A Wall of Water

Imagine you are standing underneath the cold waters of Niagara Falls. The water hits your hat, rolls down its brim, and creates a mini waterfall in front of your face. Your entire body is wet. Your fingers begin to wrinkle from the saturation of water in your skin, and you begin to notice the oddest sensation of, what feels like a small soft pea, rolling down the inside of your pant leg.  Your feet are sitting in water and as you move, so does this water, hitting the sides of your shoe like a pinball bouncing from side to side. On the inside, you are not cold. There  is a radiating warmness that only makes it to the inner layers of skin, leaving the outer layers feeling like someone has both rubbed you with chalk and pricked you with pins.

Now you have some idea about what my Wednesday night run was like.

Of course, I speak in hyperbole. The rain wasn't falling at 56 km/hour, like Niagara Falls, but holy moly, it was wet!

The latest round of the  "Pineapple Express"  visited the Lower Mainland, kindly bringing us tropical rain from the Hawaiian Islands, but forgetting to bless us with summer temperatures and palm trees.

Normally, I run well in the rain. But this rain was more like a wall of water. At 2 km, I was considering turning back.  At 4km, I considered turning right to take a shorter  way back, At 6 km, I considered standing under a strangers carport and at 7km I considered flagging down a cab and going home. But I didn't. I kept going.

Each time I considered these changes to my run, I had to remind myself why I was doing this. I am not just doing this training for me. I committed to raise money for the BC Lung Association. Running in the pouring rain is a challenge. It is not hard. Hard is fighting to breathe. Hard is getting yourself to Chemotherapy  when you know it is going to make you so sick, that you can't get out of bed. Hard is feeling weak, but acting strong.

Thank you for inspiring me to be strong.

Here are my stats for the week;

Sunday LSD; 21.56km.
Tuesday Tempo: 7.11 km  (5:53 min/km)
Wednesday (atmospheric river) Tempo: 10.16 km( 6:10 min/km)
Friday Steady: 6.49 km (6.24 min/km)

Total kilometers: 45.3


Here is my fundraising page again:

fundraising page

42

In the novel,  The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams, a group hyper-intelligent pan-dimensional beings demand to learn the "answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything" from a supercomputer they call "Deep Thought." After 7 and 1/2 million years, "Deep Thought" comes up with the answer: 42. Of course these super intelligent beings are confused, and want to know the meaning of the number 42.  "Deep Thought" explains that the meaning is an entirely different question, a question that it doesn't even know; however it can help design a even more powerful computer that can figure out the question. To make a long story short, after 8 million years, the process to create this new computer is thwarted (and the super computer destroyed) by some psychiatrists, who feared for the loss of their careers when the ultimate question became known. They didn't want to start over again searching for the question so the  best question they  could come up with is "How many roads must a man walk down?' from Bob Dylan's song "Blowin' in the Wind."

What does this story have to do with my marathon training?

42. 2 kilometers is the distance of a full marathon, and the distance is as seemingly arbitrary as Douglas Adams choosing 42 as the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything. The original marathon, as legend has it, is the story of Pheidippides who was sent from the battlefield of Marathon to Athens to announce that the Persians had been defeated.  He supposedly ran the entire distance without stopping and died after announcing that they had won. The distance he ran was actually only 40.8 kilometers (and he DIED after running it). Still, 40.8 kilometers is a very long way, so the Athenians honoured him with a run, (because why wouldn't people want do something that caused a man to die in exhaustion?) But, why then is a marathon 42.2 kilometers?  Well, apparently the Brits love their monarchs so much that in the 1908 Olympics in London, they lengthened the course so that the runners could run in front of the royal family's viewing box. And, for some reason, nobody thought to go back to the original distance.  Why go 40 km, when you can go 42?  Runners are so dedicated.

So this leads me to the answer to the question, "How many roads must a woman walk (run) down?"
The answer is 42. 42.2 kilometers of  roads.

AND 42.3 kilometers is the distance I ran this week!

See how it all ties together? I wasn't just rambling about books and history for no reason!

Yesterday, when I was running, I was feeling tired.  And, I gave myself all sorts of excuses, like I got to bed late, I have put in quite a few kilometers this week, I didn't eat oatmeal in the morning, etc. etc. That is when I realized.  What I ran this last week, is what I am going to be running in on ONE day! Yikes! What did I sign up for?

Here is how my week broke down:

Sunday; LSD: 19.66 kilometers. ( I was actually only supposed to be running 14 k, according to the marathon training schedule, but since I am running a half marathon on February 14, I ran longer)
Tuesday: Tempo; 6.67 km at 5.55 min/kim
Wednesday Tempo; 10.27 at 6.01 min/km
Friday Steady:5.67 km at 6.53 min/km

Total km: 42.3 km (42.27)

The legend of  Pheidippides and the battle of Marathon inspired so many to run the same distance just to honour his effort.  He gave his life, just to give a message. Now, others test themselves in this way all the time. People find answers in running a marathon. They find fulfillment, they find challenge, and they find purpose.  People really do find answers in 42.

Time may change me, but I can't trace time -David Bowie

"I still don't know what I was waiting for

And my time was running wild

A million dead-end streets

And every time I thought I'd got it made

It seemed the taste was not so sweet "

David Bowie (January 8, 1947-January 10, 2016)

Week 2

It seems that somehow in life everything points to time: how much time we have here on earth, how long we have to do what we want, need and desire, what time should we do it and at what time do we step up and make a change. All we have is time: time to waste, time to discover or time to make peace. It is what we do with this time that makes us who we are. 

In running, time is also very important. What is your race time? What time is your personal best? What time is your personal worst? What is your best pace? What pace should you be trying to achieve? Should you be going fast or slow? How SLOW is slow on your long runs? How fast should you be going on your tempo runs? The right answers to all of these running questions lead to the biggest question; how do I get a better race time? 

When I was in Grade 7 and trying out for the track team, I really wanted to run sprints. Mr. Stevens, our school principal, told me I should run distance, that my strength wasn't in running fast for a short distance, but in running farther at a slower pace. I completely rejected this opinion at the time, and did very poorly at the track meet. I never tried out for the track team again. Nor did I do any running of any kind until I was 31 years old when a colleague and friend, Debbie Rampersad convinced me to do the Sun Run training.

I spent most of my teens and all of my twenties doing very little exercise. I spent a lot of time partying. To say that I was out of shape would be an understatement. I couldn't run for 1 minute, let alone for 10 km.

 The beauty of the Sun Run Training Programme is that it designed for people (like me) who are completely out of shape. I started at running 30 seconds and walking 4 and 1/2 minutes. Then slowly, week by week the time running increased, and the time walking decreased. At first, it was painful. There were many times in the first month that I can honestly say, I hated it. But then I started to love it. I loved getting out in the fresh air, I loved meeting up with a group once a week.  I loved running around Vancouver streets and looking at neighbourhoods and areas I would never had ventured down had I not been running, but most of all I loved how I felt when I was done. And I don't mean that in the way that the running was so bad that when it was finished it made me happy, but I legitimately felt good. If I was mad before I went running, I was happy when I finished. When I finished a hard run, I felt like I accomplished something. I found that if I missed a run, I became irritable and unhappy. And when I crossed the finish line on race day, I was, for perhaps the first time in my life, proud of myself. I think it was the first time I had actually had to work hard for something.  I had done almost zero physical activity in my 20's and I had managed to run 10 kilometers.  Time had changed me, but a part of me, deep down, felt that I hadn't changed, but I had become what that Grade 7 girl should have become; a long distance runner. It was there inside of me, I just didn't know how to access it.  Time had allowed me to explore something inside me that lay dormant. I have been running ever since.

After working so hard to complete a 10km, I can honestly say, I would never have thought that 12 years later I would be training for a Marathon.  I actually thought that marathon running was for crazy people. At that point I knew how hard it was to run 10km, running a marathon seemed as likely as becoming a noble prize winner,yet here I am, training for a marathon.

How I spent my time training this week:

I am still trying to figure out how to train for a half marathon on February 14, while at the same time do the full marathon training. This week I stuck with my marathon group, but next week I am going to have to put in some more kilometers for the half I will be completing in February.

This week:

Sunday LSD: 13.46 km very slowly. It was super icy. Ice skates would have been more useful for this run. Eventually we gave up on the sidewalks, altered our route and went in the trails. It was much better!

Tuesday Tempo: 6.35km 5.55 min/km in the POURING RAIN.  I was soaked but it was good. I really don't mind running short runs like this in the rain.  I actually have some of my best runs in the rain.

Wednesday Tempo 10.24km 6.10min/km.  This was a tough run. I was tired, and needed food. Wednesday night runs happen at 6 pm and I can never figure out what to eat and when.

Friday Steady: 7km.. not sure of pace, battery in watch died AND my phone refused to pick up GPS. It was quite tragic. This bothered me the entire run. If a run is not recorded by an electronic device, it is like it didn't happen. I was gone around 45 minutes....sooooo whats the math on that?  6.26 min/km?


Weekly total: 37km

This week I am going to close with more words from the late, creative genius,  David Bowie;

"Strange fascination, fascinating me
Changes are taking the pace
I'm going through"

When is the last time you did something for the first time?

"When is the last time you did something for the first time?"

John C. Maxwell

One week down, sixteen to go!

This was the first week of my Running Room Marathon Clinic and it was a good one! I am the only "first timer" in the group, and I found it very cute that everyone was making sure that I was ok and coming back! Do  people really back out of training in the first week? I mean, the first week is the EASIEST week in the entire clinic. I don't plan on dropping out, but I would think that if a person was going to drop out it would probably be once they realize that they are going to spend a better part of their Sundays running... somewhere around week 5 or 6, when they realize they are spending more time with their running buddies than their family. On the other hand, maybe spending less time with their family would be a good thing ( again... not for ME, but for other people). In any case, I have completed my first official week of training and I  still plan on training for the next 16 weeks.

The running workouts this week:

Sunday: 14.56 km (Long slow... average pace : 6.46 min per kilometer)
Tuesday: 6.71km (Tempo: average pace: 6.04 min. per kilometer)
Wednesday: 9.93 km (Tempo: average pace 6; 10 min. per kilometer)
Friday: 5.72 (Steady.. Average pace 6: 36 min. per kilometer)

Weekly total: 36.9 km

I still feel good. No aches and pains. Yet.

I found out something wonderful this week.  Based on my estimated finish time of 4 hours and 30 minutes, I can slow down my tempo runs without feeling guilty! And actually, if I am following the Running Room training program strictly, I should probably be slowing down my long runs too. Or maybe I should speed everything up, and try for a faster time! I am resisting the urge to write a serious of lol's after that last statement. Many runners are uber competitive and are constantly looking at ways to improve their time and be better and stronger.  This is a good thing. I am super impressed with their motivation and drive.  However, I really struggle to fit into that "type."I feel good when I improve, and nothing beats the feeling of completing a race with a personal best time, but if I was given the choice to go a little bit slower and feel better during the race but not get a personal best time, I would just go slower. Sometimes I just ENJOY the race,  I watch the people, I look at the scenery and I contemplate how lucky we are to live in a political and environmental climate that allows  for so much outdoor activity. But most of all, I contemplate how lucky I am to be healthy enough to participate in such events.

Don't get me wrong. I am not against going for a personal best time. I am just more for avoiding a personal worst time.

The best thing about training for a marathon, is that I have no personal worst!  Whatever I do in this training will be my personal best( and worst)!  There is great a feeling of power when doing something for the first time- especially something that many people from my past ( including me) would never have thought I would do. It is liberating and wonderful to go outside my comfort zone to do something for the first time.

When WAS the last time I did something for the first time?