The Chilly Half Marathon

As the date of my first full marathon draws near, I continue on with my training plan.  This includes getting in one more half-marathon race to break up the winter training blahs. I find throwing in an actual race during the training phase for an even bigger event helps to keep the working intensity up, especially when the long runs seem to get a little long, chilly and dreary.  The race I picked to do as my tune up was the Chilly half-marathon in Burlington. The race started at city hall in downtown Burlington, then loops around Lakeshore Rd first going SW towards the Skyway Bridge, and heading back NE to Burloak Dr before looping back to city hall at Brant St for a total distance of 21.1km.

The weather was quite nice for early March - clear, cool and crisp, just a couple degrees below zero to start, but with a fresh cold wind off the lake to remind you it was still winter.  As I placed myself in the starting chute, just in front of the 1:45 pace bunny, I cued up my playlist for the race.  The last few weeks I’d been running to Metallica, and still felt pumped up by their driving undercurrent of hard rhythmic metal.  I planned to start the run to Ride the Lightening, and finish to Master of Puppets. Cue ‘Fight Fire with Fire’, two minutes before the starting horn. A few pumps of the legs and measured breathes later, and me and almost three thousand other runners were off.   

I was determined to break the 1h:45m time on this run, as my last two half-marathons I finished in 1:45:40 and 1:45:19.  I made sure to start in front of the 1:45 pace bunny and vowed to not let him pass me at all costs. Between that and keeping my eyes on my Garmin running watch I’d do all that I could to keep my pace just slightly faster than 5:00 min/km, I knew I could do it. 

At the 5km mark I had a wonderful boost of moral support. My Burlington based cheer squad was waiting for me with the best motivational homemade posters “Run like a Cheetah” and “Run Kelly Run”. It was the first time anyone had ever made posters just for me.  It really does make a tired runner feel good.  Thanks girls!

I felt I ran the first 12km really strong, but I started to feel the fatigue just after the 13km mark. Fighting the fatigue with a couple gatorade pit stops and drawing on the mental grit I had developed during a long winter of running outdoors, I pushed all thoughts of fatigue and doubt to the back of my mind and kept pushing on at my determined race pace.  The 1:45 pace bunny hadn’t passed me yet and I wasn’t about to let him.  As I reached the final turn around point at Burloak Dr. I estimated I was probably 500m ahead of him. I had to maintain this lead in order to meet my goal.  

With just a few km left to go I dug in deep and hard, planning to give it all I had, finishing the race strong, even if the tank would be completely empty.  At about the 18km mark I found I was having a hard time reading the road signs, as the cold air and exhaustive effort began to blur my vision. I just had to hold on for the last 3km.  And hold on I did. With Metallica’s ‘Orion’ urging me on, I finished the last km with a split time of 4:46, and with great relief the time on my Garmin read 1:42:44 as I crossed the finish line.  I finally broke that 1:45 time barrier that’s been haunting me all last year. Finishing strong with a new personal best!  

Here are my official half marathon race stats: 

Age division: 15/155 = 9.7%

Gender division: 112/1157 = 9.7%

That's the top ten percentile for both my age and gender divisions! 

Official time - 1:42:44 

Average Pace - 4:52 min/km

Overall it was a terrific race for me, and a much needed confidence booster going into the final stretch of my training for my first full marathon on May 1.  Now its off to get some post-race Chili! 

Common Medical Conditions & Their Exercise Prescriptions

As a fitness professional, I’m always trying to take advantage of opportunities to learn new skills that can help my clients.  As my practice grows I’ve found that many of my clients are dealing with common medical conditions such as arthritis, osteoporosis, joint injuries and chronic back conditions, to name a just a few.  To better serve their fitness needs, the weekend of March 5th, I participated in an interesting workshop at the Can-Fit-Pro Academy called “Common Medical Conditions and Their Exercise Prescriptions”.   The workshop focussed on the following medical conditions:

1. Arthritis
2. Osteoporosis
3. Diabetes
4. Cardiovascular Conditions
5. Joint Injuries/Replacements
6. Spinal Conditions 
7. Stroke
8. Fibromyalgia
9. Dementia
10. Fall Prevention

Here are some of the interesting information and techniques I’ve learned and can apply to clients who require tailored workout plans. 

Arthritis patients should use exercise plans formatted towards low impact and low intensity movements. They will require more time to warm up and stretch, and respond better to exercise when joints are warm.  Rotational exercises are quite beneficial to maintain joint mobility. Strengthening the muscle groups around the affected joints is also beneficial as these tend to weaken over time.  It’s also a good idea to test for balance and core stability as arthritis patients tend to favour one side (the one opposite the sore joint).  

Osteoporosis patients require high impact and high intensity exercises to maintain bone density.  Strength training is crucial for bone health and Calcium retention, thus weight lifting and plyometric activities are strongly encouraged.  Osteoporosis patients are cautioned against lateral flexion of the spine however, so abdominal crunches are to be avoided. Planks are encouraged to build core strength in this case. 

Joint Injuries/Replacements require an assessment and medical clearance from doctors. Once cleared for exercise, patients should have their joints assessed by a trainer for their current pain free range of motion (ROM).  Stabilization and strengthening exercises can thereafter be applied - starting slowly, with light weights until strength increases.  Stretching the affected area will be especially important.  For shoulder injuries - rotator cuff exercises, clams, bird-dogs, superman type exercises - are recommended once inflammation has subsided. 

Spinal Conditions - The workshop touched on exercises appropriate for several conditions of the back and spine, including: Degenerative Disc Disease, Spinal Stenosis, Spondylolisthesis and Sciatica. 

Those dealing with Degenerative Disc Disease should avoid high impact activities as the discs in their spine can not absorb the impact safely.  Slow, steady, low impact activities are appropriate in this case;  Spinal Stenosis is caused by a narrowing of the spinal column which can lead to pain, pressure and numbness in limbs. It is one of the few back conditions that actually respond well to spinal flexion (e.g. abdominal crunch motions) as it facilitates opening of the spinal column which can relieve symptoms;  Spondylolisthesis occurs where there is a defect in the connection between vertebrae which can lead to slipped vertebrae and fractures. In this case low impact activities are encouraged and back extension exercises are to be avoided; Sciatica is diagnosed as pain that runs along the sciatic nerve just under the periformis muscle in the buttock area. Suffers often find relief with stretching techniques that target that area (e.g. knee tucking stretches and the figure four leg stretch, see image below).   

This is just a fraction of what I learned at the workshop.  If you have any existing injuries or medical conditions that you are concerned about and would like to discuss with me please feel free to contact me. I can design a workout plan that takes into consideration any special needs that you may have.  Remember you’re never too old to exercise, and it’s actually one of the best things you can do to manage many health conditions and prevent them from worsening over time. 

Yours in health & fitness, 

Kelly the trainer