Half Marathon - My finale

Half Marathon;   GOAL,  SET AND ACHIEVED.

It took guts

It took hard work

It took commitment

It took wanting the feeling of great joy

It took compromise

It took good shoes, a pair of legs, a heart and lungs,  healthy

nutrition choices and a will to achieve

to get me across that finish!!!

And I can now proudly say it 

I Frikkin Did IT!!!! 

No guts, No GLORY

I had the guts and I now have the glory....and you can too!

I MADE IT yes folks I crossed that finish line and completed my year goal set of 8 half marathons for 2014.  But let me say not without a tug of war with my heart and my body. I met great people along the way, I joined a million plus people who have a mutual understanding of what it takes to accomplish a goal, set and achieved.  

You see during my training and race schedule I suffered from a hip issue 4 races in (can't say the I word if you are a runner you know what I mean) and then came on the plantar fasciatis grrrrr and it has lingered ever since.

BUT I made it to my last race The Vancouver Historic Half.  A superb race covering two laps around Stanley Park.  Magnificient views of the city and the northshore mountains, a flat, speedy course and the finale to a well earned running year.  BUT I started the race at -5 degrees, bad plantar fasciatis and ended limping and bitterly cold at -3.5 degrees.  Crikey it was cold and I never ever warmed up the whole race.  I got home showered to warm up and crashed on the bed for 1.5 hours to enable my body some sort of start to recovery.

I feel just fabulous, proud and I applaud myself for getting across that finish line.  I have bragging rights to my goal set and achieved. And although I now am unable to run for some time due to very bad plantar fascia tis,  I am excited to get back to the road because I have some new goals up my sleeve.  I never thought I would ever say that.

I held the hand of a young girl as I crossed the finish line for my second race.  She had stopped to walk 500m from the BMO finish line and I said you can't stop now the finish line is right there, we can do this.  I later received a surprise email of thanks.  She took the time to find me and email, it touched my heart.  I had a young man come to me in Victoria and said your encouragement was wonderful it got me through the last 2 km's.  These moments have truly added to my overall experience and memories.

I am now currently playing doctor doctor with ice packs, rolling the underneath of my feet with cold tennis balls and using the infamous Strassburg Sock.  On the road to recovery..... Thank you to the team at The Running Room cnr Denman and W Georgia I have reaped helpful information to aid in my recovery (ice, roll, stretch and REST)  and left with a challenge to come back to pick up my new goal post.

Tennis Balls in the fridge to roll under the feet

 

The infamous Strassburg Sock to help alleviate and heel
the ever dreaded Plantar Fasciatis - 

      

So before I leave I share this pertinent information with regards to 

training, nutrition and your recovery.

Use google folks for training programs there is a wealth of knowledge at your keyboard finger tapping tips. Anywhere in the world I know there are running groups that will be a great support for training programs such as half and full marathons.

Nutrition - I logged my food and training schedule on www.myfitnesspal.com to ensure I ate all the required calories (oh and don't try and diet whilst training for a goal, seriously you need the calories for fuelling the body)

Complex Carbohydrates, lean proteins and essential fats made up my daily diet. After long runs I did spoil myself with my favourite treat Tim Hortons Apple Fritter "oh yum" 

Thanks to My Fitness Pal I was able to monitor my calories to ensure I ate what I needed to to fuel the body and speedy recovery to keep running.

Recovery; Epsom Salts Baths, Loads of Yoga and I did not start early enough but ended the year well with visits to my Registered Massage Therapist (a secret weapon to eternal mobility).  

REST =  I admit folks this was hard for me to do....

BUT is integral to your bodies overall well being and I have learnt the hard way!

I hope I have inspired you to set an athletic goal bigger than you can dream and wish you all the very best and speed beneath your wings as you cross those finish lines.

Till next time remember Goals Set and Achieved is a truly invigorating, awe inspiring tidy business

Paula C

Proud - 8x Half Marathoner 2014