Flagstaff > Nanaimo > Rotterdam

Where in the world am I? This last month has been a whirlwind of experiences and I wouldn't change it for the world. Last I checked in I was midway through my Altitude Stint in Flagstaff Arizona. Normally I am there alone (since my coach hasn't been able to join me for the last 2 years) so it was a nice change to be there at the same time as fellow Canadian Lanni Marchant (everyone knows who she is). Thankfully I had her there for the first 3 weeks of my trip, with the last week being solo.

It was quite the change to go from always running solo back home to having a daily run buddy but it was such a good change that it was then weird to go back to solo. Amy Van Alstine was very kind in offering me to join in with NAZ elite; however, none of our easy days seemed to match up. While in Flagstaff I was able to catch the Bagel Run each of the 4 weeks which was always fun. If you catch yourself in town on Thursday mornings, head to Biff's Bagels downtown at 8am.



Shortly after my last blog I had my longest/hardest workout of the marathon build. I arrived back to the house after with many text messages from my sister trying to get ahold of me. Apparently my Grandma (last remaining Grandparent) was failing and she wanted me to know in case I wanted to call. In the 2.5 hours I was gone, it went from Grandma having a few hours left to receiving an email from my Aunt that she had passed peacefully about an hour before I got back. Poor Lanni walked into my room to ask about my workout and I think it went like "how did your workout g......." as she saw I was in tears. Ultimately it was a good thing as my Grandma suffered for years with Dementia and simply was not the same woman anymore. She passed exactly 1 week before her 89th birthday. Rest in Peace Grandma.

 

Old Picture but this is how I remember her



The rest of my time was spent with too much time on social media where #RyanSnaps was trying to convince me to run the Barkley Marathons. Umm yeah no, especially not after watching that on Netflix. I do not care if I could be the first Canadian to finish it or even the first woman to finish it.

Day hike to Devil's Bridge in Sedona



I also caught up with the Team Run Eugene BBQ for a quick night out. Even though I think I only met a couple of the actual team members, thanks for having runners out.

Sadly though my time in Flag came to an end and I had to pack up and leave on March 30th. I know I have said it before but the running community in Flag is simply AMAZING. Even though I always know I am coming back, I am always sad to leave. Not to mention I simply suck at goodbyes. I'd prefer to sneak out of town then actually say goodbye or even see you later. I say goodbye and there's a HUGE chance of tears. Yep, I'm a suck. Some good people in Flag that's for sure. I'll be back.

Dinner at Diablo on the last night

The last 2 days in Flag were actually filled with tons of wind and some snow. Those runs were freaking cold. My hands took the brunt of it, even with gloves. The day before I left, I ran with Canadian (and Vancouverite) Natasha Wodak as she had just arrived to town. Natasha and I go WAAAAAAY back. My claim to fame is that I did used to beat her. Sure we were like 12 or 13 but still it happened. ;) We tried to take some pictures and my fingers were way too frozen to even press the button on the remote so I had to pass that job over to Natasha. I ended up with pictures of the sky, and my stomach etc. Apparently she went "button happy" and pressed it at random times. Haha. But we did end up with some good ones.

Good Pics with Tasha

 

Last Day, Last Run



March 30th I flew out from Flag to Phoenix and were on the same flight as Steph and Ben Bruce (plus their adorable kids) as they were heading over to Stanford where Steph CRUSHED the US Olympic Trials Standard and snuck in under Olympic Standard only 6 months after having her 2nd baby! HUGE congrats Steph. We talked in the airport about hopefully getting it out of the way so you didn't have to do too many track 10k's. Glad it actually happened. Also got to finally meet the famous Oiselle star Sarah Robinson and her daughter PJ.

Aug 2012 - March 2016 = 5 trips to Flag



I flew Flag > Phoenix > Seattle > Vancouver. The lovely Catherine Watkins picked me up at the airport at 8pm and I spent the night at her place because the 9pm ferry to the island was impossible to make and I really did not want to take the 10:45pm ferry which would have gotten me home at 1am. #islandlifeproblems

I totally travel is style aka Capri tights and compression socks



The next morning I hit up an 8x1k workout at the UBC track and while it felt great to be at sea level and have oxygen, the legs were definitely feeling the travel. From there, it was a quick shower and then off to the 12:30pm ferry home. Very thankful to my friend Jason who was able to pick me up at the ferry and take me home and also thankful to my chiro Dr. Abe Avender who was able to move my appointment from 3pm to 5:15pm as there was no way I was going to be able to make that 3pm time slot!

Sea level!



The day I got home was busy. So much so I was barely home. I walked in the door, found my delivered shoes from Asics, went through my mail oh and of course said hi to my cats even if they were apparently snubbing me for leaving them for a month. I had a proper shower and then was off to my chiro appointment and then to give a quick talk to the Running Room half and full marathon clinic. After the talk I did their 3.5k warm up and then hung around while they did their own workout of km repeats. Some food and then a few groceries on the way home meant I really didn't get home until after 9pm.

I was then home Friday, Saturday and Sunday (filled with errands, running and chiro) and oh right, finding out that I was being laid off from my job as of September 30th once again. April 1st, 2014 my entire work was fired and we were able to re-apply for our own jobs as a reduced rate with reduced benefits and loss of seniority etc. I was hired back and then bam, April 1st, 2016 it happens again. This time they are selling the building and contracting out the workers, so even if I wanted my job back, I'd have to re-apply with another company and have my wages and benefits reduced even more. 8 years there this August, so it's slightly disappointing; however, I am trying not to worry about it until after the race. My Grandma, the layoff and other major stuff going on in my life, this is NOT the time for it. Ugh.

Unpack the bottom 2 and repack the top 1





Anyways I was able to also catch up on Dragons Den and see my sponsor Stoked Oats get a deal! Not surprising as it's a yummy product! Then Sunday night I found myself finally unpacking from Flag and repacking for Rotterdam. I left Nanaimo again at 8:10am on Monday morning (Thanks for the ride to the airport Mom).

Stoked Oats Getting the Deal

 

Ready to Leave Vancouver

 

 



This time travel took me Nanaimo > Vancouver > Toronto > Amsterdam. Travel was pretty uneventful. The nice Air Canada attendant in Nanaimo was able to get me an exit row seat from Toronto to Amsterdam (Glad I never paid the $100 upgrade the night before when checking in). I was hoping to sleep from the Toronto to Amsterdam flight as I left Toronto just before 9pm Eastern but I think maybe I slept only 2-3 hours of broken sleep.



The lovely Air Canada flight attendant was great and she did her best to get me comfortable with bringing me 2 extra AC blankets and then a nice AC duvet but who the heck can sleep sitting up on airplanes. It wreaked havoc on my back after too long. It was great to have the legroom but I would have preferred an empty seat next to me like a few people had a the back of the plane. Oh well, I survived and landed in Amsterdam shortly after 9:30am local time Tuesday. We then had to wait 10-15 minutes for our gate to open and then the slowest customs process ever (clearly chose the wrong lane).

From there I eventually met up with fellow Canadian Leslie Sexton who had landed not long before me from her flights. We were able to figure out how to catch the train to Rotterdam only with a minor error (apparently we sat in First Class instead of regular). How dare we sit in red seats vs blue. We got to our initial hotel shortly after noon and had an hour to kill before we were able to check in so we grabbed some lunch (thankful for English menus). We did a bit of walking around before our eventual run later that afternoon and boy did that feel awful. Plus we got a little lost trying to find a local park which we both found the following day.

Rotterdam



My goal was to stay up until bed time which I managed until 10pm and then I crashed (on and off as usual) until 8am when the noise outside the hotel kept waking me up. Wednesday we grabbed our Athlete passes so we could have our food covered and just laid low other than our final workouts at Kralingse Bos. I apparently picked the wrong time of day to go do it, has for my actual workout I was hit with a downpour and crazy winds. The workout went well considering.

Post last workout

Thursday after we changed hotels and checked into the race hotel (Hilton) and celebrated how we finally had a proper flushing toilet, an actual good shower, facecloths and internet that didn't cut out (can you see our first hotel was low budget?) we did some touring around and checked out the Erasmusbrug Bridge and Euromast which gave spectacular views of Rotterdam. You go 100m up where you can then take the Euroscoop to the top which is 185m.

Easy Run

 

Erasmusbrug Bridge

 

Euromast

Friday all we did was check out the race expo and eat carbs, lots of carbs. The race expo took probably 10 minutes to walk to and from and I think we spent about 10 minutes (if that) in the actual expo.

Leslie and I



That brings us to now, Saturday at 10:30am where we have eaten breakfast and are now chilling before we head out on our final short shakeout run. The rest of the day will be spent lying around and resting up (other than meals and the Tech Meeting today at 5pm). In 24 hours I will be 30 minutes into the race (eek).

Goals? Some people know and I'll leave it at that. There are times being posted on social media and I will NOT confirm those times as my goal. Enough said. Alright, time to chill and try to keep the nerves in check.

 

 Think these will work for the race?

 

 

Success!!! I Didn't Sh!t Myself!

So you may be wondering about that title, well I am about to explain. This past weekend I raced the Chevron Aramco Houston Half Marathon. Prior to my marathon debut (October), coach Matt and I discussed this option as an attempt at a fast half, but then my return to running took slightly longer than expected thanks to my lovely lower back/SI. As I got back into solid training I slowly saw increases in my fitness but I wasn't sure whether I was really ready to run a decent half. As time went on, my fitness improved greatly and I was nailing some pretty good workouts so I decided that yes I would in fact head to Houston and give it a go. 

I was originally supposed to head down with a fellow runner from Ontario but by the time I confirmed that I would attend, this runner told me that unfortunately they were going to pull out. This was JUST as I was about to book my flights as I found a good deal. So instead of booking the flights, I went in search of finding new accommodations. Even though I had contacted the race organizers back at the beginning of October, they were only willing to provide me "sub elite" status which meant a free entry and the ability to start behind all of the athletes they considered elite. 

Thankfully though, through the elite coordinator I was hooked up with the contact info for a local running club. I was able to get in contact with a woman named Heather, who then put out a blurb to her running club to see if anyone would be willing to host me for the weekend. I am VERY grateful that Catherine stepped up and said yes! With that being sorted out, Houston we were back on and flights were purchased (slightly higher in costs). 

Just under 2 weeks before the race, I was out for a short evening run with another local runner (Melissa) and it was an extremely icy evening after a snowfall. We were running by headlamp on a paved trail that we call the Parkway Trail. I stupidly didn't notice the edge of the paved portion of the trail and my ankle decided to roll. I began quite the out of control stumble before finally putting my hands down and stopping myself. Then I proceeded to let go of a few choice words. I was able to finish the run though the ankle was not happy and was slightly swollen. 

 

I am so glad to have such great support through Dr. Abe Avender at Island Optimal Heath and Performance. He told me to come in immediately the next day for some laser and to come in daily until Houston. I was glad to only have minimal time off (though I was able to cross train) before I was back out flying along the roads. The ankle was still slightly swollen but at least there was no pain after 24 hours. Thanks to Abe, Dr. Joe Foglia and to Geordana who all provided treatment and/or laser over the next 8 days. 

Go away cankle 

On Wednesday I headed off to Vancouver, not without incident. As my mom was driving me to the seaplane terminal, we were about 5 minutes away and I had about 10 minutes until the "Arrive 30 minutes before the flight" deadline when someone rear ended us. My first thought and I am pretty sure I said it out loud was "I don't have effing time for this." There didn't appear to be much damage visible to the eye, but we got his information anyways before rushing off to the terminal getting there just a few minutes late. Good thing there were only 2 of us on the flight. Plus my coworkers husband was my pilot so I wasn't too worried. 

See Ya Nanaimo

So the trip was off to a good start. I spent Wednesday night in Vancouver getting a very short visit with my nieces, sister and brother in law. 

Hello Vancouver

The following morning I caught a cab with Dayna Pidhoresky and her husband (and coach) Josh Seifarth at 4:30am. Wow that was early. We all had flights out of Vancouver at 6:30, both through Calgary yet I was on Westjet and they were with Air Canada. 

Leaving Vancouver. Whatever that bright light is, it must be super bright in person.

Sunrise from the plane

Good people in Calgary, but unfortunate weather

 

Catherine picked me up Thursday evening and we had dinner and settled in. Friday she had to work so I headed into the elite hotel to run with Dayna and Josh and then hang out the rest of the day. Saturday I visited the expo with Catherine and had a nice chat with Collen De Reuck. 

Expo fun

 

 
This was followed by a run from the hotel and hung out until after supper. It was nice to catch up with Krista DuChene and Rachel Hannah who were also at the hotel. Dayna and Rachel were in the marathon and Krista and I in the half. There were other Canadians in town too, such as Rob Watson and Sami Jibril both in the half. 

View of the finish area from the hotel

Killing time watching sunsets with these kids (Josh and Dayna)

 

 

Sunday morning was an early wake up call at 4:30 which is 2:30am back home. Thankfully I didn't have any problem with time change so 4:30 felt like 4:30. We headed down early to grab parking and to drop stuff at the bag drop. This was the first time I hadn't been elite in a while. Doing the regular bag drop with no clothing drop at the start line was something new. I had to be in my corral by 6:35. I wore a few warm ups down to the corral as I planned to catch another Canadian in the elite crew to hand my stuff to in order to pass to Josh. I ended up catching Krista at around that time and then I spent the next 25 minutes in my buns and a throw away t-shirt. 

The corral was only about a block long and had quite a few other athletes in there. We ran back and forth and did drills trying to keep warm. Around 6:55 they did the colour guard (or should I say color guard since it was the USA) and the national anthem. At 6:57 they removed our gate and us sub elites ran up to the start behind the elites. I was probably about 10 rows back. It took me 4 seconds to cross the start according to the results. 

I had planned to find Krista, Dayna and Rachel who were going to be going out at 3:30/km or so. I could not even see them at the start. The gun went off at 7:00 and off we went, trying not to stumble over the hundreds of feet around you. After a few hundred meters or so I spotted the 3 of them over to my right and I slowly made my over to them. We ran this way for quite a few km before Dayna pulled ahead and Rachel dropped back. 

Krista and I continued along together and she graciously shared a sip of her first bottle with me. We were still together at 10km and I felt strong. I had no idea what pace we were on as I wasn't paying attention to my watch. I knew the first km we were slow (3:43) and then the next km we were right on (3:30). After that, I didn't look. There were clocks along the course but I never really paid attention to them. I questioned my legs at one point around half way, but my breathing was super relaxed so I knew I was okay. 

Credit: (KTRK Photo- Gina Larson)

Just before 15km I started to run into trouble. Not with my legs but GI wise. This might be TMI for some people but the last 6-7km became a battle not to sh!t myself basically. For the first time ever, my inability to go before the race was coming back to haunt me. By 15km I was maybe a few seconds behind Krista. Every time the bowels acted up, I had to slightly slow down. Then the feeling would pass and I would pick it back up and get back up to the group (including Krista) only to have the feeling return. This went on 3-4 times. I eyed up the outhouses on course and nearly stopped but I thought "I don't want to ruin what might be a good time" and generally each time the outhouses were there, I felt okay. Then 500m later I was eyeing up side roads. 

Unfortunately they want $75 for these photos.... yeah right.

One girl came up beside me and I nearly asked her if I had already done it. I hoped I hadn't. I worried that I had. People said I would know if I did, but me having never been in that situation before, I had no idea. Finally with about a mile left, the bowels felt in control so I picked it up yet again and went with it. I was able to finish strong with my fastest km yet and even pass 3 women along the way. I will admit, I totally did a check of my behind once I finished. I am proud to say I did not sh!t myself and even with the issues I was able to finish 20th female (90th overall) with a 16 second PB in 1:14:45. I finally broke that 75' mark! Woo hoo! 

Oh and in case you are wondering, I found a washroom shortly after thanks to a lovely volunteer who gave me access to an off limits area as I was desperate. The legs felt good after the race other than 2 blisters, each on the same spot on both feet. It bodes well that there is still more in the tank. As the day went on, more and more stories came out of GI issues within the elites, whether it was bowel related or vomit related. There are questions whether the food provided on Saturday at the hotel was the cause or not. I believe the organizers are looking into the issue as too many people became ill. 

I spent Monday sleeping in and then visited the Houston Art Gallery with Catherine before my 5pm flight. 

This art I get. Actually made with coffee stained sugar cubes

 

This art on the other hand, I do not get (Rothsko). 

Monday night was spent in Calgary for a 13 hour layover, which allowed short visits with Trevor, Kim and Chris before flying back to the island on Tuesday morning and then straight back to work. 

My house is in there somewhere

Results can be found here. 

Finish Video here.

Also if you haven't checked it out already, check out this video. 

Did That Really Just Happen? (aka 2015 Goodlife Fitness Victoria Marathon)

On Sunday I ran (and won) my debut marathon at the Goodlife Fitness Victoria Marathon weekend and since then it has been a whirlwind few days. I have caught a bit of slack for only posting "So this happened today. That was kind of cool" along with a photo of the finish on my Facebook. Some seem to think I downplayed it too much. To be honest, it's simply what came to mind at the time I posted the picture. I have also caught slack in the past for being "too cocky" when posting results so it's not like I wanted to post something like "Eff yeah I won my debut marathon". I guess I have to find the middle ground somehow or I will just continue to post what I want and to heck with opinions! ;)

I came back from Flagstaff, Arizona feeling fit and ready. I love the feeling of coming back down to sea level. Every run feels effortless. It's amazing how easy it is to run up a hill at sea level and not feel as though you are dying. New Flagstaff resident Craig Lutz from Northern Arizona Elite actually blogged on his experience of coming to altitude. It's called "Tell me how I'm Supposed to Breathe with No Air" and it's a good read, you can check it out here. In short form, he basically sums up my thoughts in this one paragraph. 

“Breath is the finest gift of nature. Be grateful for this wonderful gift.” – Amit Ray

"Amit Ray could very well be the father of breathing and relaxation. His “Om Meditation” and yoga technique would be impossible without breathing and the ability to allow calmness to settle over your body and soul. He spent the time between 2004 to 2010 living at 4500 feet and probably meditating higher in the surrounding landscape. Amit Ray knows his breathing but where I think I differ from him is that I know the importance of breathing while hitting an incline at 7000 feet and wanting to quit running all together."

So the first week back I was flying and then into the final week of the taper things changed. My body still felt okay and runs were certainly still easy, I didn't feel quite as smooth. Panick started to set in with thoughts that maybe I had returned from altitude too soon. In previous visits I returned to sea level to race within 3 days whereas this time it would be more like 12 days. At the same time, I knew that I came home earlier in order to get in a few final workouts at sea level in order to get a feel for my marathon race pace as paces are altered to be slightly slower at altitude.

The final workout was on Tuesday, which was a very short session at marathon pace where I practiced for the first time, picking up my water bottles. I chose a short loop (only took me approx 3 min to do the loop) and took over 2 newspaper boxes at the end of people's driveways. Around and around I went for the workout, snagging a bottle each time. Probably should have practiced this more, but at least I had plenty of practice taking in fluids already via carrying a small handheld water bottle during most runs.

In the days leading up to the marathon I was still slightly panicked. The legs didn't feel as fresh as I wanted them to and my coach plus many friends kept me sane. My throat started to bother me and I was worried I was coming down with something. Not to mention I swear something was up because I tried to injure myself 3 different times. I burned my arm right near my watch strap so it kept getting torn open and I feared an infection. I dropped something on the top of my foot which left a bruise and I walked into the door at work smashing my right hip. Thankfully, none of those events turned into anything major. They were definitely wake up calls to be careful though.

Saturday morning I headed out early for my shakeout run and wasn't pleased with out it felt. Again I was assured by friends that it was just the taper and all would be good by the next day. I left Nanaimo shortly before 11:30am as it started to downpour. A brief stop in Ladysmith for gas (102.9 vs Nanaimo's 112.9) and it was still pouring. The roads were in horrendous conditions. Thankfully it was daylight so I was able to see where the water was pooling to avoid hydroplaning. After Chemainus it cleared up enough. Another brief stop in Duncan to buy some straws for my water bottles and then I continued on to Victoria.

Downtown was terrible traffic. I am from Nanaimo, I hate traffic. I am not used to traffic. Put me in rush hour type traffic and I become less than happy. Finally I made it to the race hotel checked in and just as I got to my room and looked outside at the view it started to downpour. Oops I guess I brought the rain with me. 

Soaked after package pickup

That night was filled with picking up my race number, getting my bottles ready, driving the course with my coach and his fiance and going to dinner with Anne-Marie and Kim (John and Drew joined us later). After that it was back to the hotel, a bit of social media and then trying to sleep which went as normal (waking up multiple times). 

Morning came and my roommate Lindsay was up at 5:30am as she was racing at 7:15am in the 8km (my race was at 8:45). I took my time waking up and then ate some breakfast and slowly got ready. As I got dressed and got my bottles ready to drop off I began to feel my heart rate get faster and faster. Panic mode was setting in. The nerves were running crazy and I was doing the best I could to stay calm. Thankfully I had some nice text messages from friends to keep me going.

I dropped off the bottles at about 7:50am and came back to the hotel for final prep before heading down to the start line around the corner. A quick 10 minute jog warm up and a few drills before getting on the line. Definitely felt weird to wait until 30 minutes prior to the race to do any type of warm up. And certainly was even weirder doing no strides before the start. My competitors and friends (Catrin, Shauna and new friend Kat) were very encouraging before the start as I was pretty nervous. 

Trying to stay calm on the start (pc Craig Odermatt)

Before I knew it we were on the start and off we went. The race went off and I positioned myself not far from #1 ranked (and previous champion) Lioudmila and with a pack of guys. I ran this way for about the first 5km and then Lioudmila started to pull away. I decided to stick with my pace and run my own race so I let her go. Slowly I watched her pull away. 

Early in the Race (pc: Jason Calvin)

Key points I remember about the race are approximately 11km I remember thinking "I am not feeling that comfortable considering it's only 11km. There is still a long way to go." Looking back at my splits I had dropped a few fast ones around 8 and 10, so that could explain it. The men slowly started to fall off and just before half way I found myself running alone with no one in my immediate sight ahead. Well I shouldn't say that, I had early marathoners out on the course and they were great support. 

Approx 6km in (pc: Paul Little)

 

 7km I think (pc: Dan Hedekaer)

I hit half way and didn't even look at my watch. I concentrated on hitting the turnaround which was around just over 23km. Then I focused on hitting 28km then 32km etc. I had a ton of support out there, not only from my coach popping up all over the place thanks to Sarah's spectacular driving skills, but from spectators and early start marathoners.

Somewhere on the way back I had people start telling me that I was 90 seconds back of Lioudmila and that she looked like she was hurting. I kept plodding along. Soon that 90 seconds became 1 minute and that turned into 45 seconds then 30 and somewhere along the way she popped into my view again. I kept being told how much stronger I looked, how much more comfortable I looked and how much smoother I looked. I figured if I had closed the gap so significantly in only 5km that I just had to keep going a few seconds faster than her per km and I would catch her eventually.

I think around 30km I missed my bottle because someone placed it on the far side of the table making it unreachable but I wasn't worried. I felt like I had fueled pretty good so far, had a spare gel with me anyway and I still felt pretty good. In the back of my mind though people said that somewhere between 30 and 35 this wall would hit.

Finally we came back onto the half marathon course and I became familar with the area. I only had 12km to go. I came to the next aid station at 36km and saw again that my bottle was on the far side. This time I deaked around the table to grab it, only to notice that I had a bottle on each side of the table. I guess a volunteer picked up my initally discarded 10km bottle and put it back on the table, so I actually grabbed the 10km bottle again. Thankfully it still had plenty of fluid in it.

Up the hill on Dallas Road towards 37km, coach Matt was giving me updates and yelling at me like he was throughout various points of the race. At this point he yelled my name and Lioudmila at that point turned around to find me only 20m or so behind her. She instantly picked up the pace and I proceeded to curse my coach in my head for yelling my name. I think I even said something to another runner that I caught and passed. Lioudmila put a bit of distance on me (40m or so) and I kept going trying to keep her within striking distance.

With probably 2.5km to go, my left hip suddenly out of nowhere became unhappy and I had a deep ache that altered my stride and made me limp and favour that leg a bit. I remember Darren yelling at me on the sidelines that I could catch Lioudmila and I remember yelling back "Darren my hip is gone." Thankfully after a brief period it came back. It went again slightly but again came back good enough to regain my stride. I kept pushing on. 

Fronrunners Vic caught my bad hip/glute (pc: Erhard Laslo)

We came to the final km and I had closed the gap a bit, but at this moment in time I still thought I was going to be 2nd. In my head I kept saying "I can't believe you are going to come within 20 seconds of winning, after all this way." At the time I did not think I would catch Lioudmila. Matt yelled at me around that 1km marker and I just couldn't take it anymore. I knew he was trying to encourage me but at that moment in time, I wanted him out of my ear so I yelled at him and with some swear words thrown in I basically told him to shut up (sorry). 

The gap coming into the final homestretch (pc Craig O)

 

The pass (pc: Ross Palfrey)

(pc: Jason C)

Onto the final stretch which I think is about the final 500m or so, I realized I was again gaining on Lioudmila and it was at this point that I realized my legs were not weak, I was not dead tired and that I had more in me. I began a sprint and I was gaining ground fast. With 300m to go I passed Lioudmila like she was standing still. I looked briefly behind me to see whether she made any attempt to go with me and saw instantly that she did not but I didn't let up. I kept kicking and it was at that moment that I saw my overall time for the first time as it clicked over 2:39:00. 

 Some final stretch pictures 

(pc: Ross P)

I crossed the line, threw my arms up and put on the best smile I could manage as I thought "I actually did it." After the race, it was insane. Cameras in my face, interview after interview. Finally I found my coach on the sidelines and the first thing I said was I am sorry for yelling at you. Hugs all around from coach and fantastic driver Sarah and congrats from so many people. It literally blew me away. 

I did it! Pure relief!

(pc: Paul L)

 

(pc: Sarah Redding)

By the time I got back to my phone at the hotel, social media had blown up my phone. Texts, missed calls from family with voicemail's, tweets, Facebook, etc. It was nuts. I responded to immediate texts and a few Facebook messages and left the rest for later as awards and food took precedent and then a lovely drive got me home around 7pm. 

Post race craziness (pc: Frontrunners Nanaimo)

I am not going to get into details on my fueling during the race and I honestly cannot remember a lot of the race. People might wonder why I chose Victoria. Well simply put because it was somewhat local, I knew the weather and it was the same time zone. While it is a rolling course and considered much slower than other events going on around the same time, we chose Victoria to reduce pressure on time. We wanted a positive experience for my first marathon and I believe I got that. I finished still feeling good, with a sprint finish, never hitting the famous "wall" unless the little hip blip counts in which case it wasn't a wall but a curb. I know all marathons don't feel that way, but to have your coach say after that you looked like you could have done a post race workout and to have people comment on how well you are walking/moving, it's a good sign. Though it might also be a good sign that I didn't leave it all out there on the course. That would be why I cannot wait to do it all over again! 

AG Awards- Myself, Shauna Gersbach and Kat Ahokas (pc: Lowell Greib)

 

BC Marathon Champ awards- Myself, Catrin Jones and Shauna

Now I know this post has become lengthy, but please stick with me while I say a few quick thank yous.

First off, a HUGE thank you to my coach Matt Clout (West Coast Endurance). Matt started working with me in late 2008 and has basically taken me from a 1:45:00 half marathoner to this. I owe him a lot for my success. I may hate him during some workouts or even during some races, but in the end I love him and owe him big time. So thank you Matt for sticking with me over the years and for believing in me. I cannot wait to see what we can do in the future. As Sarah says, we make a good team. Special thanks to Sarah for driving the course, for a great finish photo and for supporting both Matt and I in this adventure. 

Coach and I post race (pc: Craig O)

Next up, has to go to my family. Unfortunately while other commitments kept family from being at the finish line, I had calls and voicemail's waiting when I arrived back to my phone after they followed along with the finish line stream. They put up with my crazy training schedule and even if they don't fully understand, they try to. I always know they have my back and I can't wait to have my nieces at the finish lines once they understand what is going on!

Thanks needs to go out to my friends. Many of you kept me feeling positive and motivated towards this marathon and for all the marathon tips and tricks. From Catherine, Lanni, Natasha, Dayna and Josh to Jason, Craig and Kris D. All your messages whether text or Facebook were greatly appreciated. Special shout outs to Trevor for always being supportive in a huge way, to Adam for keeping me calm race morning.

To my coworkers, thank you for taking my shifts recently so that I could take some time off to get in my training while in Flagstaff and to my work for always giving me my time off (even if unpaid).

Thanks to my therapists, from my main go to man (aka chiro) Dr. Abe Avender at Island Optimal who always fits me in when needed and gives stellar treatments to Greg Howe who I strength trained with earlier this year though the Island Optimal gym. Thank you Abe for always listening, motivating me and for keeping my body in check as best as possible as I continue to reverse every single treatment you give me within hours. Thank you Greg for giving me some newfound strength. I also have Yvonne Visser who I rely on for massage. Those treatments are a lifesaver sometimes.

A special shout out to Dr. AJ Gregg (Hypo2) who is my go to when away from home man (aka chiro) down in Flagstaff. You really saved my butt last month and through minimal treatments I saw relief in my niggles. Thank you for taking the time to not only fix me but to give me some rehab to help in the future. You helped get me to both the start line and finish line.

Also thank you to everyone out there who supports me from near and far, whether in person or via social media. I felt HUGE support out there before the race, while on course and certainly after. To everyone who cheered while racing themselves or after their race, thank you. I heard a lot of you out on course. Thanks Kris S, Dan, Alexis, Paul, Darren out on course. Plus many others who I can't seem to recall right at this time. To the Nanaimo people cheering at the finish including those who took photos (Ross has an awesome photo stream of my finish) and all the people I don't even know cheering, THANK YOU! Your support means the world to me and you have made me feel like a celebrity this week! 

Love this picture because it shows some of Team Nanaimo in the background! (pc Ross P)

Lastly, I saved these guys for my final thank yous. Thank you to my sponsors that have either stuck by me through injury or have recently joined on. Asics Canada thank you for the shoes and apparel. Sundog Eyewear I couldn't live without you! Thanks for protecting my eyes and making me look cool. CEP Canada, thanks for keeping my legs feeling fantastic. Nuun Hydration, thank you for supporting me in my addiction towards you. Island Optimal, thank you for everything you do for me from strength to treatment and for always believing. 

**If any other business wants to join in on assisting me with my dreams, please see my website.