Chasing the dream - 4 days till Boston - "Hello Boston!"

Today was a day I have been looking forward to for a long time: the day I leave for Boston.  It`s still four days until the marathon, but I wanted to get away sooner than later so that I could separate myself from the stress of everyday life and get into the right frame of mind for the race: Boston frame of mind.

Yesterday was a non-stop day.  I FINALLY finished packing at 12:30 AM (yes...after midnight) and laid my head down for a few hours sleep before hitting the road for M.A.  I set out later than I had planned.  The sun was already beginning to turn the sky a dark azure as I hurtled down the DVP towards the Queenston/Lewiston border.  I was on the road after only four hours sleep, but still nearly an hour later than I wanted to set out. 

The drive through New York State was agonizing.  The I-90 is not as long as the I-95, but isn't as pretty as the I-95.  When I made it to the Boston Turnpike, I started to feel emotional.  Seeing the word "Boston" on the sign made it all immediately real.  Yes...I was going to Boston.  Not just for a vacation, but because I will be joining a select group of runners who were either talented enough, lucky enough or both - to be participating in the Boston Marathon this year.  There were a few moments during the drive where I began to well up in tears as I thought about the big day soon to come. 

By the time I reached Boston, I had been travelling for nine long hours, and was itching to get out of my car.  I located the hotel, sorted out my room, and made the first order of business finding a place to take my bike for a spin.  One of the benefits of driving to Boston is being able to bring whatever fits in my car rather than whatever fits into a suitcase.  I brought my foam roller, a suitcase full of food and my beloved bike "Trixie". 

The counter staff at the hotel told me a nice place to partake of a ride or run is an area of town called Jamaica Plains. 

Jamaica Plains is in the South West end of Boston.  It's very beautiful, but like most places in Boston: is very trafficated.  I consider myself very brave on the bike, but I was very cautious today.  Once I got my half hour in, I was ready to put Trixie back in the car and drive as far away from the honking cars as I could.

So now, I put a very long, but meaningful day to an end.  As hard as it is to believe, I'm in BOSTON!  Tomorrow I will set out to explore the marathon course and Boston Commons - where the marathon finish line will be located.  I'm a little sad to be alone here in Boston, but am comforted by the many words of support that my friends and family are extending through Facebook and Twitter.  Boston may not be everyone's dream, but "living a dream" is something everyone can identify with.

4 more sleeps....

Chasing the dream - 7 days till Boston - "Life gets in the way"

Stardate: April 11, 2011.
Location: cross-legged on the living room carpet. (my favourite place to sit)
Captain's log: 7 days till the Boston Marathon.

I haven't been as diligent with my blog as I planned to be.  When the new year turned over and I got down to the nitty gritty of marathon training, I had the best intentions to document, document, document so that I would be able to look back and remember this personal journey in years to come. 

It's down to the final week - final days, really.  I've barely managed to scrape together one blog post per week over the last few months, and I'm trying to rectify that now in the final days.  But what can you do when life gets in the way?  There are so many unexpected twists and turns during the course of marathon training.  Injuries, personal commitments, your professional life, your everyday life: there are so many things that can prevent us from being the runner we have the potential to be. 

The truth is, this is a common theme in most of our lives, whether we run or not.

How many of you have thought, "I would be more successful in my career if 'this and that' didn't need my attention."  Or, "I think I would be a great cook/knitter/tennis player if my job/social commitments/family didn't take so much of my day. 

We're all trying to realize our potential and balance the many things we have on our plate.  The challenge (and joy) of running is that you only get out of it what you put into it.  Unlike a final exam, there's no way you can cheat your running.  You can't go online and plagiarize a run.  There are no Cole's Notes to help get you to the finish line with less work.  Missed training is missed training, so when life gets in the way, running performance invariably suffers.

I have tried really hard to keep the Boston Marathon the main focus in my life - to not let life steal away the time I wanted to spend drinking in the entire experience from the early days of training to the event itself.  I have been moderately successful in this endeavour, but in these final weeks of the journey, life has been busy and Boston has had to take a bit of a back seat.  There are things we can do to try and balance our priorities, such as:

• Be as flexible as possible: try to "move" workouts around to suit your schedule.
• Some is better than none: if you can't do the full workout, don't write it all off all together.  Get a short one in instead.
• Make new plans: This is not the last race you'll ever run. Maybe you can't nail this event, but maybe you can do better with the next.

Running teaches us so many lessons that can also be applied to the rest of our lives.  The perspective we learn as runners can help us have a healthier perspective on our lives as a whole.  After all, life is not a 100 meter dash.  It's a marathon itself.  So really, life isn't getting "in the way" - it's actually the feature event.

Chasing the dream - 8 days till Boston - "the dreaded taper..."

Only one week and one day remain until the 115th Boston Marathon.  It's been a roller coaster of a week since my last post.  My heart is full of many emotions: excitement, fear, doubt and even disbelief that a moment that I've been working towards for nearly three years is a mere eight days away. 

I decided to make this week's post a videolog.  Have a listen to hear about the outcome of my bone scan and about some of the challenges with tapering.  

7 more sleeps until I stand at the start line....and if all of the stars align: cross the finish line.

Chasing the dream - 2 weeks till Boston - "Never give up"

Today marks two important events in my Boston Marathon journey:

1. I received my Boston Marathon welcome kit in the mail - very exciting.

2. I've finally made it to the taper - even more exciting.

 It's been a hard fought three months of training. I've battled through ITBS (Illiotibial Band Syndrome), I've battled through "the plods" (the heavy legs that one gets as a result of over-training), and now I'm in the midst of the biggest battle yet in my Boston journey: a mysterious groin injury.
Yes, the groin pain is STILL a mystery.  I went to see my physiotherapist last Monday, and she put me through another round of stress tests to see if my pelvis was the root of the problem.  I passed all of the stress tests once again, indicating that I don't have a fracture....yet.  It's also highly likely that it's not a tendon issue either.  With the mystery still in tact, the recommendation to cease running is also...still in tact. 

It's been another long week of cross training on bikes and elliptical trainers.  I have never looked forward to anything less than my elliptical workouts.  I've never been a fan of the treadmill, and I only run on the treadmill when an injury is preventing me from running outdoors; but now I look longingly at the treadmill from my unhappy roost on the elliptical.  I'd give anything to be able to run on that treadmill now.

Married to the Marathon

This recent bout of injury has been a bitter pill to swallow.  I'm haunted by an angry feeling that follows me around like a little raincloud, and sometimes the discontent overtakes me in fits of tears.  I'm torn between happiness that the dream is still alive, and my frustration to have this one, important dream hijacked by an injury. 

I've dreamed about Boston the way many women dream about their wedding day: I wanted it to be perfect.  Just like a bride, I dreamed that April 18th would be "my day"; only instead of dancing in a white dress I would be running in a pair of Mizunos.  And instead of walking down an aisle, I would be following in the footsteps of the greatest runners in the world along one of the most infamous marathon courses in the history of running.  But now I'm full of worry that I'll never make it to the "alter", and that the months of planning for the big day will culminate in a tragic end.

My physiotherapist, being stumped by my groin pain, recommended I seek a bone scan to understand if the source of the pain is stress to my pelvic bone.  I managed to get a bone scan booked for tomorrow.  The results often take a week to come back, which means I won't have the results of the bone scan until a day or two before leaving for Boston.  It's too late to alter the course of my final weeks of training, but will hopefully the bone scan will give me some insight into the nature of my injury so that I can run Boston accordingly.  If it truly is a weakness in my bone, I will be running Boston very carefully. 

Not exactly what I had in mind; but then, how often do dreams turn out exactly the way you imagined?  At this point, I don't care about the white dress.  All I want is to actually make it to the alter and enjoy the ceremony - preferably without pain or injury. That would be enough.  That would still be a dream come true. 

I'm not giving up.

Chasing the dream - 3 weeks till Boston - "A change of strategy"

A change of strategy

Another week has clicked by, and clicked by quickly.  I can't believe I'm down to three weeks until race day.  The last week has been a challenging one, and I don't know if I would still be hanging in there if I was training for any other race than Boston.

Who am I kidding...of course I would. 

The danger of a potential stress fracture continues to cast a shadow on my Boston Marathon dreams.  This last week has been a week of marathon training....without actual running.  I don't understand how people can think that running is hard because I can barely think of anything harder than enduring an hour on the elliptical.  Elliptical, spin class, and cycling have been my means of keeping my fitness high without the impact that running exacts on my body. 

The many weeks of intense training have left me emotionally spent and walking a fine line between well-trained and over-trained.  My physiotherapist lent me an old, but great book written by 9-times Comrades trail race winner Bruce Fordyce called "Run the Comrades".  In it, Bruce outlines what to do and what to expect when training for The Comrades in South Africa.  He comments about the negative impacts of training including the moodiness that comes with spending many hours each week preparing for a race.  He calls his moody faze "the Fordyce prima donna syndrome".  I've been experiencing my own "prima donna" syndrome, and not being able to run is amplifying the grumpiness I feel.  I crave the open road - not the elliptical.  I want to feel the wind on my face - not the staleness of the gym air.  It's all I can do to remain focused and keep my heart rate in a place where the elliptical is helping my training - not wasting my time.

A new challenge - a new plan

The plan for the week was to lay off the running in hopes that a week of rest (well, not rest...just not running) would give my pelvis a chance to rest and recover from the strain of my training regiment.  Then,test my pelvis with a the regularly scheduled weekend long run.  My long run this week was Hamilton's "Around the Bay 30k" road race.  It was a race I've been wanting to run for a few years now, and although I finally got to run the course, it was no race for me.  The goal for "Around the Bay" was to run it carefully and see if I could fend off the pain for the entire 30kms.

I felt good this morning - I felt like it was going to be a good day, and that the week of rest would put me back onto my regular training plan.  It was crisp this morning, so layers were in order.  As I stood at the start line bundled in four layers on my torso and two layers on my legs, I looked more like I was going snowboarding than running a race.  After training outside all winter, I'm used to the layers, and I can run comfortably under layer upon layer upon layer.  The race started out well - I felt confident and I was inspired by the thousands of runners who surrounded me on Hamilton's streets.  My friend Sam and I ran swiftly through the throngs of runners - keeping an average 5:10/km pace.  The sun was shinning and everything felt perfect as we devoured the course, km after km.  Then, my worst fears came true.

The pain was back.

Shortly after the 20km mark, the pain in my groin begin to creep up.  It wasn't the worst pain I had ever felt, but it was a sign that the injury had not yet healed.  My heart began to sink.  As much as I wanted to keep running, the words of my physiotherapist, and threat of a fractured pelvis, encouraged me to swallow my pride and walk all of the remaining downhills to in an effort to keep the pain from escalating into a bigger problem.

I finished the race in 2:45 with an angry ITB and niggling discomfort in my groin.  The finishing time was much slower than my capability, but I was content with it because I knew Around the Bay wasn't the most important event in my running schedule.  I sacrificed Around the Bay for the sake of the Boston Marathon - an easy trade to be sure.  I'm sad that I felt the pain, but am still hopeful that Boston will be better.  I'm one week closer to living the dream.

Chasing the dream - 4 weeks till Boston - "Run with caution"

The countdown continues.  Today marks four weeks until the 115th Boston Marathon - four weeks until I will be running one of the most prestigious marathons in the world.  Four weeks is a psychologically significant point in the training schedule for me.  It means my preparation time is now mere weeks instead of months, and only two of those four weeks can be used for building on strength and speed before the taper begins.  Runners are tempted to push hard to include challenging workouts into the final weeks before the taper, which prompts a reminder to add another very important, and often overlooked, element to the training schedule: caution.

Curb your enthusiasm!

It's easy to get swept up in the excitement (and anxiety) of race preparations.  We stress over whether we're doing enough to be ready for the big day, and we forget to think about whether we're doing too much.  As the weeks dwindle away, the need to BE CAREFUL becomes more and more important.  Why?  Because as the days remaining until race day diminish, so too does the window of time available to heal an injury.  Many injuries that involve torn muscles can take 6 to 8 weeks of rest to recover; and injuries that involve a stress fractured bone can take 8 to 12 weeks of rest - sometimes more.

Experienced runners will tell you that ramping up distance too aggressively is a dangerous thing to do, and can result in an injury. I was well aware of the risk associated with adding distance too quickly, however, I didn't make the  connection between "distance" and "elevation" (hills), and how increasing elevation too aggressively can have an equally damaging outcome as increasing distance too aggressively.  I learned that today.

I've been experiencing some pain in my groin over the last few weeks.  I thought nothing of it, assuming that this was just another "training pain" stemming from muscle fatigue.  On Friday, the groin pain worsened during my evening run, and I sensed that the pain could be more than simple muscle fatigue.

I went to my physiotherapist this morning to have the groin pain assessed.  As my physiotherapist tested my adductors and abductors for strength and pain, I explained my recent training regiment with her.  Her assessment is what she called a "pre-fracture" in my pelvis.  A "pre-fracture" is her way of describing what happens to the bone before it actually fractures.  It seems the increase in downhill running, which is very high impact running, has stressed my pelvis and left it in a more delicate state.

Luckily I seem to have caught the problem before it progressed into a full blown injury, but it has certainly planted a fear in my heart.  My lesson this week: moderation is important for ALL aspects of your training.  From distance to hills to weights: it's imperative to give the body time to ramp-up.  Training too little should not worry runners as much as training too much.  You can always make it to the start line under-prepared, but you likely won't even see the start line if you over-prepare and end up with an injury.

Chasing the dream - 5 weeks till Boston

When I opened my blog today to see that my last Boston Marathon post was three weeks ago, my first reaction was, "did I lose a post somewhere in cyberspace?".  Then I yawned....and that explained what happened to my last post: it got sucked into the same vortex that the rest of my life gets sucked into when I'm clocking big miles.

Dealing with training related fatigue

Wow, I can't believe it's now five weeks until the Boston Marathon.  The only thing that makes it completely believable is the feeling that seems to hang over my head almost every day - like a dark cloud with a really bright silver lining.  The side effect of a 6-day per week training schedule is fatigue, and the side effects of fatigue are anxiety and doubt.  If I hadn't been through the entire marathon training cycle before, then I would likely be wanting off the marathon train right about now.

If you are currently (or planning to) train for a marathon, don't be surprised if anxiety and doubt creep up on your shortly after fatigue settles in.  This is where a sense of discipline trumps one's love for running as the foundation of marathon success.  Two of my five runs last week were only completed (and started) because I talked myself out of the desire to chill in my PJ's instead of lacing up my running shoes. 

As I mentioned before: if I wasn't familiar with this process, I might be feeling hopeless right now; but I know that the fatigue is normal - not only because the same thing happened to me last year when I was running high mileage, but also because I've heard and read similar stories from other distance runners.  As I slogged through the 30 km hilly distance on Sunday, I searched my mind and soul for anything that could inspire me to keep going in spite of the deep spiritual and emotional fatigue I was feeling.  Fending off negative thoughts is an important key to finishing and *enjoying* long runs.  If you can master your mind, you can master distances that you never believed you were capable of. 

As I sifted through the usual motivational thoughts, I finally stumbled upon the one thought that has resurrected me from more than one tough spot over the last year.  The magic motivator was not to think about a sports hero or a reward that I would enjoy when I finally got through the challenging moment.  It was faith.  You don't have to be religious to benefit from the feeling of faith - I certainly am not.  The faith that fueled me was a faith in the plan - faith that if I stuck to my training and put in the work, then my dedication and faith would be rewarded with a great marathon day. 

Have faith in your plan

Training my first marathon taught me more about running than the previous three years of training for shorter distances all put together.  Shorter distances were not "scary" enough to frighten me into a solid training regime.  Most of the time I simply ran according to how I felt.  If I felt like running a long distance, then I did.  If I felt like running fast, then I did.  I wasn't running poorly, but then I wasn't excelling either. 

When I trained for my first marathon, I followed a very strategic plan.  I learned words like "tempo", "fartlek" and "LSD" (long slow distance).  I learned about "negative splits" and that going slow was as important as going fast.  I pushed hard - so hard that on the day of my final long run before beginning my taper, I succumbed to the fatigue and welled up in tears part way through the rainy 33km distance.  The combination of fatigue and worry over the marathon just two short weeks away resulted in a mid-run breakdown.

I managed to stop crying long enough to get myself home, but the waterworks resumed shortly after I walked through my door.  I felt so burnt out, and I couldn't figure out how I was going to run a marathon feeling the way I did.  The next two weeks were tough - but for different reasons.  I worried about tapering.  I worried about losing the strength and speed I had worked so hard to develop during the months prior to the taper.  I fought the desire to keep running long distances and focused on resting my body - hoping that the marathon success formula would work for me. 

When marathon day came around, I made it to the start line with nothing but my four months of training under my belt, and the faith that it was all going to come together in a successful race.  And come together it did.  As the miles and minutes passed, I was surprised at how strong I felt.  When I crossed the half marathon mark, I felt fantastic.  Then I crossed the 30 km mark - still feeling fantastic.  I decided to throw caution to the wind and I ran faster than I had planned.  Mile after mile, I amazed myself, and I crossed the finish line feeling tired but not broken.  My first marathon was everything I dreamed it would be.

Strategy for success

Spring is here, and many runners are preparing for the plethora of races that fill the fair weather months.  If you're working towards a distance you've never run before - perhaps your pursuing your first marathon - my message to you is: make a plan and have faith in it.  Do your research on tried and tested training plans and follow them knowing that you will get OUT of running exactly what you put IN to running.  Do the work, respect your taper, and believe that sticking to your plan through all of the highs and lows, will pay off in a great race.