Blogs
Follow along with the adventures, races and events that a group of our physiotherapists participate in with their blogs below.
James Dean – Ride with James… Fitness, Competition and Helping Others.
Latest Blog Post:
New York City Marathon
5 weeks ago I had a rough time in the National City Chase Championships. I injured my right hip very early on in that race, which made the 5 weeks before this race tough to train. There were a few times where I really thought I would even drop out before the race started due to my hip pain. I managed a few long runs, but could not generate any speed. 2 weeks before the race I did manage to complete 10x800m on 3:09 with 30 sec rest, which felt awesome. The next 3 days, however, were awful.
The last few days before the race I decided I would still do it, but take it easy and just enjoy the experience. On race day, I felt awesome! I figured I would try and run at race pace and see what my hip could handle.
The experience of race morning was interesting and unique. My race wave was set for 9:40am, the first of three waves and my gate was 3 of the first 22. I had a great starting position with only a few hundred runners out of the 47,438 ahead of me. I was up at 4:45am and left my Manhattan hotel by 5:15am. On the subway at the central park south station by 5:30am and to Whitehall station by 5:55am to catch the 6am ferry to Statin Island. Runners were taking the ferry every 15 minutes starting at 5am with the last runners taking it at 815am. The ferry was a great way to see Manhattan from the water and we sailed right past the Statue of Liberty. The ferry took about 20 minutes, then there was about a half mile walk to the buses outside the station. The New York Road Runners kept everyone moving and there was no waiting. The bus ride took us through the streets of Statin Island to the marshalling area. The bus ride was about 15 minutes. We had another 400m walk after the bus to get to our marshalling area, where we waited for about 2.5 hours until our start time. In the marshalling area we just hung out with a book to read. I had my sleeping bag to keep warm. They provided Dunkin Donuts coffee, bagels, bananas, Gatorade and power bars.
I was in the first wave, in gate 3 of 22, starting at 9:40am. What I did not know was that I had to be in my gate before 8:25am! I got to my gate at 8:45am. I figured almost an hour before the race start would suffice. It did not. I now had to start in gate 22 of wave 2 at 10:10am, at the very back! If I would have been 5 minutes later, I would have even missed wave 2! I would have been put in gate 22 of wave 3!
In the starting gate I did some warm up jogging, some As, Bs and Cs and went the washroom a few times. They had one porto potty for every 3 runners. Again, we never had to wait to use the washroom or anything!
At 9:15 I watched the pro men walk to the starting line, very cool. We watched them also take off at 9:40am. 30 minutes later, wave 2 started. I was at the very back and waited 90 seconds after everyone had passed the start line (with 4.5 minutes everyone but me was over it). I crossed the start line at 10:16am on the nose and very quickly hit the road block of people. I tried weaving in and out of people, running on the sides of the road, on the cement barriers, the grass, etc. My first mile was 8min. My second mile was about the same. I was trying to run a 6:50 with little luck. By mile 4, I realized I could do nothing, but enjoy the race at this current pace. In fact, I had to run at this pace, still weaving, until hitting Manhattan at mile 16. There, the race opened up and I could run faster.
So I enjoyed the race, the day, the crowds, the tour of NYC. It was really amazing and I loved it. What a great way to see New York. We crossed through all 5 boroughs and over 5 bridges. Always running with masses of people, there was no escape. After leaving Statin Island, we ran 13 miles through Brooklyn, 3 miles through Queens, then over the Queensborough Bridge into Manhattan. Ran north up 1st ave for 3 miles, then into the Bronx for 1 mile. Then back through Harlem, along 5th ave south to the southern edge of Central Park, where we entered the Park and ran for the final 1.5 miles to the finish. Only in Harlem, I saw a man pushing a shopping cart with his possessions, weaving through the street full of runners and at the top of his cart - a brand new 47” LCD TV. Only in Harlem! At the finish we had another mile to walk as they moved us through the walkway to get our silver blanket, our food bag, our picture, our medal and finally our dry clothes bag from the start of the race. I made it to the finish without my hip bothering me at all!
You could then hop on a bus or walk the 3.5km back to the hotel. I chose to walk, which was surprising since I just finished a marathon. But I was enjoying seeing everything. I would recommend this race to anyone.
For previous blog posts, click here.
Graham Glennie – onthetrails
Latest Blog Post:
This Race is 50 miles… not 40!!
Spent last weekend in San Francisco running the North Face endurance challenge 50miler.
The Race started at 5 am, so it was an early wake up at 3:30. We got to the race start with lots of time to spare for last minute prep (bag drop off, bathroom, etc). The 45 min prior to start disappeared quickly and soon enough the gun went off and we were running through the darkness. The race starts with a long climb up approx 3 miles. Prior to reaching the top I took a look back and could see all the headlamps behind me snaking up the climb. The first climb went smoothly and I was comfortable through it. We quickly descended down and soon enough started our second big climb. initially I struggled, but soon settled into a comfortable pace. We arrived to the top and quickly started going down again, a bit of a theme of the day. I passed the 8.9mile aid station in 73minutes.
About 30 minutes after the aid station the sun came up and I was able to see beyond my headlamp. I was running at this point just along the coast. Absolutely gorgeous! Coming off the coastline we quickly started climbing again. This was the longest climb of the day up to the Heart attack aid station. I could feel the fatigue setting into my legs, but the lungs still felt good.
I was still able to maintain a decent pace as we winded through steep embankment along a single track path. This was my least favourite part of the course as it was an out and back so we were sharing the path with runners going the other way. I pretty much had to stop and get out of the way of the oncoming runners. The only cool part was I was able to see the lead runners hammering the course.
Passing 25 miles, I still felt good, but noticed that I was passing runners going up but losing ground going downhill. I was moving along the course with about 5 runners and they would leave me on the down and I would catch them on the up.
As the miles went on my pace on the down slowed dramatically. My quads were done, I could still hold okay on the flats (that were few and far between) and but started slowing on the up as well. I hit the 39 mile mark and I was done. Cardio and energy was okay, but the legs ached and the quads were burning. In hindsight I should have spent a little time at the aid station collecting myself, but I just wanted to finish. I started climbing (again). As I was going up I was dreading what was coming, more downhill. At this point I could barely muster a run going downhill, the legs wanted nothing of it.
The last 10 miles took roughly 2.5 hours. I came up to the road leading up to the finish and relief more than joy came over me. I came across the finish in 9:03. The goal was 8 hours, but I had no idea how hard the course was going to be. Walking away from the race I was satisfied how I did but, would like to have another go at the race in the future, hopefully figuring out how to manage the downhills a little better, and be able to finish strong.
Overall a great experience, and an amazing trail system.
For previous blog posts, click here.
Arri McWatt – The uphill battle has begun!
Latest Blog Post:
What? I have a blog?! Shoot…
Ok, so I have severely neglected my blog and I know there are numerous readers out there that are getting frustrated with me (6 views since the last post and I think I checked it twice). Anyways, for those hardcore followers thank you for your support and here is an update since I have been away from the ol’ blog for quite some time.
I entered my first race since my last post, the St. Albert 10 Miler. I didn’t know what to expect and it went quite well after all was said and done! I tried to keep pace with Graham and about mile 6 my shoelace came untied and Graham took off up ahead (that’s what I told him, when actually I was just looking for an excuse to let Graham go ahead so I could rest a little). I finished the race in just over 68 min which I was quite happy about as my goal was 70 min. It was also a very humbling experience as I was passed by several men and women over the age of 40 and 50. I thought this might frustrate me, but really I was inspired by these people and wanted to shake their hands and congratulate them on keeping such an active lifestyle as they head into the second half century of their lives.
The death race is rapidly approaching and I’m actually getting pretty nervous. Running with Graham and James is intimidating to talk about sure, but now that we’re within six weeks its almost terrifying! I must admit I’m not feeling too bad, however. The training is difficult for sure, but I never thought it would be a cakewalk. A few things I’ve learned with runs longer than 20km in the river valley:
1) There are a whole whack of weirdos that hang out in the river valley that you would never see walking around Edmonton, but rest assured, they do exist! Some of my responses to the outrageous questions I’ve been asked have included “No, you may not borrow my shoes”, “Where in the heck in my running gear would I be keeping empty beer bottles that I could give to you?” and “Yes, I do know Graham Glennie and the stories are true, he is better looking than Matthew McConaughy and if you blink you will miss him, that fast!”
2) Running for longer than an hour is a huge mental battle. I definitely suggest having an excellent playlist on the i-pod and try not to get a Miley Cyrus song stuck in your head because the satisfaction and quality of your run will greatly suffer!
“So I put my hands up
They’re playing my song,
And the butterflies fly away
Noddin’ my head like yeah
Moving my hips like yeah,
And I got my hands up,
They’re playin my song
I know I’m gonna be ok
Yeah, It’s a party in the USA
Yeah, It’s a party in the USA” … ugh…
3) There is a serious lack of restrooms available along those trails. I suggest taking care of business before you run or take care to run past a few washrooms and if you feel even a hint of something coming on, take the time to take care of it. I do not suggest a clenched sprint to the Shaw conference center from the River Boat landing on the other side of the river! Its not comfortable at all… so I’ve heard… from a friend… yaaaaa…
All in all the training is coming along well and I’m excited to get into the wilderness to tackle this death race. I’ll try to be a little more regular with these blog posts to keep all you keen followers up to date.
For previous blog posts, click here.
Kendra Wilson – The Wilsons Adventure (Kendra and her family headed off to Ecuador for a six month sabbatical). Their blog follows their adventures during that time.
Buses and Backpacking
Well we are on the move again, and have headed inland to a cool town called Mindo. We visited the Los Tsachillas tribe in Santo Domingo which was also very interesting, complete with Shaman (medicine man) treatment for NIcks ailing muscles!! The Buses have been a fun experience, as vendors jump on and off the buses whenever it stops (and occasionally when it is still moving!) to sell anything from coco milk in plastic bags,fried bananas, empanadas and ice cream. The kids want to try everything and it is usually about 25-50cents for anything you want. You will definitely not starve on a bus in Ecuador. With backpacks full of dirty, damp clothes we will be heading back into the city of Quito in a few days, and then off on a short trip into the Amazon jungle before our return to Canada……
For previous blog posts, click here.