The following passage is something that I've written before every race, hope you enjoy it.
If I forget to smile during the week,......... please forgive me it's race week!
If I feel like crying when I see someone run, knowing that I can't......please forgive me, it's race week!
If I feel like I've gained 20 pounds after carbo loading for three days....please forgive me, it's race week!
If I seem like I have the "deer in the headlights" look all week...........please forgive me, it's race week!
If I have a hard time sleeping this week..........please forgive me, it's race week!
If I start wondering if I've trained enough for my race........please forgive me, it's race week!
If you hear me mumbling to myself about what the hell I was thinking about when I decided to run around in circles for 6 hours.......please forgive me, it's race week!
If I run to the bathroom every 5 minutes from all the water I need to drink this week.......please forgive me, it's race week!
If you see me eating 6 blueberry bagels in a few hours......please forgive me, it's race week!
If I start going through withdrawl from the fact that I can't run for most of the week..........please forgive me, it's race week!
And finally.....If I forget to thank all of you who read my blog and have wished me well with my race this week.............please forgive me, it's race week!
Monday, May 31, 2010
Saturday, May 22, 2010
How $5.00 saved my run today!
The day started out innocent enough. I got up at 5:30 as I had to train a client at 6:30 in Scarborough. I run with her three times per week and the distance varies from 3 to 4 miles depending on how she is feeling. The pace was good but about 2 to 3 minutes slower than my own pace but I still count it as time on my feet. In fact, since I am training for my 6 hour race it's more important for me to train my body to be on my feet for long stretches of time instead of worrying about how fast I'm going.
Today's run covered 3.2 miles in 42 minutes. I drove home and started mentally preparing myself for my own training. My goal was to run 26.2 miles (42.1 KM's) but more important than that, I wanted to run for a minimum of 4 hours. This was my last chance to get my body ready for my race on June 5th and running anything less than what I wanted would have left a sour taste in my mouth.
Before I left my house I downloaded a few new songs on my mp3 player, filled up 2 water bottles (one with water and one with a carbohydrate/electrolyte drink) and then left my house just before 8:30. The weather was great with a little bit of wind but nothing too much to worry about. I had mapped out a good route a few days ago but when I was driving home from work yesterday I noticed that there was some road closures on Valley Farm road so I had to make a few changes to the route.
My goal was to run for 32 minutes and then take a 1 minute break to fuel up with water/electrolytes. I felt well rested having taken Friday off from running so I had to keep reminding myself that the goal was to run SLOW today. I wanted to make sure that I kept my pace at just over 9 minutes per mile.
I purposely used the Running Room in Pickering as a rest/fuel up spot at the 11 mile mark and then again at the 19 mile mark. I didn't want to carry too many water bottles with me and this was a perfect spot to stretch my legs and refill my water at the same time.
At the 10 mile mark is where this story gets interesting. Before I had left my house I checked my batteries and it showed 2 out of 3 bars so I figured I had enough "juice" to take me through my run. Unfortunately the juice ran out at the 10 mile mark and I didn't take a spare one with me.
Running another 16 miles without music wasn't something I was looking forward to so I was hoping that when I got to the Running Room someone would sell me a battery and I would come back later to pay them. Unfortunately they did not have any but the store manager, Maureen, generously offered to lend me $5.00. As it turned out, this $5.00 was pivotal for me today.
I ran to the gas station on the corner of Liverpool and Pickering Parkway. They had the batteries I wanted but it was over $7.00 so onward I went. I decided to forget about the batteries and just run. That old saying about not knowing what you have until it's gone never rang more true than it did today. As I went West on Bayly to Whites Road I noticed that I was slowing down a little bit. I decided to run to Whites Road and then fuel up even though it was a little longer than I expected.
After taking one of my gels I started to feel a little better. My next check point was on Finch Avenue. I ran North on Whites until I hit Finch and then stopped again to walk and fuel up. By now I was 17 miles into my run but was starting to feel light headed. I only had 1 gel left and with another 9 miles to go I knew I had made another mistake by not taking another gel with me. I remembered that there was a grocery store on the corner of Dixie Road and Finch so I used that as motivation and kept going.
As I entered the store it started to rain ever so slightly. I had hoped it would rain as I was starting to heat up a little and the rain would have done wonders to cool me down. I looked for triple A batteries and hoped that they were under $5.00. To my surprise they were just over $4.00. Now my next decision, should I get a banana and save the gel for towards the end of my run? I took the banana and the batteries to the counter and kept saying to myself please be under $5.00. To my delight the total was $4.85. Now, most people would have forgotten about the batteries and just gotten the fruit but I really rely on my music to motivate me and I knew that running without music would have been extremely difficult today.
I got out of the store, fixed my music player, ate my banana and off I went towards the running room for the last time. I was so excited when I entered the store that I'm sure I was incoherent but hey by this time I was 19 miles into my run and my faculties were not at their strongest. I quickly filled up my 2 water bottles and off I went.
Even though I was feeling great with my music and had more energy after eating my banana, my mind kept trying to talk me out of finishing my 26.2 mile run. I kept trying to justify not finishing it by saying that I had already run 3 miles this morning so if I finished at 23 miles that would a total of 26 miles and good enough.
As I ran North on Church Street I caught a little bit of a wind behind me and this helped to get me to Rossland. I was now within sites of my home with 3 miles left to go. I really started to feel my legs get heavy now and I still kept trying to talk myself out of finishing. The problem was that I had to go up one of the longest hills to get home. This hill starts about 1/2 way up on Rossland just past Westney and goes all the way to Harwood Avenue.
Inexplicably I decided not to run up that hill and ducked into a trail just before the hill started. As I neared my house I was at 25 miles and as I stopped briefly at my house I got very angry at myself for this decision. I threw my fuel belt and decided to keep going. I wasn't going to stop with only another mile to go. I purposely decided to go up another hill and then half way up another and then made my way back home.
I had to do a few extra laps but I managed to get my 26.2 miles in in just over 4:00 (4:06 to be exact). When I add up the mileage I had done earlier this pushed my mileage over 29 miles (47 KM's).
My legs are feeling pretty good all things considered and I'm happy mentally that I didn't quit today when I could have easily packed it in. I'm very dehydrated as I type this but I have one trip to make before I can relax for the afternoon. It's off to the Running Room to repay that magic $5.00! :)
Today's run covered 3.2 miles in 42 minutes. I drove home and started mentally preparing myself for my own training. My goal was to run 26.2 miles (42.1 KM's) but more important than that, I wanted to run for a minimum of 4 hours. This was my last chance to get my body ready for my race on June 5th and running anything less than what I wanted would have left a sour taste in my mouth.
Before I left my house I downloaded a few new songs on my mp3 player, filled up 2 water bottles (one with water and one with a carbohydrate/electrolyte drink) and then left my house just before 8:30. The weather was great with a little bit of wind but nothing too much to worry about. I had mapped out a good route a few days ago but when I was driving home from work yesterday I noticed that there was some road closures on Valley Farm road so I had to make a few changes to the route.
My goal was to run for 32 minutes and then take a 1 minute break to fuel up with water/electrolytes. I felt well rested having taken Friday off from running so I had to keep reminding myself that the goal was to run SLOW today. I wanted to make sure that I kept my pace at just over 9 minutes per mile.
I purposely used the Running Room in Pickering as a rest/fuel up spot at the 11 mile mark and then again at the 19 mile mark. I didn't want to carry too many water bottles with me and this was a perfect spot to stretch my legs and refill my water at the same time.
At the 10 mile mark is where this story gets interesting. Before I had left my house I checked my batteries and it showed 2 out of 3 bars so I figured I had enough "juice" to take me through my run. Unfortunately the juice ran out at the 10 mile mark and I didn't take a spare one with me.
Running another 16 miles without music wasn't something I was looking forward to so I was hoping that when I got to the Running Room someone would sell me a battery and I would come back later to pay them. Unfortunately they did not have any but the store manager, Maureen, generously offered to lend me $5.00. As it turned out, this $5.00 was pivotal for me today.
I ran to the gas station on the corner of Liverpool and Pickering Parkway. They had the batteries I wanted but it was over $7.00 so onward I went. I decided to forget about the batteries and just run. That old saying about not knowing what you have until it's gone never rang more true than it did today. As I went West on Bayly to Whites Road I noticed that I was slowing down a little bit. I decided to run to Whites Road and then fuel up even though it was a little longer than I expected.
After taking one of my gels I started to feel a little better. My next check point was on Finch Avenue. I ran North on Whites until I hit Finch and then stopped again to walk and fuel up. By now I was 17 miles into my run but was starting to feel light headed. I only had 1 gel left and with another 9 miles to go I knew I had made another mistake by not taking another gel with me. I remembered that there was a grocery store on the corner of Dixie Road and Finch so I used that as motivation and kept going.
As I entered the store it started to rain ever so slightly. I had hoped it would rain as I was starting to heat up a little and the rain would have done wonders to cool me down. I looked for triple A batteries and hoped that they were under $5.00. To my surprise they were just over $4.00. Now my next decision, should I get a banana and save the gel for towards the end of my run? I took the banana and the batteries to the counter and kept saying to myself please be under $5.00. To my delight the total was $4.85. Now, most people would have forgotten about the batteries and just gotten the fruit but I really rely on my music to motivate me and I knew that running without music would have been extremely difficult today.
I got out of the store, fixed my music player, ate my banana and off I went towards the running room for the last time. I was so excited when I entered the store that I'm sure I was incoherent but hey by this time I was 19 miles into my run and my faculties were not at their strongest. I quickly filled up my 2 water bottles and off I went.
Even though I was feeling great with my music and had more energy after eating my banana, my mind kept trying to talk me out of finishing my 26.2 mile run. I kept trying to justify not finishing it by saying that I had already run 3 miles this morning so if I finished at 23 miles that would a total of 26 miles and good enough.
As I ran North on Church Street I caught a little bit of a wind behind me and this helped to get me to Rossland. I was now within sites of my home with 3 miles left to go. I really started to feel my legs get heavy now and I still kept trying to talk myself out of finishing. The problem was that I had to go up one of the longest hills to get home. This hill starts about 1/2 way up on Rossland just past Westney and goes all the way to Harwood Avenue.
Inexplicably I decided not to run up that hill and ducked into a trail just before the hill started. As I neared my house I was at 25 miles and as I stopped briefly at my house I got very angry at myself for this decision. I threw my fuel belt and decided to keep going. I wasn't going to stop with only another mile to go. I purposely decided to go up another hill and then half way up another and then made my way back home.
I had to do a few extra laps but I managed to get my 26.2 miles in in just over 4:00 (4:06 to be exact). When I add up the mileage I had done earlier this pushed my mileage over 29 miles (47 KM's).
My legs are feeling pretty good all things considered and I'm happy mentally that I didn't quit today when I could have easily packed it in. I'm very dehydrated as I type this but I have one trip to make before I can relax for the afternoon. It's off to the Running Room to repay that magic $5.00! :)
Friday, April 9, 2010
Running for fun instead of competition
It really is amazing that I haven't written sooner than this but my life truly has changed dramatically in the last few months. I not only manage a Fitness Studio for Franklin Templeton Investments but my own company is also starting to take off. The job at FTI is one that I love and it allows me to connect with more people and in a different way that I did with those at Extreme. In addition, I'm actually teaching 3 step aerobic classes and 2 core conditioning classes each week. That really has left me with little time to train for any races.
My last race seems like such a long time ago (Niagara Falls Marathon in October) which preceded the Scotiabank Marathon in September. I have decided to take the year off from competitive racing and that has allowed me to create more balance in my life. There were weeks when I was training for Ultra Marathons when I would run 60-80 Miles each week as part of the training program I was on. Now I am content with running 40-50 Miles (sometimes fewer even) each week. I have also backed off of running at 5 AM each morning and started running more from work when it's a little warmer and the sun is actually out (LOL).
I may run a few races this year just for fun and to stay connected with the friends I have from the Ontario Ultra Series but for now I'm just enjoying the fact that I can run for fun.
My last race seems like such a long time ago (Niagara Falls Marathon in October) which preceded the Scotiabank Marathon in September. I have decided to take the year off from competitive racing and that has allowed me to create more balance in my life. There were weeks when I was training for Ultra Marathons when I would run 60-80 Miles each week as part of the training program I was on. Now I am content with running 40-50 Miles (sometimes fewer even) each week. I have also backed off of running at 5 AM each morning and started running more from work when it's a little warmer and the sun is actually out (LOL).
I may run a few races this year just for fun and to stay connected with the friends I have from the Ontario Ultra Series but for now I'm just enjoying the fact that I can run for fun.
Friday, September 4, 2009
What do you see when you look out your window?
I wanted to share a little story with all of you so please bare with me. Last week, as I was getting a tour of my new work, I went upstairs to meet some of the people I will be working with. The person who was giving me the tour showed me one office and I immediately took a look outside of their window. What I saw was an amazing place to go for a walk or run or just a place to get away and do some thinking. I kept thinking that if I organize a walking or running clinic then this would be a great place to take people. There were so many trees and it all looked so peaceful from where I was looking.
I kept staring out the window until finally the person who I was with caught me and wondered why I had this huge smile on my face. She said that what I was staring at was a cemetary but ALL I saw was opportunity.
The point of my story is that we all have a choice as to how we want to look at things. Where I saw opportunity to create something positive, this person had no idea of that. I hope that you have discover some new opportunities in your own lives that other people don't see. I actually feel bad for people who have no passion in their lives. They remind me of the feather in the Forrest Gump movie. Floating around going nowhere in particular.
I kept staring out the window until finally the person who I was with caught me and wondered why I had this huge smile on my face. She said that what I was staring at was a cemetary but ALL I saw was opportunity.
The point of my story is that we all have a choice as to how we want to look at things. Where I saw opportunity to create something positive, this person had no idea of that. I hope that you have discover some new opportunities in your own lives that other people don't see. I actually feel bad for people who have no passion in their lives. They remind me of the feather in the Forrest Gump movie. Floating around going nowhere in particular.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
This is why I do what I do!
Before
After
NAME: Grace Chung
AGE: 22 years
OCCUPATION: Nuclear Medicine Student
The reason why I decided to start going to the gym was because I felt that if I didn’t do anything about taking care of myself, then I’d only end up becoming increasingly heavier, chunkier, and miserable. I epitomized the classic yo-yo dieter, and always refused to be in a picture when somebody had a camera around because I knew I wouldn’t like how I turned out in it. So I decided that joining a gym would be a birthday present to myself. In addition, I have a family history of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes, which was where I was headed if I didn’t act soon.
At my initial assessment, I discovered that I wasn’t just overweight, I was clinically obese, and my body fat composition was a horrendous 45%!! That definitely shocked me; frankly, it was embarrassing. If I didn’t accept it before, I sure did when I saw the numbers – I was FAT. Therefore, I agreed to be assigned to a nutritionist and a personal trainer – the nutritionist would teach me how my body metabolizes food and what sorts of foods are better for me as an individual, and a personal trainer would whip me into shape while keeping me accountable.
Greg was my nutritionist, and he basically taught me the philosophy of eating. Previously, I was eating a lot of carbohydrates and fats, and not enough protein and fruits and vegetables; now it’s the opposite. He taught me how exercise affects how my body processes food, and how to make better food choices while not giving power to food. Greg also gave me an incredible tool: a food diary. I still use it every day to record what and how much I eat, the times that I eat, the total calories and the total protein for the day. Because he understood that I am a visual learner, writing down all that information would help keep myself accountable for what I put into my body as fuel, as well as reflecting on what dietary adjustments I need to make on an on-going basis.
In the end, the key is that I learned and was educated throughout the entire process, I was taught what to do instead of being told what to do. This is important because now I’ll be able to create workout programs and eat properly on my own. Best of all, I saw results and I still do!! It’s been just shy of one year, and I’ve burned off 38 pounds and my body fat composition is at a fair 25%. Not only that, I am now determined to live a healthy lifestyle, and I know I’ll be able to maintain it because of how much I’ve changed not only physically, but mentally; I have a more positive outlook on life, and definitely on health and fitness. I am now a healthier and happier person and am grateful to all the people I’ve met along the way!!
After
NAME: Grace Chung
AGE: 22 years
OCCUPATION: Nuclear Medicine Student
The reason why I decided to start going to the gym was because I felt that if I didn’t do anything about taking care of myself, then I’d only end up becoming increasingly heavier, chunkier, and miserable. I epitomized the classic yo-yo dieter, and always refused to be in a picture when somebody had a camera around because I knew I wouldn’t like how I turned out in it. So I decided that joining a gym would be a birthday present to myself. In addition, I have a family history of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes, which was where I was headed if I didn’t act soon.
At my initial assessment, I discovered that I wasn’t just overweight, I was clinically obese, and my body fat composition was a horrendous 45%!! That definitely shocked me; frankly, it was embarrassing. If I didn’t accept it before, I sure did when I saw the numbers – I was FAT. Therefore, I agreed to be assigned to a nutritionist and a personal trainer – the nutritionist would teach me how my body metabolizes food and what sorts of foods are better for me as an individual, and a personal trainer would whip me into shape while keeping me accountable.
Greg was my nutritionist, and he basically taught me the philosophy of eating. Previously, I was eating a lot of carbohydrates and fats, and not enough protein and fruits and vegetables; now it’s the opposite. He taught me how exercise affects how my body processes food, and how to make better food choices while not giving power to food. Greg also gave me an incredible tool: a food diary. I still use it every day to record what and how much I eat, the times that I eat, the total calories and the total protein for the day. Because he understood that I am a visual learner, writing down all that information would help keep myself accountable for what I put into my body as fuel, as well as reflecting on what dietary adjustments I need to make on an on-going basis.
In the end, the key is that I learned and was educated throughout the entire process, I was taught what to do instead of being told what to do. This is important because now I’ll be able to create workout programs and eat properly on my own. Best of all, I saw results and I still do!! It’s been just shy of one year, and I’ve burned off 38 pounds and my body fat composition is at a fair 25%. Not only that, I am now determined to live a healthy lifestyle, and I know I’ll be able to maintain it because of how much I’ve changed not only physically, but mentally; I have a more positive outlook on life, and definitely on health and fitness. I am now a healthier and happier person and am grateful to all the people I’ve met along the way!!
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Don’t ever use the “Q” word!
Wow! In a word that pretty much sums up the last week for me. It was full of positive energy and I’m still riding a pretty strong wave right now. However, it seemed like I would never get the news I got last week.
Let me give you some background so you can understand just how truly great last week was for me. For the past 3 years I have been working at Extreme Fitness as a full-time nutritionist. This year I decided to become a Personal Trainer and have also been doing that at Extreme Fitness. In addition I have my own Lifestyle Management Company (Cruz Control Lifestyle Management) and have also been working as a walking instructor for a company called Health Systems Group.
HSG manages many fitness facilities for corporations such as Proctor and Gamble and American Express. Each Wednesday I have met with a group of very dedicated women who are preparing to do the Weekend to End Breast Cancer on September 12th. I have been training them each week and have loved the experience. HSG is a company that I wanted to work for full time as I really embrace their “client first” mentality.
While I enjoy working with the clients at Extreme Fitness, I don’t really enjoy the fact that their customer service is so poor. I really believe that you can be profitable while still having a high degree of customer service. It is something that I believe sets me apart from many other people in this field and I take great pride in the fact that I am not only about the money. I think it has plenty to do with the fact that I was extremely overweight as a teenager and I understand how difficult the struggle can be to lose weight.
The other aspect of Extreme Fitness that I don’t enjoy is the fact that I only get paid on a per client basis. There have been days where I have gone into work and had client after client not show up for their session and that meant not getting paid. This made it very difficult to budget especially trying to support two young boys on a part-time basis.
As much as I love the work that I do and feel that it is what I do best, there were so many times that I contemplated changing careers just to make ends meet. I have had jobs in the past where I made more money but where I was totally unhappy. My passion lies in health promotion and that is something that I always kept reminding myself.
Then, two weeks ago I got the call I was waiting for from HSG. An opening came for a full time account manager for Franklin Templeton Financial Institute. The job would be to run the fitness studio and be an integral part of the wellness program there. I went for the interview and felt like I had done a great job. I waited for a full week anxiously awaiting a 2nd interview. That phone call came and I went for the interview last Friday morning.
Later that day I received the news that I got the job! To say that I was thrilled would be a huge understatement. I am so glad that I didn’t give up and remained mentally tough throughout this whole process. In many ways it resembled many of my toughest runs I’ve had.
Today I did a 10 mile run in very humid conditions. There were times when I wanted to stop or slow down as my breathing was getting more and more difficult. However, much like my career, I pushed on and picked up steam towards the end of the run and finished ahead of what I was hoping for.
I remember what my football coach told me many years ago. He said, “It’s ok to get knocked down but it’s not ok to stay down!” I think I have resembled those words!
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
A nice testimonial
Greg played an integral part in my preparation for the Chicago, Hamilton and ultimately, the Boston Marathon in April, 2009. Without his experience and nutritional expertise, I am convinced that I would not have achieved the success I enjoyed in all three marathons. Greg’s knowledge about food, when and how to fuel, and his approach to guiding his clients is excellent. I would encourage anyone who is thinking about adopting a more healthy lifestyle or perhaps thinking about how to prepare for a marathon, contact Greg and develop a proper nutritional program. You won’t regret it!
Kathy De Carlo
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