245 10 $aFree books!

520   The beauty of being a librarian is... well, I am surrounded by books. Books, and more books. While some don't find this very exciting at all, for me, it's like, the coolest reason to get up in the morning - I *get* to go to work and I get to see, feel, smell ... surround myself with new books of all sorts.

Last week a group of publishers' representatives came into our library to give our library staff  a "Book Talk" - basically they did presentations and talks about their favourite new books coming out. They always bring a whole truck load of books for us to help ourselves to; and like kids in a candy store we flock to the pile and go crazy ....

I came across this one -and of course, seeing the cover made me leap across the table to grab it. "Finding Ultra" by Rich Roll. I will admit - I've never heard of it. But flipping through, it reminds me of the popular "Eat and Run" by Scott Jurek. Same theme - running ultras, and eating vegan. I'm not vegan, I'm not even a vegetarian, but it's intriguing when I read about it, and it really makes me rethink my diet and how I fuel day to day. I eat pretty clean, or at least I try... it's always a work in progress. But eliminating meat and animal products from my diet seems so... daunting. In fact, I consider it a staple, my protein source.

Readers,  has anyone read this book or Scott Jurek's "Eat and run"? What do you think? And are you driven to veganism after reading these, like me?

650 0 $aMarathon running$xTraining.
650 0 $aAthletes$xNutrition.
650 0 $aVegan cooking.

245 10 $aDown time

520    It's the first time in many months I've deliberately taken some time OFF. The past few months, having run 3 Half Marathons and a 25k trail race, I've done nothing but run, hit the gym to do weights, or yoga. The occasional day off, sure, those are important -- but I have deliberately forced myself to put my feet up for a week... and you know what, it's HARD.

Partly because I feel *guilty* that I should be moving. Guilt? So strange that I feel that, but it's like I owe it to myself to constantly move/exercise. I don't view rest as a legitimate way for my body to do what it needs to do to get stronger. Sure, I know it in my head. But putting it into practice is very difficult.

I think it's especially hard for us women who have been driven by weight-loss at any point in our lives. The feeling is, if we don't move, *deliberately*, in terms of real "exercise", we somehow become lazy, inert, good for nothings ... It goes along with the "diet mentality", I think - one false move with junk food and we beat ourselves up forever.

But I know, I *know* in theory that rest is important. I'm also partaking in plenty of food and even wine, just because, it's downtime and I can. I am giving myself permission to indulge, and be ok with it.

So the plan is, perhaps some yoga and some walking, or whatever else comes my way serendipitously - but I have had to sit on my hands and watch my daughter in her YMCA programs instead of hitting the gym and I am telling  myself to be ok with that. I am scouting around and looking for training plans and will begin again next week. Focus - more weights, more yoga, until the 30k training cycle begins!

650 0  $aLeisure.
650 0  $aAthletes$xPhysiology.

245 10 $aHamilton Road2Hope Half Marathon :$bNovember 4th, 2012

520   Yes yes yes. This was my race! This was it! My third and bestest Half Marathon, with no bonking, no wanting to puke, no wanting to cry when presented with a challenge of any sort.

What a great weekend, I left work on Saturday to meet up with my girlfriend who lives outside of Hamilton, where I was crashing for the night. We had a great dinner, I even enjoyed a beer! Generally I won't drink the night before a race - in fact, I won't drink the week before a race; I'm an absolute stickler over being hydrated well. However, this was one of those moments where I felt like throwing caution to the wind, and I weighed "hydration" with "carb loading" and determined that beer was probably a good bet for carb consumption. And so, I had a beer.

Luckily my friend is a busy gal and was tired enough to want to hit the hay early - so I got a good enough rest for the big race. I did some impromptu yoga before going to bed, some stretches and hip openers. Felt good and ready to run.

Was up early, and I started out with the same routine I followed for my 25k trail race a few weeks ago: made sure I ate enough, and hydrated well. My friend drove me down to the start and I was just shocked to see all the people! THOUSANDS. This felt bigger than Scotiabank last year, I had no idea how many runners would be there. The vibe was just great - a bit of a late start but it gave me time to go to the bathroom! Yay.

Was very conservative for the first 5k, I made *sure* I went at what felt like a snail's pace. At 3k I was getting warm and wanted to remove my top layer - I was not really happy because I didn't think I'd have to remove layers considering how cold it was, (+2 C, probably colder with the windchill), and I liked my shirt; I didn't want to just toss it! So who appears at the 3k mark just as I was mulling this over? My friend! Cheering me on! So I was able to stop and she was able to take my shirt and THEN she handed me the granola bar I had left in the car and had wanted to eat before race start. What an angel. I hung onto that granola bar and nibbled on it between 3 and 6k.

There were so many water stops! I decided early on I would not stop for them, the way I did for my last Half. My rule was - gauge how my legs felt, and stop accordingly. I did not stop at ONE. I had my own water with me and hydrated according to how I was feeling. This was the way to go for me, and I think I'll use this method again. I popped ju-jubes along the way as well, one or two every 3k or so. Again, I think this worked for my fuel needs.

Starting at 6k there was this awesome stretch for about 5 or 6k that was a gradual slope down toward the lake, along the highway. I made some awesome time here - pulling out splits under 6 min/km - and they felt free and easy and good! I pulled back a bit at around 12km, I was worried I could not hold that pace forever. By then we hit some trails, and were going up a few slopes, and I felt all badass because I had just done Vulture Bait and you know, this was nothin' compared to that. :) Kept it under 6:15 the whole way, my goal HM pace being 6:10. I was able to maintain that for the duration, until I got to 18 where I ramped it up. THIS was where I hit the wall at the last Half, this was where I had no gas left. Lo and behold, I had PLENTY left today, when I hit this point, and I silently rejoiced when I hit that mark, knowing I was going to be just fine and I could ramp it up with no troubles. 5:59, 6:06, then 5:57 and 5:41 for the home stretch. THIS felt incredible, knowing that I came away with a second half that was fast for me, rather than the feeling like a turtle!

Came in with chip time of 2:09:28 - a personal best.

What a great time, the runners were kind, supportive, encouraging - and so many great spectators too. I won't remark on the one or two snooty runners I came across that angered me enough to want to trip them -- let's just say that I don't care much for those who feel entitled, as if this race was theirs and theirs alone. So instead of tripping them, I secretly gave them the finger, which was all it took for me to feel a wee bit of personal justice had been done.

My friend, well. What can I say, I love her to bits! She showed up like "Where's Waldo" all along the race route, screaming my name and cheering me on. She cowboy-ed her way to a parking spot on the freeway and ran in time to see me across the finish line, with my jacket, and food, in hand. It is such a blessing to have good friends.

This was a fantastic race. I will put Road2Hope on my agenda for next year, for sure. The vibe, the excitement, the course, the people -- all such a great combination that made for a fabulous weekend!

650 0 $aRunning races$zHamilton (Ont.)$vAnecdotes.