Christmas Eve Jaunt

It's been a while since my last run. A LONG while, if you don't count the two stress tests I participated in. (Nothing wrong with my heart - I was helping out with a study).
I have been a bit stir-crazy here in Calgary, but the snow & ice on the sidewalks was discouragement for me to run outdoors.

 Run outside? In this? No, thanks!

 

So today on Christmas Eve I decided that enough was enough. I convinced my Dad & sister - who didn't take much convincing at all - that we should go to the gym together.
So off we went. My Dad did his own thing on the hamster wheel while my sis & I ran around in circles together on a track. In truth, I don't think it was much improvement over the hamster wheel.
I didn't have much of a plan, I just knew I was too unfit to run continuously and thought intervals sounded like a nice lazy option*.
The intervals were as uncreative & lazy as they could get: 200m, 400m, 600m, 800m, 1k then pyramiding back down to 200m. My recovery was a solid 200m for every rep.
At the 1k I decided a time trial was in order. Yikes! While I could have gone faster if I had really pushed myself, I will still take the number as a baseline stat.
5.23min. Eek! My first 400m were doing well, but I faded rather quickly.

On the bright side, lots of room for improvement! I didn't finish the whole set - hallelujah! My family had finished their work-outs so I quickly used that as the excuse to finish mine.

I realized how much I'm used to running outdoors when I came very close to spitting over the side of the railing after my 1k time trial. I don't think anyone on the lower level would have appreciated having a wad of spit raining down on them, so it was fortunate I restrained myself. Eesh, all this new etiquette to learn when running indoors: stay in your lane, run in the correct direction, don't spit over the railing. It may very well be a long winter indeed.



*I will also use the excuse of my low red blood cell count having gone from sea level to a much higher elevation, which would have had an impact on today.

Social Fun

Social running is something I can never get enough of! In a world where catching up with friends revolves around food (coffee, snacks, dinner, etc.), it is so refreshing to simply catch up while going for an easy run.
I was really excited when one of my running friends suggested we go out for a run together before I leave. As we live in the same area, it was easy to pick a meet-up point and go for a run along the river.
This is my friend who has challenged me all year. We are about the same pace - some days she would be faster, and some days I would lead the charge. Together, we became lean, mean, running machines.
Sadly, the end of the year resulted in a small fizzle out for both of us. But at the end of the day it wasn't about anyone being stronger or fitter or faster. It was just about going for a run with a friend.
Our lofty aspirations to run such distances as 6 or 7k was quickly diminished when we mutually decided that we were too unfit to enjoy such a distance. So - with no pressure to push ourselves - we kept it to a gentle 5k.

Total distance: 5k
Total time: 29.33min

I'm happy to say that at this speed I am once again able to talk, rather than sucking in air like a fish on land.

500k Relay: Beached Pirate Day 3, Race #6: The Final Champion Run

A very fantastic team mate agreed to swap races with me in the afternoon to allow me to do one last "champion" run. I was thrilled!
The day was hot & humid. Really hot and really humid. A wise runner recommended I dunk my shirt in the eskie (cooler) filled with icy water and then stick it on me. I did that and d'you know what? I can't even say it felt cold. It just felt rather refreshing and helped to off-set the sensation of stinking hot.
As a final huzzah for us beached pirates, we played "pass the baton" with one of our pirate swords. So I tagged off, grabbed the baton, and set forth!

Do beached pirates have a theme song? I think at this point I was humming Star Wars to myself, but it's not quite pirate-themed.

Land Ho!

In next to no time I was passed by a runner who flew into the distance.
Then another runner passed me. This one I knew, as we occasionally trained together on Tuesday morning. I knew that pre-injury I was faster over short distances but she was able to out-endurance me. So as she passed I focussed on not getting too far behind.
And then a third person passed me. And man, I know it's hard to predict who's on what leg of the race and when they've tagged off, but one of my goals has always been to be that runner that passes others along the highway. And I was getting passed like a car in the slow lane.
But in a sense I was lucky. With all these runners around me, that meant their water trucks were around me, too. And did I mention it was hot?!
I took advantage of every offer for a spray and a drink of water. My water truck kindly sponged me with water but it was a mixed blessing. On the plus side, it was refreshing and kept me from over-heating.
On the minus side, my shorts were swimming in so much water I had to check to make sure they hadn't fallen off (I didn't want to give the follow cars too much of a show!). I don't know how it looked, but I felt like my butt had been surrounded by a water bed.
The second sponge down I accepted was even more risqué than the first, and once again I had to do a check to make sure my shorts were not sinking, since all I could feel was water. I wizened up by the third time and refused the sponge down, knowing that I was sufficiently saturated to last the final few kms.
As I was amongst the friendly water trucks, I watched the third guy who passed me also pass my friend ahead of me. He made that look really easy. I thought. I bet I could do that!
I checked my watch: I was 3k in to a 4.8k race (if the distance could be trusted). I knew it would be tough to pick it up enough to pass my friend, who had gained 30m on me at this point.
And yet, I couldn't help but remember this is my last chance!
I'm moving back to Canada before Christmas and it is unlikely I'll be able to do this relay again. It was - to use another cliché - now or never!
So I pulled out my inner speed that I always leave for the last 1k of the race and zeroed in on my target. It wasn't long before I'd passed her, but that wasn't enough. What if I passed her only to fail at the end? What if she sprinted the last 1k and passed me with 50m to go?
I knew two things:
1. That she would likely pick up her speed when I passed by her to keep up with me.
2. The only way I could beat her to the change-over was if I pulled so far ahead that she wouldn't be able to close the gap before the finish line.

I wanted to cheer her on as she went by, but winning was more important (sorry!). So I saved my breath for the race and kept pushing through.
I never looked back to see how far behind me she was. I just didn't want to know. But I imagined she was right there and that if I slacked off for a second she would over-take me. So for once I ignored the pain, ignored the lungs crying out for oxygen, and ignored the smarter part of my brain telling me to slow down, stupid.

Total distance: 4.8k
Goal time: sub-27min (see race #4 where I ran the same distance!)
Total time: 25.25
Average pace: 5.19min/km

I tagged off at the finish line well ahead of my friend. (Later I was told I was ahead by at least 30m). After I'd stopped gasping like a fish, I went over to thank her. I would never have pushed so hard if it hadn't been for her.
And that's all well and dandy, but there's something else I feel the need to mention. My personal best in 1k repeats is 4.31sec. In the last 800m of this race, I was running at a 4.29min/km pace. Now it's not quite 1k so I can't quite call it a PB. But wow, was I steam-rolling!
I've done this relay for three years and every year I have found it challenging but amazing. I will sorely miss this run in future. But who knows? Maybe I'll do it again some day...

All the teams lining up to welcome the runners home on the sort-of-last-leg of the relay

500k Relay: Beached Pirate Day 3, Race #5: Toowoomba Cri

This was another race I had done before. But unlike Griffith Uni, I really like this one. The morning in Toowoomba was cool and the cri was a flat 3-loop course around the uni. There is a slight downhill going out from the start line and a slight uphill returning back, but hardly noticeable even for me.
I slept in until 3.40am today, but the big thing was that - unlike Friday night - I actually slept.
My legs were so sore and stiff from the day before that I told everyone that my warm-up would be in lap 1 of the race. But then I decided to bow to peer pressure and join the hoards of runners doing a warm-up jog.

Some of my fellow cri runners and I, all warmed up and set to go.

Waiting for the race start. We all looked like we had *bundles of energy and excitement*. It was there, but well contained at 4.45am.

We started off, and who did I see in front of me but the same gal from race #3. The one I'd passed in the second half of the race. As memory served, she was pretty fast in the start but burned out in the second half of the race.
But there was no time pressure on this race, and once again my Big Race would be my second race of today (and last race of the relay!). So I settled in comfortably behind her and kept my pace at "gentle".

At the end of lap 1 I was feeling pretty fantastic. So I kicked up my pace - just a notch - to pass the gal in front of me. I wasn't into the territory of "difficult" yet but I was feeling good and felt I could go a bit harder. It was a super short distance, after all!

My third and final lap I decided I was feeling terrific and I should just go for it. Again, not all out war against the race, but I could definitely kick it up into "difficult" for the last lap.

Total distance: 3.75km

Total Superhero time 2012: 19.04
Total Beached Pirate time 2013: 19.22

Average Superhero pace 2012: 5.04min/km (goal pace: sub-5min/km)
Average Beached Pirate pace 2013: 5.10min/km (goal pace: sub 5.20min/km)

But there is a difference between last year and this year. Last year I was going hard, trying to get a sub-5min pace. This year I was going easy, focussing on keeping the legs limber for race #6 rather than pushing to my limit first thing in the morning.
And this also marked the first race where my ankle didn't hurt at all. Not even a niggle to remind me it had recently been damaged!

 Flying into the finish

Going into this race, my coach told me this race would "make or break me". He was thinking about my injury and overall fitness, as was I. And I can say that it is absolutely true about this race. I had watched broken hearted over Friday and Saturday as some of my fellow runners struggled with injuries.
But I was one of the lucky ones. Day 3 found me getting stronger, better, faster.

Take THAT to my doctor who told me there was no way I could run this race. Take THAT to my little conscience of doubt nattering on my shoulder these past 7 weeks. It made me really confident going into race #6. There was nothing I could do about race #4 yesterday, but today had given me a fresh start and a fresh confidence.
For the first time since my injury, I had felt comfortable and confident running.

500k Relay: Beached Pirate Day 2, Race #4: The Champion Run

I didn't feel much like a champion as I dragged myself out of the car and to the start line. My legs were still exhausted from the morning's run. I was glad it wasn't too hot, but there was a really strong headwind.
I'm talking BIG AWFUL headwind.
I was really lucky at the start area, as there was a girl huddled in the shade with me who had done this same leg of the race last year. She warned me that while it is very flat, there is a nasty hill at the end.
"Push through", she encouraged me. "Don't stop on the hill because the finish is just over the crest of it."
I sort of wondered why the finish couldn't be at the bottom of it, but I bit my tongue and thanked her for her valuable advice.
I was tagged off and I pirated away!

Total distance: 4.8k
Goal time: sub-27min
Goal pace: sub-5.30min/km

The first 2k I managed to keep on my target pace. Barely.
By the start of the 3rd km I gave up all hope of meeting my goal time. I was running along a massive valley. The road was straight and a little boring. No curves, no trees, not even any hills!
I pulled my hat down lower over my face and to prevent it from blowing off (I did consider just holding it in my hand instead) and ducked my head into the wind.
And I slowed.
It felt like I was running through a jar of honey, where every step was an effort. My wonderful team mates had piled out of the bus on the side of the road to cheer me on. And for those few metres I felt lighter and stronger and faster. And then I passed them and I remembered that I was still fighting against the wind. They were even kind enough to say that I was looking really strong out there. Well, as long as I looked good...

Running past the cheering hoards of fans.



The hill at the end nearly destroyed me. I didn't walk, but it was such a crawl I might as well have been walking. The water truck volunteers were very, very kind to me at this point. I think they knew just how hard I was struggling. They had parked their truck halfway up the hill. The husband met me at the bottom of the hill and jogged with me to the truck, and then the wife took over to encourage me to the top. She was amazing!
She heard my erratic breathing and told me to follow her breathing pattern as she took deep breaths. It helped a lot.

 Tagging off to the next runner. The white van in the distance marks the top of the hill.

I got to the top and did my best to surge to the end. But I don't think it was a surge so much as a stagger. I didn't make my goal time, or my goal pace. It was a tough race. I think the pic above pretty much sums up how I felt.

Total time: 27.22min
Average pace: 5.40min/km

500k Relay: Beached Pirate Day 2, Race #3 - The Time Cooker

The plan today was the same as yesterday: take the first run easy, go harder in the second run.
But.
But.
I was looking at the run guide for the first race I had on schedule and I saw in big bold letters 30 minute time limit. And the distance? 5.5km! For those of you that haven't calculated this out instantaneously, that is a strict 5.30min/km pace.
Could I do it? Quite possibly. If it was flat. If it was going to be very hilly...yikes!
The night before I had expressed my concerns with our fearless leader, but he shook off my concern with a hand wave. "You'll be fine! You'll do it easy."
Riiiight. "Easy".
I swallowed my concern so that it sat in my stomach like bad meat and let it percolate over night. Since I couldn't sleep, it was a long night of percolation.
My leg was second one of the morning, so the only good thing was that I didn't have long to wait. For this section of the race, it was all mass starts (aka, we all started together). There were two runners from each team to make 32 runners in each section. The first group ran from Point A to Point B. My group started at Point B and finished at Point C, where the third group started from. And on it continued.
No individual follow vehicles on this section. Instead, there was a police car leading and - even worse - a police car following. And just in case I wasn't worried about that, a pick-up vehicle ominously creeped in front of the police car to pick up runners who were just too slow to make it to the finish within the time limit. As the time crawled to an end, one of the marshalls yelled out at the last stragglers, "30 seconds to get across the finish line! Less than 30 seconds to go, hurry up!" To be fair, he may have yelled this for about a minute, but boy, it's tough with the next batch of racers all staring at you and waiting anxiously for you to cross the finish line so they could start their race.
I immediately scrapped my plan to take this race easy and the second race hard. This race would be about 3 goals (in order of importance):
1. Do not under any circumstance get picked up by the pick-up vehicle to be shuttled to the finish line.
2. Do not be the last person. The thought of listening to the car stalking me the entire 5.5k was enough to make me shudder. And if I went to slow, would they nudge me on the back of my legs to hint that I needed to pick it up?
3. Come in well enough under 30min so that I'm not yelled at to hurry up and cross the finish line.

Any repercussions from these goals with regards to my afternoon race would be dealt with in the afternoon race. At least there was no time limit in that run!
As I waited at the start line I eyeballed the other 31 runners from my group and what I saw was not encouraging. Those that I knew were all much faster than me (it wasn't hard to be faster than me!). Those that I didn't know looked like lean mean running machines.
Oh boy!
The gun went off and we all surged forward, jostling for a good position. The first few hundred metres were slightly downhill and I took full advantage. Anything to not be in dead last! I glanced at my watch in the first 500m and saw I was running at a 4.45min/km pace.
And the group was pulling ahead. Seriously? Everyone was running at a sub-4.45min/km pace? This was not encouraging. I pulled back a little to avoid burn out in the 2nd km. I didn't hear the police car behind me but I was afraid to glance back and see how far back the last runner(s) sat. Was I second last? Third last? Was the person behind me 10m behind or 100m behind?
I didn't really want to know. I set my focus on forward and kept pushing through.
The morning was cool. The road was thankfully flat with a few small rolling hills. But it felt like it was going downhill more than uphill, so I was extremely grateful.
One team supplied a water vehicle at the halfway point and as I passed them I offered a smile and thumbs up - which is not exactly how I was feeling. I hadn't gone far past them when It Happened. I was running up another of the small rolling hills when I heard a car pull in behind me. Ulp!
I couldn't look, but I could feel flickers of heat race to my cheeks. This is it, I told myself. The runners behind me have all been picked up. I'm the last person now. Woe to me!
As I crested the hill the vehicle passed me. It was the water truck, not the pick up vehicle! Oops. Had I not been running in the middle of the lane the truck would have easily passed me. There I was feeling a tightness in my chest as I assumed it was the police car, and the poor water truck crew was probably cursing my stupidity going, "move to the side of the road, idiot! Can't you hear there's a car right behind you?!"
At least, that's what I imagine they were thinking, but I don't know because they were all politeness when they passed me. All I was thinking was, "Oh thank God, oh thank God! Oh thank you that it wasn't the cop car!"
At the 3k mark I passed one of the girls I'd been following, and I felt a little more settled knowing that she would have to pass me once again for me to be last. And since my racing strength is in the last 1k of the race, it was unlikely I would fall into last place at this point. And I was especially grateful when I looked at my time and saw I was within my target time.
I crossed the finish line without getting picked up, without being followed (aka, last runner), and without being yelled at to hurry up and finish because there were only 30 seconds left. Plus, it was my fastest pace since I've been injured. I call this race a success. Beached Pirate Race #3 Goal Achieved!

Total distance: 5.5k
Goal time: sub-30min
Actual time: 29.33min
Pace: 5.21min/km

And with the knowledge that this was the only race where I had a time limit, I could breathe a sigh of relief and look back to see in the end just how close I came to being the police car's front bumper decoration.
After the girl I had passed in the second half of the race, there were three others behind her, which made me 5th last in a field of 32. I don't care. 5th last is a far cry from last last.

After such an intense race this morning (Warwick to Killarney), I was happy to roll my worries & tight hamstrings away and chill out in the playground in Killarney with my fellow runners for breakfast. 

 Getting ready to watch the start of the next section, with the police car all set to send the runners off. (He wasn't following them in this section, as there was no time limit to be enforced!). And oddly, this section used a different route to go from Killarney back to Warwick for lunch!

500k Relay: Beached Pirate Day 1 Race #2 - The Champion Leg

In all, this second race of this first day was not particularly memorable. I was very lucky in that my race was a bit later in the afternoon. The intense heat and humidity had just died down and there was even a bit of a breeze to circulate the air nicely.
The hills were rolling but nothing horrific. Being my last race of the day, I wanted to do a kick-ass time but had to settle for an okay time, as I was pretty tired even despite keeping my morning run slow & steady. And I couldn't help but just enjoy it. The scenery, the friendly water truck bearing a sign that encouraged me on and offered me liquid gold every km, the cheering hoards of runners packed onto team buses as they rode past. What's not to enjoy?

Me Enjoying Life.

Total distance: 4.4k
Goal time: sub-24min
Actual time: 23.56min
Average pace: 5.28min/km

So I kicked in under my sub-5.30min goal. I even kicked in under my sub-24min goal. But I wouldn't quite call it "kick ass". I pushed hard for the finish - as I like to do - and tagged off to my next team mate who pirated away.
But no rest for the wicked! Just as I was sucking in air I saw the dubious vision of the car meant to be picking me up pulling away! So off I sprinted just a little way down the road to make sure I caught my lift.
Later, I would feel silly over my panic at seeing my team mates nearly forgetting me (and just after I'd finished running, too!). Although I did catch them before they left, I realized as I jumped into the car there were about 5 other team cars there and I could have just as easily jumped in with one of them to get a lift into Boonah. And also, it was only 2k into Boonah so it's not like I couldn't have run it either.
I blame the lack of oxygen.
And to be fair to my team mates, it wasn't that I was "forgotten" it's just that of the two potential team vehicles available to pick me up, both assumed the other would be bundling me into their transport.

Below are some other pics I took photos where those of us not currently running were cheering on team mates who were currently running - in our minds if not out loud. (Fortunately, we did get better at the out-loud cheering as the day progressed.)

 Our awesome team mate reminding us that cheering needs to be done out loud not in our minds. Oops!

Why yes, it was hot. Too hot to be dusty, because dusty implies that there would be wind. You don't get wind in an oven.

 Changeovers.