Mississauga Marathon 2015

I've been wanting to pace a marathon, but thought if I was going to put myself through a marathon training cycle that I would want to race.  Enter Sulphur Springs 50K, and pacing a marathon as my last long run made perfect sense.

My assignment was 4:30 run/walk, and I prepared with an 8 day mini-taper.  If I didn't have the time goal, I wouldn't have tapered and run by feel.  

The whole thing seemed incredibly surreal, picking up my pacer gear, pinning on the MARATHON bib, getting on the shuttle to the start, I still couldn't wrap my head around, "hey I have to run a marathon today."

Amy, Emma, Robin, Jana, me, pre-race.

A totally normal occurence pre-race is that various people see my ears and sign and say, "oh I'll be running with you today!"  A girl, Malgorzata, found me before the race, followed me to the porta-potty, chatted to Robin and Jana and trailed me to the corral. It was her first marathon and she was obviously nervous.  

photo by Malgorzata.

Sam and Nicole passed by, and I grabbed them for a quick picture.  As I was fishing my phone out of my belt, I asked Nicole to hold my sign, but she held it high up in the air and yelled to the crowd, "have fun running with this girl! she's a pro!"

My race plan was a small positive split, since the first half is the one with the extended downhills.  It was mostly overcast, which kept things comfortably cool.  Ran the Mississauga Rd. hill easy-peasy, thankfully we hit a walk break about a minute after the crest of the hill.  An older gentleman, Don, complimented me on perfectly pacing the effort of that hill.  Shortly afterwards, I felt a gurgle in my stomach.  My brain started going on overdrive.  Is there a bush or tree up ahead? would it be better go to during a run or walk interval? Unfortunately, we were running through a residential neighbourhood, and the closest bunch of useable trees was in someone's front yard, behind a high stone step.  I would not have time to go behind the trees, so I handed my sign to Malgorzata, squatted as low as I could and pulled a Paula Radcliffe, ignoring the participants saying, "OMG! look at the pacer!" I don't think I took more than 30 seconds, but having to sprint back to the sign felt like the longest run ever and I prayed the extra effort wouldn't come back to haunt me later.

Made the turn onto Indian Rd. and it was clear there was a group closely following me.  "THIS IS WHERE THE SHIT GETS REAL!" I yelled.  I got rid of the sign at this point. "You can find me by now, right? Pink hair, crazy socks, bunny ears, pink skirt?!"  In the group was Malgorzata, Don, Anna, Linda, Lesley, and a guy in green plaid shorts that I'll call The Belcher.

What a difference from last year.  There was pretty much no wind at all.  We all talked a bit.  It was Anna's 2nd marathon and she had run close to 5 hours at Scotia last fall.  Linda was doing the marathon for her 60th birthday, which was upcoming.  Don was also doing the marathon (his 40th!!!) to celebrate HIS 60th birthday.  The Belcher punctuated the conversation with urps.

Went through the half in 2:13:30, exactly as planned.  Even the wind tunnel heading west on Lakeshore towards Oakville was only a slight breeze.  Suddenly out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kim's car with the vanity license plate slowly driving by.  "KIM! KIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIM!!!" I screamed, she rolled down the window and snapped a picture of me.  Very shortly after that, I saw Steve (whom I had met at the Avon Thru Run).

I look happy (I felt happy?!) but really, I was just screaming for Kim.

Took one little "unauthorized walk break" (as I called it) at the crest of the hill on Meadow Wood.  The sun was out and it was getting really hot.  A lot of people find the big rolling hills on Lakeshore to be killer, but I find the downhill really helps to break it up. I took another unauthorized walk break and the whole group walked with me.  "GOOOOOOOOOO!!! gogogogo you guys! DON'T MAKE ME SCREAM AT YOU AGAIN, I'M TOO TIRED!" I felt a teeny, tiny bit of a "wobble" - blood sugar dropping.  I remembered to bring 5 gels this year! downed the final gel and perked up.  I didn't have any more brain power to check with my pace band to see if we were on pace, the later kms were on the far side of my wrist and what? I needed to turn the band to the top of my wrist?  too much work. Even if I was off pace, I was still pretty damn close.  At the lighthouse, a spectator asked if I was on pace.  "yes!" I replied testily.  "really?" he asked.  Did I look horribly off pace? 

Despite the slow pace, the marathon went by surprisingly fast.  Before I knew it, we were at 40K.   Those goddamn bugs and pedestrians were everywhere.  The main group was still with me, Anna was right beside me, I wonder if the poor girl got a decent race picture?  I knew I was slightly off pace, and walked about 30 secs of the final walk break, jogged for the other 30 and then turned it up for the final km.

I felt like running along the chute and across the finish line upright and smiling was the joyful celebration that I missed out on last year.

Anna and I, seeing the finish.

Marathon #10.  A success!

Official chip time: 4:31:15

Field placement: 439/738

AG: 30-39

AG placement: 42/82

Gender placement: 144/281

At the finish, Don came up and again remarked on how great my even splits were.  Linda said, "I knew you were dying, but you kept it together enough to get us in on time."

2 days post-race, and my legs are actually feeling decent.  The countdown to Sulphur is on!

Envisions Project #1 - Avon Trail Thru Run

After our first chance meeting, Rhonda has proven to be an amazing runner with a keen sense of fun and adventure.  Her non-profit organization, Envisions, aims to "empower 'other' abled athletes to acheive their own adventures."

The first project was a 110K thru run of the Avon Trail, which runs from St Marys to Conestogo, Ontario.  It was a perfect opportunity for me to get in a long trail run with company, and support Rhonda in her project.

The run was on Saturday, April 11th at "stupid o'clock" (5 am in Rhonda-speak).  I stayed with my MIL in London, but still had to leave the house at 4 am to get there on time.  Amazingly, I had no problem finding the St Marys trail terminus, thanks to coordinates dropped onto Google Maps.

The first few kms was all walking, because one of the other-abled athletes joining us was a non-runner.  The trail was flat road/paved. I had Emma's headlamp and thankfully other people had more powerful headlamps, mine barely made a dent in the darkness.  I was freezing my ass off because I was dressed to run!  The non-runner fell less than 1K in and perservered until the van made an emergency stop to pick her up at 7K.  Then the rest of us (Rhonda, Steven P, Steve H, Jeff, Peter, Clay, Steph) started going off-road.

In the early going, the blazes were few and far between.  We took a few wrong turns.

while lost, why not pretend to pee in a creek?

The trail wasn't technical at all..but there was some ice, and a lot of mud and water. Deerses running freely. Beautiful scenery. 

Over hill, over dale...

...Thorough bush, thorough brier...

One of the most memorable moments of the day was having the trail take us right through a horse pasture with 2 horses inside.  Perhaps the horses were used to having 1 or 2 people a day pass by, not a crowd.  Anyways, they got kind of pissed off:

"Hi hoomans."

The horse bodychecked someone, Peter, I think.  Note the white fence.

Steph tried valiantly to open the wire gate while the horses chased after us, and I, the skirt-wearer with bare legs decided not to risk climbing over.  So I stuck my arm through the white fence and when I didn't get zapped, I climbed through and my leg made contact. It felt like a moderately hard punch.  At least I didn't have to pee at that moment.

Every 10K, our mobile aid station met us, stocked with all the goodies one could ever want to eat/drink while running.  Thanks Jennifer-Anne!

Lisa (pink jacket), the filmmaker who produced 8% no limit, captured footage to be used in a future film!

Steph studies the map.

I completed 31K in just over 5 hours, it was a new trail distance PB for me and fantastic training for Sulphur.  Rhonda and the group were so much fun, and so inspiring! I will be eager for more trail running adventures with Envisions in the future!

The finishers medal that Rhonda made for each of us.

Elizabeth, Steve, Jeff, me, Steph, Clay, Peter, Rhonda.

The stars align

In my previous post, I mentioned that I felt strangely unsatisfied with a lack of big goals to look forward to in the 2015 season.  In the past 48 hours, this has now completely changed.

Since ATB didn't seem to beat the crap out of my legs, I wanted to get that 30K+ trail distance PB that I missed at the Fatass Cake run.  Originally, I had planned on 20-25K at the Envisions Avon Trail Thru Run on April 11th but upped it to 30-32K. 

Want to learn more about the Thru Run?  Here's a video from Rhonda herself:

My next thought was, "if I'm going to run 20 miles, I may as well run a marathon."  I was already planning on pacing Mississauga HM, but I knew that 4:30 for the full was available.  I emailed Head Bunny, asking which he would rather have me pace, and he replied, "the full."

Well, then..may as well go for broke!  Again, I was already planning on running 25K at Sulphur Springs..it kept going through my mind that there would be no better time to run 50K, because there's no way I could run that distance 3 weeks after racing a marathon, but hopefully pacing won't take too much out of me and obviously I'll be using Mississauga as my longest training run. My first impulse was to sign up immediately, before I chickened out, but I saved it for last night so I could announce it on FB and see who thought it was real and who thought it was another April Fools prank (I had posted an April Fools status saying I had signed up for a trail 50K a year or 2 ago).  Well I guess the joke's on me!  The fact that the 50K was just $10 more than the 25K appealed to my thrifty self: twice the pain for only 10 bucks more! what a deal!

DVCA, I'm coming for you!

What this means is that next week I should run a relatively high mileage week to peak for Mississauga, and I'm not really mentally prepared for it.  I know a lot of people, Beth especially, must be laughing, because at this point, I really need to stop saying never.  

In terms of other spring races, hopefully I will be recovered to pace NFWHM 2 weeks after Sulphur, and I've canned the Welland Duathlon because I'm not feeling the multi-sport love right now, I just want to run trails, all the time at the moment.

Around the Bay 2015 race report

The upcoming spring race season will show whether or not Maffetone training has a positive effect on lowering my race times. Regardless of the outcome, MAF has taught me that running is not always about the pursuit of fast times, and that tuning into your heart rate, your body and your environment can bring great satisfaction.  - Me, in Parvati Magazine, March 2015.

My goal going into the race was sub 2:45, with the bonus of a PB if I managed to go under 2:45 by more than 6 seconds.  

There was a great turnout for the pre-race meetup.  I don't think the entire group was ever in the same place at the same time.

photo stolen from Irina.

I actually started in Corral C for the first time ever.  If you remember, in 2013, Sam and I just blindly followed the mob out of Copps, right into the open corral and it was too late to get into Corral C.

Goal pace was sub 5:30.  

5:29, 5:29, 5:28, 5:34, 5:36

Emma caught up with me, we chatted a bit about how the 2:45 and 2:50 pacers seemed to be completely insane.  Digression - this isn't the first time I've thought the ATB pacers were waaay the eff too fast in the early going.  I agree that a small positive split is the smart way to run ATB, but you're supposed to run even splits as a pacer!

5:27, 5:38, 5:34, 5:25, 5:37

I ran the overpass hills Robin-style, that is, short strides, EASY EFFORT and bombed the downhills.  I fell behind Emma but I thought I'd catch up.  Last year, some of my fastest splits was coming through the tunnel onto Beach Blvd.  Not so much this year.  I didn't feel mentally focused.  My feet felt like they were putting in a surge only to continuously see 5:3x pace.  

5:29, 5:35, 5:35, 5:40, 5:44

I felt great at 5:35 pace.  I could either take the fast train to Pain City and fight for the sub 2:45, which was iffy at best at that point or I could hold the pace and finish strong.  I'm sure you can figure out what I decided to do.  There was a nice pick-me-up seeing Kim and Paul at the relay exchange point.

5:38, 5:38, 5:39, 5:35, 5:45

Keeping steady heading onto Northshore.  Saw Greg and Bryden twice.  Greg said it was nice to see me smiling instead of screaming, "I FEEL LIKE I'M DYING!"  Legs still felt good on the hills, running easy uphill, fast foot turnover on the downhill.  From the weather report, I was expecting a headwind here, but there was none.

Opened up @canadianrunning to find this. Total surprise! #atb #running

A photo posted by Patty Scott (@runningskirtsnmanis) on Mar 23, 2015 at 2:08pm PDT

6:02, 5:56, 5:50, 5:54, 5:45
Started with a slow km on the Incline of Death leading up to Lasalle.  Then the steep decline past the apartments and felt confident staying slow and steady on that final hill.  I wouldn't say I blew past people but at least it looked like it sucked less than for many around me.  10 second walk break here. I didn't really need it physically and I prayed it wouldn't fuck me up mentally.

5:45, 5:51, 5:55, 5:33, 5:55 (← I'm sure that final km is screwed up by the loss of satellites going into the building)

Made it over the 2nd Incline of Death on the final part of Northshore.  Another 10 second walk break.  Then I remembered the feeling of smooth easy running that I had practiced on my final run before the race, tried to kick it in gear and got nailed with the nasty headwind.  There went my race plan, as I planned to ride the new big downhill past RBG and gut it out until the final downhill stretch past Dundurn.  Making the turn onto York, the headwind was even worse, but I picked up my cadence anyways.  I suddenly became aware of a small prickle on my stomach and saw that one pin had opened and was stabbing me in the gut.(another digression - anyone notice that the safety pins are all shitty and loose now? I long for the nice firm safety pins from the good ol' days! now get off my lawn.)  I tried to repin the bib but my hands were pretty cold and it was impossible to do without slowing down.  Then I lost the damn pin anyways.

Flappy bib, flap flap flap.

Running into the shadow of Copps, I finally caught sight of the 2:50 bunny just steps ahead of me, hence my theory of the positive split race strategy.  The clock juuust clicked over to 2:50 as I finished.

Flapping towards the finish line.

Although I am very happy with sub 2:50, but would have been fucking ecstatic over sub 2:45 and/or a PB, I feel like my 2015 season is already over, with no BHAG on the horizon, when in reality it's barely begun!  In previous years I have always used ATB as a springboard to a May marathon.  I need more challenges this year and I have laid the groundwork for some new non-speed related adventures/goals which I will discuss in future blog posts...

post-race booze and ALLTHEFOOD with Sarah, Maggie and a few other people.  The dude is Wilt, I just added him on DM last week and he turned out to be super cool and nice! Also, he swears by MAF.

The Feeding has begun. #runger

A photo posted by Patty Scott (@runningskirtsnmanis) on Mar 29, 2015 at 12:15pm PDT

Scenes from the 121st #aroundthebayrace. #atb #running #hamont #bayrace #burlingtonskirtbrigade

A photo posted by Patty Scott (@runningskirtsnmanis) on Mar 29, 2015 at 10:13am PDT

Just some fun runs!

Last Saturday, I had my longest run (30-32K) before ATB on the schedule.  Rhonda posted the Fatass Cake Run, which was taking place at Dundas Valley Conservation Area.  Robin was going to come down..plus there was cake promised, hell yeah count me in!

I got to DVCA a few minutes late, most people had started out, but Robin waited for me.  

There was slush and puddles galore, and VERY slow going.  I'm pretty sure I was the only non-ultra person there.  

But really, I ran for the cupcakes.  The company was awesome too, my first group trail run and a new trail distance PB!  Didn't quite make 30K but I would have done it if we hadn't ended up back at the car at almost 27K.

I #run for #cupcakes.

A photo posted by Patty Scott (@runningskirtsnmanis) on Mar 15, 2015 at 7:27am PDT

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Today, I visited the parents in Toronto.  They live across the street from Wilket Creek/Sunnybrook Park.  I don't get to run there very often.  I was flying, except for the last 2K, which was slightly uphill and a horrible headwind that blew freezing rain into my face, I had to stop periodically and face the other way to give my face a break from the scouring.

My name may be 100% Irish but I certainly am not! Making up for it by wearing green.

I've seen these things off the side of the DVP for years.  They look like extracted teeth to me.  My parents had no idea what I was talking about when I said I ran past the giant grey teeth.

Bridge to Taylor Creek Park.

Leaside Bridge.  There was a sign, "watch for falling objects". Ummm yeah.

Swollen Don River.

Saw a real trail, and tried to explore, but alas, I was wearing the wrong shoes.

My dad worked for Four Seasons for many years, and I remember going to Inn on the Park as a very young child.  Now it's being demolished.

Clam chowder, coleslaw, shrimp po'boy at Diana's Oyster Bar.

MAF and Me

I first heard about Phil Maffetone and his training methods a couple of years ago, from Robin. Robin is one of the very few people I know who has consistently improving race times, year after year, but yet doesn't run super high mileage or crazy speedwork, and I needed to know her secret to success. 

Training with MAF was in the back of my mind for a long time, but it was very difficult to let go of the conventional training plan with hills, tempo and intervals.  Then came 2014, a year of mostly poor racing, culminating with my PB fail at R2H, and endless calf fatigue.  Combine that with the fact that I have always dreaded speedwork, and I knew that the time was right to give MAF a try.

The idea behind MAF is that in endurance events lasting 2 or more hours, 99% of effort comes from the aerobic system, which in many athletes is poorly trained. When building the aerobic base by finding your maximum aerobic heart rate (MHR), determined with the 180 Formula, there is less stress on the nervous system and eventually the athlete is able to go faster, but with a lower heart rate. It takes patience and dedication to stick with the slow running (and a bit of walking) long enough to see results.

Not surprisingly, the first few weeks with MAF were difficult. But by paying close attention to my heart rate, I learned how to lower my heart rate simply by using diaphragmatic breathing and surprisingly, by relaxing while running uphill and periodically unclenching my hands. But as the weeks went by, I started to see results from MAF. The results from my monthly MAF tests are as follows: 
Month 1 - 6:12/km pace
Month 2 - 6:07/km pace
Month 3 - 5:57/km pace
Month 4 - 5:51/km pace!

I think the biggest misconception regarding MAF is that you never run fast.  The point of MAF is to help a runner reach his/her potential and run faster, in a way that's far less taxing on the body!  After the initial base building period, anaerobic workouts can be added back in.  Here are several ways of achieving speed using MAF:

Hills

"Hills are speedwork in disguise." - Frank Shorter.  Dr. Maffetone loves himself some trail running, and what's a trail run without hills?  The uphill effort mimics the work done in tempo and track work.

Downhill Running

Lets you practice fast foot turnover without raising your heart rate.  My Mount Nemo route has a significant downhill on Guelph Line.

Aerobic Intervals

I think I am close to the point of being able to give these a try.  The hard intervals are run at MHR and recovery in your 'normal', slower range.

My goal for the Chilly HM on Sunday is to complete my entire pace assignment at MAF, although I will keep my HRM alarm off because my primary job is to run 2:15, not stay at MAF!  Then the last 2 weeks of peak training before ATB, where I will see if MAF training will pay off.  I do acknowledge that while it is difficult to step away from conventional training plans, the success of both professional athletes like Mark Allen and amateurs like Robin speak volumes that it is a solid plan.  

"Other approaches in the past decade give short-term results, but I am after long term race results within a program that does not totally fry athletes. People are always looking for the newest thing, the latest, greatest thing. But if you look behind the scenes, you will find so many people are injured doing it. So is that a good approach?"  - Mark Allen

Frosty Trail Run race report and Operation Lose the Gut

I read about the Frosty Trail Run and it appealed to me: winter trails, new-to-me venue, and very few participants (there were 6 people registered in the 1 hour last year).  I debated between 1 and 3 hours but I really didn't want to be out there running for 3 hours if I hated it.   
Robin unfortunately didn't make the drive, but there were 2 people I knew:

Rhonda and me hoping that we wouldn't meet mid-race again.

 Fellow Supermom Alison!

The course was a 2K loop and for whatever reason, no one ventured outside until 1 minute before race start, so I didn't get satellites on my Garmin until about 400 m in.  The loop was not technical nor very hilly, but a lot of it had ankle/mid calf deep snow.  The trail was just starting to get worn in when I was done, I wonder if it had turned to mud soup with the thaw at the end of the 6 hours?  At about 1K in, I looked behind me and saw no one.  Oh well.  Managed 3.5 loops, following Rhonda and her guide for all but the last kilometre.  The loop had markers every 500 m, and when the air horn blew, you took note of which marker you were closest to, walked back to the start, and honour system reported to the RD, who was sitting at a table with his laptop.  

UPDATE: official results posted.  I was 4/6 female and 11/13 overall.  woohoo!!

Following Rhonda and her guide.  Photo by Christopher Giesler.

When I finished, I evaluated whether or not I'd want to be out there for another 2 hours, and the answer was a resounding, "NO!" But I felt it was a bit silly to drive 1 hour each way to run for just 1 hour.  Maybe next year if there's less snow....

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I had a serious metabolism slowdown when I turned 20, resulting in a 40 pound weight gain.  At the time my exercise consisted of sitting on my ass and my diet could be best described as eat whatever the hell you want, however much you want, so in hindsight, it wasn't very surprising.

Miss Fat Ass, Y2K New Years, about 9 months before I started exercising.

In the past year or so, 10-15 pounds have crept up on me.  At first I attributed it to a few too many AYCE sushi lunches, but I cut those out and my pants still kept getting tighter.  It especially rankles, because I got back to my pre-pregnancy weight in about 2 months and the weight that stared at me last week was only 3 pounds less than what I weighed when full term pregnant with Bryden.  I suppose the silver lining was that I dress well so no one noticed my expanding girth?

I've used Sparkpeople since 2006 for tracking exercise and community on the message boards, but never used the nutrition tracker, despite knowing that people who track their food are far more successful with weight loss.  Previously, I lost weight and maintained with the South Beach diet, which includes no counting, but clearly this approach was not working for me any more.  

So I've been logging my food for about a week now.  I've set Spark to give me a calorie range based on 0.25 pound loss a week, I'm not in any hurry.  But imagine my surprise this morning when I weighed in at the gym after my usual weekend eating - more controlled though, I paid attention to portions and didn't eat until the point of pain - and saw a loss of 3 pounds!! Now I know most of this is water weight, but I am ecstatic.  Food tracking isn't for everyone, but it makes me aware of portions.  Plus, I pre-track, so I'm unlikely to deviate from the plan, since I would have to change my tracker.