Scotiabank 1/2 Marathon

So - Sunday was the Scotiabank Marathon weekend.  And Ashley (my sister) was all signed up and trained and ready to do her first Half Marathon.  I had decided I would run it with it - figured it would be a good training run for me and hopefully I'd be able to help her achieve her goal.  We got downtown nice and early - and while it was a bit chilly at the start the sun came out and it had the makings of a perfect day.  The new race route was very different from years past when I have run the race.  It started at Bay and Dundas and went North to Bloor, across to Bathurst and then downhill on Bathurst to the Lakeshore from there out and back up towards the finish line.  This was my first 'pace bunny' experience.  I've never run a race for someone else before and I have to say I loved it.  It was so much fun to be the one helping to keep Ashley and her gang from the running room positive and on track to thier goals.  After a slightly slow first kilometre we held a very even and respectable pace.  I made sure to keep the girls on thier 10:1 plan and tried to remind them to take gels/nutrition and stay positive.  They did AMAZING.  Ashley and I dropped 2 of the girls around the 16k mark, she did so well. She struggled a bit starting around 18k but that is pretty normal and she toughed it out and managed to come in at 2:12:55.  Since her goal was 2:15 she was pretty happy to come in under her goal time and finish her first half marathon.  I was really happy not just for her but because I ran with her the whole way and not once did I feel tired or sore or wanting to stop.  I think it bodes really well for my future goals that I can run a half marathon in a decent pace and not feel even remotely sore afterwards.  Today (Tuesday) I swam this morning, and then ended up running with Shanta afterwards.  It was pretty chilly out this morning but once we warmed up I felt really good.  Shanta is also doing Ironman Mt Tremblant in June, and I think it is going to be really really nice to have a training partner who is focused on the same race.  We are going to be training together quite a bit I think which is nice because she is a better runner then I am and will push me.
Hamilton Half Marathon is now less then 2 weeks away and I'm hoping to get out and run under 2 hours.  Will have to see how I feel on race day but given how Scotia went I think it's a realistic goal.  While I was running scotia I was thinking that I am comfortable at that pace and I'm hoping with training by June a 2 hour run at Tremblant 70.3 is realistic. I'm so excited that where I am right now is in a fairly fit place, I'm running long comfortably and I think leading into my Ironman year this is a REALLY good sign.

Finally Friday (YAY)

So yesterday, thursday - I went back to my physio to get the strength program he had designed for me.  At this point it's primarily focused on developing spinal stability b/c apparently I'm a bit of a mess in that department. The exercises are simple but wow - am I ever sweating as I do this workout.  It's definitely something that I think will help me in the long run and so I'm actually really excited to do it.  I'm supposed to do the upper extremity and lower extremity stuff 2x a week each, and the core/stability stuff daily.
Yesterday was my biggest training day in a really long time, I swam in the morning, did my strength workout and then got out for a run (just before the torrential downpour started) I didn't wear a watch but felt pretty strong throughout the 5k that I ended up doing. It was a bit of a victory to get the run in b/c I was toying with the idea of skipping out on the run and doing it today (Friday).  I'm glad I did it yesterday since today ended up being far busier then expected as I ended up covering 2 football games between clients today.
So far so good - I'm really excited about how things are progressing and really looking forward to the build up to Ironman.  It's a long way away so for now I'm focused on keeping my long runs mostly in the 20k range, and running 3-4 times a week.  I'm signed up for the Hamilton Half marathon in a few weeks, and the egg nog jog shortly after that to help keep me motivated and moving forwards.  On the fence about signing up for ATB, and possibly a spring half marathon - but will discuss those with my coaches at Personal Best and see what they think.

Fresh Start

So I've decided to start a blog for a few reasons. Primarily as a way to log my workouts, feelings etc on the road to Ironman Mt Tremblant on August 18th, 2014. As most people know I'm trying to raise money for Princess Margaret Hospital Cancer Centre by doing this Ironman and so I'll post various fundraising events etc on here as well, and keep people up to date on how that is going as well. I'm attaching a link to my fundraising page - it has my story and my motivation for doing this ironman.  I really just wanted to make Ironman about more then a check mark off the bucket list.  So as a tribute to my mother - I'm taking on this challenge.  My mom was everything to me and I really do miss her every day.  So each step along the road to Ironman will be in her honour.  On the day's I really don't want to train I remind myself about everything she went through and I get myself out the door.
So right now it's a little over 300 day's until race day - yes - I know that is a very long way away - but I also know that the time will fly and before I know it I will be toeing the line on race day thinking - how did this come so fast. The real intense training won't start until the new year, but for now I'm working on building a good base so that I'm ready to hammer when the time comes.
I'm swimming twice a week with Sean Bectel and the personal best group out of Mayfield pool.  Somehow - likely as a result of the crossfit I did this summer, I'm right where I ended of the last pool sessions in May.  We did our 400m test the other day and I managed a 5:34 which is about what I did the last time we did the set sometime in the spring.  It's definitely a good sign that I'm starting off the year where I finished last year - it means there is room to improve and sets me up well for my swim time goals during my races next year.
I haven't been on my bike as much as I know I should be right now, but I've picked up the consistency of my running and am finding it's really coming around.  I've been running about 3 times a week, with weekly runs ranging from 5-7km and the long runs up around 20k.  Plans are to run the half marathon in Hamilton in a few weeks, and the Egg Nog Jog in Terra Cotta in December.  My goal is bump my runs up to 4/wk starting this week.  I'm finding some speed again, and I'm looking forward to joining my C3 pals at York U for some tough speed work track sessions.
The other thing that I'm doing is going to Steve Hill for a strength training program.  He's a well respected physio who works with a lot of athletes (triathletes) and the idea is to improve any muscle imbalances etc now so that when the big training loads come in the spring I'll be strong and ready to tackle them.  I really want to be able to train hard without any injuries sneaking up on me so this is my strategy.  I've already had my assessment, tomorrow I get my program.  Pretty excited to be honest I know I have weaknesses and I'm looking forward to getting stronger.

Here is a link to my fundraising page - check it out, no donation is too small and even if you just want to read a little more about why I am doing this you can do that as well.
http://pmhf3.akaraisin.com/PersonalPages/Participant/Home.aspx?seid=6496&mid=66&pid=1472739