Run like a kid

Do you believe in fate? kismet? perfect timing? After yesterday, I’m thinking I do.

A co-worker of mine decided that yesterday would be the day that he started dropping sections of the Globe on my desk again. For years he’s been doing it, but for the last few weeks, he’s kind of slacked off. I have no idea why he decided yesterday would be the day to start up again, but regardless it turned into an act of perfect timing.

Every week the Life section of the Globe focuses on running, and yesterday’s feature – Mind over marathon – was all about overcoming the marathon jitters, or as I like to call it marathon mental madness. And given that I had pretty much been freaking out for almost a week about my marathon (some days more so than others) this article couldn’t have come at a better time.

The article suggests that us endurance runners should outline at least three finishing goals for race day: a) dream goal, b) realistically speaking, and c) acceptable. And after almost a full day of pondering what my goals would be (Hey! It’s not as easy as it sounds coming up with finishing goals that will sit well with you no matter what) here’s what I came up with:

My nephews and I had a bit of a craft session before last night’s run. And they were the inspiration for the last line, which I’m thinking is going to be my motto for the day.

As you can see I’ve posted that sign to my bathroom mirror, and for the next 5 weeks and 2 days, those words will be one of the first things I see in the morning, and one of the last things I see at night, and all the other times in between. And I’m thinking, by race day, given that I do go to the washroom a lot, those words will pretty much be burned into my brain – hopefully I chose wisely!

What kind of race-day goals do you set?

I’m also trying to train my brain into adopting a ‘Get-Me-To-The-Finish-Line’ strategy. One of my favourite running chicks, who is seriously insane (since January, she’s run a half marathon a month and she’s currently in California getting ready for her 9th (I think) at the Disneyland Half – Go Carol Go!) told me that a great race-day strategy is to start making deals with yourself to get to the finish line. Now, if Negative Nelly, who reared her ugly head last Sunday, can stay out of those deals, I might be okay 😉

YESTERDAY’S RUN:

• 7 p.m. BG before: 9.1
• Temp basal -50 per cent
• Distance: 10 km
• Average pace: 6:20 km/min
  
• Average heart rate: 167 bpm
  
• Time: 102.24
  
• 8:30 p.m. BG after: 5.6

I don’t know what it was about this week, maybe it was the weather, or maybe it was what I was eating, or maybe it was the fact that I was dealing with some major frustrations, but whatever it was, I totally rocked my runs. Last night was supposed to be a recovery run, and given that I’d done 7 hills the night before, and haven’t been sleeping all that well, you’d think my body would have needed the slower pace of a recovery run. Apparently not.

Garmin Guru Pete, who usually doesn’t run with our slower pace group (he’s qualified for Boston in all but one of his races … and it’s people like him that make me sick!) was told decided to run with us last night and was more than willing to go our pace. But when we all got to talking, none of us seemed to realize that we were running anywhere from 30 to 45 seconds faster than what we should have been running at. And the cool thing, we weren’t dying. In fact, I felt awesome. I was talking. I wasn’t huffing and puffing. I wasn’t feeling calf tightness. Nothing. It was just a perfectly pure run – the best kind.

Have a great Labour Day weekend!