Running Wild

Goals can make difference

When Silvia Ruegger was young and wanted to go for an early morning run, her mother would follow her in the car so her way would be lit.
Running on the dark country roads of Newtonville,  became a way of life for the future Olympian.
She still remembers that vividly now.
Silvia came to speak to my marathon group last week and her talk was so inspiring I think everyone wanted to go and write their goals down and try to accomplish them.
First, I must start, for those of you who don’t know, Silvia still holds the record for the fastest women’s marathon run at 2:28:36.
It has been the record for almost 25 years.
The time is obviously incredible and more astonishing given she didn’t have the technology of electrolyte drinks and energy gels we have.
She ran on pure water.
She ran in the first-ever women’s Olympic marathon in 1984 in Los Angeles.
Once you get over the shock that women only started running the Olympic marathon in 1984, her participation in that historic event becomes even more amazing.
Whenever a decorated athlete — particularly an Olympian — comes for a talk, I find myself studying their every move, the way they walk and talk, to see what’s different.
What makes them special?
Is it something you can notice by just watching them?
I can never find one thing in common other than this drive, from the inside that keeps them striving for the top.
With Silvia, even though her historic marathon was nearly 25 years ago, she could recount everything as if it happened yesterday. Her dedication and drive echoed through the room and every one of us was fixated on what she was saying.
At the beginning of her talk, Silvia said, “Some people wonder what they might have in common with me, but there’s a lot.”
She came armed with something I thought was really special and it allowed me to see what I have in common with her.
When she was 15 and watching the 1976 Montreal Olympics, she was so inspired she took a scrap of paper wrote down a goal, to represent Canada at the Olympic games in 1980.
She then folded it and slid it between the two floor boards in her bedroom. She covered the crack with masking tape and coloured the tape grey to match the floor.
She kept it a secret.
Well, in a frame alongside her Olympic bib, is the note that she eventually went back and took back from beneath the floor.
I rubbed the bib for luck as did many of the others there.
She achieved her goal in 1984 and told us that just because you don’t make your goal on the schedule you set for yourself, doesn’t mean you should stop trying.
Good advice.
I went home that night and wrote something on a piece of paper with the date.
She inspired me.
I hid it and didn’t tell anyone.
I always write goals down on paper, ones that are important. I was recently at my parents’ house in my old room.
And while I’d been there many times, since I had moved out, I forgot about the two goals I had stuck to my mirror.
One was a half marathon time I wanted to beat and the other a marathon time I wanted to beat. I wrote those well before marathons were even on my radar.
I’m pleased to say, both goals were met and then some.
Aside from goal-setting, I think one of the most important points Silvia shared with us, was her story about having to fight injuries and the not so smooth path to her goal.
This is the time where our body is good to us or bad to us.
It is the time when we fear injuries and that our body is fatigued.
We’re well into our training and there’s only a few weeks left before our goal races. 
Silvia was excelling at her sport when she injured her Achilles tendon.
The injury forced her to take two and a half years off from training, but instead of being upset she took to the pool for water running and pedalling on stationary bikes to keep her cardio up.
In the end she made it to Los Angeles as the youngest competitor in her field finishing an amazing eighth place.
Her talk was inspirational and I believe everyone of us could relate to her on one level or another.
It was the perfect inspiration for the Around the Bay road race this weekend.
I will post about that tomorrow.

Vaseline, Body Glide helps cut down chafing

This post is going to be short and sweet. I have a longer one planned soon, promise.
One tip I want to address is that with nice weather comes chafing.
Ever have your skin rubbed so raw it bleeds? If you have, you won’t forget it and you will make sure it doesn’t happen again.
So as it gets warm outside protect the body parts that might be rubbed raw by your shirt or shorts.
Body Glide or Vaseline tend to work and will save your skin a lot of heartache especially if you are running for a while.
Over the weekend, I read an incredible story about a New York City firefighter, Matt Long, whose trip to Boston was cut short when he was involved in a horrific accident.
The story is aboubt his strength of spirit and made me tear up in parts.
Definitely worth a read. It’s in the March edition of Runner’s World.
Here’s the link.

bitly.com/jqIqJ

Get out and enjoy that weather. Perfect for running.
Happy trails.

Listen to your body during training

Some lessons in running come easy, others, not so much.
It has taken me about six years to finally learn the lesson of quitting before your body quits for you.
Without fail, training during the winter and even the summer months, I usually succumb to at least one really nasty head cold or virus that takes me out of action for a couple of weeks, disturbs my training and generally makes me miserable.
I’ve tried all kinds of gimmicks to avoid this, doubling up my vitamin C taking Cold FX on a daily basis and all sorts of other stuff.
This year, however, other than my usual daily dose of vitamin C I’ve done nothing of the sort.
I made it through all my swim classes. Last session, I missed about three or four with a head cold. I’ve done almost all my training runs.
I say almost because, up until this week, I had done all of them.
But on Tuesday morning, I woke up more tired than usual.
This was a keen observation on my part. I usually realize I’m tired when I can barely keep up with my normal pace on a run.
I’ve learned in the past two years that when you’re running and your body is out of sorts, zapped of its regular energy, it’s already too late.
Now, everyone is different, but before you get sick there is always a sign. For me, it’s this insane lack of energy that follows me around at work and on the road.
So this year, I didn’t ignore the signal.
I opted out of my Tuesday speed workout and my Wednesday hill workout. Call it a pre-emptive strike if you will.
I woke up Wednesday and Thursday feeling like a little head cold was coming.
In the past, I have continued to train and train and train until whatever I’ve got literally stops me.
So if there’s any piece of advice I can offer, it’s to take stock of the little signs when you  go for a run or a swim or to whatever activities you are doing.
Don’t wait until you are deathly ill before taking a mini-break.
You’ll be much better for it.
Hopefully my strategy worked and I will be in top form for our 26k run on the weekend.
With a predicted high of 8 degrees I’m not missing that one.
I’ll take what I can get in the unpredictable month of March.
Until next time happy trails.

Can't be bad if Radcliffe loves chocolate

I was about to pop a chocolate-covered almond into my mouth when I happened across this blog written by Simon Hart of the Daily Telegraph in England. Titled Paula Radcliffe fuelled by secret stash of chocolate, it made me smile when I read it. Hopefully, it will make you smile and eat a couple of more chocolates too. If Paula can, so can we. It’s dated February 23, 2009 and he writes: “A story in today’s Daily Telegraph, illustrated with photographs of marathon world-recorder holder Paula Radcliffe and double Olympic swimming gold medallist Rebecca Adlington, caught my eye. Apparently, a scientific study has found that swimming produces a craving for fatty foods such as chocolate while runners do not feel hungry after exercise and, if they are a little bit peckish, they are more likely to fancy watery foods such as fruit. With respect to the author of the study, Dr David Stensel of Loughborough University, what a load of old tosh. Radcliffe is a famous chocoholic who confided to me some years ago that she loved the stuff so much she had taken to hiding chocolate bars under her bed to avoid a ticking off her husband, Gary Lough. It explained why she had no qualms about doing promotional work for the British confectionary company, Cadbury. She couldn’t wait to get her hands on all those free samples. As for her appetite, I recall an eve-of-race buffet dinner in Puerto Rico in 2003 when I found myself sharing a table with Radcliffe and Lough. Despite her slender frame, Radcliffe helped herself to such an enormous mountain of food that her plate could hardly contain it and did not utter a word until all of it was gone. Seeing my amazed reaction, Lough joked: “Paula has a bigger appetite than any man I have ever known.” The calorie-loading clearly worked. The next day Radcliffe set a world best for a 10km road race. By contrast, Adlington’s appetite is nothing out of the ordinary. After all the fuss about the 12,000 calories consumed every day by Michael Phelps, I was dispatched to discover the secrets of her diet after she won her second gold medal in the pool at the Beijing Olympics. The answer was an anti-climax: a bowl of cereal for breakfast, a few sandwiches for lunch and a normal-sized dinner in the evening. No chocolate was mentioned. I am sure Dr Stensel’s research is thorough but I think I’ll be giving his book, Influence of Resistance and Aerobic Exercise on Hunger, a miss.”

Chilly Half Marathon much improved this year

I finally figured out why the Burlington Half Marathon is officially called the Chilly Half Marathon.
I ran it yesterday and brrrrr!
It was -12C, but the wind made it feel a tad chillier.
Admittedly, I ended up taking off my jacket thanks to the sun, but the wind on my face reminded me it was winter.
Congratulations to all those brave souls who ran it.
I also wanted to mention that Rick Ball the runner I mentioned in my last blog, ran a blistering time of 1:22:26.
Amazing is the only word I have for it.
This was my second year running it and I have to say, it was much better this time around.
I enjoyed it last year, but there were some planning issues, such as the route being too crowded and typical runner stuff such as not having enough of the right shirt sizes.
Following the race I wrote the race director.
I often do this, if I think there’s something important that a race director can do to improve on a race.
Don’t get me wrong, these aren’t e-mails riddled with a litany of complaints. In fact, I always point out what I liked about the race too.
I always respect race directors.
The job of a race director is very stressful and it takes a special individual with patience and great organizational skills to quarterback a race even with 500 people.
They are responsible for organizing everything from the volunteers who hand out water to ensuring the course is safe for everyone.
A race director will never please everyone that’s for sure.
I’ve run in very few races that are perfect.
However, after writing to the Chilly Half race director Kelly Arnott, I received an immediate and warm response.
I was a little struck by that because while it is a community race and not as big as for example the Scotiabank  Half Marathon, it has no difficulty selling out, so if she wanted to ignore me she could have.
In fact the race always sells out months in advance, so she doesn’t really need to do pr for it.
And believe me that is the attitude of some race directors who keep making the same mistakes over and over again with race routes, or other issues.
I loved the flat fast course last year and wanted to give it another go.
The little issues I had last year were non-existent this year.
I have a great race shirt in a vibrant colour that fits me perfectly and the race wasn’t as crowded this year, I believe in part because of signs at the start that clearly marked expected finish times.
Two little details and a much better race than last year.
Two thumbs up for the Burlington Chilly Half Marathon I recommend it to anyone looking for a flat winter race.