BMO Vancouver Marathon Race Review

I've been home for a week now since running the BMO Marathon, and have already laced back up my shoes twice to run!

I was in the 4th corral.  They did a countdown for each corral to start.  I had batman in mine!

Vancouver was more than expected.  Both in scenery, and also on the course.  It was a TOUGH run.  I've been trying to think about what made the course so difficult - the rolling hills? The major climb at the 8K mark, or perhaps the heat?  A friend texted me an article where an elite runner was being interviewed and he described the course as "rough".  Two other BMO finishers I saw in Calgary on Saturday said that they run it every year but saw more "carnage" this year.  

My favorite section of the course

Putting the difficulty aside, I cut a whopping 21 minutes off my Calgary finish time from not quite a year ago.  I finished in 4:27 laying out EVERYTHING I had on the course.  Physically, mentally, and emotionally.  It is the first time I hit a mental wall at only 19K and cried after crossing the finish line.  When I hit the mental wall, my calf was starting to seize up, and I could feel my hip flexor tensing.  Thankfully it came and went over the course and wasn't persistent.  Initially I was going to run without my phone but I was glad I did.  It came in very handy at 21K to start texting my girlfriend and my hubby to get some much needed mental support.  At 39K I was pretty sure the seawall would never end.  I was running without headphones (probably not a repeat at another 42K event), so I turned on the tunes on my phone.  I figured it would either also help the rest of the runners around me, or encourage them to run faster ha ha.  We rocked it out to Pat Benatars "Hit it with your best shot" to help get us to the end.

Hello ocean! 

So what brought down my time by 21 minutes?

Calgary:  Sometimes I only got in 2 runs a week
Vancouver: I ran a minimum of 3 times a week, usually 4 times a week

Calgary: All my runs were at the same pace
Vancouver: I incorporated both speed and hill training

Calgary: Some runs only saw 3.5K as a distance
Vancouver: My runs were a minimum of 5K

Calgary: No mid week long run
Vancouver: I had a mid week long run of at least 10K that I did steady, no walk breaks

Big difference heh?  This past January when I laced up my shoes to train for Van, it was the first time I actually trained for a race since 2006.  Training shows results!!!

I really went into Van wanting to see a 4:20, given my long run pace would have brought me in to that.  But race day played some different elements.  I was reading back through old posts, and saw in 2014 I wanted to run a 4:30 marathon again.  It gave me perspective (as well as LOTS of perspective graciously and lovingly given from friends and family).  A week post I'm owning my 4:27 and am looking at my training and thinking on what I can do to tick furthur minutes and seconds off.

My parents are awesome cheerleaders.  I saw them 4 times on the course!  This was marathon #6 they've cheered for me at!

Realistically I know I can't add any more runs or distance to my week, as I need to strike a balance with my family.  But what I can add in is on days I had previously taken off, add in a day of core or yoga.  Both would be good for me and might be fun for my kids to do with me.  My next Marathon is this coming fall and will also involve some rolling hills.  I'll be adding more hill repeats into rotation!

So true.

Thanks Vancouver.  It was a fun, hard, heart opening challenge.  I came away from it wanting to try it again, just to see if I can conquer some of the mental walls I faced.  One year I'll be back (and hopefully sooner than another 11 year jag!)

Yes!

A great marathon finishes at a Starbucks ;)

It Takes A Village

I'm knee deep getting read to head to Vancouver for the Marathon this weekend.  All I can think of is this is a bit like nesting before you have a baby (I realize that is a crazy comparison).  I started packing yesterday, which led to purging two garbage bags of clothes out of my closet.  I briefly tried moving our bed to a different side of the room and finally decided it was both too heavy, and probably something I shouldn't attempt with a few days to go before a race.  But I've cleared out clutter, and this morning I found myself with ten minutes before needing to leave for the school bus cleaning out the coffee shelf in our pantry.

And if I'm like any other Mom out there leaving her kids for a weekend, I have a list of things I want to do before I go.  Like clean the bathrooms, vacuum the floors, stock the fridge full (check!), and to add to that list, party prep for my soon to be 8 year old.  Hard to believe my eldest turns eight this coming Tuesday.

My race plan is to treat it like a long run until 30K and if I have still have more to give to push it from that point onwards.  My long run pace should see me in at a time of 4:20.  My first marathon time in 2003 was 4:18.  If I have some to give it would be cool to see or even break that number.  A come back post kids to a pre kid number.  All nerves over here!  If you would like my bib number for tracking purposes please leave me a comment below with your e-mail and I'll send it off to you :)

I was thinking this morning that it has been since January of 2009 since I flew solo anywhere, and that was with a girlfriend so that probably doesn't count, which brings it back to 2006 and pregnant with my eldest.  Woah.  I'm pretty excited about a solo flight - even if it is just for an hour!  But despite the nerves, the packing, the hub bub, there was (note the past tense) a sense of loss.  Because when I ran Goofy back in 2009 I came home and told my hubby that I wouldn't race a marathon again without them at the finish line.  I missed having them there THAT much.

And as I approach race day, I've been feeling that sense of loss.  My brothers, their significant others, and my parents WILL be in Vancouver.  But my other cheering squad, the people that have given up HOURS of their time with me, won't be at that finish line.  For a Mom to train for a race of 42.2K requires a whole village behind her offering support.  My hubby getting up early so I can head out early, and watching the kids.  My three littles who at this point in training, beg me to run on the treadmill instead of going outside.  And my middle has caught on, and if I head out the door for a run he will ask me if I'm going to the plane.  And it's not just my family.  Friends too.  Friends who have met me for coffee after almost every long run, run me in, had coffee with me, and driven me home.  Friends who have texted, and friends who have dropped off perfect and amazing last minute run gifts.

And as I prepped my #flatrunner photo to post on this blog, I realized I'm heading to Van solo, but not without my home support.  They are the button on my bib holder, the lend of Wonder Woman socks, and the bling on my shoes.  This marathon already feels pretty magical and I haven't even taken my first step yet.

So as I finish up all my bathroom scrubbing, last 5K running, and backpack stuffing, I know come race day I'll be able to hear the cheers all the way from Calgary.

Thanks crew.  I couldn't be doing this without you all <3

Marathon Training 2015

I've been procrastinating from writing this post.  Maybe somewhere not so deep down I feel like if I actually put out there that I'm training that I'll have to actually admit I'm knee deep in this thing.  It has been 9 years since I trained for anything.  And I can't say I really trained for my marathon back then either.  I pulled my achilles tendon 5 months before the race, spent a month in an aircast, and was happy just to get there and finish.  I had hired a personal trainer to get me to Boston and I remember him saying to me that he could train me to get even faster.  I knew though that wasn't where I wanted to go, and I had been wanting and waiting to have kids for a few years already at that point.  I hung those racing and training shoes up, and now here I am, 9 years later, and ready to lace them back on (with some trepidation).

In the past nine years, I did run two marathons.  Goofy when my eldest was just over 18 months, and then this past year I ran Calgary.  But both of those races I jogged (can you jog a marathon?).  I found a pretty easy cruising pace, and I cruised (don't get me wrong, I cruised with pain).  But I got through those marathons running minimum runs per week (with Goofy I only ran the back to back long runs!!).  My third baby is now 2.5, and when my eldest brother suggested our family all run the Vancouver Marathon together, I felt the push to start taking my running more seriously again.

My eldest with my Goofy medals

I drafted up a plan.  It includes 4 runs per week.  One long run, a tempo run, a recovery run, and a hill or speed session.  It looked scary on paper, and it feels scarier trying to actually get it done.  In particular a mid week tempo run is proving really challenging.  It is "easy" to get in a 5K, hill, or speed workout done on the treadmill with my 2 and 5 year old around, but I can't do longer than that with them left to their own devices.  That means I need to find time to do a 10K tempo run at night.  Hmmm.  There are a few things I've learned about myself.  I don't do anything well past 7:30 at night.  Trying to do a tempo run at 8 pm has not been working.  This week I moved it to a Tuesday night which worked much better as I was able to get out at 6:30, but that puts my tempo and long run VERY close together.  Not wise when the kilometers start to increase.  Semantics.  I'll figure it out.  Like getting back onto a bike after years away.  I know how to run but figuring out all these little bits is challenging me.

I have no idea what my tempo pace is.

Or my long run pace.

Or what a steady run is.

I do know what an acheivable marathon time though is.  So I'm working from there and each week trying to figure out the other stuff.

I'm going into week 4, and each week feels a bit easier than the one previous.  My kids are adjusting too, especially after the Stride Run Streak, knowing I spend quite a bit of time lacing up my running shoes.  My son said to me the other night "When I grow up, I want to be a runner".

I'm glad that such a big part of who I was, is becoming a big part of who I am again, and that it is having a positive reflection on my kids.

13 weeks to Vancouver!

When Winter brings you Summer

As I write this, I have three kids wrapped behind me in blankets eating popcorn, and a slurpee sitting beside me.  Yes, a slurpee, on January 25th.  Summer arrived today in the middle of Winter.  It's an amazing 14C outside.  A record high for the day.  And oh have I (we) soaked it in.

There was a 21K run today.

Then home for some trampoline jumping and strawberry eating (prepared by my 7 year old.  Time moves fast.  She can now cut up and serve us strawberries).

In shirts (and one in shorts) we headed off to the playground.  The littlest one potty training and out without a diaper.  Not only that but she walked the whole way there and I pulled an empty wagon.  Times are sure changing and moving out of babydom is in full force.

A solid hour spent on the playground, slurpees picked up across the street, and back at home.

Those kids (and I!) have earned the appropriate January blanket snuggling and popcorn eating.

What a treasure today was.  Supposedly Wednesday will be 16C.  I hope you are all getting outside to enjoy it too!

Turning 35

There were alot of good things about 34, but it was also a really growing/stretching year for me.  I'm ok to see it behind me, and honestly shocked that I sit here today at 35.

I was thoroughly loved on this past weekend.  There was a fondue dinner with my closest friends, lavished on with gifts and laughter.  There was dinner the following night at a friends house while our kids played.  Brunch on Monday (my actual birthday), with cinnamon buns made by my brother.  Naptime saw me doing some school prep, but also winding yarn for a project just for me.  Playground and river visits, home for more cake made by a friend and decorated by my kids.  It was a full rich day and left me with a full and grateful heart.

We are two days in to the new school year, and if the past two days are any indication, this year is going to be really great.  I'm happy to leave the challenges of 34 behind me, and embrace a year of new ahead.

Summer Cycling

This past Spring my eldest turned 7, and she was still only cycling a few hundred meters on a bike, in a field, before falling over.  We have enrolled her in Pedalheads (awesome program), but I realized a change wasn't going to happen unless we actively cycled with her.

Summer memories usually encompass a whole bunch of different things - but this Summer I can easily say, we cycled.  July saw me at first working with my eldest in the field, getting her comfortable going longer distances.  Still having to give her a push to get started.  My middle quickly wanted to join in, and we had him on a bike with training wheels for the first time.

My eldest got more confidant.  We moved from the field to the sidewalk (which terrified her but she did it!).  The middle joined in, and we spent most of that first Summer month, cycling in the cul-d-sac (a 800m loop), over and over.  My middle still went at a slow enough pace I would walk behind him with the littlest in a push trike.

Then end of July, I found I occasionally would have to run to keep up to him!  We were ready.  A friend let me borrow her trailer, and we were off!  I got on an old bike we had here at home, hitched up the trailer, and I cycled with them in the loop.  August hit, confidance was building, my eldest was no going downhill and making it up hills (!), and we started venturing out.

We went from a Summer of splash parks and playgrounds in July, to the kids only wanting to cycle in August.  We've been for donuts, for ice cream, for slushies, and to all sorts of neighborhood parks.  We even rode to a Drs appointment one morning! (the little two in the trailer, and the big one rode 9K!).

For our wedding Anniversary my hubby bought me a brand new bike, and we invested in a trailer of our own.  My eldest goes back to school next week, and we have created some really special memories.  I can't wait for the Spring, when the middle might get the training wheels off, and our cycling adventures can continue.  Until then, we have a few more weeks into the Fall, after school, when we can still get out.

Cycling our Summer away has been so much fun.

100 Happy Days

I came across this challenge on Facebook this morning, and am going to jump in.  I won't be signing up for the challenge, but will be taking a picture every day (starting today!), of something that has made me smile.  I think everyone needs to be reminded somedays of all the greatness they are surrounded by.  I'll post them up here occasionally - would you like to play along?

Day 1.  A gift given to me by my son at the preschool Mothers Day tea.