The power of three

With my third marathon just a week away, the taper in full swing and a little more free time on my hands, I figured it was time for a blog entry :-)

The French have a saying, "Jamais deux sans trois", it tends which has a negative connotation to it, and could be loosely translated to "bad luck (stuff) comes in threes", if I were to look at things from a negative perspective,  this could be applied to my marathon history.  In my first marathon I suffered some nutritional issues at around 30K and finished well over my goal time of 4:30:00.  In my second marathon, I had some IT band issues and although I bettered my first marathon result, I was still well over my goal time.  I've worked out my nutrition plan over the last year and a half, and with the help of solefit orthotics and my RMT, I've sorted out the IT band issues.  So this being the third marathon, a negative person might dwell on what new obstacle would prevent me from achieving my goal.

However, there's a more positive way of looking at this for me "Third time's a charm".  With the lessons learned from my first two marathons, the proper shoe, a tested nutrition plan and a number of other races under my belt, I am hopeful that this will be the race where I finally break that 4:30:00 goal.

I don't know if the taper for this race is any indication, but it has been very different from any taper I've been through so far.  I have not experienced the nervous anxiety I normally do as the length and intensity of the workouts decrease. I have not had the hypochondriac thoughts that every twinge, cough, or slight ache might be the one that takes me out of this race or running altogether...and  my pace has been getting faster rather than slower during this taper in spite of the fact that I've been running based on PE and not watching the Garmin (with the exception of this weekend's long run where I thought it best to closely monitor my pace).

I've decided to focus on the positive, to trust the training plan that has got me here injury free and the nutrition plan that has worked in both the half and 30K distances...I've decided that everything that my coach, my training partners and I have done in the off season and throughout this racing season, have prepared me to run the best race that I can next Sunday and that's the goal that I'm going to focus on when the gun goes off.

Now to turn that French saying around...I've had two Personal Bests this year...so the way I choose to look at it is that the Marine Corps Marathon could very well be my third PB this year, "Jamais deux sans trois" INDEED!!

You might be a runner if...

…your shoes have more miles on them than your car does.

…your coach won’t give you a ride home.

…you combine phrases like “10 mile run” and “Easy Run” in the same breath.

…you can eat your weight in spaghetti.

…your highest heels are your training shoes.

…a meal involves more than 3 servings!

…you spend more on training clothes than work clothes.

…your Christmas list includes more than one pair of running shoes.

…you enjoy running hills.

…you start to crave Power Bars, cliff bars, cliff blocks, sharkies, or some other on the run nutrition replacement.

…your favorite food group is carbohydrates.

…you try to impress girls by saying you’re a fast finisher.

…you consider school as just a break between runs.

…you are always stretching while waiting in any line.

…your room smells like Icy-Hot and A-535.

…you are bankrolling your Chiropractor/Massager Therapist and/or physical therapist’s next vacation.

…you own spandex in more than 1 color and/or length.

…you foam at the mouth every time you see a big hill.

…your watch is more expensive and complicated than your car.

…you know as many kinds of pain as Inuits have words for snow.

…you don’t know what an “off-season” means.

…you find yourself saying, “it’s not really a hill…”

…your feet are comparable to rawhide.

…your friends refer to you as “the masochist”.

…you drink more water than Free Willy

…you can’t get the “All you can eat” at spaghetti restaurants

…theres nothing like intervals to start the week off fresh!!

…you talk to your coaches more than your parents

…watching the New York Marathon on T.V. made you get up and go for a run

…your cookie jar is filled with bagels

…there are more miles on your running shoes than the odometer of your car

…you can’t go a day without some little brat saying run forest run

…people always ask you what events you are running

...you move to a new neighbourhood and after 3 months you know the streets better than your neighbour of 3 years.

...you've ever relieved yourself in a heavily wooded area. Hell, it doesn't even have to be heavily just somewhere in the outdoors.

...Ibuprofen is your recreational drug of choice.

....every road you drive on you think what a great hill workout this would be.

...you actually use the trip odometer on your car for something besides seeing what kind of gas mileage your car is getting.

...you make sure you have a pair of shorts and running shoes in your carry-on on all trips.

... you dont care when you hug a sweaty girl

...you have never heard "you run 21k, I can't even drive that far"

...you scare the sh** out of people when you pass them because they couldn't hear you coming

...it's raining and you say "what a great day for a run"

...you look forward to being surrounded by 10,000 other sweaty bodies.

...you lay out both a polarfleece top and a mesh singlet the night before a race because you just never know what the starting temperature will be.

...you buy Power Bars/gels by the case.

...your running shoes don't seem to last quite as long as they used to.

...you can say Fartlek without giggling

...when people hear you say "I'm going for a run" they know you won't be back for at least two hours.

...hydration has become a way of life.

...there are more blue cold compress bags in your freezer than ice cubes.

...you wish Bulk Barn would start selling ibuprofen.

...you almost wish that a pickpocket would grab your wallet so that you could chase him down.

...50% of your wardrobe is made of CoolMax and the other 50% is made of GoreTex.

...you have at least two drawers stuffed with race tee-shirts.

...you have a "special" shoe-tree in the basement.

...the nurse says you heart rate is 55 but you feel compelled to explain it is because of the hard 15k you did this morning

...you eat 4000 Calories a day and still lose weight

...you have woken up sore for longer than most eighty-year-olds

...a car honk makes your middle finger rise into the air by reflex

...when running behind cute girls, the first thing you notice is how much they pronate and what kind of shoes they are wearing.

...your license plate (or plate holder) says something related to running

...you say things like "long and hard" to your female friends and it is not a sexual inuendo.

...you think Once A Runner is the best novel ever. Well it is.

... the "DONT WALK" sign means "RUN"

... you get sore from NOT running for 2 days in a row

...you've driven 8 hours, one way, just for a race.

...co-workers think you're strange because you eat non-stop all day but go run on your lunch break.

Most of my blogs to date have related to either training or racing, but over the last few months I've collected a few of these from friends and the Internet and figured I would share them with you all before returning to regular blogging. I hope you get a chuckle out of them...if you don't, feel free to send me yours, or add comments to the FB post...if you do...please consider a donation to my Team in Training fundraiser - http:\\www.tinyurl.com/Going-Goofy

Hills…ya’ gotta’ love ‘em!

It’s no secret to anyone I run with that I tackle (well it seems like that to me) the hills we come across on our runs. Fortunately for the majority of my runs there are very few hills, particularly on longer runs and most are not what would qualify as a true hill…more like speed bumps really.


Just because I tackle the hills, doesn’t mean I find them easy, nor does it mean I always enjoy the experience, quite often I’m struggling as much if not more than my running mates… so why then do my running partners and team mates think I LOVE hills?

Here’s my secret…I pretend I LOVE them, I pretend as I see the hill coming up, I pretend as I start the hill and then I find a new gear, switch it on and motor up that hill believing that I LOVE it….and so far…in training that has worked…I haven’t done quite so well in races as evidenced by the effects of Hamilton’s Around the Bay for the last two years. I’ve set a goal to change that at the Marine Corps Marathon this October, there are not a lot of hills, but there are a couple of big ones near the start and we finish on an uphill, so I’ll have the opportunity.

I was beginning to question if my two weeks away from the Campus hills that I normally run 3 times a week was going to take its toll. I had been training on mostly flat routes due to scheduling issues while away from work. I was still getting in the times and distances, but the post-run feeling was not quite the same as when I’m tackling 3 or 4 hills on a route.

I came back to the campus last week and was really relieved to see from my Garmin stats that my times and distances were pretty much where they had been before leaving the hills behind and running the flat routes.

More importantly though, I really missed the hills, I was able to charge up all of the hills in each training session and although I still felt the effects of the hill, I had renewed energy and appreciation for what the earlier training had done for me. I can honestly say that (last week at least) I LOVED the hills!!

I’m looking forward to the next couple of months of training and to seeing how well this plan transfers to race day and the ability to charge the hills at Marine Corps…I’ll keep you posted.

Here I go again...This time I'm Going Goofy for a Cure!

Last year I challenged all of you to dig deep and sponsor me in my efforts to raise funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada as I trained to run my first marathon in honour of Derek’s fight with cancer.

You met that challenge head on and helped me crush not only my first fundraising goal of $5000, but 2 subsequent goal changes to raise a total of over $7500 to help fund research into blood cancers and provide support for patients diagnosed with these types of cancers.

Your support, encouragement and generosity has inspired me to take on another endurance event challenge. I felt that I needed to raise the bar to acknowledge just how much I appreciated all that you did and so I have joined Team in Training again, this time I will be competing in the Goofy Race and a Half Challenge. A 39.3-mile (63.24-km) adventure held over two days, where I will run the Half Marathon (13.2-miles/21.1-km) on Saturday, followed by the full Marathon (26.2-miles/42.2-km) on Sunday. It is a daunting task, but one I know that I can accomplish with your help. I am asking you to help me reach my fundraising goal of $7500 in honour of Derek by the end of December.

Derek’s Story:

On March 4, 2009 one of my best friends was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The good news was, “it's highly curable”. The bad news was, he had Stage IV, the most advanced form of the disease

He has officially been in remission since October 1, 2009. Congrats DT, we knew you could do it!!

Derek remained positive throughout his entire treatment. He may have lost his hair, but he never lost his sense of humour in spite of difficult procedures and side effects. Anytime I start feeling like I’m having a rough day of training or racing, I think of Derek’s fight and it’s easy to push on through.

So how can you help?

1. Sponsor me (a.k.a. show me the money)

a) The easiest way is to make a secure online donation at http://www.tinyurl.com/Going-Goofy using Credit Card or PayPal

b) You can also by donate by completing and mailing a donation form, touch base and I'll send you the form

c) Check with your employer to see if they will match your donation, many do.

2. Forward this message to everyone you know. Don’t assume that if we know the same person that I have their e-mail or have sent to them, I know you may get this e-mail 12-20 times, but really it’s a small price to pay IMHO.

3. Help me find corporate sponsors; drop me an e-mail and I’ll let you know what’s involved.

4. Volunteer to help me with my fundraising activities and events, I need ideas and people to help with selling tickets, creating posters, etc…

5. Attend one of my events or purchase one of my fundraising items, bike safety lights, entertainment books, etc…

6. All of the above!!

If you’re interested in following my progress, I will be documenting my training and fundraising progress on my blog http://shmittysrunningblog.blogspot.com/ and there’s a direct RSS feed to my Facebook Notes, so if you’re a friend on FB you can just check there or follow me on Twitter (Shmitty67).

If you want to know more about my fundraising or if you want to help in some way I haven’t thought of, simply reply to this e-mail, call me, follow me on Twitter, comment on my FB Wall, Notes, or status, write a comment on my fundraising page, or comment on my blog.

Together we can help find a cure!

Thank you all!!

Brent

Running here and there...

Just getting back to running here in Ottawa again after a month away...a month where I was able to run in Paris, Continental Greece (Attica, Vravrona & Loutsa), Crete (Kotouloufarri & Hersonisos) and Paros (Dryos) and I noticed a few interesting differences.

The routes:

Here:
In spite of out tendency to complain, we have an incredibly mature and developed network and infrastructure perfectly suited for running.  Mind you on the routes I've run, the bodies of water (Canal & Ottawa River) are polluted, opaque and smell of dead fish on the best of days.

There (Paris):
Surprising given the size of the city, but within a 1/2 hour I was able to reach a beautiful park with a dirt trail around a small pond with an island in the centre where there was a Buddhist temple, the water was opaque but lacked any distinctive odour

There (Greece):
To be fair, I was running in small villages, so no infrastructure or formal paths to speak of, but the vistas, clear blue water and unique architecture more than made up for that!

Traffic:

Here:
If you've read my facebook status updates with any regularity during my short running career, you'll know I have had a few incidents with vehicles both as a runner and as a cyclist, most in the early or twilight hours when I felt, given the amount of lights I tend to use, were avoidable, but in most cases, drivers are aware (once the season starts and they grow accustomed to us being out there again) and generally courteous.

There (Paris):
I came to the conclusion that Paris motorists must either leave really early, really late or they take public transit until well after my running for the day was done (I was typically back in my hotel by 7:00 a.m.)

There (Greece):
For such a laid back people, from my experience, they are anything but when they get behind the wheel of a vehicle.  The speed limit seems to be as fast as the vehicle will go with the pedal firmly pressed to the floor, regardless of road conditions, other traffic, pedestrians or cyclists. The acceptable distance/clearance between vehicles, immovable objects, bicycles and/or pedestrians seems to be anywhere between 1/4 and 1/2 of an inch...scary to say the least.  I found myself running onto the gravel shoulder or into the ditch on more than one occasion...and running facing traffic only seemed to aggravate the drivers, I noticed in the third week that local pedestrians appear to walk with traffic, so I'm left wondering if that was the reason I was given so little room.  Granted there was the occasional drive who would make the effort to move over and allow a 3ft buffer, but that was rare. Now maybe I'm the one who just is not accustomed to the close proximity, because the European concept of personal space is quite different than ours the 1/4 to 1/2 inch buffer seems very appropriate on an uncrowded metro or bus too...odd for me, perhaps quite normal for the locals.

Other Runners:

Here:
Typically when I am our running and I encounter another runner, there is some form of acknowledgement, a wave, a smile, a gasping hey, hullo or some remark about that dang hill or the weather..there's an unspoken camaraderie from a shared interest/joy, that's not to say there aren't crusty old sods out there who won't give you the time of day...but as a general rule, most runners will offer up some form of greeting to each other when they're out there.

There (Paris):
In Paris there seems to be some common understanding that as you approach another runner, eye contact must be avoided at all cost.  In spite of my attempts to offer a greeting to the runners I encountered on my workouts (a conservative estimate of 25-30), I received a grand total of a 1/2 smile (maybe an ex-pat) all of the other runners upon noticing another runner approaching would turn their head to the opposite side and glance towards the ground...very odd indeed.

There (Greece):
Other runners...what other runners...I drew more than one odd glance from the folks sitting at the Tavernas and encountered not a single other runner in my 9 run workouts in 3 different areas of Greece.  I didn't expect a race, but for the birthplace of the marathon...I thought for sure there would be other folks out there training...not so.

My intent is not to pass any sort of judgement on running here or there, only to point out the differences I observed.  I had as much fun doing my workouts in Paris in Greece, in part because they were different than my experiences here in Ottawa, my guess is I would have been very disappointed to travel across the ocean to experience exactly what I do here on a regular basis.

I definitely want to add a European endurance race to my bucket list and I know that my best way to do that will be to sign up with Team in Training.  If you're thinking about a destination marathon or 1/2 marathon, I strongly suggest you checkout http://teamintraining.ca/tor

The legs say NO, but the plan says GO!

Time to let you in on a little secret…contrary to what you may have read or may have been led to believe…I do not always feel like doing my workouts…more specifically, parts of my body don’t always feel like doing a workout…but in the last 3 years, I’ve missed only 3 workouts…that’s not to say that’s normal or that I haven’t wanted to miss more, my point here is not about missing an occasional workout…it’s more about how or why I feel I am able to get out there even when I may not feel like it (rare as that may be).

When I ran first thing in the morning (4:30 or 5:00 was the norm about a year and a half ago), I had one simple rule, when the alarm rang I got up! If I hit snooze, I knew the workout wouldn’t happen, similarly, when the appointment reminder went off at lunch, I went to the gym…for exactly the same reason. It’s always been easy for me to come up with an excuse, reason, justification for missing a workout in the past, but ultimately I felt worse after missing it…it took me the first year of training to figure this out…hence the reference to 3 years above…and not the full 4 that I have been running…sly huh?

The major motivator for me over the last 3 years has been my plan… at the beginning of every year my coach (a.k.a. my brother-in-law) and I sit down, set some goals, schedule my races for the year and figure out which will be A races, and every month, my coach puts together a plan for me based on the previous month’s results and the upcoming races. I send him weekly training reports that not only record the time & distance of each workout, but other details like weather, terrain, perceived effort, observations and any information that may be relevant in helping him determine how the plan is going, or how I am adjusting to the plan. He is always interested in knowing my energy level, if there are any specific concerns and especially if there is any pain, soreness or other issues. Based on my feedback, adjustments are made…and he has made it clear, that missing or moving an occasional workout is perfectly acceptable, he reminds me that I am not a professional athlete (as if my times didn’t make that painfully clear), but his point is that these workouts are not my main focus, they are a means to an end, that missing out on life for a workout just doesn’t make sense, that sticking to the plan and ending up injured does not help me get any closer to my goals and so being flexible is also and important strategy in achieving success.

There are two other things that help motivate me to get out the door, or to keep going in the middle of a workout when my motivation or willpower may not be at their strongest…I think back to a few years ago when I couldn’t complete a 2K with my son and how far I’ve come since then, I remember that it took a lot of tough workouts that I didn’t always feel like doing to get to this point and that 1 missed workout…could lead to a series of them and eventually to being that couch potato again…and that thought scares the crap out of me…so I choose to stay in motion.

The other thought I draw on when my energy starts to wane is of my friend Derek and other survivors I have met through Team in Training who have battled cancer, I recall that sign, or maybe it was a shirt that says “If you think running a marathon is hard, try Chemotherapy” and all of a sudden, getting out the door in rain or snow, finishing that next hill, interval, or km doesn’t seem quite so hard, perspective is everything.

So whether your motivation is your plan/coach, a memory of your unfit self or maybe a vision of your new fit self, whether you draw your strength from within or externally, the point is, there will be times when you just don’t feel like it, when your daily life is making it near impossible to find the time or energy, that’s when you need to remember why you’re doing this, what is your reason? You also have to allow yourself to change the plan (a little), to allow yourself some flexibility and to forgive yourself (yup sometimes missing a workout can feel that bad) so that you don’t miss the next one because you still feel bad about missing the last one…it seems silly, but it happens all too often.

I may not be able to help you with the memory bit (then again I’ve know some of you a very long time, so maybe I could), but if you’re looking for a coach, I have met some excellent coaches at various events here in Ottawa and would be happy to introduce you, all of them are great people and are great at what they do and if you’re looking to train with purpose and for a worthy cause, well I just can’t speak highly enough of Team in Training and the people involved, and if you haven’t figured it out from my FB status updates or blogs…I simply love to talk about running, cycling, training and being active…so if you’re looking to get started or searching for your motivation…I hope this helped…and if I can help in anyway…let’s do coffee and chat!

A season of learning…

Last fall when I signed up as a mentor with Team in Training for their Spring events, I figured it was a great way to help the organization and new participants. All that was required was that I share my experiences (however limited) in running and fundraising, organize weekend Buddy runs so that Team members could meet each other, have someone to run with and stay motivated throughout the winter, send out a few e-mails to check-in on team mates and offer assistance, when/if needed.


Not an overly complicated set of tasks, so I figured even I could pull this one off, and after all, there had been someone there for me in my first season with Team in Training, so it seemed like a good way to Pay it Forward.

What I didn’t count on was how much the whole experience would affect me. I’m fairly confident that I got way more out of mentoring than any of the mentees…I know that’s not the idea, but meeting and getting to know my team mates and hearing their reasons for joining, watching them progress through their training and then hearing their race day stories.

I learned from every one of my team mates that I had the opportunity to run with, sometimes about them, sometimes about myself, but what one of my team mates said at our pre-event dinner in Hamilton, really captured the essence of it all. There’s something profound and indescribable about the connections that were made as we ran those miles together, bantered, shared stories, and ultimately forged new friendships. Perhaps you can’t help but develop a strong bond as you run long distances together, perhaps it has something to do with the shared purpose for our training and fundraising…regardless, there is no denying there is a special bond that forms between team mates when you join and experience Team in Training.

So to my team mates and new friends, THANK YOU to every one of you who allowed me to share in and in some small way be a part of your journey.

I am so very Proud of everything you accomplished, as individuals and as a team.

See you at the races!

The year in review

I had originally planned to post something on this subject over the holidays, or early in the New Year, but between family time, renovating, training and studying…I’m only getting to it now.

2010 was a year filled with firsts for me and my family. I ran my first ½ marathon…Winterman – Feb., my first 30K…Around the Bay – Mar. and my first marathon…Ottawa – May. It was also the first time I had repeated participation in an event for the same distance…Ottawa Riverkeeper Canoe Triathlon with BERT42 – Jun., and the MADD Dash with Riana – Oct.

Elrik competed in and completed his first triathlon…he’s the first in our family to do a Tri…very proud moment!!

Sonia, Riana and I participated in our first family Triathlon relay and had a blast doing it!

The great thing about doing that first event at ANY distance is that no matter what goal you set, whether you’re overjoyed or even a little disappointed, you set a personal best and draw a line in the sand that you can measure your progress against should you choose to continue. I don’t feel the need to compete with the other runners out there, but I do like to compete with myself and keep raising the bar, trying to find new ways to improve.

Another first for me was joining Team in Training (Ottawa Marathon) and with your help I raised nearly $8000 to help further the mission of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada. Team in Training introduced me to some incredible people, coaches, mentors, survivors and fellow athletes who I am fortunate to call teammates and friends. People join Team in Training for many reasons…but there are two main reasons I keep coming back and raising funds:

1. One day…soon I hope, we will raise the last dollar ever needed to find a cure for cancer (I'm quoting from site of a Teammate I've never met in the USA but can no longer find the site or her name)

2. The people, they truly do make it the experience of a lifetime.

If you’re interested in finding out more, drop me a line or visit the website http://www.teamintraining.ca/

I promise you won’t regret it!