It’s race week for our group in Toronto and, for many of the runners, it will be the first race they’ve done. We’ve spent the week focusing on reducing our mileage (tapering), eating well and trying to get some rest. Still, it’s very difficult to handle the butterflies and sometimes it’s impossible to advise runners to relax, watch 22 Jump Street, listen to Bahamas and have fun. Trust me: you can not get faster during race week. All you can do is get hurt. So try and take it easy, pick out your race gear and figure out how you’re getting to the event. We realize that all this can be stressful. Especially if it’s your first time or you’re trying to achieve a time goal. To better get a grasp on how to handle the nerves, I turned to an old friend, Olympic skater Tessa Virtue, who earned silver in Sochi and a gold medal at the 2010 Olympic games.

Here are her five tips for alleviating performance anxiety:

1. Acknowledge that what you’re feeling is normal. “Everyone feels nervous. It’s the people who deal with those nerves that come out on top. Give yourself a break — feeling nervous is totally OK.”

2. Breathe. “A sports psychologist recently gave me some breathing music, like a metronome. It slows my breathing down and helps me to focus and calm down. There are tremendous benefits from feeling calm.”

3. Use key words. “The night before, I visualize our program — sometimes it’s perfect and sometimes it isn’t, but I run through everything that’s going to happen in my mind before the big day. For a runner, at different kilometre marks, use words — here I’ll focus on my knees; here I’ll dig deep; here I’ll relax or here I’ll push. Key words help with strategy, it focuses you.”

4. Distract yourself. “You can drive yourself crazy if you’re only thinking about the race. I used to throw up before every event, I worked myself up into such a tizzy! If you can distract yourself, throw on an episode of Suits or read a book, remember that there’s life outside of running — it helps.”

5. Remind yourself of your preparation. “If you prepared, if you trained, if you practiced, then trust yourself. All that training is actually harder than just one race day. Believe in the hard work you’ve accomplished, and have faith that you will get through.”

[photo by Myra Klarman Photography]

YOUR GOAL FOR THIS WEEK

Honestly, if you’re racing this weekend, take everything very slow. You might run twice, say, for 25 minutes, careful to walk whenever you feel tired and to carefully step. Do not twist your ankles! The main thing we’re fighting against is injuries. Remember: you can’t make yourself faster five days from the starting line. But you can tire yourself out, slip or generally booger things up for race day. Certainly, if you’re racing on Sunday, don’t run after Friday and, whatever you do, stay home Saturday night. A glass of wine is fine. 6 glasses is not.

Finally, to everyone racing this weekend, and to the folks heading out for their first race, Godspeed. A whole new world is about to open up, enjoy it. Lastly, if you’re in Toronto, session two of our Couch to Marathon run class begins on August 28. If you’re interested, check out the details. Because no one has to run on their own.

On Saturday, July 26, more than 150 runners participated at Track & Roll, a race put on by Lululemon and sanctioned by Athletics Ontario. The event, in its second year and held in Toronto, consists of the 100 meter dash, mile races and relay events, 4x400meters, for both men and women. One of the relay racers was Emily Tomisch, 25, who had never participated in a race before. In May, she’ll take on the marathon. This is her recollection of the event.

Q) What were you feeling as you turned the last leg of the race, finish line in site?
A) I was really excited. I couldn’t feel my legs, my whole body went numb, but everyone cheering me on … it felt exhilarating.

Q) It looked like you actually sped up.
A) I didn’t want to give up. I wanted to give it my all.

Q) As a new runner, what’s been your take on the running community?
A) I have a lot of friends who do marathons, and after my practice, every Thursday, I call them and tell them what I did. They’re all so proud of me. After the meet on Saturday, I called and said, ‘I did it.’ They know what it’s like to start, how hard it is, and I feel like they want to encourage me to keep up with the sport.

Q) Is it very hard?
A) It sucks, to be honest.

Q) So why keep on?
A) I’ve only been through about six weeks of training and that running high is just starting to kick in and now, when I have a bad day at work, I want to go home and run. Even on my lunch breaks I do a quick five minute run around the block. It’s something I look forward to all the time. I do still get a sore a bit the day after, but it’s a good sore.

Q) Any other injuries?
A) No. Just sore. I stretch more now throughout the day. I don’t sit at my desk, I stand, and focus more on my body. I also drink more water throughout the day now than I normally would.

Q) Any other changes?
A) On Thursday, around 4 p.m., I start thinking: I should go eat an apple. I’m not going to go to McDonalds and get a Big Mac because I know then I’ll feel terrible when I’m running.

Q) What was your goal for Saturday’s race?
A) To finish and not have to walk at all.

Q) You did that and more so. What was the key?
A) Just seeing everybody and hearing them cheer. Even though I don’t know them, I didn’t want to let them down. I was talking to other people at the meet and telling them it was my first race and everyone was giving me high fives and hugging me. I’ll probably never see them again, but they helped me, a lot.

Q) How did you feel before your race?
A) I was nervous, but I tried to calm myself down. Before I got to the meet, I sat outside, drank coffee, and read. But as I was walking up to the stadium and saw it was an actual meet and how professional the track looked — I’m from small town Northern Ontario and I’ve never seen a professional track before. It was intimidating, but now I can say I competed at the same event with all these professional athletes, that’s cool. For a first run, it’s inspiring.

Q) In our group you aren’t the fastest or most experienced runner, but you were the first to sign up for this race.
A) I know if I didn’t sign up I probably wouldn’t go out and do anything. I feel like I have to set all these little goals to prove to myself that I can do it. I’ve never been an athletic person and it feels great doing something that I’ve never done before. I’m surprising myself.

Q) You had some health concerns at the start. What were they?
A) I’ve always had heart palpitations and I recently found out my father, his mother, and her mother — three generations on my dad’s side — all have heart disease, and my condition is a precursor for heart disease. I went to my doctor and asked what I could do and he said don’t eat meat, don’t smoke, and exercise. I don’t smoke and don’t eat meat, now I’m trying to do cardio.

Q) Has it helped?
A) Since I’ve started running, my symptoms have decreased exponentially and my doctor is considering halving my medicine dose. It’s only been five weeks. I can’t even imagine what it’s going to be like when I’m running my marathon. This is a life-changing experience for me. I’m doing it for my health.

YOUR GOAL FOR THIS WEEK
The average 5K finish time, according to Running USA, is 34:53 for a woman and 28:46 for a man. Granted, this includes speed racers and folks who’ve been doing this for years. Still, keep that in mind as a ballpark for how long the 5K might take. My group is attempting their 5K on August 16, so the goal is to keep building endurance. Run three times this week, and women, aim to stay out there for 35 minutes, men, 29, and gradually decrease the amount of walking you do. Next week we’re going to work in a hill session, but, for now, just make sure you get out there three times. And, like Brooks’ says, run happy. This is essential: more important than running for an extra minute per ten minute interval is that you make it out three times per week. By enjoying your run, you’re more likely to stick with it. More likely to build consistency, which is the most important thing a runner needs.

Who knows, it may just end up saving your life.

It has been seven weeks since my femur fracture and I continue to progress in leaps and bounds.

The most rewarding advancement has been the return to my daily routine. Initially after Jonathan’s parents left, it took nearly an entire day to do the work I did in addition to my training. “Simple” house-hold jobs like laundry, cleaning, cooking, and tidying up for a family of five were quite difficult to accomplish with crutches, on my own. But I managed to find ways to function safely around the house to get it done and it began to get easier as my leg got stronger. Of course, I had help from Team DuChene. Now I am back to getting the kids ready in the morning, heading to the gym, lunch and quiet time with 3 yr old Leah, those house-hold jobs, after-school activities, dinner, and bed-time routines.

My spirits remain high but I am human and there are times I’ve felt a bit bummed. Missing planned races, not seeing my name on the Canadian team for the Commonwealth Games, and the occasional, “You should be careful” from people I hardly know has sometimes bothered me but has been short-lived. I look at where I’ve come from and where I’m going and expect it to be one serious come-back!

I’ve had many people contact me with their stories and the one thing I continue to believe and apply, in many areas of life, is to remain positive and not compare myself to others. Although possibly similar, every situation is unique. I choose to disregard the negatives and focus on the greater steps to come.

Initially, there seemed to be so many things I couldn’t do—stairs, walking, driving, standing on the broken leg and the obvious, running. But now running is about the only thing I can’t do. Every few days I am able to do something new, which is both encouraging and exciting. A few days ago I was able to take 5 or 6 steps, without limping and without my cane. Two days later, I completed 3×5 minutes of walking on the treadmill, hands-free! This morning I did my longest walk (with the cane) of 1 hour, followed by 30 minutes of cycling, which felt great. Every day the soft tissues are getting stronger and stronger.

I think I will be able to wean myself off the cane by 8 weeks, which will give me 4 weeks of steady and solid walking before I attempt jogging. In my mind I will take about 3 months to progress from jogging to running. I’ve often compared this injury to that of a pregnancy come-back but to be honest, I think this will be easier. Because I was back to my gym, physio and massage routines, less than 3 weeks after my surgery, I did not lose too much strength or endurance. Before the fracture, my resting heart rate (RHR) was 36, and when in my best shape it’s been as low as 29. For me, tracking this is a good fitness indicator. After my fracture, my RHR was up to 48 and now it’s down to 41. Getting there.

As for pain, I continue to be without it. The odd time I may experience some is when I quickly catch my balance on the fractured leg, usually to prevent a trip over one of the kids or dog. Ten legs around your two can sometimes do that! I guess I could say I’ve had some pain in the soft tissue in the left leg, as it has been built, but it is certainly very different and nowhere near the bone pain from the fracture.

In terms of set-backs, I have also been very blessed in this area. I did however, get a second infection in the same area as before. For those of you who know anything about surgery, particularly involving bones, you do not mess around with this. I notified Dr. Dill right away and we gave it a few days but it was not getting better as I likely had a dissolvable stitch that did not dissolve. So, off to the fracture clinic I went. Weak stomach? Stop reading here. As a parent, I’ve always believed in taking kids with you to appointments. They need to learn how to behave appropriately in such environments. However, this was one time that I had to go solo. After freezing the area, Dr. Dill essentially cut a tunnel, 1 cm x 1 cm in diameter and 1 inch deep. Yes, 1 inch deep. So much for what I thought would be something simple like removing a sliver! His wonderful nurse, Susan, assisted him in filling it with packing tape, and covering it with various layers to keep it clean, dry and protected to heal from the inside. At one point, Dr. Dill consulted with an infectious diseases doctor and did a swab to confirm that it was indeed a simple, external bacterial infection. If it was some other strange bacteria or infected internally, near the hardware or bone, we would have one very serious issue. I had to have the area changed 5 times in the first week. It is healing quickly, I am now finished my antibiotic, and hopefully I will be able to resume my pool work in another week or so. No rush.

I have missed the water but have still been able to get in 1.5-2 hrs of daily activity. At the gym I use the elliptical, stair-elliptical, bikes and treadmill. At home I walk outside and bike downstairs on rollers. The walking allows me to build those glute, quad and hamstring areas, necessary for running but does not create much of a cardiovascular workout as I can only get my heart rate to about 100 BPM. The other methods provide a great variety where I can usually keep my heart rate at about 150 BPM, allowing me to get back into decent form. I do some stretching and a variety of upper and lower strength training, nearly back to my original settings. Both Sherri (physio) and David (massage) think I have about 80% strength in the left leg. I am hoping that this previously weak left leg will be, and stay, at 100% in another 5 weeks when we expect to get the green light to run. Well, jog. In the evening, I am up to a 2:15 plank, 25 pushups, and a steadily growing variety of other exercises.

I have a bone scan on June 20 and my final ortho appointment with an x-ray on July 18. I am still enjoying this break but am mentally starting to really miss running. I know I am not ready yet but believe that my mind and body will be in sync when the time is right. #KristaStrong

Psalm 37:4-5 Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires. Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you.