It is supposed to be a day of staying off of my feet as much as possible. First things first though. Early morning rise and shine to go for a shake-out run of about 2 or 3 miles that some of the Runner's World Challenge participants got together to do. I paid about $150 extra to enter this race as a Runner's World Challenge competitor. The extra money is worth it though, considering what I get - personalized coaching where a training schedule is e-mailed to me every week; access to the coaches to ask any questions (no matter how stupid); Runner's World Challenge technical T-shirt; a running book titled Going Long; personalized package pick-up; special race strategy sessions; meet and greet; special bus transportation to the race start; a heated tent to stay warm and relax before and après-race; free post-race party; and of course the Finisher's medal - all participants get that, not just the challenge runners.
What a gorgeous day. It's a shame that I am supposed to stay off my feet as much as possible, or at least that is the smart thing to do. I would love to be out and about. Well, I didn't exactly stay off my feet for most of the morning. After my shake-out run, we drove to Carmel so Mom would know how to get there tomorrow. It was easy to get there, and once we did, we stayed for awhile. We went to a cozy coffee shop and while Mom waited, I went to check out the local shops. This trip should be called the "Shop-til-I-drop" trip because that's what I'm doing. I bought a pair of rubber cowboy boots - very funky. You know...for the wet weather we get back home. I also bought some colourful sandals that will go nicely with the new dress I bought yesterday.
I haven't thought about retiring yet, but when I do I think I would like to spend some time in this part of the world. Carmel is very charming, or at least the small part I saw is. Nice boutiques with a country feeling, but expensive.
Hey, I forgot to mention how small the world is. At the shake-out run I saw a lady who looked an awful lot like Beryl, a lady who works in my office. I approached her, and sure enough, it was Beryl and a friend of hers. She is running in this marathon as well. I was flabbergasted. It's so funny how you run into people from your corner of the world when you're on holidays in another corner of the world. It's actually not as surprising as you'd think. When you're a serious athlete and enjoy doing destination races, it's not hard to understand why anybody would like to run in one of the most beautiful marathons in the world.
When we got back to the hotel, I had an ice bath to prepare my legs for the long day ahead. Ten agonizing minutes in the bath tub; actually, it wasn't agonizing just uncomfortably uncomfortable. It seems that perhaps my legs have gotten used to ice baths because I used to only be able to stand it for 50 seconds. Hopefully it will be worth the while. My legs were as red as a lobster when I got out of the tub, but there was a reward after the ice bath - a hot shower. I will have another ice bath tomorrow after the race or my legs will be too sore in the days ahead to sight see the way I want to and contribute to California's economy. Is she crazy? Ice baths? Well, maybe, but my legs will recover much quicker and inflammation will be kept under control.
The next item on the agenda is the pasta party. It wasn't too exciting, but I met some nice people. Now, it's time to go back to the hotel for much needed rest. Tomorrow is a long day. I'll have another medal to add to my collection. I'll post my results when I can.
Vernazza
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Friday, April 29, 2011
Shop til I drop
Yesterday I told you that I probably won't be watching the Royal Wedding. I turned on the TV at about 1:30 am, but it wasn't being televised yet, I turned it on again at 4:00 and I missed the actual ceremony, but saw the couple after they were married. Catherine, as we now are to call her, was beautiful. The wedding dress was absolutely spectacular and it was nice that she looked like herself. Of course Wills looks OK too. It's nice to see a Royal couple who are happy. It was sad how Charles treated Diana because I believed she truly loved him, but he didn't love her. I have seen the ceremony several times over since then and I can't get enough. I'm actually watching a replay right now.
Today was a shopping day. The first thing I did after I got up was go grocery shopping, yes, grocery shopping. The local grocery store that I have frequented a couple of times now is fantastic. There is a coffee bar, where I had a chai latte. I loaded up on the salad bar too. I bought fruit, milk and bottled water to put in our hotel fridge. It's healthier than eating restaurant food.
After unloading the groceries, we went to the Conference Center so I could pick up my race package at the Health and Fitness Expo. I ran into a friend from Edmonton. I ran into a lot of people from Edmonton when I was in Australia too and it is nice to see a friendly face amongst the chaos of a strange city.
I visited a lot of little shops - White House Black Market, Lucy, and Victoria's Secret. WHBM and Lucy are great stores that I wish we had in Edmonton. As a matter of fact, I bought a dress and skirt at WHBM and a pair of capris at Lucy. Many years ago on the TV show Friends, Phoebe mentioned a store called Pottery Barn. I thought it was just a fictitious store, but today found out that it is indeed real. It is a home decorating store, kind of like Pier Imports, but there wasn't anything noteworthy; nothing Edmonton doesn't have. Victoria's Secret was on hand too, so I went shopping there as well, but I was kind of disappointed in the store. West Edmonton Mall has a bigger Victoria's Secret. Oh, I also bought a pair of funky socks - my signature colours...lime green and yellow with sparkly giraffes on them.
Oh, by the way, my Mom hasn't been forgotten. She's been with me all the way, but at a distance. She doesn't like walking too far, so she lets me go and do my thing while she keeps herself busy people watching. She also manages to meet new people. When I arrived at our meeting spot, she was sitting at her table with a couple of locals, all the while chatting to her heart's content. She told them that I was running the Big Sur Marathon on Sunday and a guy at a neighbouring table heard us, so he jumped in and we started talking about training and everything else involved in preparing for this race. He was surprised that I hadn't ran any half marathons this past winter. Well, he's from Georgia, where it doesn't snow and get cold. Guess where I'm from - yes folks, the deep freeze of the north, where we get very frigid temperatures and tons of snow. Lots of races during the winter months aren't something that Edmontonians do. I have a lot of base though to get me through the race. My friend at the Expo said I picked a hard marathon for my first one and to that I said "If I can do six Ironmans, I can do this", not that it'll be easy.
Time to head back to the hotel. I want to rest and get a good night sleep tonight because I won't get a good sleep tomorrow. I also have to psyche myself up for the ice bath I plan on taking tomorrow night to prepare my legs for a 42.2 km run. I will have to get up at around 4:00 am on Sunday and make my way to the conference center to get on the bus to be driven out to the race start.
I better get going now. I'm supposed to do a short run before the day's over - have to keep my muscles limber.
Ciao for now.
Today was a shopping day. The first thing I did after I got up was go grocery shopping, yes, grocery shopping. The local grocery store that I have frequented a couple of times now is fantastic. There is a coffee bar, where I had a chai latte. I loaded up on the salad bar too. I bought fruit, milk and bottled water to put in our hotel fridge. It's healthier than eating restaurant food.
After unloading the groceries, we went to the Conference Center so I could pick up my race package at the Health and Fitness Expo. I ran into a friend from Edmonton. I ran into a lot of people from Edmonton when I was in Australia too and it is nice to see a friendly face amongst the chaos of a strange city.
I visited a lot of little shops - White House Black Market, Lucy, and Victoria's Secret. WHBM and Lucy are great stores that I wish we had in Edmonton. As a matter of fact, I bought a dress and skirt at WHBM and a pair of capris at Lucy. Many years ago on the TV show Friends, Phoebe mentioned a store called Pottery Barn. I thought it was just a fictitious store, but today found out that it is indeed real. It is a home decorating store, kind of like Pier Imports, but there wasn't anything noteworthy; nothing Edmonton doesn't have. Victoria's Secret was on hand too, so I went shopping there as well, but I was kind of disappointed in the store. West Edmonton Mall has a bigger Victoria's Secret. Oh, I also bought a pair of funky socks - my signature colours...lime green and yellow with sparkly giraffes on them.
Oh, by the way, my Mom hasn't been forgotten. She's been with me all the way, but at a distance. She doesn't like walking too far, so she lets me go and do my thing while she keeps herself busy people watching. She also manages to meet new people. When I arrived at our meeting spot, she was sitting at her table with a couple of locals, all the while chatting to her heart's content. She told them that I was running the Big Sur Marathon on Sunday and a guy at a neighbouring table heard us, so he jumped in and we started talking about training and everything else involved in preparing for this race. He was surprised that I hadn't ran any half marathons this past winter. Well, he's from Georgia, where it doesn't snow and get cold. Guess where I'm from - yes folks, the deep freeze of the north, where we get very frigid temperatures and tons of snow. Lots of races during the winter months aren't something that Edmontonians do. I have a lot of base though to get me through the race. My friend at the Expo said I picked a hard marathon for my first one and to that I said "If I can do six Ironmans, I can do this", not that it'll be easy.
Time to head back to the hotel. I want to rest and get a good night sleep tonight because I won't get a good sleep tomorrow. I also have to psyche myself up for the ice bath I plan on taking tomorrow night to prepare my legs for a 42.2 km run. I will have to get up at around 4:00 am on Sunday and make my way to the conference center to get on the bus to be driven out to the race start.
I better get going now. I'm supposed to do a short run before the day's over - have to keep my muscles limber.
Ciao for now.
The countdown is on
Well, here we are, in the Edmonton International Airport. The first order of business is to check in. United Airlines charges $25 to check baggage, so my Mom and I are sharing a suitcase, but of course I am bringing two carry-ons to bring back the loot I will buy in California.
Security was quite the experience. I forgot to take my laptop out of its case and take off my watch, so of course off went the metal detector. The security guard told me I've been randomly chosen to be a participant in either a pat-down by a female security officer (wanna-be police officer) or a body scan. Of course I chose the pat-down. I don't want to expose myself to unnecessary radiation. It wasn't a big deal; it was a woman afterall. What I've got, she's got too, but I can see some people getting offended.
Mom breezed through security without incident. She doesn't have complications, like a laptop, to slow her down.
Oh, look, there's a Starbucks. I think I should go and get a Cinnamon Dolce Latte, don't you? On second thought, let's go for a Caramel Macchiato. Mmmmmm! I prefer the independent coffee shops to Starbucks or Second Cup, but you have to deal with the cards that you're dealt.
Hey, our flight is supposed to have already boarded. There's only 15 minutes left to take-off. Are we at the wrong gate? Panic is beginning to set in. Nope, we're in the right place. What's up? Alas, the flight has been delayed by 45 minutes. I guess I'll go over to that book store and read up on the Royal couple. I don't think I'll be watching the Royal Wedding, but I'm sure I'll see lots of it on the news. I just want to see the procession, the moment Kate steps out of the Rolls Royce for everyone to see, the walk down the aisle and the expression on Prince William's face when he sees her for the first time in her wedding gown. Oh, who am I kidding... I want to see it all; that's why I have programmed the PVR to record the wedding on Friday morning. When I get home I can see it all, but I'm sure I'll see it al on the news over the next week.
The lady is now calling passengers to board the plane. More later.
Now, we're on our way to San Francisco where it is a balmy 69 degrees - 20 degrees Celcius for those of you who don't know how to calculate the American version of temperature to the rest-of-the-world version of temperature. I won't pretend to know the conversion, because I had to use the unit converter tool on my phone. Why can't those Americans join the rest of the world and use metric? No matter how you look at it though, it'll be nice to be somewhere warmer than Edmonton where the grass is green.
Right about now I am thinking of all those "Mayday" TV shows I have been watching - a series where investigations occur regarding planes that have crashed. Undoubtedly, not a good thing to think about while sitting in a plane, packed in like sardines. However, I can say I have been somewhat educated about the workings of planes.
We've arrived in San Francisco and we promptly went to pick up our rental car. We just wanted to get on our way to Monterey. Oh my GAWD! So many lanes, so much honking, so many places to turn. What do I do? Oh no! We finally got on the right freeway, just purely by luck. The drive to Monterey along Highway 1 was beautiful. When we arrived in Monterey, the first stop was a MacDonald's to ask directions to the hotel. Holy wind! I almost got blown over when I got out of the car. Maaan, I hope it's not like this for the next five days. I'm tired now. Time for bed. I'll keep you posted.
Security was quite the experience. I forgot to take my laptop out of its case and take off my watch, so of course off went the metal detector. The security guard told me I've been randomly chosen to be a participant in either a pat-down by a female security officer (wanna-be police officer) or a body scan. Of course I chose the pat-down. I don't want to expose myself to unnecessary radiation. It wasn't a big deal; it was a woman afterall. What I've got, she's got too, but I can see some people getting offended.
Mom breezed through security without incident. She doesn't have complications, like a laptop, to slow her down.
Oh, look, there's a Starbucks. I think I should go and get a Cinnamon Dolce Latte, don't you? On second thought, let's go for a Caramel Macchiato. Mmmmmm! I prefer the independent coffee shops to Starbucks or Second Cup, but you have to deal with the cards that you're dealt.
Hey, our flight is supposed to have already boarded. There's only 15 minutes left to take-off. Are we at the wrong gate? Panic is beginning to set in. Nope, we're in the right place. What's up? Alas, the flight has been delayed by 45 minutes. I guess I'll go over to that book store and read up on the Royal couple. I don't think I'll be watching the Royal Wedding, but I'm sure I'll see lots of it on the news. I just want to see the procession, the moment Kate steps out of the Rolls Royce for everyone to see, the walk down the aisle and the expression on Prince William's face when he sees her for the first time in her wedding gown. Oh, who am I kidding... I want to see it all; that's why I have programmed the PVR to record the wedding on Friday morning. When I get home I can see it all, but I'm sure I'll see it al on the news over the next week.
The lady is now calling passengers to board the plane. More later.
Now, we're on our way to San Francisco where it is a balmy 69 degrees - 20 degrees Celcius for those of you who don't know how to calculate the American version of temperature to the rest-of-the-world version of temperature. I won't pretend to know the conversion, because I had to use the unit converter tool on my phone. Why can't those Americans join the rest of the world and use metric? No matter how you look at it though, it'll be nice to be somewhere warmer than Edmonton where the grass is green.
Right about now I am thinking of all those "Mayday" TV shows I have been watching - a series where investigations occur regarding planes that have crashed. Undoubtedly, not a good thing to think about while sitting in a plane, packed in like sardines. However, I can say I have been somewhat educated about the workings of planes.
We've arrived in San Francisco and we promptly went to pick up our rental car. We just wanted to get on our way to Monterey. Oh my GAWD! So many lanes, so much honking, so many places to turn. What do I do? Oh no! We finally got on the right freeway, just purely by luck. The drive to Monterey along Highway 1 was beautiful. When we arrived in Monterey, the first stop was a MacDonald's to ask directions to the hotel. Holy wind! I almost got blown over when I got out of the car. Maaan, I hope it's not like this for the next five days. I'm tired now. Time for bed. I'll keep you posted.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Confidence Builder
Today I raced the St. Albert 10 Miler. I wasn't sure that I would perform very well because my training has been inconsistent and I have an injury as well. I haven't had much motivation lately; likely the weather and injuries speaking.
I woke up at 7:00 am and had my pre-race meal. It's always the same - rolled oats. It may be difficult to get out of bed early on a Sunday morning, but it's worth it because I was relaxed and didn't feel rushed at all. I hate feeling rushed. That's nothing compared to how early I'll have to get up on race morning when I do the Big Sur Marathon in two weeks. I have to be bussed out to Carmel at 3:45 am, which means I will have to get up at about 2:45 to give myself plenty of time to eat, dress and walk to the host hotel to get on the bus. Maaaan, that's earlier than getting up for Ironman!
I had a warm bath so I could warm up my leg muscles and stretch a bit. I watched a bit of Coronation Street - what a difference from American soaps - and started to get ready for the trek down the hill to the race start.
Minus 3 degrees - what!! I knew it wouldn't be spring weather, but I thought it would be at least -1 degree. Okay, mitts and hoodie it is! I generate a lot of heat when I run so I'll probably be overdressed, but no worries - I'll just wrap my hoodie around my waist and tuck my mitts into my race belt when I get too warm.
45 minutes to race start. I better get going. Just as I predicted... I was overdressed. I stopped at Father Jan School to ditch my hoodie and mitts under a spruce tree. No one would see them there. I'll just pick them up later.
The strategy was to run hard for the first seven miles and then back off a bit for the remaining three miles. The speed pod on my shoe wasn't very accurate because there was no way I was running at an 8:15 minute/mile pace, but when I arrived at the one mile marker, I knew I was right on the pace I was supposed to be at - a 9:15 minute/mile pace. I worked with gravity and took advantage of the down hills.
My Mom is a huge supporter of all my athletic endeavours and was up at the same corner that she's at every year, ringing her cow bell, supporting all the runners. They all really appreciate her being there and I've been told that they all remember her each year. One runner even gave her a high five. She's great!
When I got to the seven mile marker, I downed a GU Roctane gel. This is the point where I'm supposed to back off a bit. It was difficult because I wanted to beat my time from last year, but I followed my orders from my coach and backed off. He is preparing me for a marathon - 26.2 miles - in two weeks after all, and he knows what he's doing. So, I obeyed until the last quarter mile of the race; it was all down hill. I justified it by saying to myself "Self, gravity is your friend, and you feel good after all. What's it gonna hurt?"
I was very pleased with my time. I was about a minute and a half slower than last year, but considering I haven't been training as much as I should be, and I backed off for the last 3 miles, I was happy. This was a real confidence builder leading up to my marathon.
I woke up at 7:00 am and had my pre-race meal. It's always the same - rolled oats. It may be difficult to get out of bed early on a Sunday morning, but it's worth it because I was relaxed and didn't feel rushed at all. I hate feeling rushed. That's nothing compared to how early I'll have to get up on race morning when I do the Big Sur Marathon in two weeks. I have to be bussed out to Carmel at 3:45 am, which means I will have to get up at about 2:45 to give myself plenty of time to eat, dress and walk to the host hotel to get on the bus. Maaaan, that's earlier than getting up for Ironman!
I had a warm bath so I could warm up my leg muscles and stretch a bit. I watched a bit of Coronation Street - what a difference from American soaps - and started to get ready for the trek down the hill to the race start.
Minus 3 degrees - what!! I knew it wouldn't be spring weather, but I thought it would be at least -1 degree. Okay, mitts and hoodie it is! I generate a lot of heat when I run so I'll probably be overdressed, but no worries - I'll just wrap my hoodie around my waist and tuck my mitts into my race belt when I get too warm.
45 minutes to race start. I better get going. Just as I predicted... I was overdressed. I stopped at Father Jan School to ditch my hoodie and mitts under a spruce tree. No one would see them there. I'll just pick them up later.
The strategy was to run hard for the first seven miles and then back off a bit for the remaining three miles. The speed pod on my shoe wasn't very accurate because there was no way I was running at an 8:15 minute/mile pace, but when I arrived at the one mile marker, I knew I was right on the pace I was supposed to be at - a 9:15 minute/mile pace. I worked with gravity and took advantage of the down hills.
My Mom is a huge supporter of all my athletic endeavours and was up at the same corner that she's at every year, ringing her cow bell, supporting all the runners. They all really appreciate her being there and I've been told that they all remember her each year. One runner even gave her a high five. She's great!
When I got to the seven mile marker, I downed a GU Roctane gel. This is the point where I'm supposed to back off a bit. It was difficult because I wanted to beat my time from last year, but I followed my orders from my coach and backed off. He is preparing me for a marathon - 26.2 miles - in two weeks after all, and he knows what he's doing. So, I obeyed until the last quarter mile of the race; it was all down hill. I justified it by saying to myself "Self, gravity is your friend, and you feel good after all. What's it gonna hurt?"
I was very pleased with my time. I was about a minute and a half slower than last year, but considering I haven't been training as much as I should be, and I backed off for the last 3 miles, I was happy. This was a real confidence builder leading up to my marathon.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Time for an Update
Perhaps it's time for an update for my followers out there. For those of you who listen to NOW Radio, you know that there was a contest a couple of weeks ago where the contestants had to carry around a cardboard cutout of the morning DJs, Crash and Mars. Well, I won $100 for seeing and getting a picture taken with Angela and the cutout. I've never won money before.. well, not more than $10. Now, all I have to do is win $10,000 playing 'Stop the Clock' on their sister station, Up 99.3. I can't get through on the phone line though. 
Way back at the end of November I registered for the Big Sur International Marathon in Big Sur, California. Here's the website. There are a lot of beautiful pictures of the race course and videos of the route, so check it out. The race starts and finishes in Carmel (yes, the town where Clint Eastwood was mayor). It's along Highway One on the coast and I think I may take my camera for the photo ops along the way, but that may weigh me down and affect my running efficiency - wait, what efficiency!!!
Apparently, the first mile is fast and furious. Giant redwoods line both sides of the roadway and sparkles of light from the rising sun dance in the canopy of branches overhead. I'll take advantage of gravity working with me. Carmel is a very beautiful, quaint town, and I'm looking forward to spending my money there - after my legs recover!
On March 16th a 40 foot section of Highway One collapsed making the road impassable between Carmel and Big Sur, and as a result, the route has been revised. Fortunately, the most difficult hill, Hurricane Point, is no longer part of the race...yippee.
This will be my first marathon-only race. By marathon-only I mean a marathon that isn't part of an Ironman. I've done plenty of those, but a marathon is different. I may be in for a world of hurt, not that an Ironman doesn't hurt, but I can run faster in a marathon because there won't be a swim and bike to warm me up ha ha. The result of running faster is probably going to be really sore legs. No worries though... my legs will do a lot of walking and shopping to aid in recovery. With that $100 I won, I will be able to walk that much further.
I have been training since January, but got injured in March so had to take about three weeks away from running, which was bad timing because the marathon is on May 1. My injury is gone, but I feel under trained and fat. Oh well...it is what it is. I'll have fun in California anyway. My goal of four and a half hours may not be reached, but I'm going to try my damndest. It may be easier without that beast of a hill.
My Mom and I leave for San Francisco three weeks from tomorrow and we'll be gone for a week. It'll be nice to be somewhere that doesn't have snow.
Stay tuned.
Way back at the end of November I registered for the Big Sur International Marathon in Big Sur, California. Here's the website. There are a lot of beautiful pictures of the race course and videos of the route, so check it out. The race starts and finishes in Carmel (yes, the town where Clint Eastwood was mayor). It's along Highway One on the coast and I think I may take my camera for the photo ops along the way, but that may weigh me down and affect my running efficiency - wait, what efficiency!!!
Apparently, the first mile is fast and furious. Giant redwoods line both sides of the roadway and sparkles of light from the rising sun dance in the canopy of branches overhead. I'll take advantage of gravity working with me. Carmel is a very beautiful, quaint town, and I'm looking forward to spending my money there - after my legs recover!
On March 16th a 40 foot section of Highway One collapsed making the road impassable between Carmel and Big Sur, and as a result, the route has been revised. Fortunately, the most difficult hill, Hurricane Point, is no longer part of the race...yippee.
This will be my first marathon-only race. By marathon-only I mean a marathon that isn't part of an Ironman. I've done plenty of those, but a marathon is different. I may be in for a world of hurt, not that an Ironman doesn't hurt, but I can run faster in a marathon because there won't be a swim and bike to warm me up ha ha. The result of running faster is probably going to be really sore legs. No worries though... my legs will do a lot of walking and shopping to aid in recovery. With that $100 I won, I will be able to walk that much further.
I have been training since January, but got injured in March so had to take about three weeks away from running, which was bad timing because the marathon is on May 1. My injury is gone, but I feel under trained and fat. Oh well...it is what it is. I'll have fun in California anyway. My goal of four and a half hours may not be reached, but I'm going to try my damndest. It may be easier without that beast of a hill.
My Mom and I leave for San Francisco three weeks from tomorrow and we'll be gone for a week. It'll be nice to be somewhere that doesn't have snow.
Stay tuned.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)