The Road Back: January 2018 & Robbie Burns

My last double digit run was on November 4th. I ran from my home to meet some friends at an Escape Room. By the time I arrived, I knew something wasn't right and I needed to stop. I longed for all those years in my 20s I had taken for granted running injury and pain-free.

A few days later I sat in a coffee shop with Michelle. I was sick and tired of my own excuses. One of my goals in 2017 had been to stay “Get Strong and Cross Train”. I had not really committed to either of these things, and that was probably why I was sitting there injured once again. I went to Michelle’s Strengthening for Runners class on Monday’s (and always had the intention of doing more exercises during the week), I did the odd spin class ... but I did nothing with routine or any real intention. As I sat in the coffee shop with Michelle discussing the way forward she said, “You’re really good at stopping running when something hurts. And that’s great because a lot of people don't. But, then you do nothing for a few weeks and expect to be able to jump right back in.” It was true. I had become an excellent “rester”. With that dose of reality, I realized I had a decision to make. What do I want? And how hard am I willing to work to get it?

What I want is to continue to run marathons. What I want is to run another trail ultra. What I really want is to be able to keep running for a lot of years to come.

So, I had to make a commitment. There would be no more messing around. No more excuses. Michelle and I went to the gym and hatched a solid strength training and cross-training plan to get me through my time off running. I started getting up at 5AM everyday and hitting the gym by 5:30AM. Getting it done first thing in the morning eliminated my excuses and my chance of failure. I'm proud to say, I've been pretty darn consistent. On December 13th - after six weeks of strictly cross training, I ran my first 2KM. It’s now February 1st and this weekend I will run my first double digit run in 3 months. 3 MONTHS. That’s 3 months of early mornings, 3 months of cross training and now base building. Finally I get to see my watch click over to 10KM. I know I am on the right track with what I am doing. Not rushing things can be difficult. These last few months haven’t come without any emotions or questioning how much I really want it. One day I got off the elliptical 15 mins into my session - I couldn’t make myself do it. I messaged Michelle in distress, “I JUST CAN’T DO IT ANYMORE!” I cried. Poor girl puts up with a lot of neurosis. It was just one of those days. But as I lace up my shoes and the distance increases, I can see it. I can see what I am doing. I can feel what I am doing. I know it’s all about patience and persistence. And I have to continue to tell myself that every day when my alarm goes off.

So as I continue to plug away, I pose the same question to you my friends - What do you want? And how hard are you willing to work to get it?

Robbie Burns 8KM

At the encouragement of my friends (and on Michelle’s approval of course), I signed up for the Robbie Burns 8KM on January 28th, 2018. I’d never ran this race before. My first race of the year was always the Chilly Half Marathon the first weekend in March. Robbie Burns race I was told is usually brutally cold and blustery -but we were treated to a beautiful day with sun shining, almost no wind and temperatures well above zero. There was such a big group of friends in Burlington that day which always makes it so much more fun!

As I go through the base building stage, every Sunday is a new distance milestone. So this would be my first 8KM in months. Michelle gave me a race plan: use the first 3KM as a warm up, 1KM slightly faster, the next 2KM at a comfortably hard effort, with the last 2KM up to me and however I felt. I love having a race plan. I love knowing exactly what I have to do, when I have to do it. I operate well that way.

Only a few weeks off of the Dopey Challenge, Kate agreed to run with me. I love having someone to run with. It helps get me out of my head and just enjoy the race. Kate and I have ran a number of races together and they have been some of my most memorable. The warm-up portion of the race went well with Nicole joining us for the first few kilometres. We did a good job at controlling the pace and not being pulled along by the crowd. I felt a slight wave of anxiety wash over me after KM 4 because I knew it was time to speed up and I wasn’t really sure what I was capable of pulling off. Having Kate with me made these anxious thoughts dissipate pretty quickly though. We dropped the pace by about 30 seconds for the first KM, and Kate reeled me back in for the next. However we found ourselves naturally settling into the faster pace for the remaining kilometres. After we passed the 7KM mark, our conversation went a bit like this

Me: *looks at watch* Ok, let’s just maintain this pace

Kate: OK good, because I don’t think I have a bigger gear.

Me: Yeah, me neither

*Kate and Leanne go on to drop the pace by 15+ seconds for the last KM*

Overall, I had a great race day. I was really happy with how I felt during my run. The beautiful weather gave so many of my friend a chance to smash their races. I’m so proud of each and every one of them for setting a goal - and getting it done - whatever that goal was. I was also happy to take home my first Ontario Masters Athletics (OMA) age group bronze medal and Maria taking home the gold for hers (plus second in her age group overall). Although I'm sad Cathy wasn't able to run this time, we sure were lucky to have her there with her camera capturing the day (most of these pictures she took).