First Run Since Mid-July

With 2 weeks rest from walking the marathon in Hamilton, and with the custom orthodics ordered, I got back into running this morning. I have not run since mid-July -- only days before I was supposed to run the Nissan 10-miler at the Distillery District here in Toronto. I was so looking forward to finishing that race with the wonderful finisher's medal with a "10" on it: http://www.canadarunningseries.com/nissan/to10AWARDS.htm#finishers

I set my Garmin for 2:1 intervals (repeat = 5). After walking the dog, then power walking for 20 minutes, and stretching, running 2 minutes straight was not difficult and it brought back pleasant memories of 10:1 intervals before I got injured, when I covered a distance of 15K (soooo close to the half marathon distance!). I had to wear ear muffs since it was quite cold outside this morning. Wore a tech shirt and my Running Room jacket -- didn't overdress! I covered a distance of 1.75K in 15 minutes. So far, so good... :-) Today's the Santa Claus parade so I got to see lots of people lined up on the streets waiting for the parade to begin. I'm hoping for a winter of very little snow so I can run.

I dropped by the local Running Room store and bought another pair of Brooks Adrenaline GTS7. The price has been marked down to $114.99. I had a 20% off coupon by using my VISA and also had $20 (2 x $10) coupons from the Running Room. Paid $84.87 for the pair of shoes! I've learned my lesson of buying a second pair of the same shoes that works well (before it gets removed from stock). My Brooks Trance 5, which got me through my first marathon as a walker, have been retired from racing (I bought a pair of Trance 6 and then are not the same (!)). The Trance 6 sits in my car trunk and they just don't feel right. As an aside, with 2 Running Room coupons, that means I spend a thousand dollars this past year at the store -- ouch...

I have promised myself (let's see how long I can keep my word) to run slowly. I have also promised myself that I will increase the distance slowly per week. I have signed up for the Resolution 5K Run on December 30th and have 6 weeks to train for that race. I have opted to make my debut to run the half marathon in Mississauga on Mother's Day, giving me 6 months to train for it. The Chilly half marathon in early March only gives me 4 months and I remember how much "fun" being injured was. If all goes well, I hope to run a second half marathon, where else? At the Toronto Scotiabank Waterfront in late September. No marathon next year as I need to train slowly to avoid injury. I can eye the Mississauga Marathon in May 2009 for my debut as a runner. If injury resurfaces (even with the orthodics), I may return to training as a walker -- maybe find an ultramarathon walk. Just a thought...I should not think of that unless I must cross that bridge.

There was discussion the past few days of a Running Room instructor who has promised his Learn to Run students that they can run a marathon in a year (by following the training programme of the Running Room). Although this is possible, others have stated that one should take 2 years before running a marathon to build up endurance and train one's body for the rigours of the 42.2K. This reminds me so much of the saying, "Respect the distance." The posting on www.runningroom.com/discussion has since been removed - that's unfortunate since there was good advice provided.

Well...my training as a runner has begun! I will be posting regularly on my blog to update my journey towards the half marathon run in May 2008!

My Hardware Collection -- Looking Back, Forging Ahead

Orthodics

Had to rush after work to the sports medicine clinic for my much anticipated appointment for custom-made orthodics. Dr. Chris Woollam, who is the medical director at the Toronto Marathon and Mississauga Marathon, was very approachable as he made imprints of my feet using a foam box -- it only took a couple of minutes. $450 for the orthodics and they will be ready in 2 weeks. He said the foam box is kept for 1.5 years just in case the patient wants another pair -- which costs $250. I'm not really sure how much my work insurance covers, though. It amazes me that the orthodics will correct my overpronation. The doctor said within 6 months there should be no more sensations. He also gave me another strengthening exercise. With gradual increase in endurance I do hope I can fulfill my goal of running half a marathon in 2008.

Response to "How Oprah Ruined the Marathon"

On the Running Room forum, www.runningroom.com/discussion, someone shared a link to a CBC interview with Edward McClelland and John Stanton. McClelland wrote an article on his belief that Oprah ruined the marathon since her finishing time of 4H 30M has set a standard for others to follow suit -- resulting in more racers and the average finishing time increasing. The CBC interview is located at http://www.cbc.ca/sunday/2007/11/110407_7.html

Here are some thoughts that come to mind while watching the CBC interview:

1.) "You can even walk a marathon."

Having completed 3 marathons as a walker, I can tell you that walking 42.2K it isn't easy. It takes me about 6 hours -- and that's non-stop. I've gotten used to it so the time does go by quickly.

Without a generous time limit, folks such as myself would not be able to enter. The Toronto Scotiabank Waterfront (in late September) and the Hamilton Marathon (this past weekend) have 7 hour time limits. Even more impressive was the separate reporting of race results in the Hamlton race -- although there were only 14 of us. With 9000 (?) racers in the 5K; half; and full in the Scotiabank Waterfront, there were many walkers --my worry would after the half and full marathoners diverged at the 18K mark that it would be a lonely journey -- that wasn't the case!

I know it's tough to have the course stay open too long since it's expensive (e.g., police). I do wonder if the Hamilton marathon will continue to have an early start of 1.5 hours. It wasn't exclusive to the walkers since the race directors made it clear that anyone taking more than 5.5 hours (whether walking or running) had to take the early start due to the Lincoln expressway having to reopen. The Toronto marathon has a separate walking category for the half marathon. But the finishing times for the full marathon are close to or slightly over 6 hours -- thus, walking that marathon would be a lonely journey.

2.) "Exclusive for elites or everyday Joes?"

I forgot where I read/heard that eite runners want slower racers since the prize money would go up. Elites start in the front so us "everyday Joes" won't interfere with them. Even if there is an early start of us "everyday Joes", there are always cars or bikes that escort the lead runners -- telling us "everyday Joes" to move to the side.

Is there another sport when one can say they competed with the superstars? I can rightfully say that I was in the same race as the Kenyan that set a Canadian record of slightly less than 2H 10 M in the Toronto Scotiabank Waterfront. This sport is inclusive --some go after awards; others seek their PB; others want to finish the race upfront with a smile and not worry about time -- not to mention the charity aspect to raise money for excellent causes. At the finish line, we all get the same finishers' medal.

3.) Knowing the names of the elite runners

I know of Ryan Hall from reading the Runners' World magazine -- can't name anyone else. There is no doubt that Hall is an up-and-rising racer with superstar potential. But do I relate to him? The answer is no. Rather, I relate to people like John Stanton and John "The Penguin" Bingham (both who I met at the Toronto Waterfront marathon expo). They are folks who encourage people to run and walk for fitness and to challenge oneself.

To me, Karl Gruber is a superstar -- he completed 52 marathons in 52 weeks. I cannot relate to him but he is a superstar. His times were not award winning -- usually around 4 hours. Boston recognized his feat by waiving the qualifying time for him to run Boston.

All-in-all, I don't agree with McClelland's thinking. I didn't even know Oprah completed a marathon...

Funny Video on YouTube

Here's a funny video on the day after the marathon...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-hCuYjvw2I&NR=1

I thought the video was funny since I, too, felt the way the racers did in my marathon debut in Mississauga in the spring. I felt just a bit sore after the Toronto Scotiabank Waterfront marathon on September 30th and this past Sunday in the Hamilton marathon.

Race Report - Road 2 Hope Hamilton Marathon

Wow! For an inagural race, I found it highly organized. I arrived at the start line with 2 minutes to spare. Thanks to my lack of directions, I missed the turn after driving above the Lincoln Alexander Parkway. After wasting about 10 minutes lost (even misinterpreted the directions given at the 7-11 store), I arrived at 7:00 am for the shuttle bus. I was impressed the buses were city transit buses (2 buses connected together). Fortunately, there were only about 20 people who boarded so we all got seats [unlike the huge lineup for the Toronto Marathon shuttle bus]. We arrived at the starting line at 7:20 am and that gave me 10 minutes to pick up bib, tech shirt, and time chip as well as make a visit to the washroom and store my baggage. The volunteers were super in helping me find what I needed as well as a short cut to the start line.

With an early 1.5 hour start for the walkers and slow runners (who need more than 5 hours to complete the race), we were off! After the first kilometre, my Garmin read 0.8 K, which makes me wonder if we took the correct route. I forgot to bring a map of the course (left it in the trunk of the car) but knew that the course would be mainly along the Lincoln Alexander Parkway and the new Red Hill Valley Parkway -- which I believe has yet to open. I wore my Mississauga marathon tech shirt as well as my Running Room jacket. Boy was it windy and cold! Walking in the direction of the wind didn't help. At each of the fluid stations, a high school was represented with their own cheering crowd -- some had mascots. Each high school was very enthusiastic. For the first time, Gatorade was not served. Instead, something called "elo" (sp?) was provided. I mistakingly took it at the 2nd fluid station and it's the same colour as water, just much sweeter. I had to throw it out since I didn't want it interferring with my race plan of water for the first 8-10K.

The route along the Lincoln Alexander Parkway was flat and uneventful. Once the marathon racers, who started at 9:00 am caught up, that was more interesting as there were many more people on the route. When I got to the Red Hill Valley Parkway, that's when the half marathon racers merged and it was much busier. There was plenty of room for the walkers and runners to share the route. I remembered to take tangents when the route was curved to avoid walking extra distance. For the first half of the race, my Garmin continued to be 0.2K less than the actual distance.

The route along the Red Hill Valley Parkway was challenging since it has 2K of upward incline (4% grade according to the web site) -- and that happened near the end of the route (!). It was downhill when we merged onto the Red Hill Valley. No wonder I was running out of steam! The good news is I enjoyed the scenery and the fall colours -- much nicer than the Lincoln Alexander Parkway. I enjoyed seeing the racers on the other side going in opposite direction (that happened also on the Lincoln).

After exiting the Red Hill Valley Parkway, it was a bit downhill to the finish line. I finished the race with a gun time off 6:16:19 and a chip time of 6:16:18. Surprisingly, this was better than my chip time of 6:18:01.9 in my first marathon (in Mississauga). Today, I was not seeking a personal best (got that at the Toronto Scotiabank Waterfront marathon) and just wanted to finish upright with a smile. I finished upright and sometimes I wonder if I could really smile -- it was tough! Glad it's over :-)

Post food was in a bag and consisted of a banana; an apple; gum; and a granola bar. There was also chips pop and juice and I checked the % fat on the chips and opted for the baked cheetos. The finisher's medal looks super nice (I've attached a photo below) and it was great to also get a space blanket.

The shuttle bus took us back to the parking lot at Limeridge Mall. All-in-all, a great experience. Everything was nicely organized. The volunteers were plentiful and helpful. A lot of thought and organization went into this race. It's not an easy race with the 4% grade incline for 2K near the end. I do hope that word of mouth will spread that this is a race worth considering. And I paid only $60 back in the spring -- a bargin which included a free water belt for signing up early.

Day Before Hamilton Marathon

Tomorrow, the inaugral Hamilton Marathon, will be my 3rd marathon this year -- the racing "bug" certainly got to me. I signed up for this race way back in the spring with the free water belt as the deciding factor (which I have never worn) since I always carry my water. Otherwise, I would have signed up for the Angus Glen half marathon and then feast at the lunch buffet. When I took the marathon on-line clinic in preparation for the Mississauga marathon, my instructor, Sue, suggested I wear a waterbelt. She was surprised (shocked?) to see me holding onto a water bottle during my marathon debut. For tomorrow's race, I will strive to enjoy the race and finish within the 7 hour time limit -- not looking for a personal best. The race starts at 7:30 am tomorrow -- a 1.5 hour early start for those finishing over 5 hours. I've checked out the route at http://www.hamiltonmarathon.ca/raceroutes/hamiltonmarathonmarathonrace.gif and it really means nothing to me as I am not familar with Hamilton. Oh well...as long as the route is clearly marked, I will be okay. Nothing will beat the amazing experience I had at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront marathon.

Today I walked 9.2K to fulfill a few errands. I visited the local Running Room to try on the jackets for appropriate size that will be given out with the bib for the December 31st Resolution 5K Run. Back in the spring, I paid $79.99 + taxes minus 20% for a Running Room jacket. The jacket given out for the Resolution Race will certainly be one that I can use :-)

If all goes as planned, tomorrow's marathon race will be my last as a walker for the time being. I hope to run the 5K at the Resolution race on New Year's eve and will be wearing orthodics -- my first running race since the HBC 10K Run on Canada Day. I am eyeing the Tim Horton's Chilly half marathon run but will register as late as possible to ensure the run is a possibility (i.e., no injury; sufficient training during the winter -- please, weather gods, not too much snow this winter!).

I have selected the tech shirt I will wear for tomorrow's race -- it'll be the same shirt I wore at the Toronto Scotiabank Waterfront marathon on September 30th -- the Mississauga Marathon tech shirt. I will have jogging pants on, my mesh cap. I still haven't finalized whether I'll wear my Running Room jacket since I'll be "out there" for over 6 hours -- I might decide at the last minute tomorrow morning when I get out of the car in Hamilton (shock).

Finished carbo-loading and drinking well today. All ready for tomorrow. Now to sleep early and set the alarm -- and to remember to turn the clock back an hour.

Louis