Wednesday, August 14, 2013

2013 - January - April


The shoulder though was NOT getting better.  The Harry Rosen Spring Run-off was weeks again and my training was limited to half an hour on the treadmill. I had to loop my hand into my running bra and run that way. Not easy folks, not easy.  Finally I was talked into getting a cortisone shot just before Valentine’s Day – it was possibly one of the more painful experiences I’ve had to date vis a vi medical procedures.  The joint in which the cortisone was administered hurt for about 4 weeks. Then the pain – all of the pain, was gone. (Okay I’m lying about 98 % of all the pain was gone).  My training on the treadmill continued – as was water running.  I could run for about an hour at a time. I put on a good movie (Bourne Trilogy) run like I was helping Matt Damon save the world, mileage wasn’t going to knock anyone’s sock off but HEY I WAS RUNNING.

My goal was to have run the Green Jewel 50k in Cleveland, Ohio at the beginning of March. With my training being so underwhelming, there was no way I was going to participate in that race. I went and cheered on my crew of girls I had trained and Keith as well. While trying to encourage Karen C & Cindy into the finish I ran beside them --- OMG --- in hiking boots with my winter coat on and I did it! There were no more excuses; I would have to start training in the great outdoors now! Damn. No more safety of the basement. No more saving the world with Matt. I was getting shipped out into the real world.

Keith and I ran the Spring Run-off together.  My time was slower than the year before which was a bit of a letdown, but let me say that I KILLED that hill at the end. I ran the WHOLE thing from bottom to top without stopping.  That in itself was better than anything I had hoped to accomplish!

I had in the back of my head to go with Keith to the Outrun 24 hour race … and just have some fun and run what I could.  April 13th I was offered the opportunity to run in Cindy’s stead at the Marden Half Marathon, if I could finish that – it would be the longest distance I had run since the MCM marathon in October.
I put on my Saucony’s, begged a rain poncho from Nancy Chong ( a fellow Barrie Road Runner) and got my groove happening. I ran with Karen C, Karen D and Bruce D. Karen C took off, her membership to Cross Fit was paying off in dividends. Karen D, Bruce and I kept it at a decent clippety clop. By the time we got to the turnaround at the half way point, I was feeling pretty good, by the time 17 k hit both Karen D and I started picking up the pace. We finished side by side in 2:28… I felt good about that. I felt very good about that!

That solidified my decision to sign up for the O24 run.  I wanted that 100km medal. I had a plan … I dreamed my plan… I had a plan for my plan.  24 hours divided by 4 is 6… so I would have 6 hours to run 25 km… every doable. I could take a couple hours break and start running again.  Sounded like a solid plan. I was in!

We stayed overnight the night before with Dave (who we had met at BR 100 volunteering) and his wife Sandra. Dave was going to attempt 100 miles in 24 hrs as well Keith.  O24 is a one mile loop in the Cleveland Metro Parks area of Kirtland. So literally you only had one more mile each time you came to the start/finish area.  I managed 50k in just over 7 hours, I sat down for a while and was deciding if I could do 50 more. I felt awful. I didn’t think I would be able to continue.  But I kept drinking my Isagenix  Want More Energy, having Isalean Shakes and talking to myself… changed my plan … just keep going. Never mind doing this in quarters. Keep running. 

My girlfriend Francoise who lived in Cleveland showed up to walk a couple of loops with me as well. Dave’s friend Ben Kimball wanted to do 100k as well. He had never run more than 50k either. So we teamed up and ran together.  I was the drill sergeant, I said when we walked, when we ran, enforced eating and foot maintenance.  When we reached 56 miles (84 km) a double marathon we high fived each other, and continued with our quest.  For me everything over 50k was gravy and I was having a great time talking to folks as they passed me or if I passed them.  I made new friends. It was all awesome. It was all gravy! Ben and I broke it down to manageable pieces. 5 more loops, then once those 5 were completed. 5 more loops, then 3 loops after that. Then 2 loops after that .. etc.  Until we got 62 loops in. 100 km medal was indeed all mine!  Ben and I are solids now!  You bond over successes like that!  I’ll crew him whenever he wants me to. I’ll get him to his goals.  He wanted to quit – I wouldn’t let him.  I can say with honesty – I made him finish.  Then with two miles to go – he did the same for me.  He dragged me to the finish line.  Keith was there to tape that!  I was so happy.  I curled up in our tent under the sleeping bags but couldn’t stop shaking… it was non stop! Eek. 
It’s a milestone I had in my head; I saw it and totally believed it was within my reach.  It felt so easy … I know it was difficult, but in my head it was already a done deal.  I didn’t advertise that I was going, in fact I told perhaps 3 people I was going to participate and not just crew, I didn’t want a whole lot of attention, I just wanted it to be me doing it for me.

Where to start?


Oh my gosh it’s been a very long time since I’ve blogged about my running or my life really and I’m not sure that it matters in the grand scheme of life, but it’s fun to put thoughts into sentences.  Plus on my way to work I started thinking about Stephen Fry and the fact he has such an eloquent way with words, some (nay most) of which I need to look up to find their meaning.  It is exercise for my brain, and with the fog I live in most days, it’s a necessity to stretch my cerebral muscles as much as possible. Use it or lose it babe!

*brutal sigh*

So where did we last leave our heroine?  *taps head with fore finger* hmmm… I do believe it was late 2011… so let’s wrap that year up with a change of work venue.  I went from working in Toronto to finding a job in Barrie, only five kilometres from home. The universe answers your requests!  It was time to move on, I had outgrown my previous employer, I needed more than what they could provide me. I wanted to be a REAL PROJECT MANAGER! I felt like Pinocchio when the Blue Fairy granted him his wish to be a real boy!  I landed the job of a life time. Project Manager, managing REAL projects for an IT company in Barrie! Could it be true?!   Life was grand.  Running … not so bad!

Ran my usual MidSummer Night’s Run in August in a great time, my training was paying off.  Speed training, hill training, and distance training all doing its thing. I started using and selling Isagenix – what a difference in my life for nutrition! WOW! I felt like I could keep running once I crossed the finish line after the 30 km. Woohoo! Fantastic! Done in 3:23
Raised funds AND ran an awesome individual race!

And that was pretty much my races for 2011. I was volunteering a lot with one race director in both the Barrie and Base Borden half Marathon’s rather than running. It was my “giving back” to the running community. And I had also broken my toe in October so I couldn’t run even if I wanted to. I dropped a bench on it whilst setting up for my volunteers making the race kits for the Base Borden run. I was out of commission for at least 6 weeks. 

The ringing in of the New Year 2012 …
It was going to be another year filled with change, who knew, both in my running and in my personal life; again.  I started seriously hanging around with a gentleman and eventually it lead to official dates instead of coffees… he signed up to do the Harry Rosen Spring Run Off 8k with me to help get me to my goal time of between 44 – 45 minutes.  I managed, with his help, to finish in 44:02. I struggled up that final hill –again.  *kicks self*

I didn’t really sign up for many races in 2012, I was suffering from horrible shoulder pain,  to the point where I couldn’t even sleep at night. After seeing three different medical / health and wellness practioners, I was finally and more importantly correctly diagnosed with adhesive capsulitis or Frozen Shoulder.  As well my left leg was starting to act up as well, strong pain in the calf muscle, I was starting to think the fascia was ripped again.  OH NO!!!!!!!!

In the mean time I had signed up for the Marine Corps Marathon in October, the marathon sold out in about 5 hours or less.  It was crazy, I signed up seconds after the online registration opened, before the end of the day it had sold out.

I ran Pick Your Poison 25k run in April – that was a cool day and finished this run in 3:30 – it was a tough go up and down the ski trails. I survived and lived to tell the tail.  I ran with Sandra Lalonde for part of the race, but she was far too quick and off she went for the 2nd loop.

I signed up for and ran my first Ultra Marathon – the Niagara 50k, in mid-June and for preparation for the I signed up for the 25 k at Sulpher Springs (which I completed in 3:06 ) and then the next day I ran the Women’s Only Half Marathon which I completed in 2:19 ( I believe – have to check my facts) and I felt really good throughout the race.  Once I again I started with Sandra & at about 15k I told her to keep on going. She was just too quick for me to keep up.  The point is though, I managed to do the back to back runs without keeling over, so I felt that Niagara was a go!

It was I started off really well, at about 28k my garmin died so I couldn’t really gauge my time properly as I was doing 15 min run & 2 min walk. At the 40k mark I ran into Keith & he was packing it in for the day, at 60k he was having knee pain & wanted to save himself for this 100 Miler later in July. At that point I was feeling good, my time was so-so 5hrs something.  Then  it happened around 42 km  the wheels fell off, I still finished (in under 7 hours). My Mum was there to see me cross the finish line as was Keith.  It was a great day. I knew with better training I could manage ultra- running with more aplomb.  Roads were not my friend – trails were for me.  

July I travelled to Vermont to pace and crew for him at the Vermont 100 Mile Endurance race.  What an amazing time that was. Unfortunately for Keith, he had to drop out around 52 miles due to medical reasons (he had lost 9 lbs and was in rough shape.  He tried to run, but his body seized up and wouldn’t move) and during the weekend we had met up with a couple of fellow Canadians from Montreal; Kate and Gary (who hails originally from the North of London). Once Keith had bowed out we took it upon ourselves to crew for them and a friendship was formed!  As well it opened my eyes to what a crew member needs to do for their runner, I needed to be forceful and more cognisant of what my runner was and wasn’t doing. Lesson learned.
July also took me to Ohio to volunteer for the Burning River 100 Mile endurance race, Keith needs to put in 8 hours of volunteer time annually so that he can meet the qualifications to enter into the lottery for Western States 100 Mile Endurance Race.  At the Gates Mill aid station we met and struck an instant friendship with a fellow named Dave, a transplanted Essex boy working and living in Ohio, what a treat to meet him, we laughed all day! I so miss that humour.


August brought me, again, to the MidSummer Night’s Run – a favourite of mine. I was in love with the new Adidas Trail shoes I had purchased while in the US, so much so that I wore them for my race, all 30K. I finished in a good time, I once again felt great during the run.  I got to the 25 k mark and kept going. Usually that is where I start faltering. I made it to 27 – still feeling strong.  Had a walk break here and there, yes that’s true, but they were short lived and at a quick pace.  I crossed the finish line feeling awesome in 3:30 only 7 minutes slower, but I was okay with that since I wasn’t doing as much speed workouts and hill training due to the injuries I had sustained.
Then in a few days my left calf started to ache. I thought it was from wearing trail shoes on the road.  Ohhh it hurt.  I had to continue training MCM 26.2 was just over the horizon and after all that hoopla to get in; I was NOT going to miss this opportunity.  I had my calf sleeves to try to keep things from going south and I was, most of all, determined (stubborn is perhaps a better term).

October rolled around – we ( Cindy, Shannon, Karen C, me & Keith as our dogsbody / tour guide) arrived in Arlington, Va ready to do the MCM 26.2 race.  Saturday we spent wandering around Washington DC and went crazy visiting the Museums… THEY WERE FREE!!!!! It was amazing! Silly of us to walk for hours considering we had a marathon to run the following day, but how do you say no to free museums?  Simply put, you don’t.

We arrived with, in my estimation, not enough time prior to the start of the race.  I’m the type of gal that likes to be there at least an hour before the race, get in line for the port o potties, have a few laughs with the folks around you, relax and start the race. Keith rather get there minutes before the start… we’ll need to work on that. J
We were all in the line-up for the potty when the guns went off to signal the start of the race. OMG!!!!!! Luckily there were soooo many people that the bottle neck allowed us to get out with little to no impact.  Everything was going well – then by the nine mile mark I knew it wasn’t going to be pretty.  By mile 11 I told Cindy to have a good race.  By mile 17 I was crying my eyes out to Keith (he was following us on the course – using the Metro system) that I never EVER wanted to run a race again where I was injured. It wasn’t fun! Running has to be fun … or it’s just not worth it.  Yes I am competitive, but I always have a smile and a giggle throughout the race with the people around me.  By the time I hit 21 miles I was desperately trying to figure out a way to cut the race short without DNF’ing, however; since that is not in my make up, I struggled on and kept going.  I crossed the finish line – I wasn’t happy but I finished.  Now to try and find the others,  Keith was waiting for me at the end of the VERY LONG runners chute.  I was so happy to try to forget about that race. I got the medal and the shirt (which I must admit sucks… mock turtleneck cotton shirt… EWW)

In the meantime – Keith had moved in and we settled into a  wonderful routine.  Yes a bit of getting used to for me, but regardless, it was great to have him sharing my life, my home (our home) etc. The rocky bits would be dealt with as and when they would happen.
After much figuring out – I came to realize that it wasn’t the trail shoes that caused my issues, with the help of my bestie Trish (and she happens to be my PT) we figured that I was curling my toes trying to grip the shoes. This happened, in my opinion from wearing sandals all summer – and caused tendonitis in my calf – the main tendon runs around where the big toe is.. so mystery somewhat solved