New York City half recap and bronchitis

I was so excited heading in to the New York City half and had set big expectations for myself. I wanted to be top 10 and run a personal best - under 1:11.50. Both of these I did not achieve as I came 15th and ran 1:12.06. I was very disappointed after the race and could not really explain what had happened. Right from the beginning I just could not get on pace. My goal was to run 3.20 min/km or around 5.21 min/mile pace.  My pace ended up being 3.25min/km or 5.29 min/mile.  I am nearly doing this pace every Saturday in my 70 minute tempos so quite frustrating.

At the start line I was nervous but very excited. Lining up and seeing all these amazing runners everywhere was great. Even though I had warmed up very well I was still freezing and waiting for the gun to go off seemed like forever. The temperature during the race was minus 1 celsius which my body was not used to after being in Houston for 6 weeks where the temperature averaged around 20 celsius.  Once the gun went off I tried to forget about the cold and just focus on getting in a pack and pushing through the first 10km in Central park as this was the hilly section of the course. I passed the first mile in 5.27 - already well off pace. I just kept thinking about pushing strong and trying to increase my pace. I got in to a small pack which was good and we were able to push the pace a little. However at 5km there was a big hill that seemed to go on forever. I just could not function up the hill and the pack got away from me.  I tried to stay focused and kept the pack in sight and used this as my motivation to catch up. Once we got out of central park my goal was to really push and get back on pace. However my body just did not feel right. My legs were heavy and still cold and just could not move faster :-( I caught up and passed a few girls after mile 10 and just wanted to get to the finish. I was still hopeful at mile 10 of a personal best but crossed the line short.

My splits are below:
5km: 16:53  10km: 34:21   15km: 51:24   20km: 1:08.22  Finish time: 1:12.06

After returning to Houston I began to feel really bad and had fever, headache, bad cough and aching chest and back. I went to see the doctor and found out I have bronchitis and the flu. Not a very nice combination :-( I did have some coughing before the race so not sure if the bronchitis was starting then and maybe this had some impact on my performance in the half. Or maybe just a combination of everything. I have to take about a week off from any physical activity until my resting pulse is close to normal (normally 45bpm and now 88bpm) and I don't have trouble breathing in. I have to give my lungs a chance to recover. Also this small break may be what my body needs before the build-up to the world championships in Moscow on August 10.

Even though the race did not go as I wanted racing in the New York City half was a great experience and I was lucky enough to be amongst some of the best runners in the world. It was lovely to meet some new runners and get some new contacts. It is always great hearing other runners ideas on training and racing. You always come away with valuable information. The course was beautiful and running through Times Square was exciting (even though I could not pay too much attention to the surroundings). I also got to meet David and Jane Monti and the other New York Road Runners staff. They all did such a great job in hosting the athletes and putting on a great event.

I am very excited to announce a new sponsorship with Lance McClintock. He is a wonderful chiropractor who I am going to every week to get therapy and active release. Lance is a great guy and I am very grateful for his services and sponsorship. As every runner knows a critical part of training and improving is staying injury free. Seeing Lance every week and getting therapy is one way of doing this. If you are in the Houston area and need treatment I would highly recommend Lance. Lance works at Greenway Chiropractic. Their phone number is 713-355-5343. The link to his website is: www.drlancemcclintock.com

Also thanks to Mizuno for their continued support. It was exciting to put on the lovely yellow uniform and be racing under Mizuno. Congrats to Caroline Rotich also Mizuno runner who won the race!!

Photo during New York City half

New 10km PR and listening to my body

The Conoco Phillips Houston rodeo 10km run was on Saturday. It was a great opportunity to get in a race before the New York half. I finished first female with a time of 32:53. A new PR which I am pleased about. It has been a long time coming. My previous best was 33:08 on the track back in 2006.

I was excited for the race however had developed a cough or some virus a few days before which always makes for a tough day. The goal was still set for sub 33 minutes however I was hoping to run closer to 32:30. I passed the first 5km in 16:12 and felt great. I thought I would have been able to keep this pace going however my second 5km slowed to 16:41. A couple of factors came into play in the second 5km. First I thought that the course would be pretty much flat all the way however the second half of the course was slower due to three overpasses (bridges) and a slight headwind. Also I feel I lost focus from 7-8km and did not push hard enough. Even though I was very happy with the PR, I was frustrated with myself as I crossed the finish line feeling as though I had not given everything. Overall a good day and tune-up race before New York half.

Also this week I had to listen to my body. Sunday after the race I went for a run and afterwards my left quad was pretty sore and I was very worried about an injury especially with New York half right around the corner. Monday morning I went to see Dr. Lance Mclintock at Greenway Chiropractic here in Houston. He assessed my quad and performed active release. He thought there was a slight strain of the vastus medialis and advised me to cross train Monday and Tuesday. He also advised me that my glutes were not firing effectively and gave me plenty of exercises to help strengthen these areas. If this had happened last year I probably would have just gone and run hoping it would clear up. However I have learnt that even the smallest niggle needs to get looked at straight away to prevent the injury from getting worse. I am so glad I went to see Lance. I went back to see Lance on Wednesday and thankfully the pain has gone and I started running again. Still doing some cross training to gradually ease back to normal training. I will keep seeing Lance every other week to get active release and treatment to help avoid injury.

I am also very thankful that my coach Ian Babe has so much knowledge regarding water running. I was able to switch over all my training in to the pool very effectively for the 3 days. Even though doing a 6 x 1200m workout, (which is normally on the track) or a 90 min run in the pool is not as fun you can definitely work just as hard and get your heart rate elevated.

I am really excited for New York half and hopefully no more niggles or sickness. Also a big thank you to Mizuno for their continuing support. I just received a package of my favourite shoes (mizuno wave precision and wave ronin) and a new racing kit which will be great to wear in New York.

I will end this post with a few photos from after the race. Don't worry we did not have to race in the cowboy hat to enter the rodeo run. The hat was one of the prizes :-)

Trip to Brazil . . Moving to Houston . . Upcoming races

Since the last blog so much has happened that I do not know where to begin. First off I will apologize for not keeping my blog updated more often. Also in my last post I said that I would research and write about altitude training as we were debating whether on going to train at altitude. However lately with the move and getting settled in Houston I have found it hard to find the time. My coach and I decided that now is not the right time to go to altitude before world champs. I have not spent extended periods of time at altitude to know what impact this would have on my body. Training has been going well at sea level. So for now I will stick with what I know works. However, in the future I would like to give altitude a try.

We traveled to Brasil for one month which was a great experience. It was lovely to meet all of Gabriels family and introduce Lucas to everyone. I also enjoyed the yummy food especially the fruits!!! I have not wanted to buy mangoes, pineapples, peaches or even bananas since. We were in Sao Paulo most of the time but also traveled to Barretos and then to Bertioga beach. It was nice to be at the beach for Christmas and New Years.  Lucas had a great time playing in the sand and sea as you can see in some of the photos below. Traveling during a build up I learned from this trip to Brasil is quite difficult (but definitely worth it). You have to plan a lot more than usual as you don't know the areas you can train. It ended up being quite time consuming trying to find a safe place to run, a pool and a gym. Most days I managed to stay on track with my planned schedule but had to learn to adapt. Another difficult part is not knowing the terrain. When we were at the beach for two weeks there was nowhere but the beach. I was a little worried how this would effect my body and hoped I would not get injured as the beach had a slight camber even when the tide was out. Each step I took my foot would be moving around alot more than usual even in the frim sand. This made it difficult to run as fast as I had planned but I just went by effort instead. Also I had to take about a week off while Brazil as I tripped over while running really bruising my knee. It was very swollen. I was lucky to find a good physio there who did lymphatic drainage on the area. This worked really well and luckily I did not need to take too much time off.

On our return from Brasil we spent a few weeks in Ottawa before heading to Houston. Those two weeks were pretty tough for the running. There had been a few snow storms which made it impossible to run outside. However I became friends with the treadmill and found I really could push the pace and focus. After the trip to Brazil, having the time off from falling over, and then only being able to run on the treadmill for a few weeks made me very uncertain about what kind of shape I was in. I was worried that I would have lost fitness and with the half marathon in March coming around the corner I hoped this would not be the case. It was great to get to Houston and run outside on normal terrain and conditions and to my surprise my training level was even a little higher than when we left for Brazil.

We have been in Houston for about 3 weeks now and we are enjoying being back. It has been great to carch up with friends and run in familiar areas around Rice University and Memorial Park. I am really enjoying the warm weather and running outside. When we left Ottawa it was minus 25 celsius. In Houston the temperature has been around 20 celsius (no minus sign in front!!!)

All my training since the Toronto marathon is geared towards the world champs in August. I am back running around 160km a week plus 5-6 hours water running in the pool and weights once a week. Training is feeling good. I have a few niggles here and there but overall I am pleased with how the training is going. I am seeing gradual improvements which is encouraging and motivating.

I am racing the rodeo 10km this Saturday in Houston which I am very excited for. I am using this race as a tune up before the New York half on March 17. I will end with a few more photos from our trip to Brazil. I will update my blog every couple of weeks from now on.

Happy running everyone . .

Xmas day at Guaratuba beach

Enjoying the beach and warm weather

Sunrise at Guaratuba beach

New Years Eve

The next great Brazilian football player

Loving the waves :-)

A busy few months ahead . . .

The next few months for our family will be very busy but also lots of fun. Below are our plans:

Fun in the Sun

Tomorrow evening Lucas, Gabe and I are off to Brazil for one month :-) It will be lovely to spend Christmas and New Years with Gabriel's family and to visit Brazil as this will be my first time. We are renting a house on the beach for the holiday period and all of Gabriel's family will come. I am looking forward to the warmer weather and no snow!!! I have been very cautious these past two weeks since the first snowfall in Ottawa and have been mostly training at the Ottawa Athletic Club (OAC). I have never needed to run on the treadmill before so I was not sure how it would go. Although it is boring on the treadmill I have found I can really focus and push the pace. Definitely I would prefer to run outside but would rather be safe and not risk falling or injuring myself.  Also Lucas has been enjoying playing with the other children in the daycare while I am training :-) One concern I had was after the first few days of treadmill running my calves got very tight. I am assuming this is because of the sudden change from land running to treadmill. I have been doing a lot more stretching and rolling and they feel fine now. 

Moving to Houston

Once we return from Brazil on January 10th we have a few weeks here in Ottawa and then we are moving permanently to Houston. Although we love living in Ottawa we hate the cold and for us winters here are too long. Also running here in the winter I find too hard. This may sound silly to all you Canadians but for people who have never lived with snow, ice and numbers that have a minus in front of them it is tough!!! I guess that is why you Canadians are so tough :-) Also Gabriel found a job in Houston. We are all excited about the move and our new life down in Houston. However I will miss Ottawa and the running community in Canada and all of the lovely people I have met here. Ottawa has been a wonderful city to live in and to run. I will definitely miss running along the Rideau canal and the Ottawa river.

Half marathon
My next race will hopefully be the New York City half marathon in March. I am slowly increasing my mileage and intensity each week and it is starting to feel good again. I have be careful though and not push myself too soon as there is a long time until my goal race at worlds in Moscow on August 10th. I am planning on going on training camp during may, june and part of july. Not sure where yet. I will keep you posted.

Altitude Training

My coach and I have been debating whether to go to altitude leading up to the world champs. This discussion lead me to gain more interest in the topic so for the next few blogs I will summarize my research and readings on altitude training. I hope that these summaries will be interesting and something beneficial for all of you. I will start in the next blog.

Happy running to you all. To finish just a few photos of Lucas in the snow. He loves the snow . . Well he is a Canadian :-)

2 weeks later . . .

It has been two weeks since I ran the Toronto marathon and the time has passed so quickly.  I did not think it would take me so long to recover after the marathon. I know that I pushed my body to its limits but I thought after one week I would be feeling back to normal. It has taken me nearly the full two weeks. I have used these two weeks to relax, plan my next phase of training, and spend more time with Gabriel and Lucas. I have really enjoyed the time and it has allowed my body and mind to take a much needed break.

Hiking around Pink Lake in Gatineau Park

My next major race is the world championships marathon in Moscow this August (dependent on me qualifying).  To improve on my 2:28.57 marathon in Toronto Ian and I have decided I will concentrate on the half marathon and then have a 20 week build-up to the marathon. Tomorrow is the start of the buildup to the half marathon (hopefully in New York City if I can get in as an elite athlete). Ian and I have talked about a gradual buildup of mileage and intensity paying close attention to the small details. As Ian likes to say "crossing the t's and dotting the i's". The small details are crucial to running well and getting you to the start line healthy. For me this includes the following:

• A mix of dynamic and static stretching 2-3 times per day
• Rolling on the foam roller 2 times per day 
• Core work
• Water running
• Physical therapy and active release once per week
• Warming up and cooling down properly
• Good nutrition

I am very excited to start the next build-up heading towards the world championships. I am looking forward to focusing on the the half marathon at the beginning of the build-up and to improve my leg speed which I think will really help me in the marathon. Below is my tentative plan of competitions leading up to world championships:

• Sao Slivestere 15km, Sao Paulo, Brazil, December 31, 2012
• New York City half-marathon, USA, March 17, 2013
• Another half-marathon 8 weeks out from world champs (not sure where yet)
•  IAAF world championships marathon, August 10, 2013

·         I have had some tightness in my right hamstring and sacroiliac joint since the marathon. I went to get active release on this with Arthur Cuenco. Both have been feeling much better and my body feels ready to start gradually back training. If you are in the Ottawa area and need physical therapy or active release I would highly recommend Arthur.

I am so thankful for all the support and messages I have received. I really appreciate all of your kind words and encouragement. The support gives me more motivation to get out and train harder this build-up. Below is a few more pictures of Lucas :-)

Lucas dressed up for Halloween :-)

One more of Lucas dressed up for halloween 

Recap of Toronto marathon :-)

Wow . . what a weekend. I am both relieved and excited after the Toronto marathon. Relieved because I had dropped out of my last two marathons and really needed to have a good race and excited because I ended up winning the Toronto marathon and running a personal best of 2:28.57. Based off my training my goal was to run under 2:30 however I never imagined that I would win the race :-)  Below I will give a summary of the race weekend.

On Saturday afternoon we had a technical meeting for all the elite athletes to go over preparations for race day. It was great to meet up with Krista Duchene and Lanni Marchant. Krista has been of great help to me during my marathon training and build-up to this race. As she is a mother of three young children she gave me plenty of very helpful advice regarding running during and after pregnancy and also about running nutrition as she is a dietitian.  Krista and Lanni were going after the Canadian marathon record of 2:28.36. For this they had two pace makers to help. One of the pace makers was Rejean Chiasson a close friend. I was very happy that I could join their group as we all wanted to run around 3.30min/km pace. Running in a group and especially with pace makers is very helpful during a marathon. It allows you to concentrate on running and not so much on hitting pace every kilometer. Also at the meeting it was time to drop off our bottles that were to be put out on the course. In each of my eight bottles I had half a packet of gu energy gel with about one cup of water. I was very confident using gu as I had practiced in my training taking this to make sure it did not give me stomach or digestive problems.

After the meeting it was time for dinner and more carbohydrates. Dinner before the race consisted of pasta with a tomato sauce, chicken and bread rolls. It starts to get hard during carbohydrate loading to keep eating (especially when you are not running much) but it is crucial during the marathon especially after 30 kilometers.

5.30 am on race morning the alarm sounded and it was time for my pre race meal of a bagel with jam and a banana. I had practiced my morning race routine for three Sundays leading up to the race to get my body accustomed to this. I wrote the splits I wanted to run for every kilometre on my hand so that I could check that I was on pace. At 6.30am we met in the lobby where all the elite athletes were escorted by bus to the start. I was very nervous by this point but having Lucas and Gabriel in the bus helped to calm my nerves.  At around 8am Krista, Lanni and I started our short 10min warm-up. It was raining pretty heavily which was a little discouraging but I tried very hard to forget about the weather and just focused on running fast. The elite athletes were escorted to the start line. The canadian anthem was played and I made one last stop to the bathroom before finding Krista, Lanni and Rejean to line up at the start.

8.30 am and the gun sounded. The crowds were screaming and I was very excited to be starting. I got in behind the pace makers to hide from the wind and tried to settle my nerves and get in to a good rhythm. I felt very strong and relaxed and the pace felt comfortable. At the 8 kilometer mark Gabriel and Lucas were waiting to cheer me on which made me very happy and knowing they would be waiting at the half way point gave me extra focus to get there on on pace. We crossed the 10 kilometer mark in 34:42 and I felt great. I had to be patient and stay with the group as in previous races I have always gone out too fast and died in the end. I made sure that I got all my bottles however it was quite hard to see them on the elite tables. A few times I had to completely stop to make sure I got the bottle and one time I dropped it and had to circle back to pick it up. However I managed to get all my water bottles. I carried each bottle with me for about three or four minutes to make sure I consumed all the fluid gradually as I get the stitch if I drink too quickly.

We went through 13 kilometres in 45:15 and 21.1 kilometres 1:13.39. I was feeling very comfortable through the half and decided at 25 kilometres I would gradually increase my pace. As I started to pull away from the group I was a little nervous hoping that I wasn't going too soon but I felt so strong and decided to go.  I could see Radiya Adilo and Eyerusalem Kuma the second and third placed ladies up ahead and I used them as my focus. My goal was to gradually catch them. I caught up with them at around 27 kilometres. I tried to go past them quickly as I could tell they were hurting. Kuma dropped off and Adilo stayed. It felt good to be running with someone again and I focused on keeping relaxed and pushing the pace. We went through 30 kilometres in 1:44.50 and I was still feeling strong and on 3:30min/km pace. I could feel that Adilo was struggling to keep with the pace so I decided to pick it up a little bit. I started to pull away from her just before 35 kilometres and I tried to keep a faster pace. I went through the 35 kilometre mark in 2:02.31 which is still on 3.30min/km pace.

Kilometres 37 to 39 were hardest of the whole race and I really had to concentrate on trying not to feel the pain. Just after 39 kilometres there was an overpass (bridge) which at this point in the race seemed like a huge hill. After I got to the top of hill I could see the first placed lady Agnes Kiprop up ahead which gave me the adrenaline that I desperately needed to keep going. I went as fast as I could down the hill and kept her as my focus. I caught up to Kiprop just over 41 kilometres and went as fast as I could past her. I have definitely never worked that hard in a race before and still had one kilometre to run. I was running on adrenaline by this point.

I went through 40 kilometres in 2:21.12. I lost a lot of time between 37 and 40 kilometres and was now over 3.30min/km pace. I pushed as hard as my body would allow and kept checking over my shoulder to see if Kiprop was close. It was such a relief to see the 400m to go sign and now my focus was the finish line!!! Those last 400 metres were very emotional and it was such an amazing atmosphere. The crowd was cheering so loudly and I could see the finish line tape which I could not believe I was going to be running through. Running through the tape knowing I had won the Toronto marathon and had run nearly a ten minute personal best of 2:28.56 was a very surreal feeling and the best moment in my running career!!

Alan Brookes the race director was waiting to congratulate me and gave me a hug which I really appreciated :-) The media were everywhere I turned and everyone wanted to take photos and get interviews. I was pretty exhausted and just wanted to lie down but the excitement took over. It was so great to see Lucas and Gabriel and to hold Lucas in my arms. Someone in the crowd had a New Zealand flag which I waved proudly. Soon after Krista Duchene crossed the finish line and we celebrated together. Holding our flags up for the media to take photos Krista used the term "mummy power ".

Good friend, amazing athlete Krista Duchene and I celebrating together  - "MUMMY POWER"

I am so happy with my result at the Toronto marathon and I am very excited for the future. I am hoping that my time was good enough to qualify for the IAAF world championships next year in Moscow. I have so many people to thank for their support: My coach Ian Babe, Mizuno and Arnold Tse, physical therapist Arthur Cuenco, Alan Brookes and the Canadian running series crew,  Krista Duchene, Rejean Chiasson, Ken Parker, my Mum and Nan, Gabriel and Lucas. And thanks to everyone else who I have not mentioned. There are too many of you to name here.

My inspiration: Gabriel and Lucas

3 days until Toronto marathon :-)

3 days to go and I am getting more and more nervous and excited at the same time!!  At this stage before the Paris marathon back in April I did not have these same nerves and excitement as I was really just hoping for a miracle that my injured sacroiliac joint would allow me to finish. This time around the build-up has been great. A few niggles here and there and a lot of physical therapy visits to get active release done but overall a solid gradual build-up. Thanks Ian Babe and Arthur Cuenco. My tune up race was the Edmonton half marathon on August. This race went really well and I was very happy to run 1:11.50 - my new pb :-) This race was a good confidence builder. I felt strong during the race and recovered well afterwards.

I have been really enjoying the long runs and tempos and challenging my body to run faster than I have before. It has been good to in this build up to increase my tempos to 70 minutes. I feel I am stronger. During the weekly tempo run I have had great support from Gabriel and Lucas. Gabriel rides along on his bike handing me my water and gu and Lucas is attached in his bicycle trailer :-) I think Lucas finds it very comfortable as he pretty much sleeps for the 70 minutes :-)

It has been great working with my coach Ian Babe. Even though he is New Zealand we keep close contact through Skype and he knows me and how my body works very well. He has a lot of knowledge about running and training and life in general which I have found very helpful.

I have been enjoying the taper and my body has really appreciated the cut back in mileage. In the last few weeks before the taper it seemed as if every day some part of my body was tight or a little sore. Always very worrisome. I am very relieved that I did not get injured in this build up. I started carbo-loading today. I have been doing a lot of research over the last few months about carbo-loading and there is so much information and so many different ideas. As everyone is so different it is hard to write a blue print for the perfect nutrition plan although this would be great if it existed. I have been practicing in training so I believe m y nutrition is sound.I have been using the taper as a time to visualize and focus for the race. 

In the past I have always made the mistake of going out too fast and then not being able to hang with the pace at the end. On Sunday my goal is to run an even race from the start and hit all of my km splits. I will post an update after the race to let you all know how it goes.

Lucas has been great during all of this marathon training. He is growing up way too fast. He is walking everywhere now and even trying to run sometimes. Maybe he can help me with my tempos in the next buildup :-)

To end this post I want to say a huge thank you to Mizuno and Arnold Tse, coach Ian Babe, physical therapist Arthur Cuenco, coach of Ottawa Athletic Racing Team Ken Parker, the Ottawa Athletic Club and of course Gabriel and Lucas. Your support has been wonderful and very much appreciated!!