Sometimes you need to dig deeper on race day and the runners on this week’s show certainly have. First, runner Brent Shirley who has completed his 49th marathon, shares how he managed to turn around his less-than-perfect race day experience. Then the race director for the Buffalo Marathon race director shares how and why he embarked on this sport after becoming a father. Plus, a couple who share their experiences of running in the Arizona desert.
By: Sasha Gollish
I’ve been quiet post-Houston, not because I’ve been injured but because I’ve been out playing in the winter-wonderland that is Canada and we all know that mobile devices just do not like to cooperate with the cold.
Last weekend I went out to ski country in Ontario, I went up to play in the town of Blue Mountains. It offers nordic and alpine skiing, snowshoeing, and a host of other fun wintery-things you can do. From snowshoe running, to alpine skiing, and a deep winter snowshoe up and down the escarpment, I got in a lot of activity.
Monday coming home I decided to meet up with a bunch of my old teammates and do a tempo-style, easier workout on the indoor track. Lots of laughs were had and I was feeling great as I eased back into training.
Tuesday morning I woke up and could put almost no weight on my right foot. My ankle had locked up and every step felt like someone had stuck a knife in medial side of my ankle bone. Driving to get my teeth cleaned at the dentist I thought I was going to vomit from the pain so I called my chiropractor for help.
Thankfully Dr. Tim of Bayview Chiropractic was able to get it to settle down quite quickly, but he did suggest that I not run on it while it was still sore. We agreed that the single leg hop test would be how I tested my ankle each day to see where I was at.
What’s the single leg hop test?
The single leg hop test is a little bit just what it sounds like, stand on your injured foot and start hoping. The idea behind this test is to determine whether or not your injury is fit for running, since running is, after all, just a series of hops from one foot to the other. You have to figure out if the pain you’re experiencing warrants running or not.
Dr. Kris Sheppard DC, CSCS of The Runner’s Academy offers some great insight into pain and understanding what it means. According to Dr. Sheppard “pain is biologically advantageous for humans” since it tells us whether or not we are in danger. Pain is categorized in two ways, complex and simple. Complex pain is that pain that has persisted for a long time, where as simple pains are usually soft tissue injuries (muscles, fascia, tendons, bone and/or bursae), which the type of pain associated with most running injuries. Injuries can be categorized as acute, meaning they happen from an incident, or chronic, from overuse.
Once you can identify your pain, the next step is to identify the level of pain from this simple scale Dr. Kris offers:
In an effort to help you navigate your pain I created this wireframe diagram with simple yes or no questions to help you find the solution that works best for you.
Here are my final thoughts as it relates to injuries:
Injuries suck but they happen. Following the simple steps of the wire framework is intended to help you minimize time off due to injuries. Just remember to listen to what your body is telling you. I listened last week, I cross-trained and was conservative and when I got back out running Saturday it was pain free and enjoyable. From one of my favourite books, The Power of One, author Bryce Courtenay offers some sage advice, “first with the head then with the heart.”
First longtime running coach, Greg McMillan shares how his love of this sport took him to coaching. Then Norman Spinx, who’s is staying fit and running on into his 80s shares his secrets, at age 85. Plus, Canadian elite runner Natasha Wodack explains her new outlook that brings happiness in running.
By: Pamela Santaluce
The best thing about this hearty dish is that it can be enjoyed hot or cold. Using a mix of fresh and frozen veggies makes this dish extremely quick to make. This highly nutritious, antioxidant rich, high-fiber and heart-healthy chill good for —–everyone!!
INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup olive oil
1 whole onion chopped (red or white)
2-3 cloves of garlic
1 large jar of tomato sauce (the equivalent of a large mason jar)
lentils, dried 450grams or 2 large cans
1 cup frozen organic corn
2 cups frozen organic chopped kale
salt/pepper
chili powder or chili flakes (optional)
DIRECTIONS
ONE: In a large pot, sauté 2 cloves of chopped garlic and onions in a ¼ cup of olive oil.
TWO: Add jar of tomato sauce, 1 tsp of salt , ¼ tsp of pepper (or more to taste). Bring to a boil, cover and let simmer for a minimum of 30 min.
THREE: If you are using canned lentils there is no cooking required. Simply rinse, strain and add to your cooked sauce.
FOUR: Stir in frozen kale and corn. Add additional cup or more of water if you prefer a lighter consistency. You may also add chili-powder or chili flakes if you wish to have a spicier taste. Drizzle a bit more olive oil (to taste) for extra richness and flavor. Stir well and enjoy with fresh bread or crackers.
For dried lentils:
ONE: In a separate pot, cover dried lentils with water and add a tsp of salt, 2 bay leaves and 2 cloves of garlic and cook for 20 minutes. Once cooked/soft, strain excess water and add lentils to the cooked sauce.
Pamela Santaluce is a Toronto-based certified personal trainer, holistic nutritionist and healthy eating advocate. She offers holistic nutrition and writes more about health and wellness at EatFitLife.com.
Running is habitual for many and any break in your usual routine can wreak havoc on your training. It is very easy to fall off the running wagon but it can be very hard to get back on track, even after a short hiatus.
By Pamela Mazzuca HBSc. Kin, Athletic Therapist
Maybe you were sick, maybe your kids were sick, maybe you had a deadline at work, or maybe you went on vacation. Life happens and sometimes you just can’t get out for a run. So instead of giving up or beating yourself up here are a list of five simple ways to stay active and get your running back on track.
ONE: Do it first thing in the morning
Running before you start your day is ideal. It reduces the risk of something getting in your way, like a meeting running late or traffic on a snowy day. It can also be a time saver because you don’t have to hit the showers twice in a day as well as it reduces the risk of procrastination because you have to be at work by a certain time. And, chances are your phone hasn’t started ringing and text messages haven’t started streaming through so distractions are also at a minimum. And don’t worry if you aren’t a morning person, running will make you one plus what better way to start a day than to get your heart pumping and your muscles moving. Schedule it into your morning like you would any other important meeting and you will find yourself staying on track easier.
TWO: Lay it out
Before you hit the sheets at night, collect and layout all of your running gear – tops, bottoms, socks, shoes, ear buds, hat, mitts, water; whatever you might need. This makes getting up and moving out the door a lot easier and faster. You don’t have to think about a thing in the morning, just lace up and head out.
THREE: Set a goal
The easiest way to stay motivated is to sign up for a race. It gives you a goal with a definitive deadline. There are no excuses, no extensions – just a date you must be ready for. It’s that simple for a competitive personality.
FOUR: Compile a playlist or download an e-book or podcast
Even when it’s cold and miserable outside or you got to bed too late the night before, if you have an upbeat, motivating playlist or perhaps an e-book or podcast you are dying to listen to, it can really help get your going. It might be simple but the effect can be significant.
FIVE: Mix it up
Sometimes all it takes is a change of pace, so to speak. Consider adding in hills, intervals or speed work to spice things up and keep you motivated. Another great option, to help avoid boredom as well as injuries, is integrating a little cross-training into your routine. Add one or two days a week of something different, you could try yoga, resistance training, or perhaps swimming. Or you can take a whole week off of running and only doing cross training. You will be amazed at how a little variety will keep you focus, motivated and injury free.
If we’re lucky enough to run for a long time, we get to look back in amusement and realize just how little we knew when we started. With all the things we come to rely on so heavily–GPS, structured training, fuel, specific gear–the fact that so many of us make it to our first race without them seems like a miracle in hindsight. On the other hand, it might be evidence that we rely too heavily on these things. Nonetheless, our earliest running milestones are testaments to how far we can get with excitement, a little stubbornness, and whatever raw talent we might have at the start.
“I had no idea what an interval or fartlek was. I just ran at one pace at that time,” Sarah MacKay admits. In the lead up to and on the day of her first half marathon, Sarah had no help from GPS. “I didn’t know how fast I was running or how far, just that it felt great.”
With the eventual help of an online training program, Sarah ran her first marathon in 3:37, which punched her ticket to Boston. That could be an impressive enough end to her story, but Sarah followed it up with a win at the 2018 SeaWheeze Half Marathon in Vancouver (1:18), which then led to a 2:39 PB at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon in October of that year. The latter performance was just shy of an hour faster than Sarah’s first marathon and an eight minute improvement over her previous PB, set in London in April 2018.
“I think success isn’t just an outcome,” Sarah relates when I ask how she defines the word. “It’s really about the process of setting a goal and pushing yourself to achieve it.” If it was hard fought, then it was a success, and those breakthroughs certainly were. “It took me three tries to break three hours at the marathon,” Sarah explains, now able to laugh as she remembers, “I had to drop out of one race, tore a calf in Boston, and was once three seconds over. It took injury and anemia before I could do it.”
Sarah wasn’t starting entirely from nothing when it came to running. She says, “I always ran a bit in high school but just as a form of exercise because it was easy to access. I loved to go home and have a run to decompress or to start the day positively. I continued in university and did one half marathon as a bucket list and then it was on to the marathon.”
In terms of what fostered Sarah’s astonishing growth, she modestly credits her ability to find herself in the right circles, especially the women she’s trained with. After her first marathon, she connected with Coach Nicole Stevenson in Toronto. According to Sarah, “I learned a great deal from Nicole and the people I ran with and they all became such great friends. So many of the women at my wedding came into my life through running.”
When Sarah made the move to Guelph, Pan-Am medalist Rachel Hannah reached out through mutual friends. While Rachel and Sarah have always been working off different schedules and training plans, they’ve found ways to coordinate and run together every Saturday morning. The weekly runs give both athletes the chance to “just get through a workout and celebrate and support each other.”
“Training over the summer and having Rachel as a mentor and friend was a huge factor in my success because she knows so much. I show up and have lists of topics that I want to pick her brain about,” Sarah explains. Sarah recalls one key tempo run that covered the marathon distance in 2:55, which was unofficially her second best time at that moment.
The grueling summer of training with Rachel, the subsequent breakthrough at SeaWheeze, and the words of Coach Rick Mannen–who insisted that Sarah could break 2:40–all set the stage for her 2:39 finish in Toronto last fall.
Sarah took to the start line with an element of blind faith, never having considered a sub-2:40 until her Mannen uttered the number out loud. Her commitment nonetheless showed itself on race day when Sarah went through the first half in 1:19. “I was waiting for the other shoe to drop,” Sarah recalls, “and I did fade a little around 34K, but knew that I wasn’t going to finish feeling great anyway, so I thought I could still do it.”
It’s possible that Sarah’s success is owed not just to accountability and a strong support system, but to the enviable balance she’s found between running for joy and running for growth. She genuinely enjoys the process and finds excitement in the challenges that each week of the training cycle might bring. Her favourite runs, however, remain the miles she logs on her run commute from home to the office.
Sarah admits, “I might find myself a little anxious in the lead up to a race, but I always remind myself that I love running and I don’t have to be anxious about doing something I love.” Ideally, one also shouldn’t fear getting better at something they love, and so Sarah has embraced the challenges that stand as a prerequisite to success and evolution.
After a breakthrough 2018, Sarah isn’t quite sure what 2019 will hold as she recovers from a foot injury sustained while hiking on her recent honeymoon, but her excitement and enthusiasm about running haven’t been deflated. “I would love to have even five minutes to run now,” Sarah says. “It’s not just the races, but the run to and from work that I’m really looking forward to again.”
“I’m so passionate about it and am just go grateful to start or end my day with it,” Sarah says, smiling wide and almost at a loss as she explains why running is special. “I look forward to the stress release and the people that I meet along the way. I don’t take for granted what my body is able to do.”
On this week’s edition, Mark speaks with Sindy Hooper, a pancreatic cancer survivor, runner and triathlete, on how the sport gave her a focus she needed. Then, we all know the benefits of sleep and an expert shares some advice on how to get more when you need it most. Plus, find out more about the Boston Marathon champion who will be racing at this year’s Vancouver Marathon.
When people ask me: ‘What do you do for a living?’ I sometimes respond: ‘I pack.’ An Air Canada Aeroplan Elite member since 1991, I’ve visited 120 countries, including destinations like Myanmar, Tanzania & Antarctica (and that’s just in the last few months). I have worn out my share of suitcases. And I still get it wrong often by overpacking, under packing and forgetting essential items. However, when packing & traveling to international marathons, I go to great lengths to get it right.
Whether my race destination has been Reykjavik, Buenos Aires, Berlin, Amsterdam, Budapest, Boston, Vancouver or Chicago, I take preparation and packing as serious as my training plan. As I get closer to running in my fifth world major – Tokyo on March 3, I will begin my packing rituals once again. Running marathons is stressful enough without forgetting important items.
A week before my Japan departure, I’ll print off my tried and true ‘marathon stuff’ packing list that I’ve created for over 20 marathons. Then, I begin checking the weather for the race destination obsessively in the seven days prior to the race.
I’ll begin by choosing, then choose again and again, several layer possibilities I might need to bring – depending on the weather forecast, including, importantly, throw-away clothing. Little did I know that for the notoriously cold, windy and rainy Boston marathon in 2018, I’d wear all four layers I brought under a poncho for most of the race! Trust me: you never know.
Then it will be time to tick off the Marathon essentials, stuff like Body Glide, race number belt, watch, chargers, current adaptors, sunglasses, gloves, gels, blocks, Gatorade and, of course, Advil.
As a proud Canadian, I always buy a new running singlet or shirt featuring ‘Canada’ emblazoned for every race. Hearing encouraging ‘Go, Canada’ cheers from marathon spectators around the world is well worth the wardrobe investment. I look forward to hearing that again in Tokyo.
Some other preparation I’ll be doing: Lock in a restaurant for 5pm the night before the race via ‘Open Table’ App. Prepare a new iPod playlist for the race. Laminate a customized pace band with a Velcro strip with my splits and goal time. For my last five marathons I have put my buddy Paulo Branco’s name on the pace band for inspiration and dedicated my race to him. He is fighting ALS. I did an ALS fund raiser last year in his name at the Boston marathon and we raised $16,000. It’s important to me to bring him with me wherever I go.
A ‘worry-free essential’ practice is to bring all my race gear in carry-on luggage to avoid any possibilities of lost suitcases. I will also wear my Asics Kayano shoes on board the Air Canada flight for good luck. Upon arrival at the hotel, I will lay out absolutely everything that I need on race day in a corner of the room, to eliminate any worrying overnight or searching for stuff on the morning of the race.
Then, after the race is over, my wife Jane and I will explore Japan. Which means more stuff to pack. Just about all my International Marathons (14) will include travel somewhere afterwards (e.g. Patagonia after Buenos Aires; Prague after Budapest; south shore of Iceland after Reykjavik, and down the Rhine River after Berlin).
As much as I am excited about running the prestigious Tokyo marathon with 30,000 other runners, I am excited to experience Kyoto, Hiroshima and Osaka. Japan in March can be pretty cold or warm or rainy (Yikes).
I’ll be ‘packing for a living’ once again.
Kale and Egg Wrap
Ready in minutes, this nutritious wrap is perfect for an easy lunch. Plus you can easily substitute ingredients including spinach for kale and paprika for hot pepper flakes or adding hummus. To make this meal a gluten-free option, serve in corn tortillas.
Prep Time: 12 minutes
Servings: 4
INGREDIENTS
8 eggs
1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt
1/4 tsp (1 mL) freshly ground pepper
2 tbsp (30 mL) olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
Pinch hot pepper flakes
2 cups (500 mL) stemmed and thinly sliced kale, lightly packed
4 large whole wheat tortillas (10 inch/25 cm), warmed
1/4 cup (60 mL) hummus
1 tomato, sliced
DIRECTIONS
ONE: Whisk eggs with salt and pepper. In non-stick skillet, heat oil over medium heat; cook garlic and hot pepper flakes until fragrant, approximately 1 minute. Stir in kale; cook until starting to wilt, approximately 2 or 3 minutes.
TWO: Reduce heat to medium-low; pour in egg mixture. Cook, stirring, until eggs are creamy and softly set, approximately 5 to 8 minutes.
THREE: On work surface, arrange tortillas. Spread hummus down along centre of each tortilla, leaving small border on either end. Top with tomatoes and scrambled egg mixture. Fold up bottom of tortilla over the filling, then fold in sides and roll up tightly.
Nutrition Facts
Per 1 wrap: Calories 440; Fat 23g; Saturated Fat 5g; Trans Fat 0.1g; Cholesterol 370mg; Sodium 940mg; Carbohydrate 36g; Fibre 5g’ Sugars 2g; Protein 21g
Recipe courtesy of Egg Farmers of Canada.
First, Mark speaks with a Canadian elite middle distance runner who shares what the life of an elite runner really feels like. Then, at 65 the legendary Boston champion Jacqueline Gareau talks about her love of this sport and why she continues to run. Plus, in these cold winter days, find out how one runner is braving the season running in Winnipeg.
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