If You Wait for Perfect Conditions...

  

 

Yeahhhhh, I need to look at this one regularly. Repeat it to myself daily. Maybe get it tattooed on the back of my hand.

 

See, I certainly like the results when I run regularly. But I don't like running when it's hot... humid... wet... rainy... cold... too sunny... too dark... too early in the morning... too late in the day...

 

Sheesh, I'm a delicate flower, eh?

 

The funny thing is - I did a race this weekend (Women's Run 8K) in the pouring rain, and the rain didn't bother me in the slightest. Being underprepared from not getting enough training in was a problem, but the rain wasn't!

 

See, I woke up that morning and lay in bed listening to the rain. Briefly thought about ditching the race but knew I'd regret it if I did. Told myself that the starting gun wasn't going off for a couple of hours and I'd really regret not going if the weather calmed down by then.

 

Out of bed, showered, breakfast, got dressed and into the car. Still raining.

 

Drove to the site, parked and sat in my car with coffee and a book until the last possible moment, listening to the rain drumming on the roof.

 

Once I was finally out of the car...the rain didn't seem THAT bad. Hiked up to bag check, hit the washrooms and lined up in my corral. Ran/walked the 8K, dodged as many puddles as I could, and barely noticed the rain despite getting soaked to the skin.

 

Do me a favour? Remind me of this the next time that I'm in my cozy house and finding it hard to get out in the weather for a run.

 

I had a good - not great - time at this race. It's a wonderful event, but lack of training in the last few weeks and poor nutrition that morning (too small breakfast, too close to the start time) meant that I did much more power walking and less running than I would have liked, and I was scraping the bottom of the barrel energy-wise by 7K. I did manage to pick it up in the last 300m for the photographers, though :-)

 

But I made sure to look around to enjoy the course and the fall colours - the park this race takes place in is gorgeous!  My daughter did the 5K route with me last fall and we had a marvellous time. Also made sure to thank each and every volunteer on and off the course. They were troupers.

 

And when I got to the finishline, I was so proud of myself. Proud for showing up, proud for not cutting things short by following the 5K-ers, and so proud for finishing an 8K - going longer than 5K is still a really new thing for me.

 

Here's hoping I actually learned a few things with this race. I'm going to need it to get ready for the 15K I'm doing in March...

 

Here's a few pics from the last 2 weeks -

 

New running shoes. Went for a few short runs around the 'hood with the dog.

 

 

Got to High Park a couple of times for the dog park...

 

...and trail running. Stella had a fabulous time in this gigantic mud puddle.
Wasn't too pleased later at home in the shower though. 

 

Got to Curves a couple of times each week. My daughter likes to come sometimes.

 

Walking to the start of the Women's Run. Pretty park.

 

Wilket Creek winds through the park. Can't tell it's raining, can you?

Check out the rain - and how wet my hair is!
This is at about 7.7K. Told you that I pulled it together for the photographers!

Heading into the finish line. Proud. Happy.

 

8K is in the books! Soaked to the skin but smiling.
Had a complete set of dry clothes in my car. Got changed and wore my medal for the rest of the day - even to the dentist!

Island Girl Half Marathon Relay - Check!

Ahem - I have an announcement to make.

This race was my first 10K!

10-point-5-K actually - it was a half-marathon relay!

And finishing it means I can cross another Big, Scary Goal off the list :-)

 

The Island Girl has been on my wishlist since last year, when we happened to be on the Toronto Islands on the same day as the race. Beautiful spot, flat course, hula dancers, steel drums. It took me until this spring to work up the courage to sign up, and I'm oh, so glad that I did!

 

Convinced my co-worker Sarah to sign up as a relay partner with me...

Waiting for the ferry - with my daughter, Sarah and Stella.
Yes, my daugher is wearing a rain hat on this bright, sunny day. That's the way she rolls.







...and that made for 3 teams doing today's run. So fun to do these with a crowd.

 



With Laura, Rachel, another Sarah and Emma - you may recognise them from Around the Bay and a few other races.

Up early, into the car with my husband, kids, dog and a picnic breakfast, down to the lake and onto the ferry. Landed on the island, strolled around for a bit...ditched the extra layers...BRRRRRR....and Emma, blondeSarah and I headed to the start while everyone else headed for the relay exchange point. It's a T-shaped out and back course, and the exchange is at the 750m/5.5K/10.5K mark. 

 

Passing my family @ 750m - my husband took this while holding Stella back from trying to join me.
He had to hold her back again when I passed them at 5.5K My running partner was feeling left out!

 



I've run 7K once (the Spartan Race this summer) and 6.5K twice in training, but other than that have been covering 5.5K and shorter so I really didn't know how I'd be with this distance. Decided to take things slow and easy and made sure I didn't go out too fast.  

 

My 5K PR is roughly 39 minutes, and I had hopes of doing this race in 1.5 hours. But fully expected to take longer.

 

I hit the 5K mark at 39 minutes - dead on my PR - and was pleasantly surprised at how short 5K felt! 



Crossing into "I've never run this far before" territory
This bouncy boardwalk did a number on my back...

 

...but check out the view! We had close to 2K of quiet, lovely lakeside running.
Rest of the course was on the beautiful, tree-lined paths that make the island such a wonderful spot to spend a day.

Lots of 5s/1s and 4s/2s, lots of enjoying the lovely, scenic route, and all of a sudden I was almost done!

Past the hula dances and into the relay exchange - two thumbs up and a big smile

High 5s to Sarah at the exchange point, hugs from my family, and was nearly knocked off my feet by my overly excited dog.

 

Hey Stella? I missed you during the run. Would have brought you if I could.

Speaking of hula dancers...my daughter getting into the spirit of things on the beach

Hey - here comes Sarah! 5.5K, she's over half done!

Stopping for some parkour on our way to the finish line

Emma, blonde Sarah and I (with Stella) waited about 200m before the finish line to run our teammates in. Lots of cheering, then a sprint to the finish, medals, water and snacks.

So much fun.

Sarah and I. We are absolutely wearing our medals to work tomorrow.

Sarah, me, Sarah, Rachel, Laura and Emma

My finish time? 1:29 and I'm delighted. I'm a slow runner and I walk a lot, but I did this 10.5K in just over twice my 5K PR time. That's a win!

Next? I've been wanting to do the Women's Run at the end of October, but wasn't sure if I'd sign up for the 5K or the 8K. Figured I'd see how this race went before I decided.

Since today went so well, it's a no-brainer. Got out my credit card tonight signed up for the 8K. Now, let's see who I can convince to run it with me...

Orillia Try-A-Tri - Check!

My first triathlon is in the books!

350m swim + 10K bike + 2.5K run = 1:09:57

Let me just preface this by saying...I am a poor swimmer, I'm afraid of taking hills and corners too quickly on my bike, and I'm a slow runner. So why the heck would I sign up to try a tri?

I really don't have an answer for that, aside from...it called to me.

It called to me so loudly that I actually signed up for two this summer. So that if this one was dreadful, I'd have a second shot at tri in August, rather than having to wait until next season to redeem myself.

Now, if you've been following along, you may have noticed that I didn't exactly train for this. I've been biking, I've taken up running, and I swim when I can. But I wouldn't call that focused training.

Each leg in the tri sounded very reasonable to me - but I really underestimated what a game changer it is to put 'em together in one event. Particularly when you add in 31C weather with blazing sun.

So you won't be surprised that this event was a challenge! 

My goals for this race were modest, though: Learn the logistics of doing a tri. Finish. Not dead last if possible.

Done and done :-)

Here's the details -

Before

We stayed at my parent's the night before. The race had an 11am start time, so I had plenty of time to wake up, have breakfast and get ready. Said 'see you at the finish' to my family and rode my bike to the starting line - about 6 minutes away. Sweet.

My red bike is racked. Yes, it's a mountain bike.
 I'll invest in a road bike by next season, I promise.

Checked in about 45 minutes before the start, picked up my ankle chip, got marked, racked my bike, organized my gear, checked out the entry & exit points for each leg, then headed to the beach.

Was a bit of a long walk from transition to the swim start, but on soft grass and clean sand. Nice and easy on the bare feet.

Hit the water for a quick swim. Lovely and warm. And all of a sudden, it was time to get started.

First two waves went out...2 mintues to go before mine...tap on the shoulder...my mom and sister had come to the start to surprise me! Which helped take my mind off how nervous I was.

Hamming it up for the camera with a gun show. Less than a minute to go.
Yes, I'm wearing a swim suit. Will invest in tri suit and possibly wet suit for next season 

 350m swim - 13:32 (includes time to exit the water, cross the beach and enter transition)

Honestly, there were more than a dozen of us in this wave - everyone is really spread out to the sides

Ran in as far as I could, started swimming, and immediately ran into trouble.

Between a mad rush of adreneline making me forget absolutely everything I knew about breathing and technique...and the water being much choppier than I had trained in...I got hit in the face with a wave, swallowed most of it and couldn't breath. Like I'd had the wind knocked out of me.

Forced myself not to panic and to tread water until I recovered. What really helped keep the panic away? The idea of having to give up 20 seconds into a race that I'd signed up for 8 months ago...well, that made me furious.

Recovered, started swimming and almost ran into trouble again with another wave. Decided to flip onto my back for most of the swim rather than keep fighting the waves. Had to swim a heck of a lot harder than I had planned to in order to made up for lost time.

Left the water breathing hard and headed to transition.

T1 - 3:06

Pleased with how I laid out my gear; everything went smoothly. Took a few moments but I was still having a hard time generally calming down. Headed out on the bike still breathing hard.

Leaving T1. Wondering exactly when I'll be able to catch my breath, and how on earth I'm going to be able to run later.

Bike - 34:53

Bike started at the bottom of a steep hill. Said a few nasty words to myself about it and headed up. Reached the top without stopping to walk (woohoo!), and started up a long slope. Followed by another hill. Things levelled out around the 4K mark and I was finally able to get my breathing under control.

Got to the turnaround and - hey - isn't that my mom over there? Fabulous surprise. So great to see a familiar face on the course.

Me in black beside the guy in red.
Mom didn't get a pic of me approaching. Guess I was going too fast, haha.

Aside from being somewhat cautious on down slopes and corners, I love biking. I was really able to relax and enjoy this ride.

Which was over far too quickly!

T2 - 1:48

Got off the bike and was shocked at how tight my legs were. You know, I had *meant* to do some brick training this spring...better get on that before my next tri in a month...

Run - 21:34

The late morning start to this race meant that it was getting close to noon - and very hot and sunny - when I headed out on the run. I knew going into the race that this would be a problem so decided just to have fun with it. Short runs, lots of walk breaks. Took my time at the water stations getting a drink and sprayed down. And guess who showed up at the turnaround? Mom!

I wasn't kidding when I said I'd decided to have fun on this run.

The best thing about a 2.5K run? It's over really fast.

About 50 feet to go and just spotted my husband, kids and dog. Lots of cheering for mom.
And the dog dragged my son off his feet trying to get to me! 

FINISHED!!!!! And with a smile.

After the race - kids played at the park, I walked the dog around a bit, picked up a goodie bag of snacks, picked up my gear and rode bck to my mom's. Lunch, then a 3-generation girl's trip to another beach (Orillia is full of beaches) to celebrate!

The verdict? I learned a lot, including how undertrained I was for this. Have a plan for how I'm going to prepare for the next one in 4 weeks. And a goal to do this again next year :-)

A HUGE thank you to my family for all of their support and encouragement. My younger sister for picking up my race kit and coming to the start, my mom for driving all around town to catch me on each leg, my kids for cheering me on at the finish, to my dog for coming on every training run with me!

...and most of all my husband, for always helping out and NEVER complaining about being on sherpa and driving detail for all of the races I do. 

xoxoxoxox Jen

Post-Spartan Recovery

I didn't get bloody, but I did find a few small barbed-wire related holes in my pants

What do I have to recover from? Hmmm -

We're about 5-1/2K through the course at this point

Ice. Barbed Wire. Good times.
Close to the end, but still more to come.

Hay bales. So determined not to break an ankle today.

Hey Elissa, I'm right behind you. Thanks for distracting those gladiators.

Got me some gladiators to dodge...and my eye on the finish line!

I've been having fun watching miscellaneous bruises pop up - mainly on my forearms (from the belly crawls), chest and knees (from going over the climbing wall).

Hadn't realized exactly how much I had been dreading Spartan until now, when I'm so glad that it's over. At the same time, the realization of what an accomplishment this was is really sinking in. I keep looking at my medal and grinning.

It's at home on my medal rack now, but the medal spent the first two days at work with me.
Everytime I felt stiff and sore, I'd look at it and remember "Oh, riiiiight...."

 And now that this is behind me, I can start looking forward to my first Try-a-Tri at the end of July!

Rest of the week went like this -

Son and dog catching a nap on the ride home from Spartan.

Sunday - Spartan Race, drive back home, 3K dog walk.

Monday - Rest day. 2K walk to the dog park and back.

Tuesday - Big Rest day - I caught a cold my husband was spreading around and it hit me like a ton of bricks.

Wednesday - Starting to feel better already. Went to the gym for a boot camp, focused on strength-training and stretching out. 3K dog walk before bed.

Beautiful evening for a walk!

Thursday - Last day of school for the kids! Report cards and celebratory pizza, then frantically cleaned the house and got them packed to go to my in-laws for the night. Trail walk with the dog after (2+K).

Friday - Back to the gym for a boot camp, followed by an impromptu Zumba class. OMG - I had forgotten just how much I love Zumba!! Left the gym very, very sweaty and very, very happy.

How was your week?

SPARTAN!!!

Yeah, I'd say that's about right

This was much harder than last year's Warrior Dash. My god.

I'd heard this was more challenging and have been kind of terrified since signing up - but tried to console myself with the fact that we finished Warrior and I'm a bit fitter than I was last summer.

I was still pretty intimidated heading into this, though.

Me, Elissa, Laura, Rachel - waiting to start

And with good reason, as it turns out!

Warrior was 12 obstacles in 5K. We finished in 1:04.

Spartan was 22 obstacles and feats of strength in 7K.

We finished in 1:31, minus time spent waiting through a few significant bottlenecks at a couple of the stations - so let's say 1:15.

On paper, it looks like we knocked it out of the park. But this race kicked my butt!

What did we face on the course? Let's see...

7K trail run through a forest of rolling steep hills. Beautiful and shady, would have been great for a family hike!

Belly crawl up a sandy hill under low nets.

Crawl through a long narrow tube. I seriously would not have fit in this 80lbs ago.

Climb up and over a high (wobbly) rope net.

Belly crawl though about 30 feet of mud under low barbed wire.

Wade through a mud pond - almost waist deep.

Pull kettle bells 20 feet up in the air.

Up and down a 20+ foot high twisty rope ladder (thanks to my girls for trying to steady it for me!!)

Belly crawl 30 feet or so through dirt under low boards - think of a blackout pit.

Up and over a 90-degree climbing wall.

Carry a 20+-lb sand bag through the forest.

Javelin throw.

Push a wheelbarrow containing a big cement block through the forest - each handle weighed down by a 20-lb sandbag.

Hold a dowel at chest height, parallel to the ground, and spin it to wind a rope (tied to a 20-lb sandbag) from the ground up. Twice.

Balance beams.

Run through tires.

Jump over fire.

20 reps on a rowing machine.

Belly crawl through ICE CUBES under insanely low strung barbed wire. We had maybe 15" between the ice and the wire. Keep your head - and your butt - down!

Run up 45-degree ramp and jump off the end. Twice.

Up and over the hay bales.

Dodge a trio of Spartans - they want to knock you off your feet.

Up and over a long, slipperly ramp. I bailed on this one and took a 10-burpee penalty.

FINISH.

Just to give you an idea, here's a few pics from the course - none of these are of me:

 

Medals, drink of water, photo op...

...sprayed off with an icy cold blast from the fire hose, another photo op...

Don't actually look much cleaner after the fire hose - just wetter

...ordered a massive poutine to share with the family, then headed back to the car.

Seems so calm and peaceful from over here.

Wrapped up in a tarp, headed back to my mother's for a shower and lunch.

Sweet tech shirt, excellent medal

And a vow to never, ever do this race again.

Warrior Dash? Mayyyybe....