2010 Races - Chilly 1/2 and ATB 30K

I just signed up for 2 races in the spring 2010 in order to take advantage of the early bird prices before they go up either today or on Tuesday:

* Chilly 1/2 Marathon -- $65 (early bird) + $5 (process fee) = $70

* Around the Bay 30 K -- $60 (early bird) + $5 (process fee) = $65

Can't believe I'm thinking of next year as I want to get through the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront full marathon first.

I'm going to keep track of my expenses during the 2010 year -- e.g., race fees; apparel; run-specific food such as gels and energy bars; etc. I'll put this tally in the right side bar. Hope I don't get shocked as the year progresses :-|

LSD 15:1 (x12)

Thrilled the weather cooperated this morning! It rained when I was in bed last night and I wore a cap just in case during the run. Opted for a shorter LSD due to last Saturday's 30 K Midsummer's Night Run race. My 15:1 (x12) took me east past the Humber River Bridge and then west to Spadina. I really enjoyed the "addictive" feeling of running. Afterwards, I went briefly to the Buskerfest at the St. Lawrence Market.

Back to routine with weekday runs on Tuesday and Thursday and LSD on Saturday. Hope for 32 K next weekend and then taper for a couple of weeks for the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon!

Today = 23.38 K
YTD = 1144.96 K

Running Addiction ... Heroin Article

From http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=8430744


Exercise Addicts Can Blame Their Brains
Ultra Athletes and Researchers Say the 'Runner's High' is Similar to Heroin Addiction
By LAUREN COX
ABC News Medical Unit
Aug. 28, 2009—


Some people are so athletic -- running daily in rain, wind and heat in sickness and in health -- that most people wonder if they are masochists. But new research shows that they may just be addicted to exercise.

Stan Jensen, author of Run100s.com, has competed in 20 marathons and 125 ultramarathons in his lifetime. He said he considered each race "fun," but agrees there are sometimes other motivations at work among ultra runners.

"Take the Boston marathon: for a lot of runners that's their goal. They say 'wow that was hard, I'm glad I did it' and they go back to mowing the lawn," he said.

But Jensen wasn't satisfied. After many city marathons he moved to marathons on trails, and then he morphed to an ultra marathon, which is any race longer than the standard 26 miles in a marathon. Eventually, Jensen was doing 100-mile races.

Jensen's not alone in his enthusiasm. This week Robert Donahue of Minneapolis wanted to help recruit male mentors for his local Big Brothers Big Sisters. To do it, he decided he would run 100 miles in five days, which amounts to a little less than a marathon each day.

Other enthusiasts have set up races in horrible conditions such as the Badwater Ultramarathon in Death Valley (135 miles in temperatures up to 130 degrees), or the annual Antarctic Ice Marathon(82 miles in wind chills of -20).

Jensen insists that the soft trails and slower pace of an ultramarathon are easier on the body than the fast-paced pounding on pavement involved in most marathons. But ultramarathons lure runners who seek a challenge to keep up the "runner's high."

"There was a time at which I was definitely addicted to running. I enjoyed it, I enjoyed the way I felt when I ran and I enjoyed the feeling of accomplishment when I finished," said Jensen. "Running is also a form of escape. If you have chores, you have a choice: maybe I can just go run for a couple of hours and mow the lawn later."

But he will admit there's a bit of extreme thinking behind some among ultra marathoners.

"I also know people in my sport who are former alcoholics, or heroin addicts. They say 'you know, I have a problem with addiction, but this is the healthiest I addiction I can have'," said Jensen.

A new study in the August edition of the journal Behavioral Neuroscience showed running may indeed be addictive to the brain in the same way as heroin or morphine.



Runner's High Equivalent to Low Doses of Heroin?
Scientists have long known that exercising can release endorphins in the brain, and that some runners need to keep adding distances to feel that "high." However, it is not known if running forms a true addiction.

To test this, scientists turned to rats. It turns out rodents also keep increasing their amount of time on the running wheel like humans do.

Researchers at Tufts University let one group of rats become increasingly avid runners, and forced another group of rats to stay lazy in a cage with no hamster wheel.

When the researchers injected both groups of mice with a drug called Naloxone that is used for heroin withdrawal, the rats who had become exercise fanatics showed withdrawal symptoms similar to human heroin addicts on Naloxone -- their teeth shattered, and their bodies shook in tremors.

The unexercised mice, however, did not react to the Naloxone.


Could Running be Addictive for Everyone?
The rat study may provide only small amount of evidence that running is actually addictive in humans, but exercise experts didn't need much convincing anyway.

"It's not across the board that it's addictive, but it can be addictive," said Wayne Westcott, director of the exercise science program at Quincy College in Quincy, Mass. "Those are the people who over-train, they have bad feet, surgeries, or injuries and they can't stop."

Former professional runner Per Kristian Moerk agreed that brain chemistry could get people addicted to running. But that's only part of the picture, he said.

"I think the other part of why running is addictive is the feedback," said Moerk, manager for the sports medicine center at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

Moerk noticed runners also run to keep their bodies slim, have more energy during the day and for old-fashioned competition.

"You look better, your self-esteem improves. You get compliments," said Moerk.

But if running is so addictive, it begs the questions of what happened to all the rest of us who hate the tedium of the treadmill with a passion.


Why Aren't We All Addicted to Exercise
"In most things in life, and the things we research, there are responders to almost everything and there are non-responders," said Westcott. "Unfortunately, most people are not responsive to exercise and they don't seem addicted to exercise."

Indeed, 95 percent of us seem quite lazy. A 2003 study by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) outfitted 10,000 people across the United States with an accelerometer and tracked how long and how fast they moved during the day.

The results showed that less than 5 percent of adults older than 20 get at least 30 minutes of physical activity five days a week.

"That included activities of daily living, like working in the garden, and they could even do it in 10-minute segments," said Westcott.

According to Westcott, the physical activity standard in the NHANES trail amounted to walking 2.5 miles per hour, which is not even a brisk walking pace.

"Very few people are addicted, however the other 5 percent of us can get quite addicted to exercise," said Westcott. "I could cut off my leg and I'd still want to go exercise."

As for Jensen, he said his days of ultra marathons are dwindling.

"I lost motivation. I had accomplished what I dreamed of doing, and to me it was quite a feat. I didn't want to find something harder, I didn't want to beat myself," said Jensen. "Now I try to run one ultramarathon a year, just to be active."


Copyright © 2009 ABC News Internet Ventures

15:1 (x3)

First run in 4 days! Wow - still can't believe the feeling of the legs (especially the left one) after the 30 K race last Saturday. Got in a slow run this morning and it felt good. 5.49 K. Took a different route through Trinity Bellowoods Park.

Exactly 1 month until the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Full Marathon! Will be tampering soon.

Have enjoyed the "down time" of holidays of sitting in the backyard with the dog and reading copies of running magazines. I must say that Canadian Running is my favourite.

Got a massage yesterday to work on the neck and shoulder stiffness. Got a doctor referral last March but never had the time to do it. My shoulders feel so "free" :-) Why did I wait this long to spend the $750 per year on my work insurance health plan??

Getting Ready for Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Full Marathon

Wow - Saturday night was tough to sleep. The aching legs. It's my left hip that "hurt" during the LSDs and during the 30 K run on Saturday during the second half. My work insurance provides $750 a year in massage and I got a doctor note's for massage back in the March Break but never had the time to use it. It's so nice to be able to just sit and do nothing during the month of August before preparing for the new school year.

A couple of things I learned from the 30 K Midsummer's Night Run:

1.) Monitor the hip and see a sports medicine doctor if need be;
2.) Energy gels - I opted at the last minute not to bring one since I didn't have pockets in my running shorts and used the safety pins to secure my car key;
3.) During the latter part of the race, it really is about mental toughness. I had to keep thinking of the medal, how the discomfort is only temporary and a 3H finish is forever.
4.) One man who was running with 2 women (probably their coach) reminded them to keep their head up, look far, relaxed posture -- I had to take that free advice as a reminder to self.

I like the downhill decline of the Mississauga Marathon and wonder how running a full marathon on a flat course will feel. I recall walking the full marathon a couple of years ago and had to run the last 2 K since I just couldn't walk it anymore.



It's time to look forward to my next race, the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront full Marathon. This is my favourite race and has a special place in my heart as it the 5 K race a few years ago was my first ever. I came across the race attending the Buskerfest at the St. Lawrence Market. They were giving complimentary 5 K registrations and I signed up. On race morning, I was so intimidated to walk in the race; even at the race, I gave lots of thoughts of walking back home. But I didn't and that's a great decision! I did walk the 5 K and saw the wonderful looking medals at the finish line. I asked the volunteer how to get one and was told it was for the half and full marathon finishers; that's when I signed up to walk the 21.1 K Toronto half marathon a month later. The rest is history.


I've browsed the Toronto Waterfront marathon web site and it's amazing how the full marathon route has changed over the years - i.e., the Leslie Street Spit. I like the improved look!




There will be a 20th year poster on sale, which includes the cool map route on it. I hope the booth that sells running posters is there again this year as I want to buy a poster that I regretted not getting last year. Love that expo! Also looking forward to having my picture taken with the celebrities and adding that to my blog. The guest speaker talks are always interesting. Love this race.

Race Report - Midsummer Night's Run 30 K

Parked at the Canada Post parking lot and donated the $10.00 parking fee to Sick Children's Hospital. I had a slow warm-up run to the race site, which took 15 minutes, covering a distance of 1.76 K.

Arrived to the starting line with a few minutes to go before the 5:30 PM start. The weather was cloudy. There was forecast for thundershowers this afternoon, which never occurred :-) It was 22C (but 29C with humidity). I like the 1 hour earlier start for the 30 K so most of the race is not in the dark.

My goal was to keep under 6 min/K throughout the race. The race started on Buchette Street and on time this year, heading west on Commissioners Street and then a bit north to Villers Street. I didn't like this view as railroad tracks separated our run east and then west before making it back to Commissioners Street. Then it was east all the way to Leslie Street and then south to Tommy Thompson Park (with a run on Unwin Street). This took about 5 K. Tommy Thompson Park was from 6 K until about 17 K. The payment included running on rocks! We headed south to the lighthouse and then back north to the entrance of the park. Nice view of the city! This is a different route than the 15 K, as I recall running through a bridge. Once outside the park, we headed north until Lake Shore Blvd and then into Ashbridge's Bay Park (which had some steep hills to climb); I recall "accidently" running in this park during training a couple of months ago and it's scenic. Again, the hills were tough as the race was 2/3 completed. There were also numerous twists and turns here. Running on Woodbine Beach wasn't easy since it was running on the wooden and often sandy boardwalk. Lots of people on the boardwalk either running, sitting, or playing beach volleyball; it was tricky since we had to share the route with them. Once we reached the Balmy Beach Canoe Club, we headed back west to Leslie Street -- which I was pleased since it was back to running on pavement. Once we reached Commissioners Street, we shared the race with the 15 Ks.

I reached the finish line at 3:01:21.5 (gun) and 3:00:17.2 (chip). I just checked my previous 30 K run result from the Around the Bay 30 K and I improved my time by 14 minutes :-) I placed #464 out of 771; gender placed 292 out of 386 and in my age group placed 91 out of 108. There was a time mat at the half marathon distance and I came in with a time of 2:03:38 (chip) -- which is fast for me.

It was different to run on so many types of road surfaces -- pavement, rocks, wood; I'm glad it didn't rain as that would have made it very challenging.

The race was organized with lots of volunteers on the route and at the fluid stations. There was one confusion when a volunteer said "Gatorade" but gave me water. The police were stationed at the major intersections.

The finish line was not crowded (probably since the race is a smaller race). Chip removal was quick. A volunteer put a finisher's medal over my neck. Another volunteer was distributing free stainless steel water bottles -- that's a different freebie :-)

The race reminded me to respect the distance of a full marathon! It wasn't easy to run 30 K at race pace. One concern that continues is my left leg Quad. It ached quite a bit at about half way point of the race and continued. Walking back to the car took a long time since I could not walk fast. I'll continue to monitor it tomorrow - maybe use the "Stick" to massage it? I've never had Quad issues before. Previously, the issue was Runner's Knee on the left leg -- but that's not an issue anymore. Aargh! The left leg...

Yesterday 15:1 (x3) + Bib PickUp + Nasty Weather at Night!

Yesterday...

15:1 (x3) in the morning after taking Bud on his morning walk. A bit humid but the clouds helped a bit to prevent the sun from making it even hotter. Got in 5.74 K for YTD = 1084.33 K.


In the late afternoon, went to pick up my bib and tech shirt. It was at the Delta Chelsa Hotel on Gerrard Street and Yonge. Fortunately, there was nobody in line so I was in and out within a few minutes. I was hoping for a small expo but nothing -- just check your bib number on the posts, get your bib, and get your tech shirt.





There was a tornado (confirmed by Environment Canada this morning) yesterday evening in Vaughn. 680 news was reporting non-stop on the Tornado watch and then upgraded to Tornado warning. I am concerned with tomorrow's Midsummer Night's Run race since there's supposed to be thunderstorms. Retrieved from http://www.citytv.com/toronto/citynews

yesterday's 15:1 (x3)

Yesterday...

Opted for a 15:1 (x3) [slow] to see how the legs would fare. Seemed good - just today the quads are a bit sore still (!). Fortunately, it was sunny/cloudy but still a bit humid. Afterwards, I went to the Running Room at Commercecourt to pick up some race brochures - great to have the Waterfront Toronto Marathon one. I went through the underground PATH and while in the Bay, there were 2 people running very fast - I admired their speed but quickly figured out why there were running - the guy in the back was store security :-| That shook me up - but I connected that to running...

1078.59 K

LSD + Hot/Humid

Started the LSD at 5:30 AM this morning (no typo) :-) It was still dark and I wanted to beat the heat as best as I could. I wore my sunglasses (in the dark), my RR hat, and brought along sunscreen for later on (as well as a 1-week expired gel). Even in teh dark it felt muggy. Very few people on the Martin Goodman Trail this early in the morning. I had to make 2 purchases of Gatorade/Powerade as I couldn't stop drinking it. I was successful in my LSD (15:1 x17) as I covered 33.12 K. My route took me east to the Humber River Bridge; west and back east on the Martin Goodman Trail, west to Cherry Street and then south to the lake and minutes away from Tommy Thompson Park. This was no walk in the park due the humidity. Fortunately, the Garmin had enough juice as the battery was low.

I need to monitor my left leg, which was sore from the run. Nothing to do with runner's knee, fortunately.

YTD = 1072.00 K (44.71 K week!)

15:1 (x3) Hot and Humid!

Set alarm for early run today but I woke up later than expected. Took Bud on a short walk (okay, very short) so I could begin my run slightly past 9 AM. I chose my route carefully to attempt as much shade as possible; run wasn't bad as a result. Went north on St. George and then through Rosedale community and back home. 5.75 K covered this morning. YTD = 1038.88 K.

I'm thinking of my LSD this weekend, which is going to be even hotter and humider (is there such a word?). Will NEED to wake up early!

Joan Benoit @ Scotiabank Toronto Expo!

Just got an e-mail update from the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront race that Joan Benoit will be speaking at the expo! I've read about her in the Runner's World journal. I'll be sure to bring my camera along as it'll be nice to have another photo with a running celebrity -- haven't had any to add to the collection this past year (or two).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Benoit

15:1 (x3)

Hoped to wake up at 6:30 AM today but got out of bed at 7:30 AM. Bud is sleeping on the floor beside me as I must hear that he doesn't scratch his left eye (due to eye surgery) -- he just won't wear the "lamp shade" and be able to sleep. Appointment tomorrow with the vet...

Yesterday was terribly humid; this morning was much better. Got in 5.84 K during my run. Hope for another run this Thursday and then LSD Saturday.

YTD = 1033.13

LSD = 32.14 K; YTD = 1027.29 K (Over 1000 K)

Special run today as I reached the 1000 K mark for the year :-) I opted today for my LSD since tomorrow is supposed to be 90 F with the humidity. Today was cloudy and 15 C when I started my LSD at 7:30 AM. My route was similar to last week's as I ran west to the Humber River Bridge and continued east until the turnaround and then west to Parliament before heading back home. Originally, I had set my Garmin for 15:1 (x15) but then when I was at 30 K, I thought I should do another interval to get to 32 K (as I'm not sure if the weather for the remainder of the month will be humid and getting to 32 K will be tough). It's nice that the garbage strike is over so it is easier to breathe.

Today = 32.14 K; YTD = 1027.29 K

15:1 (x3)

I felt a bit uncomfortable with going ahead with today's run since my dog, Bud, had eye surgery to correct a condition that is common in Chow Chows. I did my 15:1 (x3) this morning and then came right home. Nice, cool weather in the morning! Afterwards, took the little man on a walk as my cool down. This is a bizarre week since my LSD was on Monday; today was a recovery run; and I hope for my next run on Saturday morning as my LSD (as Sunday is going to be very hot and humid). Today = 5.88 K.

YTD = 995.15 K

15:1 (x14)

Longest run to date! 3H 40M out there. Alarm rang at 5:30 AM and got out of bed just after 6 AM, walked the dog, and was out of the house by 7 AM :-) Fortunately, not as humid as last week :-) I knew running east on the Martin Goodman Trail wouldn't be difficult as the sun would be in my back; in fact, the sun was just coming up. I went to the Humber River Bridge and continued east to the turn-around, and then back west. It was sunny but fortunately not too humid. Not many runners and bicyclists on the trail today -- probably since it's Simcoe Day and part of the long weekend. I opted not to have my LSD yesterday due to the clean-up of the Caribana Parade was still occurring, not to mention the forecasted weather of rain, and maybe thunderstorms, in the morning. Glad I ran this morning! Did a true LSD as it was slow. I got 27.84 K in and hope to get closer to 30 K next weekend. Got an e-mail from the Midsummer's Night Run that it is only 3 weeks away. I believe I am on track for the full marathon in late September. YTD = 989.27 K. Will reach the 1000 K mark hopefully on my 2nd weekday run this week :-) Can't wait.

Still thinking of the Ottawa full marathon (late May 2010) and the Toronto full marathon (October 2010).

PS: I need to strengthen the left knee as I could feel its weakness at the very beginning of my run.

Friday 15:1 (x2)

Only had time for 15:1 (x2) Friday, the final day of summer school. Love teaching summer school as I got to be with the students for 5 hours each day and really got to know each of them. Got in 3.95 K. Great route along a scenic park -- although the park only lasted for about 5 minutes.