Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Marathon Runners - video clip

Here is a funny comedy clip about marathon runners.

http://www.rooftopcomedy.com/watch/MarathonRunners

Hey, it is important to laugh at ourselves, right?

Around The Bay 30K Road Race 2010


The Barrie Road Runners assemble in new shirts prior to the race.

Kathy (GONE2THEDOGS) and I pre-race.

Place - 4008/5697
Gun Time - 3:15:06.5
Chip Time - 3:10:58.1
Pace Avg - 6:31
F40-44 Age Category Result - 278/469
Gender Place - 1563/2683
10km split - 1:03:39
15km split - 1:35:43
20km split - 2:07:42

Older than Boston, this race is. This was the 116th running of the Around The Bay 30K Road Race in Hamilton Ontario. I had heard much about this race over the years and much of what I had heard was to not be fooled by the distance. Just because it is a 30K and not a full marathon, doesn't mean it is any less of a race. You break this race down into three sections as it is roughly a triangle with each leg being approximately 10K. The first leg carries you through and out of Hamilton. Not the prettiest of towns, but many members of this community were out on the streets and cheering us on, while some were complaining that they could not cross the street to get their laundry done.


Gathering at the start line. Over 10,000 participants overall.

With my pace buddy, Dave before the start.

Gun has gone off, 5 minutes before we cross the start line.

Starting down the streets of Hamilton.

Dave looking fresh.

Me feeling fresh.

We turn into Burlington and run along the east shore of Lake Ontario, along Beach Rd. I had a coach who used to live in one of these quaint beach houses. Again, people were out lining the streets to cheer us on with signs and noise-makers, but along this stretch, the most memorable cheer-leaders were the senior citizens from a nursing home lining their stretch called "Tin Pan Alley". They beat on pots and pans and are apparently there, every year, rain or shine. We ran along with a man, momentarily, who was wearing an orange bandana and Dave commented, "Nice bandana!"
Bandana man, "Thanks, it was my mothers."
Me, "Awe..."
Bandana man, "She hated that I ran."
Me, "Oh, so you wear it just to show her? My dad hates that I run, too."
Bandana man, "No, I wear it to have a piece of her with me on my runs, she was a strong lady."
I love this guy, and get all verklempt.
We crossed over the Canada Customs lift bridge which has wide grating, so was kind of freaky, and pass the 15K mark. Halfway! We veer left and enter the third leg of the race. We pass another man who states to us, "You run the first third of this race with your head, the second phase of this race with your heart and the third phase of this race tests your personality." I guess he means your guts?

Each kilometer was clearly marked with signs and each sign had an incredible motivational quote to read. I looked forward to each and every one and surely wish I could remember just one!

UPDATE : I did remember one, and this one is great, "Most people don't have the balls for endurance running. The polite word for them is sprinters."


Heading into the last third of the race.

We turned into Burlington, the last third of the race, at about the 18K mark. I told Dave to go ahead whenever he felt ready. Up to now, we had been deliberately maintaining a comfortable pace and kept the reigns on ourselves. I wanted to conserve for the first 2/3 of the race and then do whatever we felt capable of in the last third. He broke away at the 22K mark and ended up four minutes ahead of me in final chip time. I had great energy. I loved the hills through this section as they engaged new muscles and included refreshing downhills. The homes were gorgeous and the people of this community were out in full force.


Stan the Midget was out, as per tradition, blasting "We Will Rock You" from his boom box. This guy is another famous fixture on this race course.

A Barrie Running Room runner came up from behind. This is James, he is a Chi Running instructor in Barrie.

He, in turn, took my picture.

We were now into the deep hills and as I came around the corner, I came up on THE HILL. This race has a notorious hill at the 24K mark, approximately. I have been so forewarned about this hill, but have also trained hard hills, so literally, when we started up the hill, I had to turn to a lady and ask, "Is this THE hill?"


Base of THE hill. It is 450m and 18% grade, but still...

I breezed up it and clipped people off one by one as I went. A man yelled out at me, "Great pace, you've got this!" And I did!

At the top of the hill there is a man dressed in a Superman costume giving everyone high fives. He is a tradition, too, rain or shine. He shouted out, "Great work on that hill!" Another man replied, "What hill?!" My sentiments exactly.

Now we were on the final 6K and I was feeling fresh. I did surges between pylons for the last 6K. Three pylons hard, two pylons easy. I was passing people and this felt good. We pass a large cemetery and people are dressed in Grim Reaper costumes and coming out, grabbing your hand and saying, "It is time to come with me, now, my darling." I was cracking up, and saying, "No, sir, it is not my time yet, I am feeling too good!" Oh, that part was hysterical. I couldn't fumble fast enough to get my camera out for Superman and the Reaper, but next year. They are worth the photos - next time, for sure.


In the far distance on the other side of the harbour, that's where we had been.


The final stretch to the finish. Copps Coliseum in the background.

Our finish is inside the Coliseum, so it is exciting and a lot of fanfare. The crowds line the streets in front of the Coliseum and cheer you in. I was in a full on surge, which felt like a sprint, but lets be real. The crowd most certainly carried me. As you enter the Coliseum, the announcer announces your grand entrance. That was very cool. This time I remembered to smile as I crossed the line and did not have my finger on the stop button of my watch with my head down. Although I did not raise my arms up. That will take a bit of coaxing.


Across the line and into the cattle chutes. Just show me the bananas...

Blurry, but the finish line inside Copps.

Kathy through the finish (in purple).

Sandra and me.

Dave and me - and I am trying to dig out my medal.

The hardware!

After a nice pint of Keith's Ale and a couple of Advil at Slaintes Irish Pub.
We are feeling no pain!

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Hill Training ROCKS!

I love these Dirty Girls cartoons, and they can be found at the Dirty Girls Run website. I am so looking forward to both the Dirty Girls Run (30K) and the Chocolate Run (Half Marathon) this August as the race, organization, people and concept all sound so fun!

So, I love the above cartoon as it is so me these days. I am loving the hill training. My body feels it's best in the midst of hill training. I feel myself getting stronger; nothing hurts; nothing feels strained. We did nine hills last night, including the Nelson St stairs and...drumroll please...Dundonald! All tolled we ran about 15km last night!

The Around The Bay 30km road race is this weekend. The forecast has changed and they are now calling for rain. I am staying optimistic that the forecast will change back to part sun and cool temps. That is what they were saying earlier in the week. Fingers crossed. I am going to treat this race as a training run -- at least run with my head for the first 20km and see how I feel.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Getting up there in training runs

The training is increasing. Weekly mileage and long Sunday runs are on the rise and so far, so good.

This past week, the mileage increased by 10%. Oops, not the 2% increment that is recommended. I trod cautiously through the week, paying attention to my body and it's complaints.

I am craving carbs and when not fueling properly I am reaching for honey and simple sugars. I was buying gummy bears for a couple of days in a row last week. That is a tell-tale sign that something is amiss.

I am ache and pain free until about the 14km mark in any given run. That is when the top insertion point of my hamstrings, glutes and low-back (sacro-iliac) starts to kick in. I had a great long run yesterday and it would have been 100% had it not been for this nagging pain.

I did an hour of yoga when I got home, spent some time on a tennis ball and foam roller and that felt better. A trip to a chiropractor would help loosen up that seemingly seized sacro-iliac area, too, I am sure.

We have the Around the Bay 30K race this weekend, but I am going to treat it like a long training run as I would rather my race focus be the Mississauga Marathon on May 16.

Looks like we have a decent day lined up for this Sunday :: part sun/cloud and 4 C. Neither hot, wet or frigid. Just right. Ahhh, now for the big question...what to wear?

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Chilly Half Marathon Summary

WHAT A DAY!!!! The sun was shining, the temperatures very spring-like and the race route was beautiful (lovely homes, great crowd and scenic waterfront). The race was very well organized, the shirts bright and cheery and the camaraderie of the Barrie Running Room contingent was supportive, enthusiastic and upbeat.





The race was set to start at 10:05 and for an hour prior, we debated on what layers we needed. At 9am there was partial cloud and a slight wind, but temperatures were supposed to be 9C and sunny I ran at roughly 10am the day before and a long sleeve layer over short sleeve base layer was more than enough, so I stuck with my plan and it worked well. I needed a gel between 8-10km so I am glad I packed one at the last minute. I could have used one more bottle of water on my Fuel Belt, but still managed fine and was decently hydrated -- not over, not under.

One of our group members/co-leader, Dave, committed to being my pacer for the race which was so generous. We have trained at similar paces through the season and he pushes me just enough. We started out very well and were keeping under 6:00/km pace, but at the 8km mark, I felt the heavy legs coming on and knew I needed that gel. That helped. By 14-15km, my tights hip issues started to re-appear and that gave me something to think about for 5km.

But with 5km to go, I was pretty jazzed, kept my cool and decided not to power-up a finish until a half km to go. Dave took off for his finish with 1 km to go and he finished a minute-plus ahead of me. That was great because it gave me someone to hug when I crossed the finish line.





We wandered around post-race and found the most yellow bananas I have ever seen, so I took two. We all know how much I love bananas. They served us, very appropriately, chili. Deeeelicious. With food in tummy we wandered over to cheer on the rest of the finishers.

Then it was time to get back on the bus and head home. We seized up a bit in those cramp quarters, but again the camaraderie was fun. Runners are a great bunch of people!

I ran a full marathon, rather pathetically, back in 1994 and have not raced a race since, save for the few 5K's that Kathy and I have run in the past year. And prior to July 2009, I could not run a full kilometer, let alone 30 seconds. So here we are, after focusing on training for this race all winter long through all sorts of conditions, across the finish line. I am so proud of Kathy and I. Bring on the next challenge (which is a 30K race on May16).

Here are my stats for this, my first ever full Half Marathon! ::

Jennifer Remazki :: Bib number 1238
1579 out of 2499 Finishers
657 out of 1323 Females Finishers
116th out of 221 Females 40-44
Gun time :: 2:10:49
Chip time :: 2:08:25
Average pace per kilometer:: 6:12