Category: running

Image description: Red and green map of the Holly Jolly Fun Run in Toronto, starting at Bloor and St George, ending at Yonge and Wellington. Right corner has a ginger bread boy emerging from a round frame that says "Holly Jolly Fun Run." From the Santa Claus Parade website https://www.thesantaclausparade.com/holly-jolly-fun-run Are we having fun? Tracy decks the halls for the Holly Jolly 5K
fitness · racing · running · training

Are we having fun? Tracy decks the halls for the Holly Jolly 5K

Tracy ILeave a comment

It’s been a lot of years since I did anything approximating a “fun run.” I think of that as a run you get into character for, like the time I wore a witch costume for a Halloween 10K. That was back in 2014! Here’s me.

Image description: Tracy smiling, in witch costume including hat, race bib, in an autumn scene.

I can’t remember if I actually had fun, but regardless, I’m doing a seasonal fun run again and I plan to enjoy the experience.

This time it’s the Christmas-themed Holly Jolly Fun Run in Toronto on November 22. It’s the day of the Santa Claus parade. The run follows the same 5K route as the parade, leaving about 45 minutes before the parade itself. If you ever been to a Santa Claus parade you’ll know that means a built in crowd of spectators! Not to mention the 2500 runners.

I feel energized just thinking about it!

The race description calls on everyone to “dress silly.” I’m not a big costume person but I do have green and red striped knee socks and a green and red striped hat (sort of elf like I guess). If the weather is cool enough, which is not a bad bet for November 22, I’ll wear a red fleecy top I bought for winter running ages ago. Every time I dress for winter running it loses out to its competitor tops, so I’ve rarely worn it.

It’s a popular event that (according to the website) usually sells out. With your entrance fee, you get a custom winter hat and a finisher medal. The parade usually attracts about 500,000 spectators, so the organizers promise the most “spirited” run you’ll ever experience.

It’s the first time I’ll have done an event that doesn’t start and end in the same place. They have a bag check system using trucks that leave the start line for the finish line at 11:25 a.m.

My last 5K in September yielded results that made me happy and also made me want to do better. So my training goal for the Holly Jolly is to shave 40 seconds off of that result, for a clean 35:00 5K, run continuously rather than with a walk break. We’ll see. You get a timing chip, so I will have an accurate race result when it’s over.

I’m mostly process-oriented in my training, keeping to my three quality runs a week — speed work, tempo, and a longer run. I’d like to include the swimming cross-training, but I’ve had some problems with my ears that make me fearful of the pool right now. I’m experimenting with different ear plugs but I had one unsuccessful attempt that left me nervous.

Regardless, the running is going well and I’m feeling excited to do the fun run.

Here’s the route. Even the map looks fun:

Image description: Red and green map of the Holly Jolly Fun Run in Toronto, starting at Bloor and St George, ending at Yonge and Wellington. Right corner has a ginger bread boy emerging from a round frame that says "Holly Jolly Fun Run." From the Santa Claus Parade website https://www.thesantaclausparade.com/holly-jolly-fun-run

If you’re interested, registration is through Race Roster and it’s $72.38 (non-refundable). The run starts at 11:45 a.m. sharp on Sunday, November 22. Race-kit pick-up on the Friday and Saturday (no same-day race-kit pick-up).

Impressions on my first 5K race
fitness · racing · running

Impressions on my first 5K race

elan.paulson2 Comments

Until this year, I had never registered for an organized running race. They had seemed intimidating. But my partner signed up for an early fall 10K, so spontaneously I joined for the 5K as well.

My training schedule was inconsistent: I only made it out to the track a few weekends. But my plan, as a friend had described to me, was to complete, not compete. I focused on my playlist and my breathing and the sunshine.

On race day, everything was ready to go when we got there. There was water, snacks, and later fresh fruit and pizza. There was music, announcements, warm up stretches, a land acknowledgement, and the National Anthem performed by a live choir. The running path was clearly marked, with signs that read things like, Runners are sexy – Meet you at my pace, and a big inflatable start and finish line. There was a photography station and water stations and cheering sections, teenagers in orange shirts who clapped along the way.

It was corporate. Sponsors were thanked before each group left. Dominoes pizza flags flew. Someone was walking around in the Wendy’s girl costume. There were brand shoes and shirts and socks for sale. I got some free promotional lip balm, but I passed on a free promotional plastic thing that takes hair out of your drain.

It was also community. I saw families and prams on the route. I saw high school track teams lacing up together. I saw a group of laughing women wearing the same blue shirt that read Kinda Fit and Kinda Fat. I saw one athlete with running blades surrounded by her people. And I saw supporters with coffees and dogs and cardboard signs at the finish. At about 1000 people in attendance, it was big enough to feel like an event but not so big to feel crushed by a crowd.

Afterwards, the standings were easy to find at an online website: at just under 36 minutes I placed about in the middle of the 5K group (and my age group). I ran the whole way and didn’t fall, so that was a win for me.

Elan before the race, the start line behind her
Elan before the race, the inflatable start line behind her

My impressions

Acknowledging the race was also as a fundraiser, as a regular hobby registration fees would likely be a financial barrier for some. Although it seemed an easy day, I have no comparative experience: the route may have had less grade, the weather nicer, and the crowd much smaller than at typical races. Also, I had novice-level goals: I am not sure how the race day was for those running the half marathon.

But after the race, with my gratis water bottle in one hand and a pre-chopped half banana in the other and a giant Also Participated medal around my neck, I thought about how much planned encouragement there was. How much positive support, and how little negative pressure, I felt as a result of it as a first-timer.

If you’ve hesitated to sign up for your first 5K race, it may be less intimidating and more approachable than you might think.

fitness · goals · motivation · running · training

That was then: on evolving goals

Tracy ILeave a comment
Comment from this time in 2024, when I (Tracy) said speed work seemed unnecessary!

Last week Samantha sent me the above reminder of something I said two years ago. The gist of it was a challenge to the idea of being speedy. Indeed, I said “I used to care about going faster but now I just care about continuing to get out the door.”

Fast forward to the present, where in my preparations for my recent 5K I included speed drills. And after completing the 5K to my satisfaction, I set a new goal that would shave a minute and 40 seconds off of my time.

“What changed?” Samantha wanted to know.

Back in September 2024 I was still trying to regain my running rhythm after an Achilles injury that had plagued me since 2019. It took me out long enough that I lost all the gains I’d made over the years. And so that fall of 2024 I was in the mindset where I just wanted to run again and I didn’t want to be injured again.

It was the right frame of mind for the time. But why have different goals now? It’s not as if I am ever going to be speedy. So why bother with speed work and speed goals at all.

As some readers may know, I have been back to the beginning again with Couch to 5K starting in April. I got behind but stuck with it and I liked having structure and a goal. The structure came from the program itself. The goal was simple: complete the program. After I managed to get through week 7 of the 9-week program I switched to the FIRST program outlined in Rin Less, Rin Faster.

For this you do three purposeful runs a week plus two cross-training sessions. The three runs are speed intervals, a tempo run, and a long run. I found myself enjoying switching it up rather than just pounding the pavement in the same way each time I went out. It made things fun. I discovered that I enjoy speed work. All the while I keep my perspective. I am not and never will be a speedster.

As the date of my 5K event approached, I found myself excited to go out with a time in mind. My goal of 37:00 was not a time that would break any records. Not even personal records. But it helped keep me on pace and I finished in 36:40. That felt like an accomplishment.

And so I set a new goal. To hit a 35:00 5K. It is giving me something to train for and we’ll see where it takes me. I said to Samantha back in 2024 that I just wanted to get out the door.

Today, it’s the variety in the training that is actually getting me out the door. One thing I’ve learned over the past 14 years since we’ve been blogging about fitness is that things change. I change. And I need different plans for different times.

Right now I’m enjoying the purposeful running 3x a week. I’m struggling with the swim workouts because of ear aches. I am experimenting with different ear plugs but I’m nervous now whenever I do freestyle, which is my main training stroke for a good workout. It is the only stroke that gives me these ear issues, no doubt because of the head turning for breathing.

So that’s what I’m working on now, as well as sticking with the running through the winter and incorporating resistance training a couple of times a week. I’ve been sporadic with that but it’s important.

All in all, I like being able to set new goals, change my mind, push myself in different ways, and evolve in my priorities. I don’t need to be locked into one track just because I was there before. That is the stuff of boredom and burnout. When I shift and change, it stays fresh and motivating.

How have your goals changed over time?

fitness · running · training

Tracy’s 5K, a year in the making

Tracy I3 Comments
Image description: cap, sunglasses, and a race bib for the Constantine Yorkville Run that says “TRACY 793” on it.

A year ago I was walking to the Y on a Sunday morning and found I couldn’t cross Bay street because 1000 runners had just started the Constantine Yorkville 5K. No one could cross until the starting crowd passed by and thinned out. By the time I found a spot to cross the street some blocks down the way, I had resolved to prepare myself to run that very race a year hence.

Which brings me to yesterday—Sunday, September 20, 2026. Race day.

I woke up excited. It’s been years since I’ve done any sort of event and it felt good to be back at it. If motivated me to train with purpose and consistency for the past few months. As a result, I felt ready. I had also let go of any particular expectations. My plan was to do 10-1 intervals and if I felt good enough, skip the walks. If I felt I needed them, do them. With that and my recent training times, I figured I would probably cross the finish line between 35-40 minutes after I started. 37:00 seemed realistic. The weather was also perfect, with no rain, no hot sun, and an air temperature of about 14 degrees C. Ideal for running.

When I got to the starting area and found the green corral I was assigned to based on my estimated finishing time, I remembered why events are fun. The buzz at the beginning is really energizing. It’s been a long time since I did an event by myself. In recent years I’d always signed up Anita and/or some further subset of our London RunFam group (Julie, Ed, Pat and Kevin). But regardless, there is camaraderie at the starting line. This event has about 1000 participants, so the air is electric. I also had Diane cheering me on just past the start and again just before I crossed the finish line.

As my strategy, I decided to fall in behind the 35 minute pacer, knowing that 7:00 per kilometer would be a bit beyond my 5K pace but not by too much. I decided if I could keep him in sight for the first half that would help me stay on pace my slightly slower overall goal.

I felt good enough after the first 10 minute interval to skip the walk. I decided at that time that I would take a one-minute walk at the halfway point instead, then run the rest of the way. After that walk, the 35 minute pacer was no longer in clear sight. That was okay with me because I was in a rhythm that felt good. I kept remembering the constant advice from Nike Run Club Coach Bennett to enjoy yourself on the run. And I was truly enjoying myself. I was even smiling.

My watch was still set to 10-1s, but I didn’t feel the need for any other walks after my minute at the halfway mark. My mind tried to tell me I did need it. But with less than 2K to go I told myself to keep running, even if I needed to roll back the pace a bit.

Finally, I cruised around the last corner and could see the finish line up ahead about 500m. I kept my pace steady and then chose a spot up ahead where I would pick up the pace for a strong finish. As i approached that spot I could see Diane up ahead cheering me towards the finish line. I felt strong and pleased with my run.

Official chip time: 36:40, which is 20 seconds less than my estimated 37:00.

And I raised over $500 for my chosen charity, Sea Paws Rescue. thank you to everyone who donated for helping support this amazing organization.

All in all a great 5K that made me feel good and wanting to get faster. Having a goal race motivated me to get back to regular running, with weekly speed work, a tempo run each week, and a longer run every Sunday. I like that routine and plan to add swimming in the upcoming months. I’m also going to seek out another 5K. Next goal: 35:00 minutes!

Image description: Head shot of a grey-haired woman (Tracy) smiling, wearing a ball cap, sunglasses, and a tank, holding up a finishers’ medal that says Constantine Yorkville 2026.
charity · fitness · running · training

Tracy’s FIRST Plan: Quality Runs for a Successful 5K

Tracy ILeave a comment
Image description: Map of the 2026 Constantine Yorkville Run 5K route outlined in red on a Toronto map showing the local area. (Image from https://raceroster.com/events/2026/111884/2026-constantine-yorkville-run)

To mark the completion of easing myself back into running with the Couch to 5K program, I signed up for an event! I have had the Constantine Yorkville Run event in mind for almost a year. I first learned about it last year, on my way to the Y on a Sunday in September. I had to wait to cross the street while 1000 runners made their way across the intersection at Bay and Bloor.

Instead of waiting to cross Bay Street, I kept walking south on the same side of the street, in the same direction of the race route on Bay St. I knew the starting line crowd would dissipate before I needed to get to the other side. By the time I had walked with them for 10 minutes I had race fever myself. I literally got a rush just venturing out into the road as I made my way across, being careful not to interfere with the back-of-the-pack participants still coming (in a thinner stream, as I had predicted). I decided to set it as my year-out training goal.

This happened despite my saying several times along the way in recent years that I am done with events. I mean, it’s not as if I’ve ever been an especially competitive participant. But I have used events to good purpose as training goals before. And this one has certainly done its job. Race day is on September 20, and with just over three weeks to go, I’m feeling good and motivated. It is a charity race with fundraising minimum. My charity of choice for the event is SeaPaws Rescue, an organization based in Ontario that rescues animals locally and overseas. If you’d like to support SeaPaws Rescue through my fundraising page, I would very much appreciate your donation.

I only started training in earnest back in April, when I embarked on the Couch to 5K plan with “beginner’s mind.” It hasn’t gone fully as planned, but I got far enough into the program (to the end of week 7) to feel sufficiently back in the game by about a month ago.

I transitioned from that to the Furman Institute of Running and Scientific Training (FIRST) training plan, as outlined in the book, Runner’s World Run Less, Run Faster. The program is designed to help people run faster with lower than the usual recommended mileage. It has two main components: three purposeful, quality runs a week and two cross-training sessions. Purposeful runs, as the name implies, have a specific training purpose. The three runs are: speed work; tempo runs; and long runs.

Each has a distinct purpose. The speed work sessions are intervals aim at VO2max development with intense intervals that push the pace hard, followed by periods of recovery in between. The tempo runs maintain a sustained effortful pace over a specified distance, most closely mimicking the effort required on race day. The long runs are meant to promote endurance.

The cross-training can be any aerobic activity. I have selected swimming for my cross-training sessions. I hope I can maintain this commitment. I have been having some difficulties with ear aches. This has been an issue for me throughout my adult life. I have managed it in the past with ear plugs. But I am back to experimenting with ear plugs to find a kind that creates a sufficient seal. So far, I have not had any luck. Last week’s swim resulted in a week-long ear ache. So we’ll see. But that’s the plan. The purpose of the cross-training activity is to maintain aerobic capacity while giving the running muscles a rest. Swimming is perfect.

I’m enjoying the idea of the FIRST plan, though I’m sure my intensity and distances are not what the founders had in mind. Regardless, I have built up to 6K for my long runs, so I know I can comfortably complete the 5K on race day. I’m enjoying the speed work a lot — I love interval running and the soft perimeter of Queen’s Park is perfect for the short bursts required. I’m using the NIKE Run Club app’s guided speed runs for coaching through those. As far as tempo runs go, I am maintaining my target pace and slowly extending the time I can maintain at tempo. Yesterday I did two 7-minute intervals at tempo, with a 2-minute rest and recovery walk in between. Next week I’m extending those to eight minutes. And the week after I’m keeping to eight minutes but reducing the recovery time to one minute instead of two. My goal after that will be to maintain 10 minutes at tempo twice, with one minute between.

I think/hope the adrenaline of race day will enable me to cover 5K in three 10-1 intervals. That is my goal — to finish the 5K in under 35 minutes. After that, I will work on a new goal for a spring event. But I don’t want to get ahead of myself.

I’m excited about the upcoming event. It’s been a good goal and I’m happy to be fundraising for a worthy cause too.

fitness · running · training

Tracy’s C25K is taking longer than 9 weeks and that’s okay

Tracy I1 Comment
Image description: Overhead shot of white running shoes on a dark hardwood floor. Shoes show a bit of wear and tear, laces untied. Photo by Tracy Isaacs

Back in early April I posted about easing back into running with the Couch to 5K program. It’s a nine-week program and I had high hopes of being able to complete it as written, within the nine weeks. In my original post I said I’d report back at the end of April with an update, and I thought I’d be done by the end of May.

Well, life has a way of not cooperating with the best laid plans, doesn’t it?

Things started to go sideways when late April got ridiculously busy with the end of classes. Then I had an intensive photography workshop in Indiana where it rained pretty much all the time. I took my gear but I had neither time nor energy nor weather to get out for my runs.

And then I four days after I got back I lost my mother. And that was it. For the next several weeks life was a surreal blur of grief, spending time with others in grief, and making plans to celebrate the life of a wonderful and much-loved woman who we were expecting to be with us for some years to come. It was very sad. And there was no room for a training program.

I have regained my footing enough to get back on track and have almost completed Week 7 of the program. The big jump from reasonable walk and run intervals happens in week 5, where the third run suddenly has a 20-minute continuous run flanked on each end by 5 minutes of walking to warm up and cool down.

Week 6, which is behind me now, goes back to more run-walk intervals but ends with a 25-minute run (as always, 5 minutes of warm-up and cool-down). And Week 7 is just three 25-minute runs, repeating the third day of Week 6. I don’t anticipate any new hurdles (let me touch some wood!) to get in my way. If I’m right, that means I’ll bring the program to a close in the first week of August.

So how’s it going? On balance I’d say it has gone and is generally going well. I did not use the C25K app. Instead I set up the intervals on my Intervals Pro app, and when we got to the longer continuous runs of 20 and then 25 minutes I used the Nike Run Club apps guided runs with Coach Bennett. He’s cheesy but oh so encouraging and makes me feel like I can do it. And so I did that for the first 25 minute run. The other day I did one on my own, using my own inner voice to self-coach in Coach Bennett style. That was my best run to date and I felt a real sense of accomplishment.

I felt nervous about the 20-minute run in week 5 and the 25-minute runs at the end of week 6 and throughout week 7. I have not done a lot of continuous running training in my life, opting mostly for the 10-1 run-walk intervals that the Running Room promotes in its run club, which is where I got my start.

There is an ongoing debate about whether to do continuous running or run-walk intervals. Some people say that over distances the pace balances out and you get a little break to look forward to every 10 minutes. That makes it psychologically easier for some people. I have tried both ways but I admit that I feel like more of a badass when I do continuous. I also find it in some ways easier to maintain a slightly slower consistent pace for longer than to start running again after a one-minute walk break. The countdown at the end of the break sometimes feels as if it’s signalling a fresh new punishment. It’s all attitude and different things work for different people, but at the moment, not taking walk-breaks makes running a more positive experience overall for me. I also had my best 10K time ever (way back when) after the only time I consistently trained for continuous running rather than 10-1 intervals.

I am feeling enough back on track that I even have plans for when I’m done this program and can do 30 minutes of continuous running. I don’t think I will hit a 30-minute 5K, but even in my 50s I couldn’t do that. I’m going to do the Run Less, Run Faster cross-training plan that follows the FIRST method where you do to do three “quality”run and two cross-training workouts (I’m going to swim) each week. I’m also adding some resistance training and a couple of yoga sessions each week. The runs in that program are purposeful: one tempo, one speed intervals session, and one long run.

I’m working on the 5K distance and signing up to do a local 5K in September. I’ll post more about that in a bit. Meanwhile, wish me luck as I embark on the final couple of weeks of C25K. I can see the value in this program and I recommend it for anyone just starting out or wanting to get back into running.

Flying & Falling into a New Decade
aging · femalestrength · injury · mindfulness · running

Flying & Falling into a New Decade

MinaLeave a comment

The morning after I turned 60, I headed out on a run with my youngest brother who was in town. What a treat! And he pushes my pace. For the first bit, I felt fleet and strong. Flying. The kind of run where your feet barely seem to touch the ground, tiny levitation rockets in my shoes. And that was just a feeling, since my feet were clearly on the ground when I tripped over a tree root.

I went down hard, catching myself on my shoulder. The result: a badly wrenched shoulder and a pivot from a brisk 9-mile run to a nauseous crawl toward CityMD, arm cradled against my body.

Everything in me wanted to scream until my lungs gave out, why me? Beneath that was a darker feeling, too: that the universe had smacked me down, put me in my place. I had wanted too much. I had been too pleased with myself about still being strong, still being fast, still being the person who runs the morning after her 60th birthday. So, the universe decided to show me who was boss.

I was already prickly about 60. About a month ago, a young man I passed in the final kilometers of a 21k (he could not have been older than his early 30s) said, with dismissiveness: well, maybe when I’m 60. I didn’t hear past that snippet. I kept running. I hear versions of these casual dismissals of people based on their ages often. The unquestioned assumption that age is a one-way street, that it diminishes us.

Even with a hurt and hurting shoulder, I questioned. With difficulty.

The list of things I could barely do at first was graceless in its mundanity. Open a bottle. Get dressed (oh yes, including pulling up my pants after going to the bathroom). Brush my teeth. Grab a glass in the cupboard. Never mind trail running or mountain biking. Did I mention I was three days from leaving for two weeks in the Canadian Rockies? I had planned solitude and mountain time to contemplate my new decade.

Close-up of a human arm showing visible bruising and discoloration on the skin, with a wooden background.

I had to borrow rolling luggage, because I could not haul a pack on a wrenched shoulder, and I always travel with a pack on my back. My mountain bike stayed in my middle brother’s garage in Calgary. Still, the first full day there, I wrestled myself into a sports bra, shirt and hiking pants and ventured out. Cautiously. Arm in a sling. A few days later I packed the sling in my little backpack (which didn’t hurt to wear, it was getting the straps on that was the trick). Gradually, I transitioned to trail running shoes and worked myself up to a slow trot. Always aware of my arm.

For the past three weeks, I’ve been managing the background noise of persistent pain.

This is not how I pictured opening this new decade.

And yet. And yet.

Curbed in my go-go mountain enthusiasm, I moved at a pace that allowed me to bask more in all the signs of coming spring. The runoff streams that got deeper with every warming day, so that I had to find new ways to get across that particular bit of trail each time. I had space to think about what it means to cross this threshold.

Because it is a threshold, even if I am, rationally, the same person the day after my birthday as the day before. I have sat with my complicated feelings about being a person in my sixties now for three weeks and something is shifting or emerging from underneath all the accumulated detritus of the years and the immediate distress of the physical setback. It’s a feeling, a sensation, a way of being that is harder to name than fleet or strong or flying.

Out on the mountain trails each morning, even moving with more caution than usual, a feeling spread in me, as the sun moves quietly into the world each day. Grounded, yet light. Buoyant, yet stable. It feels like I have the right to be here without further justification or proof of worth.

This whatever-it-is-ness feels like an arrival. Or a coming home. Belonging. Did I arrive at this feeling because of the fall?  Maybe. If I choose that version of the story, then I can silver line the fall and injury. Forced to slow down, woman discovers inner strength. Another part of me resists the patness of that explanation.  Maybe I just fell. Because I run on trails and other uneven surfaces. A lot. Life happens.  

My shoulder is healing. Not as quickly as I’d like. And when has any injury healed as quickly as we’d like? The pain is still there. Background noise every day. Wearing. And it is retreating. I can increase my effort. Mindfully. The mountains will still be there for next time. My bike will still be there.

I am still here.

Landed in a new decade. Not as elegantly as I might have liked. Penguin-style, which is to say, with awkward grace.

fitness · motivation · running · spring · training

C25K and cultivating beginners’ mind

Tracy ILeave a comment
Close-up view of a person's feet wearing light gray running shoes with a yellow tip on a stone pavement.
Image description: looking down bare legs towards feet wearing running shoes and socks, standing on a textured concrete sidewalk. Photo by Tracy

I’ve always been drawn to the idea of cultivating beginners’ mind about things that we think we know. It’s a way of going back to that excited learning mindset where we are open-minded, enthusiastic, and teachable.

And so it was with that attitude that I’ve been approaching my spring effort to get back to a regular running routine with the Couch to 5K program. As I wrote at the beginning of the month, it’s a nine week program designed for people new to running.

I’m not new to running, having taken it up as part of Sam and my “Fittest by 50” challenge way back in 2012. But I hit a wall after my last major event, the Around the Bay 30K back in 2019. I injured my Achilles and since then I have never quite hit my stride again. I’ve tried different things, most notably the Nike Learn to Run program a couple of years back. But I couldn’t quite let go of how things “used to be” and the idea that they “should” quickly be that way again.

Not this time. This time I am forcing myself to follow the program as written, not adding more running intervals or skipping weeks that feel too easy. I fell a little bit behind, with some of the weeks being spread out beyond 7 days. So I’m only starting week 4 instead of being at the end of it. Still, I have stuck to the assignment as written. And it’s been easy to get myself out the door because the workouts are so reasonable. (Apparently that changes a bit in week 5)

My beginners’ mind approach has been really good for me because it means I haven’t been too concerned with pace or how far I get or anything that I used to track. I’m not saying I’ll never go back to caring about those things, but it’s liberating to be out there without any concern for speed or distance.

I’m also not comparing myself to anyone else when I’m out there. We all have different goals and right now mine is simply to get back to a three times a week running routine, following the Couch to 5K schedule. That’s it.

Though it’s still early days, I feel confident about recommending this approach to anyone who is new to running or trying to work their way back. It’s a great way to be present for the arrival of spring, which is coming in short bursts this year, with some cold reminders that, at least in my part of the world, we’re not really in the clear until late May. Whatever, a regular running commitment has put me in touch with the vagaries of Canadian spring weather in a direct and enjoyable way.

If you’ve had experience with C25K I’d love to hear about it in the comments!

Enjoy!

The two signs from Nike and Asics. Not-overly-wordy Wednesday: bad sign, good sign, red sign, blu-ish sign
athletes · disability · fitness · running

Not-overly-wordy Wednesday: bad sign, good sign, red sign, blu-ish sign

catherine w2 Comments

Hi readers– remember Sunday, when I wrote about my love and extreme sappiness about the Boston Marathon? Well, I’m not alone in having strong feelings for all things having to do with this event. Witness the hullabaloo around the following signs put up recently in Boston by running shoe companies. Here’s one advertisement ill-advisedly run by a company that rhymes with “Mikey”:

Red sign saying "Runners Welcome. Walkers Tolerated," Really, Nike?
Red sign saying “Runners Welcome. Walkers Tolerated,” Really, Nike? For shame.

Bostonians and visitors alike were feeling serious consternation and not keeping quiet about it. Yes, the Boston marathon requires pretty ambitious qualifying times (e.g. 3 hours for men ages 35-39 and 3:30 for same-aged women). But lots of people who enter are raising money for charities, so their finishing times are much longer.

Also, those who are not runners and who complete the race in wheelchairs or in cooperation with others on dual teams were also mentioned in comments. Don’t they count, Nike?

After realizing their bonehead mistake, Nike made this tepid statement of non-apology:

“We want more people to feel welcome in running – no matter their pace, experience, or the distance. During race week in Boston, we put up a series of signs to encourage runners. One of them missed the mark.”

Ya think?

Then their corporate sign-makers got to work and put up this more contrite version:

The new Nike sign, saying"Boston will always remind you, movement is what matters." huh.
The new Nike sign, saying”Boston will always remind you, movement is what matters.” hmph.

Other shoe companies were not unaware of Nike’s gaffe. A company whose name rhymes with “basics” put this sign up in short order:

Purple-bluish sign saying "Runner, Walkers. All welcome."
Purple-bluish sign saying “Runner, Walkers. All welcome. Move your body, move your mind.”

And that’s not all.  The shoe company Altra put out an ad that led with “Run. Walk. Crawl,” and captioned a social post, “Go where you’re celebrated. Not where you’re tolerated.” Yes, I know that this is corporate piling-on for the purpose of rearranging market shares. But that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy it, right?

Congratulations to all those who entered the Boston Marathon and who completed it, regardless of mode. And speaking of signs, if any of these corporate folks need some tips, asking the people at the Wellesley scream tunnel for advice. Here are a few of my favorites. Enjoy…

Signs saying "blink twice if you need Dunkin'", among other things.
Signs saying “blink twice if you need Dunkin'”, among other things.
The Boston Marathon blue and yellow finish line, painted on the pavement. Catherine’s ready to watch Monday’s Boston Marathon, with coffee and kleenex
athletes · fitness · running

Catherine’s ready to watch Monday’s Boston Marathon, with coffee and kleenex

catherine w1 Comment

Tomorrow, Monday April 20th, is the 130th Boston Marathon. It’s a special day in Boston, roughly coinciding with Patriots’ Day, commemorating the first battles of the American Revolution in Lexington and Concord, MA. We also celebrate the rides of Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Samuel Prescott from Boston to Concord (although Revere was apprehended by the British). Reenactors on horseback retrace the rides on Patriot’s Day and there are parades and reenactments of revolutionary things.

In fact, on one Patriots’ day, while I was cycling with a friend in Lexington, MA, we saw a lot of people on the side of the road. I said to her, “I think there’s a parade happening here.” She disagreed until we spotted a guy in Colonial garb clip-clopping down Mass Ave in our direction. We prudently and expeditiously pulled over to the sidewalk to join the rest of the onlookers.

A historical parade featuring two men on horseback, one dressed as a colonial figure in a black cape riding a white horse, and another in a red uniform on a tan horse. In the background, a group of people watches the procession from the sidewalk.
Three individuals dressed in historical attire ride horses along a tree-lined path.

These reenactors aren’t in Lexington, but the one on the left is riding down Mass Ave. in Arlington. The three riders on the right are playing Prescott, Revere and Dawes. It’s fun to watch them and the rest of the colonial pageantry.

But the main reason why there’s a bank holiday Monday in Boston is the Boston Marathon. Tens of thousands of runners, their friends and family and marathon fans flood Boston, roads are closed for the race, and much of the city stops what it’s doing to watch the wonder of the 26.2 mile (42.1Km) event.

I admit that I rarely head to the course to view the marathon in person, but I always watch it on TV. With coffee, maybe pancakes or an omelette and toast, I make sure I’m in place for the start (Men’s and Women’s Wheelchair and Handcycle at 9:06 am and 9:09am, 9:37am for the Elite men, 9:47am for the Elite women), and then do house chores with it going in the background. The Wheelchair Elites finish starting around 10:30am, The Elite men cross the finish line starting around 11:45, and the Elite women winner will cross the line by 12:10 or earlier.

It’s that women’s finish that always makes my heart swell and my eyes water. Every time.

I don’t follow professional marathon racing, so I don’t know much about the women runners prior to listening to the color commentators that morning. And I am not nor have I ever been a runner myself. But as they hit the 20-mile and head up Heartbreak Hill in Newton, I am glued to the screen. Watching their form, their speed, their demeanor– it just gets to me. In the best possible way. I’m cheering them, worrying about them, feeling sympathy for those running out of gas on the course, and anxiously awaiting the last push to the finish line on Boylston Street.

Sometimes it’s a tight race to the end. Other times someone has pulled out ahead and is the clear winner coming out of the Kenmore Square tunnel at mile 25. Either way, I’m on the edge of my seat on the sofa.

When the women are in sight of the finish line tape, I always get choked up. Happiness, pride, inspiration (in a good way), relief– I have all the feelings. Every time.

I love watching the women run and finish the Boston marathon. Their race reminds me of how hard they have worked to get a spot in the marathon (women weren’t officially allowed to enter until 1972, although two women ran and finished in 1966 and 1967) and how hard they have worked to make their way as professional athletes.

Readers, do you have a special women’s athletic event that you follow, that makes you all teary-eyed and proud? I’d love to hear from you. In the meantime, I’m getting my Marathon Monday breakfast all ready…