Old Habits, New Habits

Happy last day of November! 

I'm paying attention to the base building advice I shared with you earlier so have been trying to switch up my schedule by running one speed workout each week. 

A personal note on speed workouts: not my favourite. 

That said, fartleks - or, speed play - can be relatively fun, if you make it. For example, I've been running 30 second intervals i.e. 30 seconds at a relatively faster pace, followed by 30 seconds of walking/jogging to recover, rinse and repeat. And while doing so, I've been taking the time to notice the views around me (Vancouver is a beautiful place to run), tell myself some jokes and occasionally try and run faster than I did the previous kilometre.

I dunno. Does that sound like fun? I suppose fun is what you make it.

On my route today: Charleson Park. Pic cred: surYnorte

An old habit I noticed on today's run: breathing in for three steps and out for two, especially when the pace is faster or when running uphill. I've been running for so many years, I'm not even sure where I picked up this tip. Probably one of the books I've read that's sitting on my shelf at home.

A new habit I'm trying to form: bringing my gear to the office so I can run right at the end of the day when it's still light out. Darn you, winter! Why's it gotta be so dark by 4:30 in the afternoon? 

Today's run: 4 km fartlek. Weather: a light wind but dry (thankful for that, given it was raining buckets this morning). Feeling: okay. The run started out a little meh, but got better the longer I was out there. 

Running Round-Up: All About That Base (Building) Edition

My small but loyal following from 2012-2014 will likely remember I'd had my heart set on running number five in Vancouver, and I am happy to confirm that this is still the case. I've set my sights on the BMO Vancouver Marathon which happens on May 7, 2017. That means, building up base mileage needs to start... now!

Base Building
Base training or building means "starting from a lower base of infrequent mileage and progressing to more frequent runs including two to three shorter runs and one long run per week" (see: A Runner's Guide to Base Building). Base building can be tough, especially if you're new to running or starting from inactivity. Your level of activity should always be tailored to match your current fitness level. Seems pretty intuitive, right? But this can be really tough, especially if you're raring to go. Don't try to do too much all at once.  

There are great resources out there on base training, including the one mentioned above. If you're looking for additional advice from the experts, give these articles a try:

Build Your Best Training Base
The Basics Of Base Training For Runners 
5 Ways to Build Your Running Base 

The Regulars
While out there today, I recognized two things:

1. Groups of runners: UGH. I've never been a fan. I refer specifically to those people who run in packs on Sundays and always take up the entire path or sidewalk. Very rarely do they move to make room for others and, inevitably, when passing they'll be talking about some shit like split times or nutrition. I get it, but it's just... so... stereotypical.  
2. On the other hand, I crossed paths with another runner whom I recognized from my "old days" of running. I don't actually know her, but we'd pass each other on the same route every weekend. It made me smile to see a familiar face and realize that she's probably been a road warrior this whole time.

Today's run: 8 km. Weather: cool but dry. Feeling: pretty psyched, actually. A little worried about my ankle (which I rolled a teensy bit last week), but not overly. I also feel like this has all happened before, strangely. Guess it's just a little running déjà vu!

 Enjoy the rest of your day, friends. And - here's a little Meaghan
Trainor to end your weekend. She's all about that bass, too. 

Five or Bust

My dad died earlier this year.

He had never taken good care of himself and struggled with type 2 diabetes for years.

Diabetes experts have made clear what a person should do to mitigate the risk of diabetes: smoking cessation, living an active lifestyle, eating healthy foods. Sadly, my dad’s decades-long smoking habit was far too entrenched, his love of fried foods far too established. As he got older and mobility became an issue, his ability to remain physically active became more and more difficult. Towards the end, diabetic neuropathy and other complications arising from diabetes painfully accelerated the decline in his quality of life.

As he got more and more sick, I started to feel so angry about the way he lived his life. Why couldn’t he take better care of himself? Why wouldn’t he change his ways? And while this anger felt justified for months – and even now, occasionally, despite the fact he’s gone – a grief counsellor told me this:

Each of us has the right to live the life he or she wants, no matter what risks that creates, no matter what others want that person to do. Everyone’s choices are theirs alone to make. And whatever you or I or anyone else wants or thinks that person should be doing is purely selfish – selfish, not because we care, but because those choices aren’t ours to make.

Talk about an eye-opener.

But… that’s love, isn’t it? Being able to accept someone’s failings or imperfections no matter what, even though we might not agree with their actions or if we think they’re making poor choices.

My dad may not have been a pillar of health, but there’s no question he lived his life the way he wanted. Yes, he smoked, he drank, he wasn’t terribly active later in life. But he raised a family, he had friends. I’d like to think he loved and had fun and enjoyed his time while he was here. In fact, I have to believe that because otherwise, what’s the point of it all?

So. About this blog.

When I started Five by 35, I’d already run one marathon and had decided to run four more – a total of five marathons before I turned 35 years old. There were ups and downs: a fastest ever half marathon during training, heartbreaking injury, a noteworthy and unexpected comeback. But by the time I had four marathons under my belt, everything changed. Grad school and a shift in my career goals took focus away from my running and, with that, my desire to finish a fifth. And in June 2014, from an airport in Paris, after two and a half years of being on the blog, I decided to hang up my shoes and call it quits.

I never considered this a defeat or failure – merely, a shift in my priorities and desire to do other things for a while. As I said (wrote) at the time, “I wanted to believe that I still had it in me to do number five. But if I'm being honest with myself, I just don't wanna…running will always be a part of me but, for now, marathon running is no longer in the cards.”

At the time, I truly believed that I no longer wanted to run marathons. That was it. All she wrote. But surprisingly, over time, that desire resurfaced – very small, at first, until recently.

I ran my first marathon in 2009 with Team Diabetes in support of the Canadian Diabetes Association. I had fundraised because I wanted to show my support for loved ones living with diabetes – my dad included. The thought of joining the team again entered my consciousness a few weeks back and would not leave. “Why not?” I thought. And then, “It could be a tribute for my dad.” So it seems only fitting that I put my shoes back on.

I will be registering with Team Diabetes and have fundraising information for you all shortly. To repurpose a line used by The Trews: “I only ask money of friends and total strangers.” But it’s all for a good cause, so I think that’s okay.

35 may have come and gone, but I can still run and so I’m gonna. Five or bust. For you, Dad. And me.

--

Correction by author: a day after posting this I realized that I had, in fact, run two marathons before starting Five by 35 – not one marathon, as originally noted. My bad. I blame my poor memory... and not combing the archives more thoroughly before writing this post.

A Life Well Spent

I write this while sitting in Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport waiting to check into, what will be, my sixth flight in two weeks on holidays. It's been a fantastic trip that has taken my husband and I to various parts of Europe as well as Morocco - and it's not even over yet.   

Waking up on an earlier flight today, I had this epiphany: I love travelling but I also love being at home. I can honestly say that I'm happy with the life I've built for myself. Sure, we all might question our decisions from time to time, but on the whole I feel satisfied. 

The past few years running marathons and writing this blog have shown me that setting challenges for oneself is important; it's helped me grow as a person and has kept me motivated in my running. These past few weeks being away, however, I've thought about my grad school convocation and the next steps in my career, but I haven't thought about running at all. 

I suppose it's telling, in a way. Goal setting is not just about picking arbitrary targets; it's about staying focused on one's own interests and priorities. When I started Five by 35, I dreamed about completing five full marathons, finishing up at the 2014 BMO Vancouver Marathon. Not only did I complete four, but I also put my career on hiatus and decided to go to grad school. Long distance running, for a time, became a secondary focus, one I needed to put on the backburner in order to accomplish the other things I wanted in my life. After missing out on May's marathon, I wanted to believe that I still had it in me to do number five. But if I'm being honest with myself, I just don't wanna. 

While it's important to set goals, perhaps it's just as important to recognize when we've outgrown the challenges we've set for ourselves.

I believe running will always be a part of me but, for now, marathon running is no longer in the cards. I have so much more to look forward to at this stage of my life. I'm still fresh from convocation and am resuming my career practically the instant I get home. I'm eager to put into practice the new skills I've learned in grad school, and use that experience to hopefully help people in some way. I'll make my husband join me on short weekend runs and, for now, given everything else in my life, that level of running is enough to keep me happy.

And so, for this final blog post on Five by 35, I wish you all enough challenges to keep you motivated, enough hardship to make you stronger, and enough happiness to last you a whole life long. Thank you so much for reading.

That's all she wrote. 

Undertrained and Unafraid: My BMO Half Marathon Experience (Guest Blog Post)

Christina (R) with her running buddy Irina (L) before
the race. Already completely soaked, but okay with it.

Guest blogger: Christina! (Author's note: the running advice contained herein is not necessarily endorsed by Angie.)

When Angie asked me before my race if I wanted to write a guest post, I had momentary commitment issues. How could I say yes, when I wasn’t fully confident I would even end up crossing the finish line?  Such indecision! But this, in itself, seems like a good idea for a blog post.

Having signed up for the BMO Vancouver Half Marathon on January 2, along with thousands of other New Year's Resolution-makers, I had one goal in mind: improve on my finish time from my first half marathon in November. So I joined a Running Room clinic as I’d done before, and then promptly never attended. Well, maybe ‘never’ is a strong word. I likely attended 25% of all training runs – which is a solid way to achieve a running goal, amirite?

You see, somewhere between setting my goal and getting to the start line, life in general got in the way. I prioritized many other things over running – including more time with my family when they needed me, and I have no regrets now about slacking in my training. But when it came time to decide on whether to race BMO or not, my thought process was simple: “I haven’t trained enough….this seems like a bad idea….I’ll do it anyway!” 

Why, you might ask? Because I knew I could do it. This may come as a shock to you: I wasn’t planning on winning the race, so it really only mattered if I could finish it. And as many friends pointed out to me, the distance of the race doesn’t change depending on how fast you might go. So, I decided to go for it. Slowly.

Pre-race nutrition. Obviously.

To get in the zone the day before my race, I did what all great athletes do: I went for afternoon tea and ate tiny sandwiches. Also, ice cream. And pasta. Clearly, I was not really focused on pre-race nutrition. But I slept like a baby and woke up feeling no pressure, and was going to run just for the fun of it.

My decision to go ahead undertrained and unafraid was perhaps the best decision I’ve made about any race. I was relaxed, I didn’t really care about the pace, and I was running one of the most beautiful (and completely rain-soaked) courses you can find.  I loved the rain, I loved the atmosphere, and I loved that the course took me right past my own apartment – where I stopped for a bathroom break between kilometres 10 and 11. Take that, nasty port-a-potties! 

Runners huddling under the awnings before the race.

In the end, I finished at 2 hours 38 minutes 51 seconds. That’s 10 minutes faster than my first race, without even timing myself or caring about my pace. Woohoo! Must have been those tiny sandwiches.

If there’s a lesson to be learned here, I don’t think it’s in my excellent nutritional advice. I would remind any non-runners or almost-thinking-of-starting-to-be-runners reading this that running only SEEMS difficult until you try it a few times, and realize that training really does work.  I was taught in training to break down any race into units of time: each unit consisting of ten minutes of running, followed by one minute of walking. The idea of running 21.1 kilometres can be a little intimidating, but breaking it down can help – and it certainly helped me yesterday.

Next year’s BMO Half Marathon is scheduled for May 3.  It’s on my calendar. Who wants to come for tiny sandwiches with me on May 2?! 

Done, delirious and happy to have a warm 
sweater courtesy of Chelsea!

Non-Race Day Blues a.k.a. Do I Need to Change My Goals?

I'm sad about not being able to run #5 today. But given that I woke up with a sinus headache, a sore throat and not being able to breathe out of my nose -- in addition to not having trained well enough -- I think I made the right call. It was just a disappointing one to make, is all.

Still feeling unwell and unhappy enough about missing out on today's BMO Vancouver Marathon to start thinking about which full I should aim for next. I really had my heart set on finishing up this journey in Vancouver which makes me wonder if I need to re-evaluate my Five by 35 goal. After all, I know I can run a marathon; I've done four. Things I need to ask myself: What are my priorities? Have they changed? What's most important? What am I looking to achieve by setting these running goals for myself? 

Questions I need to ponder in the next little while. Decisions to come. Stay tuned.

Goal setting: is this still working for me? Need to figure that out.

So. Much. Mucus.

It's race weekend in Vancouver! I hit the expo yesterday to pick up my bib and race kit and wander the kiosks.

I've deliberately been keeping mum as I've been trying to decide whether I'd be actually running #5 tomorrow, given that I had to resort to some last minute cramming in my training. A few weeks ago I'd reasoned that I could give it a go, as long as I was okay with running a slower than normal marathon.

Of course, I didn't bargain for the nasty cold I caught which left me exhausted on Tuesday, with no voice on Wednesday, and mouth-breathing the rest of the week. Running a full marathon being undertrained is one thing, but also while not 100% healthy? Tricky decision.

Being at the expo yesterday I felt that familiar race excitement in the air: runners verifying their bib info, checking their race chips are working, talking about their training. Which makes it all the worse that I've decided to forego tomorrow's race, after all. Marathon #5 will just have to wait.

In the meantime, good luck to everyone running this weekend! Have a great race, enjoy, and see you at the finish line.

© 2013 Vancouver International Marathon Society