Over-motivated

This was a motivating week.

 - The Longest Training Run was out of the way, so that was both a relief and a confirmation that I will be running this thing before I know it.

- Wednesday, the Ottawa Team in Training group had a gathering to celebrate the fall team and send us off to either Toronto or San Francisco. What a fantastic group of people. I missed the kick-off event while I was in Costa Rica, and I haven't been training with the team, so I haven't gotten to know everyone quite as well as I'd like. Still, I've been around the group just long enough to be in awe of its members. I may be a first-time marathoner, but I am a long-time runner. Many people on the team are new to this sport. For some, the marathon will be one of their first ever races. That's like choosing War and Peace as the first book you ever read. I can't imagine what an intimidating challenge it must be to go from zero to 42.2. But every one of them is facing this challenge head-on because the cause matters to them. In the words of one: "I hate running, but I hate cancer even more." Everyone on the team has their "Why I'm Running" story: we are all honouring children, parents, partners and friends who have or have had blood cancer. Every team member has had their struggles along the way - injuries, unexpected life hurdles, aversion to 5:30am weekend wakeup calls - and every one of them has pushed through. Team in Training really is a beautiful thing. Yes, it's about raising money, but it's more about celebrating life. I feel lucky to have discovered it: it has made this marathon about so much more than running.

Race singlets acquired! Purple like UWO, yesss.

Kind of looks like I'm singing! But luckily for the crowd, fundraisers are not
meant to be torture sessions. Erin, behind me, is the actual talent.

James in his element

- Thursday was 'Raw Talent at Raw Sugar', a fundraiser that I organized with Natalie Fraser, one of those inspiring Team in Training members who will be joining me in San Francisco for her first marathon. We both have musician boyfriends, so we exploited their talents with a concert at the adorable Raw Sugar Cafe. I had a blast - lots of friends and family showed up, the acoustic sets of Brett, James and Erin were lovely, and we had a very successful silent auction. Natalie is a superstar fundraiser (top in Ottawa!) and working with her made the organization super-smooth. We ended up raising over $1200, which put me well over my $5000 fundraising goal. Very pleased, very grateful, very in love with all the good people in my life.









So, after all that kumbaya-ing, clearly I was feeling pretty pumped up all week. Problem was, my body was not keeping up with my mental state. I kind of knocked myself out again with the 37k run, and my immune system rebelled (again). Feeling run-down and a bit sick, I wasn't able to run much all week. By the weekend, I was itching to move. My brother mentioned that he was planning to run a 5k out at the Rideau Carleton Raceway on Sunday, which reminded me that I had a free entry into their half-marathon (I was sent in the wrong direction during the last race this company organized, so they kindly offered to make up for that!) I figured that, since I had 26k to run Sunday, it would be fun to jump in the half-marathon in order to have people to run with, a new route to enjoy etc. I would just take it easy, I told myself.

It was a lie that I kept up until I got to the start line. My legs wanted to go fast. The gun went off, and I went straight into race mode. Still, I told myself I was just running easy. I figured my GPS watch was just lying when it told me my first km was 3:57: it felt too breezy to be that fast. (Yes, I have been reduced to accusing reliable technology of dishonesty.) Then, by 10k, my legs were tightening up and my breathing was laboured. I tried to tell myself to take it down a notch, but by that point I was winning the race, and I couldn't just let the guy behind me pass ... AND I had to catch  the guy racing a half-marathon in Vans and a wife-beater, simply as a matter of principle. So, I kept up my too-fast pace, and then sped up a bit towards the end. With a sprint to the finish along the racetrack, I clocked in at 1:30 - within a minute of my personal best in the half. Oops.

Hips and calves are a little tender now, but I figure it's not the end of the world. I've got two weeks to recover. And, if nothing else, the race reminded me that I NEED to stick to my race plan ... because going out at an 'easy' 4-minutes-per-km pace is not going to work out well for me. I would no doubt have collapsed at about 30k by applying yesterday's strategy. So, it was a good lesson. All part of the plan... ahem.

Week 15 Recap:

M: off - Hatha yoga class
TU: off 
W: 10k
TH: off
F: 12k fartlek (6k of pickups)
SA: 13k
SU: 26k (1/2 in 1:30:28)

Week total: approx. 61k