What a great day out there on October 11th. The 30th Annual Royal Victoria Marathon was incredible! This was the largest race they had ever held with almost 12,000 participants in various categories. The city was buzzing, to say the least, and the trip was awesome.
Karen and I powered through the race beginning that balmy Sunday morning at 8:30am. We began our day with our usual routine of oatmeal and toast, packed up our gear and headed out to the 8 degree weather to meet everyone else at the start line. We decided to line up near the back of the pack since our official time wouldn't start until our timing chips crossed the starting mat.
It didn't take long to get warm that morning as we headed up our first hill and into the sun. The road became a sea of runners as far as the eye could see in front of and behind us. It was now time to put our training to the test as we settled into our run. My only issue was that I may have over hydrated in the morning, meaning I had to find a port-a-potty soon. The only problem was that the line-ups would slow me down. Other runners were also in the same situation.
At every 3-4km, they had volunteers manning aide stations. They handed out water, gatorade and power gels. With every water station, I weighed the pros and cons about taking another drink. In my mind, I figured I could wait an hour or so before I burst or I could hope that the sensation would simply go away. Little did I know that I would have to wait over 3 hours to relieve myself. In retrospect, I should have just waited the minute or two near the beginning.
Nevertheless, the run felt great. Karen and I managed to keep our pace steady throughout the race. We each experienced some high and low moments as we made our way up and down the rolling landscape. There were times when my legs tightened and I wanted to stop and give them a rest. But our strategy was clear, we had to keep running as long as we could and walk only as we passed the aide stations for a drink and maybe some food. So keep moving we did.
As time passed it was evident that this race would be as much a mental challenge as it is a physical one. The spectators, volunteers and supporters were amazing. The energy around us showed us why this is such a popular event to take part in. There were entertainers playing music, dancing, singing; there were people holding up signs of encouragement; and there were people calling out your name "You can do it Dan, you're the man!" How did they know my name? It was printed on my race bib along with my race number. What a nice touch.
As we hit certain distances along the way, I remembered my training runs. This is what it feels like to be at 30km, now just push past 35km and you're home free. At 32km I pushed past Karen. She was at a low point and didn't want to hold me up. So away I went, grinding out the last few kilometers. Up the hills. Down the hills. The course was rarely flat. Every time I got to the top of hill, I breathed a sigh of relief. At 37km I neared the top of one of the last long hills. I was so thankful. This part of the course I was familiar with since we had just run part of it the day before. One of the volunteers called out "Only 5km left Dan. Give me 5 solid kilometres. Promise me." I nodded as I came over the hill, taking nice long strides as I sped down the next 2km. My legs were pretty tight by now so even though going down hill felt much better than up, it hardly felt really good at all.
I was happy to see the water station at the bottom of the hill. I quickly grabbed a cup of gatorade and then a cup of water. No time to doddle, got to keep going. I chucked by cups and started moving my legs. Not even five strides, I heard a familiar voice. I turned quickly and to my surprise and delight, it was Karen. She had pushed through her low point until she regained her rhythm and somehow had managed to catch me. Wow! She's pretty amazing.
With only 3 kilometres left, I felt a renewed sense of determination. Somewhere in the back of my mind was a vision of me breaking up the last 3km running and walking and doing whatever was necessary to get finish it. With Karen by my side, there was no way I would even consider stopping now. As we approached each marker, the energy levels increased. The last few twists and turns of the course burned the legs, but brought us closer and closer to the end. And as we got closer to the finish line, we kept running faster and faster. As the finish line came into sight, we began sprinting. We passed others who were casually jogging their way to the end.
What a finish. And we crossed the line at the exact same time. It was so exciting with music playing and an announcer calling out our names. But I remember it only as a quick blur. Our official time - 4 hrs 23 min and 04 sec. After a few days of rest, I'll be at home, dreaming up the next crazy scheme for us to do.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Rotary Update
One of my favorite organizations to be involved in is Rotary. There are few organizations that can accomplish what Rotary can in the community, locally, regionally and internationally. Here's a highlight of last Rotary year.
In October, a small group of us traveled to Arauco, Chile to follow up on some projects we've been working on. The latest was the installation of a heating system in a seniors care centre. We also donated $5,000 to stock a library in a technical school for the youth. We stayed with host families while we were in Arauco and had the opportunity to make some good friends. We spent 10 days in total touring Chile, working on projects and also doing some sightseeing. It was an amazaing experience! I got to re-live that experience when we got back because I was in charge of writing the follow up accountability report. No worries, it was well worth it.
I spent a week in Birmingham, England at the Rotary International Convention in June this year. My wife, Karen, and I decided to work that into our summer vacation. It was an incredible experience to be sitting with about 25,000 other Rotarians worldwide listening to addresses from the Rotary International, the United Nations and other influential people in the world. It gave us quite a perspective on the impact of the projects that we get involved in.
Once we made it back to Grande Prairie, Karen and I took a group of Rotary members and our exchange student to Grande Cache to hike a leg of the Death Race. It was a great time, although very challenging. We did leg 2 of the Death Race which I think is the hardest leg of the race. It's 26km up and down 2 mountain peaks (Flood Mountain and Grande Mountain). We, of course, prevailed and made it an experience that Noemi, our exchange student, will never forget. She was awesome and we miss her since she went home.
Karen and I both volunteered for the Terry Fox Run. The 10km run is in support of cancer research and honors a Canadian hero, Terry Fox.
We took a couple of young kids to participate in our clubs Food Bank Drive in support of the Salvation Army Food Bank. Our efforts helped raise over 81,000 items this year.
We had a visiter from a Rotaract club in Mazatlan - Laura. She is such a nice person and helps to coordinate all our activities in Mexico when our club delivers the buses, ambulances and firetrucks on an annual basis. I think there's over 30 donated vehicles from Grande Prairie that have been delivered to needy organization in Mexico. We wanted to repay Laura by showing her even a portion of the hospitality they give us during our visits.
Next on the agenda is a fun poker tournament that I help organize and then some more paperwork for a couple of new projects. The first project is an international one with Chile. We're trying to get some wheel chairs for a clinic. The second project falls under our vocational services, which is an education exchange between Mazatlan and Grande Prairie. Finally, we have a new exchange student from Denmark and Karen and I are excited about getting in some time with her.
In October, a small group of us traveled to Arauco, Chile to follow up on some projects we've been working on. The latest was the installation of a heating system in a seniors care centre. We also donated $5,000 to stock a library in a technical school for the youth. We stayed with host families while we were in Arauco and had the opportunity to make some good friends. We spent 10 days in total touring Chile, working on projects and also doing some sightseeing. It was an amazaing experience! I got to re-live that experience when we got back because I was in charge of writing the follow up accountability report. No worries, it was well worth it.
I spent a week in Birmingham, England at the Rotary International Convention in June this year. My wife, Karen, and I decided to work that into our summer vacation. It was an incredible experience to be sitting with about 25,000 other Rotarians worldwide listening to addresses from the Rotary International, the United Nations and other influential people in the world. It gave us quite a perspective on the impact of the projects that we get involved in.
Once we made it back to Grande Prairie, Karen and I took a group of Rotary members and our exchange student to Grande Cache to hike a leg of the Death Race. It was a great time, although very challenging. We did leg 2 of the Death Race which I think is the hardest leg of the race. It's 26km up and down 2 mountain peaks (Flood Mountain and Grande Mountain). We, of course, prevailed and made it an experience that Noemi, our exchange student, will never forget. She was awesome and we miss her since she went home.
Karen and I both volunteered for the Terry Fox Run. The 10km run is in support of cancer research and honors a Canadian hero, Terry Fox.
We took a couple of young kids to participate in our clubs Food Bank Drive in support of the Salvation Army Food Bank. Our efforts helped raise over 81,000 items this year.
We had a visiter from a Rotaract club in Mazatlan - Laura. She is such a nice person and helps to coordinate all our activities in Mexico when our club delivers the buses, ambulances and firetrucks on an annual basis. I think there's over 30 donated vehicles from Grande Prairie that have been delivered to needy organization in Mexico. We wanted to repay Laura by showing her even a portion of the hospitality they give us during our visits.
Next on the agenda is a fun poker tournament that I help organize and then some more paperwork for a couple of new projects. The first project is an international one with Chile. We're trying to get some wheel chairs for a clinic. The second project falls under our vocational services, which is an education exchange between Mazatlan and Grande Prairie. Finally, we have a new exchange student from Denmark and Karen and I are excited about getting in some time with her.
Update on Council
It's been a while since I mentioned anything about City Council. Being an Alderman, it seems I end up talking a lot of politics. The truth is, I'm trying to create some kind of balance in my life, so I didn't want to just fill this blog with political information. It turns out however, that there are a few people that are checking in to see what my political views are. So I decided to start a City Council topic and I'll try to keep it up to date.
Let's begin by saying that September has been extremely busy. Everything starts up again, including the associations where the city has assigned me to be a board member. We've discussed everything from the new Municipal Development Plan, to our Branding Exercise, to our Strategic Goals, etc., etc., etc. Here are a few highlights including my commentary:
Municipal Development Plan - This document affects the standards to which the city will be developed, including residential, commercial, industrial and park space. It looks good overall, but needs to be more attractive to industirial and commercial development.
Branding Exercise - This will help define what our city is trying to portray as it's main image. Some think it's a waste of time, but I believe that it's extremely valuable to our city. Like any business, you develop a brand whether you choose to or not. People will get to know you by certain attributes. If we don't steer this into something positive and sustainable, it will evolve on its own into who knows what. By taking control of "our brand", we can develop it into something marketable to industry and potential residents of this city.
Aquatera USA Agreement - The Aquatera Unanimous Shareholders Agreement is being revised to help strengthen it as a corporation, while making sure that the political leaders aren't put into a position of conflict of interest. Also, it is our hope that improving the leadership on the board of directors will make the corporation stronger financially without Aquatera needing to compete with private industry. The board will be selected based on experience, knowledge and leadership skills. They stay accountable to the municipalities because they'll be required to follow a mandate set out by the municipalities as well as adhere to a set of guiding principles.
Recycling - The recycling effort continues in Grande Prairie, but we are forming a Regional Recycling Committee. I have the honor of helping to represent the City of Grande Prairie along with Michelle Gairdner from the City.
Regional Recreation Committee - We'll be meeting soon with our County partners to discuss the recreational needs in the region. As our multiplex is still almost 2 years away, the County is looking at examining the next set of immediate needs and will try to fill that void.
Transit - The Transit Master Plan was adopted by council, but will need to get ratified at the budget in order for it to be meaningful. A couple of new routes have already been started, but without extra buses, a main station and transfer terminals, the Master Plan will be wasted.
Montrose Cultural Centre - This summer was an exciting time when the new library and partial art gallery opened. These facilities are a gem to our city and are already being utilized by a lot of people. Library members went up 200% after the first month and the Art Gallery has seen a 400% increase in traffic.
The Multiplex - Construction continues and is over the 25% mark. You can link to the cameras on the City of Grande Prairie website to see the construction in real time. www.cityofgp.com.
New Fire Hall - The location of the new fire hall was chosen and the architectural firm hired to begin designs.
Wapiti Corridor Planning - This is a regional initiative designed to come up with a planning document for the area on either side of the Wapiti River from Pipestone Creek to the old Bezanson town site. The idea is to have an open dialog with everyone possible including residents, recreational clubs, industry, property owners, government, etc. Once everyone has been consulted, we will try to create a zoning plan that accommodates the multiple uses in the area that balances the needs of industry, environment, recreation, and whatever else we find needs to be considered.
Grande Prairie Regional Tourism - I am working on a very exciting project with the tourism association that involves the Grande Prairie Regional College. We are trying to enhance their Tourism and Hospitality program by offering "real life" experience. The idea is to expand this project to eventually include our sister city, Mazatlan, Mexico. Mazatlan's economy is 90% tourism and can offer our students an insight they can't get from just studying in Grande Prairie. I am hoping to involve the Rotary Clubs from both ends in order to ensure a quality experience and to protect the safety of the students.
There are other issues that we deal with on a day to day basis. Too many to cover off in one sitting. I'll try to keep these posts updated as the issues come up. November is budget time and we have many issues that will naturally come up at that time.
Let's begin by saying that September has been extremely busy. Everything starts up again, including the associations where the city has assigned me to be a board member. We've discussed everything from the new Municipal Development Plan, to our Branding Exercise, to our Strategic Goals, etc., etc., etc. Here are a few highlights including my commentary:
Municipal Development Plan - This document affects the standards to which the city will be developed, including residential, commercial, industrial and park space. It looks good overall, but needs to be more attractive to industirial and commercial development.
Branding Exercise - This will help define what our city is trying to portray as it's main image. Some think it's a waste of time, but I believe that it's extremely valuable to our city. Like any business, you develop a brand whether you choose to or not. People will get to know you by certain attributes. If we don't steer this into something positive and sustainable, it will evolve on its own into who knows what. By taking control of "our brand", we can develop it into something marketable to industry and potential residents of this city.
Aquatera USA Agreement - The Aquatera Unanimous Shareholders Agreement is being revised to help strengthen it as a corporation, while making sure that the political leaders aren't put into a position of conflict of interest. Also, it is our hope that improving the leadership on the board of directors will make the corporation stronger financially without Aquatera needing to compete with private industry. The board will be selected based on experience, knowledge and leadership skills. They stay accountable to the municipalities because they'll be required to follow a mandate set out by the municipalities as well as adhere to a set of guiding principles.
Recycling - The recycling effort continues in Grande Prairie, but we are forming a Regional Recycling Committee. I have the honor of helping to represent the City of Grande Prairie along with Michelle Gairdner from the City.
Regional Recreation Committee - We'll be meeting soon with our County partners to discuss the recreational needs in the region. As our multiplex is still almost 2 years away, the County is looking at examining the next set of immediate needs and will try to fill that void.
Transit - The Transit Master Plan was adopted by council, but will need to get ratified at the budget in order for it to be meaningful. A couple of new routes have already been started, but without extra buses, a main station and transfer terminals, the Master Plan will be wasted.
Montrose Cultural Centre - This summer was an exciting time when the new library and partial art gallery opened. These facilities are a gem to our city and are already being utilized by a lot of people. Library members went up 200% after the first month and the Art Gallery has seen a 400% increase in traffic.
The Multiplex - Construction continues and is over the 25% mark. You can link to the cameras on the City of Grande Prairie website to see the construction in real time. www.cityofgp.com.
New Fire Hall - The location of the new fire hall was chosen and the architectural firm hired to begin designs.
Wapiti Corridor Planning - This is a regional initiative designed to come up with a planning document for the area on either side of the Wapiti River from Pipestone Creek to the old Bezanson town site. The idea is to have an open dialog with everyone possible including residents, recreational clubs, industry, property owners, government, etc. Once everyone has been consulted, we will try to create a zoning plan that accommodates the multiple uses in the area that balances the needs of industry, environment, recreation, and whatever else we find needs to be considered.
Grande Prairie Regional Tourism - I am working on a very exciting project with the tourism association that involves the Grande Prairie Regional College. We are trying to enhance their Tourism and Hospitality program by offering "real life" experience. The idea is to expand this project to eventually include our sister city, Mazatlan, Mexico. Mazatlan's economy is 90% tourism and can offer our students an insight they can't get from just studying in Grande Prairie. I am hoping to involve the Rotary Clubs from both ends in order to ensure a quality experience and to protect the safety of the students.
There are other issues that we deal with on a day to day basis. Too many to cover off in one sitting. I'll try to keep these posts updated as the issues come up. November is budget time and we have many issues that will naturally come up at that time.
Last Week of Training
Well, it's around the corner now - the Royal Victoria Marathon is only a week away! Training has been quite an experience. Leading up to the race, I have to admit that I'm a little nervous. I have my good days and my bad when it comes to running. I've had a lot of time during the training runs to experiment with running styles, food, pace, music, and a whole gambit of variables. Coming up to the last week it's a matter of hydration, rest and nutrition at this point.
Our training runs were great, but a few of them were gruelling. We steadily increased our distances until we peaked at 38km. At that point, it's as much a matter of survival as it is conditioning. It felt good when we started to taper those back down. The weather was nice most of those days. Never any rain, but we did have some extremely hot and cold weather. On the 4 hour runs, it's almost impossible to avoid getting caught in temperatures hovering around 30 degrees Celsius. We learned quickly that lack of hydration will almost always knock you on your ass. Thank goodness for a little something called Muscle Melt. GP Holisitic Health sells these epsom salts infused with essential oils that do wonders for your muscles after you're finished torturing them.
The goal now is to make sure we stay healthy before we leave on Friday. The chilly weather along with cold and flu season, don't make that task too easy. Tried running on Saturday, but 3 degrees Celsius with a stiff wind was a big deterrent. Still managed to get 11km before needing to get out of the cold. I had images of catching the sniffles this week and spoiling months of training. This week, I just want to eat healthy, stay really strict on the no alcohol policy and keep the exercise to a minimum. From there, I just have to hope that the training will take over and I'll survive my first marathon. I'm not putting any pressure on myself by setting time goals or anything like that. My goal is to finish and still be walking afterwards. Wish me luck.
Our training runs were great, but a few of them were gruelling. We steadily increased our distances until we peaked at 38km. At that point, it's as much a matter of survival as it is conditioning. It felt good when we started to taper those back down. The weather was nice most of those days. Never any rain, but we did have some extremely hot and cold weather. On the 4 hour runs, it's almost impossible to avoid getting caught in temperatures hovering around 30 degrees Celsius. We learned quickly that lack of hydration will almost always knock you on your ass. Thank goodness for a little something called Muscle Melt. GP Holisitic Health sells these epsom salts infused with essential oils that do wonders for your muscles after you're finished torturing them.
The goal now is to make sure we stay healthy before we leave on Friday. The chilly weather along with cold and flu season, don't make that task too easy. Tried running on Saturday, but 3 degrees Celsius with a stiff wind was a big deterrent. Still managed to get 11km before needing to get out of the cold. I had images of catching the sniffles this week and spoiling months of training. This week, I just want to eat healthy, stay really strict on the no alcohol policy and keep the exercise to a minimum. From there, I just have to hope that the training will take over and I'll survive my first marathon. I'm not putting any pressure on myself by setting time goals or anything like that. My goal is to finish and still be walking afterwards. Wish me luck.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Gasification of Solid Waste
I attended a presentation the other day which I found extremely interesting. It was a way to make the landfill a little "greener". The technology is called gasification. Basically, you take your typical munipal solid waste (household garbage) and dump it into a bio-reactor. The reactor burns up the garbage and produces 2 by-products: syngas and ash.
The syngas is a mixture of hydrogen gas, H2, and carbon monoxide, CO. The gas is burned to produce electricity to be used locally or sold back to the grid. The heat from burning the gas could be used in a district heating system, which basically heats water (or a mixture of water and glycol) in pipes which is used to heat nearby buildings. It's possible to build a network of insulated pipes to carry the heated water to building several kilometres away.
The solid ash that comes from this process can be used as filler for pavement or concrete. It may be possible to sell this by-product to paving companies. In any case, compared to the amount of solid going into the system, the ash is 10 times smaller in volume than garbage.
Our landfill in Grande Prairie brings in about 150 tonnes per day. Of that, only about 60 tonnes is household garbage and the rest is made up of construction and industrial waste. Other than tires, none of the other waste will burn up in this system. In addition, you wouldn't want to burn up wood or any organic waste that could become good compost. However, doing some quick math, we have the potential to turn 40% of our current landfill garbage into something usable right away and stretch out the lifespan of the landfill. If our current landfill has an estimated 25 years left, we have the potential to stretch out its life to 35 years. If we got really creative and started "trading" garbage with our regional partners, we could do even better. Why would they want to "trade" garbage with us? We would be taking the "smelly" garbage that is environmentally unpleasant and they would be taking the construction waste which is relatively inert and potentially resold at a profit. It's a win-win situation for everyone.
So what's the downside? We need to do a feasability study to determine whether or not the economic benefits offset the pricetag. In order to get into this kind of technology, we would have to be willing to invest in the neighborhood of $20 to $30 million. There are plenty of government grants for environmental initiative, so it may be possible to reduce the city's investment. I'm hoping that Council will fund the study and set us down this road.
The syngas is a mixture of hydrogen gas, H2, and carbon monoxide, CO. The gas is burned to produce electricity to be used locally or sold back to the grid. The heat from burning the gas could be used in a district heating system, which basically heats water (or a mixture of water and glycol) in pipes which is used to heat nearby buildings. It's possible to build a network of insulated pipes to carry the heated water to building several kilometres away.
The solid ash that comes from this process can be used as filler for pavement or concrete. It may be possible to sell this by-product to paving companies. In any case, compared to the amount of solid going into the system, the ash is 10 times smaller in volume than garbage.
Our landfill in Grande Prairie brings in about 150 tonnes per day. Of that, only about 60 tonnes is household garbage and the rest is made up of construction and industrial waste. Other than tires, none of the other waste will burn up in this system. In addition, you wouldn't want to burn up wood or any organic waste that could become good compost. However, doing some quick math, we have the potential to turn 40% of our current landfill garbage into something usable right away and stretch out the lifespan of the landfill. If our current landfill has an estimated 25 years left, we have the potential to stretch out its life to 35 years. If we got really creative and started "trading" garbage with our regional partners, we could do even better. Why would they want to "trade" garbage with us? We would be taking the "smelly" garbage that is environmentally unpleasant and they would be taking the construction waste which is relatively inert and potentially resold at a profit. It's a win-win situation for everyone.
So what's the downside? We need to do a feasability study to determine whether or not the economic benefits offset the pricetag. In order to get into this kind of technology, we would have to be willing to invest in the neighborhood of $20 to $30 million. There are plenty of government grants for environmental initiative, so it may be possible to reduce the city's investment. I'm hoping that Council will fund the study and set us down this road.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
July Marathon Training
Still managing to keep up with the marathon training. Karen and I were away on vacation and I was a little concerned that it may set us back a little in our training. Fortunately, we were able to fit in some decent runs during our European vacation. Started with a 5km road race in Hyde Park in London. The Serpentine Running Club in London was hosting their "Last Friday of the Month Run" and Karen and I were able to register before we left. Very nice group of people. Their club has well over 1000 members. The next stop in our vacation was Barcelona, where we were able to run along the sea wall next to the beach. Beautiful weather and gorgeous beaches made it easy to combine some training with sight seeing. Finally, we jetted off to Paris where we were able to fit in a 20km run through one of their parks.
Upon arriving home, our next big adventure was a hike in Grande Cache with our Rotary exchange student. We decided to hike leg 2 of the Death Race which entails 27km up and down 2 mountain peaks. Although it was only a hike, the strength training was great for the legs.
Following the hike, we were able to get some shorter runs into the week. Near the end of July, I experienced a bit of set back. Everyone was planning on getting a 30km run in on a Saturday morning. Within minutes, I realized that something was wrong with my stomach. I was able to muscle out 16km before I had to give up. A little food poisoning the night before took me out of commission for the next day, curled up in bed waiting for it to pass. It took another 3 days to start eating normally again and definitely no training or any exercise that week.
The following weekend, I tried again. Since everyone had done their long run the week prior, it was up to me to catch up on my own. The group ran 16km and I continued on to reach the 30km goal. If I couldn't do this, I would be behind Karen and the other marathon runners. I felt a little nervous when we started, but soon fell into my zone. I was able to pace myself and reached 30km in just over 3 hours. At the end of the run, I still felt like I had it in me to continue my run. So I decided to take my neices out for a short 2km run. They have been wanting to join me, but weren't sure whether or not they could keep up. With 30km behind me, this leveled the playing field a bit. Especially since I had just dropped in on them unexpectedly and they weren't ready to go. The legs tightened up a bit while I was waiting, but in the end, I managed to pull of an additional slow paced 2km. Not wanting to risk injury, I decided to stick with the program and finish on a high note.
So that's where I am as of today. I'm actually feeling like this marathon is definitely achievable. This coming weekend, I'll attempt another long 30km+ run in order to get back in sync with Karen. From this point on, our training will be more focused on the 2 of us. We plan to stick together during the race and it's time to see if this is going to be possible. In order to stick together, our paces will have to be in sync as well as our eating, drinking and resting patterns. With only 6 good weeks of training left, it's time to kick it into high gear.
Upon arriving home, our next big adventure was a hike in Grande Cache with our Rotary exchange student. We decided to hike leg 2 of the Death Race which entails 27km up and down 2 mountain peaks. Although it was only a hike, the strength training was great for the legs.
Following the hike, we were able to get some shorter runs into the week. Near the end of July, I experienced a bit of set back. Everyone was planning on getting a 30km run in on a Saturday morning. Within minutes, I realized that something was wrong with my stomach. I was able to muscle out 16km before I had to give up. A little food poisoning the night before took me out of commission for the next day, curled up in bed waiting for it to pass. It took another 3 days to start eating normally again and definitely no training or any exercise that week.
The following weekend, I tried again. Since everyone had done their long run the week prior, it was up to me to catch up on my own. The group ran 16km and I continued on to reach the 30km goal. If I couldn't do this, I would be behind Karen and the other marathon runners. I felt a little nervous when we started, but soon fell into my zone. I was able to pace myself and reached 30km in just over 3 hours. At the end of the run, I still felt like I had it in me to continue my run. So I decided to take my neices out for a short 2km run. They have been wanting to join me, but weren't sure whether or not they could keep up. With 30km behind me, this leveled the playing field a bit. Especially since I had just dropped in on them unexpectedly and they weren't ready to go. The legs tightened up a bit while I was waiting, but in the end, I managed to pull of an additional slow paced 2km. Not wanting to risk injury, I decided to stick with the program and finish on a high note.
So that's where I am as of today. I'm actually feeling like this marathon is definitely achievable. This coming weekend, I'll attempt another long 30km+ run in order to get back in sync with Karen. From this point on, our training will be more focused on the 2 of us. We plan to stick together during the race and it's time to see if this is going to be possible. In order to stick together, our paces will have to be in sync as well as our eating, drinking and resting patterns. With only 6 good weeks of training left, it's time to kick it into high gear.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Press Run - May 30th, 2009
Only 2 weeks after the Red Deer 1/2 marathon, I was ready to run the Daily Herald Tribune Press Run. 4 days after Red Deer, we took our training group out on a 10km run to get them familiar with the race course. The conditions were perfect and we all finished with great times. The following week was an 8km training run which began the tapering down of our distances. We didn't want the participants to be overly tired on race day.
Karen had decided to run the 10km race, so she can support our training group and cheer them on. I had decided long ago that I needed to continue getting longer distances in, so I registered for the 1/2 marathon again. I was a little worried coming off of the Red Deer 1/2 in such rough shape. I did well in the training runs, but was never able to get into my zone and regulate my breathing very well. I also noticed that I was a little "shell-shocked" about running the hills on our trail system. Pschologically, I wasn't quite ready to be running 21km again. Physically, I needed to get some rest.
The day before the race, we put together a nice spaghetti and chicken dinner and had Marla over to load up on the carbs. I think we were all a little nervous and excited at the same time. Made sure we got plenty of rest.
Race day was sunny but very windy. There were 389 racers registered and because it was in Grande Praire, we knew a lot of people there. Everyone seemed pretty pumped up. A couple of runners in our group were just recovering from colds, so they were a little worried about how they would perform.
The race began with an uphill climb right away and then straight into the wind. Made it tough to catch your breath. Within a few minutes, we ran down into the RV park and then up another with the wind in your face. Finding it difficult to catch my breath, I decided to let the pack in front of me pull away. Most of them were 10km runners anyway who were running at a faster pace. I focused on running my own race and finding a pace that wouldn't hurt me in the long run.
The turn-around point for the 10km runners seemed to come up quickly. I was able to cheer on a few of runners coming back the other way. Since we've run the trails a lot, it was nice to know that I wasn't too far behind the pack. I ended up settling into my zone about 6km into the run. Slowing down made a huge difference. Another big difference for me was that I didn't bring a watch to this race. I found myself too focused on my watch last time, so decided to leave it at home. I gauged everything by distance instead. By 9km, I knew it was time to get a little food in. I studied the map beforehand and timed my food to coincide with the water stations. I made sure that I put a little bit of food in me at regular intervals as not to deplete my reserves.
I got back to Pavilion with plenty of energy left in me for the last kilometre. The last sprint down the hill and around the corner to the finish felt incredible. May have pushed it a little hard, but I felt good enough to do that. People were at the finish cheering me in and I even got a little bit of a push from a guy who was hard on my heels for the last few steps.
My official fisishing time, 1hr 53min 22sec. Wow!! What a race. Not only did it feel really great, I knocked over 10 minutes off my previous 1/2 marathon time. The volunteers were all great and made the event that much better.
We hung around for the medal presentations and it turns out that several members of our training group placed in their divisions. Congrats to Jeff (2nd), Derek (2nd), Gert (1st) and of course, my sweetie Karen, who took 2nd place in her division. No placement for me since I'm in a very competitive age classification. I'd need to shave another 15 minutes from my time to even come close. I'm very impressed by the first place runner in the 21km, Darren, who finished in an astouding 1hr 16min. That's not for me. I need to push the training distance out achieve the 42.2km goal by October. Maybe in another life, if I come back as a cheetah.
Karen had decided to run the 10km race, so she can support our training group and cheer them on. I had decided long ago that I needed to continue getting longer distances in, so I registered for the 1/2 marathon again. I was a little worried coming off of the Red Deer 1/2 in such rough shape. I did well in the training runs, but was never able to get into my zone and regulate my breathing very well. I also noticed that I was a little "shell-shocked" about running the hills on our trail system. Pschologically, I wasn't quite ready to be running 21km again. Physically, I needed to get some rest.
The day before the race, we put together a nice spaghetti and chicken dinner and had Marla over to load up on the carbs. I think we were all a little nervous and excited at the same time. Made sure we got plenty of rest.
Race day was sunny but very windy. There were 389 racers registered and because it was in Grande Praire, we knew a lot of people there. Everyone seemed pretty pumped up. A couple of runners in our group were just recovering from colds, so they were a little worried about how they would perform.
The race began with an uphill climb right away and then straight into the wind. Made it tough to catch your breath. Within a few minutes, we ran down into the RV park and then up another with the wind in your face. Finding it difficult to catch my breath, I decided to let the pack in front of me pull away. Most of them were 10km runners anyway who were running at a faster pace. I focused on running my own race and finding a pace that wouldn't hurt me in the long run.
The turn-around point for the 10km runners seemed to come up quickly. I was able to cheer on a few of runners coming back the other way. Since we've run the trails a lot, it was nice to know that I wasn't too far behind the pack. I ended up settling into my zone about 6km into the run. Slowing down made a huge difference. Another big difference for me was that I didn't bring a watch to this race. I found myself too focused on my watch last time, so decided to leave it at home. I gauged everything by distance instead. By 9km, I knew it was time to get a little food in. I studied the map beforehand and timed my food to coincide with the water stations. I made sure that I put a little bit of food in me at regular intervals as not to deplete my reserves.
I got back to Pavilion with plenty of energy left in me for the last kilometre. The last sprint down the hill and around the corner to the finish felt incredible. May have pushed it a little hard, but I felt good enough to do that. People were at the finish cheering me in and I even got a little bit of a push from a guy who was hard on my heels for the last few steps.
My official fisishing time, 1hr 53min 22sec. Wow!! What a race. Not only did it feel really great, I knocked over 10 minutes off my previous 1/2 marathon time. The volunteers were all great and made the event that much better.
We hung around for the medal presentations and it turns out that several members of our training group placed in their divisions. Congrats to Jeff (2nd), Derek (2nd), Gert (1st) and of course, my sweetie Karen, who took 2nd place in her division. No placement for me since I'm in a very competitive age classification. I'd need to shave another 15 minutes from my time to even come close. I'm very impressed by the first place runner in the 21km, Darren, who finished in an astouding 1hr 16min. That's not for me. I need to push the training distance out achieve the 42.2km goal by October. Maybe in another life, if I come back as a cheetah.
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