Calgary Marathon Recap - I am a Sub 4 Marathoner

So May 26, 2013 came and went, the day I ran the Calgary Marathon.

The week leading up to my marathon I had all kinds of emotions floating around, what if I don’t hit my goal, what if I hit my goal, what if I totally flake out and have to take a DNF, what if I don’t even start! My mind was driving me insane!!

Tuesday I woke up and had a really bad sore throat and cough and I was like oh my gosh this can’t be happening to me right now I cannot be getting sick. I spent the week willing myself to be better.

Saturday I went to bed and I surprisingly slept through the night, well after I managed to fall asleep because I think I spent a good two hours having a coughing attack.

Sunday morning I woke and I was nervous as heck. I was having trouble getting food into me and I could hardly tie my shoe laces because my hands kept shacking and I couldn't stop coughing. I made my way down to the start line and all that was going through my head was one foot in front of the other. I found the 3:30 pace bunny and I decided that if I could keep pace with him I would be make my time goal no problem. As the starting gun went off I said to myself “Tiara focus, this is just a run”! As we passed the first km mark I looked down to see my pace and thought to myself oh my gosh this pace bunny is going wayyyy too fast we are running a 7’48” mile. Everything was going great for me on the run until I hit the very first BIG hill and then things started going terribly wrong my left hamstring started cramping up and I was kicking myself for skipping water stations and I was having trouble breathing through my coughing fits! So I made the decision to stop running through the water stations and walk through them to get Gatorade into me instead of all over me. 

Upon coming up on the 10km mark I looked down at my watch and saw that I had slowed down a great deal and was now running an 8’12” and was not on target to hit my Boston Qualifying time rather I was about 2 minutes off from my target time. Instead of beating myself up I told myself that I still had 32 km’s to make up this time and to keep pushing forward. At the halfway point I looked at my time and I realized that I was 6 minutes off my Boston pace and this caused me to have a little bit of a break down, or a 5 minute cry session. I started crying right there in the middle of the race and almost decided to pull out because I was not going to hit my goal and then somewhere deep down my own voice was yelling at me “Tiara you have this, you are still on pace to run a sub 4 marathon and even better you are still going to set a personal best for yourself” I forced myself to keep running. As my body started to fatigue and as it wanted to give up I told myself keep running you will hit a water station in 3 km’s and you can walk through it but you have to keep running to the next water station.

As I entered Memorial drive my common lunch time running area I had 10km’s left to go and I said to myself “Tiara this is your area, this is where you need to own the race” I knew my legs were sore and I knew I wanted to stop running so I started biting my lip to focus the pain elsewhere and I kept pushing myself. I made it through Memorial and had 3km’s left to go when a TNT coach came up to me grabbed me by the hand and told me I was doing great, I started crying and said “I needed to finish 5 minutes ago to hit my time goal” he said "I know you did but you know what keep running because you are going to PB and that is the most important thing, today wasn’t your day but maybe tomorrow is, there is always another run”. 

As I entered my last two km’s I so badly wanted to just walk the rest of the way and someone from behind me came put her hand on my back and said “I have been chasing you almost the entire way, you are my motivation and my inspiration keep running because you are going to sub 4 this” and all of a sudden I hit a second wind and my legs wanted to move. As I entered the finishing shoot I saw my mom standing there waving at me and cheering me on and I knew I had the drive in me to do a sub 4. As I crossed the finish line I looked at my time and it read 3:57:55 and I was disappointed in myself for not hitting my BQ but also so proud of myself for finishing a marathon in under 4 hours.

As the results rolled in yesterday I realized that I had finished in the top 10 in my division and was even more proud of myself. Top 10 finish in my division is incredible.

One aspect of the Calgary Marathon I loved was that our name was wrote on our bibs so as we were running through the communities and people were out on their lawns cheering us on you would hear a random “Go Tiara” “You got this Tiara” “Run Strong Tiara” and hearing my name it would push me to push harder and faster!! It was great community support and it made me love Calgary even more.

Now it is time to refocus my goals and push to Boston Qualify in Edmonton on August 25. It’ll be my last chance to qualify for Boston for 2014 and I am even more determined now to hit this goal. I have the endurance I know I can run the 26.2 miles now it is time to work on maintaining my speed!

Do you have any advice for me as I start training for Edmonton? Have you qualified for Boston, if so what advice can you give me for race day? Or even for training?

Hope you continue joining me on this wonderful journey to Boston. 

Training Runs are Learning Runs

Yesterday marked April 1 and that means that my marathon is slowly creeping up on me. In so many ways I am nervous. I have set myself up for a pretty big goal and I don't want to be disappointed in myself. Boston is an extraordinary dream for me.

I keep having this recurring dream where I am running the Calgary Full and I get lost on the course and I find my way back after about a mile but I am crossing the finish line and the time on the timer says “3:35:02” I just fall into a heap of tears on the ground because I missed my qualifying time by 2 one hundredths of a second. All that hard work down the drain.

I am learning to trust in my training. This past weekend I ran my furthest distance since running my first full in October. I ran 19 miles!!

The night before my run I was really nervous, due to my calf injury I was out for a week and so I lowered my carb intake to accommodate this. My first few runs back were kind of tough but I still managed a sub 8 on both of them. My physio and I decided that I wouldn't be running any of my long distances at a sub 8 rather a sub 9 to prevent any further complications with my calf.

200 miles even with a week of no running

I set out for my 19 miles Saturday morning with the sun at my back and knowing that Lauren would be waiting for me at mile 13 to run the last 5 miles with me. Going out I had to stop a few times due to tightness in my calf but nothing serious. I was still running a 8’16”/average mile and was happy with this. It won’t get me a Boston but I know I would run faster on race day.

On our way back Lauren and I hit the HUGE hill in Sandy Beach and normally I can run this hill but this time I had to walk it and from this point on I felt sick and exhausted. I was nauseous and my body was starting to get really cold even though it was beautiful outside. My watch was still ticking away at the time and I didn't want to ruin my average pace so I kept trekking along with Lauren at my side. Around a mile out my watch died and so did I. The wall was too thick for me to break through and I had no other choice but to walk the remaining distances.

Phone died at mile 15.6, where I was getting weak.

I was disappointed with myself and a little angry for not being strong enough to make it through the entire 19 miles. I was mad that I allowed myself to hit the wall, but training runs are training runs. They are not just for training our bodies to run the distance but they are also training for us to learn how to hydrate and fuel properly.

I learned that after mile 17 shot bloks are no longer useful for me. I start taking shot bloks within the first 20 minutes of a run and thereafter every 20-30 minutes I take in blok. This was working for me on my 17 mile less runs but it didn't work for this last run. I think on these longer runs I need more than just shot bloks. This week I am going to cut a bagel up into bite size pieces and when I take a shot blok I will also take a piece of bagel. Hopefully this gives me the energy to fully get through my 20 mile run.

As for hydration, I have no idea why I got so dehydrated. I take in about 2-3 sips of water every mile or so. I allow myself to take water when I need it, but when I got Lauren at the tech shop I was salty and when I got back to the car I was super salty. Meho said I looked kind of like a refuge with the salt caked on my body. I need to find a way to replenish the salt I am losing on these long runs because I only carry water in my camel back but I know I should be in taking electrolytes also.

These runs are learning experiences and for every failure I have on a long run I will turn into a success on race day. 

I have to thank Lauren for getting me through those last 5. They were slow and not very promising but she pulled me through!! I am glad to have such awesome friend. 

What works for you on long runs? What type of energy do you intake? What type of fuel do you use and ho

w often do you hydrate? Leave me a comment or a tweet @TiaraBeth.

Day 14 - 30 Day Challenge

What was your favorite race you've run?

My favorite race to run is most defiantly the Nike Women’s Marathon in San Francisco, I don’t think any race will be able to compare to this race especially the memories I made on this race. It was also my first marathon and our first anything always sticks with us the most.

The Nike Women’s Marathon was my very first marathon and I ran it as a Nike Women’s Ambassador along with Karen, Elizabeth, Nerissa and Renisha. My Sisters In Nike!!

Nike Women hosted us in San Fran and we stayed at an amazing hotel in the heart of downtown, Sir Francis Drake.

If you ever plan on running the Nike Women’s Marathon make sure you stay downtown close to the expo and NikeTown. The expo is amazing. Saturday morning Karen and I woke up and got to the expo for the opening, it fills up rather fast. We sampled Nuun hydration tabs and I found my favorite one, the iced tea. I have a love of coffee and having this one really helps me push my runs, maybe it is the tiny but of caffeine in it. We also stood in line to get makeovers from Neutrogena and get our hair done by Paul Mitchell but we were running out of time so this didn't happen, even though it would have been pretty cool. The expo for Nike Women’s Marathon is amazing!!

The Nike Women’s Marathon course is a rather hilly to run, if you plan on running it make sure you have hill training done, they are totally do-able but it is far off from being a flat course. 

One of my favorite parts was running through this community after coming up the big hill. I didn't have any friends on course cheering me on and there is so many people outside their houses cheering you on, it was really cool to have encouragement. I also had this habit of queen waving at random people, it made me feel like I had people on course cheering for me haha. 

I remember this one kid was dressed up as Spider-man and he was handing out candy to the runners going by, I thought it was super cute. It was also nice to get something sweet in you along the course he was located around mile 14ish and it was a great pick me up.

There were also awesome signs on course, one of my favorites was "You are NOT almost there" at mile 1. I laughed however if he had that at mile 22 I would have been sad. I also saw one that said "I bought you a car, you can stop running now" I love the encouragement you get on a marathon route, it is nothing like a 10k run. 

The course ends along the ocean. As you run the ocean is on your right side. I wanted nothing more than to run off course and jump in the ocean but that probably wasn't the best idea at the time so I  talked myself out of it.

As you finish the course and come into the finishers shoot and cross that line you are met by the San Fran firemen handing you the coveted Tiffany’s necklace. Honestly, I didn't care about the firemen all I wanted was food and that necklace. 

I think the Tiffany’s necklace is a huge item that sets Nike Women’s Marathon apart from other races out there. It is something I wear often and reminds me of the goal I set for myself and the goal I accomplished. I look at it and it reminds me of the friendships forged that weekend and the memories made. 

I am excited to run Nike Women’s Marathon again in October. Hope to see you there and run it with you!!

My Decision to Run Calgary Marathon

Yesterday I made the decision to run the Calgary Marathon and not the BMO Marathon in Vancouver. I was kind of sad but had to make the decision.

One reason I decided on this is because Calgary in also a Boston Qualifying run and it is where I live. I figure if I can BQ anywhere it is going to be at my home. I’ll have my friends and family to cheer me on. Support is important. Also I tend to get stomach issues when I go away, I think it is from the change in water and I learned in San Fran that you can drink bottled water all you want but you cannot control what type of water is on the course and sadly for me it was tap water on the course and it turned out to be disasters for me at mile 15. I am used to the tap water in Calgary so I shouldn't end up with the same stomach issues as last time.

I was really looking forward to running the BMO marathon but maybe next year. I was looking forward to running in the crisp ocean air and having that feeling of my lungs opening right up but I think I will do amazing here in Calgary.

Since I don’t actually start training until the 9^th of February now I have created a calendar in word to hold myself accountable to my workouts. As a group of #SistersInNike along with Brandi and The Nike San Fran Runway Crew we are aiming for 23,000 NTC minutes in 2013 and I have 22,835 more to go, but the year has just started. Since I don’t have a whole lot of NTC incorporated into my marathon training schedule I have decided that I need to get a good head start this month. After I am done my Calgary Marathon I start training for the Nike Women’s Marathon shortly after. I would really like to make my goal. Hopefully this can hold me accountable and be able to track the minutes I am doing each month.

What is your favorite part of training? What is your favorite marathon? I am creating a bucket list of marathons I want to do. Leave them in my comments I’ll look them up and consider them.

Remember to keep rolling out your muscles, especially those IT bands!! They will keep your muscles and knees healthy. I found this and have printed it and put it at home to remind me to roll my muscles out often. The foam roller should be your best friend when training.

Happy Training!

16 Days Until I Start Training for Boston Qualifier

In 16 days I start chasing my Boston Marathon Dream. Some say it isn't a dream until you have thought about it for a long period of time. 

I say it is a dream as long as you are determined to reach it.

I am not one of those people that have dreamed of running Boston their entire lives. I have only dreamed of running Boston since I realized I could run a marathon, but Boston is a race I want to run more than any race out there. Boston is the elite races of races, my idols have all ran Boston and I want to push to be like those I look up to.

I start chasing my Boston goals in 16 days. In 16 days I start training for the first of at least 2 marathons maybe 3. How do I feel? Excited!! I love running, I get a rush of endorphin from it and it makes me feel AMAZING, but I am also super nervous too because I know I am putting myself under a lot of pressure to perform. I know where I went wrong in my first marathon and so I am going to take those weaknesses and turn them into strengths I need to work on my pace and on focusing not on the distance I have left but rather making each mile count.

Will I be unhappy with myself if I don’t make it, of course, but knowing that I don’t like to be disappointed it gives me even more of a reason to push harder in my training, so I can push harder in my marathon.

I have given myself two qualifying courses to go off of, the BMO Vancouver Marathon in May and the Nike Women’s Marathon in October. Hopefully if I don’t make one I can make the other.

I found a great plan on the Nike Running Facebook page and plan to use this, incorporate NTC for weights and keep up with my Kinect Training. I also have a pretty strict diet that I am sticking too along the way and not allowing cheat days until my marathons are over. Hopefully all of this combined will help me reach my Boston goal. 

With Nike's new Make it Count Campaign it is really getting me out there to push and make this year count.