My first marathon

Long overdue, but better late than never, my recap of my first marathon experience:

My first marathon experience began innocently enough.  I’d been thinking about running a marathon for a bit, but after the Around the Bay race this year, I realized that it was going to take a lot more training to run that extra 12.2 km.  I realized that there was no way I’d be ready to run one in May, which is when the next big one in my neck of the woods would be, so the wheels started turning.  Last year my brother was injured during the Scotiabank marathon, and I thought what better way to “teach that marathon a lesson for hurting my brother”, than by running it successfully.  So I signed up, and then I panicked.  I kind of forgot to ask Hubby what he thought of the whole plan and suddenly realized that marathon training wouldn’t just involve me, but our whole family.  Early morning training?  Well Hubby is a light sleeper, so no matter what I did, I would always wake him.  Sunday mornings with the kids?  Well sorry, Mommy has to go out for a few hours for a run, I’ll be back around noon.  Cleaning, laundry, school work, life?  Ya, lets just say that Hubby pitched in more than his fair share over the summer leading into the marathon.  There were a few “I can’t wait for this marathon thing to be over” moments from the both of us, but I have to admit, everyone was incredibly supportive.  Was it a lot of work? Heck ya!  Am I glad I did it? Heck ya again!  We’ve had a lot of stress in the last several years, and running has been my salvation thru most of it.  Not to mention, I just wanted to see if I could do it.  I used to be a fairly active kid until back issues sidelined me for most of my teenage years.  I’m no athlete, but to be able to set a goal like a marathon and reach it?  It’s an absolutely incredible feeling!  So much for the build up, hear’s the recap (finally)!

We arrived in T.O. the night before and had a great visit with my parents and brother and sister-in-law, and of course my cute as a button niece.  My brother had recovered enough to be able to run the 1/2 marathon and was super excited too.  We spent way too much time walking around, and had difficulty finding a place to eat, so all our schedules were thrown off.  But we were together, and that was the main thing.  My brother and his family live in Ottawa, so our visits are few and far between.  I cherish any time that we are all able to get together for a visit.  We tried to make it an early night, as we needed to prepare for the next day.

The next morning, we were all up early to meet down in the lobby of the hotel and head to the start line.  After a couple of last-minute hugs and kisses, we left the family and headed up to the corrals.  Even though my brother was recovering from an injury, he is still a much faster runner than I am, so we headed off to different corrals.  There were about 22,000 people there so getting to the corrals was a task in a half to begin with!  After waiting for just a couple of minutes we were off.  I was so emotional at this point, I mean here I was, running a marathon!  Who would have thought!  Hubby had come prepared with his bike and planned to follow me thru the course to take pictures and offer his support.  And I am so glad he did!

This was about 15 k into the run, I could hear someone calling me, but couldn’t for the life of me see where the voice was coming from!  Sneaky guy that Hubby!

By this point, the crowds had thinned out significantly.  I was still feeling good and enjoying the run.  I was running a little fast for what I was trying to keep my pace at, so I tried to slow down a bit.  I knew that I was going to need a lot more energy to finish the race.  My race plan was to run for 5 km, and then walk thru the water stations.  I figured if I gave myself that little rest, I’d be able to keep going past the 33 km mark, which was the furthest I’d run up until this point.

Still smiling at this point!

This is one of my favourite pictures of the day.  I look so relaxed and confident, which isn’t really what I was feeling at this point.  I was trying to keep all smiles when Hubby caught up with me, but I was getting tired.  I hadn’t eaten properly the day before, and I could feel it catching up with me.  Still, I wasn’t going to slow down yet.

About 2 km before this picture is when it started falling apart.  I had kept on pace pretty well up until km 30.  Then it started to hurt.  My legs hurt, my hips hurt, my feet hurt.  It’s also when the hill started.  The hardest part was seeing the pace bunny that I had kept ahead of the whole time pass me.  It was the 4:50 bunny and I knew there was no way I was going to finish in the time I wanted.  I had been so close!  I started to feel really upset with myself.  If only I had trained more, if only I had eaten better in the days leading up to the race.  If only if only if only.  Then it occurred to me.  I was still running, mind you with longer and longer walk breaks.  I was still in the game.  I was still planning on finishing.  In fact the thought of not finishing had never crossed my mind.  I just wasn’t going to do it in the time I had wanted to.  But I was still going to do it.

That’s also when Hubby started biking up to the km markers a head of me and set up the camera.  Darned if he was going to get pictures of me walking past those stupid markers!  And so I ran.

And kept running.  Yes, I still was walking a fair bit, but I knew the end was near.  And then it started to rain and the wind picked up.  All the heat I had built up over the last few hours was blown away by the strong headwinds.  Hubby stayed with me the whole time, cheering me on.  I could see he was concerned, but he knew better than to ask me if I was going to stop.  After 17 years of marriage, he knows me pretty well.  Once I set my mind to something, well let’s just say, watch out!

After the bridge (which was of course up hill) my spirits picked up again and the tears almost started to flow.  I was going to finish this thing, I was going to be able to say “I ran a marathon and finished!”.  Sure it wasn’t in the time I had set for myself, but I was still going to finish it standing up!

The final stretch was amazing!  I knew it was almost over, I knew my family was waiting for me at the end, and I knew that I had what it took to finish a marathon.  No matter what life was throwing at me,or would throw at me, I could do this.

As I crossed the finish line, I heard them announce my name, I saw my family cheering for me and I smiled from ear to ear.  The girls were so excited that they crossed the barricades and ran up to me and gave me a big hug.  I told them that they really weren’t suppose to be in the finishers chute, but they responded ” We’re kids, what are they going to say?!”  I love those two :)  The family hooked up with us fairly shortly afterwards, and there were sweaty hugs for everyone!  Hubby had been thinking ahead and had already gotten me some food and a drink and we headed back to the hotel so I could clean up.  After a quick visit, we all had to head our own ways, but I was so happy that we were all able to get together to bask in each others accomplishments.  My brother set a new PR in the 1/2 and I my new PR was finishing the marathon in 5:09:31.  Like I said, slower than I wanted, but faster than if I’d never signed up in the first place.

As a funny side note, when I told my middle one that I was a bit disappointed in my time, she said “That’s o.k., it just means it will be easy to beat it the next time!”  I smiled, because she knows me so well

July 14th? Really?

So I may have been a little busy, and then maybe got a case of writers block and didn’t know where to begin.  One week turned into two weeks, and well, you know how it goes.  Summer is long gone, I did finish the trail race by the way , and fall is definitely here.  There was much excitement, such as the car accident

Dealing with the insurance company, looking for a new vehicle and finally finding one

Swanky no?  There was getting the girls to and from camp, three weeks for Middle One, two weeks for Little One and one week for Hubby!  There was lots of running, and biking, and running (of course) to get ready for the marathon.

Getting the girls ready for school, and that most important first day

Middle One started high school this year, exciting!

Not to mention the exciting auditing course I am still taking…will it never end!  Well, it will actually in December.  Did I mention that I still have an assignment, research paper and exam to study for this month?  Stuff I should be doing but instead am procrastinating by doing a catching up post! 

There was the swim banquet (yes I was the coordinator again), Brownies and all the usual start-up stuff, oh ya, and there’s that work thing too!  And of course there was the marathon, but that is too important to get stuffed in this post, it deserves one all its own.  But this week has been my catch up week, mostly because I wasn’t feeling well, so didn’t feel like I could tackle any more “new” projects, partly because I’m in that very rare time at work where all my major projects are done, and the new ones won’t start until next week.  Today when I left work, all my entries were done, the filing was finished and my inbox was almost empty, which almost never happens.  It felt so good really “ending” the week, caught up as I’ll ever be and feeling that I’d be able to tackle the new week (and new project) next week head on.  I guess that’s the push I needed to start cleaning up the odds and ends around here.  So I’m going to give this blogging thing another try.  Can’t promise anything, just that I’ll keep plugging along as usual, trying to get it all done.  That and that I’ll still be doing laundry, I mean really, does anyone ever get to the bottom of the hamper?

Lots of training, that’s what’s new

A lot of what has been going on in our lives lately is stuff I’m not comfortable putting out there in the blogosphere, but I’ve missed being able to write and share on a regular basis.  I’ve decided to get back at it and focus on what I can share instead of what I can’t (or won’t as the case may be).

So what’s new?  Lots and lots of training!  I’ve decided to throw myself into marathon training and so far, it’s been going pretty good.  I’ve decided to follow the “Run less, Run Faster” program, which is a “Runner’s World” publication.  Basically, there are three main running workouts, the tempo run, the track run (intervals) and the long run, as well as two cross training days.  I’ve also thrown in weekday weight training on my lunches as there is a gym across the street from my work.  I’ve got to work a 1/2 hour later to make enough time on my lunch to get in there, but it has been working out pretty well the last few weeks.  I’ve figured out how to program my Garmin to help with the track workouts and even the tempo workouts and have been going down to the lake for my long runs.  It’s a lot more scenic, and a little cooler when there is a breezy off of the lake.  So how is it going you ask?  Excellent!  I’ve managed to keep on track of my workouts, I’ve only missed one biking day and I’ve started to notice a difference already.  Although track work will probably never be my favourite thing to do, I’m finding it easier now.  Not easier in the sense that I’m not working hard enough, but more comfortable with the whole concept of it.  If I can keep on track, I think this program will definitely prepare me for the October 16th marathon.

But this weekend I’ve got a whole nother challenge.  I’m registered for the 5 peaks trail race at Rattlesnake Point.  It’s a 12.7 km trail race along the escarpment, and to be quite honest, I’m a little (ok a lot) nervous.  The Meredith Hagen run was my first experience running on the trails, and I must say I did enjoy the whole experience.  This race however, sounds a little more serious, but I’m hoping that once I get going the jitters will wear off.  At least with the trail run, I’m not going to worry too much about time, except for having a good one (time that is ) I know I can run the distance, although the terrain and hills will be a bit of a challenge, but I wanted to try something a little different. The family won’t be joining me this Saturday, Middle One is at Cadet training camp and Little One and Hubby will be sleeping in, so I’ll be all on my own.  As long as I don’t get lost getting up there (which is a distinct possibility ) I’m sure I’ll be fine.  Fingers crossed and knock on wood and all that!  Update to follow, with hopefully no injuries to report

Our week (or so) in pictures

Silly string fights at Little One’s birthday, an annual tradition

The “clean up” ball

It’s amazing how fast kids will clean up when you call it a “contest”

The winner of the clean up contest

Birthday girl in the birthday hat

As a friend of mine said “Doesn’t that hat remind you of the children’s book “Go Dog Go” with the dog and her party hat?”

And last but not least, Middle One graduated grade 8 this past week

She looked absolutely beautiful and did wonderful.  She graduated with honors and also earned two awards other awards.  We couldn’t be prouder.

Marathon training is still going strong with three runs and two rides a week and now that I’ve gotten my lunch hour extended, weight training at lunch.  I’ll be a running machine in no time ( I hope )

Hopefully the next update will be sooner but no promises, this summer isn’t turning out to be as quiet as we thought it would be

Moving forward

Yes again, it’s another ” I’m still here” post.  Our family has been through yet another grand upheaval and just making it thru the day has been all we can handle most of the time.  But things are now settling into their new normal, so I’m hoping that we will be able to get back into the groove again.  I know that change is good, but quite honestly, I’ve had enough change in the last year to last me a lifetime!  Through out everything we have had some fun family moments.  Middle One had her Cadet Annual, and did wonderful as usual

Never one to be too serious for too long….

That kid is such a card sometimes!  We got to spend a little time with our new addition as well.

He is such a cutie!  We don’t get to see him nearly enough, but hopefully that will change in the near future.

Hubby and I have been keeping up with our “dates” on Saturday morning, which consists of a bike ride down by the lake.  Our longest so far has been 26 km, but this week we will probably be breaking the 30 km mark.  However this weeks ride is being moved to Sunday, as my brother and I are going to be running in the Meredith Hagen Inspiration trail run on Saturday.  It will be my first trail run so I’m pretty excited.  That and I get to run it with my brother, who even though he is coming back from a major injury, is still faster than I am   We will be running the race Saturday morning and then rushing back to the host to host Little One’s spectacular 11th birthday bash.  No pressure right!  Fingers are crossed for nice weather because there is no way I’ll be able to fit everyone in the house if it rains!

My marathon training is also on track so far and I am just finalizing the schedule.  Hopefully my brother will be able to help me tweak it this weekend since he has much more experience with marathon running than I do.  Seeing it down on paper (or on the computer screen) is kind of scary and exciting all at the same time.

Work and flute recitals are in the plans for today, so I’d better get moving.  Hopefully I’ll be back soon!

So what have I been doing?

I`ve finished redoing the downstairs bathroom

O.K., well maybe Hubby did do the tile work!

Finished painting the back guest room, no pictures yet.  The painting is done, but there is some “extra“ furniture that we have to get rid of before it`s done.

Had a great visit with my brother, sister in law and niece

Isn`t she just the cutest baby ever!

I failed my eye exam and had to get reading glasses

I have been extremely busy at work with conferences, auditors and all the normal day to day stuff.

I got a new job title…..Accountant!

I signed up for two new races, 5 Peaks series at Rattlesnake point and the Scotiabank marathon.

Panicked when I realized that I signed up for these two races (what was I thinking..)

Started my new course….Auditing!

Went to a spring concert to watch Little One

She and her friends were great!

Took Middle One to drop off her first resumé, at a bakery of course!

And last but not least, became a grandmother

So if I haven`t had the time to keep up with the blog, please forgive me….I`ve been a little busy

Random

I’m still enjoying a bit of time off from my studies and planning the next wave of activities.  I’ve got a couple of races in mind to sign up for, and we are redoing the downstairs back bedroom into a new guest room.  We might even attempt to finish the redo of the downstairs bathroom before my brother, sister-in-law and niece come to visit in a couple of weeks.  It might not sound like I’m taking much of a break, but it is nice to finally get some stuff done around the house.  So instead of a long-winded post, here’s a few pictures to show what we’ve been up to the last week:

These are the “before” pictures of the new guest room.  I’ve put 4 coats of primer ( 6 in some spots) and one coat of paint so far.  There is still some marker bleeding through in a couple of spots, so I’m going to try another coat of paint on those and if that doesn’t work, we’re just hanging pictures!

These little beauties were created by Middle One!  Trust me they tasted as good as they looked.  She received a cupcake decorating book called “Hello Cupcake!” from her Aunt and Uncle and has been dying to try out each and every one since she got it.  These turned out great, and with a little practice, will rival the ones in the book.

Mmmmmmm cupcakes! 

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about my running these days too.  I’m still running pretty well every other day, but I’ve gotten into a rut with it.  I seem to be doing the same pace and the same distances over and over again.  I’ve decided that I need to get a bit more serious about my running goals and overall fitness.  Now that I have a new bike, I’m going to try to do more cross training in the form of bike rides as well as hitting the weights at the gym.  My Mom, who also happens to be a personal trainer, came up with a quick program that I should be able to do 2 days a week, that will give me an overall body workout.  I’m hoping by adding these to my routine, I’ll be able to snap out of my rut.  I’ve got my eye on a couple of races, and will be signing up shortly I’m sure.  There is nothing like the idea of an impending race to get you focused!  However today is Easter Monday and even though I had to go to work, all of the girls activities were cancelled tonight, so I think I’m going to relax and catch up on a bit of reading before bed.  And it won’t be my new textbook that came in the mail today either!

Back to our regularly scheduled programming

Wow, it had been a busy couple of weeks, but I think I am finally getting caught up.  Well at least as caught up as I ever get!  We’ve had swim meets, birthday parties, final exams, cookie selling, new bike purchasing as well as the usual day-to-day work and kid stuff.  I’m hoping that now that my final exam for my course is over, and I’m taking a month off of my studies, I’ll be able to rest up a bit before the next onslaught of activities.  As a quick catch up, here’s a brief look at the past couple of weeks:

Bought a new bike!  I’m so excited, this bike is a dream to ride, so light!  Hubby and I are planning on going outside for our rides on Saturdays when the weather cooperates instead of our usual spin classes.  Now if the weather would only cooperate!

Middle One is still going strong on her horseback riding lessons.  She’s ridden Zaszu the last couple of weeks so has had to learn to be a bit more forceful, as Zaszu can be a bit of a lazy bum.

Little One had her second last swim meet and did really well again.  If we could only get the goggles to stay on her face, I’m sure she would be going even faster.  She beat all four of her times again and is getting better each and every time.

Middle One also taught herself how to make fondant and created this practice cake, as well as baked her own birthday cake.  Party and cake pictures to follow, as I haven’t had a chance to download them quite yet.  In addition to my final exam this Friday, we had Middle One’s sleepover birthday party, Little One slept over at a friend’s house and Hubby and I started cleaning and prepping the back room for painting next weekend.  Busy as always, but at least I managed to stay in my jammies most of the day Sunday, except for the quick run I managed to get in.  Now that the schedule is a little less packed, I’m hoping to get back to a few of the fun things that have had to slid in the last couple of months, you know like sleeping!

Around the Bay recap

It’s been a busy week since I ran the Around the Bay, but I finally have a couple of minutes to finish my race recap.  I have to say, running the Bay was an awesome experience in the true sense of the world.  Thousands and thousands of people run the Bay each year, there were 7000 registered for the 30 km alone.  You were never alone during the whole race and it was amazing to see the sea of people in front and behind during the whole run.  It was also very COLD when we started -10 celsius to be exact, but I used a trick that one of my colleagues let me in on.  I used one of Hubby’s old work coats that was destined for the garbage anyways, and wore it until we started.  Once I warmed up, I thru it to the side of the road.  There were tons of other sweaters and coats on the side of the road, so I wasn’t the only one who was let in on this little hint!  The race organizers collect up the clothing afterwards and donate it to a local charity.  I seeded myself around the 3:15-3:30 group knowing that this would probably be my pace, and there were so many people ahead of me, my chip time ended up being almost 5 minutes different from the gun time.  After a little teary moment at the beginning since my emotions were running pretty high, we were off!  Tons of people lined the roads cheering us on.  My goal was to try to run about a 1:05 10 km and I almost hit it right on for the first 10 km.  I have to say, I was feeling pretty good, but knew that the going was only going to get tougher from there.  The route takes us across the lift bridge from Hamilton to Burlington and the view is amazing.  No time to dilly dally though, so I keep going.  Around km 17, hubby caught up with me to take a couple of pics and cheer me on.

He was travelling on his long board and hadmore than one offer to purchase it!  Once he was close to where he had parked the car, he left to go get the kids and I kept plugging on.  I passed the 20 km mark at 2:15, about 5 minutes off of my goal pace, but still pretty good.  Around km 24 is where it started to get really hard.  For my previous long runs, I had never really run further that 23 km, so my body wasn’t used to running this distance and trying to keep up the pace.  As well, this is where the hills really start along the course.  Not just rolling hills, but fairly steep ones as well.  I had to take a couple of walk breaks, one going up on of the hills and then through the water station.  I was tired, but I knew I had it in me to finish.  As they say “failure was not an option”!  When we headed down Spring Gardens road, I knew “Heartbreak Hill” was coming.  I’d been warned that it was steep, but I had no idea how long is was.  It’s approximately 500 m of uphill, which by this point is cruel in my opinion I wasn’t able to run the whole way up, partly because I was tired, partly because I knew there was still 4 km to run afterwards, and I was going to finish.  Once at the top I found it easier to keep running, although at a much slower pace, than walk.  After walking, my legs felt like they were going to seize up, so I had to keep moving.  Once I got across the last bridge and rounded the corner, I could finally see Copps, where the finish line is located.  I was so happy, I started to tear up again.  I was actually going to finish!  I picked up a little speed rounding the last corner before the finish and crossed the line at 3:30:45. 

I was so happy I could have cried, and in fact the tears did come a bit.  I couldn’t wait to find my family and celebrate!  We hadn’t set up a meeting place, so finding each other was a bit of a task, but it was wonderful once we finally connected.  I now have bragging rights to say “I ran the Bay”, and will wear my t-shirt with pride.  Now for next year…..

Mission accomplished!

(Yes that would be Hubby in the reflection in my glasses ) I did it!  I finished the Around the Bay race and they didn’t have to drag me across the finish line.  I finished in 3:30:45, which I think for my ability and current level of training is a good time.  I’ll do a full recap post a little later, as right now, I’m still pretty tired, and Little One is begging for the computer.  But for now, I will say, finishing never felt so good!