Mission Accomplished

As I started to write today's entry, I automatically wanted to announce my finishing time; however, I won't. Rather, I will say that today I ran the Toronto Half Marathon stronger and faster than I anticipated.

I need to thank a few people for supporting me during this race. Firstly, I would like to that inner voice of negativity for keeping quiet the entire route (definitely a first). My sister's never-ending support receives great gratitude: she travels over 3 hours to attend each of my events and cheers me on along the route. When I finally made my way on to University Avenue from Wellington, there she was arms waving high in the air with cheers of encouragement and excitement. Her energy displaced my fatigue and I powered forward towards Queen's Park. Enormous thanks to Steve for offering to be my paparazzo with my pup, Iniko, in tow. And finally, a huge thank you goes to Dave (bib 6744), a solitary stranger met whilst running along Rosedale, for the engaging conversation that made reaching the finish line seem effortless.

I was in great spirits for this race. Familiar faces of former running partners cheered me on along the route (Rob, Neil, Richard, Joanna) or ran beside me for brief chats before continuing on with their pace (Maureen).

The week leading up to the race entailed lots of carbs, a few light runs, and lots of water. This was the first time I ever carb loaded and hydrated throughly for a race. The day before the race, I accompanied friends downtown for a casual walk-about: we picked up fresh pasta and filet mignon at St. Lawrence's Market for that evening's dinner before collecting my race kit at the Sheraton Hotel. We ended the day with a leisurely stroll through Kensington Market before meeting my sister at the bus station and heading back to Clarington. I took my Enbrel injection before bed, set aside my Singulair, Flovent, and Indomethacin anti-inflammatory medication for the morning, and stuck a sticky note to the fridge to remind me of the peanut butter and honey slathered bagel. I had slight pre-race jitters and could not settle into bed until 11pm, but the excitement I had when I awoke fueled me through a spectacular day. Stay tuned for pictures.

Mitochondrial Dilution

Throughout my years training for races, I have tried to maintain my strength training routine in the gym. Achieving this balance has been very difficult as time spent in one area detracts from improving performance in the other. I used to run with people who avoided weight training stating that dense muscle would add speed-limiting weight to their body. Other running partners would engage in light weight training every morning to improve muscle strength. I am perpetually trying to find a balance between challenging the strength of my muscles and improve my endurance performance.

Below is an excerpt from Stephen Seiler's (PhD) website, the MAPP, dedicated to examining and explaining the physiology and training methods of the endurance athlete. In this excerpt, Seiler discussed strength training and endurance performance:

"When a bodybuilder trains, the goal is to make each muscle fiber as big as possible. Muscle fibers have contractile protein, mitochondrial protein, and other components. Increasing the relative proportion of one component (like more contractile protein) means that you have relatively less of everything else in the same fiber (like mitochondria). From an endurance standpoint this is not a good adaptation. We even give it a name in sports physiology circles, mitochondrial dilution. The bodybuilder's muscles may actually become more easily fatigued as they get bigger, because their mitochondrial density is not increasing at the same rate. The bodybuilder accepts that because the name of the game is size, not endurance.

It is possible for the endurance athlete to gain some muscle size and maintain mitochondrial density, but it requires that the volume of endurance training be maintained. If you are a runner and you decide to get stronger in the weight room by really doing a lot of strength training 3 days a week for an hour, you will probably drop some of your running volume to fit it in. After 6 months you have gained 5-10 pounds of muscle, you look really good, and you are running 2 minutes slower for 10k! Why? Well besides having to carry around 5-10 more pounds of muscle that you can't use when you are running, you have probably lost endurance capacity in those bigger stronger quads. So, you have a lower lactate threshold due to the detraining of your leg muscles, plus you are less efficient due to the increased bodyweight (and decreased training volume). The concept that just making muscles bigger and stronger will automatically translate to faster endurance performance is Wrong! "

Toronto Half-Marathon Point in Time

I am anticipating a pace of 6:10/km for the Toronto Half-Marathon, which will place me at the finish line around 10:10 am. Hard to say how realistic that is, but it's worth aiming for. I've already run the route, I know my markers to anticipate how close I am to the finish line, and I have a fabulous support team geared with two Canon 40D cameras to record what will likely be my last race for a while.

I am eager to complete this race upright and smiling, as they say. I am not very focused on my speed, but I have that naging anxiety that is concerned with not performing a personal best. I question why I can't just run the race to enjoy the race...why the journey is diminished with the resulting numbers that allow one to judge their competence at a sport. I am not an elite athlete, so why do I place such ridiculous pressure on exceeding my own expectations? It's silly, really. Obviously, I am competitive with myself...always trying to outperform my last performance. But where is the tipping point? Everyone has a limit to their performance. Where is mine? I don't feel I have reached it with respect to running. I feel I could do better, but whether I really want to is another question.

Training for a full marathon this year proved not be as important as other things that occured over the last 365 days...things requiring more attention and time. Things like refocusing attention on emotional, spiritual, and psychological well-being, which had taken a back seat to my attempt to perfect my physical strength with countless hours in the gym. A critical turning point early in the year, and an accumulated stack of life's challenges, forced me to rethink everything that was important to me. Sometimes, one's life is tossed around as a test of inner strength, resilience, and perseverence; afterall, a great mariner is not made on calm seas. Now that the storms have passed, I have emerged more confident in implementing strategies to care for myself and assert my needs.

This may appear as the rant of an anxious runner, but it ties into the psychological strategies I will use during my run to push me through the difficult parts of the race. Mentally preparing oneself for a race is similar to moving through the challenges of life, except the course is more predictable. We all want to get to the finish line, preferably upright and smiling, despite the taxing journey. How we perceive and respond to those challenges is what matters the most, and will contribute to the energy exerted to defy tests against our character. As I race the Toronto Half-Marathon on October 14th, I will be thinking about all of the hardships I have overcome in life, the person I have developed into, the intensity and courage required to develop into that individual, and how my performance (regardless of time) is not an indicator of who I am.