running – The SMO's stories

Family, Kids, Racing, Running, weekend, Whistler

Whistler Half Marathon: a comparison report.

June 4, 2013June 4, 2013 Christine Cogger

Whistler Half-Marathon 2012.

Day before:

-Collect my own race package. Keep feet up, hydrate, eat right.

Night before:

-Pack my own bag, lay out clothes, check that the sitter is coming at 6:30am, go to bed.

Morning of:

-Enjoy a hot shower, leisurely coffee, a well-planned breakfast, some stretching. Sneak off before kids wake up.

Race:

-Warm up, run in the sun, enjoy, wave, take pictures, laugh, etc.

-Admire pics taken by Robin of me running with my 2 best friends.

After:

-Eat, sit in the sun, stretch, bask in the glow of our accomplishments.

-Return home to house full of kids being cared for and well fed by Pete and Kev, relax (sort of) for the rest of the day.

Whistler Half-Marathon 2013.

Day before:

-Collect 7 race packages: mine, the husbands, the 3 kids and the neighbours.

2 adults + 3 kids = thanks for the new grocery bags!

Night before:

-Pack kids snacks, pack kids bags, pack rain gear, pack bike gear, stay on my feet for as long as possible. Go for a walk.

Morning of:

-Roust crew at 6. Shove waffles down some throats, coax peanut butter sandwiches into others. Almost forget own breakfast. Load truck with bags, bikes and blankies. Slurp coffee.

-Meet neighbours for caravan to Whistler. There may or may not have been some yelling to “get in the truck already!”

-Meet sitter in parking lot. Kids explode out of the cars in 5 different directions. Have fun, babysitter lady. Realize that rather than teaching her their names, I should have just numbered the kids 1 through 5. Much simpler. Next year.

Race:

-Send of 10K-ers. Bye 10Kers! See you in about 2 hours.

-Almost forget bib. Where are my socks? Oops. No body glide. Oh well (and also – ow.) Don ridiculous but oh-so-comfy sleeves.

-Run with Maja, wave to crowds, take pictures, find self irresistibly amusing (see photo), suffer from 15K onwards. Stupid Nimby legs.

-Finish with a smile and head held high.

After:

-Do not sit. Do not rest. Try to keep track of kids. Shovel grilled cheese into my mouth. Chase kids to start of 1K.

Anja: front line. All I could think was "please don't get trampled". — Anja: front line. All I could think was “please don’t get trampled”.

The future of Canadian running, right there.

-Sprint across lawn during kids race (note to self: never, ever sprint after a ½ again).

-Squeal like a stuck pig cheering for off-spring.

-Feel nauseous. Head to skate park. Negotiations to go home ensue.

-Succumb to my inner tri-nerd, don compression tights, enjoy the best nap with Anja EVER.

What a difference a year makes.

Day-to-day life, Racing, Running

Accountability

May 14, 2013 Christine Cogger

I consider myself to be a reasonably responsible person. I’ve kept 3 humans alive for 7 years. I manage to get myself to work on time most days. I have yet to drop the dog off at daycare and leave the kids in the backyard. However, when it comes to being responsible for getting myself into “race shape” – I am stellar at talking myself out of pretty much everything difficult and/or challenging. If I’m not accountable to anyone but myself, it ain’t gonna happen. Enter Christine: I’m hoping that by working with her again I’ll re-discover my love of suffering and that she won’t let me off the hook.

Yesterday was day 1 of getting back at it. I’d sort of forgotten about my love/hate relationship with intervals. Here’s a glimpse of what went through my mind during the run.

I totally got this.

This sucks.

I only have to do this 8 times?

I can’t believe I have to do this 8 times.

I’m hot.

My hands are cold.

God, I hate this song.

This song is fun!

Uuuunnnngh

Oh good! A downhill.

Yuck. Downhills.

Having stayed away from speedwork for almost a year, I like to imagine that I look like this:

The reality is that I looked more like this:

Guess I’ll keep at it, now that I’m accountable to all (8) of you readers!

Anyone want to join me?

CITS, Family, Kids, Pemberton, Racing, Running, weekend

Let’s run.

May 10, 2013 Christine Cogger

Spring has truly sprung here… 32C last weekend?! A little early for scorchers, but I’ll take it. June-uary will be here soon enough to remind me not to put away the puffy coats so soon.

With everything greening up around here, it means I’ve been able to explore the trails more than the roads… which also means Season 2 of CITS has kicked off. Well, sort of. There’s been an early season modification. Since the usual “C” in the ITS refer to my running girls who both happen to be avec bébé right now, I needed new partners to kick off the season.

Dry, warm and haven't left the driveway. — Dry, warm and haven’t left the driveway.

Insert Children here.

Will and I had planned to run the Mosquito Lake trail run for a while (we’d even been “training”) but when Rory heard that he wasn’t included, plans had to change – pronto. It wouldn’t do to be left out. When you run with a 4 and 7 year old, you re-evaluate your race goals: from trying to run yourself into the ground to win to making sure no one goes head-first into a tree. It’s the little things…

So despite pouring rain, cold temps and having never run before, he powered through (most) of the 6K route, with a little help from Dad, some encouragement from Will and incessant annoying photography from me. Will ran the 10K route in a little over 1:20! Proud moment. He’s been asking when our next one will be.

Is it too soon to ask him to pace me at the Squamish 50?

Racing, Running, Whistler

Whistler Half Marathon. Do it.

January 1, 2013January 1, 2013 Christine Cogger

This run is without a doubt one of the most fun races I’ve ever done. It’s a challenging but fun course; it’s scenic; the “fans” are numerous and entertaining and the swag bag is great! And let’s face it, how often have you seen people look this happy after a half-marathon?

Get your butts in gear and sign up! It’s selling out fast and you won’t want to miss it. Plus, my regular running partners are going to be otherwise occupied in June, so mama needs some people to match with.

(Excuse the very crappy iPhone reproductions of great photos by Robin O’Neill)

We’ll see you on the start line, right?