Helen's Running Journal

July - August 2002

If you don't have a dream how can you have a dream come true?

My Running Pages.
2001-2002 Journals 2003-2007 Training Journals Photos Other Stuff
2001 Training Journal Jan-Sept 2003 1999 and 2001 Pictures The 2001 Venice Trip!
January - March 2002 Sept - Dec 2003 2002 Pictures Why Do I Run?
April and May 2002 Jan-Oct 2004 The Northside Trail 2002 Training Program
June and July 2002 The 2004 Timberman Tri! 2003 Pictures The 2002 Greece Trip!
August 2002 2005 Journal The 2003 UK-France Trip!
September 2002 2006 Journal Triathlon Life Lessons
October 2002 2007 Journal The 2004 Egypt Trip!
2008 Journal The 2005 Triathlons (and Ironman)!
The 2006 Triathlons
The 2007 South Africa Trip!

2002 Goals: Complete a Half-Ironman Triathlon
and
 Sub-4 Hour Marathon


Week of July 22
Monday         Wow, what a run! I have no idea what happened to me, but it was like somebody had set fire to my legs! I ran down Charlotte Street to College Field, hoping that a gate to the track would be open so that I could do my 3 x 1 mile sprint workout. No such luck. Some moron at UNB has decided to keep downtown Fredericton's only track under lock and key. After gazing longingly at the track for countless minutes I continued along the trail out to Lincoln Road, deciding to do 3 x 8min sprints instead. I started picking up my pace dramatically - at about the same time that the trail turned into a construction zone. As I picked my way through the trail I lost track of my time, but kept running fast. And faster. And even faster. By the time I turned around, I was really moving. I ran back downtown along Queen Street, flying by tourists and zipping up York until I reached Charlotte. I have no idea what got into me, but I suspect the biking I've been doing recently is having an impact on my stride.
Wednesday         Success came in the form of a 45 minute swim across Killarney Lake this evening! After two days of visualising perfect, fearless swimming in open water, I did exactly that. Then came the tempo run. Swimming has the odd effect of making me incredibly sluggish and woozy for the remainder of the day, so trying to do a tempo run immediately after a 45min swim was a bit daunting. But the evening was as perfect as one could ask for, and even those horrid little white flies were staying away. I ran the Gibson Trail to Marysville, feeling slow for the first 20min until a few minutes into my tempo when the faster pace and quicker rhythm seemed to come more naturally. My heartrate stayed quite high and I wasn't running any faster than usual according to my watch, but my legs and foot turnover were solid and quick. The air and the evening sun filtering through the trees made for a wonderous time.
Saturday         The big day: The St. George Triathlon!! I was competing in the just-short-of-an-Olympic length triathlon: 1km swim, 36.5km bike ride, and 8km run, which is still twice what I had done in Miramichi. Oh, and I had just received the new clip pedals for my bike last night. And the wetsuit on Thursday. Sooooo...my goal for the triathlon was to learn how to deal with the new equipment and pick up some new tricks in preparation for the Esprit Half-Ironman in September.
        Saturday morning, 8am. We arrive in St. George. During the last 20 minutes of the drive the butterflies in my stomach suddenly develop jet engines. The fear of the swim, the awareness of the lengthy physical hardship I'm about to put myself through, it's all hitting me. To calm and focus myself, I rehearse my transitions over and over again. Visualisation and reciting details work remarkably well. Before the start we lay out my equipment in the transition area, and I take the bike out for a while to practice mounting with the new shoes and climbing up the short, steep driveway out onto the road. Grey skies open up and the rain comes pouring down. Oddly enough, I'm grateful for this: if I can get used to rain today, it will be one less thing to worry about in Montreal.
        Thirty minutes before the start I get into my wetsuit. By the time the race official has gone through the rules during the race meeting, I'm terrified. When I hear him yell "Three minutes to the start," I want to bolt out of there in terror. Instead, I make my way down to the wharf, sit on the edge, and live through the worst two minutes of the weekend. I slip into the water and continue to fight the nausea. Finally, I tell myself that I'm about to enjoy myself, that I can't wait for the challenge. And the nerves are gone.
        I stay at the back of the pack at the start, and we head up the river to the first turn-around. I'm swimming with a slow stroke rate, keeping my eyes closed and just trying to relax. Three men are behind me, and I'm catching up to someone ahead of me who keeps straying off course. I barely make the second turn-around because of the current. The last stretch is a 250m straight line against the current. I keep my eyes closed, and every time my head turns down into the water I imagine a team of dolphins and whales behind me, pushing me forward. Sounds silly, but the concept works like magic and I swear I can feel myself surging ahead. Definitely a trick to hang on to. I start wandering off course as I spot Gary standing on the edge of a wharf, but I eventually make it to the landing, remembering to stop using my arms so that the circulation returns to my legs and the dizziness won't be quite as bed when I get out of the water. I jog down the chute to the transition area, stripping my wetsuit, putting on my bike shoe, and hobbling to the mounting line to start. I tell myself that the worst part is over, that I just got through the swim. If only I knew....
        The rain is coming down, it's freezing, and I'm soaking wet as I start uphill on the bike course. And I keep going uphill. And more uphill. Every once in a while there's a short downhill stretch, but most of the first 20km of the bike are short, steep hills with no flat sections whatsover. I have to stand on the pedals and crunch to the top of every one of them. For the longest time I don't see anyone else, so I assume everyone is miles ahead of me. Until....I climb to the top of an exceptionately long hill and see cyclists dotting the road ahead of me on a series of upcoming (lower) hills all lined up in a straight stretch. Elation! I'm not as bad as I thought I was! I take in a bit of Gatorade, settle in, and zip ahead to see if I can close any distance.
        The hills eventually ease up a little and we're biking along the Magaguadavic River with a headwind. I'm gaining a lot of ground by then and I suddenly realise that I have only 6km to go. Whatever happened to those last 10km? I tail another woman just ahead me, not passing her but making sure I stay just outside of the 5m draft zone. I want to rest a bit before getting into the run and I like the psychological effect of staying behind someone slower than me. At the dismount line I uncleat but leave my shoes on, hop off the bike, and hobble to my spot to rack my bike. My legs are shaking so badly I can barely get my shoes on. The transition takes way too long as I try to tie my laces. The woman whom I was tailing on the bike flies out of the transition at least a minute ahead of me. But I'm finally moving along the chute to the run, cheered on by a bit of clapping.
        Thank God I've practised running after the bike portion so that I'm ready for the horrible "elephant legs" feeling. After a short stretch on a dirt path, we turn onto the road and start more hills. My legs are hurting but it's not as bad as I had predicted. I start gaining ground on the two runners ahead of me. After the turn-around at 4km, my legs suddenly revive themselves and I really start moving. I catch up the woman I had tailed on the bike, and we run the rest of the race together, chatting and joking to keep our minds off the miles. My legs are actually feeling good by now and I want to speed up, but the hills are still coming. Finally, the dirt stretch re-appears, we pass under the gate, listen to cheering and clapping around us and speed up a little for the finish.         Lessons learned:
  • Good music to pump me up before the event. Today it was listening to U2 as we drove to St. George. I should really make an "event CD" with all of my favourite songs.
  • Focusing my mind by visualising every detail of all the major decisions I have to make, the weak spots I need to go over before the start. In this case, going over the unracking of the bike, handling the new shoes, clipping my cleats into the pedals.
  • Get a bath mat to replace my towel in the transition.
  • Eat during the bike. Having a Powerbar open and nibbling on it as I go was great during the run, but too late.
  • Learn to get out of my bike shoes without uncleating them as I approach the last transition on my bike.
  • Gatorade - can't get enough of it.


Week of July 29
Monday         The schedule said 5 or 6 short hills today. I didn't feel any stiffness or soreness in my legs so I decided to do Golf Club Road at a fairly quick pace. That probably wasn't a good idea so soon after a triathlon. However, running after an event is always fun: you feel inspired by the competitive pace you did during the event and train as if you're still in it. My heartrate was low at the start and stayed there whenever I was on the flat.
Wednesday         I had quite a surprise when I put my heartrate monitor on this evening before my run: the first reading was just over 100, when it normally reads in the low 60s. I spent some time not moving, hoping it would go down. Was this elevated heartrate due to fatigue from Saturday or the evening's incredible humidity? Probably both. I set out for my run anyway, but trimmed the 2x20min tempos to 2x10min and contented myself with running at a strong pace. Strangely enough, I felt great when it came to running fast and keeping a rapid rhythm. Maybe it was the effect of the beautiful summer evening. I stopped at the end of the field in Marysville and sat on a bench, marveling at how still everything was (not a breath of wind), the colour of the light, the sun in the trees.
Friday         Although I removed my Friday runs from my training schedule, I went out for a fairly long one this evening anyway. It was getting dark by the time I left the apartment so I decided to stay on Golf Club Road. Some hip and knee pain started creeping in to my joints about a third of the way into the run. This is probably the result of lots of biking and less stretching than usual. A hot night for a run.
Sunday         We're in PEI for the holiday weekend, but that isn't stopping us from doing our long runs this morning. Although we're out of the campground by 8am, there's a warning of humidity in the air. We've decided to do a 26km loop along the beach and then on rural roads. I love running on the beach, listening to the surf and watching the water foam right beside me, but my hip and knee scream in agony. We only do about 20min before joining the road. Then we have a long, long straight stretch between sand dunes and marshes. It's bit of a demoralizing stretch because to our left, across the marsh, we cah see just how far and long our loop will be. I keep my pace very slow and steady, especially after we leave the park and the sun comes out, elevating heat and humidity levels to well beyond what we've been experiencing in Fredericton. My hip and knee are a little quieter and they begin to stop talking altogether. We turn onto Route 6, which has almost no traffic but does come with lots and lots of hills. The heat is intense. The pedometer tells us we've only done 14km; I tell myself it must be wrong because there's no way we can be running THAT slowly.
        We finally head downhill and I start feeling a bit better. My mind has at last accepted that this is a long run and is re-organizing itself for an extended period of pain and suffering. My only complaint at this point is the heat in my sneakers; I've worn the wrong socks and my toes feel like they're about to blow up. I focus on a regular pace, and now I'm even starting to feel quite good. The last stretch in the park itself, just before the campground, is tough. It's taken us three hours (minus 25min for stopping) to do 26km. I don't think I've run this slow since Iceland.
Week of August 5
Wednesday         I started out this evening when the weather was just clearing up, making conditions perfect for running. The sun was setting, the air was cool, and there was no wind. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to do today's scheduled workout - 3x15min tempo - because of a slightly sore knee and after a long swim earlier. The knee has started bothering me recently. My suspicions are that biking without the benefit of easier gears has strained the IT band. The pain was a bit sharp this evening, but not incapacitating. I started my first tempo ten minutes into the run, aiming to keep my heartrate above 160. My foot turnover was quick and it seemed that I was holding a good pace. It wasn't until the last tempo that I really started moving, so much so that I didn't want to stop. Great run.
Thursday         Not so great run. My legs were tired from last night's fast workout and the pain in my right knee, althoughnot bothersome, kept me a little worried. My route was a little shorter than usual, going through Odell Park first, then along the river, and finally back home along George Street. The hills in Odell Park seem tougher to climb than the last time.
Week of August 12
Monday         Yep, that's right folks: no long run this weekend. My sweetie was busy celebrating a birthday and running the Saint John Half-Marathon. I was busy baking and cheering. I did go for a 60km bike ride yesterday in intense heat, however. Surely that counts for something!
        For the sprint workouts today I went up to the Fredericton High School Track. Unfortunately it's a crushed gravel surface, not the paved surface I was hoping for. The workout was 3x(80m-400m-200m). It was not the most pleasant of speed workouts: the crushed gravel was difficult to keep a stable footing, and there were no less than five soccer games going on around me. I seem to be a bit slower than last year as well, averaging just over 2min per lap. More sprint work is in order.
Wednesday         Fredericton is going through a Toronto-style heatwave right now. Personally, I like the heat, although I feel absolutely terrible for Chickie and Koshka who are probably cursing their feline luck. I wasn't feeling so dandy myself out on the trail this evening; I had a tempo workout scheduled after my bike ride, but the workout turned into a straightforward run when my heartrate skyrocketed and I had difficulty breathing as a result of the humidity. It's not like I could stop and catch my breath, either, thanks to the flies. The pace was very slightly slower than usual. That surprised me, given the heat and the bike ride.
Saturday         This will be yet another week where a busy schedule will force me to skip my long run. I will probably end up rescheduling this one - a 40km run no less - until after the Esprit Triathlon in September. I'll also be lengthening my weekday run - and running more frequently - to make up for all these skipped workouts. Tonight I left the apartment in the early evening, planning a short run since I hadn't been out since Wednesday (I had been biking instead.) I felt slow running down Charlotte Street; my legs were tired, though not stiff. I did the Wilmot Park/ Sheraton/ Train bridge route, trying to beat my best time of 24:48 to the end of the bridge. I didn't quite make it, but I was surprised to see that I was running at a faster pace than I otherwise felt. I did, however, set a new time for the entire route overall!
Week of August 19
Monday         Hello from Ottawa, home for the next two weeks! Wow, this really is a beautiful city. Nothing like the city at the centre of the universe, Montreal, of course, but definitely a step above Fredericton. I was up bright and early this morning, and set off from the Canadian Police College on the Aviation Pathway that parallels Rockliffe Parkway, heading towards downtown Ottawa. I felt great as I left the College (probably because of hte slight downhill!); a new setting can sometimes do wonders. Like Saturday's run, my heartrate was incredibly high, even though the path was not all that hilly. Got treated to a spectacular sunrise on my way back, watching the fields to my right brighten up from cool grey to golden yellow.
Tuesday         Same routine as yesterday: up early, on the pathway to downtown Ottawa, the sun rising behind me and colouring the view in incredible ways. This time I was planning for something a bit longer and that would take in a few of the sites. I ran by the Lookout, by Rockcliffe Park, searching for 24 Sussex Drive. Oddly enough, I missed it, expecting it to be further down the road. I jogged by all sorts of fascinating sights: the War Musuem, the National Art Gallery, the incredible Ottawa City Hall, the Royal Mint. Then the roof of Parliament came into view. It was truly something else to be running in such impressive surroundings. I finally turned back, this time finding the Prime Minister's residence. Caught up to another woman running on the path just before reaching the college. I was amazed that I could pass anyone at all, but it did put my heartrate up over 170 just to do.
Wednesday         After discovering how close I was to the incredible sights of downtown Ottawa, I just couldn't wait to get up this morning to go running again. The route was the same as yesterday. This time I made it a little further down the road, going past the American embassy and turning around at Major's Hill Road, which provides a side view of the Parliament buildings. I was doing a tempo workout as well: 2 x 10min. The first went remarkably well (probably because of that slight downhill slope!), but the second one was a little more difficult. A bit of a rough time in the final 20 minutes of the run, too. Then again, I DID bike hard for one hour last night and I WAS trying to pass someone ahead of me this morning! Also checked out the mansions in the Rockcliffe area. But you know, I still like my little one-bedroom apartment in Fredericton better.
Thursday         Guess where I went running? Yep, towards downtown and this time along Sussex Drive, on the other side of the American embassy. Rain started falling gently just as I left the college, but it was no more than a nice distraction. My legs were feeling a little tight due probably to yesterday's tempo workout. I also did a 1km swim last night. Some knee problems as well. It took me about two minutes to run by the American embassy, but 10 minutes to run back when I turned around and crossed the road. Why? The shops. They are to DIE FOR. OK, female moment is over. I gotta save my pennies for Greece (less than three months away!) Tomorrow may be a day off from running so as to be in shape for Saturday's long run.
Saturday         I'm aching as I write this. Today was no less than a four-hour run (add another 15 minutes on top of that for water stops.) Just getting ready to go out took half an hour, but it was worth every minute. I was trying out a new system this time since I had no idea if or where there would be any water stops. I used a belt for a water bottle that I had bought at the Running Room yesterday, the kind that holds the bottle at an angle, filled it full of Gatorade, and put a Ziploc with Gatorade powder in the belt's pocket. That way all I needed was any source of potable water to make Gatorade and chew on my PowerBar. It was fantastic system, as long as the belt was cinched around my hips tightly.
        I ran along the Aviation Pathway to downtown Ottawa as I usually do. Past the PM's residence I joined the Ottawa Pathway, which took me over the Rideau Falls (wow!). I snuck down the little alley between the National Art Gallery and the National War Museum, past the peace monument, and down to the main canal. It was impressive to be running past these sort of sights, and the sheer cliff along the path that's topped by Parliament is an incredible thing to see. The going was great for a while, then suddenly confusing again around Fleet Street. Finally I was back on the path, with no interruption, for another hour before I turned around.
        Running back was difficult but still easier than I had thought it would be. I think the new sights and views kept me distracted from the time and distance I was running. And sipping Gatorade constantly, rather than having it in or two big shots as I do in Fredericton, made a significant difference. Oh, and I had sunglasses on the whole time too. Enough to keep me from squinting, which often gives me a headache.
Week of August 26
Monday         Legs are a little stiff from Saturday's long run, although not as stiff as they might have been without lots of yoga last night. Actually, I'm rather impressed by how well I'm doing. Last year a four hour run would have taken much longer to recover from. Even so, I put off the speed workout until tomorrow and just did a 40min run. I was also trying out new shoes (Brooks.) They're not as fancy as the Mizunos (they look like lumps of plastic), but they seem OK. Very heavy; I'll probably use the Mizunos during events. I ran in the Rockcliffe area, looking at the mansions to distract my mind from the stiffness in my legs.
Tuesday         As I was sitting on my bed this morning putting on my new Brooks, I realized that those things weighed at least a pound each. I threw them back in the closet and pulled out the Mizunos. I'll defintely be returning the Brooks: they're heavy, they're much too hot, and they're horribly ugly. The difference in weight between the two makes was really obvious when I started my run. My legs were still tight, so I stuck to an easy run to the Royal Canadian Mint and back. As I was coming back down the hill along Rockcliffe I got treated to watching the sun rise over the Outaouais River. What a great way to start the morning.
Thursday         I forgot to set my alarm yesterday morning, so I ended up waking a bit later than usual and doing yoga instead. This morning's run was short, too (only about one hour.) My legs were sending out contradictory signals, telling me on one hand that they felt tight and springy, and then after a bit of running they were stiff and exhausted. Coming back to the CPC I felt like I was running the end of a marathon. They're probably still recovering from Saturday's run. To make sure they've got a bit more energy next week I'll scale down this coming Saturday's run to two hours. Anyway, it was still a lovely run this morning. I ran up to 24 Sussex, then decided to turn up Alexander Street for a change. Museums are nice, but I do like pretending I'm fabulously rich and dream about what fancy house I'd own, so upscale residential areas are always fun to run in. As I was returning to the CC the sunset was hidden behind some clouds. The field across the road was blanketed by a sheet of mist about five feet thick. Quite surreal.
Saturday         My last day in Ottawa. My long run was scaled back to 2hrs due to the fatigue from all of the workouts this week, and also because of the upcoming triathlon. I also decided to try running in the opposite direction, heading away from Ottawa rather than through the city centre. What a great decision that turned out to be. I set off around 10:30 am and promptly got lost trying to find where the path picked up after the National Aviation Museum. I was running slowly and into the wind. The energy to run fast just wasn't there. Finally found a little slope that went straight down to the path along the river. What a grand discovery! The path hugged the shore and traffic noise from the Parkway just above were totally absent. I ran until the path curved into the trees, then headed back.

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Last updated September 6, 2002 by Helen Rooney