Spring races & Nutrition tweaks

I am back to full training and it feels so good and so tiring at the same time. I am running 3 workouts a week, with one of those workouts included in my long run, while keeping my milage relatively low at around 70 miles per week. I am finding that the half/marathon pace workouts are starting to come back, but my speed still needs a lot of work. I know it will come so I am just plugging away and enjoying the process.  Apart from a bout with the stomach flu and a tough emotional week I have managed to keep my training pretty consistent. I am working on ensuring my easy days truly are easy days and that I am taking the time to recover between sessions. Lot of rolling, attempts at good sleep and proper nutrition are the focus.

Speaking of nutrition, in early February I had a slew of blood taken by the lovely people at Inside Tracker www.insidetracker.com. My intention was to see how well my nutrition is holding up while starting back to training, A baseline of my blood values so to speak. I am hoping that learning more about my blood levels will help me to have less colds/flus and also help me to stay healthy physically and recover well from training. I will be interested to see how increases in training, moreover  racing impacts these values with future testing.

I was happy to learn that in general my current nutrition and supplement use has me on track with optimal levels in most of my blood levels. I have been concerned with ferritin levels in the past but my ferritin levels were optimal with this testing. I had never previously had my Vitamin D levels tested, and living in the PNW I was concerned about these, again these were optimal indicating my daily Vitamin D and Iron supplements are working.

Also of interest to me were areas where I can improve to bring myself to optimum levels. I plan to use food as my primary intervention. The fantastic thing with Inside Tracker is they provide you with food suggestions to help increase levels that aren't optimal. Another great thing with Inside Tracker is they also answered any questions I had when I didn't understand certain levels.

For instance my TIBC was low. I wasn't sure what this meant, but after consultation with the dieticians at Inside Tracker it turns out this isn't of concern as my Ferritin is optimal. Here is what they let me know

 "ferritin is the most important metric for iron metabolism. Since that is optimal, no need to tweak anything related to iron intake. TIBC is a function of iron and TS. Since these measures can change on a daily basis they are less important for overall iron function. Ferritin takes much longer to change. TIBC is in relation to serum iron in the blood, not the stored iron, ferritin. It does not mean that the body cannot use the ferritin stores, but rather has to do with iron before it is stored. But again, since ferritin is optimal, it is not a concern."


I was also low in DHEAS and here is what they said regarding this: 

"DHEAS does decrease with age. The optimal zones are adjusted for age so your result is in relation to where a women your age should expect. Yes, it can be low due to stress. It is not necessarily related to colds; however, stress and high cortisol negatively impact the immune system. WBC may be in the optimal range, but they fluctuate frequently. Cortisol suppresses the immune system which makes you more susceptible to illness. "

This to me means I need to be really focused on recovery both with nutrition and rest to keep my stress levels lower. I also need to be diligent in using yoga or meditation or both to keep my cortisol levels down. I have quite a few outside stressors and I need to manage these as best as I can to optimize my health.  My low DHEAS also can be a reason for my feeling of fatigue often through training. Some of the foods that I will increase in my diet to help my DHEAS levels include fish, avocados and dark chocolate, all foods I enjoy! 

Anthers area I need to improve is my LDL. Again increasing fish intake will help with this as well adding spirulina to my smoothies and increasing my oat and barley intake. 

I am hopeful that by tweaking my diet, improving my sleep, and adding meditation and yoga daily,  I will be able to continue to train at a high level and to recover efficiently. My coach Richard Lee and I have decided that going in to the spring racing season I will be focusing on short races. My longest race will be Bloomsday in May, and that is a 12k. I am starting my racing season with a rust buster this coming Saturday at the West Van Run 5k. I am truly excited to get out there and try and run fast, while getting a sense of where my fitness is at. I am also going to be racing way outside my comfort zone and running a couple of track races this spring. I will return to the longer races in the fall. 

I am really excited to get the race season underway and to see how little changes in my lifestyle impact my racing and training.  A huge thank you to my family, coach Richard Lee, BCEP team mates, Oiselle, Forerunners, New Balance Canada, Nuun, RunGo, Addaday and  Zensah for their continued support. It takes a community! 

Out for a tempo during my long run with Coach Rich

Enjoying the sunshine and scenery of Jericho Park on a gorgeous day

Post snowy run with the New Balance crew

Showing off our favourite New Balance Shoes

snowy trail runs have been more often than usual this year

That fine balance......

It is funny how sometimes life repeats itself.  A year ago I found myself in this same position. I was training for a fall marathon and as September rolled around I found myself injured. So what happened ? I was deep in my training for the TCSNYC marathon when I started to have a bit of IT band pain. It wasn't bad, it was definitely runnable and it wasn't consistent. We were away on a family holiday when it started. I was running some pretty hilly routes where we were staying and all on concrete. Normally I mix up the terrain I run on, incorporating flat runs on both trails and concrete as well as hilly runs on both as well. We were gone for a week and I noticed some tightness in my right leg on two of the runs. When I got back I went straight for physio  and had some needles to help release my leg. The next day I woke up feeling a bit like I was getting sick so decided to be smart, listen to my body, and take a couple of days off to get back on track. Two days later I headed out for a run and my right leg had no power. I limped around and recognized this was becoming a serious issue.

The last three weeks have been a combination of cross training and treatment. A desperate attempt to maintain fitness so I can race. I have spent many hours in the pool, on the elliptical and spinning on the bike and yet my leg is still not well enough to run on. The emotional challenge of not knowing when or if I will be able to run NY started to take it's toll. Yesterday, I met with a sports med doctor. She believes I have a bad case of ITB. It came on suddenly and may require weeks to heal. I recognize that with NY only 6 weeks away I am not going to be ready. It is extremely disappointing to let go of this dream but it is the right thing to do. I was offered a cortisone shot to perhaps allow me to run again, but I wasn't going to NY to just run, I was going to compete, so I am going to take the time the injury needs to heal so that I can come back stronger. I have been here before and know it takes a lot of work to get back, but I am still excited about running and can't wait to get back out there.

A wise friend reminded me that this past year has been an extremely emotional one for me. Losing my mom, as well as some very challenging family times have left me emotionally spent. She reminded me that not only do I need to heal physically, but emotionally as well. Perhaps this time off will be the time I need to heal myself fully. I won't be escaping the emotions by pushing my body to it's limits, I will need to feel them, acknowledge them, experience them! I hope this will lead me to be a stronger person in all aspects of my life.

I am continuing to pursue this journey in the elite running world, and although I won't be in New York this year I will be cheering extremely loudly back in here in Vancouver.

Thanks as always to Oiselle, Forerunners, New Balance Canada, Zensah, Nuun and RunGo app for their support!

  One of my runs on our holiday to the beautiful Okanagon

 Views on my Okanagon run

 Pool running is so much more fun with friends

 Kits pool, my fave pool running spot

getting some treatments

Moving forward and Back at it!

My last blog post mentioned the emotionally difficult times I was having in April. These emotional challenges increased in June with the loss of my mom. My mom had been unwell for a long time, 11 years in fact. She was diagnosed with Early Onset Alzheimers at the age of 58 and had a very fast downward spiral culminating in the loss of her ability to self-care, to eat, to communicate and to be mobile. She remained in this state for many years.  I felt I had lost many parts of her over the years and that I had grieved these as they happened, however, I was unaware that despite my grieving over the years I would still feel so unprepared when she went.  The waves of grief continue to come over me, although they do move further apart.

After my mom's death I did do one more race. This had been on my schedule as my final race for the season and I decided I would like to do it. It was the inaugural Toronto Waterfront 10k. I had been running some really good workouts leading up to my mom's passing so knew I was fit but in the couple of weeks after her death I had not had the energy or desire to do anything more than easy comfortable runs. I went in to the race wanting to run a hard effort and see what happened. It was a warm and humid day in Toronto so I decided to just run by feel. I went out at what felt like a fast but conservative  pace and hit the 5k mark at 17:04.  I was in about 5th place I think and mentally kind of gave in. The next 2 k were slow and my motivation wasn't there. At 7k I had renewed sense of competitiveness and decided to work to catch the woman in front of me. I pushed harder and was able to overtake her at about 9k. I finished the race in 4th, and was first master. My time of 35:08 wasn't my best but I was happy I was able to push through and finish.

Following the race was my season break. I took a week off where I just ran a couple of short easy runs then I took 2 weeks where I ran daily but all easy runs. Some people like to stop running completely on their break but I find mentally I need to get some running in. With how I was feeling emotionally as well, running was my outlet and meditation time, a much needed release.  I am now ready to start training again so this week I have added some fartlek runs to get the legs turning over again.

I plan to start racing again in September, with my goal race being the New York Marathon on November 6th. I have been invited to race as part of the elite field and am so excited to line up with the elite/pro women in New York. I will be aiming to be fit and ready to run fast. My last marathon was just slightly over a year ago at the Pan Am Games so I am ready to embrace the training.

I am sure I will continue to navigate through the emotional challenges of life, but I am ready to focus on my running journey again.

I also want to send out a huge congrats to my friends and team mates in Canada and the US who secured their spots on the Olympic Team. What an incredible honour to represent. Also if you anyone is interested in #Rule 40 and what it means for athletes check out oiselle.com for a blog on it's impact or follow Lauren Fleshman or Sally Bergesen on Twitter. I feel incredibly fortunate to be part of a team that supports and advocates for not only it's own athletes but all athletes. http://www.oiselle.com/blog

Thanks as always to my amazing friends and family for their support during these challenges,  to my sponsors Oiselle, Nuun, Forerunners, Zensah, New Balance Canada and RunGo App! And to my coach Richard Lee, I couldn't do it without you all. It really does take a community.

Enjoying some downtime on Savary Island

Heading out for an easy run on the island during my break

Doing some strides with the puppy to keep the legs moving 

Throwback to my last marathon at the Pan Am Games

Emotional Stress and running

Another long overdue blog post, but I think it's because I have been wondering how to approach this blog. It has been a blog in the making for a while but it is one of those hard ones to articulate as although it's my story to tell, it is personal and also involves others.

The last month or so has been quite possibly one of the more stressful months personally that I've had. This stress has led to very minimal sleep and a huge amount of emotional ups and downs. I am not going to get into the details but I am going to say that trying to train and race while in this state of exhaustion has been difficult.

It's funny as I read stories often of how people continue to thrive through adversity, and I like to think I am one of them, but this experience made me recognize that sometimes attempting to thrive or push through the stress isn't the best idea. In fact sometimes it may be better to be aware of the impact of the stress and to adjust expectations accordingly. The battle between being that outwardly strong  woman while inside feeling lost is difficult.

I did try to push through some training sessions while feeling exhausted. The easy runs felt therapeutic, but the intensity sessions just felt draining, plus I didn't feel happy with the results of the sessions as I wasn't running well. It wasn't that all workouts were bad, it's just that they weren't as strong as I would have liked. However, looking back now, given how little sleep I was getting they were actually not bad.

The culmination of this month was at the Sun Run. This is one of my favourite races of the year. I have run 3 of my best 10kms here, with last year being the fastest at  33:52. I went into the race having not slept at all and feeling emotionally fragile. I got to the start line and already felt defeated. Many of my running peers asked how I was going to do and I just said I was hoping to finish strong. A few already were aware how I was feeling so I didn't explain to everyone.

We lined up on the start line and my stomach dropped. It was strange starting my favourite race feeling so low. The first km went out fast and I knew it would be a tough day. I decided that I was going to finish but my goal would be to win the masters title and not worry about anything else. At 4km I was still in 2nd in the masters race and about 10th overall. We hit the short, steep climb up to the Burrard bridge and I decided to push a bit. Just before 5km I caught Maria Zambrano (1st master at that point) and Lisa Brooking and Lisa and I pushed ahead. I passed 5k at 17:12 which was 12 seconds slower than the previous year and I wasn't feeling good. I decided to just work with Lisa and see if we could get each other to the finish. It wasn't easy, it was a complete mental battle for me. The exhaustion made me want to quit numerous times but I kept pushing. I finished in 34:47, 1st master and 9th female.

Yes I met my goal of first master, but no it didn't feel good. I smiled for some photos then sat down on the curb and just let myself feel. There were tears, not for the race, but for the emotional toll I had been experiencing. Allowing myself to be vulnerable and show my emotions allowed my friends to come and comfort me. It probably would have been smarter to have sat this one out and just let my mind and body rest. I was in no way really ready to push myself this way, but in some ways I'm glad it did as the physical exhaustion allowed me to let go emotionally.

So what does this mean going forward? Well the last week has been a bit better. This is an emotional journey that will continue for a long time as this is not a stressor that will just disappear. I will say that I am getting some more sleep this week and that I am feeling stronger in workouts. In fact I had a couple of good ones this week! The amazing support of friends, family and my coach Richard Lee have really helped me work through this. I recognize that it's important to share when things aren't going well just as it's important to share when things are going right. There are lessons in both. My coach articulated it well by encouraging me to forget about times and to remember that feeling I love of running fast. I am taking that to heart.

I am heading to Spokane Washington tomorrow for a quick trip to race the Bloomsday 12k this weekend and I plan on racing hard while enjoying the experience of a tough challenge. I am excited to connect with fellow Oiselle team mates Lyndy Davis and Trisha Drobeck as well as the amazing masters runner Marilyn Arsenault. I will embrace my love of running and be grateful for where I am, enjoying the journey.

thanks again to my amazing family and friends for all their support, my other family Oiselle and my great sponsors Nuun, Zensah, RunGo, Forerunners and New Balance Canada