Thursday 22 December 2011
My Christmas wish list
Well howdy neighbours.Only two more weekends of training and another year is in the books. We went from overstuffed holiday eaters to restarting our training, then peaked with some events, followed by winding down and now back to overstuffed holiday eaters. I wouldn't have it any other way. I love this vicious cycle!
For the short term our troop will be trotting as normal tonight from the Tech Shop. We will be heading out to the Sandy Beach Christmas tree for one last loop in support of our friend Ally who lost her dog of 15 years, Sydney. Join us for a hug and a chance to hang a photo of her lifelong friend. Of course if you can't make the trot, we will gladly accept hugs at Original Joe's for our post debrief.
Saturday our friends will meet at the Eau Claire YMCA for a short trip around the downtown. Come check out the Peace Bridge (perhaps we will occupy it?) and share a loopy loop with loopy friends. You know you need to lower the load before you fill it back up on Sunday! See you at 9 am inside the Y. I am excited to see how Jen does following a few weeks of tanning and running in Hawaii!
As for next week. I will have relatives in from Ontario that may take me away from our group. Tri-It is closed for our usual Tuesday visit so I would suggest that the meeting place for Tuesday and Thursday will be the Tech Shop at 630 pm. I might be there but don't hold your breath! As for next Saturday the 31, What better way to prepare for a lively night of drinking and festive cheer than to dehydrate yourself with a Saturday run??? I might suggest it in Fish Creek from our house but I will chat with HRH Joy as to our plans for the last day with family.
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So I titled my little weekly yada-yada my Christmas wish list. So what am I wishing for myself, and more importantly for my trail buddies? I am pretty sure the first thing on all of our lists is to remain healthy throughout our training and especially on race day! My body is starting to catch up to my age, but thankfully my mind is still ten years (okay twenty-ish) younger than both. WEEE!
I also wish for lost friendships on the trails to be regained. I have been blessed to meet so many wonderful people in my thirty years of running and still run into familiar faces. Our troop has expanded to many areas of the world, Twyla in New Zealand, John and Marguerite in Australia, Ken and Dori in India, Jill and Alex in the UK, Quentin in Thailand, Pat in Japan, and all those that have moved across our continent. We have reduced, regenerated, and recovered our friendships fostered by that initial left-right repeat.
I wish for all of us to get the opportunity to do that dream goal in 2012. What is it for you? I would love to know and share with the rest of us. I keep thinking of my running must-do's and they always seem to return to the dirt. Must be my affinity for the 'undulations' that are constantly discussed by the group and often pointed out (by a certain middle finger) that the are number one in their training. Whether the "Dances with Dirt" race in Hell, Michigan, Zermatt marathon in Switzerland, or another of those crazy ultra's that I try to convince you all they are doable (patience wins!), the dirt is calling me in 2012 and you might just see some stinky socks in the laundry next year. Sorry Joy...
I think my last wish will be for the new people to the group. We have some youthful enthusiasm coming to us in 2012 that will carry the energy of the group forward hopefully in perpetuity. My wish is for the new victims, err trainees, to find the energy and excitement we veterans have discovered as we have crossed our own personal finish lines along our journey of self discovery.
Oh yes, and a Volkwagon Thing (~1971) for the third garage. That side of the garage is in need of an oil stain! Joooyyyy???
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I thought I would share an Indian Chrsitmas story for you. I mentioned above our friends Ken and Dori, well I guess living in a Hindu and Muslim his Christmas Day is not as much a holiday as ours...
"As for Christmas day I am driving up to Ahmedabad to meet a running buddy from Mumbai. We are running the Ahmedabad Marathon starting at 6:00 AM on Christmas morning. I figured I would never again get a chance to run a marathon on Christmas Day so what the heck – more memories. The two of us will drive back to Baroda later that morning and head over to the Welcome Hotel in Baroda for a Christmas lunch. My buddy from Mumbai flies back later that afternoon and then Dori and I will head over to my bosses place for Christmas dinner. I should sleep well that night."
I guess Santa will have to wait for Ken as he will be too hard to catch! Ken, see you in September.
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Only one more reminder until I fully blog out... http://trottingthetrails.blogspot.com/ and register with the email address or at the bottom click on the "Subscribe to: Posts (Atom) ". Things will not change much, except I will be able to be more pertinent to the group's needs. Next week will be my last week of the norm.
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May your training always be 'Joy'able.
See you all soon,
John
Friday 16 December 2011
Amble with Angus and April and Allyson and Alan
Hello everybody. Welcome to the middle of the month. Thanks to those that joined me for our two trots to the tree in Sandy Beach over the last week. I just realized that was the tenth annual trot...my time flies...
The weather has thrown a bit of snow at our shoes and socks but has not prevented our eyes from seeing the yellow stripe on the pathway. Thankfully our snow removal budget in Calgary has allowed for some longer trails to be discovered from under a blanket of seasonal splendor. I do love the snow, love running in it, and love to run with others who love to run and run in snow. Make sense? Good luck to you on that. I do enjoy (and love) when I see a familiar face come out and join us on a Saturday morning or one of the weeknight trots. You all make me love to train with you on your journeys.
Speaking of 70’s rock bands, many of our friends finished a wonderful journey in Honolulu Hawaii last weekend. Congrats to our contingent of mini and full marathoners. I am really proud of you all for doing something that some of you never really imagined you would do...Don't stop believin'...
Congrats to Nicole for qualifying for her dream Boston Marathon by being a super quick chick at the Sacremento Marathon. And also a congrats to Carol for trying out the Las Vegas half with 44,000 other trotters, testing night running in Vegas. And I thought Vegas was crazy just on the sidewalks!
Let's get together this Saturday for probably the last trot in Fish Creek for 2011. the weather looks good to meet at Glennfield Meadows just off Bannister Road and Macleod Trail. See you there at 9 am? If you need directions my cell is below...
I do expect to trot on the 24th, but I don't believe I will be around for the 27 or 29th week night training. With relations in town it might be tough to come away for the couple of hours. Will any of you be out for these three days?
Starting in the new year I will move away from this email form of broadcast to a blog. Yep, it is time to change format. Fifteen years of weekly ya-da ya-da emails need a sprucing up. A blog will allow for potentially more pictures of your fellow runners and I hope a more lively comment section. I have been building content for a couple of months, but need to really get those that read here to read there. Starting in January I will just broadcast from the blog.
You can subscribe at the bottom (click on the Posts Atom) or via email on the right column. Easy peasy. This will save me having to break up the email to many distribution lists. Thanks for your understanding as I change things up a bit!
This morning was the tenth annual Amble with Angus in support of the food bank. I received a note from our friend Angus stating that he was in the neighbourhood of $40,000 raised for the cause. Congrats to Allyson and April and Alan for getting out there this AM and adding ample 'A's to the action. And a special shout specifically to April for (so far) raising $1825 for the cause today. If you want to get her past $2000 check out http://calgaryfoodbank.akaraisin.com/amblewithangus2011/rudolphsrunners
If you want to donate straight to the event say hello to my friend Angus at his site https://owa5.sait.ca/owa/redir.aspx?C=6253a3eaa7274c078460a2159f1cda3d&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.amblewithangus.com
Bravo!
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Just in case you were at a loss for baking ideas this Christmas... http://www.baconery.com/
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Our trail friends at Out There downtown have the following deal if you need some gear...
Last Minute Christmas Savings at Out There
Purchase more than $300 at Out There and save 20% on all apparel, footwear, and equipment
This offer is valid until December 23rd, 2011 and this promotion cannot be combined with reward card discounts or any other store promotion.
Please present this email to get your savings. Ask our sales associates for details, as this is not an advertised event. Code: 34316Holiday Hours: Monday - Friday 10-8, Saturday 10-6, Sunday 11-5
Out There Adventure Centre - 151 8 Ave. SW - 403-263-9651
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I thought I would close out this week by sharing how thankful I am for all the great people that have come through one of our learn to run, half, full, and muddy buddy clinics, through the Joints in Motion program, or just joined us through a friend of a friend of a friend. The friendships may have evolved and changed over the years, but I think I can count many of us that are in a better place because of our connections to our fellow 'athletes'. From the first formative days with the Uncoachables, to that crazy first Mother's Day clinic on February 14, 2000, and then hundreds of sweating hours up and down the paths with over a thousand fellow friends who all had just one wish - to cross their personal finish line happy, healthy, and with a smile on their face.
You all mean alot to not just me, but your fellow trotters. When you have a bad training day, they are there to give you a high five and a smile of encouragement. You all reciprocate when the table is turned. You all have increased your personal challenge or goal, and of course allowed rest (and lethargy) to create opportunity to do it all over again. It is a wonderful sight to see a friend of our group finish what they set out to do. Can you see them in your mind? the smile, the arms raised in victory, the Woo Hoo in their step? I see it every time.
Give your old trotting friends a call, an email, or just an approving nod for what they have done both for and with you, in all your good times and bad, whether it was +/- 40 (pun intended), an undulation or distance-ish were involved, and perhaps you might of just been led astray...
We have definitely seen a shrinking of the active members of the clan. We have changed habits, joined other groups, lost enthusiasm for training, or just can't do it anymore. We have found other ways to drive our passion. I have been blessed to see theatre, knitting, nursing, Thai vacations, budding relationships, and a myriad of new joys that have created a wealth of new opporunity for us to find a new direction to aim our potato chip fingers toward. Our new path may not have a yellow line down the middle, but it will have a great opportunity for adventure, new friendships, and fabulous new finish line.
While I do understand things will never stay the same (thankfully my mullet is one that disappeared) I do hope that you all continue your passions through to 2012 and enjoy the opportunities that a fresh start of the New Year will allow. Follow those passions and allow them to flower.
Thank you,
John
Friday 9 December 2011
This one is for the birds
Hello everyone. What a glorious day. I hope you all got outside for a ‘smoke’ break over lunch? The weather is fabulous. Speaking of fabulous, let’s enjoy some Christmas cheer tomorrow and have a day for the birds! We will meet at the Talisman Centre south entrance for a trot to Sandy Beach and decoration of the Sandy Beach dog memorial tree. We checked it out last week and there were a few memorials to dogs and of course some beautiful ornaments. Bring a bird treat for the surrounding area or if you like an ornament that will not cause an animal harm if it falls. And of course if you have a loved dog that needs a memory bring a photo for the tree and perhaps a story to share. See you at the Talisman Centre for 9 am!
Starting in the new year I will move away from this email form of broadcast to a blog. Yep, it is time to change format. Fifteen years of weekly ya-da ya-da emails need a sprucing up. A blog will allow for potentially more pictures of your fellow runners and I hope a more lively comment section. I have been building content for a couple of months, but need to really get those that read here to read there. Starting in January I will just broadcast from the blog.
You can subscribe at the bottom. This will save me having to break up the email to many distribution lists. Thanks for your understanding as I change things up a bit!
Hello running peeps!
Wondering if you would like to join me in forming a team to run in this year’s “Amble with Angus” 5k run and help raise some much needed funds for the food bank. It takes place next Friday December 16th at 7:30am. It starts and ends at Eau Claire so many of you can easily get to work after (après a little clean-up of course J)
Let me know, I think it will be good fun for a great cause!
Cheers, April
I do think this applies to a number of us when we run with our electronics! Our friend Janelle seems to be a little to involved with her I-Phone…
Do any of you remember Forrest Gump? Did you like the episodes of Monty Python with the bearded guy that would always say 'its...'? The story at the link below reminded me of both. I used to love Monty Python...
This also reminds me of a couple of our fellow trotters, Ron (Good luck in Hawaii) and Bob (get well soon). Although I do see a resemblance to Charlton Heston from The Ten Commandments.
Have a great weekend.
John
Friday 2 December 2011
Acts of Courage
Well hello everyone. I thoroughly enjoy days like this where the sun is shining and the snow is still fresh and white. The world is so pretty with a soft blanket covering our gift of spring to be released sometime next year. Okay, enough of that. Bring on the global warming and heat these toes back up!
Hard to believe that December is here to bring us the last month of our friends off to faraway destinations to enjoy their chosen race goals. Carol Poland is off to Vegas...Woo Hoo...Young-Mi is off to Sacremento...go zippy...and we have the big team off to Hawaii over the next week...sigh...yep, we will hold the fort here while you all enjoy these events. Best of luck to you all as you achieve your goals and make us all proud to know you. Hey Young-Mi, have you shaved off the moustache?
For those of us lucky enough to enjoy the great outdoors of Calgary, let's meet at Glenmore Landing for the usual reservior rumble. See you at McDonald's at 9 am for a view of the Saturday snow and sun. We will most likely take a different route than the reservoir as I think we might have to see how the Sandy Beach Christmas tree is growing. If you desire bring a bird treat, but we will do this route again before Christmas. See you all tomorrow!
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Attention you closet smokers! You know who you are. a story for you...
and you thought I did not care!
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If you ever want to know how far it is to your destination check out www.runningmap.com What a cool way to know your distances. And you don't even need a fancy GPS watch.
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I want to talk a little on the acts of courage that we see each day we go out to train. We all show great courage to set out on the goals we have undertaken. Intimidating as they can be, we choose our adventures to give us a challenge. We are willing to step out of the comfort of the known into the craziness of the unknown. This is a huge step for many. What has given you the courage to do this?
When we start our run, walk, or hike, we will experience the excitement of a start, the adrenaline rush when we get moving, and the cheering chants from friends and fellow participants as we follow our path to success.Whatever we have chosen as a destination to our success there are always roadblocks along the way. They take strength and courage to overcome. Foot and knee pains, road rashes, family crisis, or just life can all be roadblocks on our path to the finish. It takes great courage to overcome these obstacles that block our path and not give up on the opportunity of success. The journey will take patience, understanding, and of course courage. But we will do it, right?
The start is always intimidating. We stand around these other fit individuals who have the same concerns and excitement. They are stretching and warming themselves up for the challenges that lay ahead. Are we ready for this test of our skills learned throughout our training? We will have people blow by us with vigour and some that will straggle behind. We are all in the same journey and will enjoy the fruits of our labour when we arrive safe and sound.
We will all face bouts of fatigue and discomfort when we get into the day. For me I find I notice my body more at about three hours in to a marathon. I notice the same feelings of discomfort at about 1.5 hours into a half marathon. They are the same even though the timing is different. Could the psychology of the event be working it's way into my thoughts? How do we fight through this discomfort and get to the finish? We embrace fatigue as a badge of courage that everyone is awarded when they finish! This fatigue just proves that you are still alive and accept the challenges of the day.
We get a similar feeling when we are at work. Lethargic at the keyboard as we hit 3pm, we find our computer screen and office chair are attached like barnacles to a boat. But we still get the energy to get away from the chair, get out and get the blood pumping after work. We break through tiring walls at work, we break through those same walls at play. Does this mean I should embrace work as I embrace play?
When the first person gets to the finish line to cheers and accolades, they have gone no further than the person who comes in after the finish line has been taken down. They cross the same kilometre markers, they use the same porta-potties, they drink the same water. It is not as pretty or graceful, but the courage that last person has to continue the fight is far more powerful than that front runner. There are far more drop-out's from the elite runners than those that cross last. Power to the penguins!!!
So many people in the world are unable to walk a block, let alone do some of the crazy distances and adventures that we all have tried. Taking all that we have learned we gather the courage to face the demons of our goal and break through to the finish. The journey is long, but the rewards are far reaching. Cross your personal finish lines with your arms held high in the air as victory is yours. Tomorrow you can go out and do it all again.
Remember one of my favourite quotes, "Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional"
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April passed on this deal. It is a great price. If you are not so enamoured with the internet purchase, check GPS central on Blackfoot for prices in the same ballpark.
Really good price today on the new Garmin…so I thought I would pass it along!
April L Clay, R. Psych.
Bodymindmotion
Mental skills for sport and life
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So good luck all and see you next week.
Monday 28 November 2011
This Week's Training - Winter Prep
Well hello everyone. I can’t believe that is will be December next week. And to top it off we are one month to Christmas tomorrow! Thankfully I have a full month until the last shopping day before that. Lots of time to get ready…
Brrr! Last weekend reminded me of an article that I wrote with a couple of other Calgary runners. My buddy Pete's rule number one of winter running. "When your eyelashes freeze together, stop!" Wise advice from a crazy friend. Still can’t figure out why he won’t try the www.beerbike.hu? I guess since he doesn’t hydrate like me would be the wise reason. See the attached article from my friends at http://impactmagazine.ca/. They always have great articles to refresh our minds. Thanks Elaine for the opportunity to share advice. I feel so Dear Abby.
Hey, the weather is better this weekend so we will try another trot from Max Bell and head north on the Nose Creek Pathway. Let’s check out the new science centre, a couple of golf courses, and if we go far enough, Green Gate Garden Centre should have great Christmas displays to lighten the pockets…See you at Max Bell for 9 am. If you don’t know where this is just email me or call my cell.
Are you all enjoying the transition from the high temperatures we had over the summer to the snow and cool of last weekend? A huge clap for those that braved the cold (and those that braved their treadmills)and finished their long training day last weekend. I had the pleasure of -31 wind chill for just over a half marathon with Jen who will be heading to Hawaii in a couple of weeks. She trooped it out for 31 km! One dirty ugly km for each negative degree. Thanks for the coffee at the end.
This reminds me of the excuse question I put forth last week. We had many replies, even some I could print, and I promised to share them here. So what I have:
- ’my hair is too fabulous to go out in this wind’
- ‘Not in for tomorrow, I'm gonna stay inside haha’
- I forgot my shoes (this one is mine…how lame!)
- I was up till 1 last night, so I'm now very tired
- It's really cold
- I have a treadmill now and a very strong dog who will want to run with me tomorrow
- Carroll isn't going. (awww)
- (edited version) I personally don't like not be able feel my joint working properly for first 30 minutes
Not bad, I expected more especially from the synonym names, if you know what I mean. I noticed that Joy never offered up any excuses? Strange…
This machine would definitely cut down on excuses!
I love telling first-timers that when they complete their goal they will have set a PR. It sounds so accomplished! I have two PR’s I am proud of, 22 samples of wine in Medoc over 26.2 miles and 6 beer over the same distance in Belgium. It is tough to attain these goals, but I am always willing to give my best effort!
IT'S A PR
A Light-hearted Look At Personal Records
Published June 9, 1997, in The Post-Standard.
By Dr Kamal Jabbour, Contributing Writer
According to the Oxford Dictionary of Running, a PR (pronounced pee arr), or personal record, is a runner's best time at a given distance. My PR at 800 meters is 2:26.6. This is the fastest I have ever run 800 meters. The PR is a beginner's best friend and a veteran's fondest memory.
When you change from jogger into runner by entering your first 5K race, you also run your first PR. It is the fastest you have ever run a 5K race. Subsequent 5K races may result in more PRs, as you develop confidence and speed. However, this initial streak of PRs eventually comes to an end. Improvement comes at greater pain, and PRs come fewer and far in between.
All is not lost. A renowned PR expert advises runners to diversify. When you can no longer improve at 5K, consider running a 2-miler or a 10K. Races are held at every imaginable distance from 50-meter sprints to TransAmerica ultra-marathons. Races at metric distances tend to be shorter than those at imperial distances. Enjoy the thrills of both the 1500 meters and the mile. Experience the unparalleled pain of the 400- meter dash. Wave to friends at the end of a 15K and a 10-miler.
By now, your PR portfolio has a dozen entries at different distances. Weekend after weekend, you cross the finish line looking good and you shout to the crowds: "IT'S A PR!" Alas, one day you run out of new distances, and you are unable to improve at any of them.
When you exhaust the various distances available in your area, it is time to travel. Combine the family vacation with a race at an unusual distance. New England is full of races at distances like 7 miles 131 yards and 2 feet.
Despite your best intentions, the day comes to consider more drastic measures. It is time to separate your PRs into categories. Keep separately a track 5K PR, a road 5K PR and a cross-country trail 5K PR. Divide your track PRs into an indoor track 5K PR and an outdoor track 5K PR. Further divide track PRs into fully automatic timing PRs and hand timed PRs. Similarly, divide your road PRs into a point-to-point course 5K PR, a loop course 5K PR and an out-and-back course 5K PR.
Do not forget that point-to-point courses can be level, uphill, downhill, or even wind-aided. Maintain a separate PR for each. On the subject of wind, the weather plays a significant role in road races. Therefore, maintain separate PRs for hot weather, cold weather, rainy weather and fair weather. Better yet, break your PR list into spring, summer, fall and winter PRs.
In fairness to race directors and course designers, we should recognize that no two road races are created equal. Therefore, consider maintaining a course PR for each race, which we will call a CPR.
Age is a good friend of runners. The wonderful invention of 5-year age groups permits us to compete against runners our age. It also gives us the opportunity to reset our PRs and start all over every five years. Now you can have a diapers PR, an elementary school PR, a middle school PR, a high school PR, a college PR, an open PR, a sub-masters PR, a masters PR, an AARP PR, a senior PR and a back-to-diapers PR. Life repeats itself. Anyway, to maintain scientific rigor, mathematicians go a step further and recommend maintaining single-age PRs that you can reset at every birthday.
Short of undergoing a sex-change operation and starting a new PR list in the opposite gender, you may consider combining running with another sport. There are run-bike duathlons, run-shoot biathlons, swim-bike-run triathlons, run-bike-canoe rowathons, and my favourite run-eat-sleep carboloadathons.
A treatise on PRs remains incomplete until PR's evil twin PW is recognized. PW (pronounced pee wee), or personal worst, refers to a runner's worst performance at a given distance. PWs are a lot easier to achieve than PRs, as evidenced by the baby boomers generation.
Kamal Jabbour drives a green minivan with license plate ITS A PR.
His 5K out-and-back flat-course wind-aided summer-season all-age
hand- timed PR is 19:32.8. His list of PRs can be found on The
Syracuse Running Page. His RUNNING Column appears in The Post-
Standard on Mondays.
Wednesday 23 November 2011
Brrr, what is your excuse?
I will share (without publishing the author) with you all next week. My personal favourite: “I threw my back out ironing my dress shirt”. Yep, true it was, but it wasn’t me. I rarely push aside the peer pressure and avoid running. Joy didn’t see this within our marriage vows and curses the cold mornings that I make her ‘share’ in the experience. That is love my friends, love that is…
This week is the big one for our friends off to Hawaii and the Honolulu marathon. Great, the last long training day for Jen, Stephanie, Leslie, Carrie, Linda, Minako, Rebecca, Marvin, and of course Ron. Only three weeks until your big day! Remember (not misspelled like last week) that your full experience of training will give you results in Honolulu. If this weekend does not go as planned due to weather you still have the other few months of training that will carry you to 42.2 (ish).
For those trotting the trails in Calgary tomorrow, we will meet at Eau Claire for 9 am. Jen will be running much earlier with her husband if there are any friends that wish to start MUCH earlier…see you all tomorrow.
Tomorrow also marks a fine day for many of our fellow trotters. Two of our Prague Half Marathon victim…err, trainees are hosting a singles auction. Joy has already called dibs on Travis and Tim. Should I be worried? There are also lots of auction items that don’t require awkward silence and worrying about first base, if you know what I mean ;-)
Check out these brave singles - http://www.innercityglam.blogspot.com/
Discount alert! Discount alert! Our friends at Strides Running are hosting their sixth annual (it’s been that long?) Friends and Family night on Tuesday November 22nd. Check out www.stridesrunning.com or email jeanetterun@gmail.com and she can let you know the goods. For those of you out of Calgary I would bug her about shipping…just sayin’. See attachment for the details.
While you know I have a strong connection to the Arthritis Society, I do like to support some good friends and their own personal challenges. Our friend (and of course JIM alumna) Young-Mi is growing a beard for the month of Movember. Having spent a week in Athens with her I am not sure how she will pull this off. Perhaps more Ouzo shots??? I think that creates the hair of the dog though…
As most of you know, cancer has affected my family - first in 1995 when my Mother passed away from Ovarian Cancer. Then, in 2001, my Grandmother passed away after a short but brave battle with jaw cancer. Several years ago, I was fortunate enough to work for a company that raised money for cancer research. Recently, I have been involved as a committee member with Ovarian Cancer Canada (Calgary) in promoting awareness and helping with their fundraising.
This year, I've decided to join my co-workers (who are all male) and join the team Sufferin Succa-Stache! for Movember, the month formerly known as November, which is dedicated to growing moustaches and raising awareness and funds for men's health issues; specifically prostate cancer. To show my support for the men in my life, I have signed up as a Mo Sista. It's clear (well, let's HOPE it's clear) that I may not be able to grow a 'stache, but I can still do my part in helping to raise some money for the team!
Did you know?
*On average men live 4-5 years less than women
*1 in 7 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime
* 25,500 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year in Canada
I invite you to support me by donating to me http://www.movember.com/m/2551046. You can even go old school and write a cheque payable to "Movember Canada", reference my name and Registration Number 2551046 and send it to:
Movember Canada, 119 Spadina Avenue, PO Box 65, Toronto, ON M5T 2T2
If you'd like to find out more about the type of work you'd be helping to fund by supporting Movember, take a look at the Programs We Fund section on the Movember website: http://ca.movember.com/about
Thank you in advance for supporting my efforts to change the face of men's health. All donations are tax deductible.-----
Wednesday 16 November 2011
A great day for Remembrance
Heidi-ho neighbor! What a lovely day in Calgary today. Chinook winds have blown in and warmed up the air. I smell shorts for a lovely trot this evening. For those not trotting please remember two things:
- our friends Afton & Janelle hosting a Bridgeland fundraiser while our friend Ashley is doing the same Airdrie way
- to Remember those that supported us tomorrow. My grandfather is one…
We had a very enjoyable Winterstart Race last weekend. 1500 friends enjoyed cool air with clear skies as the moon showed us the correct way up Tunnel Mountain. People say this was a hill, but in the dark who could tell? Not I said me…
The race always reminds me of Patrick. Yes Patrick enjoyed the race a little too much a few years back. He got back to his hotel room and got into bed. Groggy he got up and headed to the washroom in his underwear, cracked open the door and closed it behind him. The bad part is this was not the door to the washroom but to the hallway.
He sheepishly walked the hall to the concierge phone and called the front desk to admit he was locked out. They replied “that’s okay sir, just come to the door and we will get you a key.” He of course replied that he was ‘underdressed’, plus his hotel wing was separated from the front desk by a parking lot.
Ten minutes later and many guests stumbling home he was finally admitted back into the room. The lesson for me: It pays to leave the door open when you pee…ha, ha!
Patrick, we miss you all the way in PEI!
You have to love stories that ‘prove’ that some things bad are actually good…great!
Eat chocolate, die happy, and live longer. Sweet.
I used to talk before training about various topics, and I thought this week I would revisit one that always had positive replies (or so you let on). This topic was about seven ways to stay injury free.
First is to find a friendly surface. While the sheet on your bed may seem like the right answer, we are talking more about pavement. The surface that can be most damaging to us on the long days is the canted path. When you are on the edge of the road it slopes to the side for drainage. While good for the rain it is not so good for training. We tend to put more stress on our hips and back with the one foot striking lower than the other. If the road is your only option, train out and back on the same side. This way there is a balance. As well, we need to make sure hills are not too steep on our journey. A path too steep up is one where you can’t get your heel on the ground. Going down should be well controlled and not causing you to accelerate from gravity. Heel pain can happen from impacting too hard from these down hills.
Second is to warm up and cool down. We do a short walk to warm our bodies for the long day ahead. Ideally we should get about 15 minutes of light warm-up before we get to our normal pace. This will help get your body more flexible before we start the high intensity of the main training. Our cool down would be similar. We should not finish and then stop. A walk for the same length as the start will help immeasurably in the reduction of soreness the next day. Remember do as I say, not as I do!
Third is Stretching firmly but gently. Our muscles are basically elastics. They have the ability to stretch out and come back. My personal opinion (not the bible!!!) is to stretch after the run to help the muscles resist tightening after training. We all have suffered the stiffness after a long training day. Stretching is there to slow the after affects of running and it increases performance. When I was a competitive runner I would do a light 10 minute jog and then 15 minutes of stretching. The muscles are more flexible from the warm-up and you will be able to stretch them further. It did cut 10% off my times. I gained ALL that time back now…
Four is keeping your training flexible. You may find that some days you feel just awful and don’t feel like running. Listen to your body! It has its own internal doctor that can diagnose problems and recommend rest. If you’ve been faithful to your plan, a day off will not affect the result. Recover my friends, recover!
Five is to blend the training. Do not have high intensity training on back-to-back days. By having easy blended with hard days your body gets some stimulation and recovery to make training easier. Training is about balance.
Six is spacing out your racing. Doing your maximum in a race situation every weekend is not the best for performance. We should have a plan for our schedule months in advance, blending training in with the odd race. Not all of us are “Greg” and can do it all. If you watch him in training he takes every day as a relaxed day. No stress in his body!
And lastly number seven. Keep track of your training. Tracking your performance day in and out helps you discover the good and bad of you. Our friend Kara had it right when she said we are a 10/80/10 group. Ten percent of the time we have a great day, 80 percent is okay, and another ten is ‘I should have stayed in bed’ days. By logging the training you can see what makes the good days good and the bad days bad. For Kara the latter ten is all about Las Vegas. Ask her about it. Your log can also help with your nutrition needs while out on the trails. What works and what does not. The more information you track the better you will know your body and how to keep it functioning!
You are fed many pieces of info that promote the best way to do things. We take these pieces and they form the puzzle that creates your training masterpiece. Can you get the pieces together? Hmmm, why am I craving pizza?
All the best,
John
Winterstart and...
Well aren’t you all looking lovely today. Yep, this new computer technology that lets me see you through your monitor is fantastic. Well, except for the tacky pyjamas (should I be typing the Queen’s English or US?). Alright, kidding aside it is a wonder how the days are now shorter and the air is truly full of the cool of fall. Darn near chilly these days. About two months ago we were joined by our old friend Ken from India and he found the 8C temperature to be downright chilly. I can only imagine his fright with the frost on the car these last few days.
With the start of November comes the Winterstart Night Run this weekend in Banff. I always enjoy a race that has non-stop beer at the finish line and the odd hot tub hi-jinks to follow. No matter what you have heard, it wasn’t me. Really! Good luck to all those heading out to Banff to enjoy some good old fashioned night running with 1500 of your closest friends. If you couldn’t get in I would bet there are the odd bibs available at the Tech Shop for you to snap up and be official on race day. Whatever you do, don’t be a bandit. If you want to be a part of it without the bib, volunteer and you will get all the swag and the cool kids will like you better! So anyone coming up for the weekend?
Good luck as well to any of you heading off to New York for the big marathon Sunday. I know a couple of buddies there right now, but I will be very surprised to hear that Carrie and Tanya got up early and trotted 42.2! I think they are still hung over from the Anderson Cooper experience.
As for the usual Saturday trot, I will have the group meet inside the Eau Claire YMCA for the 9 am trip around our soon to be exposed new Peace Bridge. Jen is into her big run for Hawaii (34 km), as well there are the usual suspects in need of moral and emotional support. Come on down and say hello to your fellow trainees and share in the sweat. I will be enjoying two nights of Banff bliss so don’t wait for me!
Our JIM participants are holding a few events over the next couple of days. Please support them if you can. Pay it forward, so to speak! Yep, same day but with 50 volunteers raising money for JIM it does happen!
The Calgary Herald sometimes surprises me with some inspirational stories that need to be shared with the masses. Today they had a couple that really resonated with myself and hopefully YOU! I see it is written by Claire Young…our best Winterstart friend in Banff is also Claire Young…coincidence???
Calgarian Linh Huynh believes good fortune is meant to be shared.
So when she won $10,000 this year to make her dream of running a marathon in Antarctica come true, she chose to also grant a wish for a child who has come through her own marathon battle for health.
So when she won $10,000 this year to make her dream of running a marathon in Antarctica come true, she chose to also grant a wish for a child who has come through her own marathon battle for health.
Julia Dureski, a seven year-old cancer survivor, recently had a chance to meet the woman who is funding a trip to Hawaii for the whole family through her $10,000 donation to the Children’s Wish Foundation. Huynh, 36, visited the family at their Riverbend home in southeast Calgary to learn more about the family she is helping.
The ESL instructor at Bow Valley College believes she has been blessed in her life — she was born in Saigon during the Vietnam War, and her family left during the exodus known as the Boat People. All 10 of her family members are safe in Canada, where she was raised, for which she’s grateful.
“Everything I wish for comes through,” she says. “My wish is that people hear this story and realize it is within everyone’s power to change another’s life.”
A year ago, Huynh was obese, according to her body mass index. The weight had crept up through the usual suspects — inattention to what she was eating and neglecting exercise. She decided to regain her health and spend a year “attempting the impossible.”
But what seemed impossible in the planning has proved achievable, from the 10-day solo bike trip along the pilgrim path in Spain to completing the Ironman triathlon in Penticton, B.C. Along the way, Huynh lost 40 pounds and won $5,000 in the weight-loss challenge healthyloser.com. Then, she won $10,000 from the CBC’S Xtreme Lean Adventure Challenge to fulfil her dream of running the Antarctic Ice marathon — a trip costing close to $14,000.
In her entry for the contest, she’d said she wanted to go to Antarctica to run a marathon “because its mere geographic location, combined with the physicality of the event, created a challenge that most humans would never dare to attempt. It was a physical and mental feat that would test my own limits and I hoped one day I would have the opportunity to rise to the challenge.”
Huynh plans to run a marathon on every continent; this will be her third.
After meeting the family, Huynh thinks the foundation couldn’t have picked a more deserving group of people to receive the wish.
At the age of five, Julia was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma, the most common soft-tissue tumour discovered in children.
“We took her to the doctor, and we thought she was suffering from a bad sinus infection,” Julia’s mother, Cheryl, said. It wasn’t until the tumour began to grow out of Julia’s nose that the cancer was diagnosed.
Surgery was never an option, as the tumour — the size of three BlackBerry phones stacked — was growing behind Julia’s left eye and threatened her sight. Instead, she had chemotherapy and radiation at the same time. She dropped from 45 to 32 pounds, underwent 43 weeks of chemotherapy and 28 days of radiation and missed 98.5 days of Grade 1.
“It was not a lot of fun,” Julia says, turning to hide her
face in her mother’s hug.
Julia is now blind in one eye, but the treatment preserved the vision in the other.
“The remainder of the tumour is left, about five per cent, but it isn’t growing. She’s in remission,” Cheryl says.
During her visit, Huynh learned how the family drew together to support Julia. At least one family member was with her for every treatment and hospital stay.
Cheryl, a bookkeeper, stopped working to care for Julia. Her father Gary, a cabinet maker, took four months off work because he lacked the concentration to safely work with power tools.
The illness affected her siblings, too. Emma, 20, reduced her psychology studies to a single class so she could help out. Teagan, 13, grew her hair out and donated it to make wigs. And the crisis was felt deeply by Shane, 12, who offered thanks at the Thanksgiving church service to the doctors and nurses who were keeping his sister alive.
“We’re so thankful that we’ve got the opportunity to go and celebrate Julia and her health together,” Cheryl says of the trip.
“The sun, sand, pool, snorkelling — she loves them. She’s a beach girl.”
Donations can be made to Huynh’s endeavour by going to the Children’s Wish Foundation home page at www.childrenswish.ca, selecting the Alberta and Northwest Territories from the chapter tab at left, clicking on the news and events tab, and scrolling down to find the Antarctic.
And of course with many of us getting ready for a marathon in either New York or Hawaii, or even races like Winterstart tomorrow, I think this is a good story to read…
MIKE BATES MIKE BATES IS A CERTIFIED PERSONAL TRAINER AND TEACHES KINESIOLOGY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WINDSOR. HE OWNS REFINE FITNESS STUDIO IN WINDSOR, ONT., BLOGS AT REFINEFITNESS.CA AND CAN BE REACHED AT MIKE@REFINEFITNESS.CA.
Running over mental obstacles
There is a great book by Bob Schwartz called I Run, Therefore I Am — Nuts! (humankinetics. com). What is great about it is that anyone who has spent any time running will relate to the stories he tells. It’s like a Seinfeld episode for runners. I would argue non-runners should read it as well, so they can get a better understanding of what is going through a runner’s head.
Many of these stories could easily relate to beginning exercisers, experienced exercisers and outdoor cyclists.
With fall marathon season in full swing, I thought it would be good to discuss some of the mental challenges runners face during a race and their training.
Many runners are chronically obsessive about their training and everything around it. Anything that throws them off their routine can cause some runners to be significantly affected before or during a race.
While it’s true that to run a five kilometre race, 10-km race, half marathon or full marathon, you need to put in a certain amount of training, the main obstacle most runners need to overcome is a mental one.
Running any distance is going to have pain associated with it. I’m not referring to physical pain that indicates an injury. It’s the pain associated with pushing yourself outside your comfort zone. The more runners do this during training, the more likely they’ll be successful during a race. A certain amount of pain is normal.
Runners competing in races this time of the year have most likely put in time on the pavement and/ or treadmill so the race won’t be too physically draining. This doesn’t mean the race will be easy. But if you have put in your mileage each week, your body should be ready.
Below you will find some common mental challenges you may encounter during the race and how to overcome them:
Everyone around me seems to be going so much faster, maybe I should try and keep up.
Ask yourself why you’re doing this. Are you running for you or to win your age group? For most, the accomplishment is simply finishing the race, so keeping up with others does not need to be a priority. If your goal is to finish in a certain time, then you most likely know where you should be at each mile or kilometre. Place your focus on your pace. By the end of the race most of the people you think are going so fast may actually finish behind you.
My legs are burning or they feel like they weigh 100 pounds.
Some people refer to this as “hitting the wall.” During a race many runners will experience this. This may mean walking for a couple of minutes. For some, this may be a sign they’re pushing themselves too hard. For others, it’s simply one obstacle during a race they need to fight through and when they do they will feel like they have their second wind.
There is no way I can finish. What have I got myself into?
Focus on finishing one kilometre at a time and don’t think about the total distance ahead. Remind yourself how important this goal is to you and how much time you have spent training. This race is the reward for all of your hard work.
Ah, it is great to be back to the long email…
Have a great weekend,
John
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