Margreet Dietz

Proof is in the pudding, erm pacing

2012-02-10T12:00:00.000-08:00

In last year's First Half I had hoped, and expected, to break 89 minutes. And I seemed well on track to do so, hitting the halfway mark in 43 minutes. However, it took only three more miles before I ran out of steam, and needed all my willpower to finish in 89:46.

I had a look at my race report from the 2010 edition, you can read it here, and found the following splits:

I had 12:52 for the first 2 miles (average 6:26 per mile), then 6:43, 6.49, 6.49, 6.46, 6.44, 6.42, 6.49, 6.52, 7.03. Then I ran the final 2.1 miles in 15:34, or about 7:22 per mile.

It's a good reminder of a few things:
- with a competitive field, the start of this race is fast;
- the course is marked in miles, rather than kilometres, so make sure you know your pace in miles if you're going to be taking splits;
- a finish time alone doesn't tell the whole story of a race. Last year the first half of the First Half took me 43 minutes, and the second took me at least 46. The other way around would have felt much better;
- this year my goal is to use it as a key training session for the Vancouver Marathon, rather than race it as fast as I can. I want to do the first 10 miles at 6:50 per mile (my Vancouver Marathon goal race pace). That means hitting 10km in 42:30 and 10 miles in 68:20. Then I am free to do as I feel; I am hoping to feel good enough to pick it up in the final 3 miles.

Ready for First Half Marathon

2012-02-09T13:14:00.000-08:00

This Sunday I'm running the First Half Marathon in Vancouver, organized by the Pacific Road Runners. It's my third time competing in this event.

The 2012 edition was firmly set on my race calendar for months, so much so that I completely forgot the not-so-minor-detail of accepting my entry slot.

The race, capped at 2,000 runners, sells out in hours. However, the organizers offer elite and competitive entries. The latter is for athletes who ran sub-80 (for men) sub-90 (for women), or finished top 3 in their age group in the two previous editions. But these athletes still need to register; somehow I didn't and by the time I realized this, last week, it was too late.

Thankfully, they do offer transfers (for a fee of $20) and I gratefully bought a slot from a fellow runner in town who no longer planned to do the event (thanks Kathryn). Pfew! I don't plan to race all out (though it might end up feeling just like it as I'll explain) but to use it as one of my marathon goal race pace sessions that's on my schedule this week: it calls for 26K including 16K at marathon goal pace, which for me is an ambitious 4:15 per K.

My main focus of training is the BMO Vancouver Marathon in May.

These marathon race pace workouts, I have found, are exceptionally tough to do on your own. So I'd rather pay $80 to share the experience with a couple of thousand others, which should make it easier. Easier than really hard is still going to be pretty tough, though.

My fastest half marathon time ever is 88:13 (2008 Sunshine Coast Half Marathon), which is a pace of 4:11 per K and my fastest time by more than a minute for the distance in any other event.

The first time I broke 90 minutes for 21.1K was in September 2006, when I ran 89:29 in the Sydney Half Marathon (then a PB by 3 minutes for the distance). Three months later I ran 89:16 to win the Central Coast Half Marathon, another PB and my second-fastest time to this day.

Next I did the May 2007 SMH Sydney Half Marathon where a sudden vicious stitch reduced me to a jog resulting in a 96:43. Four months later I did a 'half marathon' in the Netherlands in 2007 that turned out be 21.6K, which I ran in 92:10 on a shockingly windy and wet day on an exposed pancake-flat course in the province of Friesland.

In 2008, as mentioned I ran my half marathon PB.

In 2009, I ran the First Half in 89:39 and last year I finished the event in 89:46, both at an average pace of 4:15 per K. Most recently, in June 2011 I ran the Scotiabank Half Marathon in 89:44, another 4:15 average.

So, I am curious to see how doing Sunday's race as a marathon race pace session will feel. I am completely focused on running the first 16K at 4:15 per K pace; I'll decide on what to with the final 5.1K when it's time to run them.

Writing this post made me realize that I've not raced that many standalone half marathons (I've done at least a dozen of them as part of half Ironman races).

My first one was in October 1998, the Canadian International Half Marathon in Toronto. I finished in 2:04:44 and don't remember much about it. The second was in February 2000, the Peterborough Half Marathon in Ontario, which I ran in 1:54:10. Then I did a bunch of the distance in half Ironman races. My next half marathon was in Lake Macquarie, Australia, in August 2002, where I was stoked to run 95:35.

I also remember that as soon as I finished this race the outside bottom of my left foot was so sore I had trouble walking; I had been absolutely fine during the race. After seeing a GP, who of course advised at least a couple of weeks off running and having Xrays done, both of which I did, a deep tissue massage therapist only needed one session to release a tight muscle along my shin that turned out to be the cause of the pain. Simple.

In May 2003 I ran the SMH Sydney Half Marathon in 1hr 43, though I can't remember why it was so much slower though possibly I was still being careful after having done Ironman Australia about six weeks earlier, before finishing the September half marathon in Sydney in 92:38, a whopping PB by 3 minutes.

Within two weeks, I had an ITB injury that stopped me from running altogether for a few weeks and couldn't be fixed by the deep tissue massage therapist. This eventually led me to ART, a treatment I've used successfully ever since to ward off problems, though my budget allows fewer sessions these days.

Yesterday I had an excellent 45-minute ART treatment from Dr Leah Stadelmann of Chief Chiropractic in Squamish to release the tightness in my calves. You can see why half marathon races make me nervous about injury:-).

In May 2005 I did another SMH Half Marathon, fresh off the plane and returning to Australia after recovering from Ironman New Zealand in early March by hiking around New Zealand for a few months. I have yet to find a note of my time that day.

In September 2005, I did another Sydney Half Marathon, still suffering after walking 100K in 23hr 45min in Sydney Oxfam Trailwalker, in 1hr 40. Trailwalker was a last-minute opportunity and I had already signed up for that half.

In late August 2006, I ran the Lake Macquarie half marathon again, this time finishing in 92:51, only three weeks before first breaking 90 minutes for the distance. The half marathon is an intriguing event for sure and I am very much looking forward to Sunday.

New shoes: ECCO BIOM Trail

2012-02-09T11:38:00.000-08:00

My feet have enjoyed a pair of ECCO BIOM Trail shoes for the past two days. On Monday, I ran an easy 9K on a combination of road and trail, and today I did 17K in them, most of which on trail.

My first impressions of these shoes, provided to me by ECCO, a Danish shoemaker with almost five decades of experience, are very positive in terms of comfort and feel, and I am looking forward to putting more miles on them.

According to ECCO, this model is part of their so-called Natural Motion products.

"The BIOM Trail shoe translates ECCO's advanced Natural Motion system for the needs of offroad running, featuring more support, tougher construction and aggressive mult-terrain action. The shoe strengthens the feet and lower legs and increases running efficiency.

"The basis of BIOM Natural Motion is to provide anatomical cushioning while guiding the body to move naturally and to strengthen," according to ECCO, which has been offering running shoes since 2009.

I didn't know ECCO made running shoes and have to say that so far I'm quite liking these. I don't know about the above claims and don't necessarily care; my running shoes are a big deal to me and the proof is always in the pudding.

How much wear they get is how good I consider them to be for my feet and the type of running I'm doing. I'm not a hardcore trailrunner but cover plenty of trails in my training.

Since I reviewed a pair of New Balance REVlite 890s (for IMPACT Magazine) about a year ago, I have fallen absolutely in love with them and am onto my third pair now. These are road shoes, of course, but I wear them on the trails I cover here too.

Like I had with the REVlites, I felt love at first fit with these BIOM ECCO Trail shoes. Let's see if this romance turns into a long-term relationship. I'll keep you posted.

Record running volume

2012-02-06T18:56:00.000-08:00

I love broadening, and painting, my horizons

Strangely enough, I have never been a consistent record keeper of my run training. One reason was that from June 2005 until April 2010 I received a spreadsheet that detailed my sessions. And I was pretty diligent about doing all my training so I figured that the program was my diary.

A friend who visited us from Australia to run the Whistler 50 in November helped change my mind; he carried with him, like a treasure, a thick diary with one day to a page in which he detailed, among other things, his running. Some pages were completely filled, others only had a couple of sentences or even just a few words.

Especially the latter was a revelation to me, as I have kept plenty of diaries with notes on all sorts of things but rarely daily for a consistent period of time as I always believed I should write a lot, fill the page, or not bother. Of course you might not have that much to write every day, or not make the time, and once I missed a day, or three, I'd lose the motivation because the chain was broken.

I'd never considered the freedom of saying very little, like simply writing "Ran 30K, felt great", if that's all I had to say.

Another reason for keeping a record now is that I own a Garmin, as of June last year. I can effortlessly keep track of the distance I run, as well as average pace, heart rate, etc. So since December 3, 2010, I've been keeping a diary of my run training and, with permission to write the briefest of entries, I've got a daily record.

So far I have filled most of each page every day as the permission to write as little as I want invariably means I have more to say than I initially thought. Writing daily in my training diary is a new habit I very much enjoy, especially now that I'm running daily for the first time and am covering more distance too.

In the past week, I ran the most I've ever done in one training week, covering 129.5K. The spectacular weather helped to make it very enjoyable. My calves are tight, but other than that, I am feeling great.

Whenever we try new things, we likely have expectations that are based on old experiences so we can expect to be surprised. My body showed me on a few occasions this past week that it was not as fatigued from the record mileage as my mind thought it was; even though my mind didn't change its mind about being tired, my body kept moving as if it wasn't. It was my body resisting the fatigue, rather than my mind which is what I've been used to.

It's the continued string of such discoveries and the dynamic nature of being a runner that keeps me motivated. I love being in motion, especially when you feel its momentum.

A runner's third degree

2012-02-04T08:37:00.000-08:00

A gorgeous Friday had me run in shorts for the second day in a row. Admittedly, Thursday had also been a day in shorts because my tights and capris were in the laundry room, though the sun was nice enough then too. Yesterday was the first real hint of spring.

It was just beautiful. Teens were walking around in T-shirts and people were out walking their dogs and riding their bikes. I was tired, what's new, but am learning that daily runs are best absorbed without too many expectations about how difficult they might feel. On today's menu was 21K, which I started with a caffeine gel shortly after noon.

I brought another caf gel but chose to risk being a little thirsty by the end of the session over carrying a bottle of water. I opted for a route that allowed me to run mostly on soft trails. First I took the trail in Valleycliffe that runs along the Stawamus river from the end of our street toward the Sea to Sky Highway, before following the trail from the Adventure Centre to Brennan Park.

As has been the case recently, the tiredness I felt before (and, as it turned out, after) the training dropped away once I started running and I easily adopted the rhythm I run most of my weekly kilometres at (this week, for example, I am doing 24K, 21K and a 29K sessions in this pace range, for a total of 74K from the 126K, or 59 percent of the weekly volume.)

After about 6K I ran into the owner of our doggy daycare, who is also a superb dog trainer. Her son was racing a tiny bike as she followed on hers, with a soccerball tied on the back of it. She stopped me, apologizing for interrupting my run, and asked if Luka, our dog, would be interested in a photoshoot as some company was looking for some "mutts".

Keeping one eye on the kid, who was impatiently waiting and yelling 200 metres further down the trail, she quickly tried to explain what was involved. I didn't think of stopping my watch, so I am not sure how long we chatted; at least 2, but less than 5, minutes I believe.

After picking up my pace again, I soon followed the road underneath the highway and took the dyke trail that meanders along the Squamish River, passing the West Coast Railway Heritage Park. Here I came across a man and a woman with about four dogs, of which three ignored me but one was keen to say hello. As I stopped to pet the blonde four-legged cutie, the woman asked me, I forget in which order:

Do you live here? (Yes, how about you?)
I live in North Van but come here with my dog as I love to walk these trails. (Yes, it's gorgeous here.)
Do you belong to a fitness club? (No, I am a marathon runner.)
Do you run every day? (Yes.)
Oh, does your back bother you? And joints? (No but I do get tight so you have to take care of it with Epsom Salt baths and massages.)
And, as I had put my earphones back in and was back running about 50 metres ahead, she yelled after me: Are you happy? (Yes!)

She seemed nice and this conversation had taken place in the briefest of moments as she shot questions at me, while I petted her very enthusiastic dog who was trying to kiss me. As I smiled about the interrogation while half closing my eyes as I ran towards the February sun, I was pretty sure I would see her again after turning around after another kilometre to run the same way back.

And indeed. As her dog greeted me even happier this time, and as I quickly stopped Mr Garmin this time, she asked whether I drank alcohol, ate protein - meat?! I asked if she ran, Oh no, she said, I am too big up here, pointing to her chest, but she loved walking. Her statement, I felt, was wrapped in a subtle question.

I told her I believed that anyone can run if they feel like doing so. Walking is the way to start, and then slowly add brief stretches of running. I stressed the importance of easing into running gradually, telling her about my 62-year-old friend who had recently begun running but who, I found, was nearly sprinting for 30 seconds rather than jogging. Easy does it.

Even after menopause? At my age? Absolutely. I told her about the running coach I interviewed for Running Shoes Are a Girl's Best Friend, and how people who struggle to run a 400-metre lap around a track are stunned to find they can run 4K after a six-week Learn to Run clinic. I didn't carry business cards, nor did I mention the title of the book, as it was a brief conversation.

As we went our separate ways, I later thought I could have pointed her to her local library in North Vancouver. Oh well. I didn't want to sell her on my books but on the fact that if she's interested in running, it's never too late to start.

In fact, I just spotted this new book and talk on February 9: Octogenarian BJ McHugh, who started running in her 50s, has entered more than 300 races and has set more than 30 world records for her age. She continues to enter half and full marathons to this day, and can often be seen running in her current hometown of North Vancouver, BC.

As a passionate runner, I don't want to preach my religion. But if you're interested, I want you to know that you can (always check with your GP first, of course). I'm part of a project of a local university student who, among other things, asked us to to share Life Wisdom, answering the question: If there was one thing that you could teach either to a small child or all of society, what would it be?

I would ask you to move on your own account, and to do so regularly; walk or run. Our bodies are made for walking and running. If we don't use it, we lose a part of who we are. We lose access to who we are. Using our body allows us to tap into a vast amount of knowledge and experience that is stored there.

By using our body, we learn to marvel at its capability. We feel gratitude for being. We sense the deep mystery of nature that is ours to discover as we unfold our own by using the body we were given.

Moving, through walking or running, shakes loose an awareness that we only find when we use our muscles, joints and bones, as we feel the heart pump the blood around our veins, more forcefully and with full dedication as we propel ourselves forward at a pace of our own choosing.

There is a vast expanse of ability few of us ever use to its full potential, the way our ancestors did and knew they were supposed to do. Most of us have no idea what our bodies would allow us to do if we used them more often, and more regularly. By using them, simply, not in a competitive way unless we want to, we find out. And we become curious to see what more is there.

And yesterday, I read this quote by Desi Davila, who last month secured her spot on the 2012 USA Olympic team to race the marathon at the Games in London, on LetsRun.com, an entry from her journal in December 2006:

"Rarely are we ever satisfied with our performances. Even after our best races we might be content for a moment, but it is in our nature to constantly over-analyze and re-evaluate, finding seconds on the course, flaws in our race plans, what ifs… should haves… and could haves. Are we ever satisfied? There is a competitive mentality that keeps us coming back for more, day after day, race after race, and year after year…

"Odds are I’ll never wear an Olympic medal around my neck, but maybe…just maybe, I will. With that in mind I’ll take off down the road and put in the days work. If we don’t try we’ll never know. At least I can find out how good I can be. I can have an answer at the end of the days, and have a hell of a good time with the process."

I will never go to the Olympics (as an athlete; I have been as an accredited reporter for the Olympic News Service), nor do I expect break to any world records. But, aside from the joy I get from running, I am deeply motivated to find out what I am capable of.

I ended up covering the 21K in 1:46:43, which included my chat to the dog trainer and the first encounter with the woman mentioned above, an average pace of 5:05 per K at an average heart rate of 134bpm.

Write letters

2012-02-03T11:40:00.000-08:00

More details

I just came across this A Month of Letters challenge,which sounds very neat. It works as follows:

In the month of February, mail at least one item through the post every day it runs. Write a postcard, a letter, send a picture, or a cutting from a newspaper, or a fabric swatch.
Write back to everyone who writes to you. This can count as one of your mailed items.

When a runner's body takes over

2012-02-01T17:44:00.000-08:00

Today I had a 24K session. In this type of run, I am aiming for a pace average of between 4:41 per K and 5:06 per K, which is 10 to 20 percent below my marathon goal race pace of 4:15 per K (which would get me across the finish in 2:59:xx.)

I felt tired at the start, which didn't surprise me, for several reasons. First, I am running a lot.

Second, yesterday's was a lactate threshold session, which I had done at night because the Squamish Titans, a multisport club I am a member of, held its monthly 5K time trial, or race, whatever you'd like to call it. Since my 16K included 6K at 15K to half marathon race pace, I opted to do the 5K with the group as it's more fun and mentally easier to chase others.

I would simply tack another kilometre at the end of the 5K and resist the temptation to race all out; I was aiming for 15K to half marathon pace, not 5K speed. I warmed up by running the 9K to the meeting point from home; it was dark and rainy, and a nice temperature for running.

With the group, a total of 16 plus the coach, we warmed up for another 2K and did three striders.

As everyone settled into their chosen pace and effort, I ran stride for stride with Andrew, another Titan, which was great as he even generously did the extra kilometre with me. We covered 5.89K in 23:59, or a pace of 4:06. My average heart rate was 162bpm. Perfect!

I ended up running 18K in total last night. On Monday, I had covered 16K after Sunday's 32K; including today's 24K, that's 90K in four days. Yeah, I had reason to feel tired today.

But as I got into a rhythm on the sunny trails, making my way to the dyke that runs along the Squamish River as it heads toward the Spit and the Estuary, a beautiful area offering spectacular views of the Howe Sound and the Chief, I noticed that as my mind was busy thinking about being tired, my body was showing that it didn't matter.

My legs kept moving in a smooth rhythm and Mr Garmin told me that my pace was exactly where it should be. My body had taken over to show that the fatigue I felt didn't mean that I needed to move at a slower pace; I was comfortable under 5:00 per K, and my heart rate was in the mid 130s.

As I wondered over the next few K whether this would only be a short burst of energy before I'd hit the inevitable wall, my legs kept moving at the same clip. So I relaxed and went along with it; I still felt tired but my body had taken charge and showed that it was firmly in control.

After a slow start - I ran the first 5.5K in a little over 30 minutes, I ran the bulk -19K - at an average pace of just under 5:00 per K.

New menu: double runs & couscous recipe

2012-01-30T21:24:00.000-08:00

This week, one with 126K on the program following last week's 120K, began with a day of recovery; an easy 10K in the morning, followed by an easy 6K in the afternoon.

The weather was beautiful - dry, which was a stark contrast to yesterday when I ran 32K in heavy rain, wondering how on earth it is possibly that I am training for a marathon for a fifth consecutive winter on Canada's West Coast and still do not own a pair of waterproof gloves.

I am really enjoying the three recovery runs I have each week; so far each of them have been 10K, on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The double run today felt relaxing, too, and I enjoyed both sessions today, feeling my muscles loosen from yesterday's effort when I eased into the run with a sluggish body and a pace of 5:32 for the first 10.5K, followed by an average 5:23 for the next 5.5K, before turning up in the final 16K to an average 4:53.

The rain certainly underpinned my motivation for picking up the speed in the second half, as it would get me home quicker and help boost my core temperature. For a while, it seemed my body was going to tire but then it simply adjusted and happily cruised along at my chosen pace while I contemplated my astonishing lack of suitable gloves for this climate and listened to my iPod.

It was only a brief rest on the couch this Sunday, as there were chocolate breads to bake and dinners to prepare for an evening with good friends (who, incidentally, are training for their first half marathon).

I tried a new recipe from Survival of the Fittest: The Australian Institute of Sport official cookbook for busy athletes. I love great food but don't have a ton of patience in the kitchen (nor for spending hours looking for crazy ingredients in farflung places.)

Perhaps a bit risky to try a new dish for the first time when having people over, but this moroccan-style beef with couscous got eight thumbs up. The ingredients (except for the silverbeet leaves, which I replaced with parsley) were easy to find, and the dish is relatively fast and easy to make.

Serving 4, you need:
canola or olive oil (the book recommends spray)
500g lean beef, cut into strips (I used buffalo)
1 onion, cut into thin wedges
1 teaspoon minced garlic (I used four cloves, finely chopped)
1/2 teaspoon finely choped red chilli
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
400g can crushed tomatoes
250ml (1 cup) beef stock
2 zucchini/courgette, sliced
4 silverbeet leaves, shredded (I used a bunch of fresh parsley instead)
1/2 cup sultanas
2 cups couscous
1/2 cup toasted almonds (which I had but forgot to add, doh!)

Add oil to wok or frying pan and heat. Stirfry beef (buffalo) in 2 batches (I just did it all in 1 go) over high heat for 3-4 minutes or until well browned (I left it a little raw). Remove from the pan and set aside. Add onion to the pan and cook over medium heat for 3 minutes or until soft. Add the garlic, chilli and spices and strifry for about 30 seconds. Stir in the tomatoes and stock, bring to the boil and reduce the heat. Add the zucchini, silverbeet (parsley) and sultanas, simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Put the couscous in a heatproof bowl and add 2 cups of boiling water. Cover tightly and stand for 3 minutes, then fluff up with a fork before serving. Return beef to the pan to heat and serve over couscous, sprinkled with almonds.

Not in the cookbook, but from own experience: pair with a 2010 Painter Bridge Zinfandel (a yummy red our friends brought) and/or a 2011 Finca Los Primos Cabernet Savignon (our staple red).

Delicious!!!

Also a new staple on the menu will be the double runs like today's on Mondays; with the exception of next week, a recovery one, all Monday sessions for the next nine weeks will consist of a 10K recovery run in the morning and 6K in the afternoon/evening. I like them.

Next up, a 16K session including 6K at half marathon pace.

Yummy, easy and healthy post-run meal

2012-01-25T21:33:00.000-08:00

As miserable as yesterday's 16K session was in rain that was so steady that I couldn't have been wetter if I had run for 80 minutes in a swimming pool, today's 23K in air that was just a couple of degrees warmer and a touch drier was heaven.

The sun even peered through the clouds hanging mysteriously across the Squamish valley and the surrounding mountains. It was bliss, and so was my average pace of 4:52 per K for the distance. There was some rain once I got past 9K but my mood was too good for it to be spoilt.

I love a salty omelet with ham after a long-ish run, especially in winter. Today I varied the menu by cracking a couple of eggs in a bowl and then soaking two slices of calabrese bread in it, just as you do to make French toast.

I cooked the first slice in a frying pan with a little canola oil, adding a slice of ham and some sea salt just before it was done. The next slice I fried until done, and then smothered it in liquid honey.

This easy combo took care of my post-run cravings for salt and sweetness in one super-simple, healthy and, most importantly, d e l i c i o u s meal. I suspect my post-32K meal on Sunday will look quite similar.

Tomorrow has a recovery 10K, followed by another medium-long run of 19K on Friday.

***

On Monday I went to see my friend Michiko. She showed me how she makes gomaae (a Japanese dish of spinach and sesame seeds). Hers is absolutely delicious. I'll try her recipe soon; if my efforts result in tasting only a fraction as good as hers, I'll be very happy.

Sunday = long run plus couch

2012-01-22T17:23:00.000-08:00

The memory that stands out most from preparing for my first marathon, the 1999 Ottawa Marathon, was that Sundays became days when you did a long run and then, especially in winter, happily spent the rest of the day on the couch reading, napping and refuelling.

That pretty much sums up today, too.

After putting the final touches on the financial column I write five days a week for New Zealand's BusinessDesk, I walked Luka and realized that it was wetter and colder than I thought. Rain turned into snow turned into rain as the temperature hovered around zero.

It helped me decide to wear a little more than I had planned - I changed into an ancient pair of MEC running pants (bought when I trained for that 1999 marathon in a Toronto winter) that are a touch too wide and a touch too short but otherwise perfect in wet, cold conditions like today's.

I also mapped out an out-and back route for 26K, keeping in mind that the sidewalks and smaller roads in town were still covered under a layer of wet snow. Tim would join me for the first 9K, so I marked his turnaround spot too, just in case Mr Garmin ran out of juice or would otherwise fail to cooperate in the weather (it worked perfectly fine, aside from missing the first 300 metres as it searched for GPS signals).

I was a little grumpy in the first 3K as my shoes got soaked along Westway Avenue already and we then had to negotiate a few icy parts to drop down from Hospital Hill to Loggers Lane on Scott Crescent, but after that both our speed and my mood picked up significantly.

Shortly before the Eagle Run, after 9K, Tim turned around and headed home. The 19K he ended up covering today was his longest run since finishing the Whistler 50 at the start of November, Tim's first ultra.

I had my first gel and kept going until Squamish Airport, which I reached after 13K. By then it was snowing beautifully, and I enjoyed the next 2K that sloped downhill. I picked up my pace as I aim to do progressively in my long runs.

Overall, I felt pretty good and I enjoyed being able to do the session outside. Before I knew it, I was heading up the hill to Valleycliffe, though this time I stayed along Highway 99, which has a wide, and clear, shoulder, to avoid the icy Scott Crescent.

As it turned out, I went a little long, reaching home with 26.74K on the Garmin in 2:19. Given that it took at least 300 metres before the GPS had picked up the signals at the start of the run, it's safe to say I ran at least 27K.

I couldn't help but think about having to run another 190K as Coquitlam's Lucy Ryan just did at the 135-mile (217K) Brazil 135. A big huge congratulations to this amazing athlete!

Lucy, who I met at the Haney to Harrison 100K in 2010, had never run farther than a half marathon in 2005. By now, she has finished a bunch of Ironman triathlons, Ultraman Canada—which consists of a 10K open water swim, a 421K bike ride, and an 84K run—and several ultras.

I can't wait to ask her if she considered the 135-miler as a 100K (of which she has done at least four) in that, "Running 100K gives you a 'day off' from regular life. It's like a vacation of the mind—no thoughts of finances, work, what the kids are up to, etcetera—just pure survival. How often do you get to do that?" as she says in A Hundred Reasons to Run 100km.

As it is, I ran half the distance Lucy covered in 45 hours this week, a total of 110K, slightly short of the 114K I was meant to do but the difference was too small for me to add a second run this afternoon. It was another solid week of training, and I am not going to obsess over 3 or 4K.

By the time I got home, happily soaked, Tim and Luka had already found their place on the couch, with a cup of tea and a book for the former. After a hot shower, I joined them with a big ham omelet on a couple of slices of bread, a cup of peppermint tea and two of the books I'm reading at the moment, Thinking About Memoir by Abigail Thomas and How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer.

Sundays, especially in winter, are great.

Next week's program offers 120K.

On the road

2012-01-20T15:46:00.000-08:00

Yesterday the temperature warmed up to about minus 4 by mid afternoon. The sun had even come out, while the wind had taken the day off. Tim was keen on a run, and so was Luka. My schedule had 10K, but a lap around the 'hood of about 7.5K worked fine too.

This morning I woke up to a white view, and thought that today's 18K might be for the treadmill again. But the conditions and temperature were quite nice I found during the morning walk with Luka, and I decided to opt for the snowy outdoors instead of the Star Trac treadmill.

Aside from a fairly usual winter outfit including a fleece hat, I had added a fleece neck warmer. Since it was snowing, I also wore sunnies. My feet would be comfy in the Hoka One One. It was nice to be outside, and I got into a rhythm quickly. I was perfectly comfortable - aside from a cold nose when I was moving into the snowy headwind.

Some were tiny but agressive flocks of snow that hurt my face or jumped straight into my airways. I couldn't pull the neck warmer to cover my nose without my glasses fogging up from my steamy breath having no other way to escape. So I took turns between enjoying a cold nose and foggy glasses, and repeat, by moving my neckwarmer up and down clumsily as my fingers were cosily trapped in warm thick gloves.

While I like winter, my kind of winter is pretty mild. Like an Australian winter.

I felt great and enjoyed the run, though by 6K and bearing the full brunt of a headwind, I tired a little of the neck warmer dance. It's funny how little things can get to you on some days, and I began thinking about cutting the run short. I didn't want to because my nose was the only source of discomfort. Obviously I needed more practice and a better head cover in this type of weather.

By 9K, the snow stopped falling, and it was all the encouragement I needed to keep going. I got home after 17K in 94 minutes, with an average pace of 5:35 per K and an average heart rate of 129 beats per minute. Today's run brought the five-day total to 73K.

Up next is tomorrow's recovery 10K, followed by 26K long run on Sunday when I might add a second run of about 5K in the afternoon.

Treadmill encounter

2012-01-20T07:44:00.000-08:00

Once a month the Squamish Writers Group meets in the office of Goodwin Studios. I wrote this piece on a fleeting encounter on the run to read at last night's meeting.

In Alan Sillitoe's story The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, the protagonist uses running as an emotional and physical escape from his life. I doubt I run to escape, though might discover one day that in fact I do, and I usually run in solitude rather than in loneliness.

There's plenty to think about on the run, after all, and on hard workouts there's no space or breath for talking. Silence can be golden for a runner but not all days are like that.

She gave me a friendly nod as she stepped on the treadmill to the left of mine. I'd been running on a Star Trac model for about 15 minutes. Escaping the danger of icy patches on the road, I had opted to stay indoors for a third day in four.

Club Flex owner Don Smith had welcomed me back after my two-year absence; the eleven dollar drop-in fee was a small price to pay for using an eight-thousand dollar machine for two hours. Today I particularly sought to escape the arctic outflow pushing the wind-chill below minus 20 on a day when I had to run 23 kilometres.

Running on a treadmill is challenging and takes practice. For starters, one needs a positive attitude and steely determination as the word Stop is emblazoned on the panel in front of you as well as on an emergency button on the side. Thick letters spelling out a forbidden desire that's most appealing when training is toughest are surrounded by a sea of red, taunting the runner to press the button one cannot escape from seeing on the treadmill.

Nothing takes more willpower than to remain in one place when that's seemingly taking you nowhere, a feeling a writer can be all too familiar with. At least the rest of the Star Trac screen reminded me that I was indeed progressing, as my heart, the hardest-working muscle in our body, was beating at 139 beats a minute.

For the 115 minutes I would spend keeping up with the band I had set to moving at 8 miles an hour, it would about pump about 70 millilitres of blood per beat, as hearts do. At this rate, my heart moved almost 10 litres a minute, or more than 1,100 litres of blood for this workout.

Cooperating fully was the largest muscle in our body, the gluteus maximus. It's the force that keeps us all upright, and a runner moving ahead—if she takes care not to let this beast become too tight by training too much too soon. The gluteus maximus can become a pain in the butt, as the left and right one are rarely created equally. The result of this common imbalance typically wreaks havoc elsewhere, like the knee.

If the right gluteus maximus is weaker than his left brother, it's the left knee that usually pays the price. Imbalanced is how we are all born, and we learn only to deal with this lack of equilibrium by first discovering it. Injury is a great teacher to those who are willing to listen and learn.

I'd never met or seen the woman who I was to share part of my run with, as she kept up with her Life Fitness treadmill and I with my Star Trac, yet I knew a great deal about her by the time she left her stationary post thirty minutes later.

An elevated heartbeat, whether on the road or on a band spinning to nowhere, is conducive to talking, which in turn uses our body's strongest muscle based on its weight, the masseter.

She was 26 and about to marry her fiance in September. That's why she was next to me. She was going to use the nine months she had left until the wedding to get in the best shape of her life. She didn't need to lose that much weight. It was her tummy that gave her trouble as it refused to tone the way the rest of her body did.

She began working out as a teen, as she had a job at a gym back then. Her family all struggled with their weight and never listened to any of the advice she gave them.

She always watched what she ate, loving bread and carbs but not able to eat too many of them. For the past year she had done a lot of weight training which had made her a little bulky, she said, so that's why she ran.

Running was tough but she always felt so great afterward. Her fiance was amazing, he could just keep going and had even run a marathon, something she'd love to do one day. First, she'd try a 10K.

A knee injury had taught her boundaries as a runner. Her doctor had advised her to rest, as non-running GPs typically do.

Tim Noakes, the South African author of Lore of Running, rightly recommends runners to never trust a doctor's advice on running unless he or she has practiced the religion. Rest is always the doctor's answer to an injured runner but it never is the solution to the problem, though it might get rid of the symptom temporarily.

Bikram yoga had filled the void, before she got to the weight training, she said, as we kept pace side by side. I didn't look at the speed she was running at, which I consider bad form unless it's the topic of conversation.

She took Bikram yoga classes—expensive at $20 a pop, she said—every other day and found that the 90-minute routine of 26 postures in rooms that are heated to well above 30 degrees helps you lose weight quickly.

The last class she took in Vancouver, where she moved five years ago from her hometown of Somewhere, was led by a drill sergeant who cranked up the heat an extra 5 degrees and blocked students from leaving the room.

She was glad to have left Vancouver behind after three years. She and her fiance had bought 8 acres in the Upper Squamish Valley. She liked it here; people were friendlier in small towns. Her parents had visited too, experiencing the area's typical wet climate before enjoying a week of the late summer just before fall arrived.

Plans for the land were still in the works. Organic gardening was among them, though the start she made with tomatoes showed her the soil and conditions were different here. Her tomatoes had become almost the size of melons but remained green. The sunflowers that sprang up in her garden were a neat surprise.

She wanted to travel; visiting a friend in New Zealand might be top of the list.

Her treadmill was almost done as she never ran longer than 45 minutes, less on days she would be on her feet for eight hours at Coffeeshop. Hers was a supervisory role, she added, with unmistakeable pride before she left me at 48 minutes into my run, saying it had been nice to meet me because it made the time go faster. It certainly did.

Mid-week 23K on the treadmill

2012-01-18T17:51:00.000-08:00

A morning walk with the dog confirmed that it was truly cold outside. The wind was what made the unusual cold for Squamish unbearable enough for me to head to Club Flex again. The $11 drop-in fee was well worth it to spend just shy of two hours on one of their Star Trac treadmills.

Today's 23K session is one of two so-called medium long runs I have most weeks in this schedule during the Endurance as well as the Lactate Threshold + Endurance phases, which together span 11 of my 18-week program. In these workouts I'm aiming for a similar pace / effort as in my long runs, i.e. between 74 and 84 percent of max heart rate and, in my case, a pace of between 4:41 and 5:06 per km.

Having said, Advanced Marathoning recommends taking it a little easier the day after a hard run, such as the lactate threshold session I did, also on the treadmill, yesterday.

Today I ran at midday and, having only had breakfast, I brought two gels. Of course I also had a small towel, a bottle of water and an iPod.

Today's workout wasn't challenging per se - I ran 14.2 miles in 1:55 and my heart rate never got above 145, staying comfortably below 140 for at least 90 minutes.

Even so, I felt a mental tiredness in the final 20 minutes or so of the session. It's I think the most challenging part of doing longer runs on a treadmill when the stop button is right in front of you the entire time. It's too easy to get off that band as you're not going anywhere.

On the road I usually plan an out-and-back route, or a nice big loop, where it's just not possible to cut the run short as I need to get home. The option of stopping doesn't enter my mind on the road, slowing down on a hard session, sure, but stopping, no.

Feeling the mental fatigue, I entertained myself by focusing on the enjoyable rhythm of my pace and cadence in the second hour and listening to music. Most of the first hour I had chatted with a woman who jumped on the treadmill beside me.

I also aim to visualize parts of the marathon as I train; particularly when I feel like dropping off my pace towards the end, I remind myself that sustaining the effort might be the difference between a 2:59 and a 3:xx finish.

Here's a great clip where the top 4 women of the 2012 US Olympic marathon trials held this past weekend - Shalane Flanagan, Desi Davila, Kara Goucher and Amy Hastings - talk about their final mile.

All in all, time flew by today and I felt strong throughout. With another solid run, I am 49K into this week's 114K. I love training for marathons.

Watch this interview with the inspiring Flanagan the day after she won the US Olympic marathon trials in record time.

Lactate threshold run on treadmill

2012-01-18T08:10:00.000-08:00

It's cold; today the mercury is at minus 12. There's even an arctic outflow warning. Arctic outflow, according to The Weather Network, will give wind chill values exceeding minus 20. I haven't decided yet what do with today's 23K session; I'll venture outside to walk Luka first to check what it feels like.

Yesterday wasn't too warm either and, more importantly, there were still enough slippery spots on the roads. With a lactate threshold session to do where I have enough on my mind without worrying about footing, I headed back to the treadmill following Monday's gorgeous 10K recovery trail run over a light layer of snow with Luka.

Luka at 4 months

Incidentally, Luka loves snow, which gives him an extra spring in his step. He was rescued as a puppy from an area about 40 minutes north of Whistler. When we adopted him in early April 2009, Luka was estimated to be about four months old. That meant he was born in a winter when Canada had the first nationwide white Christmas in almost four decades.

Yesterday's session was 16K, or 10 miles. It included 8K, or 5 miles, at 15K to half marathon race pace and/or a heart rate of between 82 and 91 percent of max. On Sunday, when I had such a tough run on the treadmill, which was my first indoor run in about two years, I had brought my Garmin heart rate monitor which wasn't compatible with the Star Trac treadmill. Yesterday I brought a Polar monitor, which worked.

After a warm-up of 3 miles, I eased into the fast part of the run by starting at 8 miles an hour. Sunday's run reminded me that it's early in the season and that running on a treadmill indoors feels very different. After a mile I upped the speed slowy to 8.5, and then sped up gradually to 9 for the last two miles of the session. In the final half mile, I slightly increased at quarter mile increments to 9.3.

IF my heart rate readings were correct, my max is well above 184; for most of the workout I was between 170 and 190 bpm. But, unlike Sunday, I wasn't struggling - it was challenging, sure, but not crazy - and I felt good after the session was done, too. Once the 5 miles were complete, I cooled down with an easy 2 miles that brought the total to 10 miles. A great workout.

I believe yesterday I might have used this treadmill, the Star Trac E-TR, which retails for a cool $7,500 or so.

If you're looking for some suggestions on treadmill workouts, Matt Fitzgerald offers a few in this article; it includes marathon race pace training (as I did, or rather tried to do, on Sunday, see this post). Another is the Endless Hill.

I might try to see if my schedule allows for the VO2 Max Test he suggests; The workout format that exercise physiologists commonly use to determine VO2Max is also useful as a powerful (if painful) fitness-boosting workout. Start by hopping on the treadmill and running easy for five to 10 minutes.

Next, increase the belt speed by 0.5 mph and run for one minute at that speed. Now increase the belt speed by another 0.5 mph, hold the new speed for another minute, and continue in this fashion until you feel unable to run any faster. Reduce the belt speed and cool down. Note the maximum speed you attained and try to beat it when you repeat the workout in three or four weeks.

Tough run on the treadmill

2012-01-16T08:12:00.000-08:00

I generally like to run on the treadmill, which I have used for runs of up to three hours. I believe it had been two years since I last ran on one before yesterday. On a day with icy roads and a session that included a tempo run at marathon race pace, the treadmill was the way to go.

I went to the gym at 8am, the time they open on Sundays. I brought water, a couple of gels, a charged iPod and a towel. Anticipating that the machine might be set to miles instead of kilometres, I had checked on the conversion of my goal pace.

There are plenty of benefits to running on the treadmill.

Norway's Ingrid Kristiansen ran a 2:21:06 marathon world record in 1985 after a winter with mostly treadmill running, according to The Competitive Runner's Handbook, while Alberto Salazar is also a fan, doing an incredible 35 miles on a treadmill in preparation for his victory at the Comrades Marathon.

Interval workouts on the treadmill are just as beneficial, Salazar says in Alberto Salazar's Guide to Road Racing. However, "[t]he main difference is that on a treadmill any given speed is slightly easier than on a track because you're not fighting your own self-generated headwind," he writes.

In a test with three mile repeats, Salazar found that his speed was 17 seconds per mile slower on the track than on the treadmill. According to Bob Glover and Shelly-lynn Florence Glover in The Competitive Runner's Handbook, "about 7 percent less energy is required, equivalent to running a slight downhill, to run on a flat treadmill rather than on a flat road."

My session called for 27K in total, including 13K at marathon goal race pace in the second half. I eased into the session, warming up until I hit cruising speed of 7.5 miles per hour (8 minute miles or 4:58 kilometres), though that felt a touch fast, and I eased back to 7.3 miles per hour.

I had the sense that I didn't feel as comfortable as I have in the past couple of weeks; perhaps it was the heat of running indoors, perhaps the treadmill wasn't calibrated accurately, or perhaps it was a result of the muscle release treatment on Friday, followed by a rest day on Saturday.

After 8 miles in 67:47, including the warm-up, for an average of 5:15 kilometres or 8:28 miles, I had a quick break, refilling my bottle of water and taking a gel. It was time for the tough part of the workout.

I started off at 8 miles an hour, or 7:30 miles / 4:39 kilometres, moving gradually to 8.5 miles an hour over the next 15 minutes. While I wasn't panting or otherwise physically distressed, I also didn't quite feel up to it and the result was that after 3 miles I pressed the stop button.

I took a walk break of about 5 minutes, not too pleased with myself. Then I sped up to either 8.3 or 8.5, only to hit the stop button again after a mile, and taking another walk break. I didn't quite understand what was going on. Particularly on the treadmill, 8.5 should be doable.

I did another mile at 8.3 or 8.5, took another walk break, then ran a mile at 6.5, wondering if this was one of those days when it was better to pack it in all together. But I didn't want to; as much as I didn't feel like running the remaining 3 miles of the 8-mile tempo run that I clearly wasn't doing the way it was meant to be done - and I really didn't feel like running the remainder - the thought of cutting my long run short was even less appealing.

So I compromised, and coaxed myself into running the final 3 miles at 8, which took enough effort already. It was a tough, tough run, and I don't quite understand what happened. But sometimes that's the way it is. While it's a shame that I felt so bad, I cannot dwell on it. I'm glad I finished the 27K, bringing my total for last week to 102K (rather than the 109K on the schedule).

Using the McMillan Running Calculator, I triple-checked my target paces - they're correct.

It's a new day, a new week with 114K of training ahead. I'm looking forward to it. Today's a recovery 10K, followed by a lactate threshold session on Tuesday.

Retreat to the treadmill for long run

2012-01-14T19:29:00.000-08:00

Winter arrived in Squamish last night. Much of the snow had turned to slush this morning and with temperatures forecast to drop below zero overnight, I expect plenty of icy patches on the roads tomorrow morning. Not the kind of conditions I like for a 27K run that includes 13K at marathon goal race pace, i.e. 4:15 per km.

So it was time for Plan B. I called a local gym I've used before and asked about the best time to drop by for a run of about two hours on one of their treadmills. Like many gyms, they typically prefer people not to hog their machines in peak hours. "Early I guess. No one here ever runs two hours on the treadmill," the owner said.

I am actually looking forward to doing this session on the treadmill. All I need to do is run for a little over an hour at about 12K per hour, and then up the speed to 14K per hour and stay there for another 13K. I'll be able to park a bottle of water on the machine rather than having to carry it, and simply aim to keep up with the treadmill - especially in the latter half of the run.

Running a certain pace on the treadmill takes a little less effort than running the same speed on the road, but if I can stick with 4:15 on that band for an hour I'll be very pleased.

I am also looking forward to the run because I decided to skip today's after the ART treatment yesterday. While it would have been fine to do the training, I thought rest more beneficial for my body than squeezing in a 10K recovery run. It's only the second week of the program and having had all the scary injury scenarios in my mind the other night, I chose rest - as hard as it was to skip training.

Instead I followed the excellent Runner's World coverage of the US Olympic marathon trials in the morning, and later watched the final hour of NBC's two-hour coverage in the afternoon. Inspiring and informative stuff.

Four men finished sub 2:10. Meb Keflezighi won in a PB of 2:09:08, just seconds of the US marathon trials record set by Ryan Hall. At 36, he became the oldest US marathon trials winner and secured a spot for his third Olympics.

Keflezighi, silver medallist in the Athens marathon in 2004, ran the New York City Marathon in November (finishing sixth with 2:09.13), then developed an infection in his left foot, the result of leaving a nasal strip in his shoe, part of his pre-race ritual, according to Associated Press. He missed three weeks of training because of the infection in the lead-up to the trials.

Ryan Hall (with a 2:04:58 in the 2011 Boston the fastest American marathoner ever) was second and Abdi Abdirahman was third, taking the other two spots on the US team for the London Olympics. This will be Abdirahman's fourth Olympics.

It was also a fast day for the women. Shalane Flanagan crossed the line in front, her first victory in only her second career marathon, and set a trials record of 2:25:38. She improved her PB - from her debut - by more than three minutes. Flanagan's race mantra is "cold execution".

Desiree Davila (who ran 2:44 in her debut marathon in 2007) was second and Kara Goucher, a training partner of Flanagan, took third, both also finishing under the old trials record of 2:28:25 set by Colleen de Reuck in 2004.

Preventative treatment for runners

2012-01-13T17:47:00.000-08:00

Last night I was a runner with piriformis syndrome, also referred to as a pain in the butt, and an Achilles tendon about to blow up; at least that's what I worried about as I had become acutely aware of a variety of tight spots in my body that had suddenly become exceptionally tight in the past two days.

A runner is always tired and always tight in some measure; it's a fact of life one simply gets used to. But just as there's a level of tiredness that is unacceptable - a sign of pending danger, there's a level of tightness that sends red flags to the brain. A runner who has been injured in the past knows to recognize them and to, hopefully, heed them in time.

As I push my body to the next level by running more and more often than ever, I am absolutely paranoid about pushing it too far. While I am confident that the training schedule I have chosen to follow is right for me, with a peak volume of 140km per week (though funnily enough this is called a recovery week as I noticed the other day) I am also a cautious athlete who is terrified of getting injured.

These past 13 days of training have felt fantastic, and it's almost like I worry that it's too good to be true. I know that I have done my homework in choosing my program and I don't want any spanners thrown in the works just as I am enjoying myself. I'm positive, optimistic and confident. But I am also cautious, very cautious.

That's why I think my mind went into overdrive yesterday, as my body signalled an increased level of discomfort (not pain) that was beyond my level of tolerance. I booked a double appointment (45 minutes) with my local chiropractor, who is also a runner, for an Active Release Techniques treatment at lunchtime today. Being familiar with ART treatments since October 2003, I don't expect to train on the remainder of the day after a treatment, so I needed to do the 18K session that was on my schedule for today in the morning.

However, with the tightness having developed into symptoms of major injuries in my active imagination, I wondered if i should skip my training. What if I pushed myself over the edge just before the treatment? What is one missed session if it staves off a problem that might stop me from running for days or weeks?

But I didn't want to miss my training. Besides, I was just tight - there was no pain. Perhaps I should simply try. If it didn't feel right, I could turn around and go home.

After a good night's sleep, I felt much better this morning, mentally and physically. It was a crisp clear day with temperatures just above zero, though they had dipped below that overnight. I warmed up with a hot shower, applied muscle-heating cream to my lower back and calves, and then walked Luka before getting ready for the run.

Still apprehensive, it was Friday the 13th after all (though 13 is my lucky number), I chose a route that followed mostly soft flat trails and decided to walk the two steeper, longer hills I would encounter, if I felt good enough to make it there, to avoid stressing those Achilles. I also decided to run a little slower than my goal pace for this type of session, which is 4:41 to 5:06 per km.

It turned out to be a good decision. Before I knew it, I was at 9km and feeling fine. I turned around and took the same route back. In the first half, I averaged 5:20 per km, and 5:10 per km in the second, as my heart rate stayed in the low 130s. I was happy; happy that I felt good - tight but good, happy that I had not skipped my run, and happy that I was about to get those muscles released.

Dr Leah Stadelmann of Chief Chiropractic & Sports Injury Clinic in Squamish did a great job of releasing, among other things, my glutes, psoas and hip flexors. I asked her what she thought of my level of tightness. She said that everything was releasing very well, which is good news.

So, what a difference a day makes; another run done and my mind at ease. Relieved and released. I very much believe in heeding your body's signs even if takes your imagination moving somewhat into overdrive; I'd rather seek treatment before problems have a chance to develop. Hopefully, that's exactly what I did today.

(ART providers I have seen and highly recommend in the Vancouver area are Dr Jenn Turner from Moveo and Dr Kevin Lunnie from Trailside Physio.)

New art by Michiko

2012-01-12T19:56:00.000-08:00

This afternoon I met my friend Michiko for a walk around Nexen Beach on another crisp and sunny day. We hadn't seen each other for a couple of months as she'd been to Japan to visit her family and got back just as I went to see mine in the Netherlands. Then there was Christmas and New Year...

Michiko, an oil painter, had kept me posted on her latest works via email and I was keen to see them in person. Yesterday, as I passed by the Adventure Centre toward the end of my run, I had quickly stopped to admire her second-last one, Before the Sun goes down, exhibited there.

"Before the Sun goes down" by Michiko Splinter (11x14")

After our walk, we dropped by her place to see her recent works. Her latest piece might be my favourite yet. It's superb. It's the largest canvas she's done in Canada - and the largest in 40 years; as a high school student in Japan, she did a couple of huge (about 75x90") paintings. This one was inspired by scenes of a walk we did together last fall along the trails in Valleycliffe, though it didn't start out that way.

"I had this canvas for over two years but I couldn't figure out what to paint. Then finally I started painting last October, a little stream in the middle and many trees around it," she says.

Then she lost interest and didn't return to the canvas until the end of November, and worked on it almost every day until finishing it two days ago, on January 10. "It turned out that there was no stream but a stump covered with moss and a lot of trees around it," she says.

Michiko's daily routine, when in Canada, includes painting and walking, and goes as follows: "Get up at 8:30 ... have a cup of coffee then start painting until noon ... have lunch and go for a walk for a little over an hour ... watch Japanese news on TV and cook supper ... take a bath ...watch TV having a glass of wine ... go to bed at 11:00. What a lazy person I am. But I love these lazy days," says Michiko.

The photo below does not do the picture justice; it's a spectacular painting that will soon be exhibited in the Portico Gallery here in Squamish.

"Undergrowth" by Michiko Splinter (24x30")

A runner's greatest fear: injury

2012-01-12T13:39:00.000-08:00

In my 21K session yesterday, I averaged 5:00 per km - comfortably in the target range I am aiming for in these types of runs and it felt great to be there. It's very early days, just being in the second week of an 18-week program, but so far I've been surprised at the ease with which I seem to be doing the sessions of a 100K-plus week.

While I believed I was ready for this level of training, I couldn't help but worry that the first week already might prove me wrong. The training is challenging, no doubt; yesterday's 21K might have felt comfortable, with my pace and effort exactly where it should be, but I was tired after the run too. And that's OK.

My body, however, is also warning me that to sustain the volume, a record for me, I'll need to take better care of it; my calves, always the most vocal, are tight which is a result of what's happening in my glutes. Those big quiet muscles, gluteus maximus and gluteus medius, never speak themselves but let other areas do the talking for them.

I got their message loud and clear in 2003 when an ITB injury stopped me dead in my tracks as I was preparing for the Honolulu Marathon; fortunately a superb chiropractor knew how to fix it with Active Release Techniques. He got me back running in just a few treatments; I ran the marathon, too.

My injury was simply a result of imbalances and a lack of strength that an increase in training is sure to point out. The chiropractor recommended strengthening exercises that I followed initially but didn't stick with. There's an excuse for everything, but the simple fact of the matter is that it already takes a lot of time and effort to do the run training itself.

Regular preventative ART treatments kept me on track, as did sticking to a good training schedule.

Since moving to Canada four years ago, I've cut back on the regular ART treatments that release my tight muscles periodically for various reasons, including the cost. Last year I might have had five treatments, compared with the monthly ones I used to get in Australia.

However, preventing an injury is, as they say, priceless.

Tightness in a runner's body is the early warning sign of problems developing and we ignore it at our peril; I use hot baths with epsom salts, self-massage including with the Trigger Point Therapy products, as well as heating creams and Voltaren, aside from a proper training routine, to ease it before it has a chance to develop into something serious (so far, knock wood).

There's nothing I fear more than getting injured as it forces you to drastically cut back on, or even stop, your training altogether. Improving as an athlete takes consistent effort, rather than a few months here and there, so you're ready to train a little bit more, better, harder each following season; the more consistently you're able to maintain a routine by keeping interruptions because of illness or injury to a minimum, the better you'll get.

It takes years. Well, it has for me.

I am speaking as someone who did her first marathon in 4:18, after three years of running, followed by a 4:44 marathon two years later. It wasn't until my third marathon, in July 2003, about seven years after I began running regularly from scratch, that I finished a marathon in less than 4 hours.

In that time I had slowly but surely boosted my fitness, as minor running injuries (including shin splints), led me to triathlon; the added swimming and cycling (I did a slew of triathlons and by then completed my first two Ironmans) paid off in running too, as I ran that third marathon in 3:24. By October I was injured, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise as it taught me a lot about my body and how to listen to it.

Today, almost nine years later, my marathon PB is 3:06:06. Of the 15 marathons I've run, I've run the past 11 in 3:15 or faster; it has taken plenty of work to find that shape that I still believe I can improve. To do so, I need to stay healthy.

I spent most of last night massaging my calves, rolling them, and those glutes, over a ball to release some of the tightness. Before going to sleep, I covered my lower back in muscle-heating cream and slathered my calves in Voltaren, before wrapping them in Gladwrap so the cream could do its work overnight.

While that helped, I felt looser on the 12K recovery run this morning, I also decided to call a local chiro who does ART and made an appointment for tomorrow as there's still too much tightness. I'd rather be safe than sorry, so hopefully I've heeded the warning signs of my body early enough.

It also tells me that I will have to commit to making time and energy for a regular strength workout if I want to sustain my training on this level. Improving your running takes more than running alone.

"As soon as your foot hits the ground, your glutes should fire first, followed by hamstrings and then quadriceps," Nancy Cummings, a certified strength and conditioning specialist, athletic trainer, and assistant professor of physical education and athletic training at Florida Southern College, told Runner's World for this article.

"If the glutes aren't strong enough to activate, the quads and hamstrings will have to pick up the slack. This throws off the alignment and mechanics of the entire leg and can lead to knee and foot problems."

A couple easy days

2012-01-10T21:35:00.000-08:00

There are a few tight spots in my hips and calves following last week's training, so I was glad to start on Monday with a 10K recovery run. Doggy Luka came along, and we took our time to smell the roses, and a few other things.

Coming across a fellow marathoner I hadn't seen for a while, she was in her car about to pull out of a parking lot, we stopped for a quick chat to catch up. She's looking at a marathon, which would be her 7th, and an ultra (Frosty Mountain Ultra, a 50K in Manning Park, BC) later in the year after taking the winter off running to work on her strength.

My core strength regime has so far remained limited to good intentions, and five push-ups every other day or so. Hopefully I will find the determination to do a little more in the next couple of weeks.

That 10K took about 70 minutes including all stops, so it was a leisurely jog indeed.

This morning brought gorgeous sunny skies. With temperatures dipping below zero overnight, there were a few slippery spots. I stayed mostly on flat(-ish) trails for a 14K run that included 10 striders of 100 metres.

Up tomorrow is a 21K session. Looks like I will have another sunny day for it.

Whistler 50 Ultra: October 20, 2012

2012-01-09T09:18:00.000-08:00

I just noticed that the Whistler 50 (mile) Relay and Ultra will be held on October 20 this year. That's serious food for thought.

I am focused on improving my marathon time before anything else, and am considering the California International Marathon in early December as my second marathon for 2012.

However, the 2011 edition of the Whistler 50, which I ran in 7:57 after two fast marathons in the previous six weeks, also convinced me that a sub-7 finish should be possible on rested legs.

An October event (lowering the potential for ice and snow, i.e. worries about footing) is very tempting indeed. Ah choices!

Focusing on heart rate

2012-01-08T13:23:00.000-08:00

It was time for a long run today, with 27km on the schedule. My guidance for the long runs, unless they include a marathon goal race pace hit, are to keep my average pace between 4:41 and 5:06 per kilometre, and my heart rate between mid-130 to mid-150 beats per minute.

Today's course was my usual one, heading north from Valleycliffe to Brackendale, and back. My breakfast was coffee, water and an energy bar. My warm-up was walking Luka and Punky, my sister's dog. I brought three gels and a 600ml bottle of water.

My iPod and Garmin were charged, and so was I, it appeared. After a sluggish start, I felt good once warmed up. I am very much enjoying a return to using a heart rate monitor; my pace may seem off at times according to the numbers on the display, which I find can jump around even as I know I'm running consistent.

Sometimes Mr Garmin says I'm going 5:39 per km, and 3:39 per km five seconds later. I know he's wrong but find it distracting and unsettling nonetheless, especially in sessions that are all geared towards keeping a certain pace.

Heart rate measured by the Garmin is much more stable, so if that number is in the zone it's supposed to be, then all's well. Already I find that this change of focus makes a huge difference; my training is much more relaxing as I simply check whether my heart rate is where it should be, and then I look at the pace as an FYI. Today was a solid session.

I ran 27K in 2:12:14, or an average pace of 4:54 per K, with an average heart rate of 145.

As suggested, I made an effort to gradually pick up the pace. I took two splits, showing that I covered the first 14.06K in 70:04, averaging 4:59 per K and my heart rate at 144 beats per minute. The remaining 12.95K I ran in 62:10, averaging 4:48 per K at 148bpm. A great run that rounds up the first official week on the program, which was a very good one indeed.

My total mileage for the week was 104K; for the first 8 days of 2012, it was 131K.

Next week has 109K in store for me; the most challenging run will be Sunday's as it calls for 27K including 13K at marathon goal race pace. First up is tomorrow's 10K recovery run.

Resolutions: chocolate, wine & training

2012-01-07T13:24:00.000-08:00

Luka l o v e s the beach

A relaxed 10km was on the program today, so I asked Luka to join me. He was keen, of course. Luka loves to run, especially when there's sand, water and sticks involved. Alas, that wasn't the case this time; there was plenty of water but it was rain, rather than ocean or lake.

There was no beach either, though there were many trees and bushes to sniff along the way so we had a few short stops as I kept him on the leash.

It was nice to share a run which brought my total for the first week of 2012 to 104K. So far, so good; I love the feeling of having committed to the program with a clear focus. The training is more familiar now. Not that the sessions were complicated the first time around when I followed a similar structure for three months last year, but knowing what to expect has helped me prepare better.

It's always easy to be excited when starting something new, and it's important not to get carried away in the first week.

Among my resolutions for 2012 were to stop eating chocolate and to drink less red wine (i.e. stop having a glass before dinner). Well, I kept those until January 2; obviously I wasn't too serious about them.

What I am serious about is my training for the Vancouver marathon. Just having started the program, I am making a few changes to the way I approach it—call them resolutions if you like.

1. Easing into the program.

At the start of each new program, training toward a new and/or challenging goal, it's easy to get overexcited. Keen to improve on previous results and all fired up with renewed commitment, I know I've made the mistake of aiming for the top of a pace zone in the early sessions. Fresh legs with a fresh mind can get a little carried way.

This time, with 18 weeks of heavy training ahead, I've sharpened my expectations but am easing into meeting them by aiming for the easiest pace allowed in each session, finishing tired and within the parameters, but with a feeling that I could have run harder, instead of running myself into the ground the first week of the program.

2. Making time to plan and focus on the workout.

I am taking a few extra minutes to think through each session before I head out the door. I consider the route I am going to run, thinking through the best option for each workout. I recheck my heart rate target zones, and remind myself of No. 1; take it easy in the first few weeks of the program. I check that I am fuelled and hydrated for the session ahead and have something extra if I need it. I think about the workout's goal and how I am going to achieve it. I make sure the Garmin is charged, and the iPod too, if I'll take them.

None of the above is rocket science, it's just taking that little bit of extra time for a deep breath and making sure I know what I am going to be doing.

3. Taking it very easy on recovery runs.

This point goes back to No. 1 too; I also underestimated the challenge of the various sessions when I first followed a similar structure last year. While there are no super-fast sessions, the lactate threshold and marathon goal race pace workouts are demanding.

For example, next Sunday, my long run calls for 27K—the final 13K should be run at marathon goal race pace, i.e. 4:15 per K in my case. A challenge for sure.

4. Accepting the fatigue.

Being tired from training is not new to me. But I found last year, running record volume, that the fatigue I felt from training that much annoyed me at times. I resisted giving into it at first. Later I found that lying down, even for just 15 to 30 minutes after a session, made a huge difference. I also simply need to sleep at least eight hours every night.

So, now that I am going to run even more again, I am prepared to feel and be tired. It's simply the way it is. The yin and the yang; you run a lot, you're tired. To keep going, you must rest enough.

5. Simplifying life; focus.

Becoming who I am (34x42")

I used to paint. A lot. (Check out some photos here.) The second desk in my office is 'fully loaded' with acrylic and oil paints. There's a roll with metres of canvas waiting to be used. But at the moment I don't have the mental or physical energy to paint.

Last year I did one 'painting', reworking a large canvas to say, Always Believe 2:59. I like looking at it every day as it reminds me of a key goal. I may pick up a brush this year but don't expect to.

The same goes for the guitar. I did play last year, even took a superb blues jamming course in the summer and began a band with a few friends, though it soon turned out that making time to play together was challenging for all.

South Coast Track w. guitar

For several years I had practiced daily (and need plenty more). I was religious about it; when hiking the stunning and remote South Coast Track in the Southwest Wilderness of Tasmania with Tim and a couple of friends, I had strapped a guitar on top of my 25kg backpack so I could keep up the daily routine.

Incidentally, check out the great photo blog Tim created from that hike; we flew into Melaleuca and then hiked the 84K to Cockle Creek.

I'll get back to the paint and the guitar when I feel like doing so. They're just not a priority right now, and there's no need to feel guilty about that.

6. Riding the highs and focusing on the positives in the lows.

Some sessions feel awesome, like Tuesday's and Wednesday's this week. They aren't always going to feel like that. So that's why I take special note of the ones that feel effortless. On the days when my training isn't going as well as I'd like it to, sometimes simply having completed the session is the positive.

Monitoring your heart rate is a great way to remind yourself of the effort you've put in, even if the result (pace) wasn't what you had in mind.

7. Prioritizing.

For the next four months, my training is a top priority. I have never run daily but I've done enough training to know that this will be a major challenge. Aside from making the time to train and rest, I will no doubt need to make time for stretching, hot baths, self-massage with the TP Therapy set but also for creating the mental space needed to allow my mind to be rested enough for the next session.

8. Having fun.

This is not a new point; I run because I love it. But I always make sure I continue to enjoy the training. Or adjust it.

Tim, a passionate triathlete, is preparing for two half ironmans and an Olympic distance in the first part of 2012. He might skip Ironman for the second year in a row, as he's eyeing a fast marathon in the second half of 2012.

Tim, I & 50,000+ at 2001 City to Surf

Even as our training routines are very different, we typically share a run at least once a week. Training, racing and being fit have always been part and parcel of our life since we began sharing it eleven years ago. It's a fun lifestyle, and we always make sure to keep it that way, no matter how serious we are about our goals.

Invincible on medium long run

2012-01-04T15:24:00.000-08:00

On the morning of the 2011 Victoria marathon, we had the hotel room's TV on a music channel as we were getting ready to go to the startline. Just before we left, Invincible by Hedley came on. I hadn't heard the song before but liked the title instantly:-).

I like Hedley because frontman singer-songwriter Jacob Hoggard seems to have so much passion and energy for his music.

We listened to the song until we had to leave and the Invincible tune was what I had in my head as Tim, Angelique (making her debut at the distance) and I jogged over to the start in Victoria. After running a marathon PB for the first time in three years, you can imagine why hearing this song makes me happy. I added it to my iPod this morning before getting ready to do my medium-long run,which today was 19km.

Again, I took some time to make sure the course I had in mind was the correct distance, so I didn't have to think about it, as it was another rainy day (with a rainfall warning for our Howe Sound area). It was also a balmy day (9 degrees C), and I decided shorts would do; I'm certainly loving this wet mild West Coast winter for my training.

The program recommends doing medium-long run at a similar pace as the long run. After a hard session the previous day (as I did yesterday with the lactate threshold workout), it recommends staying near the slower end of the intensity range, given as between about 74 and 84 percent of max heart rate and between 10 and 20 percent below marathon goal race pace.

For me that works out to between 4:41 to 5:06 per km (marathon goal race pace is 4:15 per km) and, assuming my max HR is near 184, between 136 and 155.

The run was great, even as I got absolutely soaked, and I did feel pretty invincible. According to Mr Garmin, I ran 19.25km at an average pace of 5:07 per km and an average heart rate of 141 beats per minute. Right on target.

Lactate threshold runs

2012-01-03T22:19:00.000-08:00

On Sunday, as I lounged on the couch recovering from my long run the day before officially beginning my 18-week program in preparation for the Vancouver marathon, I thought it worthwhile to re-read the advice on why and how to do each of the sessions with the benefit of having followed the training structure for three months late last year.

My training is similar to what I did for my most recent marathon(s), except that I am starting my Advanced Marathoning program six weeks earlier by following an 18-week version and it's the next size up with a higher weekly volume (113-137km, from 88-113km).

This first week is as follows:
Mon recovery 8km
Tues lactate threshold 14km incl 6km at half-marathon race pace
Wed medium-long run 19km
Thur recovery 10km
Fri general aerobic 16km
Sat recovery 10km
Sun long run 27km

Details can make all the difference in preparing for and executing a training session. So I revisited the explanations on each type of session, and decided what that meant in terms of pacing this time around; 2011 was my best running year hands down, in which I improved my marathon PR from 2008 by 64 seconds.

While I didn't improve my 10km and half marathon PBs, also from 2008, I believe I am starting 2012 in my best shape ever and am aiming to up the ante in my training by targetting a faster half-marathon and marathon goal race pace. (Of course the key is being able to achieve those goals, but the first step is feeling confident enough to commit to trying.)

This time I am planning to use a heart rate monitor, particularly in the sessions at half-marathon and marathon race pace, and the long runs. Nearly all my training from 2001 until 2005, mainly as a triathlete, was done based on heart rate, which taught me a lot about pacing and what different levels of effort, as defined by the target heart-rate zones, usually 4 or 5, feel like in beats per minute.

As my next coach didn't focus on heart rate, I haven't paid attention to it since then. One important reason for me to start using it now is Mr Garmin. Since using it, I've found myself getting stressed and/or annoyed when Mr Garmin's assessment of my pace didn't correspond to what I thought it was and/or the level of effort I felt I was putting in.

Sometimes it was simply the weather or my surrounds that made Mr Garmin less reliable, other times it was my own tiredness from training that caused my pace to fall short. Using heart rate is an excellent way to help guide and gauge your sessions. Since Mr Garmin is measuring distance, pace, etc, already, I've decided to add my beats per minute to the mix.

Today's session was a lactate threshold run, defined in Advanced Marathoning as " tempo runs in which you run for at least 20 minutes at your lactate-threshold pace. This corresponds closely with your current 15K to half marathon race pace. For most marathoners, this pace range corresponds with about 82 to 91 percent of maximal heart rate."

I dug up some facts from the past. On July 11, 2001, I had a lactate threshold transition test done in Sydney, Australia. I ran on a treadmill set at a 1 percent gradient. Temperature was 20 degrees Celsius. My lactate threshold point then was measured at 13.0 kph, my heart rate at 170, while my anaerobic threshold point was measured at 14.6 kph, with my HR there at 170. My max heart rate was measured at 184 while I ran, briefly, at 18.0 kph.

That was, of course, 10 years ago.

Another measurement was from the 2003 Gold Coast Marathon, during which I lowered my PB for the distance from 4:11 to 3:24, my average heart rate was 168, according to my notes from that race.

Your heart rate (including the max) drops with age. On the flipside, as you get fitter (and there's no doubt I am much fitter now than in July 2001), you can longer sustain running at a higher heart rate.

Based on my max heart rate as measured in 2001, my heart rate should stay between about 150 to 167 during lactate threshold runs. Confirming that those are the right numbers for me indeed, is a matter of recording my heart rate in training (though, of course, I could also get another test done).

After warming up for 5km, I had a 6km effort at half marathon race pace, followed by a 3km cooldown.

I made sure to ease into the speedy part as it's early in the season (another reminder I picked up from re-reading advice on the training); I felt good throughout, and was pleased with 25:13:30, an average of 4:12/km (or a 88:48 half marathon), for the 6km effort. My average heart rate was 162, acccording to Mr Garmin. Seems that zone still works pretty well.

A few more notes on lactate threshold training:

In Alberto Salazar's Guide to Road Racing, Salazar says "... the bottom line is that you can train your body to be more efficient in its use of lactic acid [or lactate]. This shifts the lactic acid threshold to higher speeds - preparing you to race that much more quickly. Because this shift in lactic acid threshold is a separate effect from changes in VO2max or improvements in running efficiency, it gives you a third variable on which to target your training."

In The Competitive Runner's Handbook, Bob Glover and Shelly-lynn Florence Glover say, "Lactate threshold training is primarily at a pace slightly slower than 10K race pace (15K to half marathon pace). Tempo runs are the most effective way to improve lactate threshold. These workouts are particularly important for half-marathon and marathon training, but still valuable for 5Ks and 10Ks."

Easy runs

2012-01-02T14:44:00.000-08:00

The first day of the Advanced Marathoning schedule I'll be following for the next 18 weeks to prepare for the Vancouver marathon began with an 8km recovery run. I chose a lap around the neighbourhood, took my iPod but left my watch at home.

The trick with these runs is to do them slow enough.

My legs were light following yesterday's 27km. Keeping in mind tomorrow's 14km session, which includes 6km at half marathon race pace, I made sure to take it easy enough; it would have been easy to crank up the speed a little but I knew I'd regret that tomorrow.

I used yesterday's post-run time on the couch to re-read the advice on the various sessions. For example, long runs are meant to be done at between 10% and 20% below marathon goal race pace i:e. 4:15/km or 6:51 per mile, which works out to between 4:41/km to 5:06/km (7:32/mile to 8:12/mile). That means I need to run next week's 27km in 2:17, or - ideally - a little quicker.

As for my half marathon race pace workouts, I'll be targetting 4:05/km to 4:10/km. That means that I'll aim to cover tomorrow's 6km in 24:30 to 25-flat. I'll bring a heartrate monitor to track the effort. While I'm looking forward to the session, I'm also pretty sure that it will provide good motivation to take all recovery runs very easy.

Starting 2012 with a 27km run

2012-01-01T21:47:00.000-08:00

Tim, doggy Luka and I began the year with a family run. The three of us did a peaceful 15km lap along some of the quiet forest service roads between Valleycliffe and Quest University. The remaining kilometres of my long run were up to me alone. As Tim and Luka got home to stay, I made a quick stop for a drink of water and a gel.

It's always tough to do that, and I typically try to avoid it, as the willpower melts as soon as the cosy warmth of the house envelops the sweaty runner. Even on a beautiful winterday as it was today, with temperatures just cold enough for a brief flurry of tiny snowflakes, I needed to gather myself before I was able to head back out again.

There were another 11km left for me as my plan was for a 26km run. As I mapped the distance of the route I had in mind as an excuse to postpone my departure, a route where I wouldn't be able to give in to laziness and turn home early, I wondered if I could avoid a final uphill back to Valleycliffe. A silly question, as I know I cannot.

It was time to go. I grabbed my iPod and pressed play; Adele's Set Fire to the Rain greeted me, spurring me on to head out the door now before I'd give in to the inertia of sitting behind my computer checking a distance to avoid running it.

Grabbing the New Balance REVlite 890s, I retied the laces. As soon as I hit the road, a second wind came over me. Without a watch, I listened to Adele's great voice and the muffled sound of the rhythm of my feet hitting the ground, and strode into a separate universe.

Certain songs, a certain pace and a certain willingness can do that to a runner; especially in the latter half of a long run. It's one of the many things I love about running; you can disappear into another world that's competely your own.

That's where I lingered in the final 12km (yes, I ended up covering an extra km) of my run today, and Adele was right there with me the whole way, as I marvelled at the amazing strength that dwells in our bodies if we are willing to invest a little time regularly to find and cultivate it.

As much as I sometimes seem to struggle to head out the door, I am time and again reminded of the joys that lie ahead when I do.

There will be plenty of couch time!

I spent the rest of the day happily and contently tired, realizing I have never started an 18-week marathon training program with a long run already at 27km. (I also resigned myself to the fact that I am going to stay tired, in varying degrees, for the next 18 weeks.)

A new year is always a great incentive to embark on positive changes, no matter how small as those too can snowball into something big. It's a clean slate, full of aspirations and dreams, not unlike the start of a new marathon progam; mine officially begins tomorrow with an 8km recovery run.

A Happy New Year and I hope 2012 brings you everything you hope for!

Eternal optimist when estimating distance

2011-12-29T09:45:00.000-08:00

Yesterday afternoon Tim, Luka and I headed out for a 16km run in the pouring rain. With the balmy weather of late, we certainly had nothing to complain about.

In fact, it was the warmest December 28 in two decades: the 9.6 degrees Celsius was a daily maximum record for the day in Squamish, surpassing the previous one of 8.2 degrees set in 1991, according to local amateur meteorologist (and runner) Jason Ross.

We ran past the Ravens Plateau subdivision and followed a trail along Crumpit Woods toward a forest service road that took us via an undulating route toward Quest University.

Other than agreeing on a direction, we hadn't discussed a plan; wearing Mr Garmin it seemed, somewhat to my surprise, that our 16km session would allow us to complete a staple lap we hadn't run for at least six months (because of cougars in the area). This route usually takes us around 90 minutes, and we'd always thought it to be closer to 18km.

It would be Tim's longest run since completing his first ultra, the Whistler 50, nearly eight weeks ago so he wasn't keen on a step beyond 16km. I might have been off with my estimates of distance occasionally, typically being more optimistic than warranted. Exhibit A from June 2010, according to Tim: loooong run.

Yesterday Tim wasn't in the mood for anything longer than planned, but I managed to earn his trust on this one. His recovery from the 50-miler has included plenty of indoor rides on the wind trainer at home, a dozen 90-minute Bikram yoga sessions and daily walks. It would also be Luka's longest run in a while, though he didn't seem fazed at all. Nor did he protest.

Once we reached Mamquam Road, we turned left to ease down the big hill (about 1.5km of free speed), and then followed the trail sandwiched between the river and the Squamish Valley golf and country club. Still hanging a left here, we had about 5km to go.

After spotting a few bald eagles high up in the trees here, we passed the swimming pool at the Brennan Park aquatic centre, and then followed a nice flat section of the Sea to Sky trail for about two kilometres before turning left, and headed up to Hospital Hill along a steep-ish incline for about 700 metres. From here, we had a little under a kilometre left to our front door, a good thing as it was getting dark.

All three of us were absolutely soaked, and so glad we got out for a solid 90-minute run.The route was a hair under 16km, so all's well that ends well.

I had run in the Hoka One One Mafate, a shoe I like more and more each time it's on my feet, especially for easy and recovery sessions of between one and two hours.

Luka & Punky want IMJ outfits too

Tim and I both wore our beautiful jackets from IMJ Coaching, owned by our friends Teresa and Scott in Boulder. We didn't take a post-run photo:-).

(Luka's 13-year-old cousin Punky who's staying with us for two weeks received a post-run walk. He's a perky senior Jack Russell but a 16km run is a bit too much for him these days.)

Addicted? I doubt it

2011-12-28T13:24:00.000-08:00

A record volume of training begins easy, or so it seems. In fact it never appears to get that difficult when you look at each daily session in isolation. Sure, there are the challenging workouts that call for half marathon-, or marathon-, race pace for a few kilometres; but these are done only once a week.

Yet I know that my biggest challenge will be to sustain the regimen for the next four months. Yesterday I started what is meant to be a daily running spree of 130 consecutive days. One week away from embarking on an 18-week program that kicks off with a week of 104km of running, I have planned a relatively easy 90km in the final week of 2011, right between Christmas and New Year's.

Easy, as in that this week has no speed sessions. It began with a 12km run at recovery pace/effort yesterday. I chose a route that for a large part follows a forest service road along the Stawamus River, and then veers onto a trail that runs parallel to Highway 99 and takes you to the bottom of the Chief. It's a lovely, mildly undulating run.

It's also the road where a body was found earlier this year. While it was hard not to ponder this, I reminded myself that one body does not make this a creepy route; I focused on the more important fact that I was running along a road that offers access to trails taking you to some of the fabulous hiking and climbing that Squamish has to offer.

It's a little bit like our former neighbours telling Tim and I about our home's previous owner's wife dying suddenly and unexpectedly of a heart condition in our house, before adding, "Geez, you look so much like her!" when they invited us over for the first time on New Year's Eve three years ago. I opted to consider the context of that remark one that had nothing to do with us, or our home.

There is always more than one way to look at things including a focus on athletic performance; some people remark that my focus is 'inspiring', while I also get suggestions to go 'enjoy some skiing ... not just running'. Whether a runner is focused or obsessed all depends on your point of view.

Or, does it?

I rarely wonder if my passion for running, and improving performance, is an unhealthy one; it simply does not feel that way. But it's good to check every now and then, especially when gearing up for a schedule of which the creator, Pete Pfitzinger, writes (emphasis is mine):

"These schedules are challenging right from the start and get harder as your marathon approaches. So that you can progress as the training increases in quantity and quality and to minimize your chances of injury, you should be able to complete the first week of the schedule without too much effort."

"The schedules are presented in a day-by-day format... The main limitation with this approach is that it's impossible to guess the myriad of outside factors that may influence your day-to-day nonrunning life (assuming you still have one at this level of volume)."

I, and many runners no doubt, often hear: "Oh, I don't have time for that."

How would time be different for (non-professional) runners? We are all given 24 hours in a day. Anyone who reads this blog will either own a computer or have access to one; in other words, we are rich, fortunate, privileged people. That means we have a choice as to how we spend our free time; I choose to spend much of mine training for marathons.

The flipside of that comment is an implication that a serious amateur runner is obsessed with, even addicted, to a pursuit most would consider irrelevant: What's the point of spending so much time and energy on running a few minutes faster, unless you're an elite athlete with a shot at a major title?

Yesterday, as I had a brief rest on the couch after finishing those first 12 of the 2,170 kilometres I hope to cover in 19 weeks (an average of 16.7km a day), I read a section of Lore of Running in Chapter 8: Training the Mind that talks about "the psychological addiction of running".

(Incidentally, it follows the section on "psychological benefits of running" which include a positive state of mind, reduced tension and anxiety, decreased depression, increased quality of life, positive personality traits, and improved mental functioning).

Starting on p.548 of the fourth edition and finishing on p.556, Tim Noakes works through the literature citing arguments for and against running being detrimental as it is addictive, adding his own extensive experience and research to the mix, before writing:

"My conclusion then is that marathon runners come from that segment of the human population whose brains have evolved to reward prolonged, sustained activity of moderate to low intensity. Perhaps we are the direct descendants of that group of humans - the ancestral hunters - who outran their prey during many hours of pursuit.

"Our reward was not the slain animals but the gorgeous feelings of tranquility and universal insight that the prolonged chase produced. Far from feeling tired, I suspect that this physiological response spurred the ancestral hunters with the desire to hunt each day, clearly an important survival strategy."

A hunter wired to run, rather than an addict. Or a fighter.

"Others... " writes Noakes, "were designed to protect the tribe from predation by wild animals and other marauding humans... Since fighting, and not hunting, was probably the more important activity of ancestral humans, so it may be that the fighting, and not the running, brain is in the majority of modern human populations."

"[w]ithout the essential physiological basis, I believe that we would not be runners, irrespective of the seemingly plausible psychological explanations for our compulsion. I believe we run because the brain demands it and rewards us with desirable feelings and emotions when we follow its commands."

Michael Sachs (among the authors cited by Noakes) wrote this 1998 Marathon & Beyond article "Too much of a good thing?"

It also offers an "addiction self-test" created by the magazine's editor, Rich Benyo, also an author and runner. Click here to take the test - scroll to the bottom of the article.

After ranking the first statement (Running is extremely important to me. I'm positive I'll be running for the rest of my life.) with a 10, I only agreed as strongly with one other, (Warm-up and cool-down are important, but it's what comes in the middle of the workout that counts).

My overall score for the test was 52, which put me in the lower part of the "Fitness with a mellow bent"-category, only 12 points above "Approaching terminal mellow; better sign up for a race"-group. That's good to know.

Daily runs for the next 130 days

2011-12-27T09:27:00.000-08:00

As I wrote a few notes in my running diary (a new habit, inspired by an Australian friend) last night, I realized that I'd had my last day off for a while; for about 130 days to be more or less exact. I find it scary to write this, as I don't want to jinx anything by doing so.

new Vancouver marathon course

I've never tried a daily running routine, though as a five-time Ironman finisher I am very familiar with large training volumes, so I hope the body will be OK with my regimen for the next four months as I prepare for the Vancouver marathon.

In the past 6-1/2 years of marathon- (and ultra-)running, my body has held up well as I've learned to look after it; guidance from a reputable coach for five of those years, getting massages when needed, and taking a day of rest when my body or mind was asking for it, and resting up after key races before jumping back into training have all been part of my routine.

Since May 2010, I've been following my own regimen, picking and choosing from what I've learned over the years as a triathlete and runner; and decided it was time to up the volume. It's been exciting to do as I feel like doing, and finding that my body and mind seem to agree with it: I'm enjoying the training and have not suffered any injuries.

Hopefully they will also agree with the new regimen, starting on January 2nd with a week of 104km and building to a peak of 140km, as per an 18-week schedule from Advanced Marathoning by Pete Pfitzinger and Scott Douglas. I am very much looking forward to this new phase in my training; there are no guarantees, other than that it will be a challenge, which is exactly the point.

In Lore of Running, Tim Noakes describes what he calls the 15 Laws of Training. Under the heading Law 6: Achieve As Much As Possible on a Minimum of Training, he writes, "If I had my running career all over again, I would seldom run more than 120km per week, the maximum training distance suggested by the University of Oregon's Bowermann [sic] and Dellinger.

"I would see what I could achieve by maintaining that training load for a few years. If I still wished to improve, I would then increase my amount of speed training and perfect the peaking technique. Only when these methods failed to improve my running would I consider further increasing my distance."

It's all about a long-term perspective. I may find that the daily running routine and a weekly mileage of between 104km and 140km suit me perfectly. Then again, it may not and I'd likely drop down to what I did in the second half of 2011, running between 88km and 113km a week. The key is to try and find out.

A week of 80km

2011-12-26T21:16:00.000-08:00

An enjoyable 18km run in the pouring rain on Christmas day brought my mileage for this past week to 80km. Initially I'd planned on doing a 24km for my long run this week but changed my mind when I headed out shortly before 11am.

That 18km, at about 5:00/km, turned out to be the perfect choice. Time flew by, as I was in a relaxed frame of mind and my body felt good. My legs propelled me along in a comfortable rhythm that never felt strained.

As I've been getting ready to start my Vancouver Marathon preparations in earnest on January 2nd with a week of 104km, I've had to shake off the shivers of doubt coming and going in the past few weeks as to whether I'd be ready in time.

Yesterday's run made me feel confident that I will be.

Aside from cars driving back and forth to, I imagine, various Christmas day gatherings, it was quiet. I crossed paths with one other runner, a woman heading in the opposite direction. We exchanged a smile and a Merry-Christmas greeting.

At least a dozen eagles watched me run along the 500-metre stretch close to where Highway 99 crosses the Mamquam River. A lonely, yet stately stork hung out in the same area, too.

My thoughts ebbed and flowed. Aside from a sudden confidence about my ability to tackle the training ahead, I remember one other major thought: What if Jesus had been a runner?

Would those who pray do so on the run, instead of folding hands and bowing heads?

Would Christmas include hordes of people running, instead of churches bursting at their seams with the folk that only attend once a year?

Would the Catholics confess to their sins during a speed session, or perhaps a long one, purging as they'd run to exhaustion, redemption and salvation?

Running as religion is something I would not necessarily denounce as I believe running forces each runner to look within herself for honesty, and truth. We may not always be ready to see it, or admit that we do, but we get the occasional glimpse, a deep if only short-lived sense, of what it might mean if we would truly believe, with absolute faith, in the best of ourselves.

As runners we often focus on our shortcomings and overcoming them as we aim to get faster, better. We'll need to achieve such and such and do this and that before we expect to have faith in our ability, our being 'good enough'.

But sometimes, on some runs, we don't need anything beyond the current moment, only the here and now, to feel with our entire being that we have let go of judgment and that being all that we are in the present is all that we can and care to be right now.

Runner's World: list of best running books

2011-12-24T07:06:00.000-08:00

If you're looking for some great reads on running, check out this Huge List of the Best Running Books and Movies on the Runner's World website.

My book A Hundred Reasons to Run 100km is included (under the Ultramarathon titles).

My top recommendation for novice runners

2011-12-23T11:01:00.000-08:00

Among the top questions I get asked is whether I 'have a training program lying around'. Most of the time I am thrilled to hear this request as it invariably means the person asking is starting to run or keen on improving their recent exploits as a runner.

Unfortunately, the programs I have are mine, i.e. training routines aimed at my personal goals based on my experience and ability at that particular point in time. It will never match yours because everyone is different.

You could simply Google for a free training program or buy a book that offers some. It's what I did as a novice many years ago. (Regular readers of this blog will know I am currently following a program from a book; I was able to recognize and choose this because of my 16 years of experience as a runner.)

My top recommendation for novice and/or inexperienced runners is to invest in a running coach—not a random personal trainer but someone with a track record in the sport, both as a runner and with guiding runners specifically.

SMH.com.com.au/PatCaroll.com.au

I will often recommend people get an online coaching program from Australia's Pat Carroll, who ran a 61:11 half marathon in 1994 and a 2:09:39 marathon in 1995 and guided my running from June 2005 until April 2010. If you think this post sounds like a paid ad, it's not; I simply learned a lot from him and recommend him without any hesitation.

He's knowledgeable, positive, and takes a conservative approach to training; speeding up to a 3:07 marathoner under his guidance, my biggest training week with him never exceeded 90km, if I even ran that.

Most of his sessions aim for time, rather than distance, to ensure you are focused on spending time on your feet, rather than feeling stressed about having to complete a certain distance at a pace that is too fast. There's plenty of speed work too, with two short but challenging sessions a week.

As Carroll says in my book Running Shoes Are a Girl's Best Friend, runners seek his online guidance for three key reasons. “One, to get direction because they have absolutely no idea what to do; two, you get people who want just to be answerable to me to help with their motivation—another reason not to sleep in; and then you have got people who have no problems with motivation but who are goal-driven and want to improve.”

After getting to know the running history, or lack thereof, of each new client, Carroll devises a training program based on their experience and goals. He makes no promises when it comes to results and also warns against coaches who offer guarantees on finishing times, or running a marathon in three months. He recommends anyone seeking out a coach that they make sure this person has experience in running themselves, not necessarily as an elite athlete.

“It’s important that it is someone who has been involved in running, maybe not at the top end but definitely a runner. Because running is such a stressful action to put your body under, you really have to understand and get a feel for where the person is at, their level of development and what they are going to be able to handle without falling apart," Carroll says in Running Shoes Are a Girl's Best Friend.

As most of us are putting the final touches on gifts for Christmas, why don't you invest in your 2012 physical and mental wellbeing by buying yourself a few months worth of training with a reputable coach? You won't regret the investment; Carroll, for example, offers 8-week programs for $105 (Australian). That's excellent value for guidance by one of Australia's best distance runners ever.

It's certainly cheaper and more fun than having to fix a running injury suffered because of inexperience and a lack of knowledge.

As Tim Noakes writes in Lore of Running, "Running injuries have a unique feature: an identifiable and treatable cause. And until that cause is rectified, the conventional approach—the rest, the drugs, the injections, and the surgery—is an expensive waste of time."

More often than not, the cause of injuries is running too much, too often, too soon. Ask any runner. That's why it's worth investing in a training program tailored to you.

Letting go on the run

2011-12-22T18:04:00.000-08:00

When I left at midday for my 16km run, it was a beautiful sunny day with the temperature at zero degrees. Frost was still covering many roofs and the sides of the road. A stunning late December day for a nice easy session.

My mind, however, was not as sunny. I was feeling a little disheartened about my writing. It's been a good year in many respects, during which I completed two books, both of which I began in 2010, including my first novel, From my Mother (October 2011).

I also edited and published two books: Tim's Sub Nine: History's Fastest Ironwomen and Teresa Rider's Reconnect With Food: Eat Your Way to Triathlon Success. All great stuff.

It's normal to take a little time to get started on the next book again. After all, there is the small yet crucial matter of telling the world about the book you've just finished. This is where it gets tricky; unless people know about your book, they don't buy it. If no one buys it, everyone else will think it isn't worth buying.

Yet marketing a book takes time, effort and dedication, just as much as writing the thing. And this is where I tend to favour writing, as I always believe my next book will be even better than the previous one. It's very much like with the marathon; I'm thrilled with a 3:06 but I know I can go faster, and can't wait to get started working on it.

As an author, just like a runner, you need to have faith. Confidence in your ability to do well and to do better. But the big difference is that the finish line for an author is not as clear cut as it is for the runner. Sure, there's the New York Times bestseller list, the Pulitzer and Giller prizes, big sales etc. But that's kinda like winning the Boston Marathon.

It's OK if my books so far wouldn't translate into a big name marathon victory. That time will come, if I keep the faith and practice my writing daily, as I do. But I also need to stay confident that the quality of my work compares to where I am at in my running; the 3:06:06 PR I ran in October translates to an age-graded 2:55:35 and a score of 77.12 percent (80% is national level, 70% is regional level), according to Runner's World's age-graded calculator.

Confidence builds confidence. The reverse is true too, especially for me; doubt breeds more doubt.

Before I went for a run today, I came across the following post, which struck a chord with me.

Jody Hedlund wrote about the ‘crises’ that authors can experience, triggered by "a bad review, a low royalty check (or NO royalty check), an unexpected or difficult rewrite, low sales figures, not getting reader emails, dismal Amazon rankings, long dry spells without hearing from your agent or editor, bewildering advice, etc., etc., etc.

"The trigger unleashes a gush of emotions and questions. We start asking ourselves things like: Why do I strive so hard? Why am I putting in two hundred percent when there’s often so little to show for it? Is it really worth the pain, the sweat, the tears, and the uncertainty?"

Woe is me? I know. But that’s the mood I was in. I turned up my iPod a little louder so I didn't have to listen to the droning doubts in my head. My legs, and heart, were heavy.

On some days I lose faith in the struggle to become successful as an author. By 6km my iPod died. So I was alone with my thoughts, without music to distract me, though I have to admit that Linkin Park isn't - sometimes - the most uplifting band to listen to.

The motion of running, as always, calmed me. There's purpose in putting one foot in front of the other, and a sense of purpose gives a sense of productivity and forward progress. Those bring hope.

That's when running reminds me always that when things seem, or are, hard, you just have to keep going.

I felt much better by the time I got home, 16.8km later. Today's run brought the total for the past four days to about 52km, and I am planning on a 10km recovery run tomorrow, before a 24km session on Christmas day.

Christmas, or not, Sunday is long run day :-).

Cougars vs dead body route

2011-12-21T17:58:00.000-08:00

My worst fears as a runner include discovering a dead body - as it's often the runners who do - and encountering a cougar. And these are not as farfetched as one might think or hope.

As I headed out for my recovery 10km this morning, following yesterday's 14km, it was a chilly but sunny day. I hadn't decided where to run yet as I headed out. We live on a street that is a dead end, except for pedestrians and cyclists, or in case of emergency when a gate closing a narrow road linking this part of Valleycliffe with the neighbourhood of Hospital Hill can be opened for vehicles.

In the three years we have lived here, an emergency that prompted the opening of the gate for traffic has happened only once to my knowledge. That was about a year ago, when a house burned down on Westway Avenue, the only way we and everyone else on our street, and one other sub-division, can take by car to access the rest of Squamish - or the world for that matter.

No one was hurt in the fire by the way, though the home was destroyed; a gorgeous brandnew one looks almost ready for occupation, which is hopefully some consolation to the family involved.

Today, I decided to head right, following our street as we would by car. While I had started the time on Mr Garmin, it took a while for the display to appear as it was looking for GPS signals. By the time I reached the end of our street, a distance I know to be about 800 metres, Mr Garmin said I'd done about 335.

I didn't feel like running along the streets as I usually do. While there are hundreds of kilometres of trails to run on near Squamish, I've spent most of the year on the road. While the views are great, sometimes I tire of following the same old route.

I throw in plenty of small variations, but the bottomline is that I run from our neighbourhood of Valleycliffe, the most southern one of Squamish, to the north where Brackendale is the other end of town. Beyond that, there's Whistler about 60km north.

In between are options to head downtown, though running there has its limitations for a marathoner looking for distance, so I rarely run there; I prefer to take Luka for the beautiful walk along the 2.5km circular trail at Nexen Beach where views of the Howe Sound, the Stawamus Chief, and the surrounding mountains, prominently those of Garibaldi Park are the reward. In fact, Luka and I did just that late afternoon today.

Since I tend to do most of my runs as out and back sessions, a 10km means I need to only find a 5km route. I didn't feel like a two-lap run around the neighbourhood, as I so often do. Neither did I feel like heading north, as I always do for my longer road runs. So, instead I decided to venture onto a dirt road I have run a lot but haven't been on for several months because it's in an area that had a few cougar incidents this summer.

There have been plenty of cougar encounters in Squamish this year. Thankfully everyone escaped unharmed (aside from the big cats unfortunately) but it was the reason I barely ventured onto the trails since I usually take doggy Luka for company, not a great idea when these big cats are around.

Today I decided it was time to leave the road, the paved ones that is. As I headed for Garibaldi Park Road today, first following Stawamus River FSR (Forest Service Road) I felt uneasy. It was quiet. Too quiet, I thought for a second and considered turning around but decided against it. It was a beautiful December day, and no word on any cougars recently.

Sometimes - often - we can spook ourselves, like swimming in Australian waters while thinking about sharks, considering every shadow or wetsuit-clad fellow triathlete a potential Jaws scenario, as I have done often in the past. I wasn't in the mood to be spooked today, didn't feel like being driven back to the roads I so often run. There's nothing wrong with those roads, I just didn't want to pound them today.

So I kept going along the quiet dirt road and didn't come across a single person or predatory animal. Thankfully I didn't discover a dead body either, though earlier this summer the Stawamus River FSR was used as the dumping ground for one by Vancouver gangsters and some poor hikers had just that experience. I am glad I didn't run that route that day.

Since Mr Garmin didn't pick up on the first 500 metres I ran, I ran a kilometre longer than I was meant to. The compulsive obsessive part of me didn't want to turn around until Mr Garmin showed I had covered 5.00km.

That's OK, as I ran easy, very easy, with my heart rate staying well below 130, even as my mind drifted off to crazy scenarios, except for a few hill climbs I am still so familiar with on this route. It was nice to be somewhat back on the trails today.

Click here to view the route I ran in Google Maps.

A six pack for Christmas

2011-12-19T11:13:00.000-08:00

A six pack, really? Yes, though I realize I won't get rock-hard abs in one week, strenghtening my core is a key goal for the coming four months. Vanity has nothing to do with it, it's all about performance. A strong core is important for runners, and can help speed up times.

When I run, I can tell that my core is unstable, i.e. not strong enough. I know that my form deteriorates in the latter stages of a marathon. As I am hoping to pull out all the stops by ramping up my training volume to a record, I also should look at this important aspect of training that I have thought about adding to my routine but haven't done in a consistent manner so far.

In the past I have had, and followed for short periods of time, great advice from coaches and physios on strength workouts, both as a triathlete and as a runner. Twice I followed a great weight training program from Paul Huddle and Roch Frey's Start to Finish, and was amazed at the improvement in as little as six weeks.

Huddle and Frey write, "With a race desperate to exhaust your muscles from nearly every imaginable direction, having logged proper gym rat time is an integral defense... [T]wo smartly scheduled weight training workouts per week, during the first three phases of your buildup will pay off big in power, injury prevention, and in the fluidity of your race day transitions."

Without a gym membership and access to weights, I have yet to find a routine at home I'll stick with. An important barrier is that I simply haven't made the extra time. As you can imagine, time and energy are always in short supply when you are training for a marathon. A stronger core might make a key difference on race day, so it's time to commit to a short routine that strenghtens it.

As I am getting ready to start an 18-week schedule from Advanced Marathoning, I am looking at following their guidance on strenghtening my core, too. Pete Pfitzinger and Scott Douglas write: "When you run, your trunk acts as a fixed base while your legs work as levers relative to that base to propel you forward. If the torso and pelvic muscles that form your fixed base are weak or fatigue quickly, then you can't maintain an efficient body position while running."

The book includes two core strength training programs, of which I'll aim to follow the first; it has five exercises, recommending you do two sets of these three times a week.

Longest run in 3 months

2011-12-17T06:57:00.000-08:00

Yesterday's morning was covered in a blanket of rain, and so was most of the day as it turned out. Good news for the runner heading outside in December in Canada, even on the mild west coast; I decided to take advantage of the lack of frost when icy patches which can make winter runs anything from unpleasant to impossible.

With a couple of Australian friends visiting this weekend and a Squamish Titans Santa Shuffle on Sunday, I had two more reasons to secure this week's long run on a Friday.

Only two weeks separate me from beginning the daily training runs leading up to the Vancouver Marathon on May 6, and I have no time to waste on getting myself ready for that training regime, which will be my biggest ever. Having said that, the real preparation has been in the months of training for the Bellingham Bay Marathon, where I upped the weekly volume above 100km, also a first, and came out both unscathed and happy.

The past three months have had relatively little training as the two marathons and 50-miler demanded I take a break from the rigours of running. At least, that's what I believe and by now I have learned to trust my own judgement when it comes to training.

So far this week, I had only run 21km on Monday at a regular long run pace, which I aim to keep between 4:45 to 5:15/km, mostly closer to the second, and had done a 5km tempo run on Wednesday morning before flying from Amsterdam to Vancouver.

I am terribly jetlagged, getting up yesterday morning at about 3:30am, wide awake. I made the most of it, writing but I worried about the time my eyes would start getting heavy in the evening, hoping to keep them open long enough to prepare and have dinner with our friends from the land down under.

By about 8:30am I set out for my run, wearing Mr. Garmin for the first time in a month. The cloudy skies made it hard to find a signal, and by the time the display came alive, it said I'd already covered 2.6km, which made sense. While my body felt tight and tired, my legs also felt fresh and comfortable at just under 5-minute/km pace.

As I have grown used to doing, I ran north, from Valleycliffe to Brackendale, taking much of the new Sea to Sky Trail that is being readied. It's a pretty flat route, that parallels the highway, surrounded by mountains - a vast difference from the views I had running on the reclaimed lands of the Dutch polder in the past month.

I brought the iPod shuffle I bought just before the November 5 Whistler 50 for the occasion; so far it only holds two Linkin Park albums (A Thousand Suns and Minutes to Midnight). I haven't tired of the songs yet, and the lyrics still amuse me as they remind me that during the Whistler 50 the band sang things like "If you feel cold and lost in desperation..."

As my pace remained at or under 5:00 per km, I reminded myself to check I wasn't pushing the pace. My mind wandered to one of the first pacey bike sessions I did with my coach back then, John Hill in Sydney. On the weekend, Hill's group of triathletes would often ride from Centennial Park in Sydney's eastern suburbs to Kurnell which offered a perfect place for some so-called hits - the group would ride a certain number of laps at a steady pace determined by individual heart rates.

All Hill's training was based on heart rate, using four zones. Most of the training, including cycling, was done in the first zone, E1. We'd often ride both Saturday and Sunday, and one of the days would include hits, i.e. a certain distance in the second zone, E2.

The next zone, E3, was usually reserved for Tuesday morning sessions around Centennial Park, which everyone knew were going to hurt; Tuesday got a different meaning because of those training sessions.

But on this day, I am sure it was a Saturday, the group had ridden to Kurnell where we would do our hit of three 20km laps on a route around this quiet suburb which still hosts a sprint triathlon series and is the training ground of the likes of two-time Ironman world champion Chris McCormack.

I was feeling good, and set off on a pace that left even the strongest female rider of the group in my dust. Wow, I was awesome! Of course it only took a few kilometres before my heart rate soared way above my E2 zone but by then I didn't want to slow down.

Pride took over, until after about 25km, with 35km left to go in the hit, exhaustion did. I finished the remainder of the session, both the hit and the ride back home to Centennial Park in a daze. Recovery from that session took time. All my training in the next couple of weeks was affected by a deep tiredness following that surge of adrenaline and a lack of experience with pacing myself.

It was a good lesson. When you're fresh, it's easy to get carried away in your training, whether just by a little bit or by a lot as I did that day. If you go too hard in a session, harder than is asked for, you'll pay for it in the following sessions.

That memory came flooding back to me yesterday, as I saw my pace stay at or just under 5:00/km, instead of drifting closer to 5:15/km. Training is about teaching your body to run at a faster pace with similar effort. It takes time. I was, and am, hopeful that the increased volume I did in the lead-up to my last marathon(s) left me with an ability to run just that little bit faster with the same, or even a little bit less, effort.

Yesterday, even in my overall fatigue from travelling, I felt that my pace was a touch faster with similar effort, yet I guess with that memory I reminded myself that my body is fresh now and that once my volume increases, it might take more effort to sustain the same long run speed as yesterday's.

It took me exactly 2 hours to run the 24km in a session that felt fast and long at the same time. I had a mini Clifbar and a small gel flask of water that I refilled once for my longest training run in three months.

Tijd voor een duurloop

2011-12-16T05:44:00.000-08:00

Vanochtend sliep ik uit en stond pas om kwart voor vier op. Da's al drie uur beter dan de vorige nacht, net na aankomst vanuit Amsterdam in Vancouver na een maand bij mijn ouders in Nederland geweest te zijn. Als schrijver houd ik van vroeg opstaan, met een bak koffie achter mijn buro voordat de rest van de wereld wakker wordt.

Gisteren had ik, zoals gepland, niet gelopen. Wel gewandeld, samen met Tim en energieke hond Luka langs een aantal van onze favoriete paden in de buurt, zoals The Graduate, Seven Stitches en Summer's Eve in Squamish.

We hebben precies 1 mountainbiker gezien gedurende onze wandeling van zo'n 45 minuten. In Squamish ligt de temperatuur al een dikke maand net rond het vriespunt; dat was duidelijk te zien aan de bospaden waarvan de meest vochtige een mengeling van grond en ijs waren op een zonnige December namiddag.

In deze tijd van het jaar is gladheid altijd een van de dingen die mijn training in het nauw dreigt te brengen. Ik loop het liefst buiten, en hoop deze winter niet tot een tijdelijk gym lidmaatschap, en dus de loopband, gedwongen te worden door sneeuw en ijs.

Gelukkig is het kwik vannacht boven het vriespunt gebleven. Na een herstel periode ben ik mijn training weer aan het opbouwen zodat ik het nieuwe jaar kan beginnen met de voorbereidingen voor de Vancouver Marathon op 6 mei.

Herstel was nodig na twee marathons en een ultra van 50 mijl, 80km in een periode van zes weken; op 25 september liep, en won, ik de Bellingham Bay Marathon in 3:09:40 op een stormachtige dag, twee weken later liep ik de Victoria Marathon in 3:06:06, een PR voor het eerst in 3 jaar en snel genoeg voor de masters titel, gevolgd door de Whistler 50 op 5 november.

Ik had nooit eerder twee marathons zo dicht op elkaar gelopen, en het resultaat in Victoria was een goede verrassing, nadat de wind in Bellingham niet mee had gezeten. Die 50 mijl heb ik in 7:57 heb uitgelopen, waarbij in de laatste 25km duidelijk werd dat ik niet voldoende hersteld was van die twee marathons in de vorige zes weken. Toch was het snel genoeg voor de overwinning in mijn leeftijdscategorie.

Sindsdien is mijn herstel van dit experiment goed verlopen, denk ik. Zoals altijd na een marathon, zette ik mijn training op een zeer laag pitje, en nam vooral de eerste week het pannetje helemaal van het vuur. Tussen die drie races door heb ik ook vrij weinig gelopen, maar wel dagelijks gewandeld. Een energieke hond en de prachtige bospaden rond Squamish zijn altijd een goede motivatie.

In de laatste maand heb ik mijn training weer langzaam maar zeker opgepakt. Deze week hoop ik rond de 75km te lopen; dat is wel nodig want over twee weken begint mijn 18-weekse schema met een week van 104km, bereikt door dagelijkse training -- iets wat ik als loper nog niet eerder heb gedaan maar me wel degelijk op voorbereid heb.

Hoe mijn lichaam, en geest, daar op reageert is uiteraard de vraag die het spannend en aantrekkelijk maakt. Ik ben ervan overtuigd dat ik sneller dan 3:06 kan; het is een kwestie van zoeken en vinden van de manier om dat naar boven te halen. Een kwestie van geduld en urgentie. Een kwestie van geloof en twijfel. Een kwestie van doen en laten.

In de komende twee weken is mijn training nog flexibel. Voor vandaag had ik 14km gepland, gevolgd door 10km morgen (zaterdag) en 24km op zondag. Maar met de relatief warme temperatuur van vannacht (dus geen gladheid) en gasten uit Australie die vanmiddag aankomen en het weekend blijven, denk ik dat ik vandaag die 24km ga lopen. Dat zou mijn langste trainingsloop in drie maanden zijn, en dan heb ik die in ieder geval in mijn zak.

Op zondag heeft de Squamish Titans multisport club, waar ik lid van ben, een Santa Shuffle in kerst pyjama georganiseerd. De afstand ligt rond de 10km, nog een goede reden om vandaag mijn duurloop af te werken in plaats van zondag er dingen voor of achter te moeten plakken.

Soms, als flexibiliteit mogelijk is, is het goed om belangrijke trainingen veilig te stellen door ze heen en weer te schuiven, mocht er een risico zijn dat deze in de knel komen door dingen zoals weersomstandigheden of sociale activiteiten. Een marathon-lopende meid is op haar weekend voorbereid.

Meestal, vooral in de komende vier maanden, is het trainen voor een marathon een kwestie van prioriteiten stellen. Wie roept, Daar heb ik geen tijd voor, krijgt daar zeker gelijk in. Wie tijd maakt, heeft tijd; dat geldt zeker voor de voorbereidingen op een marathon.

A quality barefoot run in the rain

2011-12-15T03:32:00.000-08:00

Last week my plan was to run about 60km, as I am ramping up my mileage to start my biggest training volume ever on January 1 in preparation for the Vancouver Marathon. I count my weekly mileage from Monday through Sunday, and - alas - last week's was only about 35km.

A little short.

This Monday, I ran 21km which was my longest run, aside from two marathons and a 50-miler, in three months. I very much enjoyed it, which is a good thing, given that soon my mid-week medium long runs will exceed that distance.

On Tuesday I opted to spend time I could have run to join my dad and doggy Thara on their morning walk.

On Wednesday, yesterday, I was set to head home to Canada from the Netherlands. My parents and I had planned to leave the house at 10am to head for Schiphol, and I didn't think I'd be able to make time for a run. Just in case, however, I left out some running gear. And my first pair of New Balance REVlite 890s were staying in the Netherlands, as they are completely worn out, so those weren't packed either.

It was raining hard when we got up at 7am on Wednesday. My parents and I had breakfast, before my dad headed out to take Thara for a wet walk in the dark before our departure to Schiphol. With a long day of sitting ahead as it takes 9-1/2 hours to fly from Amsterdam to Vancouver, I decided to squeeze in a little run after all.

My gloves and hat, which I'd worn nearly every run in the previous 3-1/2 weeks, were already packed. So were my running socks, I realized. And I wasn't going to reach for the bottom of a bag that was thoroughly stuffed so that everything just about fit.

After seeing that her questioning the wisdom of a morning run in rain and darkness wasn't going to change my mind, my mum suggested I wear an old T-shirt I was going to throw out over a running top, and a pair of Nike tights that had seen better days, to avoid having to pack wet gear in a bag already at the max 23kg.

I never run without socks. But it was fun to put my bare feet in running shoes, as it matched the lack of gloves and hat. With the mercury close to zero and the usual polder wind, my body decided instantly it was going to be a tempo session today.

Twenty-four minutes and a very solid 5 to 5-1/2km later I was back in the door, my cold hands having a little trouble undoing the three knots I'd tied in my laces. My shoes were absolutely soaked, and so were my clothes, as I enjoyed the freedom of purposely running through the deepest puddles of water as I raced two laps around my parents' neighbourhood in the semi-dark December morning.

I was tired too from that tempo run and so glad I'd squeezed in that session; you don't need hours to get a quality and fun training run.

New door inspired by De Kooning

2011-12-15T02:13:00.000-08:00

Thursday has just begun in Squamish, as it's 1.46am. After flying from Amsterdam to Vancouver, I arrived in the afternoon; Tim and doggy Luka picked me up by 4pm and we got home about 90 minutes later. Door in Dronten to door in Squamish travel time had taken about 16 hours, so I was tired but there was plenty to see.

Tim, who loves Christmas, had already decked out the house in the outdoor lights that we apparently bought last year. There's a blue string along the front of the house, and a white string around the front door. Inside, there were stockings, a red and a white poinsetta on the dining table, the nativity set he brought from travels to South America before we began dating, and various other festive bits and pieces.

Detail from my new door by Tim

There was another surprise, too. Tim had told me he was working on a painting, but hadn't given any more details. As it turns out, his canvas was the door of my office: the result was inspired by Rosy-Fingered Dawn at Louise Point (1963) by Willem De Kooning, the Dutch-born American abstract expressionist who is one of my favourite painters. Tim's door painting looks awesome!

I was sad to leave my parents, it's always a tough goodbye when there's a vast ocean separating you. But it is also good to be home. And just because I can, I am having a coffee as I write this at my desk in the office with my new abstract expressionist door at 2am. I'll aim to head back to bed shortly.

Time to head home

2011-12-13T06:04:00.000-08:00

For those living abroad and still able to visit (one of) their parents, spending time at 'home' is always a strange and mixed experience. At least it is for me.

I love going back to the Netherlands to stay with my parents and try to go for a few weeks when I can. This visit was 3-1/2 weeks, and time has flown by.

My parents no longer live in the house, or the town, where I grew up. So I have no nostalgia about the place itself where they live, other than the unmistaken Dutch-ness of it. It's only 30km from Harderwijk, where I did grow up, living there from the age of 2 until I swapped the parental home for a student one in Deventer at the age of 19.

My parents have always taken a strong interest in my life, and their door is always open. They have supported me in my decision to live overseas, even though they prefer I didn't. Goodbyes are never easy, and I am certainly not looking forward to the one at Schiphol tomorrow. You never know when you'll see them again but it's likely to take at least another year, if all remain healthy.

They have always come to visit me; in the various places I lived in the Netherlands of course including Rotterdam and Gouda, and in Brussels, later in Toronto, and even in Australia. Since I moved to Canada at the end of 2007, they have visited me twice. If it wasn't for my 95-year-old grandmother, who was recently diagnosed with dementia, they would have been to Canada already a third time as my sister moved close to me earlier this year.

A friend from high school asked me recently what I did during those 3-1/2 weeks here in the Netherlands, stunned I could stay that long with my folks. As I prepare to pack my stuff today, I wonder if I did enough. Did we talk, say, enough? I always think we could have said more. Did I show enough interest in their lives, and did I share enough about mine?

Did I do enough? Did I help where I could? My mom at 71 and my dad about to turn 70 this month don't look and act their age in many ways. Active, they are always doing something and are independent. My help is usually contained to the washing up, cooking (though most help is declined), and some computer stuff. I 'helped' with the Christmas decorations but it was all about taking part and they'd have been more than fine without me.

All that can change on a dime; it has happened to friends and acquaintances on an increasingly regular basis, and family hasn't been spared either. I know my parents certainly don't take their health for granted, and I don't either, theirs or mine.

No one knows what tomorrow brings; whether you live close to family, or abroad. But living a 10-hour flight away always leaves me wondering; have I made the most of those measly 3-1/2 weeks with them? Will I see them again, and when, even where?

While my grandmother's quality of life is diminishing with the increasing amount of time she's confused, most frustratingly so about constantly misplacing everyday items like house- and mail box keys and teeth, she has a very strong will to live, right along with a sense of humour.

Much stays the same, and just as much, if not more, changes especially when we move geographically. Family relationships are as fluid and dynamic as they are stable and rigid. We see our closest relatives in a certain light, a habit that has formed over years and decades.

Living overseas, that habit is broken as we spend time with our family via phone, Skype and email rather than in real everyday life (though one can argue those communications are a way of life, too). We live in context; when our setting changes, so do our circumstances and the way we live our life. I've often downplayed these differences, taken my choice to move and stay overseas as a simple fact.

But each time I come back to the context of the Netherlands, and my parents' home, I cannot ignore the fact that what is 'normal every day' to me isn't what it would have been, had I remained here. I would be a different person had I chosen to stay in the country where I was born and raised. No one bats an eye when I open my mouth, though think it odd when I struggle with finding the right euro coins to pay in a shop. Nothing in my communication seems to instantly reveal that I am in many ways a stranger here 'at home', as it apparently still does back in my real home, Canada.

As a writer and runner, I bring much of my everyday life wherever I go. When I go to the country where I was born, and speak my mother tongue, I feel like I am thrown back to a person that still is in some ways, and yet has changed so much that she is no longer there.

My life has changed - I have changed - more than I believe I am able to express to my parents. Then again, the same could be true for them. I think I know, and understand what's going on in their lives. Perhaps they do understand mine too. A visit like this reminds me how important it is to stay in touch, to reveal the simplest things that go on every day so that they are able to see me in the context that is my home, that is me.

A weekend without running

2011-12-12T05:46:00.000-08:00

Margreet, 95 & Margreet, 41

Unless you plan to fit your training into your days, it simply doesn't happen. This past weekend I had thought of doing a 10km run, and a longer, 20-ish km.

A joint run turned into a chat over coffee, while the rest of the day was also full including with a Christmas performance by a local choir that couldn't have been more Dutch (I am talking arm in arm, swinging left to right, and back again, while singing along to songs in 1,2,3-rhythm.

The choir consisted of at least 40 singers, including about 10 guys, and was accompanied by three people playing accordeon, a bass guitarist and a drummer. Aside from a few grandchildren, I was easily the youngest in the audience which had a surprising number of guys - I assume husbands of choir members, though they were happily singing along. It was a fun afternoon with my mom.

On Sunday, my 95-year-old grandmother came to visit my parents' home; I drove an hour pick her up, and back to my parents' place, where we had a great lunch and afternoon, before my mom and I drove her back home at night, another 2-1/2 hour round trip. A fantastic weekend, but no running.

As a result, my mileage for the week didn't get beyond 35km, a little short of the 60km I had had in mind. So this morning, Monday, I made sure to get out for a long-ish run. I'd used gmap pedometer to map out a square that took me from Dronten, to Biddinghuizen, and back. It's a funny thing about running in de polder to pretty much see the entire 21km lap that you're going to run. It's comforting and intimidating at the same time.

The weather was, again, surprisingly good, and it didn't take long before I put my woolen hat in the back pocket of my beautiful IMJ Coaching shirt, and my lightweight black Hema running gloves joined it soon. My iPod had run out of juice but it didn't matter. After 30 minutes I was in a rhythm that made me think of an unstoppable train so I only had to stay along for the ride.

I was back in about 1 hour 45 minutes, and had a quick shower before rushing off to get my second pedicure during this visit. She asked me if I enjoyed my break from training and was a little surprised that a 21km run was considered a break. Apparently my feet are somewhat on the mend, though she urged me to find someone back home in Squamish, too.

I can't believe it's almost time to leave the Netherlands for Canada again. It's been a great visit. Having said that, I am also looking forward to sinking my teeth in writing a new book and training for the Vancouver Marathon.

The joy of schedules

2011-12-09T13:35:00.000-08:00

After happily enjoying my day without running yesterday after all, I headed out for an easy 10km this morning just before 9:30am. It was a relaxing run, during which the only effort I had to make was to slow myself down now and then, as it was meant to be an easy session.

I took a route that followed both concrete and soft paths, divided about 50-50. My parents and I had a quiet breakfast, after I had gotten up a little earlier to make progress in the novel I am reading by Dutch author Abdelkader Benali, Zandloper (Sandrunner). As I am already leaving in four days, and still have another Dutch book I'd like to read before then, De Mens als Duurloper (Man as Distance Runner) by Jan Knippenburg, I wanted some quiet time to read before the rest woke.

The day ahead was already planned, from start to finish; I didn't need to think about it. After reading, we'd have breakfast, then I'd run. My run was scheduled, simple. Then we'd leave to visit my grandmother, an hour's drive one way, followed by a visit to an aunt I hadn't seen for several years in a village nearby.

There's an easy simplicity to a day that is already taken care of in terms of activities, especially if they are familiar, yet very different from the usual routine and leave room for flexibility. I didn't need to wonder how to make the most of the day; I only needed to do it.

I don't recall what was on my mind during my run this morning, probably because my mind was at ease. I briefly considered the cold I heard my aunt had when my mom called her this morning; I didn't want to catch it just as I was ramping up my training. Not that one ever wants a cold but I especially do not want on now. Training has begun, the training to be ready to start the real training for the Vancouver Marathon.

The real training as in the new program that I will follow. The program with record volume (for me). The program that is new, and still familiar, and leaves flexibility. From today, until the day of the Vancouver Marathon on that first Sunday in May I know exactly, to the day, each session that I will do. That is a thought I like. It brings hope, possibility and peace of mind.

In Zandloper, the main character has already arrived in Marocco for a training camp. He asks the manager about the training program, the schedule, for the camp when he is told (English translation is mine):

"There are no training schedules," he said.
My heart sank. Runners know what I mean when I stress the importance of a training schedule. We long for training schedules, always better training schedules that are tailored to us, suit us better than our life partner. Without a schedule you don't head out the door, so only a runner understands how disappointed I was, somewhat numbed too, when he told me that there was no such thing as a training schedule.

I am not sure that my new training schedule fits me better than my life partner, but I believe it is a better program, but only because I am a better runner now than when I began the previous schedule. In any case, I am starting to get very excited about following it as of January 1.

Reluctance turns into 75-minute run

2011-12-07T11:19:00.000-08:00

There's a type of weather in the Netherlands called veranderlijk, also wisselvallig, which means changeable. Today was exactly that. As I had my morning coffee in my parents' sunroom reading Zandloper by Abdelkader Benali at about 8am, torrential rain pelted down on the ceiling window.

The clouds were too thick and heavy for the sunlight to arrive as it should by this time in the morning. I couldn't help feeling reluctant towards the 10km run, an easy jog, that was on today's schedule. Even when the sun had made it through the cover, also scaring away the rain, I had that familiar sense of the blahs about today's session.

It happens, for various reasons. This time it was in part because of the early rain; it felt like a day to stay inside.

I knew that today's struggle for motivation to head out the door was probably also because of the pace at which I had run my recent sessions, faster than I should right now to keep up with my mom's bike speed. Even a few seconds per kilometre too fast for a couple of workouts can make the body and mind resist the next session.

But I need to run; I want to run. It's time to commit to the program again. In three weeks, I'll be running a 104km week, and my body needs to prepare. So I promised myself that I'd head out for an easy run, and that I could limit it to 6km if the mental weariness failed to disappear once my body was warmed up. That thought felt much better; I can always deal with a relaxed half-hour jog. Mentally and physically.

With a few things on my mind, as I headed out under moody skies, it took only 26 minutes for the mental chaos to transform into the peaceful apparent nothingness that each runner knows and loves. I never stop marvelling at the way that simply happens.

With my mind at ease, my body was too. A smooth rhythm and a pace only a few seconds per kilometre slower than in the past few sessions, I felt like I could run forever as I followed an unpaved path around the outskirts of Dronten.

Dark purple skies and tall trees planted in neat rows were lit up by the sun. Crazy clouds piled on top of each other were part of the beautiful vista. By then I decided that instead of the 10km I was meant to do, I'd run the 13km on tap for Friday, swapping the workouts.

Not long after the rain came down again, long enough that I could feel the water on my skin through my clothes. I ended the session with eight 100-metre strides, and felt completely reenergized towards training by the time I arrived back home after the 75-minute run.

Tomorrow is a day off, and I am almost sad about that. I guess that means more energy and enthusiasm for Friday's run.

A Hundred Reasons to Run 100km

2011-12-06T04:08:00.000-08:00

Recently I did a book giveaway through Goodreads for A Hundred Reasons to Run 100km. Three of the five winners have read and reviewed it on the Goodreads site.

Here are some of their comments (read the entire reviews here):

... I started running in August, and have recently decided that I want to work towards running a marathon. Since graduating high school, where I ran cross country, I haven't run a race of any length, and even those were only 3 mile races.

Honestly, I am so far from 100km I was worried that the book would not pertain to me at all, but I was interested in what would motivate someone to go that distance. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this book has a lot of reasons that apply to why someone should get out and run a race, any race.

I also enjoyed the variety of stories in the book about other runners' stories as well as her own. Learning about people who started running later in life, or hearing about Dietz's husband's support for her runs was inspirational and helped me feel more normal for wanting to run, even though I haven't in years. I also learned a lot about races in general, including nutrition, what family members do during the race, what Iron man races involve, as well as many other things...

I do recommend this book, and as my 10km, half marathon and marathon approach, I plan on reading it again for the quotes and wisdom and the motivation that it does provide. If you are looking for a book to motivate you to run and to give quotes and anecdotes to do so, and can look past the format and the somewhat repetitive reasons, then this book is for you.

- Lisa (4 out of 5 stars)

...I must say I love the 'idea' of running and would like to be able to run at least a 1/2 marathon one day (I'm not getting any younger, so I"d better literally get moving!) so I'm hoping this will give me the needed motivation.

Just finished it and it was good. Great tips and even a runner's ultra checklist at the back of the book. I'm pretty sure I will never run a 100km but walking it in a few days or with a team sounds intriguing.

- Becky (3 out of 5 stars)

Great little motivator. I won this book on a good reads giveaway and since I finished I have started my journey to run a marathon. 100K is still a ways off but this book is a great inspiration to those who run or want to begin running.

- Jason Jones (5 out of 5 stars)

If you'd like a chance to win one of two free copies of From my Mother, a novel, please enter the Goodreads Book Giveaway until December 15 (US addresses only).

Goodreads Book Giveaway

From My Mother

by Margreet Dietz

Giveaway ends December 15, 2011.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Another ride/run with mom

2011-12-06T02:08:00.000-08:00

Mom's ready to go

As the sky looked somewhat threatening, Mom and I set out for another ride/run this morning. This time we followed a beautiful quiet path along a canal called De Lage Vaart.

It takes less than a kilometre to get onto this path, which we followed for about 5km. Then we turned right for a few hundred metres, and back along a quiet road called the Wisentweg.

There are several farms and a brewery along this road. There's also the Warmonderhof, which offers a four-year study in bio-dynamic farming and gardening.

We had planned our route so that this time we had a tailwind on the way home.

Aside from a few drops, we were lucky that the rain stayed away. We could see the dark purple clouds move away from us with the expansive views the polder offers.

We got home shortly after an hour, taking my mom's riding volume to 30km in the two sessions we did in three days.

"Don't make it sound as if I am that sporty," she said when I told her about this post.

After a beautiful 1 hour/12km ride & run along the Lage Vaart

Ride/run with mom

2011-12-05T23:29:00.000-08:00

I am still at my parents' in the Netherlands. At Sunday breakfast my mom asked how far I planned to run that day. So I told her 90 minutes, or about 18km.

She surprised me by saying she wanted to come with me by bike. My mom is 71. Like my dad, she is fit and active though her knees have curtailed her walking. These days she takes her bike to walk their dog Thara, who gets four outings a day.

Mom rugged up in a big jacket from Nike (where my sister worked for 13-odd years), a fleece from Whistler and a pair of comfy jeans, and we set out for our run/ride toward Kampen.

It was a beautiful winter day, last month was the driest since official record keeping began in 1906, according to the NOS. An average total of 9 millimetres fell in November 2011, compared with a usual 82mm. A year ago, the Netherlands was covered in a layer of snow.

We both enjoyed the ride, though on the way out the tailwind made sure I had to work hard to make sure she wouldn't have to ride too slow. It didn't seem like a particularly windy day, but the polder always surprises once you turn around; there's a good reason for the hundreds of modern windmills that mark its skyline.

We turned around at the same point as I did on my own a week ago, having reached it about 3 minutes sooner, and began the trip home. Now the wind levelled our pace. We chatted about everything and nothing, and arrived back home both happy with a great joined workout.

I hope she'll join me on another, shorter, of my runs this week if the weather allows. Then I'll make sure to get a picture.

Our run/ride brought my weekly mileage to about 50-52km, on track for the week as I slowly increase my mileage to start a daily running program on January 1.

The following day, Monday, was a rest day in terms of running. The thought crossed my mind that I will not have any soon, so I made sure to enjoy it. After we had breakfast, I joined my dad for the morning walk with Thara, their bearded collie.

Thara, 6, with my Dad

My dad, who is turning 70 this year, does most of the dog walking and covers at least 10km a day every day. That's at least 70km a week.

As we circled through the Wisentbos (the place where I got lost in thick fog the day after touching down in the Netherlands) we ran into most of the people and their dogs he comes across.

Thara is six, turning seven this month. This lovely gentle dog with a mop of blonde hair has been trained well by my parents. Rarely on leash on her outings, my parents have taught her to stop and sit at every road and bike path crossing.

She'll race ahead but wait until my parents catch up to her and reward her obedience with a small doggy biscuit. On the various routes my parents (dad in particular) reward her at the same, though not each, crossing every time.

Thara loves to play ball

Wisentbos, Dronten

Training for the program

2011-12-01T22:23:00.000-08:00

I am a month away from starting specific training for my next marathon, Vancouver on the first Sunday in May. That means I am now training to be able to begin my training.

As I very much enjoyed my preparations for the Bellingham Bay Marathon (and the Victoria Marathon), I will use a schedule from the same book, Advanced Marathoning. As mentioned before on this site, I did not choose this schedule lightly. I followed personal guidance from two expert coaches for a decade, before finetuning what suits me as an athlete, and the type of training that I believe will help me reach the goals I want to achieve.

A 3:02 marathoner friend suggested I check out this book; the ideas and schedules were a perfect fit, as I ramped up my training to a record volume. For three months this summer, I followed a program that had me running an average of just over 100km a week. That was a lot of running, and I loved it, even as - and because - it was challenging. I hope to do more in the next four months.

The 18-week program I will follow from January 1 begins with a week of 104km, including a long run of 27km and a midweek medium long run of 19km. You can't just jump into that one, you need to train to begin the schedule.

"For example, if you've been running 40 miles (64km) per week and your longest run in the last several weeks is 12 miles (19km), now isn't the time to suddenly jump to a 65-mile (105km) week containing a 17-mile (27km), as the first week of the 18-week schedule calls for," according to the Advanced Marathoning authors.

"As a rule, you should be running at least 55 miles (88km) a week before starting these schedules, and in the last month, you should have comfortably completed a run close in length to the long run called for in the first week of the schedule."

That's what I am working towards now; as I have taken my usual post-A-race break, even as this one was unusual, what with a 3:09 marathon on September 25, followed by a 3:06 marathon on October 9, and a not-so-swift 7:57 50-miler on November 5.

I've been back running, easy short sessions, for the past two weeks. Last week was my biggest. I didn't bring the Garmin to the Netherlands, so I am running for time, guesstimating pace / distance.

Last week, I ran an hour on Monday, about 12km, followed by 31 mins on Wednesday, about 6km, 20 mins on Thursday, or 4km, and 90mins, 18km on Saturday. That's a total of 40km. This week, I am aiming for 50km. Then I'll have three weeks left to boost my training to the volume needed to begin the program.

(Keep in mind that I was running 100km-plus weeks in the three months before taking this break, so don't do the same without building a solid base first.) The summer schedule called for six days of running a week, something I had not done before.

A key indicator for success was my body's response; with minimal massage, or other treatments, I remained injury free. That's crucial. There's no point trying to do more training if your body breaks down, forcing you to stop training, as a result.

This schedule will have me running daily, another first. The biggest week is 140km. There are also weeks of 126km, 128km, 130km (3x) 135km, 135km, 137km (2x). At the moment I cannot quite imagine running that volume but that's not unusual; it's often intimidating to begin a task not attempted before.

Once you've made a start, you often find it's not as difficult as you expected. And even if it is tough, you'll usually find it is still doable. I am excited about accepting this new challenge and seeing what it brings.

NaNoWriMo rebel

2011-12-01T04:53:00.000-08:00

Wow, November has been a crazy month. It included a 50-mile ultramarathon, a visitor from Australia, and a trip to the Netherlands, where I still am for another couple of weeks.

After starting on a couple of fiction ideas, both titled Sub-3 Marathon and totalling nearly 18,000-odd words, and getting stuck I decided to use the time to work on a nonfiction draft instead. In other words, I became a NaNoWriMo rebel.

The good news is that I did complete a first draft of 50,000-odd words so the main goal is accomplished. And I am glad I did. At the end of the day, the purpose of the challenge is to write. I write a lot, especially between books when I have plenty of ideas but not yet a clear focus for the next work.

It's in some ways a frustrating time as I will myself to produce but wonder how much progress I am making as I feel my way around the various topics and ideas. In the past month I wanted to do too much too well too soon. I wasn't able to let myself write without judgement.

Instead, I spent time researching the processes of novel writing such as in Elizabethe George's Write Away: One Novelist's Approach to Fiction Writing and James Smith's You Can Write a Novel, which has been helpful. Like in running, the process of writing is an ever-evolving one as the author finetunes what works best for her, helping her to get the best out of herself and adjusting as she goes along.

In 2010, the process of simply writing with a focus on quantity worked for me, resulting in my first novel From my Mother. I had a much better idea of what I wanted to write, even though I wasn't aware of it until it was there on the screen in front of me. This time, I was searching and still trying to distill what it was I wanted to say. I think I got a few steps closer because of NaNoWriMo, it just wasn't in the form of a novel this time.

Now that NaNoWriMo is doing, I have the freedom and agony of choice; which manuscript to commit to next. It's time to focus. I think my 2011 NaNoWriMo rebel effort needs some time to hang out quietly on the hard drive, before I'll get back to it later.

Since I am in the Netherlands at the moment, the country where I was born and raised, I am once again drawn to the idea of writing a book in my mother tongue. I must admit though that these days I am much more comfortable in English, even as I am still fluent in Dutch.

It's like using a muscle you haven't used in a while. You still remember exactly how it's done but it feels a little awkward at first as the muscle needs to remember what it used to do. Likewise, my Dutch needs some warming up before it feels supple again. My thoughts are in English, and have been for at least eight years, and my main mode of communication in writing and speech have been in English for 15 years now.

At the same time, I think that is exactly what will make using the language again fresh and exciting. Aside from articles for a university magazine and some poetry (and of course some diaries) more than 20 years ago, I've not written in my mother tongue - certainly not professionally. But I think I am ready for the challenge.

I am thinking, naturally, a book on running in general and marathon running in particular, with a sprinkling of ultras. Of course I am checking out what has been written so far.

Like elsewhere, running is a popular topic for Dutch writers too. I'll try to get a hold of a few titles through the local library such as Jan Knippenberg's De Mens als Duurloper, Abdelkader Benali's De Marathonloper and De Zandloper, and Paul Rosenmuller's Ik loop dus ik besta.

The last time I was in the Netherlands, in April 2010, I began on a Dutch manuscript too. But once back in Canada, I found it too hard to continue. I think it will be different this time as I am also preparing to start my first translation project: creating a Dutch edition of Tim Moore's Sub Nine: History's Fastest Ironwomen.

Knitting a bolero jacket

2011-11-26T23:32:00.000-08:00

It's great to spend time with my parents in the Netherlands. Both are creative and always working on something. My dad's passion is creating furniture from oak wood.

Heart pendant by Rezie

Brooch by Rezie

For my mom, her creativity in the past six years has focused on making silver jewelry. She's taking weekly classes at the local arts and culture centre from Marjolein van Lubeck.

I am a lucky recipient of my mom's beautiful pieces. Most recently she made a modern heart pendant and brooch.

Vest by Rezie

She has also rekindled her knitting; her productivity astounds me. Earlier this year she knitted a stunning long bottle-green vest for me.

Purse by Rezie

In the past few months she also made beautiful purses for herself, my sister and I. Knitted from a jersey fabric, she finished them with a handle and decorative pin.

Our parents' creativity has rubbed off on my sister and I. Before my sister moved to Turkey, and now Canada, she took the same jewelry-making classes with my mom and made stunning pieces. She's getting ready to resume her silversmithing soon in Vancouver.

My mom taught me the basics of knitting when I was a girl. In highschool it was a cool thing to do. I remember my three girlfriends and I knitting during Dutch literature classes, with the (male) teacher's approval though subject to much teasing from the boys.

In university I did some basic sewing, using a fabulous forest green soft velvet. The outfit included a long sweater with a big wide collar and long cuffs, a mini-skirt and a loose-fitting legging. It was simple, easy. I didn't follow a pattern. The result got plenty of wear, often mixed with a vintage jacket that I think belonged to my dad at one point, a beige lace blouse and scarfs, combined with dark brown suede high-heeled boots. I love earthy tones.

(This reminds me too of how in high school the pants of men's silk pyjamas were highly fashionable, as were men's shirts. I remember how I was getting ready for a party and had my heart set on wearing a short-sleeve striped shirt of my dad, and my growing panic when I couldn't find it anywhere. Running late, my dad came home from working wearing - you guessed it - that shirt. I wore it to the party, too.)

Among my family I am not known for being patient or skilled in working with my hands. I always thought that indeed patience was not among my traits but running has helped me discover I have plenty of it. I just need to start off at a level that isn't too advanced and work on projects that suit my temperament and disposition.

For some reason, I felt like knitting when we moved to Canada four years ago. Perhaps it was the revival of the craft. The cold winters, compared with those in Australia where we had spent the previous seven years, no doubt also helped that motivation. But I had completely forgotten how to steken opzetten, i.e. cast on, and asked my mom for help.

She sent me a booklet on how to do it but it wasn't until my parents came to visit Squamish for the first time three years ago that I made a start. My mom and I both got some wool, and got knitting as my mom re-taught me how to get started. The other basics - knitting, purling, cast off, and slipping - my hands remembered.

I used a super bulky wool, a wine-red Red Heart Light & Lofty , that called for big needles (10, or a US 15), which means it doesn't take long to make progress. The simple stocking stitch is a very easy and relaxing way to knit row after row. In that regard knitting reminds me of running; the soothing rhythm of both activities are very relaxing, meditative. There's a simple focus, too, step after step, and stitch after stitch.

Since we were doing plenty of sightseeing with my parents, I didn't finish the pieces of my sweater (no pattern of course) until after my parents left.

Sweater on 2nd try

When I put the front and back together, pleased with the progress, I didn't realize until it was too late that in my enthusiasm I had sewed the armholes together. Oops. The thick and hairy wool made it impossible to undo the damage. So I went back to the store to get yarn and started from scratch. This time I made sure to pay attention to the armholes, and finished it.

Incidentally, the pendant I am wearing with this sweater my mom made as well. She created a beautiful silver setting for this oval piece of agate. As I said, her productivity is amazing.

The arms are a little long, but other than that, it works. The yarn (100% acrylic) is soft, beautiful and warm. And did I mention it takes no time at all to do this? Next I used the same yarn to knit blankets - also plain stocking stitches - for my grandmother (blue sand) and one for Tim's mom (a gorgeous green called pine).

Sweater in progress

Next I got more of the blue sand, and knitted a front and back last winter, this time using a moss stitch. I didn't quite get around to the sleeves but thought I'd bring the yarn to the Netherlands so I could finish it here. My mom is knitting a beautifully complicated beige sweater with plenty of cables so I joined her with my basic project and finished the two sleeves in the past couple of days.

Now I need to do my least favourite part, which is sewing the parts together. My mom suggested I knit the collar with four needles on the finished product so that there's no seam. I have no idea how that works but am keen to learn.

Meantime, she showed me how to do cables (there are a million variations of those) and encouraged me to do something a little more advanced. She took me to the attic to find a pattern and to see if there was any leftover yarn I could use for a project. We found a pattern for a very cute short bolero jacket and beige wool with history.

Bolero jacket in progress

The yarn we decided to use is a gorgeous beige that was originally used in a hoody my mom had knitted for me when I was 10 or so. Very cool to reuse it into a piece now. I'll dig up a photo of the previous sweater which I loved.

The bolero jacket is knitted in one piece, so there's a lot of increasing and decreasing of stitches, as well as casting off parts while you keep going with the remainder. But it's a plain stocking stitch. As mom helped me figure out how to get started yesterday afternoon, I made it halfway last night. So far so good!

Great run in the Dronten fog

2011-11-22T05:39:00.000-08:00

When my parents picked me up from Schiphol on Sunday morning, a thick fog had already descended over the Netherlands. I was lucky that it only delayed my plane by about 10 minutes. The mist was still there the next day when I went for a short run. My plan was for an easy 30 minutes as I am still in recovery mode from the 50 miler I ran on November 5.

Last week, I did four easy jogs of between 20 and 30 minutes. My body and mind are both keen to resume a training routine. Yesterday I immediately hit my stride as I headed out my parents' door and I enjoyed the steady pace my legs chose almost immediately.

I planned to do a lap around my parents' neighbourhood, finishing off by running through the Wisentbos, a pretty small forest along the Lage Vaart canal with a myriad of walking paths on the outskirts of Dronten.

It is hardly big enough to get lost. But I did, as I lost my orientation in the thick fog. I didn't mind as I knew I couldn't be too far from town and thoroughly enjoyed the run. The condensation had formed little beads of water on my eyelashes which gave the already-mysterious views of wet trees and paths in late fall an extra pretty view.

However, after I had been running for nearly an hour and bumped into the same group of hikers for the third time I decided to swallow my pride and ask them for directions.

It took less than 500 metres to realize where I was and I was home within five minutes. My accidental run of a little over an hour at a decent pace was a great way to realize my body is ready to slowly gear up my training again.

A trip to the motherland

2011-11-18T14:37:00.000-08:00

I am packing for a trip to Nederland, the country where I was born, raised and lived until the age of 25. It's been 18 months since I saw my parents and grandmother and am very much looking forward to spending time with them.

I also look forward to soaking up new impressions from the country that is so familiar and yet so foreign to me after 16 years abroad. Canada is home now. I am a visitor to my country of birth where still I wave my Dutch (and only) passport to gain entry. Last time the customs officer told me, Welkom thuis, or Welcome home.

I love wandering through the town Dronten, where my parents moved a few years ago after three decades in historic and picturesque Harderwijk, which was a member of the Hanseatic League and had a university from the mid-17th century until early in the 19th.

Dronten is a neat brandnew place with a population of about 40,000 near the Ketel Lake and Marker Lake that arose when land was reclaimed in the former Zuiderzee after it was closed from the North Sea through the Afsluitdijk connecting the province of North Holland with the province of Friesland.

One of my favourite places there is De Meerpaal, a superb centre for the arts that sits right next to the excellent public library. The wide flatter-than-flat polder landscape around Dronten is fantastic for running and I hope to meet up with this year's national women's marathon masters champion who lives there.

I can run to several surrounding towns along the North American-style grid of roads and cycling paths. Not having cycled for six years now, I would jump on my roadbike there in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, it's too much hassle to bring it. I'll ride one of the 'regular' Dutch commuter bikes instead.

I love visiting the iconic Dutch stores that remain such as the HEMA, Kruidvat and de Albert Heyn. Nothing entertains me more than speaking the language without anyone batting an eyelid, as back home in Canada I get asked almost daily about " that accent".

Dessie, our recent visitor from Australia, wasn't the first to remark that I'd lost my Australian accent and replaced it with a Canadian sound, funny as that seems to me. Regardless, my non-Anglophone roots are exposed for all to hear apparently as soon as I speak one word, even as they might have trouble placing them. Are you South African? German? Danish? Brazilian? (huh?)

I explored the importance of understanding our roots in From my Mother, my first novel. Based on a true story, I found that exploring parts of my family history as a fictional tale was easier, yet it also made me realize how much knowledge I have taken for granted; in other words, I thought I knew a whole lot more than I actually did.

Having just finished that book a month ago, I return home with a new perspective and I am looking forward to experiencing the thoughts and feelings that will accompany this visit. My first volume of poetry, Sunshine on a wooden floor, contains a poem I wrote in the train I took from Schiphol Airport to Lelystad, where my parents picked me up, three years ago.

Moedertaal

Thuiskomen
Is vandaag
Geelblauwe treinen door een
Groen vlak landschap
Langs files
En knooppunten
Ik kom altijd onbekenden
Tegen
In deze vreemde bekendheid
Nederlands praten
Kan ik
Maar het voelt niet
Meer als moedertaal
Soms
Vervreemde geboortetong
De grijsblauwe
Luchten nog steeds
Meer grijs dan blauw
Ontspoord
Onderweg naar huis

I wrote the original in Dutch, and included the English translation in Sunshine on a wooden floor:

Mother tongue

Homecoming
Is today
Yellowblue trains through a
green flat landscape
past traffic jams
and bottlenecks
I always run
Into strangers
In this foreign familiarity
Speaking Dutch
I can
It no longer feels
Like my mother tongue
Sometimes
Alienative language
The greyblue
Skies are still
More grey than blue
Off track
Heading home

A writer's state between books

2011-11-18T11:59:00.000-08:00

I am in a state of minor despair, the state of restlessness and anxiety that seems to occur between book projects. It's not unlike the depression a runner feels after finishing a major goal race. It's hardly a disaster or hardship in the larger scheme of things but it's a period that can feel like a black hole nonetheless.

"Even if you ran a good race, you may feel depressed for a few weeks. Just as in postpartum depression, your 'baby' has reached the finish line and your long sought-after goal, around which your life revolved for months, has been achieved, leaving you feeling empty," write Bob Glover and Shelly-lynn Florence Glover in The Competitive Runner's Handbook (second revised edition).

Completing a book is a major project that requires focus and, I admit, a healthy dose of obsession. As I wrote in On gravity, I take my running very seriously. Yet it pales in comparison to the level of importance I assign to my efforts as a writer. I am without a doubt a running writer, rather than a writing runner.

Having just finished my first novel, From my Mother, the result of participating in the 2010 National Novel Writing Month a year ago, I believe this is the time I should be refuelling the creative well yet I have a hard time finding the patience to do so. As a writer, I should write. Always. I feel I don't have the luxury of time to take a break.

Yet November 1 arrived and, as planned, I began on NaNoWriMo, which is at Day 18. That novel's first draft should be at 30,000 words. Mine is not. The NaNoWriMo clock is ticking and my word count certainly isn't.

I have typed up well over 17,000 words in two abysmal starts to pathetic manuscripts on a topic I should know inside and out; the Sub-3 Marathon. It is about a runner who wants to run 42 kilometres and 195 metres in a second under three hours. The clock must stop at 2:59:59, or sooner. Why? Because. Just because she thinks she can.

The longer it takes, the more important it becomes; the importance lies in trying, in knowing that you are doing everything you can, rather than in achieving. It is what I live and breathe every day. You would think I have plenty to say, write, on the topic. That's what I figured too but it seems that I don't; call it writer's block if you will.

I believe in writer's Block as much as I believe in the runner's Wall; if you hit it, or if it hits you, you have done something wrong. It only exists if you let it. Not only is it preventable, there is a cure as well.

But at the moment I do feel blocked; nothing is coming out, no matter how hard I try. And I am trying hard—trust me. I feel that perhaps that is the core of the problem, that I am willing too hard, too much, too soon. My gut tells me I need to stop stressing and take a rest. Read, instead of willing myself to write which at the moment merely results in staring hopelessly at the screen, and impatiently rifling to an ever-increasing stack of books and notebooks on my desk.

(I am reading Elizabeth George's Write Away: One Novelist's Approach to Fiction and the Writing Life and Nick Heil's Dark Summit: the True Story of Everest's Most Controversial Season, both excellent books.)

I have combed most of my unfinished pieces of writing on my hard drive repeatedly, willing them to give me a sense of direction or at least a few more words to add to my NaNoWriMo word count. I've written and published two books in the past 12 months. Perhaps I need to give in to the seemingly obvious need to refill the creative well.

But most of all, I need to keep writing, one piece at a time, as I have been doing every single day including most of this post, written in that state of frustration and despair three days ago. We can be hard on ourselves, choosing to focus on the lack of progress instead of the small steps we keep taking. I am reading and I am writing, just not the first draft of the novel I had in mind. And that's OK for now.

On gravity

2011-11-15T21:33:00.000-08:00

For the monthly Squamish Writers Group meeting, November's assignment is to write on the subject of gravity:

Training and racing are matters of gravity for the distance runner. Much the way writing is for the writer, running comes natural to the runner but it only comes easy after hard work and dedication.

The marathoner leaps and bounds along the rhythm that her body finds along the space-time continuum. As HG Wells wrote in The Time Machine, "There is no difference between time and any of the three dimensions of space except that our consciousness moves along it."

She moves between the force of attraction that draws her towards the centre of the earth and the suspension in the air as she brings forward her trailing leg, signalling to the other that its turn at the front is done. In that briefest of moments, as her body moves along, the runner is an astronaut on earth, relishing the illusion of momentary respite from the law that grounds us all.

The runner runs to escape what Abraham Maslow called the psychopathology of normality, referring to the fact that "most of us function most of the time on a level lower than that of self-actualization."

The runner's quest to improve is instinctive. It occurs as soon as she takes her first steps; she knows her body and her mind can do better -- instantly. She realizes her potential lies beyond the status quo as long as she is willing to take another step. And then another.

"When I became a runner, I stopped expecting anything for nothing. I discovered that I could just go so far (about one block) without training," wrote George Sheehan in This Running Life.

The runner's dance along the space-time continuum is always a delicate one, searching for the perfect balance as she trains on the edge; the edge of time, age, mental endurance and physical makeup. She aims to find the pinnacle of performance where she can reap the rewards for the years of training before the inevitable physical decline in maximum oxygen consumption, or VO2 max, and muscle mass outweighs the fitness and knowledge gained.

The runner knows she is the only one who can answer the most important questions; what will her genes allow her to do? Has she already squeezed out all that was possible, or is there more left? Will she ever finish a race thinking there is no more speed to gain? Miracles do happen. The mystery of performance, for anyone regardless of ability, is finding the level you are capable of, but first one has to discover the way to achieve it. Both are a matter of trial and error. And the utmost gravity.

Numbers seem to be the name of every runner's game. This runner has gained sixty-four seconds. In three years. After more than 10,000 kilometres of running. That is twenty-one seconds and 3,333 kilometres per year. Every second of speed has taken at least hundred and fifty-six kilometres of training, or about an average of sixty-four kilometres a week every week. Three-hundred and sixty-seven seconds still stand beside her and her ultimate goal: finishing a marathon in two-fifty-nine-fifty-nine. Forty-two consecutive kilometres trotted at four-fifteen per kilometre. She needs to run more. And she will.

Run every day of the week. This winter, a day will not pass without her feet feeling the New Balance REVlites, of which she now owns three pair. Not a day where she can switch off her runner's mind. Not a day without pushing her heart rate beyond 130 beats per minute. The decision to train for a marathon should never be taken lightly. It is a matter of gravity, growing in importance over her 16 years of running.

Some think of it as a matter of vanity. Surely, the only number the female runner is trying to improve, lower, is that on the scale. Her pursuit is fuelled by appearance, implying it is a shallow and unworthy one, according to those non-athletes who make it clear they do not have the time to waste on such immaterial matters.

The athlete has no choice but to assign to her running the highest level of importance. She studies the sport, though most of all studies her body and mind, and how they respond to the demands of marathon training. By now, there is no guidance she can trust better than her own on who she is as an athlete and a competitor. She searches relentlessly for the training schedule that suits her temperament and her current state as a runner. A runner continually evolves as does her running. It takes a lot of training to maintain the status quo of high fitness.

The better the shape of the runner the more it takes to improve it, and the less it takes to lose it; injury, sickness, time constraints, mental weakness or distraction. Sometimes a loss of courage, a loss of hope. A distance runner must be an optimist who can never lose sight of that most subjective of matters, potential. They have to look on the bright side of their personal records, always expecting to be able to better them. They will never win the battle if they lose their conviction that their potential lies beyond their achievements.

Running is religion, a belief the runner follows strictly, without wavering. A runner striving to better her best performance must sustain an absolute conviction she can do better than she has done so far, no matter what. If she loses the conviction, she has found her limits. So she believes, including in the decisions she makes. So many variables, so many choices. There are no hard and fast rules; there is only hard and fast training, with enough recovery and rest to allow the stressed body and mind to recover enough to improve to the next level.

It's been exactly four decades since the first two women broke the magical 3-hour barrier that this runner is aiming for. The fastest has broken it by nearly 45 minutes. But it remains unchartered territory for most. Even falling short of this magical barrier by 6 minutes and 7 seconds, this runner may end 2011 with three times among the year's top 100 women's overall Marathon Canada rankings. This runner believes her potential lies on the other side of three hours. It's only a matter of time. And the utmost gravity.

Looking forward to new marathon routine

2011-11-13T08:58:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, one week after the Whistler 50 Ultra, I went for a run with Tim, Dessie (our ultrarunning visitor from Australia who returned home last night after an inspiring two-week visit) and my sister Angelique (who is signed up for the First Half and is keen to run a second marathon). Our two dogs happily trotted along. too.

It was a very easy 20-minute jog, but it felt great to go for a run. In the past week I've noticed a real desire to return to the routine of training after two months of tapering, racing and recovery. I know that I will still need to be cautious in the next few weeks but I think my body is recovering well after the 50-miler, no doubt helped by my slowing down in the final 25km.

Physically, my legs feel strong and light. Mentally, I am ready to commit to a training routine that builds on the one that I used for the Bellingham Bay and Victoria marathons. There will be daily runs, something I have not tried before, to boost the weekly mileage.

The 18-week program from Advanced Marathoning starts on January 1, perfect timing, and the first week has 104km (85 miles) of sessions. That means I have seven weeks to complete my recovery, and gear up my body.

The schedule recommends that you do at least 88km (55 miles) a week before starting the program, as well as completing a distance close to the long run you're meant to do in the first week in the prior month (which is 27km).

My goal race for this program is the BMO Vancouver Marathon on May 6, 2012. I also hope to race the First Half (half marathon) on February 12.

NaNoWriMo: Day 7, 8 & 9

2011-11-10T12:52:00.000-08:00

Sometimes we will ourselves to keep pushing forward, impatient to take the time to let our progress follow its own schedule. We ignore the warning signs that, at first subtly then slowly but surely, swell to a crescendo, indicating that it is time to rest before we push on.

In running, rest is crucial to progress. Training works by stressing the body but you cannot keep stressing it without giving it a chance to recover. The body needs to absorb the training before it can improve its performance. If you keep pushing relentlessly, harder and harder, your body will break down, through injury or illness, forcing you to take the break you refused to give it.

This is the case in writing too, something I am still learning. A writer cannot keep squeezing the words from her soul without rest after a major build-up and race, i.e. the drafting, revising and publishing of a book. Each one takes a mental and physical effort that strengthens the writer but only if he takes the time to absorb what he has learned through a break.

In writing a break may be physical, i.e. no writing, though I find it hard not to write at all. I prefer to write short pieces, such as for this blog. While their creation takes mental effort, it is a small and manageable one compared to the gigantic process that is involved in writing a book.

After finishing A Hundred Reasons to Run 100km earlier this year, I needed a lot of courage, read mental energy, to take on and complete the revisions for my first novel, From my Mother.

My self-imposed deadline was October, which meant finishing the revisions, proofing and entire publication process of a paperback and e-book at about the same time I was getting ready to run my second A-race of 2011, the Bellingham Bay Marathon on Sept. 25 (followed by the Victoria Marathon two weeks later, and the Whistler 50-mile Ultra last Saturday).

I was running my highest volume ever, covering up to 140 kilometres in seven days. Consistent marathon training takes up a lot of energy, not just physically but also mentally. While running inspires my writing, and I apply many lessons from my running to drive my writing, it can be a fine line.

As Tim Noakes writes in Lore of Running, "While gentle running enhances a person's productivity and creativity, too much training has the opposite effect ... Training burns up creative energy, leaving little space for other intellectual matters."

Runners, at any level, committed to pushing themselves to lift their performance need a sizeable amount of daily courage to sustain the consistency in their training. Regardless of how much you love to run, and I absolutely love running, you face an almost-daily challenge to head out the door, particularly in the final six weeks before a marathon.

Finishing and publishing my first work of fiction during that same time demanded plenty of courage too. It was a rollercoaster that sent me to peaks of confidence before roaring back down into the abyss of self-doubt on a daily basis.

Elizabeth George writes in Write Away; One Novelist's Approach to Fiction and the Writing Life, "Committing to writing is placing yourself in a highly exposed position. Once your novel is written and published, you are at the mercy of the critics, the readers, your fellow writers, your family, your friends, and your former colleagues. It's truly a case of if-you-can't-stand-the-heat, and frequently the creation and publication of a novel become rife with stress and tension."

Just to be clear, this is not a woe-is-me post. But I believe it helps explain Days 7, 8 & 9 of National Novel Writing Month. Day 5 coincided with my 50-mile race, as mentioned in an earlier post. It was an awesome but tiring event. I began Day 6 a day behind but finished it with a total of 8,372 words by completing 1,687 that day at the Come Write-In in the Squamish Public Library.

On Day 7, I managed another 1,487 for a total of 9,859 but they didn't come easy. That number didn't change on Day 8 as I lost the plot (pun intended). Completely. Yesterday I squeezed another 543 words out in utter despair but felt physically ill by the end of the day.

During a total of 10,402 words I had allowed two characters to die from cancer, the protagonist's dad and daughter, and had her husband shoot himself in their kitchen after she told him she wanted to aim for the marathon world record in the women's 60-64 division.

Those three deaths also killed off my ability to continue on this story, so I have decided to start from scratch on Day 10 and write 50,000 words about the same topic (Sub-3 Marathon), hopefully still by the end of the month, but through a narrative that's a little closer to home. The one I had set out to do simply turned out to require more mental energy than I have right now.

Recovering from an ultra

2011-11-08T08:08:00.000-08:00

Tim and I treated ourselves to a copy of Lore of Running by Tim Noakes at the expo at the Victoria marathon. I've read various parts in recent years. Today I thought I'd check out the section Race Recovery in the Ultramarathon chapter (p. 664 in the fourth edition):

"I suggest that for three months you should do little or no running but concentrate on other non-weight-bearing activities, such as swimming, cycling, or working out in the gym. This allows the weight-bearing function of your legs to recover. Once that has happened and your legs again feel light and springy, you can consider returning to running training."

"The ultramarathon may be the most exciting challenge you ever undertake in your running career. But it is a demanding event that can leave deep scars, equal to the great moment it bestows. Treat this race with respect and it will reward you in ways perhaps unequalled by any other race. But if you abuse it, it may bit back—if not immediately, perhaps some time in the future."

I am very aware, my body reminds me with every move I make, that I've broken the race recovery rules in the past six weeks, running a 3:09 and 3:06 (PB) marathon within two weeks of each other followed by the 50-miler four weeks later.

I think it's time to dust off my bike and jump on the wind trainer in the next couple of weeks to aid recovery and prepare my body for starting my 2012 Vancouver marathon training program in four to six weeks from now.

Whistler 50 Ultra race report

2011-11-07T08:18:00.000-08:00

Saturday's Whistler 50 was an awesome experience and I hope to capture it in a longer race report soon. For now, I am both too tired and too busy.

In short, Tim finished his first ultra with a strong 8:44 (four weeks after running a 3:16 at the Victoria marathon). So did our Australian friend, Dessie, whose 8:27 earned him 3rd in the 50-59 age group. Now these two Ironmans and marathoners can add ultrarunner to their athletic resumes.

I was stoked to finish in 7:57, good enough for first in the women's 40-49 age group and 5th woman overall. While I have no regrets about doing the race, it proved to be a very tough day.

The first lap was 17km, followed by 3 laps of 21km. I passed the finish line for the third time a little after 5 hours (I think 5:07) for 59km. The final 21km loomed large.

It wasn't that I'd run out of energy. But I was sore, more sore than I ever recall feeling with the prospect of another two hours of running ahead. I can only explain it as the type of pain you feel when you do a 50-miler after having done two marathons as fast as you can in the previous six weeks--I wouldn't recommend it, and I certainly don't plan to repeat it.

The last lap was brutal. While I'd given myself permision to DNF, I knew that I couldn't, not at this stage after already having run 3/4 of the way. I spent much of the final lap walking, taking 2 hours 50 to complete those remaining 21km.

As mentioned, I certainly don't regret doing this race, superbly organized by Ron Adams and his crew who went out of their way to create a fantastic day for the more than 1,300 runners participating in the relay and ultra. I'd highly recommend sticking this one on your race calendar in 2012.

A special thanks to the amazing Lucy Ryan for her cheers on various laps and the lovely Gottfried Grosser for his chicken soup!

Check out the ultra results here: awesome in general, and in particular by the top 2 men, Chris GT Downie in 5:52 and Darin Bentley in 5:55, and the top 2 women, Jen Segger in 6:31 and Nicola Gildersleeve in 6:37.

NaNoWriMo: Day 5 & 6

2011-11-06T20:59:00.000-08:00

Day 5. Zero words typed. But 50 miles run at the superb Whistler 50 Relay and Ultra (highly recommend this race, whether solo or in a relay as a team).

Day 6. NaNoWriMo write-in at the Squamish library. Met two very interesting NaNoWriMos. Wrote 1,687 words. So I am now at a total of 8,367, or one day behind. I expect to make up the deficit in the next couple of days.

http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/participants/therunningauthor/novels/sub-3-marathon/stats

Latest review for From my Mother

2011-11-06T13:41:00.000-08:00

"From My Mother is a very touching story of a matriarch that deeply ingrains survival into her family. Largely a book filled with a marathoner's mindset, all of the technical and running jargon do not detract from the story of a love between granddaughter and "Oma" that spans continents, and the hardships that molded the generations into persevering, strong women. The freedom Nadia feels as she runs also parallels the freedom her grandmother struggled so hard to find. This is a novel that successfully integrates heart and sport."

- Charlene Mabie-Gamble for Literary R&R

NaNoWriMo: Day 4

2011-11-04T18:56:00.000-07:00

Word count is what has kept me going in the past four days. It has been a struggle, as mentioned in yesterday's post, but I knew that I couldn't fall behind in the first days.

Tomorrow I am getting up at 3:15am to run a 50-miler in Whistler, as mentioned in my earlier post today, and I don't expect there will be time or energy in the day to write 1,667 words. Having said that, I do expect to have plenty of creative thinking time on my hands during the race so I hope to return to the Sub-3 Marathon storyline with fresh ideas.

Sheer determination and stubbornness to stay on track helped me reach 6,685 words today, slightly ahead of the daily average needed to make it to 50,000 by the end of the month. I am thinking in scenes and if I find myself complety stuck in one, I simply move on to the next. It has worked so far.

On Sunday morning I'll be at the first of the two Come Write Ins at the Squamish Public Library from 10am until 1pm. (Details here on the Facebook event page). If you're in the neighbourhood, please drop by to complete the daily word count!

One day to 50-miler

2011-11-04T07:24:00.000-07:00

I woke up a couple of minutes before 6am after a sound night's sleep. In 24 hours we'll be on the startline of the Whistler 50 Ultra. In the darkness I realized I had yet to pack my headlight.

Our visitor from Australia, Dessie, has already packed his gear, using a transition bag from one of his Ironmans when Minolta was still a sponsor (I think going back to 2001 when Germany's Normann Stadler and Canada's Lori Bowden won the Ironman Australia event).

My nutrition bag is ready. It has 4 Powerbar energy bars, 9 gels of the same brand, a Snickers and a bag of Twizzlers. I've also thrown in 6 Hammer electrolyte tablets. A can of Red Bull might be added, too.

Two of the aid stations on the course, 4 laps with the first 17km and the remainder 21km each, will provide plenty of food as well. Water will be provided at aid stations no more than 5km apart. (I am debating whether to carry a bottle of water in the first couple of hour, though. TBD today.)

The weather forecast for Saturday has changed over the past week and it's looking good, if a bit chilly. The forecast high is 1 degree, with an expected low of minus 4. Whistler Village received a layer of snow this week but I hope the course will be mostly clear come tomorrow.

The last month since the Victoria Marathon seems to have flown by. Tim and I each got a total of 4 easy runs in, all around 30 minutes. Daily walks were part of my routine, and I felt those were plenty after my two marathons in the past six weeks.

I am planning to race as hard as I can on the day tomorrow, and am expecting to feel great. Having said that, finishing is not the main goal should I find that my body hasn't recovered enough from the Bellingham Bay and Victoria marathons. For me, the Whistler 50 is a bonus race; since the start of the year I had hoped to be able to do it after the two marathons.

As always, I have various time goals. My conservative goal is to finish sub-8 hours, and based on reaching the 79km mark in 8:03 in the 100km I did a year ago that should be realistic (famous last pre-ultra words). My dream goal is to cross the line in sub-7, which calls for a pace of at least 5:12 per km or 8:22 per mile.

Most likely, it will be somewhere in between.

Since there will be no kilometre or mile markers, locking into the right pace will have to be done by feel unless you opt for a Garmin. While I have one, I am not planning to wear it tomorrow at this stage.

As for clothing, I'll be wearing 3/4 tights with compression socks. (Dessie said that he used to run without socks in the 70s, following the lead of his heros: "I thought socks showed weakness.")

I'll also wear a thermal long-sleeve top, with a vest on top in the early hours, a hat and gloves. In terms of shoes, with a course on hard-packed trails and roads, my New Balance REVlite 890s should do the trick.

I'll put a spare shirt, gloves, socks and pair of shoes in my drop bag, too. While there's only a 30 percent chance of rain, I'll waterproof the drop bag.

My iPod is coming too, with the same selection of music I used as in the 100km a year ago. I plan to save it for the last two laps.

We're all excited about racing the first edition of the Whistler 50 Relay and Ultra tomorrow.

A first for both Tim and Dessie in terms of distance, Dessie particularly liked one line in the Ultra Race Rules, another first in his nearly four decades of racing: "If the runner decides to drop out, it is MANDATORY that race management be informed of this decision, otherwise we will assume the runner is lost or eaten by a bear and will be searching for you."

NaNoWriMo: Day 2 & 3

2011-11-03T15:20:00.000-07:00

In The Writer’s Book of Hope: Getting from Frustration to Publication, Ralph Keyes writes, …mastering the elements of style can’t produce the will to keep writing. The hardest part of being a writer is not getting your commas in the right place but getting your head in the right place...

Once we have faced our fear and begun to write, we step up to the plateau of frustration. Fear followed by frustration is the essence of writerly despair.

My head doesn't seem to be in the right place at the moment. Struggle is the word that sums up the past two NaNoWriMo days for me. To stay on track for completing the 50,000-word goal this month, I need to write 1,667 words a day.

Yesterday I had a very tough time and ended Day 2 at a total of 3,307, so 27 words short. Today is even harder. I just cannot seem to get into the story. Now, at 4,585 words I still need another 400 to complete the goal for the day.

Tim reminded me that I had a hard time in the first week of NaNoWriMo last year. Perhaps, I don't recall. That month is a bit of a blur, what with a 100km race on top of the writing challenge. I just remember that I made it through both, and that those 50,000 words became a novel. Somehow it doesn't seem to make this one any easier.

In fact, it might even seem harder as I now have expectations that it will become another, and of course better, novel. Perhaps that vision explains my struggle, judgement before first draft kills productivity.

I don't want to finish the day short, as I am running another ultra on Saturday. With a 3:15am alarm, and returning only at night, I doubt I'll find the energy to create 1,667 words that day, which means I'll have to catch up the next.

I've been considering abandoning the current idea for Sub-3 Marathon and changing to a different one. But that means I'd have to write 5,000 words today to stay on track. I'm not sure if that's the way to go either. I've been combing unfinished pieces of writing hanging out on my hard drive to find inspiration to drive the idea I am struggling with forward.

Often all an endeavour needs is a change of mind, a Can-Do attitude. In Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life, Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander write that the notion of possibility is empowering and transformative if we choose to adopt it.

In the first chapter, titled It’s All Invented, they say:

The frames our minds create define – and confine – what we perceive to be possible. Every problem, every dilemma, every dead end we find ourselves facing in life, only appears unsolvable inside a particular frame or point of view. Enlarge the box, or create another frame around the data, and problems vanish, while new opportunities appear.

5-star review for From my Mother

2011-11-02T14:45:00.000-07:00

for From my Mother

Today I received the first official review for my novel From my Mother, a 5-star rating by Readers Favorite. According to Readers Favorite, 5 (out of 5) stars means that "this is an excellent, very well written book."

Reviewer Brenda Ballard rated From my Mother's appearance, plot, development, formatting and marketability to form an overall opinion. She assigned 5 out of 5 stars to each of these elements, and wrote:

Over the duration of a 100 km marathon, Nadia reflects on the life of her Oma (grandma), the hardships her loved one endured and the impact it made on the way she lived.

Miles pass under Nadia's feet, her goal is merely to reach the finish line, not necessarily to win . . . for accomplishing the goal is a victory in her book. It allows her time to dwell on her family's history, dig deep into the root and the result, pull tidbits of clues and join them together to create a full picture of those things that had been so vague.

Oma is cranky, to say the least, at her age. She lives in an apartment in a senior complex, having moved from a house she rented for many years. Paranoia (probably from the trials she faced in her younger years) has set in heavily. The local police are on speed dial as she frequently lodges complaints against her son-in-law, who she feels is surely trying to get her out of the way so he can have her inheritance. Of course, this is not the case and those around her try to be patient and understanding.

Nadia's journey of 100km is one in which her physical strength is pushed but also her heart and mind.

It was not difficult to get wrapped up in this story, feeling the ups and downs both in the race and in Nadia's life. It brings to mind that, as stated in the book, our feet may be busy but our minds are still free. I loved that! I highly recommend this book to everyone, especially those who are into marathons and so on.

I wrote the first draft for From my Mother during National Novel Writing Month 2010. Read excerpts of the novel here.

Four days until a 50-miler

2011-11-01T14:56:00.000-07:00

In four days I'll be starting my second 50-mile run, in Whistler. Tim and a friend from Australia, Dessie, are racing too, both making their debut at the distance. Neither are new to endurance sports, however, as both have finished multiple Ironmans and marathons.

Dessie also ran the Six Foot Track when it is was still 47km instead of the 45km it is now. He was on the startline with Mark Allen and Scott Tinley for the first Ironman in Australia, in Forster-Tuncurry, paying a whopping $37 (no, this is not a typo) for the privilege back in 1985.

The latest weather forecast for Saturday, race day, is a 40 percent chance of wet snow with temperatures between 0 and 4 degrees. The 6am start will be dark and chilly.

Since our Victoria Marathon 3-1/2 weeks ago, Tim and I have done three short easy runs including one with Dessie on the day of his arrival last Saturday. Yesterday the three of us trekked up the Chief, heading for the second peak to enjoy the spectacular views as the sun began setting, before we took the back route on the way down.

Amazingly it was the first time this year that Tim and I did the hike and I guess we forgot how long it takes. With our start a little past 4pm, we finished the final quarter or so in the dark about 2-1/2 hours later.

Dessie's Garmin had our pace per kilometre for 5-odd km at about 32 minutes:-).

We're all hoping to move a little faster on Saturday. The question is, How fast? I am hoping that 5:30 per km is a good pace to start, and would be stoked if I can hold that until the finish.

In the 100km a year ago, I reached 78.67km in 8hr 03, or a pace of 6:08 per km. So 5:30 (which would mean a 7hr 20 finish) might be aggressive for Saturday. But it doesn't hurt to try. Well, it will of course but you know what I mean...

NaNoWriMo: Day 1

2011-11-01T09:45:00.000-07:00

The start of NaNoWriMo feels like a mammoth task. It's a bit like starting a marathon or an ultra without course markers; you can take any road just as long as you go the incredibly long, yet doable, distance of 50,000 words this month.

The IDEA now has to be worked on, translated from thoughts and notes into words that form a plot and character we care about. (I didn't outline the story.)

Waking up just before 6am, I got up 10 minutes later. With a pot of fresh coffee, I headed to my desk, checked my emails, facebook and a couple of other sites until I no longer had a virtual excuse to postpone beginning on NaNoWriMo.

It felt like a tough start. Suddenly, I felt completely not ready and unprepared. So many choices, too much freedom. Do I stick to the plan, my idea, or do something else?

I began second-guessing the story, only to realize how little I really knew about my characters and plot. Or, to be more specific, I questioned whether I even had either one. Words weren't coming easy, and hitting the recount button didn't make them flow any faster.

The good thing about NaNoWriMo is that you need to stay on track for the daily average word count. So I reminded myself that was the main thing I needed to focus on: quantity. I don't stop until I hit my daily average. It's the secret to NaNoWriMo's success because the freedom that comes with worrying about quantity alone works in that it leads to output.

I typed, and typed some more, until I hit 1,668 words.

For now, I discovered that the protagonist Robin has a daughter named Isa, who is recovering from breast cancer and convinced her to train for the Vancouver Marathon together.

Robin's husband doesn't like change, which includes his wife suddenly becoming a distance runner.

Robin has two brothers, both All American baseball players, to the disappointment of their dad who had a chance of making the Olympic marathon team before a bout of polio ended that dream. He later recovered enough to run a 2:37 marathon at the age of 52.

Her dad never encouraged Robin to run as a teenager, not surprising, as the 1960s wasn't an era when women did.

And with that, Day 1 is done. I wonder what Day 2 will bring. www.nanowrimo.org/en/participants/therunningauthor

Planning the NaNoWriMo novel

2011-10-30T08:49:00.000-07:00

The start of National Novel Writing Month is only two days away. I am participating for the second time, with the goal to draft a manuscript for my second novel. Having just finished my first book of fiction, From my Mother, I have also spent plenty of time thinking about the next.

Some aspects of the story are clear in my mind, while others are not. I probably have made more decisions than I consciously realize, and will only discover them once I start on the manuscript on Tuesday.

In Writing the Novel, Lawrence Block says: “Writing the novel is an organic process, and we carry the book with us wherever we go.” I've been happily carrying this book for months already.

Decisions I have made include the title, Sub-3 Marathon. I have designed a cover as I love to have a visual. As the title suggest, it will definitely be a book about running in general, and running marathons in particular. In other words, it will be sports fiction, and will fit the contemporary fiction category, too.

The protagonist is a female runner who wants nothing more than to cover the 42km distance before the clock above the finish line reaches 3:00:00. Self-doubt is one of her main adversaries. There are other obstacles to her fulfilling her dream including her spouse, though it might take a while for her to realize that this is the case.

There will be a mentor, probably someone who will remain anonymous even to the main character for most of the book.

The story will be told from the protagonist's point of view.

There are many other important decisions to make. A crucial one is the age of the protagonist. In my initial synopsis, she is 39. Her name is Emily. Emily is a marathon runner who has been trying to break the 3-hour mark for years. About to turn 40, she fears time has run out. Until a secret mentor changes her mind, and her training. Will it be enough to reset the clock? Emily's fiancé certainly doesn't think so and her competitive sibling isn't too convinced, or supportive, either.

But one early morning this week I was thinking about all the amazing senior marathoners such as the world record-setting Ed Whitlock and Fauja Singh. Others are not running record times but are amazing nonetheless such as in the races I did this year including in the Victoria marathon.

At the post-race awards ceremony, the two female Victoria marathon finishers in the 70-74 division looked strong and fit, and far younger than their years. A male runner in his 80s notched another finish and is close to completing 400 marathons.

Suddenly I thought: What if my main character was 20 years older? How about a 59-year-old woman trying to break the 3-hour mark? That would certainly be more noteworthy. And it felt like an exciting tale to tell.

However, was it realistic, believable?

I checked the world records and discovered that for women 55-59, it's 2:51 and for 60-64, it's 3:14. My excitement grew.

What's more, more research showed that the 55-59 record was set by a woman who did her first marathon at the age of 49. She had always been active with various sports but had never been a runner. The marathon came along because her daughter was training for it and they thought it would be a fun thing to do together; Mom finished the race in 3:18, an hour ahead of her daughter.

Seemed like a great basis for a novel.

I also did an age-graded check with thiscalculator, which confirmed that a sub-3 marathon for a woman in her 60s is within the realm of possibility.

It's a very different story, though, than the original one I was planning to write. Suddenly we are talking world-class performance, rather than striving for a personal goal that is still noteworthy but hardly headline material.

It also means that there will be a certain amount of "sudden success" and "natural talent", purporting the false idea that fast runners are simply born fast rather than the result of years of training. (While elite runners have superior genes to those of the average age grouper, it takes them years of training, too, to make the most of that potential.)

But I like the possibilities that the story of a senior female runner striving for a world record offers.

So, I decided to change my synopsis for Sub-3 Marathon.

Suddenly, the name Emily no longer seemed appropriate. I checked the most popular names for girls born in the 1950s and have changed the name of the main character to Robin. She'll probably have adult children. I have to think about a spouse but I would like there to be conflict of some sort.

Importantly, I must also think about the main reason for the story, the yearning of the protagonist: What does Robin want most of all, and why? Of course she wants a Sub-3 Marathon, and in turn a world record, but what does that really mean to her? What does she truly want, what does the quest represent?

There will be a mentor, secret or otherwise. Will he or she be a driving force or present an obstacle for the main character?

I cannot wait to start writing on Tuesday and find out!

www.nanowrimo.org/en/participants/therunningauthor/

Reasons to do NaNoWriMo

2011-10-29T14:33:00.000-07:00

As I am looking forward to starting my second National Novel Writing Month on November 1, I was looking back through the blog posts I've written about my plunge into fiction. As a journalist and author of four nonfiction books, writing a novel seemed a mystery beyond my realm of possibility not so long ago.

Yet, earlier this month, my first novel From my Mother was released. I wrote the first draft for this 53,000-word novel during NaNoWriMo 2010. I considered it an exercise in writing and was curious to try the challenge of creating so many words in one month. (It's a similar process I used in writing a first draft for what would turn in my third nonfiction book A Work in Progress: Exercises in Writing).

While I hoped, I didn't expect that NaNoWriMo would result in a novel that I'd feel comfortable publishing. Yet that's what happened and that's why I am up for the challenge again this year.

Here is a post I wrote on November 30 last year, the day I finished my first NaNoWrimo. My initial thoughts on it were:

1. It's possible to write 50,000 words in a month;
2. Word count is a powerful motivator (as I already knew from writing my nonfiction books but the superb NaNoWriMo screen with the statistics to follow your progress is just fantastic and I updated it every few paragraphs);
3. Having one or more NaNoWriMo writing buddies is superbly motivating, too;
4. The emailed peptalks we received from the various NaNoWriMo people I've filed away for future reference and inspiration;
5. I highly recommend anyone who has ever considered writing a book of fiction to join NaNoWriMo next November. It's worth the effort.

Six months later, in May 2011, I wrote this post after I made the effort to clean up that first draft, created a cover and took advantage of the free paperback copy CreateSpace offered to NaNoWriMo 2010 winners. I did so, according to the May 2011 post, because:

This will a. give me a record of my first attempt at writing a fiction book and b. perhaps motivate me to make the (many) revisions needed to improve this very rough first draft but mostly c. inspire me to try again, applying the lessons I learned by simply trying.

With any challenge we always need to start somewhere, and work at getting better at it, if that's our goal. I'm not sure if From My Mother ever will see the light of day, other than in my personal proof copy. But, just like my quest for the sub-3-hour marathon, I have absolutely no doubt that one day I will write and publish a decent novel. You just have to work at it, and enjoy the process.

I can't wait to hold the paperback of my first attempt at a novel and plan to keep it on my desk as a reminder to take the plunge into fiction.

By then a few courageous readers ploughed their way through that rough draft and encouraged me to spend some time and effort revising it, which I did. Still, it was hard and the unrelenting self-doubt every writer experiences was never far away. I wasn't sure I was able to make the revisions needed, and I was preparing my next nonfiction project instead.

Since finishing NaNoWrimo 2010 in November and ordering that proof copy in May 2011, I finished my fourth nonfiction book. While I had plenty of ideas, even drafts, for my fifth nonfiction title, I had trouble getting started. It took a few months to figure out why.

In July, I wrote this post about finishing what you start which I felt was the reason I was crushed under the mental weight of committing to a new manuscript:

The last few weeks I've been trying to start on my next book. It's been a hard process, and I cannot seem to decide which one to write. The longer my indecision the more I beat myself up over my seeming lack of productivity.

I believe that one of the problems is that there are several first drafts hanging out on my hard drive. And I wonder if my struggle has something to do with leaving too many projects unfinished, so I have begun working on two of them, while also trying to start a new one. But I'm still in doubt.

Trying to relax, I find myself getting more stressed and second-guessing myself. Or wondering if it is a sign that I need to focus on another one. The most complete, though no less Shitty, First Draft (as Anne Lamott calls them in Bird by Bird), is my first attempt at a novel with the working title From My Mother.

I committed to completing another few rounds of revisions to From my Mother, working hard to finish it by October, which I did. Last week I spent hours contacting reviewers asking if they'd be willing to read and review the result, both scary and exhilarating.

While I had attempted to write a novel before, it was doing NaNoWriMo that allowed me to complete the 50,000 words that left me too mentally invested in the first draft to ignore it. It motivated me to read more about the process of crafting fiction and, more importantly, reading novels with fresh eyes, hoping to understand how and why they work.

While From my Mother might not yet earn me a Giller Prize nomination, I know that committing to participating in NaNoWriMo a year ago has brought me far closer to the possibility; I have completed my first novel after all. Practice makes perfect, as they say, and that is exactly what From my Mother was. Check out 4 excerpts here.

So, what are you waiting for? Register for National Novel Writing Month now. It starts in 3 days! Find me at www.nanowrimo.org/en/participants/therunningauthor. Good luck!

Win a free copy

2011-10-28T14:24:00.000-07:00

Goodreads Book Giveaway

A Hundred Reasons to Run 100km

by Margreet Dietz

Giveaway ends November 15, 2011.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Marathon recovery - first run

2011-10-25T08:27:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I did my first run since the Goodlife Fitness Victoria Marathon two weeks earlier. I had considered going for a short jog in the previous two days but decided to wait. As mentioned in previous posts, I have found active recovery without running in th first week, and sometimes two, very beneficial. While cycling and swimming would be fantastic options too, I like to walk.

Mentally, I very much enjoyed the break. It seems a funny contradiction; I love to run but after a big race I crave the not-running. It's freedom from the mental discipline of training.

During recovery from a marathon, I am not in a rush to get back to running but just wait for the moment that a thought like these crosses my mind, "It's a nice day for a run", or "A run might be nice". Yesterday morning, I knew it was time to head out for an easy jog, a lap around the neighbourhood without watch, and was dressed in running gear in no time.

It felt great, certainly for the first 10 minutes that were mostly downhill:-). I probably ran for about half an hour, at an easy pace and enjoyed it. It helped me get excited about racing a 50-miler on November 5 in Whistler. With another 11 days until the race, I think my body will be ready for the effort. I'll keep training to a minimum.

Aside from the daily walks with Luka, I'll do short runs (probably 30 minutes or so) but mostly focus on restoring mental and physical energy. The training has been done for the year. It's all about resting up as much as possible from the two marathons in September and October.

Importantly, I need to spend time on a race plan in terms of nutrition, hydration and - of course - pace. Last year I ran my first 50-miler and my first 100km; the primary goal was to finish. With this 50-miler, I am focused on time.

The only other 50-miler I have run took me 10:15. It was a trail race. The Whistler 50 course is more like a road race, so I expect to be at least two hours faster. Based on the 10:29 it took me to run the Haney to Harrison 100km a year ago, Merv's running calculator suggests 8:18 for 50 miles (80.5km).

I plan to aim for a sub-8 finish, and will start more aggressive than that. I am willing to take more risk since last year taught me that I can cover the distance. Starting faster comes with the danger of potentially finishing slower, especially if you overestimate your ability. I believe that the training I've done this year, and my race results, should put me on track for a 7:xx.

There are no guarantees, however, which of course is part of the challenge and key to the excitement.

The course has 4 laps of 20km, which will help pacing and breaking up the race mentally. It will also give the solo runners a lot more company than in a point-to-point race as the Haney to Harrison 100km.

As of this morning, 50 runners are registered for the ultra (and it's not too late to sign up!) There are 19 relay teams (eight runners to a team, covering either 8km or 12km).

Organizers would very much welcome more volunteers too.

Contemporary art: paintings by Michiko

2011-10-22T17:41:00.000-07:00

One of my favourite contemporary painters is Michiko Splinter. She is a friend, too. A longtime oil painter born in Japan, she moved to Squamish in 2005. It changed not only her life, but also her paintings as she began focusing on landscapes. I believe Squamish is a richer place for her way of portraying its beauty.

Michiko continues to push her art and I love her four most recent works. Michiko will participate in a group show in Osaka, Japan, next month. You can also find her work at the Squamish Adventure Centre.

Summer Mood at Estuary by Michiko Splinter (12x16") oil on canvas

Estuary in Summer by Michiko Splinter (12x16") oil on canvas

Flowers in the Night A by Michiko Splinter (8x10") oil on canvas

Flowers in the Night B by Michiko Splinter (8x10") oil on canvas

Check out more of her work at Art by Michiko.

Sub-3 marathon, a novel

2011-10-21T19:16:00.000-07:00

With National Novel Writing Month around the corner, I have been thinking about the novel I am planning to write next month. Or a first draft, that is.

The sub-3 marathon is a topic often on my mind (really?!) and it seems one worth exploring in fiction.

It's a year ago that I first decided to participate in NaNoWriMo, with my first novel From my Mother as a result (you can read some excerpts here). There is nothing like trying to write a novel to learn about how it's done.

That is why I highly recommend trying NaNoWriMo. Even if you don't finish the 50,000 words, you've made an attempt, possibly your first, at a novel.

I didn't expect to finish mine; I mean I was determined to complete the 50,000 words in one month, and did, but didn't expect to revise, polish and publish this manuscript. Yet I did.

And I'm looking forward to next month. For now, my plan is to write a novel about Emily.

Emily is a marathon runner who has been trying to break the 3-hour mark for years. Emily wants nothing more than a 2-hour finish but, about to turn 40, she fears time has run out. Until a secret mentor changes her mind, and her training. But will it be enough to reset the clock? Emily's fiance certainly doesn't think so and her competitive sibling isn't too convinced, or supportive, either.

That's all I know so far. I might change my mind. But I love having a visual so that's why I spent some time today on designing a potential book cover for my second novel.

If you're thinking about doing NaNoWriMo, please do. The only question is, Why not? Don't forget to become my writing buddy (find me here).

November: time for NaNoWriMo and an ultra

2011-10-21T13:44:00.000-07:00

Last November I ran the 100-kilometre Haney to Harrison Ultra and participated in National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, for the first time. A month of ultrarunning and ultrawriting.

Well, that combo is on the calendar again in 2011, though the ultra will be 20K shorter, so perhaps the novel will be 20K longer:-).

One of the great things about NaNoWriMo is that local community liaisons -- also participants -- organize get-togethers, called write-ins, at libraries, independent bookstores, cafes and coffeeshops so writers can share the franctic experience of completing their daily word count (an average 1,667 words a day for 30 days in a row).

The closest NaNoWriMo region to me, living in Squamish, is Vancouver. But as a time-strapped writer trying to squeeze out 50,000 words in a measly month, I didn't have the time or energy to make the trek to attend any of these last year.

So, this year I asked the Squamish Public Library if they'd be willing to open their doors for local NaNoWriMos next month. Nancy Warwick, the library's adult program coordinator, enthusiastically agreed.

"We love to support literacy-driven activities and local writers as much as we can! This event ties in nicely with our mission statement; to encourage a lifelong enjoyment of reading and learning by providing equal access for all to local and global resources in a welcoming environment,” Warwick said.

To join, register at www.NaNoWriMo.org. Come write at the Squamish Public Library on either Nov. 6 and/or 13 from 10am to 1pm so we can complete our daily word count together. I might be a little stiff and tired on November 6 as my race, the Whistler 50 Ultra, is on November 5.

The working title for my next novel is The Sub-3 Marathon.

See also the Squamish Writers Group site.

Recover from a marathon ... with a 50-miler

2011-10-21T09:15:00.000-07:00

So how do you recover from running two marathons, both as fast as you can, in two weeks?

Photo by Michiko Splinter

I've had 12 days of active recovery since then; each day has included two walks. With our big bouncy dog and babysitting my sister's perky 13-year-old Jack Russell, it isn't hard to find company.

The first day after the second marathon, Victoria, I was sore but not anywhere near as sore as I've been in the past; I could still walk down a set of stairs in a normal, albeit stiff, fashion. But that soreness and most of the stiffness went away quickly, and was almost gone the next day.

There was tiredness, still today but especially last week. It was a new fatigue I hadn't felt before; a subtle but unmistakeable underlying sense of exhaustion, both physical and mental.

It wasn't overwhelming and it didn't feel bad but I made sure to give in to my body's needs, and spent most evenings on the couch, reading (last week finishing Helen Epstein's Where She Came From: A Daughter's Search for Her Mother's History and then starting in Chad Harbach's tome, The Art of Fielding). I went to bed early and have had little trouble sleeping.

Your body truly changes over years of running including in the way it can cope with training, racing and recovery. In preparation for the two marathons I just did, I ran more than I ever have, with an average of about 100km per week.

Boosting the volume hasn't been a decision I've taken lightly, nor did I just open a book, Advanced Marathoning, and picked one of the training programs. As I keep repeating in my posts, perhaps ad nauseam but time and again I see people expect too much too soon in their running, you need patience and consistency, especially in preparing for marathons.

Consistency is only possible if you avoid injury. The best way to avoid injury is to slowly (over years) build up your body's ability to run, and to train. The guidance I received from Australia's Pat Carroll from 2005 until 2010 was based on those principles, a conservative approach to volume. Pat's resume includes a 2:09:39 win at the 1995 Beppu Marathon and a 61:11 half PB, set in 1994.

Because of that, I am now able to boost the volume. My body has responded well. Importantly, I enjoy the training routine I've slowly been developing since April 2010 when I decided it was time for a change; but it's only because of those five years with Pat Carroll's guidance (and prior to that the guidance of triathlon coach, and age group legend, John Hill) that I am now able to handle a higher volume and to recognize that this is what is working for me today.

I know it is working for me because of this year's results (3 marathons in 3:06, 3:07 and 3:09, fast enough to earn Top female Master in both the BMO Vancouver Marathon and the Goodlife Fitness Victoria Marathon, and the overall women's win in the boutique Bellingham Bay Marathon).

I am not surprised that I've been tired in the past 12 days; if anything, I am surprised that my level of energy is as good as it is and that my body feels as good as it does. And, most importantly, I cannot wait to get stuck into my preparations for the 2012 Vancouver Marathon.

That is also exactly the reason I've been concerned that doing the Whistler 50 Ultra on November 5 might not be such a great idea. I am a cautious runner in that I love being one too much to jeopardize my ability to train. Pat Carroll's conservative approach has proven its value and I am still reaping the rewards.

This Whistler 50 has been on my radar ever since I did its predecessor, the Haney to Harrison 100km, for the first time a year ago, and even more so when details of the new 50-mile course were announced early this year:

"The course is largely on the Valley Trail system. Approximately 13km of each loop is on paved trail, and the remaining 7km are on wide, hard packed, gravel trails... mildly undulating, with the difference between the lowest and highest points approximately 220 feet (i.e. no major climbs or descents)."

I am not worried about being able to finish the distance; I know I can. I'm concerned about the impact of racing a 50-miler within six months of three marathons. My training for the 2012 Vancouver Marathon starts at the end of December.

Since I very much enjoyed the schedule I followed from Advanced Marathoning, I am planning to follow another, this one boosting the weekly volume as high as 137km per week. My main goal as a runner is still to improve my 3:06:06 marathon time.

This past week I've had more energy, both mentally and physically. I haven't run yet, but I am thinking of going for a light jog this weekend. I am keen to run the ultra.

A friend from Australia, Dessie, is making the trek to this part of the world for the Whistler 50. A superb athlete who has been running marathons for more than three decades and is one of the most passionate runners Tim and I know, this will be his first race beyond the 42.195km. He is very excited and so are we.

And in another recent development, Triathlete Tim has decided it is time to expand his Ironman (9) and marathon (10) experience. (Tim also ran the Victoria Marathon. While lacking energy on race day, he still managed a 3:16, his third-fastest.) Tim and I have shared the startline in five Ironmans and six marathons, and many, many other races, but an ultra would be a first.

There are another two weeks until the Whistler 50 and we could think a little longer. When I shared my concern (and Tim's) about doing a 50-miler a month after the Victoria marathon with a highly experienced ultrarunner this week, he said:

"There are 27 days (4 weeks) between the two events. Running a marathon will have a definite training effect which will be optimal a month later, so you and / or Tim could well find the timing to be right for a good performance at Whistler. Of course, the 50 miler will be run at a much less intense pace."

So, it's time to decide, and it's time to enter. Both Tim and I are putting our money down and will join Dessie on the Whistler 50 Ultra startline on November 5.

(I will do so with one change from my usual mindset; I will allow myself to drop out if my body tells me it's not up to a 50-miler. A DNF of any race would be my first and, as you can imagine, I wouldn't take such a decision lightly.)

If you're keen to run the Whistler 50 Ultra & Relay, register here.
They'd love more volunteers, too. If interested, please email W50Ultra (AT) BCAthletics (DOT) org

The importance of staying in motion

2011-10-16T10:07:00.000-07:00

For me writing and running are very much connected, always have been. And I am certainly in great company.

Joyce Carol Oates writes in her superb The Faith of a Writer, "Running seems to allow me, ideally, an expanded consciousness in which I can envision what I'm writing as a film or a dream; I rarely invent at the typewriter, but recall what I've experienced; I don't use a word processor, but write in longhand, at considerable length... Running is a meditation; more practicably, it allows me to scroll through, my mind's eye, the pages I've just written, proofreading for errors and improvements."

While I do not (yet) experience the strong visualisation that Oates describes, I always carry my writing on runs. And walks, too.

This week, recovering from a second sub-3:10 marathon in as many weeks, I am taking a break from running and walk twice a day with our dog Luka and my sister's Jack Russell, Punky, who is staying with us for three weeks.

Those walks, at the moment in a beautiful sunny Indian summer, are invariably time to mull over my writing.

While writing is my profession, and running a hobby, they are passions without which I would not be the person I am. One influences the other, and vice versa.

I am proud of the six books I have written so far, but I know I have so much more to learn.

Like in running, it's important to keep pushing myself out of the comfort zone in writing.

It's the reason I took part in National Novel Writing Month a year ago, resulting in my latest book and a first novel, From my Mother. This week I have been contacting reviewers, both exhilarating and scary.

NaNoWriMo is a nonprofit writing challenge that encourages kids and adults to produce the first draft of a 50,000-word novel in one month. I'll be participating again this year and asked the Squamish Public Library to host a couple of so-called write-ins where local NaNoWriMos can sweat over their daily word count together. The library agreed enthusiastically and is offering a superb space on November 6 and November 13 from 10am until 1pm.

The key to NaNoWriMo is quantity. It's all about word count and the NaNoWriMo website offers great tools to keep track of the number of words written.

For runners as for writers, a focus on quantity is neither the ultimate goal nor a guarantee for success.

However, striving for a measurable and tangible daily amount does provide extra motivation to practice, the key to improving skills in any field.

Practice is what results in progress, eventually. You need to run consistently. You must write consistently. Practice does not guarantee results; in running, racing is another learning curve just as publishing and marketing are for an author, especially an independent one.

Achieving success takes time, patience and determination.

When a friend emailed his congratulations after the Victoria Marathon, he mentioned a buddy had just broken 3 hours for the first time in a marathon: it has taken him 24 marathons.

I am at marathon No. 15, so I guess there are a few more to go.

There are physiological laws and limits, and I am very aware of them. As a relative latecomer to running (and endurance sports), I believe I have yet to train at the level I am capable of. Perhaps I am right, perhaps I am wrong. The key lies in making the effort to find out.

Running has plenty of natural limiters: among them the need to build your body over a period of years (not a few months) so that it can cope with the level of training required to get the best out of yourself. You cannot rush it.

The fact that I was able to push my weekly training volume about 25 per cent above anything I'd ever done before without getting injured in the past four months is not something that happened overnight. It's because of the consistent training I've done.

While my ultimate goal is that 2:xx marathon, it's not a failure if I don't achieve it after giving it my all in trying.

As a friend remarked on my Victoria Marathon race report this week, "You're one fierce competitor who won't die wondering."

That's exactly my goal, avoiding the What ifs and If onlys, as I inch closer to the elusive goal. I firmly believe I haven't reached my potential yet.

On Sunday I improved my personal best, by 1 minute and 4 seconds, for the first time in three years. That was incredibly satisfying, a confirmation of that inner belief I can go faster.

To others it might seem a painstakingly slow process, perhaps even a lost cause.

Another runner emailed me after the race, saying: "I am glad you are happy with the season. If you take a couple of seasons to shave off a minute it will take some time to get to sub-3 ;-)."

That's not how I look at it: I am stoked to run a personal record only two weeks after another high performance (to put it into perspective, the 3:09:40 I ran two weeks before Victoria is among the top 50 times for women in Canada in the first 9 months of 2011, according to Marathon Canada rankings).

A strong headwind in the Bellingham Bay Marathon slowed me down, perhaps even prevented me from going as hard as I could have, though I don't dwell on the conditions as doing so won't change the outcome. I can only assure you I have felt very different this week after Victoria than after Bellingham two weeks earlier.

This week's deep overall tiredness, both mentally and physically, is the key reason I am holding off my registration for the Whistler 50 ultra (50 miles or 80km) on November 5. While very keen to run it, I don't want to push my luck and want to make sure my recovery is on track first. I will run the ultra if I feel I can recover in time to begin preparations for the 2012 Vancouver Marathon at the end of December.

I have already mapped out my training; I will boost it another level, to about 130km per week in daily runs. And I finally plan to work on core strength, as I believe that will help my marathon performance too.

In running I know I am approaching the top level I can achieve after 15 years of consistent training. In writing, however, I believe I have much more growth ahead of me.

I have honed my skills as a writer for 15 years, too, spending far more hours than on running. With six books—4 non-fiction, 1 fiction and 1 volume of poetry—I have only scratched the surface as an author.

The physiological clock for a writer follows a different schedule than that for a runner—if I am given a long life, I hope to use all of it for working on the craft of writing.

Still, in writing too, I feel the pressure of time: one never knows what's ahead. The author, like the runner, needs to live each day as if it's her last in terms of effort, yet be patient with expectations of results and progress.

There is no time for fear of failure—a worry both the writer and the runner face every day.

As 77-year-old Gloria Steinem recently told Interview magazine's Maria Shriver: "The wasting of time is the thing I worry about the most. Because time is all there is."

It took only 3 years...

2011-10-11T15:33:00.000-07:00

... six marathons; Vancouver in 3:07 and 3:10, Rotterdam 3:11, Olympic Peninsula 3:10, Bellingham 3:09, of course Sunday's in Victoria, and, arguably, two ultras; STORMY 50-mile in 10:15 and Haney to Harrison 100km in 10:29, but I finally improved my marathon record to 3:06:06.

The time earned me not only eighth woman overall and first in the F40-44 age group, but the women's Top Master title (see press release). The Goodlife Fitness Victoria Marathon also hosted this year's Provincial Marathon Championship.

Kathrine Switzer & Angelique Dietz

Importantly, Tim ran his third-fastest marathon in a superb 3:16, while my sister Angelique finished her first marathon with a big smile and a hug from the legendary Kathrine Switzer.

(I am particularly inspired by Switzer's accomplishment of a 2:51 marathon PR in the 1975 Boston Marathon, following years of disciplined training and a debut of 4:20-ish in that famous 1967 Boston race.)

Conditions couldn't have been better for the Victoria Marathon: a cool morning with a hint of sun, and no wind to speak of.

We had set our alarms for 6:30am, but I was wide awake shortly before 6am and ate my first energy bar as quietly as possible in an effort not to wake Tim.

I had slept reasonably well, and didn't even have my usual pre-race nightmare of missing the start. Angelique, getting ready to run her first marathon, told me a few minutes later she had dreamt exactly that.

Our accommodation, the superb Parkside Victoria Resort & Spa, was close to the race start, so Tim, Angelique and I left at 8:10am, jogging the five minutes or so to the start on Menzies at Kingston. After hugging and wishing each other well, we each found our own spots in the field.

Jennifer, a friend from Squamish who was also running the marathon (and did an awesome 3:49), came by for a pre-race hug and we wished each other well. We were in good company as women made up 61 per cent of this year's marathon field.

I couldn't wait for the gun to go and when it did at 8:45am, the start went smooth. As usual, people began fast. Having just run the Bellingham Bay Marathon two weeks earlier in 3:09, I made sure to avoid getting caught up in the initial sprint. While we passed the Inner Harbour and the Empress Hotel, I didn't notice these beautiful landmarks as I was focused on the task at hand.

Likewise, I don't remember much of the course other than what was underfoot and anyone who ran near me. I'll often try to enjoy some of the scenery a marathon course has to offer but I did not do so today. It wasn't a conscious decision, but simply the way it worked out. I hit the 1km mark perfectly in 4:22 (aimed at a 3:04 finish).

It was a great feeling to have found my pace immediately. A woman near me seemed to be running a similar pace. She was focused and relaxed, and I enjoyed the fact we were moving at the same clip.

While the first kilometre was flat, the Victoria course is a mildly undulating one, so I made sure to focus on maintaining my effort (rather than pace) on both the uphills and the downhills. As a result, kilometre splits reflect a slight easing of pace on the ups and using the advantage of gravity on the downs.

My Polar watch happened to show only the splits, rather than the overall time, and I decided that was a good thing and didn't change it until in the latter stages of the race. (In Bellingham I hadn't bothered with pressing the lap function after each mile since the 7:02 target pace allowed for easy math). I took 4:26 for the 2nd km, 4:25 for the 3rd, 4:04 for the 4th and 4:29 for the 5th for a total of 21:45 for the first 5km, or an average pace of 4:21/km.

I was still running side by side with the same woman. Neither of us had spoken. It was in Beacon Hill Park, after about 7km, that I heard a spectator cheer her on. It sounded like she called her Mindy, so I immediately checked with my running buddy.

When she confirmed, I told her my name, and we both laughed. We hadn't met before but had been in touch via email and she had written a guest post for this blog. (Mindy ended up running a stellar 3:11 PR and it looks like our paths may cross again in the 2012 BMO Vancouver Marathon.)

We shared another few kilometres in focused and relaxed silence, it was great. I felt good. The kilometres ticked by in 4:28, 4:25, 4:09, 4:19, and 4:10 for a 10km time of 43:16, or average pace of 4:20/km.

I had missed a water from the second aid station, just before 9km, and was a little annoyed with myself, though knew the next one was only a kilometre or so away. I made sure to grab a water there, and also had my first gel.

The results show I had at least 18 women ahead of me, and three others hitting the 10km mark in about the same time.

By now the course took us along the Juan de Fuca Strait, at Ross Bay, followed by Gonzales Bay, where we left the water for about 5km. Again, I didn't take in the views of the Olympic and Cascade mountains. The next 5km went by in 4:21, 4:24, 4:22, 4:14 and 4:20 for 1:04:58 at 15km, or an average pace of 4:20/km. I was feeling even better and had decided to push it; I wanted a PB.

Next was 4:13, 4:23, 4:28, 4:14 and 4:20 (remember my strategy for undulations) for 20km in 86:37, or an average of 4:20/km. We were at Oak Bay. Almost halfway.

Since I only saw my kilometre splits, I didn't know my 21.1km time until afterward. It was 91:23, possibly the fastest I have run the first half of a marathon. For the next 5km I ran 4:20, then 8:32 for 2km, followed by 4:17 and 4:22 for 1:48:09 by 25km, or 4:19.5/km.

Since the course loops back on itself shortly before 24km, I saw Tim not long after I passed it. We smiled at each other. Now, I could keep an eye out for Angelique and Jennifer. I saw the latter first and we encouraged each other. Angelique and I spotted each other from more than a mile away, as we each came down a hill, waving and smiling.

When we finally met, we highfived so hard I thought my arm would fall off. I was stoked to see how well she was doing, and vice versa.

The past few kilometres a guy had been running with me. Many of the spectators were cheering me on, saying I was in the top 10. My fellow runner jokingly complained about the lack of interest in his performance. "You're doing awesome girl," a spectator would cheer, for my buddy to yell back, "What about me? Aren't I doing great?"

It was nice to having someone running with me. He was either beside or behind me, which allowed me to set my own pace, and at the same time feel pushed along. I was focused on maintaining the good feeling I had mentally and physically. "This is my day," I repeated silently to myself many times.

I ran 4:22, 4:16, 4:20, 4:31 and 4:24 to reach 30km at McNeill Bay in 2:10:03, according to my watch (official results timed me at 2:10:01), or an average pace of 4:20/km.

As always, this was the point where the race started. The next 5km, through the residential areas of Oak Bay and Fairfield, felt brutal; I ran 4:27, 4:34, 4:35, 4:42 and 4:43. My buddy ran away from me, I believe, just after 31km (though he would meet the hammer a couple of kilometres later, too). I reached 35km in a dark place mentally in 2:33:03, or an average pace of 4:22/km.

I tried to maintain my pace as best I could. One foot in front of the other, and repeat. I forced myself to take another gel, though couldn't bring myself to eat all of the sachet's sweet sticky gooey contents. Spectators still cheered, and I passed the odd male runner feeling comforted by the fact that I wasn't the only one battling marathon's demons.

Then I ran 4:34, 4:47, 4:59 to reach 38km by 2:47:22, or an average of 4:24/km. I couldn't see my overall average pace, all I saw were splits that were slowing with each kilometre. With 4.2km to go, I decided to stop taking kilometre times and switched instead to the overall time.

I tried to do the math as simply as I could: 4km at 5:00 equalled 20 minutes. I still had a chance for a PB, if I kept myself together.

The final undulations in those last kilometres felt larger than life. I felt better seeing the sign marking 39km, but worse seeing 40km, since there were still 2.2km to go. I passed a guy, who shortly after began sprinting with a mile to go. Too soon, I thought, and it wasn't long before I ran beside him again as he'd lost the burst of energy.

I spotted a woman ahead. Could I catch her? No, too far. I kept pushing myself. She did come a little closer. I tried to speed up a little, encouraged by the guy next to me, who said something like, You can catch her. A sign marking 800 metres to go still had me too far back to be convinced I would be able to dig deep enough to reach her in time.

I reminded myself of the spectators telling me I was top 10, so moving up another place was worth it. More importantly, while I no longer had the energy to look at my watch, I knew a personal record was at stake too. I would regret it if I didn't try just that little bit harder.

My stomach didn't agree as I sped up further with 500 metres to go. I was closing in on the female runner ahead, but was I close enough? It was now time for the final sprint, all or nothing. At the sign marking 200 metres left, I caught her and kept steaming towards the finish, oblivious of cheering spectators. I noticed a 3:06 on the main clock above the finish, and knew that elusive PB was mine too.

The last 4.195km had taken me 18:47, or an average 4:28/km. My 3:06:06 is an overall average pace of 4:24.6/km.

As I bent over completely spent at the finish line, Lucy Ryan (Ultraman, Ironman and ultrarunner) was there to hug, and support, me. It was exactly what I needed and it was so nice to see her. She congratulated me and next gave me unofficial results, saying I was 8th woman and had won my age group.

I got my medal from one of the lovely volunteers and tried hard to avoid throwing up. I made my way to a garbage can, just in case. My legs were screaming, too. Another volunteer asked me if I was OK. "Yes, just a little nauseous," I told her before she encouraged me to stop by the medical tent.

There, I lay down on a stretcher as one of the medical staff took my details, and my pulse. She gave me a couple of electrolyte drinks which I gulped down. I was relatively OK, and told her I didn't want to needlessly occupy a stretcher. She encouraged me to stay. Then Tim showed up, as Lucy had caught him at his superb 3:16 finish, his 3rd-fastest, and told him where he could find me.

(Tim later said he was happy with his time, "though of course I had planned to run faster. I can't ever think of finishing a race and not having thought I was going to go faster. It's important to be confident."

"Victoria was my third-fastest marathon and the fastest I have run in four years, when I set my current PB of 3:10 at the Gold Coast in Australia. To be fair, I haven't done much specific marathon training in the last four years but I'm fit and I always believe that I should be able to leverage my triathlon training into success across the sporting spectrum," says Tim, who is now leaning toward signing up for his first ultrarun, the Whistler 50 (miles, that is) on November 5.)

With Tim there, the nurse let me go. Race director Rob Reid congratulated me on my way out of the medical tent. Tim and I were both incredibly sore and moved to a spot where we could lie down with our legs in the air, which helped a lot. Next we got our pictures taken and picked up some food and drinks. Sore and getting cold quickly, we decided to walk back to the hotel to change quickly into dry clothes, and bring some for Angelique too.

Ecstatic athlete & coach at finish

Angelique was completely focused in her home stretch, though she later said she did hear and see us screaming and waving about 300 metres before the finish: she had simply needed all her energy for reaching the finish line where she was first caught by Kathrine Switzer.

When Angelique told us after a big round of hugs and congratulations on her superb accomplishment, I encouraged her to go back for a picture. Kathrine was only too happy to oblige, and suggested we should celebrate Angelique's first marathon finish with champagne.

I'll write a separate post on Angelique's marathon journey soon but I loved this: On the day before the race, the three of us had done a very easy 10-minute jog before we stopped at a 7/11 to get milk. Angelique and I were both wearing the beautiful bright red race shirt we had received an hour earlier. A guy, in his early 20s, behind us in line asked, "Are you guys running the marathon tomorrow?"

When we turned around and confirmed that was indeed the case, he said, "Oh wow, I could never do that. I can only run 3km." Without missing a beat, Angelique said, "That's what I thought three years ago too but tomorrow I am running a marathon."

While sore and exhausted, marathoner Angelique felt good overall. Better, too, after lying down with her legs in the air, as we encouraged her to do. After another photo, we walked back to the hotel where we all had quick showers and changed before heading over to the awards.

Congrats from Switzer & Yasso, how cool!

There I was thrilled to meet Kathrine again, who handed out the awards, and another running legend, Bart Yasso. Official pictures were taken so I hope to post some once they are available.

A quick chat about books

Awesome awards ...

Press release for From my Mother | PRLog

2011-10-11T10:50:00.000-07:00

Click to read Novel by the author of A Hundred Reasons to Run 100km on PRLog

Experiment in Victoria, marathon No. 15

2011-10-06T07:29:00.000-07:00

I am very much looking forward to running the Goodlife Fitness Victoria Marathon this weekend. As my 15th marathon (not counting having run the distance in five Ironmans and beyond it in four ultras), it's hardly new territory. I've even explored the Victoria course before, in 2008 and it is where I ran my personal record of 3:07:10 that I have since tried so hard to better.

Amid all the familiarity, experience has also taught me that no marathon is ever the same. There are so many variables, some of which we can control and yet others that we cannot, that every race is a completely fresh challenge; weather is the first one that comes to mind given the blustery conditions of the Bellingham Bay Marathon 11 days ago.

Even so, the biggest unknown for me this Sunday will be how my body has recovered from having raced the distance only two weeks earlier. There is zero doubt in my mind that I can cover the distance; the question is how fast, of course. It takes time to recover from running a marathon as fast as you can.

A typical rule of thumb if a personal best performance is your goal -- a rule I have generally followed in previous years -- is to race two marathons a year, or one about every six months. Another guideline is that recovery from a marathon takes a day for every mile, or 26 days in other words.

In 2007, I experimented by running a second marathon within three months of setting a then-PB in the Canberra marathon in April (3:08, which was a PB by 5 minutes from a race eight months earlier, which in turn had been a PB by 11 minutes from a year earlier) with the expectation to surpass that record. I ran the Gold Coast marathon in July that same year and felt good until about 25km before slowing down to finish in 3:15, a time I could hardly complain about but also was not what I had in mind.

In 2009, I ran a second marathon within five weeks; feeling I could have run better than the 3:10:19 it took me to complete the Vancouver marathon on May 2, I did the North Olympic Discovery marathon on June 7, finishing in 3:10:39 (a women's course record for this boutique race that still stands).

This year is the first time that I am running more than two marathons in one year, not considering the three Ironmans I did between April 2004 and March 2005; and the Rotterdam marathon I ran in April 2010, followed by a 50-miler in August and a 100km in November of the same year (in the latter two my main goal was to finish, as opposed to aiming for performance).

After coming the closest I have to my 2008 PB (set in Victoria) in the Vancouver marathon in May this year, only 31 seconds short, and running my fourth-fastest time ever 11 days ago in Bellingham, I will be aiming for a personal record this Sunday.

I have no reason not to do so; as far as I can tell my recovery from Bellingham has been superb. Not that I have run much, in fact I have only done one run since: a 10km easy jog on Tuesday. Tim, doggy Luka, and I spent the week after the marathon in Pacific Beach, Washington. It's a tiny and quiet town on the beautiful west coast of the Olympic Peninsula.

My recovery there consisted of two long beach walks a day, a glass of red or two at night with dinner and plenty of sleep. An active recovery without any running, as tempting as the level, wide and endless beach with hardpacked sand was.

Today I plan a 6km run, with eight 100-metre strides. Tomorrow is another rest day, while Saturday I plan to do a 10-minute jog. That will take my total distance run since Bellingham to less than 20km in two weeks, or an average of 10km over the past two weeks.

There are no guarantees that I will feel fantastic with only two weeks of recovery but I am determined to feel as good as possible for this Sunday's race; I expect to feel superb and will take the miles as they come.

When in 2008 I ran the Vancouver and Victoria marathons, (though not Bellingham in between), I went five minutes quicker in Victoria. Having said that, I did not have a good race in Vancouver that year (3:12:26) and felt superb in Victoria (3:07:10). This year, I was pleased with my race in Vancouver (3:07:41).

My race plan for Sunday is similar to the one I had for Bellingham two weeks ago; I'll aim for 4:22/km pace (a 3:04 finish) and see what happens. Most of all, despite all the numerical analysis of results, I will focus on making each step the best it can be.

Read 2008 Vancouver Marathon race report
Read pre-race mindset before 2008 Victoria Marathon
Read mini 2008 Victoria Marathon race report
2008 Victoria Marathon kilometre splits

A simple marathon checklist

2011-10-05T14:58:00.000-07:00

As I am getting ready to run my second marathon in as many weeks, No. 15 in total, I am especially looking forward to it as my sister will be joining me on the start line in her debut at the distance. Tim is also racing, starting his 10th marathon. For both Tim and I it's the second time in Victoria, after we first raced there in 2008.

As I am writing a short checklist for my sister, I thought I'd share it here:

1. Bring a happy disposition. When you're determined to have a great race, you will!

2. Don't try anything new on race day. No new foods, drinks, clothes, socks, shoes. Stay with what you have tried and tested in training.That includes your pre-race breakfast.

3. Start easy, especially if you're a novice. Don't worry about others racing ahead in the first kilometre(s), it happens in every marathon as the temptation to 'get ahead' is strong.

4. Have a sip of water at every aid station.

5. Take your gels, as you did in training.

6. Smile and enjoy the ride. You're running a marathon, how awesome!

Also bring:-):

1. Running bra/tank top (women of course)

2. Running shirt / singlet (optional for women)

3. Running shorts

4. Running socks

5. Running shoes

6. Race nutrition (gels, bars including pre-race breakfast)

7. Race number plus timing chip

8. Watch (plus heart rate monitor if you use one)

9. Throwaway T-shirt/sweater to stay warm while you wait at the race start

10. Visor/hat (leave them at home if race day turns out to be a windy one)

12. Sunglasses

13. Thin gloves (in case race morning is chilly)

14. iPod (I never use it in races, though I made an exception in a 100km road race last year)

15. race belt, if you use one
16. vaseline & heat rub

For after the race take:

Shirt, sweater, comfy pants, socks (compression?), shoes / slippers (keep in mind your feet will be swollen and tender after the race), small towel.

My own checklist is as follows:

Pre-race breakfast

1. two Powerbar energy bars

2. coffee (I bring the brand I love and a coffeepress to make it)

Race nutrition

3. 8 gels Powerbar, though I only had 5 at the Bellingham Bay Marathon (plus zip-lock bag to carry the 3 gels that don't fit in my pockets)

Race clothing

4. race tank top (with two back pockets)

5. shorts (with back pocket)

6. compression socks (vaseline on my feet & heat rub on my calves)

7. running shoes

8. sunglasses

9. thin gloves (wear if morning is chilly, I hate cold hands)

10. throwaway shirt to stay warm before the race

For after the race, I'll bring an extra pair of compression socks and comfortable clothing that will keep me warm. After the Bellingham Bay Marathon, I didn't get a chance to shower (though I changed into dry and clean clothes of course) until we arrived at our holiday cottage in the early evening and, as a result, I had worn my race compression socks for the entire day.

I believe they were one of the key reasons my legs felt awesome the next day, as usually my calves are so tight that descending stairs is next to impossible.

Other odds and ends:

If you're travelling, like we are this weekend, plan your pre-race dinner. I never eat out, neither lunch nor dinner the day before an important race, as I want to know exactly what went in the food. (See rule No. 2, never try anything new on/before race day).

We have opted to stay in a swanky place that has a kitchen so we'll make a simply pasta bolognaise, and will bring the ingredients so we don't have to shop and can eat what's tried and tested. Another good pre-race meal option are potatoes and a simple protein.

Plan to stay hydrated as much as possible on the day before the race, especially if you're travelling. I'll bring enough Accelerade for the trip from Squamish to Victoria, picking up my sister in Vancouver along the way. I'll also take some sandwiches of white bread and peanut butter to avoid being hungy.

Stay off your feet as much as possible. We'll relax on the ferry. While we'll have a look at the expo of course, as we pick up our race packages on Saturday afternoon, we'll resist the temptation of turning it into a major shopping expedition or sightseeing tour. This makes much more sense after the race is done.

While I don't expect our place to be noisy, I will bring ear plugs, just in case.

EXCERPT of From my Mother, a novel

2011-10-05T08:22:00.000-07:00

As the phone rang, Nadia recognized the familiar number lighting up the screen.

“Hoi Oma!”

“Wat ik zeggen wilde ... What I wanted to tell you,” her grandmother began. As she often did, Oma launched straight into what she had to share on the costly long-distance call from the Netherlands to Canada. The most frugal person Nadia would ever know, there was no doubt in her mind, Oma spared no expense when it came to being in touch with her granddaughter.

“... it was dark and we were in the forest, again, hiding. We had run when we heard the soldiers were coming. Your mom was only a baby and I had to keep her safe. I had found an area with thick brush to cover us. We were quiet like mice. But your mom, she was scared. Of course, she was just a baby. And when she heard a branch breaking nearby, she cried. Just a little. And he found us. Underneath that brush. He didn't have good intentions. I know he didn't. And I had to protect her. To keep her safe, I had to stay alive. It was him or us.”

Oma's voice trailed off before falling silent. Nadia listened, waiting for her to continue a story she had not heard before. She could hear her grandmother's irregular breathing on the other side of the line—a pattern of two quick shallow inhales of air followed by a pause before the next two.

“Oma?” Nadia finally said. “Oma, are you OK?”

“Ja ... ja,” her grandmother responded softly before hanging up.

It wasn't unusual for Oma to simply end a call when she considered it finished. Nadia dialled Oma's number, though doubted she would get an answer. Her grandmother, at 94, often didn't hear the phone even when she was wearing her hearing aid. And when she finished a call she would often misplace the receiver, accidentally and sometimes on purpose. The busy signal beeped impatiently in Nadia's ear. She would try to call again later in the day.

Oma's comments puzzled Nadia as there were details she had not heard before. Her grandmother had often told her how she fled with her daughter into the forest to seek shelter from the brutalities in the Second World War in Sudetenland, the part of Czechoslovakia annexed in 1938 by Germany, which declared Bohemia and Moravia a protectorate of the Third Reich six months later in March 1939. Sudetenland was a contentious area within Czechoslovakia's borders, inhabited by many ethnic Germans. It was handed to Nazi Germany under the Munich Pact, called the Munich Betrayal by many in Czechoslovakia, because it had no representation at the meeting during which France and the UK sought to appease Adolf Hitler by ceding territory to which they assigned little value.

Aged 24, Oma would give birth to Nadia's mom the following year when the oppressor also demanded her husband don a German uniform and march across Europe in what became the deadliest global military conflict.

Buy the paperback here and receive a 30% discount with the code 24WNDLF6
Get the Kindle edition here for only $0.99

Background to my first novel

2011-10-04T10:54:00.000-07:00

My grandmother gave me this Triumph-Adler Tippa

My office is on the ground floor of our house. It looks out over the front yard and our street, which is a quiet one—on many days I see as many pedestrians and cyclists go by as cars. It's a long room with two desks, both from IKEA. At one, underneath one of the room's two windows, I sit every day to write.

The other, a high and long desk, hasn't got much use yet, other than holding painting supplies, papers and a few photographs. It also holds a portable typewriter my maternal grandmother gave me. It's a Triumph-Adler Tippa that I've rarely used. The hard cover is black as are the keys, while the rest of the machine is beige.

Cover & manual

The original manual with a purple cover is still with it. There are funny instructions in Dutch, French, English and Spanish, of which the typeface reveals it's an older machine: "What you really want to know is how to type with the machine. It's easy enough as you will see."

[Read the rest of this post here]

Marathon recovery

2011-10-02T10:24:00.000-07:00

After the marathon in Bellingham, we drove southwest to the coast of the Olympic Peninsula where we had rented a cottage in Pacific Beach for the week. At this time of the year, this area is quiet and stunning. It was the perfect place for us to unwind after a few hectic months.

The beach here is wide with hard-packed sand. Luka absolutely loved it, and his happiness chasing a ball or a stick during our morning and evening walks was contagious.

Tim, already tapering for the Victoria Marathon, did three runs here. I did none, even as I was tempted and felt great. After 14 marathons and four ultras, I have found that my body prefers a week of walking following such long efforts.

We're driving back to Squamish today after a fantastic and relaxing 10 days in Washington state, most of which were spent in Pacific Beach. It's been an awesome trip.

While we planned for a holiday, I had arranged for a proof copy of my novel, From my Mother, to be sent to the local post office here as delivery within the U.S. is much faster than shipment to Canada.

The book arrived on Wednesday, and of course I couldn't help myself but do a final proofread of the hard copy while on holiday. I finished making the final changes last night, and submitted the files for both the paperback and the Kindle version.

Second marathon win

2011-09-26T09:00:00.000-07:00

15km into Bellingham Marathon

So, I felt awesome warming up before the Bellingham Bay Marathon yesterday morning. I did notice that it seemed windy. Overall, I had a superb day on this course with spectacular views.

I didn't get the course record, didn't even get a PB but I did lead the women from start to finish.

The volunteers and spectactors along the course were awesome and I smiled a lot. It was a great experience and I highly recommend this well-organized race. My 3:09:40 placed me eighth overall (results here and a story by the Bellingham Herald here).

About to finish as 2011 B'ham Bay Marathon champ

Tim, as usual, was a fantastic supporter and it was great to see him and Luka pop up to cheer along the way. He also took a bunch of photos, including these two. I'll write a race report soon.

Next up, the Victoria Marathon in two weeks.

A pre-race visualization

2011-09-24T19:59:00.000-07:00

Among the mental tools recommended for athletes is pre-race visualization. I've always found that hard to do. But for the Bellingham Bay Marathon, which I am about to start in less than 12 hours from now, I decided to try by putting my visualization into words.

In early August I wrote a mile by mile ideal race scenario for tomorrow's race. At just under 11,000 words, it's a small book. I didn't look at it again until today, and decided to publish the epistel on a separate blog for those interested. We'll see how the real thing pans out tomorrow.

I found it a helpful exercise and may repeat it for another goal race. To read the pre-race visualization for the marathon, please follow the link http://marathonvisualization.blogspot.com/

It's 7:55pm now. Time to go to sleep soon!

I'll leave you with this superb advice from Bill Rodgers in Bill Rodgers' Lifetime Running Plan, a book I highly recommend:

"You should try to talk to yourself constantly in a race. Assess how you're doing, how you might be able tot notch it up a bit, and continually tell yourself how well you're doing, what you've already accomplished, and what you have left to do. During my races, I talk myself through the whole thing. ... I don't think I'm a particularly tough runner mentally, but I've learned the tricks of the trade. You can beat people who might be as fit as you by talking yourself through a race with positive remarks."

I have worked my ass off

2011-09-21T16:42:00.000-07:00

Indeed, I have worked my ass off in more ways than one. First, the scale tells me I am a little shy of 60 kilograms (or about 132 pounds). That's about as light as my 176-centimetre (5'8") frame gets. Losing weight wasn't a goal in preparing for the Bellingham Bay Marathon though I was pretty sure I wouldn't be gaining pounds while running more weekly kilometres than ever at an average 104km for nine straight weeks, before starting a three-week taper (dropping to 90km, then 70km, and then 40km—of course not including the 42.2km race that final week).

My weight tends to stay around 63kg. I love food, good food which in my book usually means healthy stuff. I love fruit (fresh and dried) and vegetables. Among the staple dinners is a pasta bolognaise, recently with buffalo mince. Others are curries with anything from steak (beef or buffalo), to chicken, tofu or chickpeas (the latter another recent addition to the menu), with rice and plenty of veg.

Rarely will I decline a glass of red before or with dinner, though more than two glasses will have me drunk so I don't go there, not often anyway. In the past six months, a beer—a Sleeman or any brew from our local Howe Sound Brewery, which produces stunning and award-winning stuff; my favourite might have to be the King Heffy—accompanied dinner, too.

With a chocaholic partner, it's hard to resist a few pieces of dark chocolate. I also blame Tim for introducing me to the new President's Choice ice creams, though I must admit to loving Haagen-Dazs before him.

For breakfast, I'll typically have Alpen (no added sugar) or, more recently, the delicious Bircher muesli recipe from the second book I edited, Reconnect With Food: Eat Your Way to Triathlon Success by Teresa Rider. During the day, there are plenty of carbs involved; ham-cheese sandwiches, or a thick layer of peanut butter on a slice of bread (German or sour dough).

With my goal marathon this Sunday, I feel good at 60kg. My key consideration in the next few days will be to eat and drink well, fuelling for the marathon and making sure to stick with tried and tested nutrition that won't cause stomach upsets on race day.

What I will also do in the next few days is to remind myself that I have worked my ass off in the figurative sense. While some people seem to think I was born running 3:07 marathons, that is certainly not the case. It takes hard work to get into the shape I am today.

Some people may break 4 hours in their first marathon; I didn't even break 4:15. In my second, I just managed to stay under 5 (4:46). I love running, and being a runner, but it takes dedication to get faster. Last Saturday afternoon, for example, I was still tired after my second week of taper (work and other things naturally play a role) in which I still ran about 70km. I had a 13km run to do that day and didn't feel like it.

I convinced myself that what I really needed was a hot bath with Epsom salts and a day of rest from running. Soaking in the bath, however, I couldn't relax or enjoy; I had followed this training program and now I was just coming up with excuses a week before race day?

Instead of getting dinner ready, I changed into my running gear and went for my training run a little after 6pm. My legs were fine, tired but fine, and I was stoked for sticking to the training program. I know from experience, as I wrote in an earlier post, that I have a tendency to skip sessions in the taper, and my level of fatigue simply didn't justify doing so.

So, I am having a ton of fun training for marathons, and I am super-excited to race this weekend. Having said that, it's good to consider the hard work you have put in as you get your mind ready to dig deep. Sunday's will be my 10th marathon in five years, the slowest of which I ran in 3:15.

My PB of 3:07:10 is from three years ago but I am convinced I can go faster. My third-fastest is 3:08 from the 2007 Canberra Marathon, so you can imagine how pleased I was in May this year to run 3:07:41. For this race, I have worked my ass off—in the past 12 weeks and in the past 12 years since that first marathon in 1999—and I am ready to give it all I've got.

Mile repeats at 5km race pace

2011-09-15T14:43:00.000-07:00

With 9 days to go until the Bellingham Bay Marathon, I am enjoying the taper. After the usual rest day on Monday, I had an easy 11km with 8 x 100m striders, followed by an even more cruisy 6km recovery yesterday.

This morning had a total of 13km including 3 1-mile repeats at 5km race pace. After a warm-up of about 4km I did the first in 6:12 along the completely flat Loggers Lane in Squamish. The cool morning with a splash of rain was perfect.

After a jogging rest of about 3 minutes, I did the next mile in 6:08. It was great to hit my goal times, as I have struggled and mostly failed with that in the past month, and feeling relatively comfortable doing so. The final one took me 6:04, and I was thoroughly happy on the recovery jog back home.

I am running 69km this week, and am very much enjoying the taper. Unlike some people, who feel uneasy with doing less training, I even tend to think about skipping sessions in the taper. But so far I've managed to resist the temptation.

The extra time, and energy, freed up by running less is allowing me to focus on completing my first novel, From my Mother, hopefully before the marathon. After a lot of hard work, it is truly almost done. Today I received the CIP data Cataloguing in Publication from the Library and Archives Canada.

The cover is complete.The website is up, as is the Facebook fan page. So, I'd better get back to finishing that manuscript.

Time to taper!

2011-09-05T09:40:00.000-07:00

Last week's 110km brought the distance run in the past 9 weeks to 936km, or a weekly average of 104km. The Bellingham Bay Marathon is now 19 days away, and it is time to taper, give my body a rest to gear up for race day. My program has a three-week taper, beginning this week with a decline in volume to about 90km. That may not sound like much, but after last week's 110, I sure will be able to tell the difference of running 20km less.

I have often heard from friends that they don't like the taper as doing less training makes them restless. I am the opposite, as I love easing off the training volume. I have thoroughly enjoyed boosting my running mileage to a new level. But it has also left me tired, and I cannot wait to put some laziness into the next three weeks.

In the taper, you can feel your body absorbing all that training, and slowly but surely recovering to reach a peak by race day. Meanwhile, your mind gets filled with that mix of excitement and nerves about putting all that hard work to the test. I love the taper because it means I get to race soon. Few things are as exciting as racing a marathon. You never know how the day will unfold, and one must expect the unexpected, even if it is all about executing a detailed plan you have made over the previous months of training.

I feel very prepared for this marathon, my 14th and my 10th in six years, as my training has gone well. There is no guarantee I will run a PB -- it has been three years since I last improved my marathon time. But that is what makes it special. While I have the lofty goal of running 2 hours anything one day, any improvement in my 3:07:10 PB from the 2008 Victoria Marathon will be a good outcome.

My hope is, of course, that I will smash that time, and that's what I'll be gunning for: my race plan calls for a 4:22 pace, a magic number that has been swirling in my mind for the past nine weeks. In an effort to help visualize race day, a recommended performance tool for all athletes, I have been writing a mile-by-mile visualization of the Bellingham Bay Marathon with the help of course maps, profile, etc. It's about 11,000 words so far.

I stopped a couple of weeks ago, focusing on finishing a novel (my first which I began working on a year ago) because I felt tired, tired, tired from the training and felt that the visualization was suffering from my exhaustion. I had also received positive and encouraging feedback on the manuscript for the 55,000-word novel, titled From my Mother.

Cover of my first novel

The story is about an experienced marathoner, named Nadia who, as she embarks on her biggest challenge yet, a 100-kilometre ultramarathon, has plenty of time to think about her maternal grandmother, who immigrated to the Netherlands in the early 1950s, escaping Czechoslovakia after the Communist coup d'etat. As the ultrarunning granddaughter struggles with unexpected obstacles in the longest race of her life, Nadia realizes those of her grandmother must have seemed far more insurmountable. She also realizes the ancestor she has always felt so close to is surrounded by mystery.

After completing a second revision of this manuscript, I am now rewriting a few parts based on the feedback from the readers and am hoping to complete my first work of fiction before the marathon.

I do want to complete the pre-race visualization as well as it has been very helpful to pour over the course maps, profile and landmarks, while reading up about the area as I imagine what ideally happens where and when. I was hoping to publish it before the race but I don't know if that is feasible. However, less running means more time, and energy, for writing so I will try for sure.

I am certainly not the only writer who uses running as a way to both inspire and work through manuscripts. The other day I read in The Faith of a Writer by Joyce Carol Oates, "Running! If there's an activity happier, more exhilarating, more nourishing to the imagination, I can't think what it might be. In running, the mind flies with the body; the mysterious efflorescence of language seems to pulse in the brain, in rhythm with our feet and the swinging of our arms."

"In running, 'spirit' seems to pervade the body; as musicians experience the uncanny phenomenon of tissue memory in their fingertips, so the runner seems to experience in feet, lungs, quickened heartbeat, an extension of the imagining self. The structural problems I set for myself in writing, in a long, snarled, frustrating and sometimes despairing morning of work, for instance, I can usually unsnarl by running in the afternoon."