A couple of weeks ago, I challenged myself to get #evenbetter with my running, specifically in terms of improving my pace. And to help me reach that goal, I had a few tactics in mind, including hydrating with Ocean Spray® PACt® Cranberry Extract Water, which contains the #powerof50 cranberries.
I suppose I should remind you that speed work is not my favourite. Nor is sweating. But I’ve been down about my pace slowing significantly so my hope was that this goal would give me the push I needed to kick-start my training for a fall race.
During my two weeks working on my goal, the weather was hot, I traveled both to New York City and Sayulita, and life was, as usual, just plain hectic. But having the goal to work towards, as well as clear strategies to get me there, worked. In NYC, having not run in a day or so, I committed to getting out of my hotel before 5 a.m. for a short sprint, and this night owl managed to do it.
On a warm Saturday evening, I was very close to putting off my tempo run, but I knew that’d set me back from meeting my goal, and so I ran just as the sun was setting.
And on a particularly hot afternoon, when I would’ve normally eased into a comfortable pace, I was lucky to have my running buddy with me, and she motivated me and helped get me through this run in which we ran tempo and then fartleks.
Hydration also played a key role in helping me working toward my goal. I’m a heavy sweater so I should hydrate more than I do. With a supply of Ocean Spray® PACt® Cranberry Extract Water it was easy to keep hydrated throughout the day since it’s tasty (I always resist drinking plain water as I’m simply not a fan), and the subtle flavour worked well as a drink during my training as it didn’t bother my stomach (always key during a run!). My favourite flavour was Cranberry Pomegranate for running, but I did enjoy having a variety of flavours for sipping when not training.
So did I achieve my goal? While my comfortable pace is still slower than I am happy with, I did learn that when pushing myself to run faster for a shorter distance than I usually train for, I am not as slow as I think I am. When I ran with my friend, she was checking our pace to make sure we were on track and she had us rein in our pace at one point as we were running a sub 5 min/km pace, and that was a nice surprise.
I’m happy to know, thanks to this #evenbetter goal, that I can reach target speeds when I set my mind to it.
Being well-hydrated is always a good idea, so I think being able to enjoy low-cal, tasty Ocean Spray® PACt® Cranberry Extract Water set me on a good track both for my goal and my overall wellness. If, like me, you haven’t been able to get on the water train because you find it bland, you might have more success hydrating with Ocean Spray® PACt® Cranberry Extract Water.
So that’s my #evenbetter goal completed. How about you? What small goal will you challenge yourself to?
Ocean Spray® PACt® Cranberry Extract Water is a tasty and low-calorie way to hydrate in a more meaningful way. Packed with the power of 50 cranberries, PACt® Cranberry Extract Water delivers unique cranberry health benefits. Visit http://pact.oceanspray.ca to learn more and find out where to buy PACt® water at a store near you.
Disclosure: This post was brought to you by Ocean Spray® via Mode Media Canada. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Ocean Spray®.
July 20, 2016
It can be hard to adopt a healthy new habit. I feel as though I’ll never develop a regular sleep schedule, for one. Getting faster at running is another biggie. I’m still trying to qualify for the Boston Marathon. And now, I’m kicking off marathon training with a focus on improving my speed so that I’ll at least be able to match the pace I was setting a year ago. (I’ve slowed down in the past while due to a hectic schedule, which has made training difficult, along with being under the weather and some lower back pain). My comfortable pace a year ago: about 5:30. (It varies depending on factors like distance and temperature.)
My approach?
Add tempo runs and speed work to my training. Rather than doing my usual comfortable 10k run, I’ll swap in shorter distances but at a faster pace.
I’ll get better rest. I’ll try to get at least seven hours a night.
Hydrating well. I can hardly expect my body to perform well if I’m dehydrated.
This last strategy, regarding hydration, is a toughie as I don’t like to drink water. To help me get over that, I’m going to start to regularly use my bottle that keeps drinks cold. (It has helped a friend get better at hydrating.)
Also, I’m going to try hydrating with Ocean Spray® PACt® Cranberry Extract Water. It’s a low-calorie (only 10 calories!) water with the power of 50 cranberries. The taste is subtle but much more flavourful than plain water, so I think that may help me learn to drink more. And I’ve got three flavours to try, so my taste buds won’t be bored: Cranberry Pomegranate, Cranberry Mango Passionfruit, and Cranberry Raspberry.
What makes them good for the body are the PACs (or proanthocyanidins) Ocean Spray® PACt® waters contain; these are elements extracted from cranberries that help protect against certain harmful bacteria from sticking in the urinary tract. Other factors that interest me about these new beverages? They’re naturally sweetened, their colour comes from – you guessed it – cranberries, and they do not include genetically modified ingredients.
Will these strategies help me be even better at training for a BQ? Come back to the blog in a few weeks to find out!
Ocean Spray® PACt® Cranberry Extract Water is a tasty and low-calorie way to hydrate in a more meaningful way. Packed with the power of 50 cranberries, PACt® cranberry extract water delivers unique cranberry health benefits. Visit http://pact.oceanspray.ca to learn more and find out where to buy PACt® water at a store near you.
Disclosure: This post was brought to you by Ocean Spray® via Mode Media Canada. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Ocean Spray®.
June 27, 2016
So after several perspiration-filled months, my Gatorade Summer of Sweat #KeepSweating challenge all came down to Sunday, October 18th at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon.
Is it possible to be both happy and disappointed at the same time with my marathon? Because that’s how I feel after having had a week to take it all in.
First things first: I did not meet my goal of qualifying for the Boston Marathon. I would’ve had to run a 3:45 marathon in order to meet the qualifying standard.
For weeks leading up to the race, I was quite sure I would not qualify. I know that’s not the right attitude going into a race, but this, my ninth marathon, is the least I’ve ever trained for one. I ended up having a heavy summer of travel for work, you may recall. To train on these trips would’ve called for getting up at 5 a.m. and running alone in the dark in a city I’m unfamiliar with, which I didn’t think was wise.
I also came down with a bad cough about a week prior to the race. Also, as you know, I joined the Pace & Mind team to train for this race, but my work schedule didn’t allow for me to make it out to run with the team, so I trained mostly alone (which can be tough) but I did run with a couple of team members outside of the official training runs. Add to all of this the fact that for many weeks, I was going through a bout of insomnia, sometimes only falling asleep at 8 a.m. Every day I was groggy and worn out. In the end, I completed only a handful of speed workouts and missed at least two long runs (which I try to never miss out on).
So on that Sunday, with Gatorade in my fuel belt, I had three goals in mind. My ultimate goal was, of course, to qualify for Boston. My secondary goal was to run a sub 4-hour (the goal Coach Rejean set for me; he was aware of the sleep issues and hectic schedule and my cough knocking me out of commission for more than a week). My last goal was to at least not have it be my slowest marathon (which, it turns out, was this very same Toronto Waterfront Marathon, and I ran a 4:20 on that hot day three years ago; it was the second marathon I’d ever run).
I’m a realist by nature, and I truly expected to finish in about 4:15, which would make it my second slowest race.
I started the race feeling much stronger than I expected to. And there were a lot of good things about race day. The weather was ideal for me. Many people found it too cold, but I loved that it was chilly, and wore shorts and my team singlet along with arm warmers that I eventually took off. Plus, the race is mostly flat. I made it to 22k feeling great, my pace was pretty much on track for me to meet my first goal.
Then at 22k, I fell apart mentally quite quickly. I stopped several times to hydrate, and I remember thinking that all I wanted to do was sit on the sidewalk and enjoy the sensation of this cold Gatorade going down my throat, helping me refuel and replenish what I had sweat out. At the same time, I was annoyed with myself because I knew I wasn’t even tired. The weather was ideal, my legs didn’t feel spent, and I had a flat course. “Pull yourself together,” I told myself. My running friend, Shawna, was meeting me at the 32k marker to run the last 12.2k with me, so I just kept saying in my head, “Just make it to Shawna, just do that, just make it to 32k.” Even though I knew the toughest 10k would follow.
The 32k mark finally came. Shawna refilled my bottle with Gatorade and we were off. I was able to pick up the pace thanks to having her alongside me, and I even felt strong. She did all of the chatting, encouraging me along, and got the people watching the race to cheer for me, announcing to them it was my ninth marathon, or telling them my name, and it was fantastic to get those cheers. Shawna was just so proud of me and kept telling me how strong I was running and pointing out how many other runners I was passing. At 36k, my friend Serena was on the corner in the cold cheering and that lifted my spirits big time. At about 39k was the most awesome cheer station filled with runners from Parkdale Road Runners (pretty much the best cheer squad ever, they do it up with confetti and loud cheering and it’s pretty much the best thing ever during a race, well, other than crossing the finish line!). Shout out to PDRR!
At this point, I was tired but not as exhausted as I have been after other races. I knew that my sub-4 goal was slipping away from me, but I was doing what I could. At 40k, my friend and Pace & Mind teammate Brandon, who I thought I’d see only after the race, caught up alongside me. He had paced another teammate in the half-marathon, gone home to change, then tracked my times and found me on the route, and ran the last two kilometres with me. I felt pretty special with my own little entourage pacing me, Shawna on one side and Brandon on the other.
Finally (finally!) we were approaching the finish with 500 metres to go. Here every 100 metres is counted down and I swear each 100 metres until the next sign has never felt so long (I remember thinking “This course has been measured wrong!”). Both Shawna and Brandon broke off of the chute at this point, running alongside where the crowds were, and I dug deep to push it to the finish.
Looking at the clock, I knew I hadn’t reached my sub-4 goal, and I was super disappointed with myself for falling apart mentally from 22k to 32k, but I was happy knowing I’d run 4:01 (when I’d anticipated a much, much slower race). Most of all I was thrilled to have completed my ninth marathon (I can tell you I’d never would’ve guessed I’d run even one ever) and even more filled with joy about having such awesome friends.
In the end, this Gatorade Summer of Sweat to #KeepSweating journey has taught me a few lessons. To try to not be so hard on myself (I can’t say I will succeed at that, that’s just me by nature…but I can try). That there are other things that can be so rewarding when it comes to running other than reaching that time goal. That being said, based on how strong I felt for most of this race, I believe now that I’m physically capable of reaching that BQ time, I just need to get my mental game in check and do the interval work. I truly feel had I not been traveling and suffering from insomnia, I could’ve BQ’d.
And, of course, this journey reminded me of the importance of hydration before, during and after. Thank you, Gatorade, for this incredible Summer of Sweat and the opportunity to push myself to win from within.
(sponsored)
October 26, 2015
