Tuesday, May 7, 2024 – Running for resilience (Cheryl Whittam)

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Hi Everyone!

 

Wow, what a weekend. In races we had Erin (5th in AG) and Graeme (2nd in AG) both in the Georgina Half marathon. Here in Toronto we had Shauna and Cindy run the full both getting official BQ’s and Cindy a PB and 3rd in her AG! As I always say and would like to reiterate: just getting through marathon training and to the start line is a success. Then finishing the marathon is a second success. A strong race with a time you’re happy with is not owed or delivered to many people. This is part of what keeps us trying again and again. And it IS the journey!

Also in the Toronto half we had Lyndsay with a fantastic time (close to PB) despite many training setbacks. Sometimes you just have to say “eff it” and throw yourself in the ring anyway. Way to go.

 

This week we have a guest post from our newest member Cheryl! Thank-you Cheryl. I think it helps for us to sometimes step back and remember the bigger picture and our “why”. It’s not all about times and egos. Cheryl’s words really bring that home.

 

Running for Resilience

 

“I didn’t know what to do, so I went out and ran because it was the only thing to do”. ~ Terry Fox

 

Running has helped me navigate so many personal and professional challenges in my life.  It’s helped me though stressful jobs, heartbreak, fertility challenges, and most recently the passing of my Dad. 

 

My Dad was a long distance runner completing numerous marathons and half marathons throughout his lifetime.  However in September 2020 at the age of 67 he passed away very suddenly from a rare and aggressive form of cancer. 

 

His love for the sport sparked my own interest at a very young age and he was my running buddy throughout my life.  After his passing, I felt a bit like Forest Gump and went on a 100+ day running streak to try and process some of the grief I was feeling.

 

In 2023 and 2024 I had the privilege of running the NYC half marathon in his honour and raised over $7,000 in support of the Terry Fox Foundation.  In addition, I was also recently accepted to run the 2024 Berlin Marathon. After 16 half marathons, I am finally attempting a full marathon! 

 

I am looking forward to training with all of you in the LES Crew in preparation for Berlin.  I will also be running it in honour of my Dad and in support of the Terry Fox Foundation.  Berlin has always been a dream race for my Dad and I.  We actually applied for it in 2020, and my Dad was learning German in preparation for the event. However unfortunately COVID and cancer had other plans.

 

Running various half marathons around the world with my Dad has brought me so much joy.  After his passing I was worried I would lose my love for running, however I was pleasantly surprised how it helped me keep part of my connection with him.  It also allowed me to turn some of my pain into purpose.  In addition, I have two young boys (5 and 2 years old) and hope that they will inherit my love for running and one day, run with me, the way I ran with my Dad.

 

I will always be grateful for running and how it has encouraged me to keep moving forward. As Martin Luther King Jr. so eloquently said: ‘if you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward”.

 

Long may you run!

 

 

On to tomorrow’s workout! Lakeshore and Leslie – 6:05 drills, 6:15 GO

 

  1. 4-6 x 800 w 1:30 rest – these can be a little cut-down. Start at 10K-ish pace and work your way down. A little longer rest than usual should mean we can get a bit more pace out of them. Then 3 min rest. Then 4 x 400 w 1:15 rest – a lil quicker
  2. If running Sporting Life: 3-4 x 800 w 1:30 (race pace and down) and 2-4 x 400 w 1:15 a lil quicker. I’m giving a range based on how fatigued you are going in and how hard it feels. We don’t want this one to be extremely taxing even though the race isn’t till Sunday.
  3. If you ran Boston, you can start to come back, but keep everything tempo paced.
  4. If you ran London, you can come out and run. Workouts can start back next week.
  5. If you ran Toronto or Georgina, stay in bed.

 

That is all – see you in the am!

 

xo

 

Seanna

Tuesday, April 30, 2024 – What if I try? (Steph Bannan)

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Hi Everyone!

 

Massive congrats to our marathoners this weekend at Mississauga!!! Lori and Colette both braved the heat and ran very respectable marathons with Lori qualifying for Boston! In the Bum Run 5K we had Sean, Zoë and Jeff running very fast times on what I believe is not a “fast” course. Way to go everyone – feeling inspired! Coming up this weekend in the Toronto Marathon we have Shauna and Cindy (and maybe Roz S? tbd…)  running the full and Lyndsay running the half! We are welcome to join the Culture Cheer station at Underpass Park again – let’s rally with our LES gear!

 

This week’s guest post is by Steph Bannan. Thank-you Steph!!!

 

What if I try?

 

 

 

Omg. A chance to write a Seanna-esque email?! I both jump and cower at the chance. She does them so well. How could I hold a candle to such thought-provoking wisdom, and her seemingly psychic ability to put her finger on exactly what many of us are feeling at any given moment. I wouldn’t dare. I couldn’t.

But then again…what if I just tried?

Once upon a time I said “I couldn’t do that” to the idea of racing. Years prior, I even said it about “running outside.” It just wasn’t a thing I thought I could do. A marathon? No way.

Enter the Lower East Siders.

In an “as fate would have it” moment, a predestined friend of a friend introduction, I found this group. It was an amazing workout, a fun group of people, and the perfect time slot for a new mom.

But it was more than that. It was inspiration, teamwork, camaraderie. It was connection on a deeper, more intrinsic level. It was incredible people who didn’t know my last name or anything about me, but who seemed to care as much about my progress as they did their own. It was the thing that got me thinking, “maybe I could try that too?”

And so, just like all of you, I gave it a try. And over time, I became a member of the club. I became “a runner.”

This identity has brought me the highest highs. It’s taught me more about hard work (and grunt work) than I ever thought I’d learn. It has convinced me that the body should be nourished, cared for, and celebrated. It’s made me feel truly proud of myself, and deeply invested in the success of others. It’s brought some lows, too, but nothing pulls you out with more force than a team of people who get it, and who want to see you back out there.  

We’ve all had these experiences – where running has helped us, encouraged us, kept us going, or even saved us. And I’m sure we all have theories as to how and why this sport has gripped us in the way it has. For me, I believe it is because the whole of the group is greater than the sum of its parts. Together, we can see what is possible, and the magic that can happen if you just give it a try.

 

 

On to tomorrow’s workout – Riverdale Hills! (or a beach option – tbd) – let’s meet at the clubhouse at the top of the hill at 6:05 for drills, 6:15 GO.

 

  1. If coming back from Boston or London, or just wanna jog, come out and jog and have a Rooster coffee and tell us your stories.
  2. If you ran Mississauga, come for the coffee – can walk if feeling ok. (or sleep in – you deserve it)
  3. Toronto Marathoners and half marathoners: 2 laps of Riverdale track @ race pace. 2-4 x 1 lap a lil faster (marathoners 2, half marathoners up to 4). 2 min bw all.
  4. Everyone else: 2 x Riverdale hill followed by 2 laps of the track. Rest = slow jog/shuffle between each. I think the range here is 3-5 sets.
  5. If doing hills in the Beach, coordinate w Tanis!

 

That is all – see you in the am!

 

xo

 

Seanna

Tuesday, April 23, 2024 – How was your race? (Carol McFarlane)

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Hi Everyone!

 

Huge congrats to everyone who raced this weekend! Chris Fortin ran the Half Marathon in Montreal in a PB of 1:25! And over in London in the marathon we had a very stellar crew. Amanda (BQ!), Fran (BQ!), Annick (PB and BQ!) and Meagan (fought through an injury and gets the toughy tough award). This weekend we have Colette and Lori running Mississauga! (am I missing anyone? )

 

Today we have a guest post by Carol McFarlane. Thank-you!

 

How was your race?”

 

I love this question, and I love it for many reasons. To start, there is beauty in the openness of it guaranteeing no wrong answer. Those who ask, and why they ask, are seeking an answer that ranges in depth and detail. Let’s be honest, the majority out there despite their love for you, don’t really care about your ‘time’, and if you say in the most matter a fact way, “it was good’, you both ticked some weird social grace box. I also love this question because you control the narrative. It can present itself as being a) a short response like an ‘elevator pitch’ of the race blurted out in fifteen seconds, b) a thirty-minute blow by blow ridiculously detailed novel; or c) something, & anything in between.

 

Finally, and probably most importantly, I love this question because of how my answer has changed. Not for good or bad, just different. Years ago, I instinctively answered by sharing details of the ‘race’ experience. The number of KMs I traveled; my emotions at the starting line; my race day gear; planned and actual pace; and the ‘do you avert/ not avert’ response to ‘what was your time?’ These days, the race is important, BUT it plays one small piece in the complex, colourful, rewarding when done, beautiful puzzle.  All the pieces that make up the experience are part of my response. 

 

Reflecting upon my recent race, when asked, I share the fun in making new connections, the aliveness of a city, the random conversations with strangers all sorting out pre-race nerves, smiling at kindness & compassion along the course, sheer happiness and girl like giggling with unplanned post race meet ups; and post race ‘blips’ that needed to be figured out in the most adult/pragmatic manner. So today, my personal response to ‘how was your race?’ describes, like it or not to the naïve sucker who may ask, and indulge me, the unabridged Soup 2 Nuts adventure.  

 

 

On to tomorrow’s workout: Let’s do a Fartlek on the spit! (warning, bring your midge goggles). 6:05 meet at Lakeshore and Leslie, usual spot for drills. 6:15 we’ll head down to the spit.

 

If you’re coming back from Boston or Montreal half or just feel like a social, come and run.

 

If you’re doing a regular workout: 2 x 5 min w 2 min easy, 5 x 2 min ON, 1 min OFF, 2 min easy, 5 x 1 min ON, 1 min OFF. Start at HM to 10K pace for the 5 minuters. Then see if you can get to 5K pace for the 2 minuters, and a lil faster for the 1 minuters.

 

If you’re racing Mississauga this weekend: 5 min @ marathon pace, 2-3 min easy, 2-3 x 2 min a lil quicker (w 1-2 min easy).

 

 

That is all – see you in the am!

 

xo

 

Seanna

 

Tuesday, April 16, 2024 – Aspiring to average (Adam Nicklin)

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Hi Everyone!

 

Huge congrats to all our Boston Marathoners yesterday! It was a sudden hot day which took a lot of adjusting and cost a fair bit of time for most. That’s how it is. So proud of everyone who persevered! Boston is one to celebrate being in the top percent of people who grow through doing hard things – it is not a PB course. Congrats to Jason Jacobs, Amy Hayes, Roz Salter, Carol McFarlane, Carolyn Steele Gray, Jordan Stewart. Y’all are incredible.

 

Guest post this week by Adam Nicklin: (thank-you and others please follow suit!)

 

What I’ve been thinking about recently is aspiring to average; a concept that used to feel alien to me but is becoming, if not entirely comfortable, somewhat inevitable.

 

I can recall times in my own life where I had the luxury to ‘lean in’ on a particular passion, usually vocational, artistic, or both. When I was younger, many hours were dedicated to work with little regard for matters not central to my own specific goals. We’ve all been there I’m sure. This was of little consequence – I mean, no-one cared except me or those that stood to benefit – and I really didn’t need to be that accountable to anyone else. Into my late thirties this ramped up as I took on the challenge of starting my own firm from scratch. The accompanying uncertainty had me focusing intensely on the success of the studio, with the alternative – failure – looking like a long, long way to fall. So this increasingly narrow focus was justified as a survival tactic, as an increasingly shaky balance was struck with life’s other responsibilities and commitments.

 

I started running in my late forties, enjoying the expanded sense of community it offered, all sharing a humble, common purpose. In time, I started to consider being able to tackle an occasional triathlon. Not being a triathlete you understand – but doing a triathlon. One morning during a Wednesday run, I was opining to a fellow LES’er that while I was a decent runner, I was also a pretty so-so biker, and a pretty bad swimmer, and therefore potentially a pretty crappy triathlete. Not so, he said. If you can be an average runner, mediocre biker and so-so swimmer then you are an awesome triathlete. The trick is just not failing too badly at any one thing, and resisting the temptation to get too concerned about any one of them. Armed with his new insight, I set out with the goal of being average! No huge problem with running, but biking took some work. And swimming – wow! Average took some serious effort. And along the way, I think I had more fun training to be average than in anything in life I may have felt I could truly excel in. In fact, the most rewarding time I can recall of any activity I have pursued has been that steep learning curve, reaching for the ‘anonymity of average’, finding that everyone will genuinely want to help you along the way. Something I must remember to reciprocate whenever I can…

 

So, this truism in sport comes back to haunt us in life. Fast forward, and here we all are with multiple things to balance and never enough bandwidth to cope. Suddenly, average across all of life’s ‘disciplines’ seems like the crest of a hill you will never reach, with the sleep you lose worrying you will never attain it making your chances ever more diminished. Therefore, instead of training to achieve average, we train ourselves to accept it. To be clear, this doesn’t mean submission – quite the opposite. Rather, a distinct and thoughtful process of editing your life to only those things that can support your goal of being (at least) average in everything that counts, and for everyone that needs you to be. And, as Seanna will remind us, keeping something in there for our own peace of mind, which will ultimately benefit those around us. Besides, I’d say these days we’re harder on ourselves than we ever were, and frankly average to us is likely more than adequate to those around us. And maybe that is success or, at least, a comfortable margin above failure we should all feel at peace with.

 

 

On to tomorrow’s workout: Lakeshore and Leslie – 6:05 Drills, 6:15 GO!

 

  1. 6 x 600 w 1 min rest. Starting tempo-ish – the 1 min rest should keep these not too hot. We did 10 of these in early Dec, so reference the pace you did there. 2-3 min set rest, then 2-4 x 600 faster w 2 min. These can get close to 5K pace. Learning to find that extra gear with some volume already on our legs.

 

  1. London Marathoners: GOOD LUCK!!! (Amanda, Annick, Meagan, Fran) And taper workout: 1 mile @ MP, 2 min rest, 2 x 600m a lil quicker w 2 min.

 

That is all – see you in the am!

 

xo

 

Seanna