Wacky Wednesday: Age Groups

At Sunday's race, I was surrounded by younger runners, and the ones I noticed the most were the pony-tailed cross-country and varsity runners.  I tried to get away from them, and I tried to catch them.  And I chased women whose faces and affiliations I couldn't see.

It happens at every race.  I run after girls or ladies, wondering if they are in my age group or a Master.  In the summer, when bare legs are showing and hips aren't compressed by winter tights, it is easier to tell.  At this time of year, though, it can be a guess.  

After I finished Sunday's 5K, I asked Kevin where he thought I was in the standings.  "Do you think I was one of the top masters?"

"I'm not sure," he replied.  "Maybe.  The girl in the green?  Did you catch her?"

"No, I tried but couldn't.  But I don't think she's over 40."

"It's hard to tell.  You don't look 50 either."

"That's because I'm not!" But I bite my tongue. "I have 6 months to go.  Don't age me any faster!"

After some runs, 50 can't get here soon enough.  Right now, I'm perfectly content being 49 and chasing girls in ponytails.

My Old Green Sweater

Last Spring, I promised my principal that I would wear school colours to Boston.  However, finding something green to run in became an impossible task so I resorted to wearing my school sweater to the start line. 

I've had my green sweater for years.  I bought it 6 Septembers ago, when I first started working there, and wore it as my coaching sweater.  But it wasn't long before it became a favorite sweater as it was comfy and easy to clean.
After a few years of washing and wearing, my school sweater was showing its age; it was time to replace.  However, I couldn't justify getting rid of it as it wasn't ripped, torn, stained or too small.  

When I packed for Boston, I took this sweater with me.  It was my official "throw-away sweater" - the old top that I could wear to the start line, take off just before the race and leave it for kids to pick up and give to charity.  But Boston's starting temperatures were hot; my sweater ended up back in my bag and I took it back home to Oakville.

On Sunday, I wore this same green sweater to The Around the Bay 5K, again intending to leave it for kids to pick up for charity.  I warmed up in it, but when I learned that our club's coaches were going to meet us at the start and take our gear, I filled its pockets with one girl's necklace, another's phone, and my sunglasses.  As promised, there, at the start, Coach Kevin collected it and, immediately after the race, Coach Greg gave it back.
In two races, I have tried to get rid of this sweater but it keeps boomeranging back to me. My next attempt will be to wear it to the start line of the Buffalo Marathon.  There, I hope I can finally get rid of it and I'll finally have the excuse I need to replace it. 

Will somebody, please, take it?  
Anybody?
Please?

Race Report - Around the Bay 5K

Around the Bay 30K will always be a favorite race of mine.  It's not the town, the distance or the time of year, but a 22 year old memory of meeting my husband at this race and running (and talking) the course with him.  Yup, one of us got picked up at the start line of Around the Bay.

This year, while I'd have rather been running the 30K, Coach Kevin didn't want me to race the distance so close to a spring marathon; he did, though, say that we could work the 5K into my training.  So, this morning, Dave and I returned to Hamilton to run the 5K event.

Even though we were both running, our goals were different.  Dave was there for the race atmosphere, for a chance to better his time.  Me?  I wore my competitive hat to the start line.  I had a time goal and I wanted to be a top finisher.  My training partners from Oakville were also running, and my coach and other club coaches were cheering us on.  This race was important to me.

When Miss Monica, Kelly-Lynne and I got to Hamilton, we did what most female runners do: warmed up and headed straight for the bathrooms.  Copps Coliseum and its "facilities" were open but the line-ups were huge. Kelly-Lynne and I went back outside to find the porta-potties, thinking those lines would be shorter.   Even though, there were more than 7500 runners, there were only five porta-potties.  You would think that with all of those race registration fees, the organizers could spring for one or two more!  Well, we waited, and I ran up and down the streets trying to keep warm while Kelly-Lynne held our spot.   We made it in and out with 15 minutes to spare, finished warming up, passed our gear onto Coach Kevin and toed the line.

There were just over 2 000 people running the 5K.  The three of us jumped in as close to the front as we could and were surrounded by young runners - high school, varsity, even a lot of junior grade kids.  I was squished and was certain that I would either be pushed by one of them or trip over another.  When the gun went off, then, I bolted; I wanted to get away from the crowd as quickly as I could.

I went through the first kilometre in 3:55.  "Too fast," I thought.  Yes, the start was downhill and I felt good, but I worried that I wouldn't have anything to run back up towards the finish so I pulled back.  Looking back, I realize that I probably shouldn't have - something to remember for the next time.  I went through 2K in 8:10, which was much better, and found my pack to run with - two other ponytailed runners.

Coach Kevin has been helping me turn over my legs to surge in racing and I did that twice today. Each time, I did pull away from other women and, each time, I felt I was able to get right back to my race pace without being exhausted.  I think I needed to surge longer, though, or add one more towards the end as the two girls stayed with me each time. 

The last kilometre was incredible.  There were lots of spectators to cheer us in.  Once on the main street, we turned towards Copps Coliseum, ran down its ramp and into the stadium, where we heard our names announced.  I felt quite elite racing down one of the three lanes towards the finish line.

My clock time was 21:13, which was a bit disappointing as I was hoping to run under 21 minutes.  However, this was my first 5K since last August.  I know I didn't push myself hard enough; it just didn't hurt the way it should have.

I was, though, quite pleased with how I finished.  Of 1383 women, I finished 15th and I came out as the Top Master.  I have no idea what that means as the award ceremony was only for the top three finishers and other awards will be mailed.  We'll see what the mailman brings:)

When to Marathon

Deciding to run a marathon is easy.  Deciding to train for a marathon is hard work.

Last June, I had to make a choice between a fall and spring marathon.  I had that burning urge to run in October but I also wanted to race cross-country.   Coach also encouraged the cross-country as he felt that I would be able to run well at the Masters level.   I decided that I would give it a try.  After all, there is always another marathon; cross-country races are harder to find.

Fast forward to January.  Hubs and I had to pick my marathon date.  We looked at Pittsburgh, Goodlife, Mississauga and Cleveland.   I liked the idea of going to the States but rushing out of town with the family on a Friday after school for a Sunday marathon and heading back home to be at work the next day just didn't appeal to me.  Cleveland's timing is great as it is our long weekend but, after reading several reviews about the beat-up condition of its roads, we decided against that.  I've run Goodlife and didn't really want to do it again.  Most importantly, though, Mississauga was Shawn's race.  The kids at his school are running the relay on the Saturday night in his memory so it seems only fitting that I marathon in Mississauga the next morning.

My base is solid and I've slowly been building distance.  Since last Wednesday, though, I've been off sick: bronchitis.  It's now been 9 days since I've run (or been able to do any type of cardio) and I'm starting to panic.   But I'm hopeful that I'll be strong enough to run in the next few days and I can continue my quest.  

Deep down, I've already come to terms that this spring marathon may not be in the cards for me.  Just in case, I'm looking at other running goals, like a half-marathon PB.  And I'm telling myself over and over, "There is always another marathon."

Starting Over

Over the past few months, I have come to realize that there is no such thing as "the right time".  There is a good time to do something, the wrong time and, of course, the best time.  But the right time - or the perfect time - just doesn't exist.

This means that my January goal - to get back into the blogging scene, to write and to read - was a fail.  Each day, I waited for the perfect time to sit down at the computer, sometime between school and homework, between dinner and bedtime, between running and feeding the kids again, between putting the boys to bed and getting my homework done.  Each day, I waited too long for that perfect time to come - only to watch the next day arrive instead.  

This got me thinking about the number of times that we runners wait to do something and miss out on that chance.  It could be holding back registering for a race because we're not quite sure about it, and we find out that it was sold out.  We wait to invest in new running shoes because we're sure we should be able to get another hundred miles out of them; then, we end up with an injury.  Or we think about buying that cute running skirt, only to have that the first size to disappear - and before we bought it.

I've waited long enough to start this blog over.   My mind has been percolating with ideas and I want to put them in writing.  I need to share my thoughts - good or bad - and let others share with me.  

Over the next few weeks, I have a race reports (up first:  Robbie Burns 8K), product reviews (Feedback Friday), and Tasty Tuesday recipes, all intertwined with my daily antics of family, work and running.

So, please, follow along and let me know what you'd like to see.

Yoga Anyone?

For months, okay for years,  I've been talking about trying yoga.   In July 2011, I made it to one class with my friend, Katherine, and didn't like it at all.  It had nothing to do with my being unable to do everything; it was simply too slow for me.  I was bored.

When Shawn was injured, I tried to convince him to try yoga with me.  He was intrigued but not enough to go into a studio.   Shawn needed me to go first.  "Check it out.  Let me know what it's like."  The truth was, though, that I needed someone to go with me.  

On New Years Day, a year and a half after my first class, Miss Monica texted me with an offer that I couldn't refuse.  "Do you want to come to yoga with me?  It's a hot studio." 

Hot.  Looking out at snow-covered roads, I loved the idea of being somewhere 'hot' even if it was in a yoga studio.  An hour later, we walked into a steamy room full of athletic bodies.   I watched the man next to me put down his mat, lift his legs into his elbows and proceed to do a headstand.  Yes, I was intimidated.  "This will be fun," I told myself.  "Yup, fun." 

And it was.  This was a Power Yoga class, which is faster moving and not as meditative as I expected it to be.  Many of the positions and moves I could do (as many are similar to the stretches that I do at home)  but many I could not - at all.  Nonetheless, I felt that I was in a good spot. 

Later in the week, I checked the studio's schedule and found a Friday night class that works with my committments.   I didn't have to worry about getting work finished for the next day,  my boys never do homework on a Friday night and, best of all, Friday is typically an "off-running" day for me.  When I talked about going weekly, Hubby Dave encouraged it.  "It will be good for you," he said.  "You should go.  It'll be worth it."  Still hesitant, I called Katherine, who went to me to my first yoga class over a year and a half ago, for moral support.  The next night, the two of us walked into that same steamy studio, filled with athletic bodies, to try Power Jam, a 75 minutes class of fast yoga.  It was just what I needed.

Before we left, we each bought a pass so that we can keep it up for the rest of the month.  I'm excited about this new form of cross-training and seeing if, and how, this will strengthen my core for running.  I'm excited about the challenges that it brings.  And I'm excited about getting out of the house on a Friday night to unwind.

Without a doubt, yoga is something that I've wanted to do for months.  In the past few weeks, I've been adding a few simple poses to my stretching routine at home.  But it wasn't until a friend invited me to a class and a different friend came with me to another that I was able to make that change.  Good friends help make good things happen.

A letter of apology to my quads

Dear Quads,

                  Please, don't hate me when you get up in the morning.  I know that these past few days have been rough on us and you have no idea how much it hurts me to see you so upset.   Things will get better.  I promise.

You have every right to be cross with me.  We spent so much time together this summer; we ran hills, cycled around Halton and shared many tingling ice baths together.  Once school started again, things simply got busy. I tried to make up for my lack of attention towards you with a massage (you do remember that, don't you?) but I suppose it just wasn't enough to keep you happy.  Quite honestly, I simply didn't have the time to pamper you the way I use to.  I suppose, though, that it wasn't until we were forced to spend time apart (during my two week rest period) that our relationship really changed.  As I dove into my work, you just sat there quietly and said nothing. 

I deserved your lack of flexibility when I was ready to spend time with you again.  Yes, getting to know each other over the past few weeks has been difficult.  And the decision to go to hilly Terra Cotta yesterday was all mine; I completely understand your hesitation about giving it your all.  Even though you weren't quite ready to be a team yet, you did your best.

Tonight, I thought I would woo you back with a gentle shake-out run but I realize now that I put too much pressure on you.  I know how much you're hurting. 

Holidays are coming, dear Quads.  Soon we will be able to wrap you in the warmth of sub-zero tights and head back into the hills for some more repeats.  We will make plans for the future and go after them.  Soon, dear Quads.  Soon.

Love,
Cynthia