Holy wow. My first marathon. Ever. 42.2 kilometers. Done.

The day started out pretty early. Since this was my first marathon, I wasn’t quite sure what the routine was supposed to look like. Do I eat as soon as I get up? Does that give me enough time before the start of the race to digest everything? What do I even eat? I decided to go with the fast and familiar. Breakfast protein shake. Banana, frozen fruit, protein powder, juice. Usually, there’s fiber in there but I omitted that on race day morning, just in case. For those of you who are curious about the fiber… more fiber, more movement in the bowels, long distance run… you get my drift.

I’m pretty sure I packed everything, including the kitchen sink, into my gym bag. G can attest to that… he hauled it around for me. My thought process? How could I be sure I wasn’t missing anything? So, everything went in. Electrolytes mixed in water. Extra water. Gels. Gummies. Clif bars. Extra shirts, headbands, hair ties. You name it. It was in the bag. I didn’t end up needing most of it but I think knowing I had pretty much whatever I needed in whatever conditions would come my way, kept me at a sane level of nervousness.

When I showed up to the race site, it was pretty nutso. The sheer number of runners waiting to fly past the starting gate was exciting, yet terrifying. The announcer counted down and we were off! Well, sort of… first we had to shuffle forward in a large giant mass until the pack thinned out enough to start trotting forward. I was running in my first marathon! Then… my bladder started to protest. I think I got about a kilometer into the race before I knew this was going to be a bit of an issue. The first porta-potty that I passed had about 10 runners lined up outside with exactly the same urinary affliction. Darn it. Had to keep running. The next group of porta-potties (about 5 or so) had about 5-6 runners lined up outside of each. I picked a line and waited. The most nerve wracking thing was watching everyone else run on by. Every other runner waiting in line was thinking the exact same thing. Curse you bladder!

After my porta-washroom incident, I was good to go. Tunes playing, legs felt fresh and I kept it at a steady pace. With every kilometer marker passed, I started counting down from 42 kilometers. 41 km to go. I can do this. I will finish this race. 38 km. This isn’t so bad and when would I ever get to run along Lakeshore Blvd like this? 32 km. Wow, 10 km down already… not bad at all. At this point, I started to see some runners duck off the course into the dense bushes on the side of the course for a bit of a bathroom break. Both men and women. When you gotta go, I guess you have to go.

At about the 15 km marker (27 km to go), I was running back toward the downtown core (on the Lakeshore out and back) and passed by the 100 year old runner heading out with his group of supporters around him. It was incredible… the cheers of encouragement that went up from all of the runners in the vicinity. A really touching moment.

I’m not going to give you a km-by-km rundown but some key memorable moments that really made this race special:

• The kids throughout the race I high-fived as I was running by… so totally awesome.

• The onlooker on Queen Street who looked me in the eye as I was walking (this was around the 34 km marker — my legs were protesting something fierce) and said with such sincerity, “What you’re doing is incredible, Jennifer (my name was on my race bib). Keep on going, you’ve come so far and you only have a little more to go.” Tears sprung to my eyes. I did everything I could to hold back a sob.

• To the the little girl and her family who were handing out pieces of bananas for any runner who would have them (also around the 34 km marker). Thank you so very much. This also got me choked up during the race.

• The Lululemon cheering station was incredibly hilarious and very inspiring. Holding up signs like “Toenails are for sissies” and “The reason your feet hurt so badly is because you’re kicking so much ass”. How can you not feel a burst of adrenaline running through with megaphones cheering your name and signs waving high in the air?

• The phone conversation I had with G (yes, I made a phone call during my first marathon) with about 3 km left to go… G: Did you finish? I’m waiting at the finish line. Me: No, I have about 3 km to go (my voice started to crack with emotion at this point… hearing his voice was everything to me). G: You’re almost done. You can do it. I’ll be waiting for you when you finish. Yup, tears welled up once again and a new kick of inspiration got me going for the last time.

As I approached the last kilometer of my first marathon, the weather got a little worse (rain and cold) but the crowds suddenly appeared out of nowhere (there were parts of the race where there was hardly anyone watching, so this was fantastic). Spectators were cheering, musicians were playing… it was amazing. The fatigue in my legs was forgotten. With 500 meters to go, speed crept in gradually until I was in a full sprint to the finish line. I saw a runner ahead of me rounding the corner with 50 meters to go. I set my sights on her and passed one last runner before I crossed that finish line.

This was an incredible moment in my life. One I will remember for a very long time. Running a marathon in just over 5 hours isn’t a stellar time, I know. But I set my mind to crossing that finish line and left all of my doubts and fears out on the race course behind me.

I love gadgets. Gadgets of all kinds. Just ask G. He will testify to the hoarding of gadgets that I do on a very, all to frequent, regular basis… much to his chagrin. If there were a reality TV show for gadget hoarders, sign me up! Wait, isn’t there a show like that?… never mind. On to the reason you’re reading this post…

I had read about the iFitness running belt a little while back and at the time, I didn’t really have a use for it. On any given run, the pockets built into my running gear could accommodate my iPod Nano and keys and such. While the running belt looked pretty (tons of colours!), I held back from buying yet another gadget (G would’ve been proud of me!).

Then, along came my Android. Yep, gone were the days of my BlackBerry (which could literally only store half a dozen apps before the stupid thing ran out of space and I had to go through the excruciating exercise of trying to determine which app should stay and which one could go) and in came the new kid on the block… my Google Nexus S Android phone. As refreshing as a bucket of ice water on a hot, sticky day, my Android opened my eyes to a whole new world of apps that I could use in search of better health and fitness (yes, I keep telling myself that!).

There was one problem though, those mini-built in pockets that once held my iPod without any hassle, well, the phone wasn’t having any of the cramped crawlspace that I tried, in a futile effort, to shove it in. I needed a new gadget! In comes the iFitness running belt. I went online, carefully made my colour choice (ended up with gray, I know, not exactly a thrill-seeker over here) and waited oh-so-patiently for my order to arrive.

In a few short words… this belt and I get along so very well. But that’s not why you read all that preamble only to read that I love the belt… here’s why:

• Soft and comfy – as soon as I picked it up and clipped it around my waist, it just molded to me. No uncomfortable hot spots. No chafing. No fuss.
• No slippage – I’ve gone on several runs with this now and at the end of every single run, the belt has stayed exactly where I placed it (I had to fiddle around with the tightness of the belt, but once I got it to where I liked, no issues at all!).
• Neoprene pouch – water/sweat-resistant and stretches to accommodate whatever you’re putting inside. So far, my Android hangs out in there but I’m sure I could probably fit some gels and other small stuff. Incidentally, an iPhone or BlackBerry could probably fit in there given the stretchy material.
• Reflective – there are a couple of reflector tabs on either side of the pouch and the logo is in reflective lettering too. Helps to keep those pesky cars from bumping into you.
• Secure buckle – this thing is solid. I have to apply a good amount of force to unbuckle… reassures me that it won’t inadvertently un-clip itself mid-run.
• Hidden pockets – nice for credit cards, ID, or any other miscellaneous things I like to carry around. Who doesn’t like pockets?!
• Discrete branding – this is what won this belt over for me. The fact that it doesn’t scream its brand all over might be the biggest WIN of all. I don’t expect companies to refrain from putting any logos on products, but when they shout out the brand from the rooftops and you can see them coming from a mile away (there are some belts out there like this…), I don’t walk, I run in the other direction. Loud, ugly, obvious branding sucks.

The only minor thing (and this is pretty minor) that would be an improvement to the belt is an earphone jack hole to feed my earphone cord through and attach to my phone. Other than that… why are you still reading this? You should be sprinting over to the iFitness site and ordering one… or two. Pretty pictures below.

Disclaimer: I review products that I love using myself… otherwise, what would be the point? I’m not against trying samples out that were given to me by companies (after all, freebies are great!)  but I’ll only review them if I love them!

Reflective tabs on either side of the zipper and reflective lettering/logo

Hidden pockets!

Solid buckle and subtle branding… love it.

There’s my baby… screen’s a bit grimy though. Should have cleaned it up for the photo shoot! But it fits perfectly!

Do you love your running belt? Leave me a comment below and tell me all about it!

Happy running!

It’s been a brutal four weeks. Simply put, injuries suck.

I’ve been completely AWOL from my blogging because I didn’t really want to even think about anything to do with running if I couldn’t be out there doing it myself.

The start of spring is definitely a rough time to get injured. So many people out running, and not being able to do it myself… ugh. Seriously, ask G, everytime we would see a runner while walking or driving, my head would swivel (not while driving, of course) and I would stare (sometimes a tad too long!) wishing I could be out there running alongside them. Torture. Pure torture.

Mid-April, I sustained a 2nd degree ligament sprain in my left ankle after I took an awkward fall while bouldering. I would have been alright with the five foot fall had I not landed on G’s foot in the process and rolled my ankle on it pretty badly. I knew as soon as I heard the snap and felt the blinding flash of pain, all running would be halted immediately. I was in agony. Not only was I hobbling around, I was in the middle of my training in gearing up for the Sporting Life 10K at the beginning of May. Yes, even in that moment of pain and swollen ankle-ness, I briefly entertained the idea of rehab-ing fast enough to run the race in a week and a half, but the better part of me knew it wasn’t happening.

This was certainly a lesson in patience for me. While treating athletes in my practice, I have to be the one to tell them to rest and stay away from any of their usual exercise routines until they’ve recovered. Now I was sitting in their shoes and that was definitely a difficult experience for me… patience is not even close to being a virtue of mine. But… throughout the years, I’ve seen far too often (and I’m guilty of doing it myself at times), what happens when you “play through it” and end up causing more damage… I wasn’t about to go down like that so I had to take my own advice. I’m definitely thankful for having additional voices of reason around me, my brother (also my trainer) and G for being supportive but also constantly reiterating that I wasn’t ready to get back out there yet. It was always a constant internal battle within me between knowing how much I needed to rest my ankle versus wanting to “work through it” and get back out there and just start running again… but it always helps when there are others around you telling you the latter would probably be the stupidest thing to do.

I’ve injured my ankles before especially when I used to play volleyball competitively. This wasn’t a new concept for me. But this time around, I knew that being out for a lengthy period of time with this kind of injury would seriously hinder my progression in running. Total bummer. I get why injuries can lead to depression in active people. Complete de-motivation.

All that said, I am back running again! Whoop whoop! Started on Wednesday with a 4K loop. Man, that was a bit of a lung burner to start… but once I got back into a bit of a groove, it just felt so good to be moving again! And much to my happiness, I haven’t lost that much in terms of pace time since I stopped a month ago! Yes!!

I know. I still have to take it easy so I probably won’t be going out for runs much longer than 4K at a time for the next couple of weeks but I’m just ecstatic to be moving again. My sanity has been restored.

Happy Friday and happier running!

So yes, I am completely sore after yesterday’s run. Someone on twitter told me that this was a good thing. That the level of soreness my muscles are dealing me right now means that I gave it all I had. Sweeet! But still sore.

I will admit that after yesterday’s race, whilst soaking in my epsom salt bath, I started thinking about what was next. What race could I start planning and training for? Already, I knew I wanted to keep going. It didn’t matter that I was fatigued. It didn’t matter that I had the weirdest post-race flu-like symptoms (which were gone by this morning). I wanted my next fix. Yes, I know, it sounds like a bad drug addiction but for any of you runners out there, I know you’ve been there and you can vouch for this sickness called running.

So what’s next? The Sporting Life 10K on May 1, 2011. I clicked on over to the Canada Running Series site and punched in my details like an addict jonesing for the next fix. And, I figured, while I’m dealing with this newly found addiction, I might as well try and raise some money for a good cause. So if you’ve got a few dollars kicking around here and there, please visit my donation page to help support children with cancer and Camp Oochigeas!

On to the next great high!