It's 21k to Disney Part 3 (how many parts are there??)

September 02, 2010

 

Ok, so we’ve talked about the race I’m doing, the value of a good pair of shoes and the importance of snacks on a long distance run.

 

Next to my shoes, my iPod is my single most important piece of running gear.  I train with a few different playlists, but I always make a specific one for race day.  I want to make sure it’s a good mix of music, with nothing I’m sick of.  (You don’t want to be mid run and go “oh for the love of Pete, not that one…”)  There are points in a run where I need calming, keeping in the zone music, but also times when I need something to kick my butt, keep my energy up and make me laugh.  I also always end with songs that are the musical equivalent of a cheerleader.  It gets me through that last hurdle and racing to the finish. 

The very first race I did was the 2008 Harry’s Spring Run Off, an 8k in both Vancouver and Toronto’s High Park.  Here’s my playlist:

 

get in the zone tunes

Because Of You - Kelly Clarkson   

Before He Cheats - Carrie Underwood

Crazy (James Michael Mix) - Alanis Morissette 

 

inspirational tunes

God Trying to Get Your Attention - Keb' Mo'     

Gotta Be - Des'ree 

 

easy nostalgia

I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues - Elton John

In a Big Country (Radio Edit) - Big Country      

 

fun pacing tunes

Mr. Blythe - Anne & Gilbert Soundtrack

PEI Shanty / Sheehan's Reel - Gordon Belsher

 

more nostalgia

The Reflex - Duran Duran    

 

keep going songs

The River - Garth Brooks

Solsbury Hill - Peter Gabriel*

Superman - Five for Fighting

 

comedy to keep going

Two Piña Coladas - Garth Brooks

Uncle F**ka  from South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut

 

cheerleader songs

We're All In This Together - High School Musical Soundtrack

You Can't Stop The Beat - Hairspray: Soundtrack To The Motion Picture

 

While these are some great tips, there is one big thing you have to do before you can implement the rest.  What is it?  I’ll tell you after my trip to DQ, I mean, my run…

 

*I got into trouble during my first race because I didn't know I was singing while I ran and when I got to this song, I belted out "my heart's going BOOM, BOOM, BOOM..."  Needless to say, the other runners were not impressed.  Words which would get me fired if I wrote them here were used...

Forget Back to School, It's 21 Kilometers to Disney...

August 29, 2010

While most of us are scrambling, getting their kids ready to go back to school, I’m getting ready for something else completely: I’m getting ready to run my first Half Marathon. 

If you had told me 5 years ago this is what I’d be doing, I’d have laughed my head off and said you were off your rocker.  But here’s a little tip I wish someone had told me: after about 33, and definitely after you have kids, things start to change.  You have no control over this, it’s just Mother Nature’s way of asserting herself and making sure you never get too comfortable in your own skin.  Oh, you think you’re hot?  Well, how hot do you feel now that I’ve moved this over here, and that over there and …oooh, you’re going to love what I did with this “asset”.

 

So now, I run.  I don’t really love it, but I love the results I get from it.  (See tale of woe here.)  To be honest, I didn’t know I’d officially been converted to the cult of running until I read a magazine interview that told me so. It said I talked about 3 things: motherhood, theatre and long distance running. I was sort of shocked, but then realised that the reporter was right.  I do.

 

As it happens, I also have a bit of a love affair with The Mouse.  (It’s actually not Mickey I’m in love with, but another character; alas, were I to reveal my love, I’d have to kill you...)  So when Disney came to me and said “We’d like you to come to Disneyworld again…”  I said yes before I even heard the rest:  “…to run the inaugural Epcot Wine and Dine Half Marathon.”

 

Gulp.  Half what?  That’s how many kilometers?

 

When they said “It runs through the parks, and the finish line is in the middle of the Food & Beverage Festival,” I started to relax.

 

“Oh and it starts at 10 pm.”

 

Gulp.  PM?  As in Post Meridiem?  I think that’s passed my bedtime…

 

Nevertheless, duly bribed with a trip to the happiest place on earth, here I am, training away.  *I later on found out that some people are running this race as a team –splitting the run between them.  This option was never offered to me...  Not one to be discouraged, (must be the Energizer in me), I choose to see this as a challenge; a big, fat challenge that happens to fall just a few days after my birthday.

 

Speaking of challenges, training with kids can be tricky.  Between their schedules, not to mention Beloved Hubby's and my own, how does one find time to train for a 21 kilometer race?  Beats me.  I’ll often run right after the morning drop off and try to get cleaned off in time for lunch pick up.  On the weekends, Beloved Hubby usually takes the barin swimming with my parents, so I’ll do a long run and meet them there. 

 

I always end my runs at Starbucks (or Timmy’s if I’m in Elgin County.)  The coffee is both a treat and a bribe, plus it helps me from cooling down too quickly and catching a chill.

 

Now that I think of it, there are a lot of  tips I can share with you, not based on any professional, just strictly from my own experiences.  But they’re going to have to wait till tomorrow.  Right now, I’ve got to go run...