Montreal Marathon

The Montreal Marathon on Sept 5 was a well done event. Jim Tuttle had decided he was going to run it a couple of weeks ago and the next thing you know Tracy and I come up with a plan to go to. My sister lives in Kanata, which is about 2 hours from Montreal, so it was nice to go for a visit and then head to Montreal to run the Marathon, after all, it was a long weekend.We all stayed at the Delta Centre Ville which had some mixed reviews, but was good for us, you cant knock a 6pm late checkout.The expo was quite small but lots of friendly folks to help you get your nice tech shirt and basic goody bag. Race day was cool, cloudy, and windy,minus the wind would have been nice. The route was great and scenic with a couple of hills and inclines, the hardest was at 37k as you came to Olympic Stadium and had to run up a 1.5k long hill and go around it before entering and finishing the last 200m inside the stadium.It was kind of funny to hear all the supporters cheering saying "Bravo", but reminded you were in Quebec.One cool area we ran was on the Jacques Villeneuve F1race track for about 5k.We all posted good times and Jim's 3:38 PB was well earned.
So, Jim, Tracy, myself and a few other Road Runners are off to Rochester NY this weekend for another Marathon.
Stay tuned,Tracy and I are now into our 5 Marathons in 5 weeks streak.

Terry Fox Run

The 30th running of the Terry Fox Run will take place along Barrie's waterfront on Sunday, September 19th. This event, held in communities across Canada, has generated awareness and funding for cancer research. Join us at Centennial Beach to run, jog, walk, or wheel from 8am - 1pm. The official start is at 9am, but the event is otherwise a drop-in format. The route is marked for 5km, and the untimed event is great for families who can do any combination of that distance. If you would like to dedicate your regular Sunday run to the cause, please drop by the registration table any time that morning to make a donation and have yourself counted as part of the Marathon of Hope.

Midsummer Night's Run Aug 21 2010

Oh I know ... late again, but I didn't want to steal the thunder of the SS240 write ups. That was some amazing running there wasn't it? Holy Hannah! Well done to all the Barrie teams that signed up! And a hearty congratulations to all the Barrie teams that placed in the top three of their divisions. WOOT WOOT!!!

On the same day the Simcoe Shores relay race was held another race was being run that evening, A Midsummer Night's Run in support of the Dept of Rheumatology at Sick Kids Hospital. I had a heavy decision to make regarding the relay vs. MNR and after weighing all the pros and cons up - I chose to run the MNR. I had a lot of fun running it last year with my fairy wings and tutu, this year had no reason not to be the same.

After some discussion in the back of the Running Room with fellow runner Jen Remazki & Cindy Marcelli I decided to join Team Abby, named after Jen's 7 year old neice Abby who has been suffering from Juvenile Arthritis since she was 2. We put out the call to our running friends for donations and once again the runners in Barrie answered the call. Donations started coming in. Jen was incredible with her fundraising abilities.
Then one night on the way home it hit me like a solid gold brick. RAFFLES ... the idea was to put together two baskets of donated items to raffle off: a runners basket & a pamper yourself basket. So again I threw my net out and once again the response was tremendous, donations were happily given by one and all. Tickets were FLYING out the door & by the time race day dawned we had raised $2500 for Sick Kids! WE WERE THE # 1 FUND RAISING TEAM!!!

Then off to the race we went - with, what we thought, was plenty of time. Yeah .. erhm... not so much. Traffic was manical on the 400 getting to the 401 East - So I said to Cindy well it shouldn't take that long to get the the 404 DVP .
Oh, said Cindy, we're taking Dufferin.
Are you sure? I think the DVP would be quicker.
Nope the Garmin says we are 9 minutes away. It'll take longer to get on the DVP.
Are you sure?

So for an hour the Garmin told us we were 9 minutes away. Stupid Garmin. So we sent a calm call to Alan Hewson to see if he could grab out race kits as we were ever so delayed. What a hero!!!
Along the 401 we got separated from Jen & her Mum so we agreed to meet up at the race. They took the low road & we took the slow road. *groans* Ackkk. Oh well.

*sighs*

We got there with time to spare. Found Alan, the portopotties & a wonderful tech hoodie rather than long sleeve Tech shirt in our race kits. I had my 60K button as well... life was good. Now back to the race-mobile and get kitted out for the race. We donned on our blue boas, sparkly blue bear metallic gift wrap decorations, our blue & green ribbons for our hair & we were ready for the next 3 + hours.
Abby & her older sister Marly were there to help us get ready & cheer us on. We'd meet them at the last 200 metres and they would run in with us. Mark Trenton the race director even agreed to allowing them to recieve a medal. What a guy! They even provided us with a free entry into the 2011 MNR for our raffle basket. Amazing support from the race directors office!! A big shout out to them.

I had little idea what or how I would be able to run seeing as the longest I managed to run was 14 k the Sunday before. This was going to be interesting. Very interesting indeed. My foot no longer bothered me & my calf musle was behaving as well. Fingers crossed.
After some discussion along the way we agreed upon running 15 & 2's. As Jen's mantra was "15 & 2's will see you thru! "
And it really did.

They changed the beginning of the run - Runners went south on Cherry St - to Cherry Beach and then along the Martin Goodman Trail, turn around at Urwin Bridge back out to Cherry St N and along Commissioners Drive. Then out to Tommy Thompson Park - around the light house and then through Ashbridge Bay Park then back on Commissioners to Bouchette where the finish (and start) is located.

I didn't have my Garmin with me & Cindy's wasn't functioning it was up to Jen to be the time keeper & pacer for that matter. Though I would make comments about how fast we were going & where did they think the race was?
As we headed towards Tommy Thompson Park we were over taken by herds of 15K runners and amongst them was the Rock Star himself Rick Ball! We must have sounded like crazy folks screaming out his name & cheering him on. Then on the way back more Rick. I did challenge him to a race earlier that week on Facebook, but well, I didn't want to embarass him in front of all his really incredibly fast running buddies. It just wasn't the right time. There will be other races. *ahahah*

Man those 15 & 2's were wonderful. I was puffing abit by the 13 minute mark and couldn't wait for the last 120 seconds to pass, but I wasn't about to fall over from exhaustion. This was the way to go!
Cindy was having difficulty with her hip and would need to ease the pain out now and again. Jen was just a task master which was amazing!!! Otherwise I'd have shaved off a few extra seconds here and there on our runs.

And as we came out of Tommy Thompson Park and headed towards Ashbridge Bay Park the rain was seriously coming down, it has been spitting earlier but now finally made the decision to release constant drops of warm water on our heads. Our boa's would be ruined.. oh well. Many a compliments we wee receiving on our "costumes" . We had dressed in the same blue shirts, black compression tights & boa's. We had it going ON!

As we were turning into the Park Cindy's spirits were seriously lagging. Funny as it was to listen to, I felt for her. It had been a long 22k to that point & it was getting darker and darker with no water stations and not that many more lights on the course. Having watched one too many episodes of Criminal Minds - every corner had a potential Reaper behind it. Every noise from the woods was a cry for help. I couldn't get out of there fast enough. Were those 15 & 2's getting longer? What the heck? You want us to go around where? How much further? WHAT? ack. Poor Cindy. She wasn't loving the Park. I was happy when we were heading towards the exit, or is that the entrance? hmm.

We hit the 27K mark and I seriously needed a walk & a walk I was granted. I think all of us needed that break, we walked almost to the 28K marker. The rain was very steady by this point but it was a relief from the heat.
We hit the 29 K mark and were still running well. Granted we weren't the fastest things on two legs, but it was all about finishing - I wasn't about posting a PB. I hadn't run any long distances since March really. I was pretty darn proud of myself.
We could hear the crowds & music of the finish line and knew it was only a matter of moments before we'd meet up with Abby & Marly and sure enough 200 metres before the finish there were the girls cheering for us. We all grabbed hands and headed towards the finish line arms in the air!! Alan came and joined us for the last km or so, which was fantastic - it perked us up as well.
Jen, Cindy & I crossed the finish line in 3:45 - I had given myself a finish time of 4 hrs so I was more than pleased with my time. In fact I was over the moon!

Abby & Marly got there medals, Sick Kids got our donation of $2500, we got the priviledge of running for a cause! It was a stellar run!

Thanks to everyone who helped us become the top fund raising team!
Alan, Jayme, Stephen, 5 Peaks, Chatherine, MNR, the Barrie Running Room, Sandra, Trish, Samantha, Jen, James.
Thanks EVERYONE that supported us by donations & raffle tickets!

And the best part of it all, little Abby thought everyone doing the Midsummer Night's Run was running for her on Team Abby! And in a way they all were!
Thanks Mark & team for putting such a great run together for such a worthy cause.

After we headed back to the race-mobile changed out of our wet running gear, threw on some dry clothes and our nifty new black hoodie from the run and headed over to the SS240 relay race to start our shift as race crew for the Barrie Backpackers! Now that's a story for another day.

Until til the next race, which is Steamtown, take care of yourselves.
See you around.

Montreal Marathon

A couple of RoadRunners took off to Montreal to run the Marathon there this weekend. The Macleaniacs (Rick & Tracy) and Jim Tuttle had a good day with Jim's time of 3:38 I believe is a PB, by at least 10 minutes (??). While Rick finished in 3:58 and Tracy 5:17. Great job guys!!

RoadRunners SS240k Relay Team Pictures

5 Peaks Trail Running Series - Terra Cotta

Okay so August 7th was another exciting installment of the 5 Peaks Trail Running Series & I was going to be Cindy Marcelli for the run! I was some excited! It was a 12.4 k trail race & the most I had done was the 10k at Muskoka rocks the Sunday before.

I had my daughter Chelsea volunteer at the race as well so we could go together and share the day. It was slightly over cast - but it was going to be a brilliant day. As I followed Terry from Barrie down the highway then over hill and dale, through a wrong turn we finally ended up at the race 10 minutes before it was due to start. We got our bibs & chips with 6 minutes to spare. ACK! Under pressure.
Again Barrie was representing! I can't get over the amount of Barrie runners that seem to go to every race in the area & then further a field as well.
Rickymac, Trixiemac, Cynthia Osbourne, Chris Batagglia, Terry from Barrie, Sandra, Kelly H, Greg, Stephen, Kellie M & myself. Plus a few familiar faces from races gone by.

The race goes off in waves. I let the first wave go, then the second wave and I decided to go on the 3rd wave - just cuz. And off I went. Around the field, through the stone path and down towards the wooded trails. Man they weren't kidding when they said it was tough. There were more exposed roots then on a bleached blonde! Rocks, roots, rough patches ... it was abound with challenges. I kept telling myself it wasn't a race, it was a run. Just a Saturday morning trail run for fun, no need to get my knickers in a knot about "finishing" in a certain spot, finishing was enough. Though I would feel horrible if I made Cindy come in last or worse yet not at all. I so didn't want to DNF.

So I over took gingerly, shouted out " on your left " and moved by several runners, down a nice hill, across a gravel path & then heading towards the pavillion where you turn back on yourself for about 200 metres and then into the woods again. I had spied Tracy and hoped I could catch up to her. I did around the 4 k mark. She was right in front of me about 50 metres so I passed a few more folks to siddle up right behind her, we chatted for a while, but Tracy was suffering from her boat race nights. So I toddled on ahead & up up up the big hill, popped out of the woods around to field and over to the start / finish line to the left of the inflatable and on to the next loop. I grabbed a cup of water from my daughter that was manning the water station, her cheering me on was awesome! I really needed that. Off again toward the woods & to finish the race, I mean technically I was over half way by that point.
I was still feeling okay. I was pushing it slightly when I could. I was following a couple of runners but as hard as I tried to catch up to them, I just didn't have the legs for it. I rounded the 8 k mark and felt a bit of fatigue starting to settle on me. So I slowed my pace down - there was no need to get tired on a trail run and then fall over, down or on something. I am at best, an accident waiting to happen, so I took extreme caution here.
By the 10 k mark I was talking myself into a good finish, there was the big uphill, I could do that. But instead of walking it like I should have done, I ran it. I believe that's were I tore my calf muscle slightly again. *sighs*
I couldn't believe how silly I was! It's not a bad one, but I can feel it now just the same. As the last kilometre was looming ahead I kept telling myself that I didn't want fall over the finish line. So I'd better smarten up and get my poop on a scoop! I crossed with a time of 1:34. All things considering, not too bad. I didn't let Cindy down & she wasn't the last one across the finish line.
Woohoo!

One of our runners Greg McKinnon got a podium place in the sport race - 6K. Well done Greg! Congrats on the excellent showing!

Then TfB, Sandra, Kelly H, Chelsea & I headed out of town after the awards and door prizes for a nibble to eat. We ended up at a lovely little eating establishment called Cheeks in Bolton. That was a tastey treat! Especially when my daughter bought it for me. WOOHOO!!

Then some how I managed to miss the turning towards King City and ended having to get on the 400 from Finch Ave. Don't ask. I have NO idea.

And lastly just a shout out to 5 Peaks for their contribution towards the Runners Gift Basket we sold raffle tickets for. They provided us with a 5 peaks running series hat & steel water bottle as well as a Powerade reuseable bag. Thanks!!! We really appreciate it.

Muskoka Rocks 10 K

Well fellow runners, I'm a tad bit behind in my blogging! I know ! I know! Who knew there were OTHER things in my life to take up my blogging time!

As you know, when we last left our heroine she was suffering from tendonitis which, according to all reports, would leave her sidelined for 6 weeks. No running for her! None. Zero, zip, zilch, nada, buttkiss! It was a dark time for our heroine: a dark time indeed, filled with doubt, pain, depression & anxiety. However salvation came in the form of her bicycle. And so our story begins again...

Having promised Tracymac that I would be a group leader for her 10k clinic it was a bit of a bummer to be side lined with this friggin tendonitis. ( I say that with all the respect in the world cuz it really HURT !!) Being very staunch about my commitments, I had to figure out a way to keep on helping. Then it dawned on me: I have a bicycle, I can ride my bike with my runners and work with them that way! WOW~~~ I loved that idea. Until the first night of hill training. I was determined not to ride in granny gear for the Wednesday night hill training & what a work out! And my bike is a mountain bike - about 27 pounds - huge tires. *sighs* so it was great for the quads & glutes. Yikes!

So my RMT said no running until August & I had agreed to that & I meant it. Muskoka Rocks which was out goal race was August 1st. That's August to me. Right? So I kept up my long bike rides & hill training and tempo rides with the group & all the while said a little uhmna to the universe to help me be ready.
I tried a small run the week before and got 560 meters under my belt. I had to turn around less than 300 meters into the run, I could feel my foot flaring up. This did not bode well for August 1st & Muskoka Rocks. But I kept a positive attitude as best as I could and kept saying my little uhmna.

So the morning of arrived & off I went with my partner in many crimes of late, Cindy Marcelli. We packed in our racing bags & our golf bags, I mean if the weather's good why not get 9 in? Right?! So off we headed for Minett, Ontario, punched in the rough address to my Magellan & headed off in a northerly direction. With a little bit of difficulty I located the Peninsula Rec Centr, the start/finish line , then found parking and found Rickiemac & our race kits. Our tech shirts were marvellous - the back of it had written on it THE HARDEST 10K in CANADA - (or something like that... ) I just about fainted. Awesome!! Can't wait!

Found the rest of the 10K clinic folks & got some pre race pictures & got ready for the start. Found one Mr Jim Tuttle wandering about the grounds & beckoned him over. The facility we were at didn't allow the runners to use any of the amenities so off to the portopotties we went. I think there were 6 of them, so by the time everyone had arrived the line up was stretched down the road. Race Directors: how about a few extra next year?

So the race plan was to stick with Cindy who was coaching first timer Britney through the race. Nice and slow. No heroics! No running hell bent for leather. Just a slow and steady plod after all it was going to be hilly. So I was going to walk what hills I had to as to not aggravate my calf issue either. It was going to be a SMART run.

After some shuffling of the runners we were all ready to begin the race - PART WAY UP A FRIGGING HILL!! Really? Seriously? Fine, fine, fine. It can't get much worse that that. Can it. Well they were right, it was a hilly run. I started the race with Cindy & Britney - we were at a very comfy 7:22 pace. I was confident in the fact I would manage just jimdandy with that pace. As we headed for the first water station, which was advertised to be at the 2k mark, but really closer to 2.75 k (but who's taking note of things such as that) I felt a bit of a hop to my step & headed off to test my "wings" so to speak. There were some incredibly large hills. The one at 3k that was going down was nice, but the fact you know you are running up it at the 6k mark made it a bit daunting.
The rest were rolling hills and I could talk my way through them. I walked when I felt I had to. I kept to my 10 & 1's. Steady. Steady. Steady. I got to the BIG HILL and although I had passed one runner only, I had another one in my sights. He wasn't that far ahead of me & I dislike him with all my might, but the hill was bigger. I had to walk it, there was no way I was willing to throw 6 weeks of recovery down the drain for 300 meters. I would gain on him then he'd take off running. Ohhh... that was soooooooo annoying! ACK!! Then I passed another runner who was struggling as well, but it wasn't THE fellow. It wasn't the same feeling. By this point I was running 300 meters and walking about 100 meters. I was TOAST! So much for the cardio fitness on the bike rides. BLECH.
I came up the final hill and started passing the 5k walkers that were still out on the course. By now all of the other 10 k clinic members had finished. I passed them on the way to the turn around. Heckled Aiden McGee as he came speeding by me on his return leg and by the way he came in 1st in his age group. I like to think my positive remarks to him helped spur him on to his amazing finish. AHAH.

I tried to finish strong. I still have Kevin O's voice in my head from time to time. " finish strong" aackk.. ALRIGHT!! ALRIGHT!!. And I picked it up. I was looking at the finishing time and saw 59:xx on the digital timer & I went faster & faster. I couldn't believe the time! Could it be true? could I be under one hour for a 10k? Yeah, not so much! I was looking at the 5k clock. My time was 1:10. Not bad for a first run back on the most difficult course in Canada!
I'd take that for sure.

Afterwards we stayed to watch Aiden be presented with his award, he's a terrific runner for all of his 14 years. Darren Collins was there as well & placed 6th over all and 2nd in his age group. Well done gentlemen! Well done.

I would definitely go back again! It's a great course, definitely tough, but definitely worth the drive to Minett.