As I stand at the first corral for this Women’s Half Marathon, I look around. I notice no one my age. I am over the age of 60 now and I idly wonder how much younger they are. I mean, I know for sure that statistically that they have to be of another age. Even so, I stand waiting for the anthem and then the start gun and do the usual wonderings if I am well enough trained, should I have done faster and longer runs, etc.
I have participated running in races for many years. Each time it brings on nerves and challenges and a certain level of excitement. In addition to running, I am a Jungian psychoanalyst and I know how the spirit has to be there and what it takes to get in the zone and to stay there.
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Your Own Personal Podium:
How to Get Back Up When You’ve Slipped Off
by Sandie Orlando
Running is a sport that allows us to define our own “personal podium” for success. It doesn’t matter if we’re looking to complete a mile without stopping, take 10 minutes off our half marathon time or re-qualify for Boston at Boston. The potential to reach goals that result in us proudly ascending our own personal podium is an important part of what gets us out the door most days. Some days, just getting out the door is enough in itself to qualify!
So what happens when we slip – or crash – off?
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by Sandie Orlando
Usually my perspective of runners is from in the midst of them – either in a run or watching a race. Recently I spent a day working in the IAWR booth at the Yonge Street 10K Race Expo – an interesting opportunity to watch runners – when they’re not running.
Some observations:
- Running people find it strangely surprising and exhilarating to see each other in real clothes with their hair down and make up on. Even after years of knowing each other, they will comment on how different they look with ‘clothes on’.
- New runners (racers) are usually giddy – either from excitement or fear. It comes across the same way, and can end up with the same results on race day.
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by Kimberly Kane
I ran to work today.
And so I started my day on the right foot.
I ran to work today.
I began my journey in the dark, cloaked in fog that settled on my clothes and eyelashes and ran through a beautiful sunrise.
I ran to work today.
The stop lights were kind to me and my legs were light allowing me to set a new PB for the “commute race”.
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by Sandie Orlando
Friday morning at 7:00 a.m. seemed to be the best opportunity to fit in my LSD (long, slow, distance) training run, and I had gone to bed early to be well rested. Despite the freezing rain, I was committed to getting this done. Dressed in every reflective piece of gear I owned and equipped with a headlamp and flashing lights behind me, I headed out into the dark and wind and steady, icy rain.
Taking the sidewalks through the suburban side streets seemed to be the safest choice of routes, but the condition of the sidewalks quickly undermined the wisdom of that decision. It seemed that every few squares offered a new kind of treachery – changing from wet concrete to icy concrete to slush fields to skating rinks to swimming pools. It all looked the same in the dark, so my only option was to relax enough to let my joints become shock-absorbers, engage the core for balance and just keep going over – or through – whatever lay ahead.
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by Rachel Le
I’ve always said that I wanted to run a marathon by the time I turned 25, but truthfully, I never believed it would happen. I’ve always been a “jogger”. I’d go out and run short distances, maybe 2-3 kilometres, but I never thought that I’d be able to run long distances. I don’t have the small lean build of distance runners and I never understood putting myself through that pain. Last year, things changed; I found my motivation!
In April 2010, my 26-year-old brother, Brad, was diagnosed with Burkitt’s Lymphoma, an aggressive form of blood cancer. Initially, he was in excruciating pain and lost a tremendous amount of weight. I almost didn’t recognize him: my big, healthy 6’3” brother weighed less than I did, couldn’t get out of bed on his own, and needed a walker to get to the bathroom. My family’s life was put on hold as we rallied around him. It’s hard to describe the 6 months that he went through high doses of chemotherapy. The emotions, the procedures, the setbacks, the generosity and support of others, and finally the waiting…waiting to see if “it” will come back. If you’ve ever been there, you understand. If you haven’t, I pray that you never do, that we first find a cure for this terrible disease called cancer.
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by Teresa Daoust
I’m sure most runners are aware of how travelling, changes in what you eat and drink and being out of normal routine has an effect on your bowels. On one particular occasion, this made travelling in numbers a tad uncomfortable even though the 11 of us, who had rented a van and were making the long trek from northern Ontario to the 2007 Chicago Marathon, were all very good friends – more like family.
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by Diane Gratrix
Last fall, I was training for my first half-marathon (Scotiabank 2010). I had gotten up early one Saturday morning for my long run. The weather was perfect for running; the air was still a bit crisp, the sun was out but still low. I live in the country and I really enjoy the quiet solitude (did I mention I am the mom of 3 children, who were all under the age of 7?). This was running bliss.
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by Ginny Megin
I’ve been a runner since about 1972 or ’73, when “jogging” (as it was called back then) was considered a fad. I’ve run about a dozen marathons. I ran my 3:27 PB in Vancouver in the early 1980′s, thanks to altitude training in a small town outside of Prince George (British Columbia), way up north in the mountains. But that’s another story.
This one’s about my birthday, August 6, the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. In the early 1990′s, I thought a lot about the upcoming 50th anniversary of the bombing. On my birthday, I ran for just over 2 hours. As I ran, I decided to dedicate each footstep to someone who was killed during the bombing. My decision and action that day had a very deep emotional and spiritual impact on me.
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By Sandie Orlando
Winner of the Funniest Running Story contest and the Women’s Garmin Forerunner 110
Running gear malfunctions are fortunately not life threatening, so they usually fall into the category of embarrassing or frustrating – both of which you can laugh about later.
My first experience was many years ago as a newbie runner, just discovering the exhilarating world of ‘technical fabrics’. For inspiration I had purchased a beautiful light blue pair of running shorts and a tank top – both in lovely, soft- but early versions of technical fabric. The notion of wicking away sweat may have been the intention, but it didn’t work out that way. Upon returning to the gym from my July morning run, I spent some time doing my stretch routine before heading into the weight room for some strength work. I noticed a few people smiling as they passed by, but I took that to mean they were happy to see me. Boy, were they!!
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