The Run Aftermath

I survived. You would think that would be automatically assumed, but I honestly wasn't so sure. I had never felt so unprepared both physically and mentally for an event than I did that morning.

It was cloudy and a little rainy as we walked into the mass of people preparing for the race on that Sunday morning. Shiela and I walked up and down looking for people we know and specifically my parents as my mom was running the half marathon (and she did it in a great time!), but we couldn't find them. I did a quick little warm up run for about 50 metres, pretended to stretch a little and then it was time to go. I stripped down to shirts and a long sleeve shirt under my Hbc Run for Canada shirt. Although I knew I couldn't finish the run this year in less than an hour I still wanted to try, so I found the 60 minute pace bunny who is the guy who is guaranteed to finish at the 60 minute mark. So if you want to finish in that time all you need to do is stick with him and you will too.

The gun went off and we all took about 2 steps forward and then stopped as we realized that 2300 people couldn't all go across the start line at the same time. About 1.5 minutes later I crossed the start line and off we went. About 200 metres into the race I realized I just wasn't prepared for this thing, but there was no turning back now.

I wasn't running with anyone in particular this year and was on my own. I had my headphones in my ears, but I never actually turned on the music. I was enjoying the sounds of the run and eavesdropping on all the people talking around me who thought I couldn't hear. The run was going really well for me until I hit the 3KM mark. It was here that thoughts of walking started to enter my mind. I was feeling tired and wanted to walk so badly, but no one else around me was walking so I decided to push on.

At about the 5.5KM mark I turned to go north on Victoria and a few fans were on the corner cheering me on including Shiela. That's always encouraging and I flashed them a smile as I went by although inside I was feeling tired (see video below)

The run north on Victoria to the river is amazing as it is slightly downhill. I started to feel pretty good at this point and was actually enjoying the run. I turned down the steep road past the bridge and realized I only had 3 km left to go. I glanced at my watch and thought maybe I could finish in 60 minutes, but since the pace bunny was so far ahead of me I couldn't see him I figured that probably wouldn't happen. I was running good and then came to Saskatoon's heartbreak hill...the hill up Saskatchewan Cres. by Rawlco Radio. Last year I died going up this hill, but this year I was mentally ready. I charged up it and refused to think too much about it. As I plodded along I suddenly had some encouragement from the sidewalk. I glanced over and my dad was on his bike pedalling beside me giving encouragement. That was great as he was the one who also helped me up the hill the previous year when I was exhausted. I made it to the top and with only 1KM left to go my dad pedalled ahead to the finish to see me cross.

That last KM felt like a lifetime. I'm sure they made a mistake and it was actually 3KM or more because the finish line looked so far away. But then the guy running beside me said that we could bring each other in...so the two of us ran together that last stretch and kept each other going right to the end. And as I crossed the finish line I glanced at my watch and realized I had actually beaten my time from last year...I finished in 1:01:32.

I gave a high five to the guy I finished with and then we parted ways to never see each other again. I saw Shiela and gave her a hug. I was surprisingly feeling pretty good and a lot better than last year. My legs were starting to stiffen up already but overall I was very happy with my time and can't wait to run again to finally reach my goal of finishing in less than 1 hour.

Over the last two days my legs have been so stiff I could harldy walk. I played soccer Sunday night yet and by the end of the game my legs hurt so much and I think I pulled a muscle in my left leg. On Monday I could barely walk at all and had to walk very slowly when I did. But now, Tuesday morning I'm feeling a bit better and my legs are getting back to normal. Hopefully they are ready for soccer tonight!

Time to Run

It's 5:41am and I'm getting ready for my 10K run that starts at 7:00am. It's raining outside. I haven't trained consistently...ok not much at all really. 10K is 10,000 metres. Luckily there are going to be about 700 other people running the 10K along with 1400 other people runinng other events who can help me if I collapse from sheer exhaustion. I'll let you know how it goes!

Off The Roids

It's official. I am no longer taking steroids. Actually, I'm not even sure if I've been taking steroids really. I know I used to be but the latest drugs may not have actually been steroids. But whatever the case, I am off drugs completely. Yep, my dealer told me we could try to go off the drugs for a while and see what happens. No rehab. No hospitals. No pretending to be Lindsay Lohan and say I'm going off but secretly I'm still using. Nope, I'm stopping cold turkey.

So far I'm feeling pretty good. I'm not sure exactly how I should feel. The doctor always asked me if I was feeling any side effects to life on roids. I kept saying not really because I didn't really feel any. Except for the roid rage of course. The walls of our house look like swiss cheese from the rages I went on! (just kidding). I'm not really all that aware of what is going on in my body so it is hard for me to really notice if there are side effects. If something unusual happens I usually just assume that it must be somewhat normal. If my wife was in this situation she would know right away and be able to tell the doctor exactly what was different when she was taking drugs. But not me. I just go through life taking it all in stride...that's how I roll.

The ironic part of the latest drugs I was taking (but now am not) is that it was an immune suppresent. Apparently that means I should be very careful not to be around sick people, etc. because I am easily prone to being sick. The funny part is that I don't think I've been sick at all. I actually felt that maybe I was able to fight off being sick easier than before. Granted I no longer have an appendix or spleen to help me out, but even without those organs I've been doing great. So if I start to get sick soon I think I'm going back on the drugs because secretly those pills are like a fountain of youth for me!

But seriously, it is good to be off the drugs now and my dealer said we will monitor my situation to see how it is going. I hope it goes well because a drug free life would be great!

P.S. For those new to this blog the "drugs" are prescription medicine and I'm not really a drug user. Read previous entries from other years to understand.

Three Stacks of High Society

This past Monday I had a chance to hang out with the high rollers, the big wigs, the movers and shakers...the high class if you will. Yes, they are the people who own BMW's. Now I'm a dreamer and I love to dream big, but I have never dreamed of owning a BMW. That was a dream that was just a little too far out for me. And after hanging out at this private, invitation only event for BMW owners and potential owners I have realized that that dream is still far beyond my reach.

The company I work for has been working with BMW Canada to put on events at local dealerships across the country to promote their three stacks of high society as I will call them...although you will need a lot more than that if you want to drive one of these off the lot! In Saskatchewan the only one held was in Regina so I trekked down there to get it all set up and ensure the entire event was a success. It was great to be a part of it and it was an amazing event as we held it on the stage at the Conexus Arts Centre. There were a lot of people there and they even had a draw for a prize to drive a BMW for 6 months with license and registration paid...all you have to do is pay for the gas! An amazing prize that's for sure. That combined with the amazing amount of food made for a great event.

Here are some photos of the event and also a little video clip of what the set up looks like...the lighting was a blue ambiance with a touch of white so it was bad lighting for pictures, but hopefully you get the drift. The pictures are mostly of cars as I tried to avoid posting pictures of people if I don't know them...obviously I made a few exceptions.

Team Photo

Just came back from Halifax where our company put on the Canadian Sponsorship Forum. It was a great event and a lot of fun! I'll blog more about it later, but for now here's a team photo of the people I work with. Can you find me?