! We encountered a little bit of a headwind down Rebecca but it didn't seem to last long thankfully. We hit the 15k water station (I had been noticing that the volunteers kept talking about how they liked how I will make eye contact with the person holding the cup that I want and will point to them so they are ready for me. Doesn't everyone do this?) and set our sights on pushing on and meeting up with Nicole at Rebecca St. Renewed energy to add to our team? Yes please! Richard again asked me if I thought that we were on pace. I think so I said, Nicole can probably tell us when we get there. She knows that stuff! 
4:54 5:10 5:03 5:03 5:11

Right on schedule there was Nicole in all her purple glory waiting to jump in with us. She had a bottle of water and right away offered me some (I guess just by looking at me you could tell I was working hard) but I told her we just had some. Thanks anyway. I was pretty tired here and not talking a whole lot. I did take the time to notice that Nicole had worn her running skirt to come run with us, although I didn't mention it. That would take up too much energy. She did point it out at the end of the race to which I told her that I had noticed it right away. I worked at the mall all through high school, I always notice this stuff! Richard asked Nicole if she thought we were on pace and she asked how she was supposed to know?! Uh oh! I guess only time will tell because I have no idea. I'm trying to do the math but its not making sense. I think we'll come in way under 1:50 and I feel like crap so that can't be right. "You guy's are doing great!! Only 5K to go. We don't even run 5K anymore!" Nicole said to try and put my head in a different space. Don't worry I thought to myself, I know that I've got this. Nicole spotted a few race photogs as we turned down Jones and did a few poses for them. Guess we'll have to look under the 'Unknown Runner' section for those. There was a race volunteer who told us to run all the way down the street. "Right into the lake?" Richard asked him for a joke. Turns out the joke was on Richard because as we turned onto Marine Dr he kept going straight! "Not right into the lake, Richard" I laughed at him. My legs were dead but I knew that the end was near so I just kept moving to stay with Nicole and Richard who seemed to be getting more energy with every step that he took. Obviously he had way more gas in the tank than I did at this point. "It's your race too" I said to Richard "Go on. Don' t let me hold you back! I've got Nicole, I'll be fine". I could see the inner struggle but we were finally able to convince him to take off.....only to turn the corner and find him waiting for us. "What happened we asked?!". I had visions of his foot cramp flaring up again. "I started this race with you so I'm going to finish this race with you!". He said. What a great guy Richard is! We soon passed the 20K sign and then Nicole waved us on with instructions to smile for the camera. "Come on Samantha! Show me that finishing kick!" Richard said to me. "Alright, but let me win ok??!!". We came flying down Lakeshore and saw Emma and Amy cheering us on (who both ran awesome PB's at their races!).

See Nicole behind us.....in her SKIRT!

Richard's all smiles loving life. I'm thinking just get me to that damn finish line!

Just as we were turning the corner into Coronation Park one of the guys on one of my Wednesday night hockey teams yelled out to me (his name is Trevor and he finished in 1:39!) "Hey Rich......." I stuttered. Not his name. Brain isn't working. Just run! Richard and I flew down the finishing chute, I heard the announcer say my name as Richard told me to look at the clock. 1:47:xx?! I smiled in elation and high fived Richard as we crossed the finish line! I can't believe we did it! Thank goodness for running friends again this day, they truly help you stick through the tough parts! I only hope that I am there for someone as much as they have been for me someday!
5:04 5:02 5:09 4:56 5:05 4:58 4:05 *final 170 meters

I'm so disappointed that they cut Richard out of this picture! Such a great moment!
FYI I did purchase this photo just so you know. I don't
feel badly for swiping it. :o)

 Happy post race smiles.

 Say "Jack Daniel's". Thanks for the 4 1/2 minute PB!! Next up
STWM where we'll really put JD up to the test!