I DID IT !!!!

5:30am : alarm - breakfast (peanut butter toast with banana and glass of milk)
6:00am : outta here (I stopped at Tim Hortons for a small coffee. NEED my caffeine)
7:05 am : Arrive on marathon site
8:50 am : Start walking a bit to warm up
9:00 am : START !!!
I was at the end of the pack/hurd/peleton, here is a picture.

Route was verrrry hilly. Ouch.  Water and gatorade glasses were being given every uhm 3-4 km by vonlunteer workers, who also cheered us on. Last ... 2 km were VERY difficult.  I was exhausted. But I had read about that last stretch.

BUT I DID IT. I reached my goal. I RAN the whole thing. Uphill, downhill, you name it. I fucking RAN it baby !!.  First 2km I felt rusty, was debating whether I should stop like 30 sec to relax a bit, but I thought My goal is none other than do it without walking. So DO it and see what happens.

Well what happened is that I did it in about 1:15. (Official time : 1:15:24.3) (note : Time on monitor on the below picture says 1:18, but I was at the end of the hurd when we started so it did take me about 3 min walking to get to cross the starting line) Not a SUPER time, but I don't care.  This is a picture of me approaching the finish line. Ad & Ian were cheering me on in the crowd. At this point I was very emotional, seeing them just was sooo intense. The last 500m I gave it ALL I had, I felt like I was sprinting. LOL. Look at me on the picture, I'm not sprinting at ALL.  Ad told me that I looked very tired.

Some pictures after the race :

A lady offered to take a family picture.  I love my 2 guys, they were so proud of me.

Relaxing on marathon site after the race

This is what was waiting for me at home :-)

"The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start." John Bingham

Pre-marathon week !

Tonight's run was great. The stretches are longer and longer. It was 5 days since my last run (had a huge hangover this weekend so didn't run), but it does my body good it seems !
I'm pretty sure I can pull off the 10k without walking. When I train I stop if my joints start to hurt too bad, I don't want to injure myself before the marathon, but on THE day, believe you me, the pain I will tolerate.

So tomorrow morning I have my first appointment with a sports-medicine doctor. My foot doesn't hurt anymore but I still want to go. I want to keep running even after the 10k on Sunday so might as well have a Dr. (don't even have a family doctor).

I will also google a good carbohydrate-rich menu for pre-marathon week. Gotta fuel up. I haven't followed any special diet during the training.  I'm sure it could have helped.

Here I am, just after my post-run shower, relaxed as can be. I am loving this journey.

Baby raccoon

For tonight's run I decided to go with no training plan like last time, i.e. let my body guide me. The start was pretty heavy. wowza.  My feet felt so heavy, like I had ski boots on.  I stopped more often that I would have liked.  After maybe 15-20 min in though, I hit my peak and did very long stretches.

Just before hitting my peak, look at what I saw moving about in the grass ! At a distance I thought it was a squirrel but as I approached and saw that it didn't run away, I thought Nah, can't be a squirrel.

And then I saw its face ! (insert cute baby voice here) A baby raccoooon !!! OMG !

He was making cooing sounds. I looked around to see if a mommy raccoon was around, but nowhere in sight. So I took out my blackberry and snapped some shots. I did wonder for a few seconds if I should bring him home and nurse him, but then thought I'd better not.  Give its mommy a chance to find him.

CUTENESS OVERLOAD !!!!!!!!!
2 teenage boys on their BMXs rode by and they stopped. They were also gaga over the baby racoon. We discussed whether we should pick him up but decided against it. In case the mommy showed up. aawwww.

So back to the running part. It went pretty well.  Around 9km again (my usual route).  Aside from the weird start, it was really wonderful.  I just need to figure out how to get my body to its peak state on Marathon day.
When I got home I sat outside and enjoyed the cool air.

Motivation level : Pretty good !

Mrs Universe

OMG I feel SOOO great. Tonight's run was by far the best one yet.

My foot has felt normal ... hmm for about maybe 2-3 days now? We're talking completely normal, not sensitive nor tender when moved up, down, sideways, you name it. Just a happy go lucky foot.

So tonight I was sitting on the couch after supper just thinking that the marathon was 2 weeks away... Debating whether I should show up or not. Wondering how my cardio would be, if I would end up walking the whole damn thing. Thinking what a shame it was that I couldn't run anymore.

So a little motivation lightbulb turned on and I decided to throw on my running gear and give it a try.  Since it was hard to evaluate where to pick up with my training, as I had stopped for 10 days, I decided to listen to my body and run as far as I could.  Turned on my Rammstein playlist on shuffle, and hit the road

WELL.... I was on FIRE !!!!!!!!!!!!

Total run : 9km

I must have stopped maybe 4 times, to walk for 30 sec... So do the math.  A good 15 min run each interval.

And even when I got back home, I still had gas. 

But the best part is, I didn't focus on RUNNING itself.  My legs just kept going and I was just enjoying the music and feeling on top of the world.  I also think that the fact that I didn't have to wait until the "Walk now" cue allowed me to just let go. 

I am so curious to see how I will do on Marathon day.

I hope my body will be as resilient as it was tonight.

Crawlathon ?

Yesterday’s run was really painful. Sharp acute pain on the top of my right foot. I ran on it regardless… I know very stupid of me.  After 40 minutes though I decided to walk the rest.  When I walk it’s really ok. It hurts when I move my foot certain ways, mainly sideways  Also of course the impact caused by running is pretty painful.

Today the high heels have been kicked to da curb.  

I need to see a doctor.  Maybe some orthotics are in order ?  My foot is pretty arched (oversupinated)

If I press on the area of 1st and 2nd metatarsusssess, where it meets the ankle, it hurts, and there is slight swelling as well. .

I do not like the treatment: REST. Ugh ! Marathon is less than a month away !! I'm gonna crawl my way to the finish line if I have to.

I. AM. DOING. THIS. 10K.

Google search result : Metatarsal Stress Fracture.

• Foot metatarsal pain which comes on gradually.
• Pain is located towards the mid/front of the foot.
• Pain is aggravated by weight bearing activities such as walking, running or dancing.
• Pain to touch the bone at the point it is broken.
• Swelling is often present.
• An X-ray will often not show the fracture until two or three weeks after it has started to heal.

What causes stress fractures?

• Over use!
• Too much training, too soon without enough rest!
• Oversupination  (very arched foot)
• They are common in army recruits (often called a march fracture), runners, ballet dancers and gymnasts.

Treatment

• Rest from weight bearing activities as much as possible.
• For those whose job requires them to weight bear, a walking boot may be used.
• The rest period should normally be around 4 weeks to allow sufficient healing.
• Recommence activities only once all pain on touch and walking have cleared.
• Start with a very slow return to activity and a gradual build of duration and intensity.
• If the stress fracture may have been caused by abnormal foot mechanics such as overpronation or oversupination then orthotics may be required to correct this.

The twins got quite a ride tonight !

5 min running and 1 min walking.

After a 4-day self-imposed break from running, I decided to hit the road even if I was scared. Yep you read right: I was scared about this run. After last run where my body couldn't keep up, I actually thought that I'd hit my wall and that I wouldn't be able to improve anymore. I even had thoughts of quitting this whole thing. I know I know, I can deflate pretty quick - and I don't mean gas.  Luckily this 3-day weekend was lovely and relaxing and I just worked outside around the house and took a break from everything.

So tonight I decided to get back to my first route, i.e. the neighbourhood one.  I associate this route with "starting", with square one.  Went for the late-evening run, so fresh air, no traffic, it got dark outside while I ran.

Went like a CHARM !!

I don't know what's up with my cardio but it's never been this good. In. my. LIFE. The 5 minute runs didn't get me out of breath at all ! I could have went on, but stick to the plan I choose to. 

I'm so happy and proud of myself.
Nothing is ever perfect so tonight, the thing that was less than perfect was the a-hem... support part. remember how I mentioned earlier in this post that I was so relaxed all weekend ? Well I forgot to put on a bra when I went running. Ouch, my poor boobies. Needless to say that the twins got quite a ride !

Queen of the Lake

Tonight's run was hard on me. Cardio was ok, legs felt semi-ok (but quite heavy). But the worst thing was : the heat !!

Sun directly hitting my head was NOT good. I became SO hot and dizzy, I had to stop. My head felt like it was gonna explode, I felt my heart beat through the skin of my face and in my ears.

I tried walking a little longer than 1 min between the 5 min runs, but the heat got the best of me. So I decided to listen to my body and walk the rest of the route.  This all sums up to 30-40 minutes training and 20 min walking. 

I felt really disappointed in myself at first and Aunt Guilt pulled in the driveway "Is THAT how you want to do it ? Is that REALLY how you want to do it ? Then you can just forget about this whole marathon thing".  But then as I cooled down a bit, my sanity settled back in slowly and forgave me ;-).

I'm really super tired. It's 8:27 PM and I'm hitting the sack soon. Just have to wait for my son to go to bed.

The heat also made me SO irritable; so not enjoying the run at ALL. You know that feeling of freedom and empowerment that comes with running and reaching higher mental ground ? You know the one ? Well I didn't feel it.

All I could focus on was counting the seconds until the damn 5 minutes would be over, hoping that my giant purple head wouldn't explode, all the while trying to make my way through all those people walking around the lake and being startled by cyclists, rollerbladers and other runners passing me.

People just do NOT get out of the way !! Can't they see that *I* have priority coz *I* am training for a marathon and *I* am Queen of the Lake?? ggrrrr. Beep beep !!! Coming through !!! Stop enjoying yourselves and make room will ya ?? Even my music kinda started to irritate me.  Rammstein, just shove it.

Bottom line : when it's sunny outside let's opt for the late-evening run, which offers cool air, less people and no direct sunrays on my head.  Then I shall be a better person.