Treherne Marathon

Starting point for full marathoners.  Minutes prior to lining up I spotted a runner wearing a shirt with I run to stop the voices in my head written on the back from Queen City Marathon.  This gave me a  good laugh and thought what a great way to start. This was Bob's first marathon as well,  and although we had put ourselves in as good a mental state as possible, nervous energy was just below our calm exterior.  This was Nicole's 3rd marathon and she always seems calm on race day and manages to pull off a positive attitude no matter how many miles lay ahead of her.

we passed this volunteer at the first water station.  His ghost mask doesn't show clearly but it was very funny and gave us a lift.  This was taken near the beginning of the race and my calves were a bit stiff.  It took about another mile to loosen them up.  I wore my old shoes and put the water shoes in the backpack  with the intention of switching over at the last part of the race.  That way I can stretch out my toes.  The rubber on my running shoes has completely worn off where my foot makes contact and I  am now left with running on the sponge part. The more I wear through them, the closer I am to the ground.  I am not ready to ditch my shoes completely.  

First hill.  This photo doesn't capture how steep it actually is. It brought back a memory of when I first ran the Treherne 1/2 some years ago and thought at the time how great it was to get the hill over with at the beginning of the race. HAHAHAHA!  This  time I was prepared for the MANY hills  and decided  to walk the incline  of most of them to conserve energy.  My main goal was to finish as strong as possible and I looked at this as a  long run Sunday in preparation for Vulture Bait ( 50K).

Nicole says she is always running behind Bob and I so I took her pic  running downhill in front of me.  She loves a downhill more than any runner I have ever seen.  Usually she speeds by us and then we catch her at the top.  Today  she ran to the  the top of the hills and did a silly happy dance for me, as I did for her in our last race together.   By now we have run many miles into a full on prairie wind and it seems there is no end.  Even when we finally turn a corner we got hit with a wicked cross wind. I manage to pass Bob at around mile 16 as he was putting on his vibrams while trying to keep his kilt down.  He mentioned that at one point it blew up over his head but thankfully there was nobody around to witness the event.  Actually , it would have given runners something to talk about for the next couple of miles which is always good to pass the time.  A little while later I ducked into a porta pottie and was so scared it was going to blow over with me in it that I high tailed it out of there asap.  Bob was not far behind and  said he could see it getting knocked around in the wind.  

At some point before this sign I saw 2 runners in the distance.  I was very happy to see people after many miles of running solo.  As I got closer I could see they were younger guys who looked quite fit. One guy was running ahead then coming back to his buddy and seemed to be trying to motivate him. As I got closer I could see his buddy was walking in a pained way and looked to have bonked...or close to it.   I ran faster to catch up with them.  I have in the past tried to offer food or drink to younger guys who have gone out too fast and now find themselves struggling.  They often look indignant that an older women is about to offer help and pass them. This time I was determined not to take no for an answer.  As I passed him I  said there wasn't much further to go and shoved my bag of M&Ms into his hand so he couldn't refuse.  I worried about him until I got to the next water station and told the aides to keep an eye on him.  if he wasn't with his buddy I would have stayed with him.  

The last 3 miles went by quickly and I was very pleased to have finished strong at 5 hours and 17 minutes ( don't laugh) with nothing more than a few blisters and  sore quads.  

Bob coming in a few minutes behind me looking strong.  he hasn't even been running for a year!  Nicole came in shortly after him looking as fresh as she always does.

...and these are my beer fairies (more like party boys).  As I was coming in the last few yards to cross the finish line these funny guys turned around, gave me a big smile, and let me pass them.  I thought how sweet, but then thought, boys being boys they probably did that  because I was wearing a short running skirt???  

Lucky for us I parked near them and they treated Bob, Nicole and I to a nice cold one.  Now that is  perfect way to finish a marathon! 

Note:  The young man who almost bonked ended up finishing the race after all!  We were so happy for him and he thanked me for the M&Ms. 

Treherne

2 nights to go!!!!

4 days to go!

The Last Long Run Before Treherne

7 days to Treherne, this would usually constitute a taper week, but I am not sure that is going to happen. I feel a couple of good runs might happen, to put me in to the comfort zone that I think I need to be in to be ready for next Sunday. All I am thinking right now, is 'Run, run, run', boy this is different from a year ago, when all I was thinking was 'Beer, beer, and more beer.'

Funny what a difference a year makes, in what you think is important in your life. Last year was all about the 'STUFF', I wanted the big screen tv with all the channels, the nice car, just simply all the toys. This year, I want to get rid of the tv and all the channels, I want to minimize all the 'crap' that we have collected over the years, I just want to go out and experience life and nature, to enjoy it for all it has to offer. Wow, I feel liberated.

Anyway, to get back to what I was originally writing about, 'The last long run before Treherne', we have to jump back to last night (being Saturday evening).

'It was a dark stormy night.......', just kidding it was actually a pleasant evening, about 17 degrees C, with blue skies. I was going to go out running with Gail to get a good run in prior to the taper week. Gail was working downtown, so she decided to run from work and we would meet up at the track at one of the high schools to do some laps. The goal was to run for 4 to 5 hours, and get as much mileage in as possible. I left the house about 6:00, and headed out wearing my running kilt, and carrying my VFF's as usual. I will admit, I was a little apprehensive at first about the kilt, as I was heading out by myself and it was very light out (the last time I went out was with both Nic and Gail and it was dark). Well that being said, it took about 2 minutes to hit my comfort zone, and from that point it was 'Who cares what people think, I am comfortable and that is all that matters.'

I headed from the house and decided to add a couple of miles by going the long way around to the track. This was done at a 9:00 min mile, a little quicker then I was originally intending, but I got into a groove and just decided to go with it. I did pass quite a few curious onlookers, including a older couple that actually turned around up the street to come back to I guess to confirm what they saw. I can imagine Fred and Ethel sitting in their car driving down the road, and Fred says to Ethel, "Did you see that? Was that somebody running with a kilt and no shoes?" and Ethel says "You must of been mistaken Fred, but lets go back to take a closer look". As it was definitely a much slower drive by, I just smiled and waved. Just some entertainment on the run. To be honest, I really don't care what people think nor say, I really believe that life is all about the 'Personal Choice', and this is mine.

Further down the road, I passed by a skateboarding park, which was currently packed with people, I did get quite a few thumbs up and a couple of whistles (still not quite used to that, might of turned a slight shade of red to match the kilt). It amazing to me that most of the younger kids and adults have more acceptance to getting away from the norm and being more of a free spirit. For this I am envious, and hope they never change (but unfortunately as they get older a lot of them are forced to conform to the norm, and thus lose their free spirit).

As I was running up to the track, I could see Gail running from the other direction, good timing as we arrived almost at the same exact time. After dumping some of the unnecessary items for the track (water bottle, cell phone, my VFF's that I was carrying), we hit the track. The intent was to run around the track for about an hour, so we did not to fast but at a steady pace. There always seems to be someone using this track, and tonight was no exception, we had a guy on roller blades being pulled around the track by his dog, a couple of other runners, a couple of walkers, and a couple arguing in the parking lot (never a dull moment). Nicole showed up with the kids and snacks about the mid point and we stopped to munch on some home made bannock and choc-zucchini muffins along with some Gatorade (need those calories). For the short time we stood there, we were swarmed by mosquitoes (damn, it's September they should all be dead by now), so we decided it was time to get moving again. We finished off the hour, not sure how many laps and or miles we did on the track, but we completed the goal that we set out for. It was now time to head out for some different scenery.

We grabbed our stuff, and headed out up the road, not exactly sure where we were going, just seeing where our feet would take us. We headed up P Avenue with the goal to run for another hour, and then Gail came up with the idea to stop for a beer once we finish the next hour to give us some more calories for the balance of the run. Me being a hasher, this sounded like a wonderful idea, and we were off to complete the next goal. Of course the hour was full of interesting looks and a comment from a lady walking her dog, "Doesn't it hurt to run with no shoes like that?" (She asked this, while pointing at my kilt), I politely said, "Not at all", I think she was still trying to process the no shoes then she saw the kilt. We carried on up the road, before heading north on SJ street back to N Ave. We passed by a fire truck and a police car at a call, and got a couple of looks, I don't know why this always brings a smile to my face, but it does.

We got to a local watering hole at pretty much the hour time, but I was trying to get my VFF's on, as I think it is not polite to go into a business with bare feet, and I was concerned about showing off my bare butt (and possibly other things) to the 2 women sitting in the window who were intently staring at me. I will say, I must learn how to bend over without exposing myself as well as how to sit with my legs closed (these are things guys never think about), so I don't give a free show every time I wear my kilt. I think Gail was seeing how uncomfortable I was and the time I was having trying to get my VFF's on, she suggested that we move on and she would grab a coke up the road. I agreed to this very quickly, so we headed out. Not to far up the road we found another little place that sold beer and it currently did not have any customers, so we ducked it there for our well deserved beer. I did get a couple confused looks from the three that were working, but them seemed quite happy to have us there, very friendly atmosphere, but I hope they are typically busier then they were at that moment. After Gail downed her beer, and I drank about 3/4 of mine (not a big fan of Moosehead), we headed out the door.

The one thing with stopping running and entering a building is, that I start to sweat very badly (not as much during the run, just once I stop). This happened at this point, and as we started running again, I thought I was experiencing some chaffing (in an area that I would definitely not prefer to chafe), under the kilt. Honestly, I really haven't had any chaffing to speak of to this point so I was just assuming this was what it was. Anyway, to make a long story short, it was not chaffing, just allot of sweating going on that was affecting the free swinging motion (I will leave this to your imagination). We carried on up the road at a decent pace, a couple more honks, a couple of whistles (I am still assuming these were all directed at Gail, because who would direct that towards the guy in the kilt?), just a normal day in a runners life. It was starting to get dark, and I was having a harder time picking up all the rocks and glass that were all over the sidewalk, so I had to concentrate hard to avoid as much as possible. This worked great until we got to a open field, and all the damn street lights were off (its great running for about a half mile in dark conditions when you can't see what you need to avoid). So during this time I stepped on a monster rock that hurt like a B***h, then I picked up some glass at the last moment, but still ended up with two pieces stuck in my left foot, I got one out, but missed the other (Nicole ended up digging it out of my foot the next day) which ended up really embedded in my heel.

We ran for about another mile or so, then stopped to walk for a bit, legs still felt good, but I had to answer the phone. We walked for about 1/4 mile, then went our separate ways towards home. I ran the last 2 miles in my VFF's as it was to dark to avoid anything properly without light (must remember to bring light next time if we plan on running after dark, makes life a lot easier), and kept about a 9:55 pace, not to bad. All in all, I ran for 3 hours 37 minutes and completed 17.5 miles (with a few stops and a walk along the way) this works out to a 12:25 mile and I could of kept running if I had needed too, so this makes me believe that I am ready for next weekend. Thanks Gail for spurring me on.


On On

Bob

One Week To Treherne

Well, here we are a little more than a week before I run my first full marathon (discounting the fact that I am running this in a kilt), I am a little shall I say worried about mileage completed this week. In short, I have run 0 miles. Am I concerned? Absolutely!

With my brother up, and not wanting to leave him and his fiancee to their own devices while I ran (I thought it was the host like thing to do!), I have not even got out to my typical Monday night Hash Run (but the meal we had was well worth it). I did have 2 early morning workouts at the YMCA this week but that's it. That being said, it is going to be a interesting weekend, as I have to run lots on my taper week. I am looking at a 20 plus miler on Sunday, and probably another long run on Monday if it's possible.

Wish me luck.

On On,


Bob

The Arrival of The New Running Gear

So I have been waiting patiently for the last couple of weeks for my new running gear to show up from the States (they actually arrived in Canada over a week again but got hung up in Customs - go figure). Anyway they finally arrived on Thursday of this week, and I was definitely wanting to give them a try on a run. But I am jumping ahead a little, a little background probably would help to explain my decision to try the Running Kilt. And yes, in case you are curious I am Scottish and damn proud of it.

I follow another blog by Jason R. called Barefoot Chronicles (link on the side of this blog), and he has starting running in a Sports Kilt , including the Burning River 100 mile ultra marathon. He has had nothing but great things to say about the kilts performance as well as the freedom (no pun intended). I will also admit the shock value of running down the road barefoot and sporting a kilt was also intreging, thus the decision and the order was made. It was going to be interesting introducing Winnipeg to the running kilt, I am not expecting this to be welcomed with open arms, but it will definitely be a great conversation starter.

The day my kilts arrived, of course I was at work, Nicole called me all excited to let me know, thus I told her to open the package to check them out (she did not need to be asked twice, she was almost as excited as I was to check them out). It would be a long wait till I got home to see them for myself, and to try them out on a run which would happen later that evening. It seemed like it took longer than normal to get to 9:00 that night, my niece was coming over to watch the boys, while Nicole and I met up with Gail for a quick 5+ mile run.

I ordered two diffent kilts, one is the same type that Rob from Barefoot Chronicles has (because there is no sense messing with something that you know works, if he can run 100 miles in it with no chaffing, then I should be able to breeze through a marathon), the Hiker Rusty Red Sport Kilt and the other is the HHH Hunting Kilt. The Hiker Kilt is made of a more light weight material that is perfect for running long distances, the HHH Hunting Kilt is made with a more traditional feel (I will be trying this one out on Monday night with the hashers, I expect a few comments and probably a few down downs). I will say this, the Sport Kilt is very easy to get on, and positions itself perfectly, and damn are they comfortable. I was a little concerned about wearing the kilt up above the navel (this is traditional wearing height of the kilt I am told), but after my run Thursday there is no concerns about that either. The other question is what to wear under the kilt, traditionally you wear nothing, and I am all about the tradition.

I heard a great line for when someone asks you what you are wearing under it, "The same thing as what's on my feet!" That will be my typical response as I do run barefoot.

The only issue that I can see with the kilt is getting used to how to position myself if I need to sit down, this could be interesting, as I could be letting it all hang out. The run went well, I did get some interesting looks, and some cars stayed a little longer at stop signs, etc (could of been the barefeet or the kilt, but more than likely it was the beautiful woman who was running beside me with the bare feet as well). I was quite happy with the performance, honestly felt like I wasn't wearing anything, had to look down a couple of times to make sure I did not loose the kilt. The double velcro fasteners worked great, no slippage at all, and the constant breeze was great because it reduced the sweat and moisture that typically gathers in that area.

Overall the kilt will be a great addition to my running gear, and I can't wait to run a race (Treherne Marathon) utilizing it. I would recommend the kilt to anyone who would like to experience something a little different.

On On,

Now Kilted and Barefoot Bob

Preparing For Treherne Marathon

So it has been a interesting couple of weeks, I have been running more and more barefoot, and just carrying my shoes in my hands just in case. I continue to get weird looks from numerous people as I stride down my running route of the day, minus the foot gear. I can only imagine the looks I will be getting when my new running gear comes in from the States (I might just cause an accident or two). I am hoping they are here by the end of the week (and no I am not saying anymore nor giving any hints to what they might be!).

As we get closer to the Treherne 'Run for the Hills' Marathon (just over 2 weeks away), I have been trying to increase my milage so I will be ready (I have been also dragging out G as well as she is running it as well). This being my first marathon, I am going in with no expectations, other than the desire to finish, as this is also stepping stone to the next first, which is a 50 km ultra in October (more on this in another post). This has been a year of firsts for me, I have been officially running for one year in October of this year, I have completed my first 5 km, 10 km, city half marathon, and rural half marathon, and this past week I finished my first official trail race.

In the last couple of weeks I have completed the following milage barefoot, trying to prep for Treherne:

Monday August 8: 3.0 miles (Hash House Harriers) Fountain Run downtown
Tuesday Aug 9: 6.5 miles (Downtown to St. James Street)
Friday Aug 12: 6.5 miles (Portage Route)
Sunday August 14: 17.5 miles (Grant /Wellington Cres. & Portage Avenue route) with G
Monday Aug. 15: 3.5 miles (Hash House Harriers - trail run)
Friday August 20:6.5 miles (from Polo Park to home)
Saturday Aug. 21: 7.5 miles (Try a Trail 12 km trail race) with N & G
Sunday Aug. 22: 10.0 miles (From Running Room Grant Ave to St. Norbert) with N & G
Monday Aug. 23: 4.0 miles (Hash House Harriers) St. Boniface

Total of 65 miles barefoot in the last 2 weeks, not to shabby.

My original plan for Treherne was to do the entire marathon barefoot, but it appears that the entire run is on gravel, so I am a little tenetive to commit to this. I am very happy with my performance on gravel, but 26.2 miles on gravel might be a little to much at this point. So I expect I will start the run in my VFF's and do portions barefoot as I evaluate the course. I hope to do as much as possible without, but over that distance I can expect some nicely bruised feet, but who knows.

On, On

Bob