Things I think about while cleaning my cat's behind...

This week started off with a trip to the vet for Princess Cone Head (the cat formerly known as "Nimbus"). I found an abscess in her hind leg on Sunday night. It was nasty.

The vet said it was about the size of a tennis ball and most of it was inside. Yummy.

This week my training has included learning such tasks as:
1) How to give a cat a pill (an exercise in will, strength and patience)
and
2) Hydrotheraphy (at least that's what the vet called it). The real name for it is "Giving your cat's back end a shower". That could be somewhat likened to wrestling with a tiger.

I shouldn't complain. She's a good cat. What seems to stress her out the most is not being able to wash herself at all because of the cone. She found a way to reach the last couple of inches of her tail and she purrs like a freight train when she cleans it.

I think this qualifies as "Mom duty", no??

A nice bonus is that I was able to fix up Turtle Guy with a new girl. She's a 4-month old kitten that a family had brought in to be euthanized because she scratched their baby. The folks at the vet clinic decided that at four months old there was a chance she could be socialized and trained to be less aggressive, so they asked if they could attempt to do that and re-home her. The family agreed. The vet clinic said that within a week she'd come a long way and they hoped to find her a home soon. I thought of Turtle, who lost both his cats not too long ago and next thing you know, I got a photo of his new little treasure, who has yet to be named, I understand. In any event, for sure she'll find a good home over at Turtle's.

As for running training, I've been in recovery this week, doing short, easy runs. I realized that I ran pretty hard last weekend and my legs still feel heavy. I'll go out again today, but I think I'll only do 5 miles or so.

In his last comment, Rob asked if I was going to start training for a marathon. The answer is yes.

Now, there are various other questions to answer... Which one? Where? When? How to train...?

I've started to put together a training calendar that spans several months. It's only in draft form and I'll definitely consult with a few people on it, but at least it gets me thinking about it.

I've been asking around as to what's a good marathon to run. Various answers have come in. Karen says I should do the Stampede marathon here in Calgary (so she can cheer me on, bless her heart!) Robb says I should get my butt home to Halifax and run the Blue Nose Marathon next May long weekend. Dawn has said we should train together for the marathon on Prince Edward Island next October.

My chiropractor has suggested that I consider the Okanagan International Marathon or the Royal Victoria Marathon, both in the neighboring province of British Columbia or the Portland Oregon Marathon, all of which would be exactly one year from this weekend. His reasoning is that it means I wouldn't have to do long training runs in the bitter cold of Alberta winters... and that running at lower altitudes is easier.

I am undecided. I like Karen's idea because my first half marathon in July took me over some of the same course this year. I could run the rest of the course in my training and really know what I was getting into. Besides, I like the idea of running at home and having people I know be there!

Robb's idea is my dream; to go back home and run in the city where I grew up would be thrilling! I know many of those streets, too. I could catch up with old friends and meet Robb and Running Wife, which would be very cool.

The idea of training with someone, Dawn, and going to a race together sounds like a blast! She's an experienced runner and I am guessing that I'd have a good time no matter what.

Hhhmm... Decisions, decisions.... Anyone else got any ideas??

Oh yeah, training advice and recommendations for books to read are also welcome.

What is that expression? "The journey of 26.2 miles begins with a single step," right?

Here I go...

Harvest Half Marathon report

Happy, happy, happy! I ran my second half marathon today. My official time was 2:07:07.

This means I took 11 minutes off my time from July. Yaaay! My goal was 2:10, so I was pleased.

One weird thing was... I placed 294th overall. If you look at the photo, you can see that my race number was also 294. Kind of twighlight-zoney, eh? I don't know what the statisitcal probability of that is, but next time I'm going to ask for bib number 001!

A number of things went wrong leading up to the race. I was tired, burnt out, and felt like I was "not on my game". Went to the doctor. My blood was generally fine. Thyroid a bit high, blood sugar a bit low, but all within normal range. The general diagnosis: "Overdoing it." Great thing to hear less than 2 weeks before a half marathon.

Between that and the last meeting I had with my trainer where he said there was no physiological reason for the decline in my training performance and that it was mental... that being mentally tough was important (a "chat" that felt like a mental beating in itself) I went into today's race feeling a little less "sharp" than with my first half marathon in July.

My massage therapist cancelled on my pre-race appointment, and my chiropractor let loose on me a bit about how a race shouldn't just be about getting a certain time... "That's like it being all about the money for a business person. If you take that attitude, it is never good enough. It never ends. It should be a celebration of the training."

I agree with the last bit, but I wasn't sure where the tongue lashing came from... I don't think I'm obsessed with race times and in general, I think I set reasonable goals. But whatever... For a variety of reasons, I went in feeling like like the lead-up to a big event was less than ideal.

However, I owe a big debt of gratitude to Alia, who served as my chauffeur, cheerleader and race crew. She arrived at my house at 6:30 am to pick me up and then took care of me until the minute she dropped me off at my door. She's not a runner herself, but man, she is one helluva supporter.

I also owe thanks to a new runner friend who has run in the same event in previous years. Prior to the race he gave me a tour of the course, told me where the tough bits were and ran a few kms of it with me as a training run. That was huge boost psychologically and in the midst of a string of things that felt wrong, it was particularly helpful.

Alia was also the official photographer for the day. As we were looking at the photos after the race, she giggled at this one. Apparently, runners are tall people. Or at least, I make them look that way.

The race course itself was beautiful. About 60-70% of it was through a park area, with lots of trees, a river and positively gorgeous views. There were parts that were breathtaking.

My weakness in this race was that I started out too fast. I slowed down quite a bit on some nasty hills at the end. Despite the fact that I love hills and have been known to almost shriek with delight when I train on them, I was a bit spent when I got to "the killer" hill in the last 3 km.

My iPod konked out on my around 9 km, which threw me for a bit of a loop, since I almost always train with it. It did that to me in the gym last week. I'd heard that iPods get to the point where they won't hold a charge any more. I had it charging for 2 entire days before the race, so the battery was full when I started. I did manage to get it going again, but the volume was low. I knew I couldn't count on the music for motivation, but I wanted to enjoy it as long as I could.

One of the first things I said to Alia upon finishing was, "I really have to learn to keep my shirt on!"

She replied, "Yeah, you really do!"

It was between 2 C and 3 C (around 35-36 F) for the duration of the race, but I got so hot I felt like I was melting, so off the shirt came. I do believe I was the only woman running in a racer top today. But whatever. I was too hot and sweaty to care.

The usual blister issue existed, but I am getting used to it now. I brought my own first aid kit and patched myself up after the race. I knew they were bleeding, but I was able to manage it well enough that they didn't soak through to my shoes this time.

All in all, it was fun. The lead up conditions were not as ideal as they were for my first half in July, but I am happy that I ran it. It was a beautiful day and it did not rain or snow, as they'd talked about in the forecast. I had fantastic support from a dedicated friend. I managed the blisters better than ever before. Despite feeling a little tired and achy, my knees and hips felt good and strong. I managed the GI issues. (Alia and I went for eats after - and coffee, of course!) And I took 11 minutes off my time from my first half marathon in July. Yes, overall... today I am a happy, happy runner!

Half Marathon Report

Quick overview

Official chip time: 2:18:06

Splits:
mile - pace (minutes / mile)

1 - 28:43

2 - 10:02
3 - 10:02

4 - 12:34

5 - 9:43

6 - 8:46

7 - 10:02

8 - 10:14

9 - 10:24

10 - 6:32

11 - 7:58

12 - 8:31

13 - 10:11

Finish line pace - 6:32

Pre-race report

The week before the race was up and down, full of doubt and fear, as well as anticipation and giddiness.

A couple of days before the race, I went to Dr. Mike for a chiropractic adjustment. As I was laying on the table we were talking about the race and he said, "I can't even believe we are talking about this... not considering where you were when we started."

Took me back to memories of my first visit with him about 14 months ago... Knee brace, not running, not even walking comfortably, in pain and frustrated, spending many private moments in tears. Seems like a long time ago now.

As I was about to leave the other day he stopped me and said, "If I can offer you one piece of advice..."

Now, I have to say that being someone who's run multiple marathons and qualified for Boston, when Dr. Mike offers running advice, I listen.

He continued, "... just one piece of advice: Enjoy it. Enjoy every stride. Don't worry about the time. Just enjoy. You've worked hard and you deserve that."

Good advice, I thought.

I did my last run before the race with my trainer, Kevin. It was a hot afternoon and we ran pretty hard. Well, let me qualify that. I ran pretty hard... wheezing and gasping while he happily chatted away. Show off!

Needless to say, my race pace will be considerably slower than we did that day, I thought, but in any event, the last training run let me burn off some stress. After we talked race strategy and I got a bit of a pep talk, which helped calm me down.

The next day I found myself back in the same spot I was last year, volunteering at "race central". Dawn had e-mailed a while back to ask if I'd help out again. I agreed and this time, I got to volunteer with her, working with the crew who handed out packages and T-shirts to the course marshalls and other volunteers.

I was thrilled to see my good friend, Alia, when she came in to pick up her volunteer package. She's among the normal humans who just don't get the insanity of running. Even though she thinks I'm strange for wanting to run, she wanted to support me and decided that the best way to do that would be to volunteer for the race. What a great friend, eh?

A few runners came in dejected and said, "Registered. Can't run. Injured. Need any more volunteers?" We signed them up right away and I was able to say, "I feel your pain. I was in your position last year. It stinks being injured, but we sure do appreciate the help... and so will those who are running on Sunday."

It was a fantastic way to spend a Friday evening! Dawn's already got me booked to volunteer again next year.

Race report

As is perfectly normal, I woke up with the jitters, afraid that a million things would go wrong. My room mate, Gord, had appointed himself to be my race support for the day, bless his soul. It's great to have such supportive friends and I owe them a debt of gratitude.

Gord was already up eating breakfast when I got up. He kept me in one piece before we parted at the start line and carried all my stuff while I ran and took care of all driving. Am I lucky, or what?

The race itself was fantastic! I had run most of the course in my training and so I knew more or less what was coming. The race went through the grounds of the Calgary Stampede and yes, it's Stampede time, folks! Even though the grounds were not yet open to the public for the day, lots of people were there and the energy levels were high. I was a bit worried about the smells of corn dogs and mini donuts upsetting my tummy, but most of the fryers weren't up and running for the day, so it was all good.

Then, we went through the zoo. This is the part of the course that I had not done in my training because normally you would need to pay to get into the zoo and I'm not sure it would be good zoo etiquette to go running through the crowds of people visiting the animals. Anyway, this turned out to be my favorite part of the course - the greenery, the animals and the zippy little parts of the trail that zig zag sharply up and down hills. I wasn't too keen on the gravel parking lot bit at the end of that section of the course, but it was OK.

After the zoo the course went back to city streets. There were lots of course marshalls and supporters along the route. I remember thinking a couple of times, "God, this is the best run, EVER!"

I had been hoping for a time of 2:45. Then I saw the pace bunnies for a 2:30 finish and slipped by them. I felt strong and it was the second half of the race, so I just kept going. I doubted I could catch up to the 2:15 pacers, but thought maybe I could get in around 2:20, if I was lucky.

I saw Alia marshalling at around km 16 or so. Gord was standing with her, taking pictures. I gave her a hug, thanked for volunteering as Gord joked, "You're wasting time... Get moving!"

I found myself slowing down a bit around mile 12, but then I thought, "You're not giving up now, girl!"

In the very last kilometre there's a short, but brutal hill before the finish line. Lots of people were walking by then. At that point, I was grateful for my hill training, even if it had messed up my knee a bit. I thought to myself, "I love hills! These legs were meant to run hills." I was happy that I did not stop to walk, though it did slow me down a bit (hence the slow split time near the end).

At the very end I was able to kick it across the finish line and I crossed the finish line doing a 6:32 min/mile pace, which made me happy. My Garmin said 2:18:10 -- better than any of us expected, by a long shot.

Receiving the finisher's medal was definitely a hightlight of the race, too.

Medical report

My knees held up! I think the taper definitely helped. My right knee is a bit sore as I write this, but that's to be expected. Overall, I'm thrilled!

My gut behaved! I avoided both dairy and fruit in the 18 hours before the race and took the Pantoloc the doctor prescribed. I'm very happy to report that I did not puke. I did not even come close to puking. In fact, after the race Gord, Alia and I went for breakfast. All I could think about was "Coffee.... Where's the coffee???"

After the race I was sitting on the grass for a bit and noticed my shoe.

"Oh, shit," I thought. "That's blood.

I went over to the first aid tent and grabbed a couple of band aids for what turned out to be some monster blisters.

I felt them coming on during the race, but didn't realize they were bleeding. I'll spare you the photo of the feet. The sock says it all. But really, what's a running event without some kind of medical issue, right?

Post race

Gord's plan was to meet me at the finish line and take photos. In the event of something unforseen, we had a rendez-vous point in the parking lot at the finish line.

I didn't see him when I came in, so I walked around for a bit. I went and got some recovery food and went to the rendez-vous point. I sat on the grass and stretched out for a bit. I didn't have my cell phone with me, so I borrowed one to call him. But I got the number wrong, so I just decided to wait.

After a while I went back to the finish line. A first-aider was handing out foil blankets to runners who were finished. He offered me one and I took it.

Still no sign of Gord. I heard that the first woman marathoner was about to cross the finish line, so I waited around and saw her finish.

Then the most unexpected part of the race happened for me. I started bawling! I hate crying. I hate crying in public more. But I just couldn't help it. All the emotion welled up from somewhere inside me. I walked back to the meeting point and sat on the grass again, with the silver blanket wrapped around me sobbing and sobbing.

A few people asked if I was OK. "Yes," I sniffed. "Just a little emotional."

Among them were the 2:30 pace bunnies - the ones I'd passed. They stopped and chatted for a few minutes (to make sure I was OK, I think.) They told me that they'd both cried at races, too. They shook my hand and congratulated me on finishing and then they went on their way.

After I composed myself I got up again and walked along the finish line until I found Gord. I had been done for well over an hour by that point. When I saw him he said, "How did I miss you?" I smiled and said, "Cause I came in over an hour ago!"

He was ticked that he missed his finish line photo op, but we got one anyway:

All in all, I am thrilled. The experience was fantastic. The medical issues were minor. I felt totally supported by two amazing friends who were rooting for me from pre-start to post-race. My time was better than anything I'd done in training and much better than I hoped for. And I came away thinking about what the next race would be.

Half marathon decision

Medical advice on the knee has been sought from 2 professionals.

They agreed.

I listened.

The taper has begun.

Various countdowns

I have not been blogging much lately because life seems rather ordinary lately. That can be a good thing... and I've been enjoying it. I have needed the break.

There are, however, a number of things in the works.

In less than a week
I will have my PhD oral candidacy exam. It's a two-hour exam, conducted by 5 professors and one neutral chair. After that I find out if I passed. The big paper I wrote and the oral exam are a package deal... pass or fail both at once. And the examining committee's decision must be unanimous.

After that, I'll share the exam questions and tell you what the oral was like. Until then, I am doing more preparatory reading. The reading never ends, I tell you!

In less than a month
I'll do the half marathon. It's on July 8. I am totally stoked about it! So far, training with Kevin is going well. I look forward to each day of running with exuberance and bubbly anticipation.

Today I did interval training. God, I love intervals! I finish wanting more... and in a way that only runners would appreciate, feel a bit let down when it's over. I want to keep going, but I don't. I follow the plan.

I went a bit over the top last weekend with my long run and planned a route with some seriously tough hills on it. That was my idea though, not the trainer's. When I told Kevin about it, I got a gentle reply about not overtraining... Oh yeah, and Dr. Mike, the chiropractor, expressed both respect and concern in a similar manner. He said something to the effect that I was a "serious runner" but, "Maybe it's not a good idea to do that again."

Anyway, it was just shy of 12 miles, with half of it being up hill. I was happy that I did it. I like the gritty runs!

I went for my annual physical last week. My doctor was asking me how training was going. She got all excited when I told her about the half. She's an Ironman athlete herself and she likes to talk about training. She said, "Well, once you're done the half you can start training for a full marathon!"

I replied tentatively, "Well, um... you know... one step at a time."

She smiled and nudged further, "If you can do a half, you can do a marathon. No problem!"

I seem to be getting nudged from various directions about moving up to a full... and I haven't even done this half yet. And the only road race I have done since I was 15 years old was the Forzani's 5 km race in May. I think I need some more road race experience before I even think about doing a full marathon... Let's see how the half goes in July.

Oh, I do have a question for fellow runners out there. Has anyone found a lip balm that's good for running? Specifically, I'd like one that I can open with one hand, rather than having to fiddle with two hands. My lips get really dry on my long runs and the one I'm using just doesn't seem to work that well... and I'm always afraid of losing the little cap too. Anyway, advice is welcome!

Also in less than a month
I'll be in England visiting my family there. I have been looking forward to this for a long time! My sister and I will be travelling together. I haven't seen her in a while either, so it will be good to catch up all around.

I leave two days after the half marathon. I'm not sure that my legs will appreciate being stuffed into an airline seat for nine or so hours after that kind of run, but I'm sure I'll survive. There are times when having short legs is good... and travelling is one of those times!

So, there you have it... Many things are "in progress". I'll keep you posted.

"It's in God's hands now"

That's what my room mate, Gord, said to me this morning when I told him that I was done with my candidacy paper... Done as in, it's edited, in envelopes ready to be delivered to the committee members and also, done fretting.

I am a "fretter extraordinaire", type A, pathological perfectionist, relentlessly driven by (usually self-imposed) goals. I'm trying to curb this somewhat, as it takes its toll on a human soul after a while, but nevertheless, the essence is there.

When I told him I was done fretting he said something to the effect of, "Won't do you much good now, anyway". Then we both chuckled.

Since I didn't know what candidacy exams were all about before I was smack in the middle of the PhD program, let me explain by saying it's like a big-huge take home exam. You get questions that only you can answer, based on all your research and studies, so getting help is out of the question.

You go away and write. For 28 days. Solid.

For those of you who were jabbing me because I finished the first draft early, I remind you that my draft was 13 pages longer than the 40 page limit. That means, I had to spend a good deal of time cutting out about 25% of the paper. Yeah, like that's easy.

Then I had to read and re-read, since it was littered with typos and silly mistakes. I suspect there are still a few, though I should be most grateful if my committee graciously does not notice them.

The final version of the take home exam is then delivered to 5 professors. 4 of them I have met before, 1 of them I have not.

They have a few weeks to read it. Then, you have a 2-hour oral exam.

Passing or failing is a package deal. All 5 professors must unanimously agree that you pass both the paper and the oral exams, or ... well... you fail.

If you pass, then you then go from being a "PhD student" to a "PhD candidate" (hence the term "candidacy exam"). All that means is that they've decided you're good enough to go do a thesis.

That then consumes your life for the next few years.

Anyway, my paper was delivered into the campus mailboxes of the committee members today.

And I'm off to have my first meeting with my new trainer, Kevin, in a few moments. The fellow I was working with before, Chris, took a higher level position elsewhere. It's nice to see him move ahead in his career and I have to say that I came a long way training with him over these past couple of years.

I figured it would be good to break Kevin in gently. I've challenged him to train me for a half-marathon.

It's July 8. I've already registered.

Stress junkie.