Fredericton Marathon

April 10th, 2022

Katie : How do you feel about your marathon training so far?

Me : I'm going to fucking crush it.

Was that hubris, or a level of confidence even baked in reality? Only time would tell... history had unfortunately shown that the wheels often come off over 42.2km.

[If you don't care about training or Keto diet, skip to the race header]

TRAINING

The thing is that ever since Nora was born in September, running was put aside in favour of parenting. Months of no running or exercise between October and February had not been kind to my aerobic capacity. I had gained significant weight, and was not in any kind of running shape - in fact only a month earlier, on March 10th, I had yet to register for the deferred (and paid for) marathon because I didn't know whether I could cover the distance. 

I started running again on January 31st, and I thought to myself that maybe I should find myself a marathon plan. Went to the running room, and purchased:

Running: The Complete Guide to Building Your Running Program by John Stanton

..Flipped to page 358 "Complete a marathon in 3:45" and back-filled my Garmin calendar with all of the runs and expected paces. It turned out that the plan I was following was 18 weeks, and I was starting on week 6. I figured if I tried to follow a 3:45 marathon training plan, maybe it would give me the necessary wiggle room to complete it in my goal time. My goal at the marathon distance has been 3:57:26 since that gigantic shit-show of a race the 2018 Legs for Literacy. Wouldn't it be cool to shave an hour off my marathon PR?

So I start to train for this thing, and I noticed that I needed to skip a few of the "easy" mid-week runs to let my body properly recover from the load. At some point I weighed myself and topped the scale at 202 lbs - which is the heaviest I'd been, ever. 

I believe we all have a governor in our body/mind/soul that alerts us when to course-correct. Sometimes it comes in the form of that voice in your head telling you that something's off. Seeing that scale exceed that 200 mark was a smack in the face, I started dieting the next day. I don't know much about dieting and macronutrients, but my in-laws had started the ketogenic diet and had had big successes with it, so on February 24th, I started the Keto diet. 

The Keto diet is a very low-carb diet. If you've ever heard of "hitting the wall" in a marathon it's because your body ran out of glycogen (carb storage). 

That first week on the Keto diet was an interesting one: I lost 9 lbs (mostly water retention), and I hit the wall on a 6km run, and again during the subsequent 3 or 4 runs. The first two weeks of Keto were difficult - I was running slowly, and had zero top speed.

Three weeks into Keto, and I had started feeling like I was back to "normal" - I completed a half marathon without walk breaks, water, or nutrition - and I had essentially "caught up" to the marathon training plan that was outlined for me. Brimming with confidence, I registered for the Fredericton Full that night. My pace was a 6:44/km, but for whatever reason that did not deter me.

For the entire months of March and April, I was extremely accountable to the training plan I had committed to - typically heading out at noon on most days, and waking up early on weekends for the long run. My schedule revolved greatly around Nora's nap times; if I didn't take advantage of nap times, I might not get out at all. Katie was encouraging, but also made sure that I was accountable - she did a lot of research and preparation for Keto-friendly meals for me.

LAST WEEKS OF TRAINING AND RACE DAY PREP

As the marathon dawned closer and I began to taper and carb load, one important question remained; what are my race goals? 

For one part, I have done 90% of my training in ketosis - surely carb-loading would give me some extra race-day pace. I also completed the last 8 weeks of the training plan at the pace zones and distances outlined in the Running Room's 3:45 plan. Garmin, however, is suggesting that based on my VO2 Max that I could aim for a 3:32. That's all well and good, but that seems unreasonably fast.

The primary goal for me is to get a good race in, I would also hate to go out too aggressively only to walk the last 10km and miss the 4h mark. The primary race goal is to cut one hour from my current PB. That number is 3:57:26.

Maybe I just take it easy on the first 32km, and then run a 10k time trial?

Further, there's only a few things that could go wrong that would really throw my race off. 

1. Chest Pain: In previous marathons and long runs, I sometimes get these really bad chest pains - they are related to fatiguing and cramping muscles related to supporting the arm swing. The first time I had these, I thought I was having a heart attack. These are mentally very distracting.
   
   
2. Nutrition: If the stomach turns sideways on race day, it would likely prevent me from achieving my goal.
    
3. Heat: I don't do well in hot weather, in fact I was unable to complete a 10km run at "race pace" 4 days before the race day.

As a side note, I was 24 lbs lighter on race day than when I started training. 

FREDERICTON MARATHON

Part 0: Pre Race

May 8th, 2022

It's a bright and sunny morning in Fredericton, not a cloud in the sky - temperatures are a cool 2°C, but the sun's rays are nice and it doesn't feel so cold. After a 6:30am breakfast I started prepping to head out to the race. When you're packing a baby, time flies by - you actually have less time than you think you have. 

Katie, Nora and I drive out to the Queen Square and walk over to the race area and meet up with Mario (brother) and deliver his race bib that we picked up the previous day [Mario is running the 10k] - I also take several pictures with the Amherst Strider group - a huge contingent made it out to Fredericton. 

Katie told me to wear the t-shirt, because I would feel more comfortable during the race, and I would warm up quickly once I start moving. (Katie is once again correct - so far she is batting 1.000% at crew chief recommendations). 

I make my way to the start corral, and see somebody that I was really hoping to see. One of the pacers for the 10km run, Stan Sarty. Stan was the very first person who encouraged me to run back in 2017. He used to post motivational videos on the Mountain View Runners Facebook page, and he stands out as one of the great people who've influenced my running journey. He came over to say hello to Nora and Katie, gave me words of encouragement and advice, and then he went back to his pacing responsibilities. 

I rubbed Nora's head for good luck. Mario and I moved our way in the starting corral near the 2hr half marathon/4hr marathon pace bunnies, since we both wanted to have a somewhat controlled and easy first few kms of the race before taking off. 

Part 1: Dusting Off the Cobwebs

National Anthem.

Gun.

Go.

We slowly make our way to the starting gate and off we go running. Mario and I were running with the rest of the pack, maybe a bit slower than our surroundings. I was in no rush to speed up, as I have another 4 hours of this, and Mario trusted me to start things off in a controlled pace, he would take off once he was comfortable. We were sitting comfortably behind the 5:41/km pacers. Quentin of the Amherst striders also pulled up to me to say hi, and ran with us for about a half km.

At 1.5km is the only "hill" of the course as we get onto the Westmorland Street Bridge, both Mario and Quentin take off on the uphill. 

Now I'm flying solo. 

Everybody else that I know who is running is either much faster, or much slower than my goal. Time to make friends.

I decide to continue following the 2h half/4hr marathon pacers for the first bit. They were running slightly faster than my goal pace, because they banked about 20 or 30 seconds of walking at each water station. As I'm running in this pack, I hear two french-speaking individuals who are both running the marathon and I start conversation. Marc and Marie-Belle are both from Moncton, both aiming for approximately a 3:55 marathon, and they essentially have the same race strategy as me.

Perfect.

My new friends started picking up the pace, and dropped the pacers (and me) at around 6km once we hit the wooded, hardpacked crushed gravel trail. At approximately the 7.5km mark there was a water station and the pacers both started walking for their planned break, this is when I made my decision to leave the pacers and the group behind and catch up to both Marc and Marie-Belle. 

I averaged a pace of 5:36/km for the first 7.5kms.

Part 2: Merry Friendsmas

At this point I checked my watch for a pace check, and I notice an InspO that I had taped to my wrist. 

An InspO is a small piece of tape with a message, reminding you of an important piece of information. Mine said "Relax, you can do this". Key word is ~ relax ~

Periodically through the race, I would look at the InspO, and it would reset my mental state to where it ought to be.

At this junction, I upped my pace and caught up to my newfound friends within a few minutes. I run with them for a several kms and kept the same pace, which felt sustainable. They followed for a few kms as we went off the trail and across the appropriately named Bridge Street bridge, that crosses the Nashwaak river. We then turned right through an aid station and back onto a narrow 5km out-and-back trail that followed the river. This section was a bit tricky. We were encouraged to stick to the right hand side of the trail so as not to impede runners making their return trip, but at the same time some of the half-marathoners had gone out too fast and were slowing down - who do I follow? When do I pass? 

On the out portion of the out-and-back, I saw a few fast Amherst Striders (Victor, Alison, Amy) who were gunning for ~3h30 marathons. "Woo! Go Striders!". On the way back I see a few groups Tanya, Danielle who are wearing "Snailed it!" shirt (with the picture of a snail), Myrna, Greg, and Sue, Rick. I use the same, timeless chant "Woo! Go Striders!"

Side note: I need to come up with better catchphrases.

Between the 7.5 km and 15km points, I average a 5:22/km pace

Part 3: Feels Like a Million Bucks

By 15 or 16km mark I pick out these two half-marathoners to follow (Kate from PEI and Silvia from Tracadie) who are running at a good clip, we are all working together and picking off those who started too fast. At this point I am still feeling FANTASTIC - Silvia is communicating with me in french, and Kate is mostly silent - I don't know if I'm annoying her with my chatter (lol), or she could be focused on herself. With about 3 or 4 kms left in the half marathon I'm shouting with encouragement, "We're pumping out 5:20s like it's nothing!". The three of us caught up to the 3:55 marathon pacer (and group of around 6 people) and I slowed a bit to start running with the 3:55 group as we're crossing the Fredericton Railway Bridge. 

I see Ken Mackenzie who is taking pictures of the Striders.

"Hi Ken" as I whizz by.

"Aw shoot, I didn't see you coming, ill get you on the way back"... as he snapped this picture.

I might have said something to Kate and Silvia about finishing strong but I don't remember. Kate took off for her sprint finish while Silvia stuck it with our group and we pass the halfway point to start the second loop at 1:56:41 (gun time).

At this point, I took a moment to do an internal check and see how well I was feeling. It may have been adrenaline, but I was feeling super fresh at this point. (It still blows my mind thinking about it the next day)

Somewhere between 5:20/km and 5:30/km pace seemed to be the sweet spot for me, so rather than stick with the pacer, I left him in my dust, working with Bob from Moncton, and another guy who I don't remember his name. 

Coming back up towards the Railway Bridge, Ken was able to snap several pictures of Bob, myself and (yellow singlet guy).

Between 15km and 24km I average 5:25/km

Part 4: Fishing

At 24km, we head back out onto the hardpacked gravel trail for round 2. I saw two guys, 200m ahead and I make it my mission to catch up to them. Within a minute I caught up to them and we have a brief conversation, this is around the 25 and 26kms.

- This was probably the most important point in the race for me -

One of the two guys said: 

"You look good man" 

"You guys look strong too!"

"No, you look REALLY strong"

I felt strong. For whatever reason, what that guy said really resonated. He had probably seen a bunch of runners at this point, and to say those comments he probably meant it.

After I passed them, an old saying popped into my head from Alan Theal (Amherst Striders) 

"I'M GOING FISHING"

fish·ing

/ˈfiSHiNG/ 

 

1. the activity of catching fish, either for food or as a sport.

"the area is renowned for its excellent deep-sea fishing"

2. reeling in a slower runner

"the second half of a marathon is ideal to go fishing" 

I must have fished around 10 to 15 runners between the 26km and 32km mark. Every time I passed somebody, there was somebody new in sight. I'm not talking about walkers who had hit the wall, I was passing runners - many of them ended with sub 4h results.

At the 30km mark, I did another check. I'm still feeling incredibly fresh, which honestly did not make sense to me. 

How is it that only 3 weeks prior on my long run with Annie, I was running a 6:00/km pace, and needing to walk and slow down, but today at the 30km mark, my heart rate is at 145 bpm at a 5:20/km pace, and I have zero soreness??

Between 24km and 32km I averaged a 5:24/km pace.

Part 5: Halfway Point

There's a running adage that I read somewhere. The halfway point of the marathon is not 21.1km, but rather 32kms. At 32km I started feeling some soreness on the bottom of my feet, and in my hip flexors, and I slowed down a bit to 5:30/km pace for the 33rd and 34th km. Maybe this is the wall?

Between the 30 and 37km marks, it is a trail out and back. I got to see a lot of the fast runners who were just making their return trip. The sun had properly come out, and temperatures warmed. For the last hour, I started sweating as the sun was beating down on me. To the point where I was deliberately running on the shaded side of the trail. There were a few people that I witnessed stopping and walking - as the course was starting to get warmer, those who had not properly hydrated were feeling the effects.

For a few of the runners, I shout:

"Great job"

"Keep it up"

 "Almost there"

"You got this!"

"Good looking!"

Good looking?!? Maybe I'm the one feeling the effects of exhaustion and dehydration?

It was around the 30km mark that I noticed my mouth was dry and my stomach was feeling woozy from the sugar of the Gatorade (which I took all water stops, and sugary gels at 16km and 30km). After this point I only drank water, and I also took a second cup of water and dumped it on top of my head, which was super refreshing.

The 33.5km was the turnaround point for full marathoners. It's one way to the finish line after that. 

Decelerate to an almost walk...

Turn around the pylon... 

Start running...

Sounds easy right? 

WRONG. 

It was single handedly the toughest part of the entire race. My hips were so tight that they could just not do this simplest maneuver effectively.

After the turnaround, I pass a young guy with big headphones. His name was Barrett. I assumed he would be like every other person I passed for the last 10km and I would drop him like a bad habit - but this guy was different, he sped up behind me and started chatting. He had the goal of going sub 4 hours, and this was his first marathon.

I told him that he is way under 4h pace if he kept it up. 

He and I would trade spots from that point until the very end of the race, both overtaking many runners along the way. 

As we are returning from the out and back section, there is literally an ambulance on the trail tending to a runner. I hope it was nothing serious. We got around the ambulance by running off the trail and kept going. No point in getting in the EMT's way.

Between 32km and 36km I averaged a 5:23/km pace

Part 6: Mission Accomplished

With 6km to go, I had a pretty good idea that I had my goal time in the bag. I probably could have pushed the pace to 5:10 from this point on, but I wanted to just take it all in. 

With about 3 kms to go, it sunk in that I was about to accomplish the greatest athletic feat of my life, and I had a mini ugly cry (better now than at the finish line). At the last water station, I dumped a bunch of water on my head  and wipe my face clean.

I hear a familiar voice "Great job Nick, you look strong - I might have to hire you as a pacer." It was Stanley, and that lifted my already high spirits even higher.

Back over the Railway bridge for the final time, where my brother shows up to run me in to the finish (about 1km to go). As soon as I see him, I let out this loud adrenaline-fueled Viking war-cry. I accelerated for the last kilometer. I asked Mario if Katie and Nora were there, and he said that they were somewhere. During the straight, all I cared about was spotting Katie and Nora, and waving to them. I did not even notice, nor cared that Barrett had sprinted by me. I spot my family, wave to Katie and Nora, my parents, and my mother in law Janet, and then turn my gaze at the finish line to book a stellar finish to top off a near-perfect race. 

Barrett beat me by 1s on gun time, but I have a faster chip time, so I'm claiming victory. 

Experience > Youth

Between 36km and 42.5km I averaged a 5:16/km pace.

I crossed the line at 3:50:22 chip time. That's a marathon PR. 
According to my Garmin and Strava - the second half of this race was my fastest ever recorded half-marathon. That's an unofficial half marathon PR.

Part 7: The Mentee and His Mentors

After the race, the first people I see are Vanessa, and Diane Trites (of the Motivate to Move podcast) who wants a gross, sweaty hug and to congratulate me. 

Next is my family who all came down to congratulate me. Mario and I posed with our medals. I am crouched because my hip flexors no longer work.

Next is Ken MacKenzie who walked over with a huge smile, shook my hand and congratulated me on the amazing job - he even got me a 42.2 bumper sticker.

Kraig Colpitts from Moncton (who podiumed his half-marathon age group) came over to congratulate me as well.

Then Victor and Victoria (of the Striders) cross the line together and I head out to congratulate them with a big strider group, high fives all round. 

Kate from PEI (the half marathoner) had stayed at the start/finish and went out of her way to congratulate me.

Myrna from the Striders approached me and told me that in her heart she believed in me, and knew I could do it. Myrna is a huge reason why I joined the Striders.

Shortly after the race, I got texts from John, Annie, Daniel, Becky, Chris, Sue, and several others who all independently looked up my result online and congratulated me for absolutely crushing it. 

This was such an amazing day, and it meant so much to me to be able to share the day with my running mentors and biggest supporters. From family parent and brother, to my mentors and friends from my days in Halifax, Sackville and now Moncton - thank you! I'm sure that I'm missing some details and important people, but I just wanted to thank all of you for your support and kindness and love. 

Finally a big thank you to Katie who has been there throughout the journey, kept me accountable and supported me for months and years of running. Without her, this would not have been possible. And Nora, you might never remember this race, but I thought of you whenever the race got tough and it made everything easier, thank you for being there on my big day. Love you both with all my heart.

I'm sure there are words of wisdom that I could extract from this journey and condense the experience for you, the reader. You've gotten this far, it's only fair that you get something from it.
Here goes:

• Make friends along the way, those who are genuinely happy for you will help you succeed. 
• Enjoy the experience.
• Believe in yourself.
• Work hard, AND smart.
• Learn from your mistakes.
• If you want to lose weight, run 600km and don't consume carbs.

P.S. I would like to thank Terry and Jo for their amazing hospitality this weekend. Jo went out of her way to get me a light breakfast and share some knowledge that she learned from her siblings (athletic coaches).

Goggins Challenge

 

THE GOGGINS CHALLENGE

You might be wondering, if you're out of the loop...

What is the "Goggins Challenge"?

Why is it worth writing about?

What or who is a Goggins?

Was it actually challenging?

.. among other questions you may have.

DAVID GOGGINS

You may or may not have heard of David Goggins. If you haven't... have you been living under a rock? 
He has over 3.8 million followers on Instagram, and he's been on the Joe Rogan podcast a few times.

(hyperlink below)

David Goggins' has done a bunch of badass accomplishments throughout his life, he's run the Badwater 135 Ultramarathon multiple times, completed Moab 240 (240 mile ultramarathon), is an ex-Navy SEAL, and in 2013 held the Guinness World Record for most pull-ups in a 24 hour period. 
(Among a long, long list of other accomplishments)

Goggins' claim to fame is his motivational speaking, and his message. He preaches mostly that you are able to accomplish way more in life than you think, and that your mind is your biggest obstacle, so you need to train your mind. You do this by voluntarily accepting pain. For example, willing yourself out of bed and not hitting the snooze button would be consistent with this philosophy. 

“You are in danger of living a life so comfortable and soft, that you will die without ever realizing your true potential.” - David Goggins

The man swears like a sailor, and has a few key catchphrases.

"Stay Hard"
"Who's gonna carry the boats, son?"
"You don't know me!"

4x4x48 CHALLENGE 

So with that background, let me introduce the Goggins Challenge 4x4x48

The Goggins Challenge is a 48-hour challenge, whereby a person runs 4 miles (6.44km) every 4 hours, for 48 hours. In total, a person completing this challenge would run 48 miles total, or 77.2km.

I'm a big fan of Mr. Goggins, I find him inspiring - and I started reading his book "Can't Hurt me", my brother Mario is also a big fan. 

My thoughts going into the challenge was that it should be fairly easy if properly managed. A 78km weekend is on the high side in terms of mileage, but the ~3 hour breaks should be sufficient to stretch, refuel, etc. to keep me going for the whole distance. I had tweaked my lower back the previous week - and this worried me a bit going into the challenge, but on Friday night I had good mobility.

Goggins started his challenge at 8 PM Pacific time, which meant I started the challenge at Midnight Atlantic. I had also invited my brother to do the challenge with me. He is not a runner, but he said that he would attempt the first 24 hours. 

I also took 3 pages of notes to document the experience. 

SATURDAY: MIDNIGHT

I ate a large bowl of egg/chicken fried rice after work, and took a 3-hour nap. Mario showed up to my house at around 11:45 PM, and we prepped for the first run at midnight. Went on Instagram for Goggins' live video, introducing us to the challenge. Off we went.

Loop 1: Full of optimism

The first loop was reasonably easy - I took the whole week off running, kept it to an easy pace (~6:30min/km)
After about 5km, Mario started complaining about knee pain. We walked for a little bit, ran the rest, and was back home in around 45 minutes. 

I noted that my left calf was a bit tight at the end of the run, temperature outside was -7.5°C, a bit colder with the wind chill, and we did have a strong East-bound wind that hit us on Killam, for about 300 meters. 
When I got back home, I was quite cold, and needed to thaw, so I turned on the propane fireplace. 

4 down, 44 to go.

SATURDAY: 4AM

We had a big buffet of snacks that we had purchased for this challenge (gummy bears, peanut butter M&Ms, Bits n Bites) an assortment of salt, protein, and carbohydrates. We ate some food, drank more water than I felt like was necessary at the time, I did some minor stretching in the areas I thought might tighten up. And quickly off to bed.

*BRRRRRRT BRRRRRT BRRRT*
At 3:45 AM, my phone alarm goes off. I open my eyes, and stay snuggled in, try to look over at Mario who is on the other couch. Neither of us is moving. My body had "just" started thawing to the point where I was comfortable. Neither of us wanted to make the first move and rouse the other one out of sleep. Eventually I said something, and he retorted "it's your challenge". 

We probably got up at 3:53AM, and rushed to the door for the 4:00AM start. 

It was -12°C according to my outdoor thermostat, but it was so much colder than that with the wind chill. We were f-r-e-e-z-i-n-g on this loop. 

Mario also started really having some knee pain. It was evident to me that this was ITBS. That loop we had three intervals of walking, and I could tell that Mario was in bad pain. I totally get it, when I first started running, I had bad ITBS also. The walking breaks did not help with the cold. I wore clothes expecting to move and generate some body heat. I would also never drop Mario in the middle of a loop for my own sake.

We got back home at around 53 minutes, and I stripped, turned on the fireplace and attempted to dry my clothes for the next loop. I showed Mario a few stretches to help with the pain, gave him a therapeutic gun to focus on his glut medius and lower back. 

Casualties...

The worst pain I was suffering at this point was nipple chaffing - not the worst place to be.

I went back to bed, this time with a heating pad.

8 down, 40 to go.

SATURDAY: 8AM

Katie got back home from her night shift, and I think this woke me up - I made myself a protein shake, applied a generous amount of body glide over my nipples (and all other sensitive areas). Mario had elected to sleep in one of the upstairs beds, and by 7:50AM he had still not come downstairs. I went up to get him.

In my best David Goggins impression; "WAKE UP MOTHERFUCKER! WHOS GONNA CARRY THE BOATS"

He was like, "not me" - his knee was totally locked up, and that was the end of his challenge. 

I was mentally tired, physically OK - and this was the first loop in the sun, but also my first solo loop. I thought that the sun might rejuvenate me. The only notes I took for this loop was that it was -11.5°C, and that it was "super windy and cold". There was a 1km stretch where I ran directly against the wind, and it was absolutely soul-suckingly cold. 

The first loop was cold, but the second and third were soul-sucking - I was having some wind burns on my face as a result.

I got back inside the house, sat by the fire, changed underwear, shirt, socks, took a warm shower, brushed teeth, and Katie made me a breakfast sandwich. I think I got 1 hour of sleep in this interloop.

By this time, I started to notice a few people on social media who were doing the Goggins Challenge - on Strava, there were Lindsay McPhee, and Luc Doucet, and we started messaging each other and giving kudos' and "how are you feeling".

Laura Roy from the Amherst Striders also picked up what I was doing, and asked a few questions - she turned out to be my biggest fan throughout the next day. 

12 down, 36 to go. 

SATURDAY: NOON

I woke up from my 1-hour nap. This was the worst I felt throughout the whole 48 hours. Mentally I was so drained and fatigued, I did not want to go out again. Some of my clothes had not completely dried. I checked the weather and it registered -3°C, but in my mind I had convinced myself that though it was -3°C, but probably -20°C with the wind chill, because Murphy's law. 

I started the loop. *This is the proof that running is more mental than physical* - I run/walked this whole loop - I could not sustain a running pace at all despite it being the best physical conditions up to this point. It was nice and warm, sunny, the wind had died down, and I had eaten a meal. I had doubts about being able to complete the challenge at this point - it just felt like the end goal was SO far away.

At the end of this loop, I still had 32 miles left.

I started feeling better by the end of the loop, but still mentally quite tired. My right calf muscle was still straining a tad. 

My lower back was holding up surprisingly well. 

SATURDAY: 4PM

By this time I had established a post-run routine of;

• Eating some sort of leftover food (be it fried rice, pasta, or some other meal that Katie had made, 
• Drink a substantial amount of water, sometimes with Nuun, sometimes not, 
• Stretch my calves, quads and hip flexors, lower back, sometimes use the TheraGun (Wattne)
  
• Dry all of my running stuff by the fireplace or next to the baseboard heater.
• I had a rotation of gloves, toques, running pants, jackets, socks, shirts..
• Try to get some sleep.

Even the slightest wet clothes was uncomfortable in the cold

So I slept about 3 hours, and by this time the body glide was just not working as well as I was hoping - so I took some medical tape and taped over my nipples. Some of my toes were starting to develop minor blisters, so I taped all of the problem areas there.

I was able to manage 3 hours of sleep between noon and 4PM, I didn't feel great when I woke up, but Katie made me a cup of coffee, and within ~10 minutes I was a brand new man!

Elixir of life

The 4PM loop was great. Only -2°C, I was in a great spirits, alert, it was sunny, nice weather. The wind had slowed. I was still feeling stiff in my left calf, probably due to the slant on the road (for drainage) - aside from that I felt really solid for somebody who previously had ran 20 miles. 

SATURDAY: 8PM 

My mom had texted me and asked if I needed company for some of the loops - mom was worried about me, I think.

I would have liked to have her do the midnight loop with me, but I suggested we walk the 8PM loop, because I didn't want her to feel obligated to stay up until Midnight to walk with me. (She 100% would have done it had I asked).  

So we walked the 8PM loop, weather was nice, the sun had set and it was -5°C when we left the house. I elected to wear a new pair of Brooks Ghost that I had purchased, rather than the Hoka Clifton shoe. I thought it might be better for my calf to change the drop.

My body was good, mind was a bit tired, eyes face, and lips showed signs of wind and cold damage. 

Just like that, 24 miles in 24 hours - and I felt pretty good after the first day.
The first few loops were tough, because I didn't really know how to manage all of the variables, but by around this time I had figured out the approximate amount of food, sleep, etc. needed to continue. 

SUNDAY: MIDNIGHT

 I eat another meal (probably pasta), watch the hockey game on TV.

*BRRRRRRT BRRRRRT BRRRT*

And out for another loop. I was reasonably awake for this part, felt good - but the sun had gone down for a while, and I expected the temperatures to dip again. Started the loop at -6°C. I could feel my lips start drying out, my back was a bit sore, but all-in-all it was a good loop without issue. 

SUNDAY: 4AM

I had taken a nice nap, and before I knew it

*BRRRRRRT BRRRRRT BRRRT*

Time for another loop.
At this point, it was an automatic: my phone would go off 15 minutes before the start, I got up, picked out my clothes, dressed and out the door.- No ifs, ands, or buts.

Turned out I forgot to eat a decent amount between, I snacked a bit though. I didn't think this would be a huge issue, but it's never good when you run hungry. I ran pretty good during this loop. Even though I was physically tired, and hungry it went well.

Not freezing is a great motivator.

I noted in my journal that it was "cold but not soul-sucking". It was -9°C

I finished this one in less than 45 minutes. I transitioned very fast, as I wanted to have the maximum sleep. Took a hot shower to "thaw", eat, brush teeth, eat a big meal, snooze.

32 down, 16 to go: 2/3 of the way there!

SUNDAY: 8AM

*BRRRRRRT BRRRRRT BRRRT*

Amazing sleep!!!!

As always, clothes on and out the door. -8°C

I started running, gluts were sore and I was quickly out of breath. I had a sharp pain in my butt, not sure why that was, but I took mental note of it. This loop was a bit more of struggle, physically. Aside from my walking loop with mom, this was the slowest one. 

Mentally I was OK, sun was out and we had another beautiful cloudless day - but I still needed to move. 

I had to solve what was the problem with my butt - so I did a lot of stretches, used Wattne. I didn't sleep on Sunday, Katie made me a coffee early in the morning and this sustained me until the end of the Challenge.

After this run, Laura Roy, who had been commenting on my Strava posts took a screenshot  of my ninth run, and shared to the Amherst Striders. - Cat's out of the bag, I couldn't quit now.

SUNDAY: NOON

 

Sometimes I had a STRONG feeling of not going out again, but whenever it was less than 10 minutes to start, I prepped as always and ended up moving towards the door. The left knee was starting to hurt a bit.  The left side had been taking some damage all throughout the challenge - it's really a function of running on the left side of the street and facing oncoming traffic. 

I fixed the butt issue that had been nagging me during the last loop, and I had a decent 6.4km run. 
It was nice out, and I finally had the sense of confidence that this challenge was going to be successfully completed. 

Only 8 miles to go. 

SUNDAY: 4PM

I had a sense that part of the issue on my left side might have had to do with my body not being used to the 6mm drop shoes (Clifton 7). So I decided to try a different pair, the Brooks Ghost - which is not a shoe I had been super in love with - but have a 10mm drop. 

I hoped that this solved the issue. I have to say, it absolutely did! 

I was in a great mood, even was able to not wear my toque!

SUNDAY: 8PM

Final loop, 

My mom had texted me and asked if I wanted company on the final loop. Yep, I'm not gonna break any records. No problem, let's do this.

The parents arrived home shortly prior to the final run, my only issues are my slightly sore knees. 
It's -5°C outside, and I'm in great spirits - my dad said that he would run with me (mom ended up cleaning the kitchen, including dishes)

We head out, and I'm running in a solid pace for somebody who had already ran 44 miles. 

First mile, I run it at 6:30min/km pace, and I'm feeling great. 
The old man, not so much. 

We then decide on a run 5 minutes, walk 2 minutes intervals. 
Oddly enough, this final loop was faster than most other loops on Sunday, and I had enough legs left to solidly run the last 200m. 

Done! 

I had an amazing sleep, 30 minutes later. 

FINAL THOUGHTS

The challenge was very difficult for me - the toughest aspect was the mental piece, for a few reasons:

1. Very limited sleep overall, you're reduced to ~3 hours to get in food, drink, sleep, stretch, foam roll, prepare for next loop.
   
   
2. At night where I live, it was cold, very cold with wind chill. Voluntarily putting myself through that was difficult, and my brain sometimes just did not want.
   
   
3. Getting out of bed when I was super cozy ~8 times in 48 hours was tough. 

Physically, if you've done a half-ironman, possibly if you've done even a half marathon, you should be able to complete this challenge. As long as you are reasonably prepared with food and hydration, and you properly stretch and foam roll between laps.

I don't have a treadmill or any way to do indoor activities, I suspect indoor loops would make  this challenge easier, especially during the winter

I learned a lot about myself during this experience, and I think it was a good way to train for an ultramarathon. I learned a lot about food intake, and how to "feel fresh" when I'm not fresh. I learned that I had way more in the tank than I thought. The last loop I ran with my dad - and I could have dropped him as a "pacer". I also learned that if you change shoes from a 6mm drop to a 10mm drop, that you stress different parts of your legs. It really gave me confidence moving forward as an ultrarunner.

A lot of success in ultrarunning is problem-solving on the fly, this provided me an opportunity to do exactly that, but where you have a bit more time to solve the physical issues, while at the same time going through the mental and emotional problems that came with the challenge.

David Goggins' whole philosophy is about training your mind. Once you do that, you can push yourself in a more focused way. I would say that this challenge did exactly that. Mentally, this was one of the toughest things I've ever done, but physically I was perfectly fine. I look forward to do this challenge again in the future, and also complete other unique challenges (12-hour/24-hour, 50 miler, and perhaps even a 100 miler one day). For some reason, I feel more confident when faced with adversity. I don't know if that's temporary or not, but time will tell. 

 You are confined only by the walls you build yourself. 

– Andrew Murphy

Update:
Shortly after the event, John Leygraaf and Diane Trites interviewed me on their Motivate to Move Podcast. Below is that episode.

2021 Virtual Amherst Valentines Run

The 2021 (Virtual) Amherst Valentines Day Run

I told myself I wasn't going to pay for another virtual race.
They are fundamentally no different from a high-effort long run or time trial - and I generally don't care much about the swag. In fact, the race I'm proudest had no swag.

Due to the pandemic, the race went virtual (no surprise) - and because the Atlantic Canada bubble was suspended due to high number of Covid-19 cases, I could not even do the run in Amherst with the Striders. What was the point?

Sue Gallant from Sackville, Facebook messaged a few New Brunswickers to see who else was doing the half marathon to see who would run it with her - I thought about it and determined that for only $20, supporting a local race and my running club, there wasn't much harm. Plus, I get to determine the course - unlike last year where the race designer was an "ass".

https://trailbeermiles.blogspot.com/2020/02/amherst-valentine-run-or-intersection.html

I had also signed up for the Fredericton Marathon on mothers day weekend - and this would be a great tune-up race to assess my strengths and weaknesses moving forward with a 12-week program to try and complete a sub-4 hour marathon. [The Fredericton Marathon ended up moving to a September date].

PRE RACE

Sue ended up running her half solo mid-week - so I ended up running mine on the weekend.

Saturday, February 13th the weather is perfect for mid February, it's barely below freezing, and it's sunny outside and as I'm prepping for my half marathon, my wife comes in after shopping in the morning asks me why I don't do it tomorrow, since she is working on Sunday. My plans were scrapped, but we ended up going to Mill Creek Park in Riverview and we snowshoed for the entire afternoon. 

(!) Side Note/ If there is one positive thing about virtual races, is that you can really work them around your schedule, and wait until you have ideal conditions. Side Note/(!)

RACE DAY

Sunday, February 14th is the real valentine's day. So it's appropriate that I run on this day. In the back of my mind I was always planning on running in the afternoon because it warms up slightly, and you suffer a tad less. Either way, the 14th was something like -8°C outside, which can be hard on the lungs when going at 100%.

I woke up at around 11:30am, pour myself a glass of water + Nuun, a cup of coffee, and eat a banana, let myself digest for an hour - warm up (indoor) for about 15 minutes - and head out the door and down the street.

Since I'm the Race Designer 😏, I opt for 7-loops of the Pinehurst Perimeter (~3.05km per loop). I'm very familiar with the area, it's flat, and I expect minimal interruptions with traffic. 

I'm out the door with my new shoes, the Thicc Boiss, HOKA ONE ONE Clifton 7s, and jump up and down to warm up and pump myself up, and set my watch for a 1:59:00 pace. 

3....2....1.....GO! (whenever I was ready)

I have my "A" goal of beating my Half Marathon PB (1:55:27), and a "B" goal of going sub 2:00:00. Given the cold, and the added layers - I have no idea if this is realistic. 

To provide context, a 2h half is ~5:39min/km

Loop 1:
I started way (!) too fast, but it might have been the adrenaline and the warm-up.
My first kilometer was a 5:02min/km, and the subsequent kilometers were 5:12min/km and 5:17min/km. I feel like I'm going too fast - but I also feel like this pace might be sustainable. I focus on my breathing, as this is the only thing bothering me at this point, I probably should have started slower and acclimatized my lungs to the cold before speeding up (oh well). My first loop (1 of 7) was completed in around 15:47 and it was done in the counter-clockwise direction. 

Loop 2:
I continue to maintain the pace at approximately 5:15min/km, wave to a few pedestrians, and this pace feels too fast, but again - it also feels like it might be "just right". I look at my Garmin, and it tells me that I'm about 1 minute ahead of goal pace. 

I normally run at night, so running during daylight made it apparent that the back half of this loop was a slight, long incline. This is where I started hurting during the loops. I would go down Worthington (easily), and then turn around and up Ayer, and by the end of Ayer I would be out of breath. By the end of loop 2, I convince myself that the clockwise version of this loop is easier than the counterclockwise version. 

By the end of loop 2, I see my in-laws who are on a walk - I do not stop to talk to them. I am on a mission. I finish this loop at the 31:40 mark, making this loop 15:53

Loop 3:
Back down Worthington Avenue, in 5:15min/km, my body is feeling the pain, but I'm maintaining proper speed. I think of Kate (mojo) and for some reason the chorus of the song "A La Claire Fontaine" pops into my head and stays there for the next hour and a half.

"Il ya longtemps que je t'aime, jamais je ne t'oublierai."

(!) Side note/ I did some digging as to why this random children's song from my youth popped into my head mid-race. It was featured in The Devil Next Door, as documentary series about the trial of John Demjanjuk and establishing whether he was "Ivan the Terrible" who served for the Nazis in WWII Side Note/(!)

When I start getting to the turnaround point this is when I start struggling - my legs are not turning over as well as they had on the previous inclines. Either consciously or unconsciously, my body decided that if we're going to do a half marathon, we need to slow down. The next two kilometers are 5:24min/km, and 5:28min/km - at this point I take in my first Salt/Caramel GU. 

At some point, I start thinking "Am I going to DNF a half marathon??"

Finish this loop at 48:05 mark, making the loop in 16:25. 

Loop 4: 
This was the first time I struggled down Worthington Ave, not even halfway there, and I'm slipping to 5:38min/km pace. Oh no. 

"Il y a longtemps que je t'aime, jamais je ne t'oublierai"

It's totally fitting for Valentines day, and a very cute song - but it's not 180bpms that I need. 

But the GU kicked in, and I close out the loop in slightly faster at 5:26min/km and 5:27min/km - this is the approximate pace I try to maintain for the remainder of the "race". Only nine more kilometers to go. At the end of this loop, I tell myself that I will do the remaining loops in the clockwise direction (because I've at this point convinced myself that they will be easier).
 
Finish this loop at 1:05:00 mark, making the loop 16:55 - yup I'm definitely trending slower. 

Loop 5:
First loop in the clockwise direction, and as you might have predicted, direction doesn't help - because this is a super flat course (aside from mental aspect, why would it??). 

First kilometer, with the benefit of a "slight downhill" is 5:38min/km, then 5:27min/km, and it was at around this time that I .. started walking.

I just need to catch my breath again.
For 500 meters.
I walk briskly. 
Try to catch my breath again.
I start to feel how tired my legs are. 
Huff Puff
"Il y a longtemps que je t'aime, jamais je ne t'oublierai.

Open up a frozen honey stinger (fruit punch) to try and rally. I check my watch, and yeah - my "A" goal is probably out of reach. I need to re-motivate myself and rally if I want to get that sub-2. I just want this to be DONE, I need this to be DONE! Come on Legs!

I wish I would have stashed a water stop somewhere on the course (but it probably would have frozen) - the Gu doesn't wash down great without water. 

I complete this loop at 1:24:21, making this a much slower 19:16 loop time. 

Loop 6:

At the start of the loop, I see two runners with a dog, I think nothing of it until I recognize one of the two runners as one of my childhood best friends, Alex.
"Hey man!"
I did not know he lived in the area. 
For some reason, this took my mind completely off the stiffness and the pain, and my mind wandered a bit, "what's he doing here", "I wonder where he lives", "that must be his girlfriend", "Il y a longtemps que je t'aime, jamais je ne t'oublierai", "cute dog", "I wonder what he's up to".
I see him again as I am completing the loop, and I'm averaging a solid ~5:30 pace. 

Return at the checkpoint at 1:41:45, which made this loop a 17:24 - by this point, my watch was showing 18.4km ran.

Loop 7:
I knew I would be done before a complete loop, so I put my best effort for the final 2.6km (I did not have this blog in mind), and it started well, but the last kilometer was TOUGH!. I was out of energy, and my legs felt heavy. As soon as I hit the 21.1km mark, I stopped and walked home. 


Final time 1:56:37

This was truly man versus self event. 

Other factors were minor and irrelevant 

At the 15km mark, when I started to walk, I thought the only way to go sub 2 would be if it were barely sub 2, but this result was much closer to my "A" goal, than to my "B" goal. 

I have to say, I'm quite happy with it overall given that it was in frozen conditions, but if I'm honest, the pacing was horrible, and the RD picked a boring, and repetitive, and (opposite of) scenic course. Back to the asshole hill next year.

Next time I need to get myself a photographer, because this is all I got. 

Amherst Valentine Run; or, the Intersection of Stupidity and Bravery

What life decisions led me to this moment? I am clearly not impressed with myself.

Tanya is smiling in the picture.

I can't understand why.

Just last week, I was thinking that my long runs should start getting into the half-marathon range.
I had in mind, a nice, cozy 21.1 km run - supporting local youth charities along the way. It will be a nice day with slightly sore legs at the end.

The weather report on Monday was "feels like -10°C with the wind chill", so I signed up - thinking I would be running with the normal Saturday long-runners around my pace zone.

We often complain about the weather networks being way off with their forecast, but they were way, way off this time. Throughout the week, it just got progressively colder and colder. On Tuesday -16°C ... to -23°C ... and finally when I checked on Friday afternoon, it seemed to settle on a ridiculous -30°C

Let's be clear, -30°C is "I'm OK watching Netflix and skipping groceries for a nicer day", kind of weather.

On Wednesday prior to the race date, Tanya Hoeg messages me out of the blue, asking if we should run the half marathon together - I don't really know her or her pace zones, we met a week ago at the end of her long run. Apparently only 7 people signed up to the half marathon. It could be a long day running alone, so I tell her about my pace situation and we agree to run together, and 2 hour time goal seemed reasonable.

By Friday, I'm telling myself that with the added layers, the cold (making it difficult to breathe) - I'd be lucky with a 2h 05m time.

Race Day, literally all of the mishaps

On race morning, I hit the snooze button a few times and am running later than I wanted - skip breakfast and head to the school where the Start/Finish line is located. As I'm walking in (already frozen) there's a booth with gummies/sour gummies - ask them if I can take some to "fuel up for  the race".

All fueled up! 😏

Meet up with Tanya, Kent Beattie (who signed up last minute, KNOWING IT WOULD BE -30°C) I'm feeling extremely stupid for going along with this idea. But I told Tanya I would run, and if she wasn't quitting, I wasn't either!

We are all lined up for the start, waiting for the air horn to go off, the woman in charge of the air horn presses it a few times - nothing happens. She tries again - still no noise (too cold maybe?).

"Go, just go." 

And we're off!

Some people take off like a bat out of hell (David Enman, Kip Jackson, Victoria, Tanya)
After 500 meters, she's already 20 meters ahead of me, and I'm going at a 5:15min/km pace trying to keep up.

Was she punking me?

She was not.

She looks back, probably remembered that she was supposed to run with a slowpoke, and slows down for me - we run the rest of the race pretty much within 20 meters of each other.

Within the first few kilometers, maybe 10 minutes into the race, my glasses fog up - and then frost. I can't see out of them at all, which is why if you look at any picture of me during the race, I don't have my sunglasses on properly.

One of the volunteers commented on my #TeamAwesome #RunOttawa2020 shirt!

We're making very good time, of all the 10 km and 21.1 km runners who started together, only a dozen are ahead of us. At one point we see Kip Jackson (eventual 10 km winner) come blazing back, with Enman about 300 meters back;

I yell: "He's right where you want him!"  Attempting to provide false confidence. 

Knowing full well there's no chance of catching Kip Jackson, he has ALL of the KOMs in Sackville. 

During this whole race, Tanya and I are chatting. I'm trying to distract myself from the fact that I've been red-lining since the 4th kilometer.

She's seriously awesome;
- Making sure I have carbs
- Asking if I need hydration at the water stations
- Asking if we need to slow down when my breathing increases (after the hill)
- Pushing me at the downhill "let's try to make up some time"

At one point, she offers me a GU - I have my own.

Gives me a pack of gummies (frozen of course) - I put one down the hatch, and nearly choke on it a few times, it's rock solid... is it supposed to be like a jolly rancher? (it was not)

Meanwhile, some ice starts forming on my eyelashes and moustache - and the buff covering my chin is frozen solid.
I could see just fine, but Tanya thought I was not able to see from my eyes (I guess I looked like a snowman).

This race makes us do two "laps" for most of the course, so we cross many of the sections 4 times (2x out, 2x back) - there is one section where a fire truck was parked.

He would honk his loud ass horn.
Every. Damn. Time.

I wasn't bothered by it too much, but Tanya screamed expletives 4 times during the whole race, at the exact same spot.
I was slightly annoyed, but I was more amused by Tanya's reaction than anything.

So we're on the way to lap #2, Ken and Alan are driving around the course taking pictures and giving high fives. We get by Victor Wright (course volunteer), and I ask him if he intends on running 50 km today? (He didn't say yes or no, but I'm assuming it was a no)

By this time, all of the volunteers at the water stations have left full cups of gatorade and water on the tables for the 5 or 6 runners (idiots) to pick up.

(!) Side note/ It was around this time that we crossed the two last place half-marathoners, one dropped out after ~13km, and the other one started late \Side note (!)

Tanya is running ahead of me for a lot of this, and I'm lagging behind and really feeling it - I check my watch 6:05min/km the last split (yikes).

I take my one and only GU of the race, grab a cup of water (actually ice) and keep going.

At the furthest point, the last turnaround - I look at my watch for a time-check. We are at approximately 5km left, with just around 1h30m gone - is a sub-2h actually possible?

The GU finally kicks in, and I start feeling my feet under me again - I start thinking it's realistic to run a 6:00min/km pace for the next 5 km.

We go down the Industrial Park road, downhill on Tupper, and back uphill.

(!) Side note/ whoever designed this course is an ass, there was no need to make half-marathoners do the hilly section of Tupper Bloulevard up and down 4 times. \Side note (!)

Back to the race, so for the last 4 water stations, with no volunteers, we needed to stay at the water table, wait until we downed/crunched the ice, threw away the cups into the trash bin and continue.
This process, especially the stop/start aspect to it took away some precious time away from us.

At the last water station, Tanya is taking her last cup of water while I continue jogging at a slower pace.

I check my watch for a time-check, and we need to pick up the pace for our final mile if we want to go sub-two. I am about 10 meters in front of Tanya, half screaming, half encouraging because I know we can make sub 2h, but we really need a sprint-finish. I'm holding off a bit, because I want her to catch up to me before we make our final push.

By the time we actually started sprinting, I think it was probably a bit too late to make up the lost time.

Final time for me was 2:00:36, and Tanya's was 2:00:41


 I'm VERY happy with this time, we meet up with Kent (winner of the half marathon)

This was a tough event mentally and physically. I could not have dreamed of achieving close to 2h00m at the race start. Tanya is a big part of that. She pushed me, made sure I relaxed, and made sure I had the required carbs and hydration for my race to go well.

Huge thank you goes to her.

Here's a picture of me at the finish line. Icicles forming around the eyes and facial hair.

Kent, Me, and Tanya post-race.

P.S. Can we get Tanya an honorary #TeamAwesome Shirt?

2019: Year in review

2019: Year in Review

Overview

In October 2018, I ran my first marathon.

I was suffering from ITBS, and was lucky to even have started that race. It wasn't a good race (time-wise) by any stretch of the imagination, but I completed the distance which was my primary goal. I didn't reach my main goal, and my stretch goal was a fantasy.

I took a few months off, and re-started training in January of 2019. 

I had "experience" on my side, now. 

At that point, I had registered for a single race in 2019: Capes - 100km - 8 months to train.

At the start of the year, I had set a few goals for myself. 

• 1:45 Half Marathon
• 4:00 Marathon
• Complete the 100km race
• 1,200 km for the full year (100 km/month)

It's that simple. 

Winter Training; Injury; Fredericton Race Weekend

I signed up for the Fredericton full marathon, which occurred on mother's day, in May. I had a training plan ready and everything.

My first run of the year was pretty bad. 

• A 3km run
• Very slow
• Unbelievably high heart rate
• Not good

All of that "experience" I had didn't factor in how easily and quickly you go from a full marathon to a immovable blob.

I got back into the training regimen, and it was not going great - I was getting knee pain on my left knee. I went to see the physio, and they said that I had "weak gluts". *rolls eyes*

Training went badly. About 6 weeks out of the marathon, I made the tough, but responsible decision to drop down to the half-marathon distance and convinced my brother to come with me.

The week prior to the race, I was playing indoor soccer, and rolled my ankle. 

Bad.

I didn't get it examined or diagnosed, but there was a lot of swelling and pain - Dr. Google and I think it was a posterior talofibular ligament sprain (full disclosure, I am not a doctor).

I probably shouldn't have ran the Fredericton Half Marathon - I didn't know how my ankle would hold up - and I should have let it heal. I taped it with KT tape, an ankle sleeve, medical tape, etc.

With my brother running the half marathon, I had an added motivation. We are competitive, and there was no way I was going to let him win. 

Finished in 2:04:48 - a time I was happy with, given my injury, training mishaps, etc.

I still beat Mario 😆

Spring and Summer Training

The week after Fredericton, I could not put any weight on my foot. I legitimately thought something was broken. I would move around the house with my office (rolling) chair. 

The swelling came down, and the time that I had to train for Capes 100km was diminishing - I told myself that I would try as hard as I could to not drop down to the 50km race. 

I have a few very good long runs; and was trending up, quickly. I noticed that the run/walk long run made it easy to reach desired kms.

• May 26 - 25 km
• June 02 - 31 km
• Break
• June 16 - 34 km
• Break
• June 29 - 53 km 

The first week of July, Kate and I visited Cape D'Or and Cape Chignecto Provincial Park. 

Beautiful. Unbelievably scenic, but there's no way I'm doing 100 km in these hills.

Everything goes according to plan:
Capes, Striders, PBs

August 17th rolls around, I drop down to the 50 km (actual distance 52km) race option for Capes with the time goal of 8 hours 30 minutes. 

You can read my Capes Race Report

I got within 45 seconds of my goal time, and I was stoked with this.

It was a tough task, but I got it done - completely lost it by the end.

Side note/ I had a dentist appointment in January and as I'm getting a picture of my teeth taken. The lady (Myrna) points to my Garmin watch.

"Is that a Garmin? Do you run?" 

She brings Lesley into the room.They are both Striders. We exchange some of our races for the upcoming year.

They suggested I join the Facebook group and join them for group runs. \Side Note

Side Note/

During Capes, I ended up camping next to two women who live near me (Alison, Catherine), and they suggested I join their running group in Amherst , NS.

\Side Note

Three weeks later, I join the Amherst Striders, for my first run. I've continued to run with them since that day.

On September 21st, my town is holding a harvest festival, and there's a 1 mile race happening. I have never trained to go fast, don't do HIIT workouts nor speedwork. I was concentrated on endurance and distance for the past 6 months. 

No registration, fees or anything - you just show up.
I got a 1 mile PB 6:24, good for 12th overall. A big confidence booster! I can actually run fast(ish)?!?

I kept running with the Amherst Striders, probably 3x per week for 5 weeks
Many of them are doing the PEI race weekend, I get peer pressured into running it.

Eliud Kipchoge broke the 2-hour marathon record with a time of 1:59:40 on Oct. 12

That would be my goal time - I want to run a half marathon faster than 1:59:40

Done!
PEI Half Marathon Race Report

My toes are absolutely wrecked by the end of this race - I ended up losing two toenails because of it!

Am I officially a runner now?

Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend - Team Awesome

While this is taking place, I get a targeted Facebook advertisement from the Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend - they want applicants to be on their Team Awesome. I apply (because why not?).

I get the great news that I've been selected to be part of #TeamAwesome, Ambassador for the Ottawa Marathon, and that I get to run the Ottawa Marathon for free! Amazing!

It will be fun to share my journey with anybody who wants to follow along. 

While the ambassadors and me are introducing each other, I noticed that some of the other ambassadors are also ambassadors for other products (Oiselle, Nuun, Honey Stinger, Endurance Tap... other gear/nutrition). 

I start applying to as many of these that I can; look for ambassador programs - especially for the stuff that I already use. Lo and behold, I get selected for Team Nuun also!

 Wrapping up the end of the Year - Re-injury

So with the end of the PEI race weekend, I had no other goals until the end of the year, except for the 1,200 annual kms.

I had a loose goal to run the Hypothermic Half Marathon on Feb 02/2020 (palindrome day) - but by mid November, end December I noticed that I had a lot of foot pain on my left side, which was caused a unbalanced gait, and thus hip and knee issues as well. My mileage dipped quite a bit in these last few months and I didn't reach my 1,200 goal, but I started focusing more on healing, recovery, and injury prevention. I found myself a great local chiropractor whose treatment and advice has helped me turn around and manage the toll running takes on me.

Addendum

To summarize:

• Ran 1,017 kms for the entire year
• Did not even attempt a marathon
• Dropped down two race distances 
• Fredericton Full to Half
• Capes 100km to Capes 50km

Thus, I achieved no goals that I set for myself at the beginning of the year.

I regret nothing.

A few things I learned this year

1. Injury prevention is important
• Find a good medical professional
2. There are limits to what I am capable of doing alone, find a group
• If you're in Sackville, Amherst or surrounding area, come join us!
3. Enjoy the journey
• Having a plan is important, but you have to enjoy it
4. Believe in yourself, and give yourself realistic goals