Holidays are here!

After seemingly a very long week at work, and a heart breaking Friday afternoon, I woke up this morning strangely motivated to run - despite the temperature being below zero.

I think I almost ran faster just to take my mind off things.

I didn't end up setting up my usual gear for the 12km run (water belt and electrolytes), and instead opted for a simple water bottle in hand, no breakfast, running gloves, and a regular toque (could not find my merino one).

At the start of the run, it didn't seem too bad, although I could see my breath in front of me, in terms of level of chill, it wasn't half bad. On the way back home from the run was a different story. I could feel the wind slicing through my sweatshirt (yes, I never really got that windbreaker I needed). Luckily with my 260 icebreaker base layer, I was still nice and toasty. I definitely don't regret getting a warmer one.

During the course of the run, I saw a few runners, and most unexpectantly, I saw some people decorate trees that were lined along the boardwalk. Maybe it's because I used to rarely (if ever) go to the beaches in the winter time, but it was the first time I saw this and I thought it was really rather sweet.

Imagine walking down the boardwalk in the evening, and all the trees were nicely lit up. Not all of the trees had the special treatment, but I assume it's because it's a work in progress? There's still a good two weeks before Christmas.

As I headed home, I saw the blue French Fries truck. It almost like a sign. If anything can make me feel better, it's french fries from the best french fries truck in Toronto :)

Whitby Race 2011 - Canada Runs for Japan

On this past weekend, I completed my first running event during the November Month. A deliberate test of how it feels to be running in the cold... I was fortunate that the weather also chose to cooperate, it was forecasted to rain, but there was not a hint of it in the air that afternoon.

I left Toronto on Saturday evening (19th of November), met up with my friend Madeline in Scarboro and we headed up together to our friend, Cecilia's house up in Whitby. We had a little debauckle with where to get off... Sistine, Dixon, Thickson... lol, but we managed to meet up in the end.

Cecilia's parents cooked an amazing meal for us to feast on at dinner time, full of carbs, and homemade tomato sauce (that had a little kick!). The main course served with the spaghetti was a mouth-watering chicken casserole. The chicken was grilled to perfection, with such attention to balance of the spices (also from scratch!). A delightful miso soup starter, sprinkled with toasted seaweed. Yum!

After the delicious meal (and great technology through the times dinner talk - yep, we talked about the days where computers had 16MB harddrives...!), we made our way down to the basement lounge area and watched the Food TV network. :P Who would have thought "Dinner: Impossible" could be so addictive. There was some irony that the previous week we had also watched Robert Irvine sadly losing his spot to be America's next Iron Chef. Good chef though, and he really tried to help the restaurant owner get up to par with proper pricing as well as proper cooking of food. 33% Margin. There's something I learned.

Following that we watched a bit of "Chopped". Which was pretty intense because one of the competitors spilled boiling hot water over herself... ai! Potatoes and hot water. Then.. after that... it was Cup Cake Wars. By then I had showered and was ready for bed --- 10 miler (16km) challenge the next day!!

My alarm went off promptly at 8:00am, got up, freshened up, and had breakfast with my friends:
1 Banana, Water, Oatmeal Raisin Cereal. Yum. I was easy on the milk - even at 1%, my body never took too well with milk.




I geared up with my outdoor running gear: 260 Icebreaker layer, T-shirt on top of it, wool socks, icebreaker 200 tights, lululemon brisk running gloves, and my favorite white running cap. Made sure I had my iphone on me as well and some emergency electrolytes (a few raspberry bursts leftover from the scotiabank race).

We left Cecilia's house around 10:00am, and headed to the Whitby Yacht Club, by the waterfront. After parking on a side street, we went straight to the registration area, upstairs in a cottage-like building. I picked up my racekit there: A T-shirt and a Bib (timing chip was attached to the bib). I looked around to see where I could find a course map, but was unable to find one.. But as we neared the stairs to go back downstairs, we saw a hand drawn map.

we sat around and kinda of lounged a bit while waiting for the race to start (at 11am - unusually late time to start). The race actually started a bit later than 11am since we had to wait for the 1km to return from their race (a category for kids). It was quite cold since we waited nearly 15 minutes.

When the start horn finally sounded, all of us 5/10/16km runners couldn't wait to get started - it was so cold waiting around.

This however changed after the first km. I started to warm up, and at one point, I took off my gloves and tucked it away. The scenery on route was really nice, coupled with the cool air, (and no rain), it was not an unpleasant experience at all. I had feared the weather to be like the one we had at the Scotiabank Marathon that happened in the past month. Rainy, Cold, and Windy. It was cold and windy, but no clouds in the sky. Yay!

Near the end of the run, I had a little 'competition' with a more seasoned elder runner :P We were literally passing each other back and forth for over the span of 7km. Neither of us wanted to be defeated, although in the end, with some stored up energy, I did manage to pass the finish line first. Not soon after, when I returned to the cottage to find my friends, I was thanked by him personally for helping him keep going :D I returned the thanks as well, because he too, helped me push myself more.

I then texted my awesome support team Cecilia and Madeline to come find me back at the cottage. There was free chili upstairs, but I really just wanted to go back to the house and shower.

After showering and resting a bit (and more food TV and... the mummy 3), we headed out to have Wild Wings at Kennedy Commons. Yum, wings galore!

It was a fun event. Awesome company, good food, and a great race course. I would definitely do it again next year!

Running Outdoors in the Fall

In my last post I mentioned how I dreaded having to do my runs on a treadmill, and my indecisiveness of to run outdoors or to switch memberships to a gym that had an indoor track. This past weekend, I made my decision - I will run outdoors until its too cold/icy to do it.

I consulted with my virtual coach who offered me excellent advice about what I should wear and where I could get my gear from. It happened though, instead of landing in the Running Room as I thought I would be doing most of my shopping at, I was at Eatons, browsing Lululemon.

No, I unfortunately didn't end up buying lulu, but instead headed to Sports Chek, and got some tights, a long-sleeve base layer, a merino wool cap and a pair of wool socks. I also bought my brother a really nice gift... which we might be returning, but .. they are so nice Quiet Comfort 15 Acoustic Noise Cancelling headphones by Bose. I tried these on at Best Buy, and they were amazing. Hands down. But. Pricey :P The package remains unopened (for now!) and may go back, only to re materialize again come boxing day or something. We shall see.

Anyway, back on topic.. now that I've got my "winter" running gear, I shouldn't have any problem braving the cold (or so the people at sportschek told me). If anything I might a bit hot running in it, unless I am the type to get cold easily. Which, I am, so it shouldn't be an issue.

Today, I put the gear to the test. I left work a bit later than I expected, so the sun was already setting, I had very little time to change and rush outside. I admit, once I got home, I really felt the laziness kick in. I was home. tired. and hungry. And it was chilly outside. The house felt so warm and cozy. I could smell dinner brewing in the kitchen...

But no. I'm dedicated to training for the Goofy run. Not to mention I had one coming up in 2 weeks (Whitby 10 miler race). I had to keep up my cardio. After falling sick for nearly 2 weeks, it was only on the Saturday I managed to do a 10km run at the gym.


Oh. Yes, btw that felt like the longest 10km I ever had to run. I chose a treadmill that was closest to a tv view of the food network, but found that it was out of service. The only other one was facing a structural beam. So I would need to turn my head to watch my cooking shows. So not cool. And not fun. Time ticked by very slowly. I ended at about 10km, and made my way home. It was after this treadmill run tipped the scale in my decision to get outdoor running gear.

I rationalize now, (also then), the clothing invested for running can be cross-functional to my other winter sports that I do sometimes (snowboarding/skiing). Maybe we could even do some winter hikes... The possibilities were endless.

After taking a few quick sips of water, plugging in to my music, I finally left the house, and made my way to the park and did laps. Eventually I will need a better place to run, but it was the first route that came to mind. It grew dark quickly, so I tried to stay in the lit areas of the paths. It was such a beautiful evening. The air was nice and crisp. There was a slight chill, I could see my breath when I breathed out. Only a little though. Wasn't cold enough to see a full winters breath. Best part was that I was comfortably warm while running. It was pitch black when I finished my run so I was glad that I stayed just in the park area.

During my run, as I mentioned, I was comfortably warm. Everything was at a controlled warmth; the base layer did as it promised: kept me warm and at the same time, kept me dry and not sweaty. I had on 3 layers, a regular long-sleeve technical shirt, my merino wool base layer on top, and a simply sweatshirt over top of it all. I should have gotten a windbreaker too, maybe this weekend. The hat was great. my head felt warm and toasty. The socks, WOW. Loved them. When I first put them on, greatest feeling ever. They were..feeling rather fluffy. lol. I used the same gloves I purchased for my scotiabank marathon (the Lululemon ones).

Overall, I'm happy with the gears that I got. Now I have to be sure I'm on track with the training. As well as the fundraising! :)



Speaking of fundraising, my next post, I will tell you more about my partnership with a local artist, Tomori Nagamoto, in helping raise funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada. Please visit http://tinyurl.com/runforthecurewendy if you want to make a donation today!

Tomori Nagamoto is not only an extremely talented artist (see above portraits for sample artwork) and musician, but a fellow runner who has a philanthropic mindset as well.

Niagara Falls Marathon - Canada Runs for Japan ... No Go

I was so excited to do this run at Niagara Falls this weekend. It's the only one in the world that you start your run in one country and end it in another (States side!). Unfortunately, the cold that I caught from last weekend's run persisted, and I had to cancel this one. But while I didn't end up going, my team (Canada Runs for Japan) went. I hope they all got through it well!

I am hoping by mid this week I'll be well enough to start running again.

The weather from what I can tell is terrible - rain for tomorrow, rain for tuesday, and rain for wednesday. I might have to consider the treadmill. I don't look forward to it. Once you get used to running outdoors, running indoors becomes excessively... boring. The air isn't as nice either (smell of sweat!). On the brighter note, I can get back to watching my foodnetwork stuff. I'm just not too sure what to do with my long runs for the weekends.

My training schedule tells me I should be doing 28km... but doing that on a treadmill? That will be brutal. A friend suggested maybe switching to the Athletic Centre at U of T (Alumni, maybe a better deal?). They have track there. And then of course there is always Hart House (also a track). But then.. that would lock me into one location. I like that Goodlife gives me options.. not that I always use it, but it has perks (last weekend post-run shower!).

Alternatively, I can always consider running outdoors. Until at least till it starts snowing. I have about a month! And some. I can't believe October is ending soon. Hallowe'en is just around the corner.

Speaking of which, with $3650 to raise still for Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada (Goofy Race 2012!), I will be selling "Red Velvet Mini Cupcakes", with a hallowe'en theme to them. Get 12 mini red velvet cupcakes for only $10! 100% of proceeds go to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada.

Special thanks go to the amazing sponsors so far to date: Jeffrey Lam, Kaibar, Lucy Wong, Liana Li, Anna Do, Stephen Lavoie, Richard Tanha, Joyce Quan, Vina Ly, Lynette Le, Cousins, Michelle Wong, Mildred Avendano, and Susan Jong!

Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon - Heart & Stroke Foundation

On Sunday, October 16th, 2011, I completed my 3rd full marathon!! Hurray! This year, over 22,000 runners from all around the world were participating in the marathon/half-marathon/5k event :)

The night before (Saturday) I was battling the onset of a cold (and possibly fever). I had woken up Saturday morning very achey, and tingly, warm, throat kind of scratchy. This was not from taking the flu-shot. I was under council by my boss and a colleague on Friday that it would be a bad idea. And my doctor agreed when I asked him. Yay, no sore arm. Usually when I get my flu-shot I have a 50/50

chance of either getting really sick the next day or completely fine. Did I want to risk it, when my run was 2 days away? Not really. Not with all the training so far.

Yet somehow, I still get sick. So on Sat evening, with my friend Mad on our way to eat my pasta dinner (fuel, I need fuel!),

I picked up a bottle of Extra Strength Cold Fx. I popped a pill right after buying it (and one before I went to bed).

Race day. Awake at 5:30am, I freshened up, filled my water bottles and packed them away. I debated on whether to take Cold Fx again, but decided that I would ride it out. Never know what pills can do when you're doing a long endurance run. And I was feeling a little better, although not 100%. Maybe at 65%. Better than nothing :)

Double checked that I had my clif blok jellies in my water belt. Made sure I had some salty chips/peanuts in case of cramps (around the 30km mark!). Packed my extra change of clothes, deodorant, body glide, towel for the showers at goodlife (see, membership does come in handy!), keys, phone, earphones, hat, extra water, snacks for post-run (protein bar, cookies, and a juice), money (for real food for post-race). I pinned my bib number to the front of my tshirt. Attached my timing chip to my shoe. With everything packed and ready, I set out to make myself a little breakfast: peanut butter and banana sandwich. A surprisingly delicious combination!

I looked at my race route and printed the map to the baggage check in. The location was different from last year, it was at the Armoury..., at University Ave. and Armoury. Also added the list of road closures, in case the Taxi driver needed that information. I really wanted to minimalize the cost if I could :)

My taxi arrived at 7am sharp. Sweet, no worries about having to order another one or complaining to the taxi company. Last time I had a bad experience with one company, and I had to get to the airport to not miss my flight...

I arrived promptly at my destination. My little road closure map helped :) Cost me $20, tips included. Way cheaper than booking a hotel downtown!

I walked up to Armoury St. and University and was completely at a loss to where the baggage area was. No signs. Nothing. A guy walked up to me seeing that I looked lost, and asked what I was looking for - turned out to be the same thing he was looking for too. We kept walking along university until we saw a group of volunteers who told us we were in the right place: this WAS the baggage area. Out here. In the middle of the street. In the cold.

We waited, and it wasn't until 7:45-8:00am, before they set up the tables and parked these moving trucks. Split into 3 sections, based on bib numbers, I just happened to line up at the WRONG one. I was so disappointed when they made me go line up at another section - I was there so early! lol To BEAT the lineup. Good thing though was I pre-paid for it, so I got on the 'express' line.

Once baggage was checked, it was all a waiting game. The race started at 9am. I found myself a little cozy spot by a stair case and tried to keep myself warm. There were two really annoying guys who were also sitting near me, who were mocking people who didn't "look" like runners. It was too bad they didn't stay long, because I really wanted to tell them off. Really, who are you to judge if someone can run it or not? And everyone at the race were there to run for their own reasons, some for charities, some for loved ones, some for competition, and some for fun. Believe it or not, a good physique does not always equate to be being a good runner. Nor does age. Last year, a man that was probably close to 70 beat out both me and this early 20's kid. Kind of sad, but it is true. Don't let appearances fool you. These people really train for the event.

Speaking of age.. this year, a 100-year-old Fauja Singh was a participant. That is amazing. God, I hope I can still run when I'm a 100.


9am, and I'm with the crowd, in my coral, and waiting for 9:05am (2nd wave). There's a cry and a cheer. And I walk a bit, then jog, and then finally start running to the startline. It's always like that, a bottleneck effect. Although, I admit, the new wave system helped it a bit. Normally we all kinda walk to the start line.

The first 10k, I think I did fairly strongly, about an 1:10 minutes. I saw a lot of gloves and sweat shirts along the way. The runners were warmed up. I was getting warm too. I had already tossed away a purple sweatshirt. Never liked it. I still can't believe I brought it on my Taiwan trip earlier this year. Did not look flattering in pictures. No sad goodbyes there :) My gloves were a different story. Newly bought Lululemon ones. Not throwing these babies away. I did pocket them (and double checked every other kilometer if they were still there.

The 21 km split came around, and I could barely believe that the half way point had arrived.

I think the trouble started once I past the 31km mark... I started to feel the "wall" coming. It was like an oncoming storm of walls. At 34km, I was trying not to even look at the distance indicators, yet, my eyes still searched for the red and white numbered flags. 35km, my back started to get sore and bother me. Once in a while, I would put my hand behind my back and give it a little back stretch. Surprisingly, at this point, I hadn't experienced any cramps. Well, at least leg cramps... Around 37/38km, it started to lightly rain again. With the wind and the cool air, I could feel the goosebumps start to rise on my skin. Gloves on. My throat was starting to bother me. My head hurt. But the mantra that kept going in my mind was to keep on going, I was close. Almost there. Near a water station, I saw a girl with a banner: "Go random stranger, go!". That put a smile on my face, took my mind off the pain, my cold, and the wet weather for a second. And then it was back.


39km, I saw an older woman running, I picked up my pace, and then saw what was up a head, a slight hill. Really, in reality, it wasn't really even a hill. A little upward slope. But it was a steady one. I could see a number of runners just walking it up. Was I going to run it? If you think I said hell ya, then I gotta confess: hell no! lol. Everything by that time started to hurt. And I remembered how I felt at the Midsummer nights run. I did a little walk run trot up. I chatted with her a little, but I think she was quite focused with her energy on finishing. Given that I was really just easing my way up the "hill" I decided to take a picture of the 40 flag. hehe.

Then I put away my iphone, and pushed the rest of the way through. 41km. Front Street. There were people there, someone congratulates me, you're almost there! It's just 800m! 600m! 400m! 300m!, 1k - I'm at 42km. 200m! I'm pushing myself to go faster, 100m! No breaks, just keep on running... and I see the finish line. With the last of my reserve energy I make one last sprint to the finish line.



42.2km. Done. :) This one is for my two uncles, both who have been touched by strokes. Love you both and my hope to both of you on a swift recovery.

After I crossed the finish line, they hung a medal on me, draped me in an emergency blanket, and surprise surprise, I found that my baggage was located not too far ahead of me! They had transported the baggage to the finish line. Sweet! No more trekking to pick it up. I texted my friends to let them know that I was done. Mad was kind enough to come down to congratulate me - talk about support :) And of course to my texters, you know who you are :) Virtual supporters rock too!


I met with her and then took off a little bit to Goodlife (dundas location) and put my membership to good use :P Showered and feeling refreshed, I met with Madeline again and we headed off to eat.

We ate at Kenzo's, a japanese restaurant near college introduced to us by our friend Susan. I had the Ra-men (their specialty) and the gyoza (Japanese dumplings). Delicious. I think I was so hungry, I didn't even take a photo of the food. :P Aside from feeling physically sore, I knew the battle with my impending cold was not doing too well. I guess running in the cold and rainy weather isn't the best way to keep it at bay ;)

This morning, sadly, the cold won out. I woke up a little dizzy and throat was sore and 'warm' to the touch. Rest day for me. Better by the evening and right now, feeling much better. I hope it stays that way!

Scotiabank Waterfront Course Map 2011

CIBC Run for the Cure

This morning I was "up" at 5:00am. I could hear the pitter-patter of raindrops against my window in my bedroom. There was nearly no light streaming in. It was also really chilly. I did NOT want to get up. I instead rolled my head to to face the side of night stand and checked my phone for any texts from my friend to see if he had finally answered my texts from the night before (see if he remembered the run at all! :P). I sent him a quick good morning text seeing there was a response. My text was returned at 5:35am. But I had already gone back to sleep :)
At 6am, I actually got up out of my bed and started to freshen up and gear myself for the cancer run. I slipped on my midsummer night's shirt (only synthetic shirt I had that was long sleeved), long pants, and of course, the CIBC cancer tshirt.

They were not kidding when they said x-large was big. I had figured the day before that I would have to wear layers, so x-large would leave room for a jacket as well. Had coffee and half a (buttered) bagel. Yum. Met up with my friend on the Queen street car, and headed towards the U of T campus, Kings College Circle. Kinda nice walking around my old campus, except for the unappealing mud that I tried not to sink into. We checked our bags in (it was free!!), and we killed time while waiting for the start of the 5km run to begin. Our route wasn't too bad, a nice circuit that closed back to our starting line.

The wait was quite long, cold, and rainy. We had gotten there earlier, around 8:45am, the race didn't start until 10am. We took some pictures, checked out the Aeroplan tent (signed up for one too!), and got a free orange skin peeler. They also gave free oranges (obviously so we could use the peeler). My friend actually used his. I just pocketed it (too much trouble checking it into my bag).
Sad to report, the orange peeler was tossed during the run...

Finally, it was 10 to 10am (no pun intended). I nudged my friend and we headed towards the start line. As we walked to it, we passed by the startline for survivors of breast cancer. A huge crowd had gathered there. As we moved further down Wellesly Street, I saw the immense amount of people ahead of me and around me.




For a moment as I stared at all these people, old and young, all out here, together, hoping for a change, hoping for a cure, hoping for someone they loved to get better, and some, in loving memory of someone lost. I thought about those who lost, my friend who lost her mom when she was only just starting University, my friend's aunt who lost the battle only a few months ago. Each year I join this run, each year I see the numbers grow. I'm glad I'm part of something that will make a difference.



10am, and the countdown started. My hands by this time were freezing. I regretted not wearing gloves. Mitts. Anything. Some people had the right idea, toques, scarfs, and winter mitts. I just had a long sleeve wicking shirt with the CIBC tshirt on top. Not much insulation at all. Countdown hit zero, and my friend high-fived me, just as the race begun...

And we were at a stand still. Well, we were still walking. It was very congested. Makes sense since there were lots of people. Same thing happens at all marathons too. We walked for at least 3 minutes before we arrived at the startline. And even as we crossed it, we were still walking. Things started to spread out a little as we hit the 2km mark. My friend and I got separated at one point. I also tossed that orange peeler too. I also discovered that carrying keys in my (specifically) track pants, was not the greatest idea...

I ran down from Wellesly Street to University Avenue, looped around back on University and up Queen's Park Crescent. All the while, I could hear the cheering (even through my ipod). Heading west on Bloor St., I rounded south onto St. George Street. Ah. What fond memories as I passed by some of the Lecture Buildings of my Uni days. I snapped some pictures, one particular of Sid Smith. I kinda wished they had the hot dog stand there too.. at this point, my half a bagel pretty much digested. When we hit College, I turned east on College, knowing that the finish line was just around the corner. It was, but just a little backed up. There was a huge crowd, all of them walking towards the finish line.



After crossing the finish line, I met with my friend. By this point, the weather decided that it was time to really bring on the rain instead of sprinklings of here and there. As we waited to check our bags out, we ... ok, not we, it was more of an "I" thing going on, thought about what to eat afterwards. There were many choices, Mexican, Korean, Burgers, Dumplings (Chinese), or Vietnamese. After much debate, although, we agreed that Vietnamese Pho would be the best thing to have to powerup after our run.

We made our way to Pho Hung (Spadina Avenue and St Andrew Street); right across the street from the Bright Pearl Dimsum Restaurant (that's allegedly said to be haunted...).

Pho @ Pho Hung was amazing! Soup was super tastey, not too greasy. We ordered a set of their summer rolls too. A perfect way to end a satisfying run.



Now for the next run... Scotiabank Waterfront Marathon. Why does that worry me? Maybe because I haven't hit my 30km mark yet.. at least not since the Midsummer Night's Run in August! I really thought that since the organizers had moved the STWM to October, I would have more time to train... lol I guess it didn't work for me. Some longer distances this week might help. I just hope it doesn't rain too much!

Last weekend before race madness

I've been trying so hard to keep with my schedule the past few weeks, but it's been more difficult than I had anticipated. Sleeping late bears a big factor in it :) Kind of like a cycle that just develops, you sleep late, you feel too tired in the morning to do the run. I did manage one run at least. Though, I definitely think it's affected my lsd on the weekends.

Today, I left the house late, wasn't able to sleep last night after witnessing a fight break out in the subway. Although thankfully this time I wasn't actually an injured party of it. What luck though. Out of maybe 7 compartments, I end up in one that has a dispute on it. I do hope they start transitioning the new subways [http://www.blogto.com/city/2010/10/ttc_unveils_new_rocket_subway_trains/] soon.



At any rate, I still managed to push myself to gear up and head out. No slacking, the month of race madness is literally around the corner. Next week, first race up is the CIBC breast cancer run for the cure. I've been consecutively for the past 5 years been a participant and contributor to this cause. Gotta love the pink that shows up on race day! Each year I notice the growing number of participants, and it really is amazing. A mix of breast cancer survivors, people running for loved ones, it is truely inspiring to among such a wonderful group of people.




CIBC Run for the Cure - October 2, 2011 (5km Run)

And then the marathon madness. I should really check in and see if I've simply gone insane or am just overly ambitious. Or both. And plus some (as one of friends may add). hahaha. She is not far from the truth there... :D

After gearing up, grabbed a quick bite of bagel (I actually ended up eating a whole bagel! lots of butter on top... how healthy is that?! lol My dad gave a nice commentary: most people put butter on one side, just because I'm running, I give my excuse that I could put butter on both sides! But hey, at least I eat the slices separately. Double buttered as one bagel doesn't feel right to me...).

My run started nice and steady, yawned a couple times :P, but by the time I was in my 5th km, I was in my groove. The weather was actually quite nice. According to the forecast, it was suppose to rain all weekend (last I checked anyhow). Instead, a pleasant surprise of cool and perfect running weather was presented. I couldn't believe my luck...especially given the fact I started my run at 9am! Goodness, that was usually around the time I started to taper off on my lsd and head home. Give or take my distance. Oh well, I guess consistancy has been going out the door the past weeks, why not this too? hehe.

There were a lot of runners today, definitely weather related. Not as many bikers as I expected though. As I ran, I noticed some pretty random things. I saw this guy, well built, runner like, biking towards me. Normally it would escape my notice, but lol he had little basket in front of his bike and there inside was the cutest little dog ever! I think it was a shitzu. hehe. I really couldn't help but let that distrupt my running rhythm. Another woman walking by also looked at me with a slight smirk on her face. Nothing wrong with a guy with a dog.. but on a bike with it in a little basket... hehehe. too cute.



I kept my pacing up pretty well for the first 10km, but I started really to fade as I got into my 15-18km. By the time 20km came around, the sun was becoming a little unbearable, despite the cool wind in the air. I never much liked the beaming of sun on my face. Even with a cap. I kept thinking that I should have brought sunblock. By 21 km, I grudgingly had to cut the lsd short and start running off my route and heading home. I went on my cooldown at 23.5km.

Maybe for next saturday I could do a long run pre cibc run day :)

Toronto Island Duathlon 2011 - My first Duathlon

A Duathlon - run, bike, run. Yes, not a biathlon as one would have thought it be called. I signed up for the race some time ago, likely in June is my guess, thinking that it would be a good way to transition into triathlons. Kind of like testing the waters before leaping in (even though, I fully intend on diving in!).

Today, at the Toronto Islands, I got a good taste of what it would feel like. The race course for my event was 4.5km run, followed by a 30km bike ride, and finishing off with a 4.5km run. The route didn't seem very difficult, but then again, I was also still on my recovery week from last weekends 30km run, and on a terrible note, I hadn't touched my bike since my "fall" a few weeks ago. The bike (and helmet) was in fact still in my friends garage today...


In preparation for the event, last night I made some pasta for dinner (I have to say, I do make a mean spaghetti!). I also rummaged up my hydration pack, tossed in an emergency blanket, iPhone, some food (almonds, e-discs, cliff bloks), and an extra set of clothes for changing after the race. And of course, a long sleeve shirt/sweatshirt for after/pre race.

I aimed to for a good nights sleep, but instead slept at 1am somehow. Not good since I had to wake up in 4 hours...

@5:00am today, I was up.
@5:30am, I was dressed and ready to go, drank some water to hydrate myself.
@6:00am, my friend (great support, unfortunate that he couldn't do the race this year) picked me up. The bike securely attached to his car, with helmet and some extra Gatorade he thought I might need. need to say, I did *shudder* about the Gatorade. Last weeks experience still lingering)


@6:30am, we were at the Ferry area to the Toronto Islands. I went to pick up my bib# and ferry ticket. There I met a girl named Angela. She was doing the Duathlon Relay. Part of me kinda wished I did too :P
@7:00ish (?) My friend and I parted ways then, wishing me luck as I stood in line to get on the Ferry. I was now solo. As I waited, I looked around me, and I could see road bikes, triathlon bikes (you know, the ones that look fast while standing still...), but not many hybrids or mountain bikes even. I chatted with a woman and her husband in front of me, and found out that she was doing the triathlon. Her bike looked cool, not a tri bike, but still, compared to mine, much more awesome. It was a really windy and cool day, I couldn't imagine going into open water and swimming 750m. I later found out when we finally got on the ferry that she was going to be doing the Ottawa Triathlon next weekend. This event was going to be nothing compared to that; she was going to use this as a practice for the swim section. Very impressed. I wished I could do what she was doing, but I guess I am moving towards that. Just need to put in more practice with my weaker areas (biking and swimming!).

Once we arrived on the island, we made our way to "Transition Area", close by starting line area. There I parted ways with Karman, and went to my bike rack section (in accordance to my bib#). There, I met two ladies that were also like me - doing their first duathlon. I chatted with them a little and then went to pick up my the latter part of my race kit - this included the free participation tshirt, a race bag full of goodies (granola bars, chewys..etc) + a magazine, and my race chip (which was actually a strap on to my ankle!).

I decided then, that I would just run without the hydration pack. I didn't need it. And the worry that my stuff would be taken or anything like that without it being locked up (yes, a little paranoid...), was put to rest. Everyone there were athletes, and the place was kinda closed off to the general public. I put my hydration bag to the side, close to where my bike sat on the rack, pinned up my bib#, put the sticker of my bib# on my helmet (not sure if it was rights side up? since it was a rushed job), and strapped on my chip timer.

It was also during this time that I found out that running with music were not allowed. I had brought my armband too. In hindsight, I could have just worn the armband with my iPhone just to tell the time... I didn't have a watch..

@7:50am, I stood with my two new friends Roxxanne and Patricia as we waited for the race to start. I also bumped into Angela too.
@8:00am, the starting horn sounded, and we were off to the races!

Note that I didn't have a watch, so the rest will have no time reference :P

I completed the 4.5km pretty strong. The course looped around so that we ended back into the transition area, so we could pick up our bikes. I quickly took a quick drink of the Gatorade situated conveniently on my bike, put on my helmet, and started the next part of the event - 30km bike ride.

Here is where I heard a lot of "On your left!", "To your Left", "Left", "Careful, on your left!", "Sorry, on your left".. I think I may dream about those words tonight. I held a steady pace, but compared to the pro athletes in the event (quite a lot of them), I looked like a recreational biker lol. I could hear them zip by me as I rode my bike.

Words of great wisdom: Keep calm, and Carry on.

Once I finished the 30km ride, which we also looped back into the transition area, I took another few sips of my Gatorade, donned my favourite white cap, and started my last section: run 4.5km. As I started to run, I could feel the tension in my legs, they felt so rubbery. I was warned about this by the new friends I met. They all said it would feel like that right after the bike to run transition, and you just have to ease into it for the first 5-10 minutes. They were right.



I finished the race, got a free Hero Burger (yum), and a 1% Milk. Both girls that I ran with were really nice, offering Chinese buns and a delicious coconut drink while we waited in line for the burger.

All in all, it was yet another successful event! I met new friends, tried something new, and discovered a new found favourite - Hero burgers!

After leaving the island, I couraged up and biked all the way home, a good 7km on top of the 30km. :P A good start to pushing myself a little.

Next event... going to be a little quiet until October, but it will definitely give me time to train :)

Midsummer Nights Run 2011

My run is for Canada Runs for Japan. This is a local group of runners in Toronto area who decided to do something special to help the victims of the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan. In order to raise awareness about relief efforts in Japan, this group that I have joined, are doing various runs throughout the year. When I first heard of this team, I was moved by how they are trying to help. So far from their last event, the Toronto Marathon, they have raised about $12,518.69 CDN. Proceeds from T-shirt Sales (see my wicking shirt on left image) and donations ($7,308.69 CDN) go directly to relief efforts in Japan through the Japan Earthquake Relief Fund organized through the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre (JCCC) . The remaining 4,210.00 CDN in entry fees paid to the Toronto Marathon Office will go to supporting future marathons which have generously supported the Canada Runs for Japan project and other charitable organizations over the years. Read more about Canada Runs for Japan, and an upcoming run @ the Montreal Marathon.

In preparation for this years run, I aimed to have it turn out differently than the last one - loss of two precious toenails (happy to report though, they have grown back now), and not to be heaving and nauseous in the middle of the night post-race.

Knowing my mistakes from last year, toenails were definitely well-trimmed a few days before hand and a full meal of delicious pasta was ingested at 11am in the morning. In hindsight, perhaps for the latter precaution I should have done the night before - the full plate of pasta that I had required more than a mere 6 hours to digest apparently :-(

@11:00am I ventured to a local restaurant on the Beaches - Tulips. I was at this same restaurant the night before my race for the rideforheart, a biking event that I completed earlier this year. I remember the pasta being really good and hearty. Just what I needed to fuel me up for the 30km.

Plus a side of mashed potatoes.

I honestly think I over-did myself on the food this time around. lol. I paid dearly for it. The unfortunate thing was it didn't end there. I broke a cardinal rule in all the training I had done in the past 3 years: never ever experiment on drinks on the day of the race. You do this while training, find out what works with your body while you're running and what makes you sick after drinking it. If there was ever a 'failed blog' moment, this was it. I bought myself 2 bottles of Gatorade - Extreme Grape.

I love grape juice. I like grapes. I like most grape flavoured stuff, candies, lollipops, raisins.. lol. So why not, extreme grape? Sounds so good! No. no. not good at all... it tasted ok the first few sips. But by 5km in, I was desperate to unload the Gatorade and replace it with just water.

Now that I have stated what went wrong, I'll just start from the beginning in what went remarkably right for an amazing night run.

@10:45am, I left my house with all gear in my backpack, and headed to Tulips for my fill of spaghetti (and side of mashed potatoes). I arrived at the restaurant and seated myself in one of the booths. Humming to myself quietly, I quickly selected out my meal and sipped on a glass of ice cold water while waiting for my order to arrive. I needed to keep hydrated :) I could hear the bustling around the restaurant - even at such an early hour, it was already getting so busy. I could smell the bacon and eggs, the butter, and the toast... It almost made me sad that I had to limit myself to just carbs. Not that I didn't like spaghetti... but I love breakfast food a lot.
When my pasta arrived, I took a quick picture of it, before digging in. Delicious. Mashed potatoes too disappeared quickly. I think I was the only one in the restaurant who was eating a pasta meal during brunch hours :)

After the meal, I had to head back home because I realized that I had forgotten my headlights. These headlights are lifesavers. Last year I needed them, and that was when I was a much stronger runner. This year, I had a feeling that if I didn't bring headlights, I'd be lost in the dark and tripping over my feet. I stayed home until around 2pm, which was when I had to go pick up my race kit.

@ 2:30pm, I arrived at McLeary Park, picked up my race kit. It contained my bib (and chip attached to the bib), and a nice midsummer nights run shirt. I had my option of black or white. I stuck around the park a little bit, checked out a marathon running stand. Like the Expo's, it had a whole bunch of marathon pamphlets. I couldn't resist but pick some up.

I realized I had a lot of time to kill. Time to go buy those water bottles I'd been stingy on! I headed off to the running room. Bought my 4 waterbottles set, some e-disks (just in case), and bodyglide. I also got my friend a waterbelt too.

I took my time there, and didn't start to head back to the park until around 4:30pm. As I got on the shuttle bus (by lakeshore and connaught area), I bumped into an old teammate (Janine) from Team in Training! We chatted a bit as the bus took us to McLeary. Turned out that she and her cousin were going to do the 15km. This was the first of many brief moments when I thought that 15km may have been a better distance for me.

Its about 5ish, and I'm mentally preparing myself for the run. I'm nervous. Definitely nervous. My longest run for the year had been a mere 20km. That was no where near the distance I was at the previous years. This was going to be a challenge, whether I liked it or not.

@5:30, I'm at the starting line and I hear a cheer, and we're off. I start off strong (adrenaline pumping), and its around the 5km margin, when I start feeling not so great. Not even a quarter of the way through, how was I suppose to maintain?! Panic was not helping. Stomach was doing sommersaults, cramps at the side, slight nauseous (gatorade culprit)... I kept on going. at 10km, I was struggling still, worse off than before. I saw my friend who came by while biking. It was a source of encouragement. This lasted me a while... until my back started to bother me. I kept on going, but by the 21km mark, I was starting to doubt I was going to make the cut-off point.

I remember the split. Just beyond the 21 km, the left one was for the 15km, and the right for the 30km. My heart pounding, and wondering if I was making the right decision, I veered to the right, and continued. My alarms on my iPhone had gone off, indicators that cut-off time was near miss... and then I met Michelle and her friend (who had super bright headlights) and Lorraine. Thank god I met these ladies. We really helped each other through. Lorraine and I stuck together, chatting as we ran. By the 26km point, the two of us were starting to turn into the Beaches, the place I do most of my runs. Familiar territory.. except it was in the pitch black. I had at this point turned on my headlights and was keen on not tripping over any bumps or cracks in the cement.. or the boardwalk :P

Lorraine and I kept on chatting as we cleared 1km after another, pushing to get to that 30km. I swear, 4km never seemed so far! It felt like an endless run, especially in the dark. It was however, very peaceful, serene. And then it started to spit again. I was getting tense, because last year, around the last few km was when the downpour came, and I was drenched from head to toe.

At last we cleared out of the Beaches, I was starting to count km as they came. My back was killing me at this point. I couldn't wait till I reached the finish line. At last we were at the 29km mark, I was so close! My pace steadied. My face determined. And when I crossed that finish line, my face broke into an exuberant smile: We'd done it. It was done. 30km! They hung a medal over our heads and we each gave each other hugs for our accomplishment.

When Lorraine and I parted ways, I called my friend Jeff who had been really supportive all evening in cheering me on, to pick me up. lol I had no energy to walk home this time around. The evening was a true success! Despite how sore I was feeling, it was so much fun. Meeting of old friends, and meeting of new friends, and of course, finishing the race!

Next race up... Duathlon? At the Toronto Islands. Oh Boy...

Goodbye waterbottle...#2

The big run is next week...despite all the training I've had the last few weeks, I don't think I'm as prepared as I should be. Today I decided I would push myself to do a minimum of 20km. Normally by the time I do the Midsummer Night's run, I'm at the 23km + mark. This year, I had more setbacks. A lot of posts titled "back in training!".

Last evening I met up with my friend and we went for il Fornello on the beaches. She ordered a Penne, and I ordered the Fettuccini Alfredo. For appetizers we got the Calimari (which was delicious). Marble Slab for desserts :) Such indulgences! I have been trying to cut back a little on eating out, but for some reason, I guess I justified it all with the intent on doing a very long run the next day. No backing out. No sleeping in. No slacking. (In hindsight, I may also should have added NO CHEESE. My stomach was rather upset during the night).

I woke up this morning ready for the challenge. 20km. I could do this. Waterbelt, IT band, almonds for food, new armband for iphone...

Yes, I finally invested in it. I was biking with my friend one time, and when I told him that I just kinda tucked my phone into a pouch as I ran, I got the look *that's not cool* All things considered with all the gears I had on, why not get an armband too? At least look the part if anything *grin*.

So since then, I had been on the hunt for one. Finally picked one up on the Thursday with a friend. I also discovered too that MapMyRun appearantly isn't accurate in distance calculations! Or rumour has it. I have to prove it still. Its calibration is off when you are not running on roads. It underestimates the total distance. So, who knows, maybe I have been doing more than 7km on my morning runs!

Anyway, I took the belkin armband out of the package and discovered it wasn't what I had initially expected. It was a buckle strap, but it wasn't one that could be opened up. I could adjust it though to fit my arm, but I had to slide it up.

Geared up, I left the house to do the run. About 1/6th of the way, I went to reached for the rear waterbottle on my belt... and discovered it wasn't there! I actually did a full 360 turn to check around me (not that it would have done any good...), but nope. It wasn't a recent drop. It was gone.. gone!!! Now I was down to two water bottles. Still quite full at this point. I decided I would just run until I ran out of water. Shockingly, I ran 14km and still had a tiny bit of water.

But just as I was running out, seriously not dramatizing here, I bump into my brother on the boardwalk. He had a waterbottle in his hand. I peddlared him to giving me some. How kind, he filled up only the half way point of one of my 8oz bottles :P Fortunately, I reached a water fountain not too far away and filled up.

I continued my run, finished at 20.58km and walked the remaining distance home. Oh also a note, I gave it up with the armband... it kept slipping, and it felt really heavy on my arm. Maybe I hadn't put it on right? At halfway point of my distance, I actualy ended up slipping it off and "strapped" it to my hand instead. It actually worked pretty well. Not sure if I looked *cool* running with it like that, but it was better having to adjust it every 10 minutes.

By the time I reached home, I had about 2 hours left before I had to go to a seminar about Google Chrome and HTML5. After Showering and eating some vegetarian sushi quickly, I made my way all the way to the west end to Liberty street. The seminar turned out to be pretty interesting. I met a few new friends and got a free Google Chrome version of the "Ball of Whacks"!




(sorry kaibar, they only had enough for attendees)

After the seminar, I made my way again, all the way to the opposite (east) end to try an Ethiopian Restaurant called "Rendez-vous restaurant" located near Danforth and Greenwood. Food there was pretty good! Company was a delight, and the coffee that I got at the end of the evening was superb. It was like having a shot of expresso. I think that's probably why I'm still up right now to type up this posting! 20km runs usually forces me to retire earlier in the evening... but I feel so awake. Best part with the coffee was it also came with popcorn! Yes, you heard right. Popcorn. So good!