Motivation

Sometimes things just don’t work out. Sometimes life gets in the way, and sometimes once things get uncomfortable it just gets too easy to push.

This has been one of those times.

In March, I injured my knee somehow, and forced myself to dial it back and try to recover, to avoid a major setback and missing my goal race – the Ottawa Marathon. I thought I was being smart, and maybe I was but then the longer I went before returning to an consistent form of activity the harder it was to get going.

Where was my motivation?

I ran when I could find time – this was different than previous years, where I made time to run. My busy life was reducing the weekend run times as I was almost always travelling to coach a basketball tournament, or I was wiped out from said tournaments and settled into rest. I knew what I needed to do, but just couldn’t force myself to lace ‘em up and get out there. The cold and wet month of April didn’t help either.

But in reality, these are hollow excuses…

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I just figured that I would do it, and it never really clicked that I was just taking the easy way out, or then again was I?

I have run a few trails recently and felt great – I even managed to power through the first 5 Peaks Ontario race in Terra Cotta (doing the Enduro Course 10.8k) and had a blast not only running, but volunteering to help set up the morning of the event. I have even run a few decent distances on road, but again this week, at around the 18k mark that pain returned to my knee and I am very fearful of trying to complete a marathon knowing this could flare up again.

So here is the dilemma, do I try to tough it out and go to Ottawa and run the marathon, risking injury, but completing my goal, or do I look at this as a test, and realize that sometimes our goals need to be challenged and changed to reflect a new reality?

I’m not sure, but know that I will listen to my body, and if I can go, I will, and if I start the race, I will complete it, regardless of how long it takes BUT I will not risk the rest of my summer by injuring myself. My family needs me to be healthy, and I have many things that need to be done this summer, so again, I know I will do the right thing.

I just don’t know what that is, yet…

DNF - Around the Bay 30k March 26, 2017

This year I have been a part of the Around The Bay Buzz Crew, a group of participants whose task was to promote the event on social media and encourage everyone to participate and generate “buzz” around this race, which started in 1894 which makes it the oldest road race in North America.

I logged most of my training runs and tried to promote as often as possible as this is an event I look forward to every year – I have run it 6 of the last 8 years and it has become a staple event to help in the spring marathon training program.

The weather this year was inconsistent between freezing cold days, rain and then warm spells it became difficult to figure out what to wear and I decided today to run in shorts, a long sleeve t and then my running shell jacket to keep off the potential rain.  As it turns out, the rain held off and it was windy but I never really felt underdressed.

I was so excited to get the run underway, and settled into Corral C with a plan to finish somewhere between 2:45-2:50 if possible, but was always looking at this as a training run for the Ottawa Marathon more than trying to hit a PB (2:49) for the race.

Once underway, things felt good as we headed through downtown and towards the harbour, and even once we hit the overpasses things were good as we hit the 10k mark and headed along the lake. I was keeping pace with the 2:45 bunny and eased into a comfortable pace coming up to the halfway mark and then it all went wrong in a hurry.

I don’t even know exactly when but somewhere after crossing the rail bridge I started to feel pain in my right knee and by 17k I had to stop and reassess the situation. After waiting a few minutes and realizing that I would try to carry on, I headed into Burlington knowing that this was not going to end well, and decided that I would slow down and switch to more of a shuffle run style to minimize the stress on the knee and grit it out to the 20k relay transfer location where I pulled out and headed to the shuttle busses for a ride back to the start.

I was very disappointed that I could not carry on, but I did not want to risk major injury by pushing harder than I needed, and feel that pulling out was the best decision. My goal is to complete the Ottawa Marathon in May and to run the 5 Peaks trail series so saving myself for the rest of the “season” was a no-brainer.

I will find time this spring to finish the last 10k on my own but unfortunately won’t be able to high five the Grim Reaper, a local fixture of the race who taunts runners in the home stretch, after climbing the hill at 26k and passing by the Hamilton Cemetery at 28k, with the downtown finish in sight.

For anyone looking for a challenge, this race has it, from the early spring unpredictable weather, the unique distance, and the rolling hills this race will test your physical and mental limits, and will likely become a favourite. There are races for kids, a 5k, and 3 versions of the 30k (full 30k, 2x15k relay, or 3x10k relay) so there are options for everyone. Check out their website www.bayrace.com for more information.

2017 - time to kick things off

I can’t believe I stopped writing this blog 2 and half years ago – right after finishing the Chicago Marathon. It’s not that I stopped running, it is that I got lazy and busy, but mainly lazy…

But, it’s a new year, and I am making some major changes in my life, which I will share in good time. 

So, because of this, I have decided that I will get back on the blogging and post weekly my musings – not just about running, but about life.

Here's to new beginnings and continued relationships, let’s kick off this year with some updates for the next 12 months: 

-a career change

- a renewed focus on things that make a difference

- registered for Around The Bay 30k and 2017 Ottawa Marathon 

- signed up for the complete 5 Peaks Ontario trail race series

Feel free to read along and share with me your thoughts comments, successes and struggles and together, as I chronicle what I hope will be an amazing year…

Back at it...

I’m back – not only writing but running again. In the past few weeks it has been only a couple of runs – including a much deserved 10k after a busy week of business travel.

It is difficult some mornings to get up and run, knowing that I have a full morning ahead, and need to be in the office before 8am a half hour run at 5am sometimes just didn’t happen… but it needs to

I like the feeling of accomplishment after having dragged myself out of bed and onto the road, and maybe because there hasn’t been a “goal race” ahead that I have let it slide… so I have 2 so far…

The Egg Nog Jog is 2 weeks away so the 10.8k distance is not daunting, but I want to feel good about this run, so I need to dial up the training before next weekend. Discipline will be key and that often wanes in the cold and dark of Canadian fall and winter months.

The big race is the Around the Bay 30k in Hamilton at the end of March – this will mean weekly training runs with the Smooth Running group – my training team as this event is a group favourite event and the distance sets up well for a Spring full marathon – maybe Ottawa this year, if I can work on a few fellow runners.

Diet wise – I don’t go crazy in monitoring intake, but the switch to EnergyBits and RecoveryBits to fuel instead of gels and other items has been great, and I will continued to be #PoweredByBits in hopes of demolishing previous PB times and just an overall improvement on health. It has been over 3 years since I last had carbonated beverages (pop/soda) and my only true vice is coffee – and since starting a regular EnergyBits intake I have been able to reduce coffee consumption by at least one cup a day and find that on weekends it is almost non-existent.

So it is time to refocus – not only on the miles but also on writing… thanks for indulging me….

What's Next?

What’s next?

That’s a question that some runners face almost immediately after completing a race…

No sooner has the accomplishment been realized and the next goal is in question… Do I try to better my time, or is it a longer distance, or where do I race next?

It’s been a week since the Detroit marathon, and my thoughts have gone to will I race it again next year, or will I go after Chicago the week before (or try both?), or what is the next big one?

I took the entire work week off from “training runs” but did manage to drag my butt out of bed Sat. at 5am for a training run with my “half marathon” training group as they are tapering for a race next weekend. The distance was 12k, and the weather was less than accommodating as we faced a significant wind and the first “snow storm” of the fall season. It had started snowing/sleeting around 5am so by the time we hit the road at 7am there was accumulation and a biting headwind but we managed to get in 13+k as my training partner and I doubled back to make sure that the only other runner to brave the conditions was still in good shape.

It is runs like this that makes me realize that I love pushing myself, sometimes for no real reason other than the challenge to step outside the comfortable and do what many others won’t.

My next race is in Dec, the 10.8k Egg Nog Jog, a local favourite with rolling hills and scenic views and warm soup and egg nog post race… and this is a very comfortable distance so weather conditions are virtually irrelevant (I say virtually because it is Dec. in Canada so there is always the threat of bad weather – but that’s the challenge).

After this my calendar is open but will quickly fill with the March 2014 Around the Bay 30k in Hamilton, for my 4^th time, and then the decision will be - which spring race do I want to do? Mississauga, Toronto, or Ottawa? Half of full? And what other events are there that I am interested in doing – my hope is that there will be at least 3 half marathons and a full…

The most important question is…. Who wants to run with me?