Alright enough with the
procrastination- I am finally writing another blog! Dayna P and
Catherine W both blogged this week so the pressure was on to put one
together. Lot's to update on since my last post in October...but
pretty much all good news!
Ok so life in general has been pretty darn good. Got to spend lots of time with my friends and family over the holidays, which included an awesome trip to Seattle with Scott and a fun-filled getaway to Las Vegas with my friend Lisa for my bday:) I started volunteering at VOKRA (Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue) once a week. I love it! Every Friday morning I go in to the Operations Center and help take care of the kitties- feeding, cleaning and cuddling! I even started fostering a kitty- little girl Feeona:) I love her to bits, but she will be adopted soon and its gonna be tough- we sure will miss her!
Lets get to the running stuff- Last October I was still dealing with
the PF and the peroneal tendonitis. Progress with my PF had come to
a standstill and I wasn't seeing any improvement- it actually felt
like it was getting worse again. That, coupled with the pain from
the tendonitis made each run pretty un-enjoyable. I remember one
particular day going out for a Sunday long run with Rachel C,
Catherine, and Dayna, and cringing the whole time because the pain
was so bad. I tried to put on a happy face but as soon as I got home
I started crying, just completely frustrated with this injury. It
just wasn't going away! And I was trying everything!!! In early
November I went in to see Dr. Bovard again and asked him if I could
get a cortisone injection. He said not yet, and to just be patient
as sometimes the prolotherapy can take a few months to really work.
I was done being patient with PF. I left his office feeling sad,
hopeless and completely defeated.
However, over the month of November my
heel started to feel better and I was able to get through most work
outs and runs with decreased pain. Some days were still pretty shitty,
but for the most part, the PF (and tendonitis) seemed to actually be getting
better! I couldn't believe it seemed to really be getting better. I was finally feeling hopeful again and enjoying running. I decided to give National XC Champs a go about 2 weeks
before race day. I knew it was gonna be tough, but I like a
challenge:) I certainly surprised myself (and everyone else it
seems. Kelly Weibe- “how the hell did you finish 3rd?!”)
with a strong race and a 3rd place finish. I was
extremely happy, as my goal was just to get in the top 6 to make the
Canadian National team going to World Champs in March. I think all
these months running with the pain in my heel has made me a tough lil
cookie! And Cross Country running is all about being tough:).
The day after XC Champs I fully
expected my heel to be shit and be limping around. But it was the
opposite! It felt great! I was very happy to know that my heel was
able to take racing again! Yay! Big step in the healthy direction!
December was spent just putting in
mileage. I was finally able to get in consistent back to back weeks
of training. My heel was co-operating (the tendonitis was still
being a bitch sometimes, but it was tolerable). As the New Year came
around workouts were going well, I lost a bit of weight and I was
feeling fit and strong. Hooray! It was time to start racing again
and I was excited!
Jan 11th I raced an 8km in
Victoria at the PIH Pioneer 8k. I was finally feeling like myself
again, and the race felt awesome. 26:37 - 2nd best 8k
I’ve ever run and I felt like I had lots more in the tank. It was
a great start to 2015. Plus my heel held up fairly well- so that was a bonus!
I recovered well from the race and was
on the track 2 nights later doing 1000m repeats with Dylan Wykes as
my pace bunny. (Perks of being a member of BCEP- training with some
of the best runners in Canada!) He was doing 10X1k with 200m jog, I
was doing every second with him, which meant almost 5 min rest for
me. (I was doing 5) Basically a full recovery meant I got to run fast. And I finally got
to wear flats! First time doing a full WO in flats since March- I
was very excited about this! Dylan is a freakin machine.
3:01-3:03s and he was hammering them off in his trainers like it was
nothing. I hung on to the back of him for as long as I could, and
when he could hear me fall off, he would yell at me (in a nice way!),
to stay strong! 3:05, 3:04, 3:03, 3:02, 3:03- I was delighted with
that:), and it was by far my best WO since last March. (hold up- had a better one tonight! 8X1k with 2:30 rest- 3:15, 3:08, 3:08, 3:06, 3:05, 3:05, 3:04, 3:04- feels so good to be rolling again! ok sorry back to that other WO- ) It was a
great confidence booster, and a good test for my heel. It held up
well! Good job lil heel- I don't hate you anymore! So with this WO
in the books, I headed to Arizona a few days later to race the Rock N
Roll half marathon on Jan. 18th.
Arizona was awesome- ran me a fresh new
PB- 1:12:23! What a pleasant surprise:) I knew I was decently fit
going in, and was hoping to run about 1:13-1:14. The conditions were
ideal (about 10C during the race, no wind, and a pretty flat course).
US Olympian Amy Hastings was racing- I had heard that she was going
to be aiming to run her marathon pace- about 1:13-1:13:30. This was
perfect for me- so the plan was just to run with her for as long as I
could and hope I was fit enough to run that pace. The race started
and I immediately tucked in behind Amy. The first mile felt
fast....and it was – 5:19. I tried to settle in, but the second
mile felt fast too- it was 5:21ish. I was thinking, oh god this is
going to end very badly for me- I cannot run this pace the whole
time!!! Finally after 5k (16:35),the pace eased up a bit, and I was
able to get into a comfortable rhythm. We split through 10km in
33:29. At this point I had 2 thoughts- 1. Wow this is fast! I'm
going to run a big PB today- just keep pushing!! 2. Wow this is too
fast- I am doing to crash and burn around 17k and its not gonna be
pretty. I tried to keep thought number 2 out of my head....Stay
positive Tash! You can do this!
Just after half way I decided to take
my Gel. I was very out of practice at taking a Gel during a
race.....I could not get the damn thing open. Then I finally did,
got it all over my hands. Great- sticky hands for the rest of the
race. Attempting to swallow the gel was not very successful either.
Choked a bit. Couldn't swallow, couldn't breath! Finally got it
down, and realized I had totally dropped off the pace. Amy was at
least 5 seconds ahead of me now. I tried to drink water out those little paper cups- which I suck at doing and got more in my eyes and hair then in my mouth. The next 2 km I lost focus and was
suffering a bit....I thought it was the beginning of the end. Amy
was now about 50 meters ahead of me. Around 14km we started the
climb up a pretty significant hill (about 1k in length). I got a
second wind and powered up the hill, starting to close the gap on
Amy. At this point I had stopped looking at my watch so I have no
idea what any of my mile splits were. We got to the top of the hill
and turned around and went right back down. Amy is good at downhills
it seems. She started dropping me again, even though I felt like I
was rolling along pretty well. I started running with a guy and we
worked together over the last 5km. Was great having someone there
for that last few kms to help push me! I was waiting to hit the
wall, but it just didn't happen and I had a strong last few miles-
much to my surprise:) I was super happy at the finish line, and it
was especially great having my aunt and uncle there to share the
moment with me.
This was a big break through for me.
It was a really tough freakin year for me in 2014. Even before I got
the PF in march, I hadn't felt good running since the marathon in the
fall of 2013. I wondered if I would ever be back running fast again.
Was I done with competitive running??? I was losing my
faith....Thankfully- I'm finally feeling like myself again- its such
a relief! (thank-you to all you amazing ppl in my life who supported me and encouraged me last year- im so fortunate to have the most awesome ppl by my side.) I still haven't beaten the PF 100% so I am still going to proceed cautiously- it's time to be smart and do everything in my power to
stay healthy. If I can stay healthy and get in some consistent
training, I think that 2015 is going to be a pretty awesome year! Jess O'Connell said something along the lines of- “Who ever stays the healthiest
the longest, will run the fastest!” I totally agree!
I have a packed schedule of awesome races this spring, and I'm very excited about it! I missed racing so much last year. I don't want to do too many races too soon, so I'm not racing too much this winter- I'm in the middle of a 6 week training block- I won't race until PAN-AM XC Champs in Columbia on Feb.22. After that things start to pick up a bit with the NYC half marathon on March 15th, and 2 weeks later the World XC Champs on March 28th. The rest of the season will be a mix of road racing and track races- its gonna be fun!
Ok picture time!
Sweet little Feeona:)
Mini-getaway to Seattle with my man:)
Ready for a night out in Vegas!
Spent a lot of time in the gym at Innovative Fitness last year. I've never felt stronger or more efficient while I'm running. Strength training is a huge part of my training.
What an amazing group of friends and family I have! Thank-you for coming out to cheer me on at Canadian XC Champs. Meant so much to me:)
Canadian XC Champs - wearing my lucky cat gloves:)
We've had some amazing weather this winter- beauty run along the seawall this December.
On route to my new PB at the AZ rock n roll half marathon!
