RUNTO 10K

D (hubby) and I went back to visit my fair hometown of Toronto to attend the wedding festivities of one of my dear friends, Gordon (I can blog endlessly about what a great friend he is). The festivities were on July 26th, and wouldn't you know it, thanks to an Active.com newsletter I read earlier in the week, I discovered that Nike's 10K RUNTO ("Run To" or "Run Toronto", clever eh?) was going to be held on Centre Island the next day.

A 10K? In Toronto? On Centre Island? And I was going to be there for it?? I had to participate, come hell or high water. It was the perfect opportunity for me to show off this pictoresque park to D.

We each paid CDN$45 in registrations fee for the event, with some of the proceeds going to Toronto Parks and Recreation to provide safe places for kids to play. The entry fee included a race packet, consisting of an (ugly) baby blue Nike dry-fit T-shirt with our bib number, and also a return ferry ticket to Centre Island itself. We had to pick up these packets in person at the Nike store in downtown Toronto and the last day for pickup was the day we were arriving in Toronto. So as soon as we got off the plane at Lester Pearson airport, we headed straight to the Niketown (I'm not sure if it's even called that in Toronto), luggage and all. Of course, being the marketing geniuses they are at Nike, the pick up location was buried in the middle of the store, so you couldn't help but look at all the pretty merchandise and be tempted to buy the latest Nike Air Shox or whatever the latest fad is these days. Fortunately, D was starving and needed to eat something right away so we hustled out of the store ASAP.

On Sunday morning, 7/27/03, we donned our (ugly) race shirts, and drove down to Harbourfront (I miss spelling things with an extra "u"!) As we waited to take the ferry across, we kept glancing anxiously at the dark skies overhead because rain was predicted by the weather people. You guessed it, it rained. Fortunately, it was only a brief shower, and it went away as quickly as it came. However, the gray clouds looked ominous and we crossed our fingers in the hopes that there would be no more that day.

Upon arrival at the island, the first thing we did was go to the bathroom. [Racing Tip #6: run with an empty bladder]. We then went to get our timing chips. I love timing chips. I think they should be provided for all races. It was especially important for this one, because over 7,500 people signed up for the event, and to ensure an orderly start, we were placed into groups and started in "waves".

We had an hour before gun time and wandered around a bit looking for free food (bagels & coffee!). Around 9:15AM, "Running Guy" (the pudgy fellow in the RUNTO ads) welcomed us all to the event, telling us that this was the largest footrace in Toronto (and I was there! Woo hoo!) Running Guy joked that he was grateful to Nike for hiring him as their fattest employee. He only spoke briefly because he had to dash off to an interview. Just before that though, he introduced us to a lady to lead us in a warm up.

As a group ex instructor, I know a thing or two about warmups, and hers was terrible. We warmed up with jumping jacks (yikes) and her stretches were pretty useless for running. After a while, I gave up and did what D was doing - he is impressively well-versed in the Art of Warmup and Stretching for Runners.

At around 9:45AM, we decided that we needed another health break so we scoured the grounds looking for bathrooms. There were porto-potties scattered around, but there were at least 20 people waiting in line behind each. Shame on Nike. They must have organized races before and should have known to provide dozens of these things. Fortunately, the race start was delayed until 10:15AM, but we were cutting it very close. At around 10:05AM, I was seriously wishing I had male plumbing, as D scampered off to duck behind some bushes before heading to the starting line. Some ladies in the porto-potty line in front of me made a last-minute decision to relieve themselves al fresco (despite inadequate bush coverage) but I prevailed. Finally, at 10:15AM, after a lightening fast porto-potty encounter, I booked over to the starting area.

There were 5 "waves" or starting groups, in which people were placed themselves through self-seeding at registration. D, aka Speedy Gonzales, was in Wave 1. I joined the other midpackers in Wave 3. Even though a 10:15AM start time was announced, the gun went off at 10:25AM which is when Wave 1 folks started.

Once again, I forced myself to start slowly, and ran at a steady rhythmic pace. There were so many people in my wave, that I had no choice but to do that without expending a lot of energy weaving in and out of the crowds.

The course itself was beautiful. Centre Island is a big park floating in a lake, and is filled with luscious grass and tall trees. The first part of the race was on a paved footpath, but very soon, we started running on all sorts of terrain. It had the best features of both a road race and a trail run: it had the speed of a road race (flat!) but the gorgeous scenery and path conditions of a trail run.

I steadily passed people throughout the race, and was in turn passed by others. Since Canada is metric (like all civilized country should be!), there were kilometer (km) markers along the route, instead of mile (mi) markers. They weren't in obvious locations, and I made no effort to time myself. And even if I did, I didn't know how a km pace would translate into mi.

There were three water stations along the way, and I'm proud to say that I'm much better at grabbing cups and drinking the contents without choking or spilling it all over myself. I used the stations to roughly determined how far I was into the race. Based on the course map I had viewed earlier, it looked like they were spaced at 3 km intervals.

I paced myself by trying to keep up/pass others, and listening to my body. Unfortunately, my body is darn lazy, so I ran slower than I should have. I was aiming for a "tempo" pace, let's say 75-80% maximum heart rate, but was more like the 65-70%. Upon reflection, I was a little too comfortable throughout the race. Maybe I should purchase a heart rate monitor...?

As I ran, I marveled at the number of participants at the event. There were runners, joggers and walkers everywhere. There were even spectators at various points on the side of the path waiting for their loved ones to come by as they took photographs and filmed videos. That's when it struck me that this event was a BIG DEAL. It was encouraging to see that so many people were interested in improving their health and were celebrating movement, activity and life with thousands of other friendly folk. I was overwhelmed by the sense of community and spirit that each and every person exuded.

Towards the end of the race, we turned a sharp corner, where there was a race volunteer waving us through exclaiming "1.9 km to go!" I tried to speed up and hustle along the wooden boardwalk. I had an unobstructed view of the water and was thankful for the cool breeze. I couldn't quite see the sun in the sky, but was grateful that there was no rain in sight.

With 200m to go, I saw D on the sidelines cheering me on and he dashed onto the path to run with me for the last part. That's when I sprinted and flew past a bunch of people for a strong finish. There was a bit of a bottleneck as runners stopped to have their timing chips removed by volunteers, and we all grabbed a medal on our way out. It's a nice medal too, attached to some dark blue ribbon (not baby blue, thank goodness).

We had to hurry home to shower, change and CATCH OUR FLIGHT, so we didn't spend much time investigating the post-race activities. Out of the corner of my eye, however, I saw volunteers hand out KRISPY KREME DONUTS! Oh yeah, baby! After hearing D gloat about all the races he's done where participants chow down on free Krispy Kremes, I finally had the opportunity to do the same. [Health warning: Krispy Kreme is cooked in 100% vegetable shortening and contains artery-clogging trans fat.]

The results are in (they were posted the next day - gotta love those timing chips): I came in 3204 out of 6613 overall, and 232 out of 694 in my division, for a gun time of 1:03:49, which translates into an "actual" time of 57:02 minutes. D came in 380 out of 6613 overall and 69 out of 697 (wow!) in his age group for a gun time of 44:06, and an amazing chip time of 43:33 minutes!!

This was a personal best for D, and he was beaming with pride at having run so fast. That translates into a 6.9-minute mile. Fantastic. He usually runs anywhere from 7.30-8.00 minute/mile, so this was a huge breakthrough. I think all his marathon training has really paid off. He told me that when he heard the race volunteer scream, "1.9 km to go!" he sprinted the rest of the way to the finish line. D is a big believer in reverse splits (running the second half the race faster than the first half).

I, on the other hand, was crushed at my slow time. It's my personal worst! But D was very encouraging, and reminded me that I had started running only recently and to be patient. I definitely need to train more effectively. I remember when D first started running, each time he trained, he would set a goal for himself, e.g., "I'm going to reduce my finish time by 12 minutes". I, on the other hand, just go out and run. It's time to take a page from the Dave Liu book of discipline and motivation!

Peninsula YMCA Indoor Group Cycling

I tried the 8PM Indoor Group Cycle class tonight at the Peninsula YMCA in San Mateo. The class was led by Eleanor, a sturdy, no-nonsense Swedish lady who kicked my butt. Her class was excruciatingly hard, but I loved every minute of it. Eleanor wasn't particularly effusive or hyper, but she was hard core and surprisingly motivating nonetheless, referring to us as "team", and providing fantastic imagery to help us visualize the course and what we should be feeling. She also made references to the participants in the Tour de France which was a nice touch.

I'll make a point to be a regular, but wouldn't you know, just as I find a class I love, I discover that the instructor won't be teaching this class between mid-August to Christmas; during that time, Eleanor has EMT training on Tuesday nights. Fortunately, she's working with the group ex director to find a sub who is equally challenging and effective. They recognize that her participants demand tough workouts and require more than just a "basic instructor".

Point Reyes Trail Half Marathon & 10K

On Saturday, 7/19/03, I left the house at 6:45AM to head over to Olema, CA to participate in the Point Reyes Half Marathon & 10K. The event was hosted by Envirosports, one of the renowned outdoor activity organizers in the Bay Area. Since I've been running 10K road races, I thought the 10K trail run would be an appropriate way to start my trail running career!

Hubby had gone to Point Reyes a couple of weeks earlier, and he warned me that it was far, far, away from where we lived. My race started at the Five Brooks Trailhead, three miles south of Olema.

Even though I was prepared for the travel time required to get there, I had forgotten that past the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway 1 bobs and weaves through the mountains en route to Stinson Beach and beyond. I was bordering on motion sickness as my little Beetle zig zagged all over the place. I didn't want to drive very fast, so I pulled over in a turnout whenever there were cars behind me.

I arrived bright and early at 8AM. Hubby had advised me to warm up and stretch beforehand, so that's what I did while waiting for the 9AM kickoff. I'm in the process of learning Turbo Kick Round 15, so I practised some of the combos as part of my warm up. It's not everyday that you see a runner kicking and punching all over the place, so I received some quizzical looks from the other participants.

Dave Horning, one of the organizers (who is also responsible for making banana bread for post-race munchies), was there to give us a little intro about the surrounding area. As you may have guessed, the Five Brook Trailhead is so named because it is the intersection of five brooks! I think he said there used to be a papermill where the trail started, which is why the area is cleared and relatively flat. As responsible citizens visiting a national park, we were reminded not to leave anything behind during our run - including drinking cups and gu wrappers.

The half marathoners started first, and were given a 10 minute headstart before the 10K runners were let loose. I started out at a nice, slow pace. As the crowd pounded away at the trail, I found myself eating dirt. Literally. People were kicking up the soil and I was breathing in clouds of dust, parts of which consisted of desiccated horse dung (the trail is also used for horseback riding). So not only was I eating dirt, I was eating sh*t as well. Great.

After dodging several mounds of horse manure, I picked up the pace slightly to pass a few people. At one point, I was stuck immediately behind a group of three girls who would not stop talking. Their inane chatter was driving me nuts, but it gave me the incentive I needed to push ahead of them.

Very soon, the trail narrowed so that it was only wide enough for one person. We ran under a leafy wooded area that was shaded and cool. Things were hunky dory until I encountered The Hill.

Now the Envirosports website said that there would be 700ft of elevation in the course. That's all fine and dandy, but it would have helped a lot more if they mentioned that 90% of the elevation all came in the first half mile! That hill was crazy steep. I tried all the tricks in the book to get my butt up there: pump my arms, use smaller steps... you name it, I tried it. Had I been able to see the top of the hill, I may have tried to actually run all the way to the top, but it was like navigating a wait queue at Disneyland: just as you turn the corner and think that you're at the end, you see a longer line ahead. It didn't help that I saw everybody ahead of me walking up the hill. "There's no shame in walking," advised Hubby before I left that morning, so walk I did. Actually, it was more like trudging, as I silently cursed the trail under my breath.

The hill trail looked very strange. It was raised on either side, with a ditch in the middle. Hubby later told me that the ditch is where water runs through when it rains. When I complained about how difficult it was to navigate the path, he gently reminded me that I was only a guest in God's garden, so stop complaining. Good point.

After reaching the top of the hill (yay!), I sailed through a bunch of rolling hills. They were awesome. I flew down the downhill parts, and steadily chipped away on the uphill parts. I bounded through open fields and even encountered a sandy path at point. Dave Horning had explained that the sand was created as a result of tectonic plate movement - we were right on top of the San Andreas fault.

I like rolling hills. On the other hand, steep hills suck. Actually, I suck. Specifically, I suck wind (gotta work on that). After a few miles of breezing through the path, I was thrilled to see some 10K runners heading back in the opposite direction. That meant the turnaround point was just ahead. Hooray!

The halfway point for the 10K was where the Olema Valley Trail intersects Highway 1. Half Marathoners continued across the highway and into the Golden Gate National Recreation area to climb the Randall Trail and then along the Bolinas Ridge Trail where "towering redwoods and Douglas firs lining your path will make you believe you've entered the forest primeval". Then they would descend McCurdy Trail and back across Highway 1 to rejoin the Olema Valley Trail. Best of luck to them! As a mere 10K runner, I stopped to lodge myself in front of the water table and gulped down a cup of water before turning around and head back to Five Brooks.

The return journey seemed faster, even though I had to walk up parts of two of the hills (curses). The really tough part, however, was getting down that first steep hill I encountered at the beginning of the race.

You'd think that downhill is easier than uphill, which is true except (1) it's harder on the knees and (2) I am deathly afraid of going downhill - on foot or otherwise. As you can imagine, that has precluded me from sports such as downhill skiing. It's also the primary reason why I'm training for a road triathlon, rather than an adventure race, because I would not be able to handle downhill mountain biking. So there I was, bumbling down this hill, momentarily losing my balance a few times, praying that I would not fall flat on my face. Hubby's trick for zooming down hills is to extend his arms for balance. I tried doing that, but ended up flapping my arms and looking like a crazed chicken.

Very soon, I was once again on the flat part of the trail and zoomed towards the finish line. There was a Brightroom photographer there, and I've bought one of the photos they took (see above), even though hubby said that in the picture, "Your shorts look like they're wedged up your butt". Since I had hideous tan lines from wearing biker shorts, I thought my unitard (donated to me from my sister) would be perfect for exposing more of my pale thighs. I guess not.

The official results are in and I finished the course in 1:10:55, placing 50 out of 90 runners overall, and 18 out of 29 in my age group. It's not a great time, but the important things are (1) I finished and (2) I had tons of fun. I've caught the bug for trail running and I'm already looking forward to the Angel Island 12K on 8/23/03. Look out for the slow chick with the bandana and shades!

Tri Club Track Session

Last night, I went to my first track session with the tri club at Kezar Stadium. Training was led by Shannon and there were approximately seven participants.

It was freezing at Golden Gate Park! It was misty/foggy, and gale force winds ripped through the stadium. I stupidly wore stretchy aerobic shorts (look like biking shorts without the padding) that I haven't tried on for at least five years. The good news is, they fit. The bad news is, I had forgotten that they were torn so I had these holes in the side where there's a strip of lace. I knew I should have worn my long yoga pants instead...

We started off with some drills:

• High knees (improve vertical)
• "Butt kicks"
• Quick knees (works on the spring in your stride)
• Heel to toe (calf exercise)
• "Picking up garbage" (run & lunge)
• "Lord of the Dance"
• Leg swings

Afterwards, we alternated running around the track at tempo (85% exertion: a pace you would be able to sustain for a few miles; you can talk, but you wouldn't want to) and various exercises including ab work, jump squats, donkey kicks, push ups, one leg squats.

I was embarrassed to be the slowest person there, but that's why I attended - to increase my speed! It was a challenging workout, but a lot of fun, especially since I met some other tri club members.

San Francisco FrontRunners' Pride Run

I participated in the San Francisco FrontRunners' 24th annual Pride Run on Saturday, June 28, 2003 and the 10K results are finally in! I came in 164 out of 221 runners at a time of 56:11 minutes to place 18 out of 33 in my division.

At the beginning of the race, I made the mistake of trying to keep up with a lady I met there called Jean who said she runs 8:30-9:00/m. That lasted all of 10 seconds as I saw her speeding way from me. I also got caught up in the stampede of runners and tried to hold a pace that was too fast. It took me a mile or so before I was able to settle down into a more comfortable pace.

In the last mile, I started slowing down because I ran out of gas. To prevent this, I'm going to run longer distances during training and also carry water with me.

Spinning with Dino

At Laura's suggestion, I went to the El Camino YMCA (Mountain View, CA) to try out Dino's Wednesday 7:15PM spinning class. They have Star Trac bikes which are great for short people like me. Laura mentioned something about the class being 1.5 hours long, but I thought that she was joking. She wasn't.

I was drenched with sweat after 60 minutes, but Dino showed absolutely no signs of stopping. That's when I realized that I had another 30 minutes of cruel and unusual punishment headed my way! Joking aside, it was a superb workout. Dino's a great instructor and provided fantastic safety cues and motivation throughout. I'm glad to see that he occasionally got off his bike to check on everybody which I thought was responsible. Unfortunately, the class conflicts with Wed PM track training at Kezar so I'll have to figure something out.

Stretching and Injury Prevention

I was all set to go spinning last night, but made a last minute decision to attend a stretching and injury prevention clinic hosted by Red Hawk Physical Therapy. While I feel incredibly guilty about not working out yesterday, I thought the session was tremendously helpful. I'm definitely going to use a lot more thought into stretching as opposed to just going through the motions. I'm determined to increase my flexibility (muscle) and mobility (joint) to become a better athlete (helps with kickboxing too!)

Training Log

Inspired by hubby's adventure racing training log, I decided to start my own triathlon training log. It's based on the ones used by the El Camino YMCA Women's Triathlon Club.