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Friday, October 4, 2024
Blog Page 212

My Christmas Medal Tree

Just put up my Christmas tree this year – do you like it? 🙂

Do you recognize any of the same medals on your Christmas tree? Stay tuned for my next post highlighting my favourites from 2012.

Ornamentally yours,

Andrew

 

Related blog articles by Andrew Chak:

  • Twas the night before the marathon
  • 26.2 signs that you’re an obsessive runner
  • The diagnosis: obsessive running disorder

 

Follow me: @andrewchak

Winter is The Best Time to Run

It’s cold outside, as I exhale, my breath is visible in the afternoon shade. It’s my first cool run of the season, and I’m more than mentally prepared. Probably because it took me 10 more minutes than it usually does to gather all of my warm gear. There are a lot of wardrobe changes at this time of the season. “It’s the most wonderful time of the year” and yet there are many that pack up their shoes when ‘Jack Frost’ appears. I’ve got a beanie on my head, a base layer under my track pants, a base layer under my jacket, covered with a long sleeve, and a face mask to protect me from the cool breeze. Along with a good pair of running gloves, this outfit will keep me as warm as I will ever need to be winter running. Though If I want to handle this 18km route, I’ve got to get moving before sundown. It’s that or complete darkness in the forest trails.

I hurry out of my back door, and turn on my watch. It’s connected quickly and as I exit my back gate, I’m already running; headed north on the trail towards my destination. I plan on facing “the hill” at midpoint in the run. I’ve been to a place of exhaustion at “the hill” point of this workout before and I don’t like going there, as it’s tough to get home afterwards. This workout and I have history, it’s a nice mainstay run that I like to keep around to test my fitness. A nice mix between trail and road, interchangeable, no-double backing, some good hills, and car friendly in the winter months-that’s a perfect route in my opinion.

My pace has picked up since my muscles have gained some warmth. My breathing is causing me to cramp just slightly as the cold of winter enters my lungs. Time to pull the face mask up I suppose. I’m not used to the cool air yet.  The air is crisp, and clean. The forest trails are quiet and I can hear the leaves break under my feet and float in the air as I rush past them. I’m contemplating the workout, my upcoming training plan, upcoming races, and snowshoe running. It’s times like this that I’m reminded about the beauty of winter running.

I exit the canopy of the forest trail and pass a fellow group of runners. One of their members tosses me a high five. You’ve got to appreciate the camaraderie of our sport. I pause my Garmin for a second to shake it out, and stretch before continuing. A kilometere and a half later I realize I’ve forgotten to press start on my watch.  As much as my forgetfulness bugs me, I’m able to regain focus as I arrive at the bottom of the notorious hill at about 10km in. I enjoy coming into a workout that should beat me up, and leaving it knowing that I still feel good.

I look up the side of the hill, and go for it. As I press the pace, I’m motivated thinking about Around the Bay in 30K that I’m signed up for in March. It’s my motivation. Once I get to the other side I’m confident I’ll make it home easy, there have been many times that I’m fraught with fatigue and crashing at this point. I attribute my strength coming into this hard workout to some recent squat workouts. I’ve been trying to squat until I can’t squat anymore once a week. It definitely helped on this run. The best part of this run was despite the cold of winter, I was warm the entire time!

There is a lot about winter running that’s amazing. A few points I’ll make to those unconvinced:

1) On a hot day, it’s hot, there’s nothing you can do to change a really hot run. On a cold day, you can dress warmer and work up a sweat.

2) You feel more like a warrior when you winter run, because your eyelashes get frost and not many have discovered winter running so they think your crazy. Reinforcing that warrior feeling. (After all, it only takes 5 minutes to warm up)

3) There’s so much to see in the winter season that’s not there in other seasons. Everything in nature looks different.

4) The air feels clean, crisp and pure. When you come back from a run in the cold, you smell of the outdoors. You smell and feel fresh.

5) Every run is different. Less snow, more snow, slushy snow. Every time is a new adventure, dive in. (Don’t be scared about footing, most sidewalks are cleared. For trails there’s running snowshoes, and shoe spikes for ice)

6) You get to go shopping! You don’t need to though. For a few years I wore a hoodie, track pants, and a lot of my summer gear underneath. It worked fine, running is about the experience not the gear. I still love my hoodie – I feel like Rocky!

Here’s to you and embracing your love of winter!

D

 

 

Goofy logistics

Back in February when I was trying to decide if this was the year I was finally going to run “the Goofy,” I interviewed some people about the reality of such an undertaking.  The end product was this article, where my experts all agreed that the key to successful back-to-back races is back-to-back long runs, and of course, the key to back-to-back long runs is to practice good recovery in between. They also agreed that your biggest barrier will always be your brain.

Now, halfway through the training, I don’t disagree.  Honestly, the second long run in the back-to-back weekends isn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Not once have I been found slobbering in a ditch on day two (slobbering, sure, but still upright and moving forward!) despite my worst fears. However, there is one gigantic challenge that not one of them mentioned.

I am sure this is because it is a pretty universal challenge – one that runners have been dealing with since time immemorial, but I am telling you, in this case, it’s not the same.  The challenge I am referring to is scheduling.  Anyone who has ever trained for anything knows that you have to make the time to eat and hydrate properly the day before, get enough sleep, have the time to do the actual run, and then have the time to recover. But that has never been insurmountable – if something comes up for the day I want to do my long run, I just change days.

But with two long runs on consecutive days, it gets a little trickier.  My initial plan was to do my back-to-back long runs on Thursday and Friday mornings. This works for me because I mostly work from home, so I have the flexibility to start late, work through lunch, wear compression socks in my office, etc.  But like anything else, it doesn’t always work that way.  This week, I am in a wedding on Friday, so I am needed in the morning for set-up. Okay, fine – long runs on Wednesday and Thursday.

But then we get into December – my other job is at The Running Works – and you know what happens with retail in December – more hours and unusual shifts.  So my outside-the-house schedule takes the Wednesday-Thursday, Thursday-Friday, Friday-Saturday, and Saturday-Sunday combinations out of the running (ha!) either due to the running itself, or the recovery (being on my feet all day and not always getting a chance to eat at regular intervals on day 1 doesn’t really set me up for an enjoyable day 2).

Please don’t mistake this for complaining.  I am just throwing it out there because, although it seems pretty obvious now, I never thought about it before I was living it.  Like anything else, you just have to be realistic about the commitment involved, flexible around the things that inevitably come up, and honest with yourself about the sacrifices you’re willing to make.  But let’s face it – if it were easy, it wouldn’t be called “Goofy,” now would it?

A Reminder About Stretching

By: Magi Scallion

All summer and fall I’ve been struggling with Plantar Fasciitis, which I thought was also morphing into a stress fracture.  It’s a hateful injury because rest and relaxation seems to be one of the few true roads to recovery… and, as any runner knows, that is a tough road to follow when you like to be outdoors and active.

Little did I consider that the onset of my plantar woes coincided with the time that I got “ultra busy” at work and canned my morning yoga sun salutations.  Let’s be clear that I was not an avid yogi, but I did make an effort to do 5 sun salutations every morning and a few hip opening poses in the evenings.  My total daily stretch routine was probably 15 minutes… so what sort of difference that does that really make?

Well, as it turns out, it does make quite a difference! (I like to learn the hard way, I guess).  I’ve been struggling with my sore feet all summer and fall – icing, rolling, and more… everything but stretching as it turns out.  Two weeks ago I decided to re-start my morning/evening yoga routine and I am suddenly pain free.  It’s amazing.

My lesson from this is that total body flexibility is more important than I thought. It’s important to treat your entire body kindly, even if you are really only hurting in one specific area.  We are entirely connected and sometimes it’s having more open hips that will cure the foot problem you’re struggling with!

***

Born in Nova Scotia and emigrating to British Columbia via Ontario and Alberta, Magi has been running the entire way. Primarily defined as a cross country ski racer, Magi has competed nationally and internationally in that sport. The highlight of her career was competing in the World University Games and the World Cup races in Canada in 2007. Cross country skiers rely heavily on running for cross training and Magi has become an accomplished trail and mountain runner, representing Canada at the World Mountain Running Championships in 2005 and the winning numerous national championships medals.

Today Magi runs for fun… and it’s a lot of fun! Epic mountain runs, city cruises with friends, and more keep her happy and occupied outside of work and school.

What’s Your Excuse?

In my experience training for various races, I’ve had a lot of excuses for missing a workout. Especially if I’ve just taken some time off. That’s why it’s hard for some newer runner’s to stay motivated. If you don’t have or have never experienced the “addiction” or the “running bug”, it’s more of a chore and inconvenience to get out for a workout. I think that’s why there are so many non-runners that say ” Huh…you ran 20km this morning!? You’re crazy” (I get that often.)  It’s always harder to gain perspective when standing on the outside looking in. Once you’re there, and on the inside looking out, it’s hard to take a break. Getting the “bug” or “addiction” for running is amazing. It’s a healthy habit that gives every runner their own reason to say: “I run because….”

I’ve heard all of the excuses, and I’ve had a lot of them. I think they apply to all sports, because of the commitment that pulls us out of our daily routine. I was recently reminded of my creativity for excuses, as I started to create some reasons not to get out for my workouts. I busted up my toe a few weeks back and I was forced off of the road. It was one of those nagging injuries that can only get worse while continuing to train. I had to back off running and walk instead, I don’t much fancy walking. More to the point, I started to feel better last week, after about 2.5 weeks off. I had run a few short runs in between to keep my fitness, though I won’t tell you that I wasn’t enjoying the relaxation of not running. A few nights ago, my wife and I were hanging around watching some of our shows, and I knew I wanted to go running. I planned on it…the day before, but I had I skipped it… and now it was the evening of the next day and I was pushing myself to skip it again.

Ever had these excuses? (These were mine for one run) 

“I didn’t sleep well last night” OR “I already missed it yesterday” OR “I haven’t been running anyways” OR “I can start training next week” OR “it’s cold outside man!”

In the end, I forced myself out of the door. I ran for 10 minutes and made the decision to keep running;because once I warmed up I enjoyed it.

The “10 minute rule” is great. Best advice for the unmotivated: Run the planned workout or a variation/cross training version of it. As long as you know the excuses you’re giving yourself are lame. (If they’re not lame, take a break. Lots of people can push it too hard when they need to relax.)  If you know you’re being lazy, get out there for at least 10 minutes and give yourself the option to turn around after that. Most people always finish their run after 10 minutes. Once you’re warmed up, it usually works out. Sometimes my excuses at least allow me to create a better more enjoyable workout. If I have a speed workout scheduled and it seems daunting, maybe I’ll try a trail run with a bit of speed instead. To get out for a workout, feels better than missing it all together.

I’m aiming for Boston Marathon number 2 in April for some race revenge , and I’d like to start getting in shape. It’s quite amazing how fast you lose your fitness. After 3 runs, and 20km Monday morning, I’m back baby! It feels great. There’s this quote I love “I don’t embrace excuses, I embrace solutions” (Bar Rescue) I learned it on television while taking some time off! 🙂

What are your lamest excuses for not working out?  

 

Here’s to you and what get’s you out the door!

 

D
PS. Jax joined me last night for 8km, I thought it was a good time for a photo op. Nice Movember stache eh? Hope you enjoyed!

Magic Mike

My husband, Mike has tolerated my shenanigans for 18 years.  Someone, somewhere should give him an award because even sober, I am a handful. He has endured much over the years, and in the moment, it would seem as though he is irritated, annoyed or unimpressed with my latest scheme, but I think in general, he likes my creative approach to life.

Mike met me drunk, in a bar…<shrugs shoulders> what can I say; it was the beginning of a theme.

As I look back, I am grateful he stuck around once his beer goggles wore off. I knew early on that he was a keeper.  He looked out for me and that was a full time job. He also looked out for our friends. My dad actually went on to nickname him “mother hen”.  He’s just that person who is willing to give up a bit of his own fun to make sure nobody loses an eye. He would co-ordinate cab rides to bars for everyone. He would make sure everyone had a drinking buddy to stay safe with and then at the end of the night, he would see to it that everybody headed home safely (with the exception of his bachelor party when the bar staff  did their closing time bathroom check and found him passed out, sitting on the toilet; that time doesn’t count, most of the time he was on duty).

Mike is a non-runner. He will hustle the 60 feet it takes to get from home plate to first base, but that’s it. He is such a non-runner, that I suspect he actually avoids hitting anything other than singles in order to avoid running farther than he has to.

Being a non-runner and having no idea what it’s like to train for a goal race, Mike is strangely, unwaveringly supportive of my dedication to running. Most people that don’t run, don’t get it, somehow, because it’s good for my recovery, Mike is all in. He gets it. He never asks “why?”  He is my number one fan (he even has a shirt that says “go Christa, go”, I hate it when he wears that shirt to Wal-Mart).

My husband wears many hats when I run. During training, his job is part time. His responsibilities are limited, but very important. His duties include knowing my weekly training schedule and not doing anything to screw it up! As soon as you start messing with the plan, you risk missing workouts. It’s hard enough to plan them around work, family and life, let alone altering it once it’s in writing; Job #1-don’t mess me up!

The full time responsibilities start the night before a race. He is in charge of travel details. He organizes departure time, travel route, pit stops (nervous bladder pee breaks) and parking. There have been moments where he attempts to share the details with me, to which I respond unfavorably. I don’t want to know that sh*t. I just want to run. I am a bit like a running diva. I just want to perform. The deets are not my specialty; Job#2-travel director.

On race day, Mike’s portfolio expands (without a pay increase). He becomes my organizer and odd job guy, tending to things like ensuring our dogs are taken care of before departure, making sure I am up on time and out the door on schedule; Job#3-personal assistant.  He will load the car with my shoes and clothes and race bib. He will recheck for a change of clothes and shoes for after the race. He checks my iPod and my Blackberry for charge; Job#4-equipment manager. Mike checks if I have my food, reminding me not to forget a spoon. He will make sure a small cooler is packed with my pre-race drink and my post-race recovery fluids. Do I have enough gels? He makes sure my Fuel Belt is full; Job#5-nutrition specialist. Mike works very hard on race day to see to it that I am allowed to keep my mind on the run. He is excellent at minimizing the pressures of getting to the race. If I start to exhibit some anxiety or doubt, he is quick to talk me down; Job #6-sports psychologist.

Delivering me on time, in proper dress, adequately hydrated, and without undue psychological trauma, is Mike’s light at the end of the tunnel.  Most of his work is done and the rest is up to me. At the start line, he releases me from his care to look on with pride, as I do what I love; Job#7-spectator (the worst job of all).

The sport of running must be the worst sport to watch…really, what’s to see? The runners leave, the runners come back. There’s no ongoing play by play, no line changes or substitutions. There are no glove dropping, bench clearing brawls. Fans and admirers like my husband stand out in the rain, the cold, the snow, before 8am on a prime Saturday or Sunday, just so we know they are there. Beyond the anticipation of the horn blowing and the clock starting, hours pass until the next climactic incident, which is the finish.

The finish…Mike’s near to last job; Job#8-cheerleader. When all things are considered, Mike deserves a raise and a promotion, except when it comes to job#8. In the last 100 meters of every big race I have done, I look for Mike’s face in the crowd; I look for his kind eyes and encouraging smile to get me over the line and to know that I have done it! Poor Mike, he misses my run up the shoot every time. He is never in the right place at the right time and has repeatedly been distracted by other dramatic finishers. This fall, some guy was setting a record for running the farthest and the fastest in a superhero costume and he was doing that just as I was arriving at the finish.  Mike’s first indication of my finish is always a text from me saying “done”.  He is always disappointed.

His final function is getting me out of there, getting me dry, warm and rehydrated; Job#9-recovery specialist. All the way back to the car he mumbles to himself “I can’t believe I missed it again”.

Thank you for always looking out for me, Michael…in sickness and in health…in drunkenness and in sobriety.

Sarah’s Journey to an Ironman Finish

“It is a waste of time to be angry about my disability. One has to get on with life and I haven’t done badly. People won’t have time for you if you are always angry or complaining.” ~ Stephen Hawking

VICKY:  Opinionated. Feisty. Brutally honest. Decisive. Confident. Those are some of the adjectives that come to mind when I think of Sarah Reinertsen. In the first part of her book, it was all about her family challenges and her journey to the Paralympics. Both were disappointing experiences for her and clearly helped define her as a person and an athlete.

GRANT:  Really? What made you think that?

VICKY:  Well, she had the following thoughts at page 73:

“I also kept thinking, Screw running. The disappointment of failing at the Paralympics still raged, and whenever I thought about track, I felt defeated.” Then at page 74: “Dad wasn’t interested in helping with my tuition. How did I know? He flat out said, ‘I am not paying for college.’ That blew me away. I’d been a great daughter, and had decent grades, played sports, did all kinds of extracurricular activities, busted my ass to get into a good college, and he was backing out of the deal.”

GRANT:  Holy crap. That’s a lot to deal with on top of everything else.

VICKY:  Page 75:

“Needless to say, I wasn’t in the best head space for my first solo sojourn into the world.”

GRANT:  No doubt.

VICKY:  So despite all of this weight on her shoulders. She still managed to set out and achieve new athletic goals. Once she got back into running, she felt the urge to try something new: the marathon. As she says, it’s the holy grail of running goals.

GRANT:  Yes it is! Although I would argue that running an ultramarathon is pretty up there in terms of ultimate running goals and achievements. So what was her time? Which marathon did she run?

VICKY:  You’ll be jealous.

GRANT:  She ran the New York Marathon didn’t she?

VICKY:  Yup. In 6:32. But she was disqualified.

GRANT:  Because she finished in under 7 hours and started at 8:30 a.m. right?

VICKY:  Correct sir. At page 111 she describes it as follows:

“The next morning I learned that if you take the early 8:30 race start, and you finish in under seven hours, you’re disqualified, because they don’t want the masses taking unfair advantage of the jump on the crowd. So, technically, I had disqualified myself by completing the race in under seven hours. It was a small bummer, but I knew what I had accomplished. (…) According to the official scorekeeper, I didn’t finish the New York Marathon. But if you’re scoring in the real world I definitely finished, and definitely kicked ass.”

GRANT:  Woah! She is feisty eh?

VICKY:  Yes. She is.

GRANT:  Did she run another one after that?

VICKY:  Yes, she ran the L.A. Marathon in 6:15 and did New York again. In fact, at one point she was hired to interview runners at the back of the pack at the New York Marathon as she was running it herself!

GRANT:  Sounds like something you and I would do.

VICKY:  Which part? Running at the back of the pack? Or doing the interviews? LOL. I’m just kidding. So now let’s talk about triathlons.

GRANT:  Ok wait a minute. Didn’t she do an Ironman?

VICKY:  Oh yeah! Go big or go home was her motto my friend! It all started in 1992, she’s waiting at the shop where she gets her artificial leg. The Ironman World Championship in Hawaii is on television. She sees Jim MacLaren, a racer with a prosthetic leg. At page 130 she describes it:

“He smashed the seemingly unsmashable eleven-hour barrier and set a new world record. It blew me away. I thought, Wow, the Paralympics are cool, but if you could do that, that’s over-the-moon extraordinary. That’s the bomb. I want to do that one day. No, I’m going to do that one day. I’m going to make Hawaii mine.”

GRANT:  Did she even know how to swim or ride a bike at that point?

VICKY:  In the book she says she signed up for a pool membership in 2002 to learn how to swim. So, I guess not. It took her 6 months from the day she signed up to actually get in the water because she was so freaked out about what to do with her leg.

GRANT:  This really puts it into perspective doesn’t it? I mean she not only had the fear of looking stupid which we all had the first time we went to a public swimming pool but on top of that, the logistics of her prosthetic leg! Where do you leave it? When do you take it off?

VICKY:  Once she got over that hurdle, she needed to learn how to ride a bike. Heck she needed to find a bike! So off to the sidewalk sales she went.

GRANT:  Really?

VICKY:  Oh yes my friend. She found a little white bike for $75. Now the challenge was learning how to ride a bicycle in New York City! You know, the city where you can barely cross the streets without a taxi taking you down?

GRANT:  Wait a second. What kind of little white bike?

VICKY:  A mountain bike.

GRANT:  She wanted to complete the Hawaii Ironman on a mountain bike? Was she nuts?

VICKY:  No. She was not nuts. She was a motivated person who didn’t have all the information. So anyways, the guy at the bike shop recommended she spin so she bought an indoor stationary bike. By 2004, she felt she was ready to complete her first Ironman.

GRANT:  Wow. That’s crazy Vic!

VICKY:  I know! I loved her sense of humour when she was writing about this because of course it’s crazy talk but at the same time it’s absolutely inspiring. It’s all about setting your mind to it and then just putting in the work.

GRANT:  So what happened at her first Ironman? Did she finish?

VICKY:  Well, here’s a funny excerpt from page 151:

“Step one of Ironman is the body marking. (…) I was number 187, which, it so happens, is Los Angeles police code for a homicide.”

This made me laugh so hard when I read it.

GRANT:  So did she finish?

VICKY:  Unfortunately, they took her timing chip away after the bike portion because she was at 5:35.

GRANT:  Ah yes. The rules. Each course closes after a certain time.

VICKY:  Exactly. So she bounces back by participating in the Amazing Race television adventure show, which ends up motivating her to finish her unfinished Ironman business. So she gets a custom bike that actually works with her prosthetic as opposed to against it like the last time.

GRANT:  I can’t believe she tried it again. I would just be crushed and scared to try it again. I mean you invest so much time, energy and money that it would be devastating to not finish.

VICKY:  Yes but this girl is fiesty and competitive. Remember, she’s been facing challenges all her life and this race is just another obstacle. Her mind is strong and as long as she has that, she can do anything.

GRANT:  You’re right.

VICKY:  So she finished.

GRANT:  Did she really?!

VICKY:  She did. In her words at page 212:

“In the months leading up to the race, I told my friends that if I made it, I was going to walk across the finish line so I could savor every second of it, so I could bask in the moment. But I couldn’t walk. I couldn’t jog. I couldn’t trot. All I could do was sprint. It was a moment I had dreamed of for twelve years, and now I was in it, achieving it, and I felt like I was actually floating. The collective screaming, and clapping, and chanting of ‘Go Sarah, go!’ from the spectators was deafening. (…)”

Her final time was 15:05.

GRANT:  Unbelievable accomplishment after all that she has been through.

VICKY:  It certainly was. On top of doing this for herself, she also made history by becoming the first woman to finish an Ironman on a prosthetic leg. You should read the book 🙂 In the meantime, check out this video about her: oLdi0hMkinM

The Philadelphia Marathon: Great race, tough course, awesome fans

Marathon number three is in the bag and I did it Philly style. I took a risk by trying some compression gear for the first time this race and I was able to run cramp-free and enjoy the hospitable ambience provided by many Philadelphians. I didn’t run fast today, but I did run fun and was able to finish without a hobble. Here’s a recap of the day and I’ll also share some of my favourite spectator signs I saw along the way.

It was a chilly morning as my brother and I trekked over to the start area near the Museum of Art. We arrived an hour ahead of race start and were able to check-in our bags, make a pit stop and get to our respective start corrals in time. The race started on time and we were treated to an epic panoramic view of more than 100 international flags which flank the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

“Welcome NYC”

One of the more memorable sites I’ll take away from this race is the presence of the New York Marathoners. Many were out in their orange race shirts and they had two special corrals dedicated for them. I just loved the way that Philly has gone out of its way to accommodate these displaced runners.

“Where are you all going?”

The first half of the race is a beautiful tour of Philadelphia’s neighbourhoods and landmarks. We weaved through Chinatown, South Street, Independence Hall, University City and the Philadelphia Zoo. What I was most impressed with was the fan support of the Philadelphians. They were out 3-4 people deep on the sidelines and I was cheered on by name many, many times.

“Your tights make your butt look faster”

I ran the first half pretty much according to my desired pace and hit it just over 1:45 on target for a 3:30ish finish. But the first half is the easy part – now I had to stay focused if I wanted to hit my goal. The second half of the course is mostly a winding tour of Fairmount Park along the Schuylkill River. The fall colours were still out and the river provides a serene view for us runners to enjoy. Although it’s scenic, this part of the run felt like, well, a run. Crowd support was sparse during this portion and my wheels were starting to come off as I saw how we kept on going downhill knowing that I would have to climb back up towards the finish.

“That’s a long way to go for a free shirt”

When I run, I find that I primarily have two speeds: fast and meandering. The first half of the race I was right on pace and enjoying the euphoria of crowd support. The second half I had lost focused and came to grips with my undertraining and inevitably relented to be content with just enjoying the race.

“Don’t poop out of the race”

There were, however, some memorable moments in the second half. The crowds at Main Street were plentiful, loud, and enthusiastic to help runners power through “the wall.” At one point of the race, people were shouting “Jesus! Jesus!” and I saw a bearded man with long hair, a white robe and a coloured sash pass by me. I knew the Lord was with me on this race!

“Why 26.2? Because 26.3 would be CRAZY!”

As I would normally expect with any race, the crowds started to build up more and more towards the finish line. Again, the Philadelphians did not disappoint as they shouted out cheers to encourage a strong finish. At the finish line, Philadelphia’s Mayor, Michael Nutter was giving high-fives to all the runners. His goal is to high-five at least 20,000 runners today – how cool is that? Definitely a great way to finish a race.

The post-race setup was well organized and efficient. I received a heat foil to keep me warm, got my medal and quickly headed over to get refueled with some food. There was Gatorade, juice, water, bananas, energy bars, and my favourite, chicken broth!

So although I didn’t finish as fast I would have like to have (I ended up with a 3:55), I really did enjoy Philadelphia living up to its namesake as the “city of brotherly love.” As I was limping back to the apartment I was staying at, an older lady stopped me and with eyes wide open looked at my medal and asked “Did you win something?” I responded, “Well, I just finished the marathon and everyone gets a medal.” to which she replied with pride, “Well good for you! Congratulations!” Thank you ma’am, I’ll take it.

Appreciating Philly,

Andrew

Race Preview: The Philadelphia Marathon

Right now I’m supposed to be a basket-case of anxiety. I’ll be running my third marathon tomorrow and, if history repeats itself, I’m going to need summon my inner Hulk to get through a wall of cramps to finish on my own two feet. But instead of being nervous, I’m excited. Through the past couple of days in the city and a great pre-race expo, I can’t help but be impressed at Philadelphia’s ability to put on a top-notch running experience. I’m psyched to be running this year’s Philly Marathon, and here’s why:

  • A course steeped in history and scenery
    As a visitor to the city and first-time participant in this race, I’m looking forward to weaving through the historic sites such as the Franklin Institute, the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. My frugal sensibilities are appreciative of the fact that I will not need to purchase a separate trolley tour after this race. I’m also looking forward to the serene fall colour views of Fairmount Park and the Schuylkill River which will serve as a scenic distraction to make it through the latter half of the run.
  • Well-informed logistics
    My primary gauge for evaluating a run’s logistics is based on the quantity and quality of the information – the more that is documented, diagrammed and shared with runners in an easy-to-digest way, the better. Leading up to the event, my confirmation e-mail provided me with detailed instructions on how to facilitate an easy packet pickup as well as essential race day information. The race guide provided in the race kit is a testament to the thoughtful planning put into this event with detailed maps of the start and finishes areas, descriptions of course neighbourhoods and cheer zones, and even a list of nearby parking garages with their daily rates.
  • A welcome embrace of runners
    On Sunday, I will be toeing the marathon start-line with nearly 16,000 runners despite the fact that it was originally sold out with a cap size of 14,500. Why? It’s because the Philly Marathon expanded its field size to welcome the displaced runners from the cancelled New York Marathon. Philly loves its runners and it shows from the special city discounts for race participants to the presence of Philly Mayor Michael Nutter high fiving runners at race start.
  • Kickin’ it like Rocky Balboa
    And what else can be more exciting than running along the steps of Museum of Art to relive that triumphant Rocky moment we’ve played over and over in our heads? The museum serves as a fitting backdrop towards race end where we can all declare ourselves as champions in our own right. Yo, we’re going to do this!

So now it’s time to rest up and cue “Eye of the Tiger” on my playlist so that I can be less like Hulk and more like Rocky on race day.

See you on the other side,

Andrew

 

Congratulations !!!

Congratulations to all the Blog Idol 2.0 participants, and best wishes to the final 5.  Kudos to all .