Remember to Read the Fine Print too!

By

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May 21, 2009

My running family just keeps getting bigger.

Esther went to a wellness fair recently. And I also had the opportunity to go to the same fair. But I did a really quick scan of the list of exhibitors and thought “Nyah, there is no one here that interests me.”

So I didn’t go. I had a bunch of friends tell me how amazing it was. That they had actually learned stuff and horror of horrors – had enjoyed themselves. And it was after the fair was over that I discovered an awful truth.

Don’t scan the list, read it in full. If I had, I would have known that Esther was going to be there.

But in a wonderful twist, I have watched my little running family increase. With the possibility that it might even get bigger.

A number of colleagues who walk past my desk everyday to go to kitchen decided to stop by and chat about the running book Esther had given them, Lots and lots of copies of IRunCanada! And some even asked about this whole running thing.

Some of Esthre's running family — Some of Esthre

So I was thrilled to go into the Den a day later and see a couple of familiar faces! I wasn’t able to help with their group, but it was really neat to be there and see the beginning of a brand new love affair!

And tonight, a couple more new faces showed up. With the promise that even more of my colleagues will be showing up over the next little while.

Note to self, read in full from now on. And keep the running family tree growing!

Lotus in the Mud

By

Vicky and Grant

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May 21, 2009

VICKY:
How was your trail race this weekend?

GRANT:
Fantastic. Great in so many ways.

VICKY:
The weather was okay?

GRANT:
Pouring rain. It started raining just as I got into Kingston saturday morning. The course started to turn into mud, but it was a great time. It made the mostly flat course a bit more technical and you had to maintain concentration at all times to be sure of your footing. You had to kind of dance around the roots and rocks.

VICKY:
Sounds challenging!

GRANT:
Yes definetly. It reminded me of this experience I had when I was over in Korea which has really influenced my perspective on life.

VICKY:
Do tell.

GRANT:
I was in Kyongu along the eastern coast of South Korea. It’s a mountainous area. There is a park which contains the most beautiful Buddha I have ever seen carved out of the rock on the side of the mountain. The entire park has statues littering it. I was hiking through the park when it began to pour rain. Within minutes there was no one around. I decided to follow trail markers towards what was indicated to be a series of statues. The trail grew wilder and wilder until I was rappelling down a rock face. The footing was wet and muddy and treacherous so I had to be extremely focused to avoid tumbling down onto the rocks below.

When I reached the bottom I found some extraordinarily carved Buddhas. I bowed in the mud and sat down in meditation. Probably because of my heightened awareness from the descent I quickly entered a deep meditative state. I considered my problems. My selfishness, my lack of gratitude and lack of caring for other people. I wondered why I wasn’t happy. I had struggled so hard. I had been in Asia for almost 3 years. I lived in monastaries from the rooftop of the world in Tibet to the caves and jungles of Laos and Thailand. I had studied at the feet of some of the greatest masters who have ever lived including His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Also I considered all the other things I have in my life to be thankful for including most importantly my parents who are wonderful people, all my family, my friends, the opportunity to grow up safely and educated. All this and still I was suffering and pursuing happiness. I’ve always been chasing after one thing or the other but more than anything I’d been chasing happiness. And then I finally saw clearly the foolishness and absurdity of desire and pursuing anything especially happiness. It’s so dangerous to pursue happiness. It leads you in a lot of selfish directions. I had that realization and my mind became very still and I experienced a profound sense of joy. The forest was alive. I was covered in mud. I was drenched and every moment was perfect. I felt every drop of rain as it touched me.

VICKY:
Coolness.

GRANT:
That’s Nirvana and that’s a reason for the big interest of mine in endurance sports. The goal and the road ahead of you is so inconceivably far away and the road behind you has no meaning. It becomes timeless. You are just there. There is no past and no future. There is only the present moment. In my view, endurance sports are like a pilgrimage. They are a long journey. They are an opportunity to look inside ourselves and discover something extraordinary.

Terri’s Cool Running Top Ten List

By

Terri McGillivray

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May 20, 2009

me-at-a-marker1 — Me at a marker and a scenic route!

The Gazelle and I were talking recently about cool blog posts. And we came up with this. I am so excited to share this with you.

I usually giggle when I listen to Dave Letterman’s Top Ten List. So with a nod of thanks to Dave, our very own Top Ten List.

You Know You Are a Runner When:

11. Ok so we came up with more than 10! Here goes!

11. If your long run is in -30 degree weather you must be a runner. And a Canadian one at that!

10. If you get up at 4.30 a.m. to run early and beat the summer humidity, you must be a Canadian runner.

9. If you go to physio or ART to run in a 5, 10 half-marathon or full marathon you must be a runner.

8. If you can use the term fartlek in any conversation properly, you must be a runner.

7. If you can drink water while you run, without choking, you must be a runner. A far more talented one than me!

6. If your ankles are bloody or your toe nails are falling off, and you aren’t concerned, you must be a runner.

5. If you can describe a trail by the scenery and where the kilometre markers are, you must be a runner.

4. If you can wear spandex and not be in the least embarassed, you must be a runner.

3. If you have a Garmin, any watch, a waterbottle, and fuel belt, you must be a runner.

2. If you can strike up a conversation with anyone wearing great looking running shoes, you must be a runner.

And finally …

1. If you have a pair of running shoes that cost the same amount as a weeks worth of groceries. You must be a runner.

I hope you got a giggle or more out of our list. And if you have an addition, please feel free to send it along!

Race Kits

By

DavidDaze

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May 20, 2009

Congrats to the Ottawa Kids Marathon organizers on the way they handled the distribution of the race kits! I received 109 race kits at school for the students who are running on Sunday and everything was in perfect order! Great!

The kids were all quite excited to get their gear…..a very bright green race shirt, a personalized race bib, and a timing chip. I spent a few minutes going over the important stuff like:

1. Wear your bib on the front of your tshirt. You can always pick out the race rookies because they wear the race bib on their back.

2. Make sure your timing chip is tied securely into your shoelaces…..there were a few kids who have velcro straps rather than laces so we figured out a way to attach the timing chip to those ones. Not sure if many adults have that problem.

3. Smile when you cross the finish line….keep your hands away from your bib number so the camera can get a clean shot of you.

4. Above all else, have fun……this is a Kids Race so run with lots of spirit and smiles!

5. Say thank you when a volunteer gives you your medal, and congratulate the finishers around you!

6. Thank your parents for bringing you downtown to the race early on a Sunday morning!

The training is done…the race kits are passed out…..have fun and run strong!

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

By

Tyler Chase

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May 19, 2009

The Good -> Had a great long weekend with my family in Parry Sound! Did tons of fun stuff with the kids and celebrated my wife’s birthday, 29 again!! WooHoo!! 🙂 After not having seen my kids for almost 10 days and being able to sleep in sometimes, it was great to be smacked back to reality and get a wake up call at 4:00am on Monday from my son! I wish I could say he went back to sleep but no. Thankfully I was able to nap on Monday, not too often your nap begins at 7:30am! Anyway, I also squeezed in two runs of various lengths and weather conditions, which brings me to the bad.

The Bad -> The weather on the weekend was subpar at best. When I arrived on Friday it was nice and sunny and a decent temp. In hindsight I should have gone that afternoon for a run but as I mentioned before I hadn’t seen my kids or wife for 10 days so the chances of that happening were slim at best. So I went on Saturday, and it rained hard! Now I could have put it off and not went but about ½ hour before I got ready I was giving my wife a hard time about how she is a fair weather runner and doesn’t like going out if it is raining. Basically by shooting my mouth off I resigned myself to heading out in the downpour and I got soaked! I managed to pull off a 6km run, entirely up hill (or at least it felt like it) and spent the rest of the day getting over the chills!

The Ugly -> So Sunday was upon me and I had it set in my mind I was going for a long run. The weather once again wasn’t great, it was super windy, but I was determined I was going to put on some serious KM. Plus my wife was having a few of her friends over with all their kids for a playdate and I wanted to make myself scarce. (When I say few I mean four friends, when I say all their kids I mean nine including mine.) Now that’s incentive to get out of the house for a nice long run! Anyway I set out on a mission to go 14km (2km more than the week before) and somewhere along the way I got cocky and decided to go an extra 500m on the out of my out and back route, which, if my math is correct would make it 15km for the day! Everything was going along great, I mean I was struggling a little with the wind as my body shape acts more like a sail than an airfoil and once again the gel pack I had was expired but overall I was doing fine. Fine right up until the 14.5 km mark when I felt a small twinge in my calf, nothing to be too concerned about I thought just some tightness. Only 500m to go what could happen????🙂 Well at 14.75km I felt a pop in my calf and I stopped in my tracks, pulling up lame and possibly uttering the odd curse! Thankfully I was close to home and only had to walk 250m but c’mon! If I had of stuck to my original plan of the 14km this wouldn’t have happened!! I was just really starting to get back into the groove after my back issues and now this! Hopefully it is only a temporary set back and I will be good to go in a week or so but I had a similar problem last year and it took a month to get over!

So what can I learn from this?? Well I guess the running coaches know what they are talking about when they say only increase mileage by 10% at a time. That, and I can assume that the running gods were reading my blog from April 20th when I went from 3km to 5km (an increase of 60%) and confidently wrote “In your face running coaches” and now this is payback. Karma perhaps?? Could be, but a better assumtion would be that I was dumb and went too far too fast and now have to suffer the consequences!

Be Your Own Great Resource

By

Terri McGillivray

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May 19, 2009

Shirley came up to me tonight after running and said to me that the website I suggested in my blog was a great resource. She then told a couple of her friends to go to the Nova site and prepare to be amazed. To be ready to read some really great stuff.

But I wonder if Shirley knows what a great resource she is.

I think I might have mentioned how wonderful it is to see her smile. She has the kind of smile that lights up a room. And I can only imagine how her patients feel when she walks into their hospital room. I would be getting out of bed if Shirley smiled at me.

But back to my earlier question … I wonder if she knows what a resource she is?

I have the luxury of remembering the very first race I did with the Runner’s Den. Way back when I first started to run after the surgery. Esther used to do a race to raise money for Jason’s House. I was so excited because it was my very first timed race.

My Aunt Dianna and I started off together. But she is a faster runner than I am, and as I always say, run your own race. So we went our own separate ways at some point.

And the last kilometre I met up with this lady who was clearly having a great time. And I remember this wonderful lady encouraging her running partner. Telling her that she was doing great. That she could do it.

And she continues to encourage runners in a special way, that only Shirley can. Thank you!!

“You’ll ruin your knees!”

By

Karen Karnis

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May 19, 2009

You cringe when you hear it. It comes from well-meaning relatives and from complete strangers on the street. Part of you wants to tell them to butt-out, but you’re too polite for that.

Sorry, Non-Runners (and rejoice, Future-Runners!), if you’re using the “knee thing” as an excuse for why you can’t run, it just won’t wash.

Studies are showing that runners actually have healthier knees as they age because:
1. Running helps keep excess weight at bay, which takes strain off your knees.
2. Running helps flush waste from cartilage cells, keeping them healthy.
3. Running helps strengthen ligaments, which support your joints, making them more stable and less prone to injury.

It is actually damaged cartilage that is susceptible to osteoarthritis. Therefore, while running itself can help your joints, injuries such as strains and sprains really can ruin your knees if you don’t treat them properly and allow them to heal. This is one of those instances where that runner-drive must be reigned in – running won’t ruin your knees, but stubbornness might!

Major Setback…Ottawa Race Weekend Is A No-Go

By

Vicky and Grant

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May 19, 2009

VICKY:
Well, I am not pleased to report that I have suffered a minor setback in my training: the flu or something like it. I was sick and bedridden for exactly 8 days. I felt like I ran a marathon.

GRANT:
But you’ve never run a marathon.

VICKY:
Yes, I know that but this is what I imagine it would feel like after running a marathon. Alright fine, I felt like I was hit by a truck. My whole body was aching, I was feverish, fatigued and my throat felt like I swallowed a scour pad. Plus, I was coughing up a lung like a smoker (which I am not!). Obviously the doctor asked if I had been to Mexico or in contact with anyone from Mexico. I looked at him and pointed to my pale white skin and said: “Really? Mexico? Do you really think I look like someone who came back from Mexico?” He acknowledged quickly I had no tan whatsoever and quickly swabbed my throat. I know, I know, it’s not the doctor’s fault but I was really miserable and he had to ask a question that I thought the answer to be obvious. He lightened the mood when he said not to cough in anyone’s face except if it was someone I didn’t like. He was kidding of course but I did think about it for a moment…hmm… who could I “infect” if I had the opportunity…KIDDING!! People, I am kidding!

GRANT:
Good Lord woman!

VICKY:
So I started to wonder whether running could have anything to do with all of this. I am no doctor but don’t we all try and self diagnose ourselves while waiting for lab tests?

GRANT:
Actually, I just wait patiently for my lab results. You’re just impatient Vickster. Kidding. Seriously thought, I’ve heard of athletes who overtrain and actually become vulnerable to disease because of it.

VICKY:
Exactly! I looked it up and it seems that overtraining could have played a role in increasing my susceptibility to infection. As you know, I ran two 5K races one week apart. I remember I was feeling fatigued for several days following each of the races.

GRANT:
That makes sense because when I was training to run a marathon, I read about post-marathon side effects. One of them is that your immunity is decreased for up to 72 hours after running a marathon.

VICKY:
Before this happened, I didn’t know that too much training/running could make me vulnerable. This only reinforces my belief that I need a coach! Of course this is crazy talk for now because I can’t afford a coach but anyhow, it would have been helpful to have someone guide me through my training and talk to me along the way about the signs of overtraining.

GRANT:
But surely you’ll be ok to run this weekend at Ottawa Race Weekend.

VICKY:
Sadly, I have decided to NOT run the 5K this weekend. I feel awful but at the same time, I can’t push it. I have to listen to my body otherwise I might injure myself or suffer other health-related set backs. Now I have to figure out how to get my refund! Argh!

GRANT:
This is the part where I say “I told you so”.

VICKY:
Believe me, I won’t be repeating the same error next year. Not only will I continue to work on pacing myself while I run but now I have to work on how to pick my races so they are far enough apart to allow me to have a sufficient recovery period. Hope this was helpful for some of you out there!

The World Really Won’t End if I Miss a Day of Training

By

Terri McGillivray

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May 18, 2009

just-donnie2 — Donnie is another form of first aid for runners

I had this really great idea for today’s blog. It was going to be about running based television shows. But I have to admit, I have allergy medicine coursing through my body and am feeling a lot spacey right now. But when you can’t breath, you’ll try just about anything. So it’s heavy duty allergy medicine for me.

But it got me thinking what should you do when you don’t feel 100% and it is a training day? Should you keep running? Or should you just pack it in?

Donnie is another form of first aid for runners

I’ve read that if you are sick and it affects your ability to run, that you really shouldn’t. Sometimes, running will just make things worse. Especially if it is in the winter. The cold air isn’t good for our lungs and then you add a cold to the mix. It could have very bad results.

So don’t run when you have a fever or have difficulty breathing.

If you have chicken pox or say, the measles, don’t run.

I could tell you a story about how I gave chicken pox to my daughter’s entire first grade class, but I won’t. It was too embarassing. And still is.

Another instance not to run is when you have gastrointestinal issues. If your stomach is up around your throat, it maybe a good idea to pass on running.

Is your balance affected? As a person with a chronic inner ear condition, I know how difficult it is to run, when the earth is swirling around you.

Those are just a few of the things I could think of, off the top of my head. With tomorrow being Tuesday, I’m just going to sit back and rest. Because contrary to popular opinion, the world really won’t come to an end if I miss one day of training.

Runnin’ against the wind…

By

Karen Karnis

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May 18, 2009

I had a bit of the “post-race-lazies” this past week, but I finally managed to drag myself out for my first run yesterday. As I left, I pondered the wind whipping my ponytail around to the front of my head, how I felt like Daffy Duck with his bill spun around, and thought I ought to stay in town today.

But in my heart I knew I really wanted to run out of town, so I paid attention to the direction of the wind. As I circled the block I thought, it won’t be so bad – it’ll be coming at my side on the way back. As I approached the edge of town, my ponytail told me I was right; the grass, trees, and my coat, all told me I was very wrong.

You can guess what happened.

I didn’t have a set distance in my mind when I left, so every step I took away from home I thought, if I go X kilometres further, that will make my total run Y, but every step I took away from home I also knew I would have to retrace into the wind.

You know those bad dreams you get, where you’re running away from something, and you’re running as hard as you can but your legs just won’t respond? When you lean and you strain but you just can’t make much progress? Like you are up to your armpits in invisible peanut butter?

‘Nuff said.