Baldy Half Marathon and Festive of the Grape

First Annual Baldy Half MarathonI came in 4th in the male category. I really enjoyed it, and I got access to the Festive of the Grape in Oliver BC.here is the local paper’s coverage the race was flat along our scenic channel trail, and it was very small, so very intimate and personal with the staff and organizers. Got to take in the grape stomping competition after and a bit of food too! What a great way to get back into racing. I enjoyed it immensely! Rick Mercer came to cover the festival for a segment on his show the “rick mercer report”. I can be seen in the crowd behind him when he is talking to the camera! Very fun.

SOWA 1/2 Corked Marathon May 29th/30th

News:Right on my front doorstep we are having a new marathon put on by the local wineries.  This is fashioned after the French Marathon Marathon Du Medoc .  Very exciting! More details will come, but it sounds like a lot of fun and will be encorporating visiting the different abundance of wineries in the area.  The Okanagan, specifically where we live in the south are world reknowned for the wonderful red wines produced by our hot dry climate in the summer.  I recommend coming and visiting just for the wine touring alone!  We have our local favorite wineries, and Jackson Triggs is about a five minute drive from our home as are Silver Sage, Nk’Mip Cellars, Desert Hills Estate Winery, TinHorn Creek and Burrowing Owl Estate Winery just to name a few of my personal favorites.  There are too many to list here, but on the website of the Association is a list of the predominant ones.  I look forward to seeing any of you there who dare to come out and run!

Half Marathon , A Personal Milestone

3-2-1Go.  My count down is on for the first longer race I will have ever competed this Sunday.  Am I nervous?  Yes!  I'm getting butterflies.  But like anything, I am prepared and I am excited to see what comes out of it.  Although I have had some very slow times lately, I know that there is lots to pour out on race day.  The race is in Kelowna, 1.5 hours away, so it is not a terribly far place to go.

What I am most nervous of is getting in my head too much, letting the race become more about other people than about me.  It is my nature to back off of competition and let others battle it out.  THis is good for me, I keep telling myself.  I am a champion!  I am on FIRE!  Mentally, I will need to get in the game by mapping out the distance and my goal times to keep me on track and out of the turmoil around me, as it will all be nw, from the aid stations to the crowds to the intimiation of the other athletes who obviously dressed better than I.

I am nervous also of the weather's sudden drop in morning temperature, which is approaching freezing levels here.  This makes for a different cardio for me. 

I am also wondering if me not doing my longer runs in the last three weeks as I taper will throw me off my ingrained pace.  This concerns me as I have had terrible slows runs as of late.  I have two runs left this week that will be short but zippy.  Hopefully this will boost my confidence for the big day!

Taper Tantrums

First time I have been to a sports massage therapist, and it was totally enlightening.  I had to get past the nudity under the blanket, but that was quickly overcome.  I was feeling anxious about my tight piriformis, and its effect on the coming race, so this is what most of the conversation included.  I was pleasantly surprised to hear that most people in training just before the race go through some breakdown.  The therapist calls it Taper Tantrums!  Taper Tantrums refer to the visits frequented by those preparing to race in long races, and because of the intensity peaking just before the race, the body kind of goes into shock, preparing to mend and heal based on the fact that there was breakdown for a long period.  Rest now and recovery is paramount to a good performance.  If the work has been put in, then the race just needs the focus and trust put in as we rest.  Thissettled me, and i was given a clean bill of cautious health for the coming weeks.

First Race

My first race was this year. It was a 10k in my own home town of Oliver, BC. One of the great draws was that every entry got a bottle of wine from a local winery, which our town is famous for making copious amounts of. Yipee! It's like Canada's little Italy.
I had only ever ran a race before in grade school. My one memory of this was the pride I had in a cross country run in grade 6. I was placing 9th I believe. I have always enjoyed running even then. At the last turn of this run in which I was doing so well, I made a terrible mistake. Some people were flagging me down calling me over, to which I misinterpreted as the right direction to run. It wasn't. Instead, I cut across a field I was supposed to be circling, and then had to double back to get back on track. Thanks a lot, idiots! So my placing slid into the droves of other kids that did NOT make that mistake.
That was my only memory of running in a race until my grade 12 year when we had a track meet school wide. An 800 meter dash , which I thought I could handle, turned into an embarrassing drop out due to a crazy bad asthma attack. I have asthma by the way.
This race was different.
Here are a couple of my own observations from the race experience. First, the crowd being so tight at the beginning was a challenge. Just trying to weave without being too jostled and to maintain my own pace rather than a pack pace was off-putting. The next thing was my own inner dialogue! I realize...I AM VERY COMPETITIVE. Internally, I want to take down anyone in front of me. I hated the sound of approaching footsteps from behind. Mentally, my desire fro personal excellence gets thrown out the window for the sake of just kicking ass. This is a discovery of great importance for me. I have alway gravitated to sports that are individual. This way I could avoid comparing myself to others accomplishments.
At 35 years old, I was entering it totally prepared and experienced in the length and knowledgeable to a degree of how I would do. My goal was to a time of a sub-45 minute run. My personal best as far was 42:30. But I know myself. I know my nerves would definitely try to usurp my training. I get anxious and over think everything. This makes me hyper aware of how tired I feel, and psychologically plays against me.
I had two friends running the race as well. One I knew was much faster than me as we run occasionally together. He was the man who I found to be very inspirational in keeping at my discipline for the long haul. The other gentleman was a local principle of a high school, and from talking I knew I would place before him most likely.
The people who showed to the race were such a great way to connect to the bigger world of running. There was a diverse array of ages, levels and backgrounds. I met people I knew but had no idea they were runners.
Trying to take it easy on the first split turned out harder than I thought. I did run out of steam,but pushed trough that weariness to make a time of 43:20. A respectable time for my overall goal.
Things I didn't expect that I will know for next time: I will be very sore the next few days after. There will be people with elbows crowding me. A negative split requires patience and discipline in training so that race time will be more automated. People at the races are on the whole just excited to be around other runners. For myself, my goals are the most important thing, not the outcome on the whole. Although now I have a better idea as to what time and effort it will take to place more competitively. This is a revelation. I want to run a sub 40 minute 10 k.