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The signs of spring are everywhere: bird song, budding trees, soggy grass, political posturing on Parliament Hill and packs of runners out on Ottawa streets, regaining their feel for dry pavement and retuning training regimens for race season. With only two months to go until Ottawa Race Weekend 2010, it’s an exciting time for us and for all the distance athletes preparing for events in the capital! You may have noticed our new Training Jukebox section last month (see below), which features music playlists (e.g., from iTunes) that our readers listen to during training to keep them working hard. A big thanks to everyone who sent in a playlist last month. Given the terrific response we’ve had thus far, we’ve decided to hold a Great Run Ottawa Playlist contest, which will provide opportunities to win prizes while finding about great tunes to soundtrack your runs! Stay tuned for more details next month. All Race Weekend events are filling up fast (Half-marathon is now sold out!) and you don’t want to be left on the sidelines. So if you haven’t already, go ahead and secure your place on the start line this May by registering for any Ottawa Race Weekend events you plan on running, walking or wheeling. To register for all Ottawa Race Weekend 2010 events, click here. When you register for Ottawa Race Weekend events, you’re eligible to receive a free year-long subscription to iRun magazine, which provides a uniquely Canadian perspective on the sport of running. To sign up for your free subscription, click here. Ottawa Race Weekend technical shirts printed with the race logo and your race number are back again this year! These stylish, functional shirts, which are made of a state-of-the-art moisture-wicking fabric, can be worn instead of the customary paper bib. Plus, you can customize them with a name (e.g., your name or a team name) and/or a personal message. All of which make them great race souvenirs. And after race weekend, you can wear them during training sessions to remind you of last year’s accomplishment or to push you towards a new PB for next year! Go to www.WearYourNumber.com for more info or to place your order today. Each year, we rely on the support of thousands of dedicated volunteers to help staff one of the most exciting events in this city – the Ottawa Race Weekend. Volunteers provide integral support throughout race weekend at many exciting areas of the event, including registration and race-kit pickup, start and finish line support, water stations, the recovery area and information booths. If you have time and are looking to meet great people and participate in an exciting event, come on out and volunteer with us! For more information, or to register as an Ottawa Race Weekend volunteer, click here. Porter Airlines is offering the Ottawa Race Weekend attendees a 12% discount on all fare classes. Porter offers, free in-flight snacks and beverages. The discounted fares are available from May 27 to June 1, 2010. Please book online at www.flyporter.com or call 1- 888-619-8622 using the promo code ORW12. Porter Airlines offre aux participants au Courez Ottawa un rabais de 12 % applicable à toutes les catégories de tarif. Nous vous offrons gratuitement en vol collations et boissons. Les tarifs réduits sont offerts du 27 mai au 1 juin 2010. Faites vos réservations en ligne à www.flyporter.com, ou par téléphone en composant le 1-888-619-8622, et utilisez le code de promotion ORW12.
CHUM Radio Majic 100, 580 CFRA, 93.9 BOB FM and TEAM 1200 along with /A Morning are proud to be the presenting media sponsors of the Marathon weekend. In the days and weeks to come we look forward to keeping you informed as the city gets ready for one of the most exciting and active weekends of the year. Also if you've haven't heard, TEAM 1200 features a radio show dedicated to running. It's called iRun The Running Show and it's hosted by Mark Sutcliffe, Saturdays from noon-1pm. So if you’re training for Ottawa Race Weekend, be sure to listen in for training tips, inspirational stories and all sorts of advice from experts covering everything from nutrition to the latest gear and more. The show is also available via podcast on www.team1200.com. We're looking forward to seeing everyone out May 29-30! Sole Responsibility is once again collecting gently used running shoes to send to Western Ethiopia for use by refugees and displaced people from Southern Sudan. Shoes will be collected during Ottawa Race Weekend at the Pfizer Health & Fitness Expo from Thursday, May 27th to Saturday, May 29th. For each pair of shoes donated, the organization is asking for a donation of two dollars to offset shipping costs. Last year, participants in the MDS Nordion Ottawa Hospital Challenge raised more than $900,700 for The Ottawa Hospital, an all-time record. This year, we need your support to reach the million-dollar mark! Do your part and fundraise for The Ottawa Hospital as part of Ottawa Race Weekend. You can support any area of The Ottawa Hospital that is important to you. Sign up to fundraise today and make a difference in your community. Don’t forget: Raise $250 and run for free! Organized by the Run Ottawa Club, runners of all ages and abilities are welcome to take part in the Beaver Chase Running Series, which kicks off on May 11. The Beaver Chase Running Series features 1-mile or 4-mile courses, which meander through the Monk Conservation Area in Kanata Lakes and Morgan’s Grant. And yes, runners have been known to spot (and in rare cases have even been pursued by) the resident beavers – hence the name of this series. For more info on the Run Ottawa Club and future running events, click here.
RSS – You can now subscribe to an RSS feed for this newsletter, which automatically informs you whenever newsletter content is updated on the Run Ottawa web site (www.runottawa.com). To subscribe to The Pulse RSS feed, or to learn more, click here. Twitter – You can read the latest updates from the Run Ottawa camp on Twitter by following @ottawamarathon. Facebook – You can now get Ottawa Race Weekend news and info via Facebook. To join our Facebook group, click here. Youtube – You can also check out the latest Ottawa Race Weekend videos on our Youtube channel. To view the Ottawa Race Weekend channel, click here. Tapering is the fine art of rest. The more you rest the final week the better you will run on race day. Do all runs relaxed and easy. These runs are done to loosen up your legs with a couple of easy accelerations to remind you of how it feels to run fast. Use the anxiety of race day positively. You have passed your test during the miles of training; race day is graduation day. Positive self- talk works. If your confidence or determination starts to flag during the race, here are a few things you can say to yourself: I am strong, I am fit, I can do it… I see myself crossing the finish line with a smile. You are a marathon runner! You know that any time you set a goal, train, work towards that goal and dream of it, you will eventually achieve it. You know that the confidence you now have will help in accomplishing any challenge you set for yourself. Listen to your body and do what is right for you, your lifestyle and your aspirations. You can do it! Click here to read John’s other tips. We’re pleased to be able to include another runner’s funny and informative training blog leading up to this year’s Ottawa Race Weekend. By her own admission Rebecca Gardiner is a very average runner, committed to proving you don’t have to be serious to go seriously fast - maybe. Will she ever make it out of the back of the pack? This blog-for-the-everyman is packed with death-defying feats of endurance, record-breaking attempts -- and occasionally some actual running. Read on as Rebecca trains to beat her PB by almost half an hour to finish the Ottawa marathon in under 4:20. Half Way, March 22, 2010 Day 64 of 130 So I may never be Reid or Crazy-Haruki, and I may never weigh 130lbs, but in the world of Becky Gardiner - I’m kicking some serious ass. It’s been just over two-months since I started fervently training for the Ottawa marathon and tomorrow, I’ll be officially half way done. Today, I’m living in a different body. Last week I repeated a fitness test that I first undertook in January. The results? In just two-months I’ve lost 10lbs, my body fat percentage has gone from 31% to 28% (finally in the ‘normal’ range!) 6.5cm off my hips, 5.5 cm off my thighs, 8cm off my waist and 5cm off both my shoulders and chest - RIP boobs, you’ll always have a special place in my heart. Speaking of heart, mine is probably the most well-tuned muscle in my body. In just over 8 weeks my resting heart rate has dropped from 60 bpm to 51. Crazy stuff no? Dr. Oz is right, cardio works. To boot, I’m a heck of a lot stronger and faster. On January 15, with a 1% incline, I ran 1.5 miles on a treadmill in 13:18. Last week I did it in 11:48. In my January 26th blog I was psyched to run 10K in just under an hour. Today, I ran it in 52:29. Blam! But enough with the bragging - my point is while I may never compete with the big boys, I’m really wiping the floor with my former self. As each day passes I am becoming more and more Kenyan… at least in my head. By the time I cross the line in Ottawa, I’ll be able to say “Boo-yah!’ in Swahili. If you like Rebecca’s blog, drop her a line and she’ll add you to her mailing list to let you know when she updates the site. Motivation is a complex psychological phenomenon that has been the subject of a wealth of scientific research over the years. We now know a great deal about what makes us tick and how we can use that information to improve performance and facilitate specific life outcomes. But unfortunately, we’ve also learned that there is no fail-proof recipe or set of instructions that can be applied across all circumstances to elevate or sustain individual motivation. At best we can point ourselves in the right direction and pay attention to what motivational strategies work (or don’t work) for us in any given situation. As distance athletes, we know that it can be hard to maintain focus and drive during our training programs. Indeed, motivation levels are likely to fluctuate based on a variety of factors, including physical fatigue, social demands, emotional stress, or even something as simple as the weather (definitely a lot harder to crawl out of bed and hit the streets when it’s pouring rain and zero degrees outside compared to when it’s balmy and the sun is shining!). So what can we do to minimize the influence of these sorts of factors on a day-to-day basis? How can we stay motivated in order to achieve our best on race day? This section features some basic information, strategies and conditions for maintaining motivation. Set appropriate goals – an appropriate goal is one that is a) specific and b) challenging enough to keep you engaged. What you’re aiming for is what psychologists of motivation call an ‘optimal challenge’, which requires all of your skill and concentration to achieve. It may sound obvious, but you should set your goals based on your current ability and where you want to go (i.e., don’t compare yourself to others or worry too much about external standards; optimal challenges are all about you!). See Rebecca’s fantastic blog entry above for an example of how good it feels to define and then master optimal challenges and how this can sustain or boost motivation. Don’t be too hard on yourself – Understand that in tackling optimal challenges, you are as likely to fail as you are to succeed. Risking and tolerating failure is essential part of learning. Indeed, we may learn more from failure than we do from success. This is part of the incremental process of developing more skill and competence in the sport of distance running. And you may need to reconceptualize failure in order to optimize motivation. Seek positive feedback – Learning from failure is important, but so is being encouraged and rewarded for our accomplishments (which does not necessarily mean success). Surround yourself with supportive people as much as possible. Positive feedback contributes to your sense of competence and makes you feel better about yourself and your training progress, which in turn, makes you want to get out there and train more! Train with others – Having other people to run with makes training more fun and when necessary, gives us an additional reason (commitment to another person) to get out there and perform. As mentioned above, training with others also provides opportunities to give and receive positive feedback and guidance (e.g., exchanging tips), which acts as a kind of motivational fuel. If you don’t already have friends who enjoy running, joining a running club is an excellent way to meet other runners so you can harness the power of community. For example, the Run Ottawa Club organizes group training sessions that runners of all abilities are welcome to join. For more info on the Run Ottawa Club, click here. Ease up when necessary – Overtraining will leave you physically and emotionally drained, with little drive (or ability) to stay on top of your training program. In this case, take a break and adjust your training program/goals accordingly! A couple of days off should renew your desire to run and give your body a chance to recuperate. Running is about rhythm: measured breathing, timed heartbeats, purposeful pumping of arms and legs to carry you forward on your journey. When you run, there’s music in you (to borrow a phrase from Whitney Houston). These days, there’s also often music in your ears, courtesy of ultra-light and near microscopic mp3 players. So we thought it might be fun to explore and share the different songs that soundtrack our training sessions: what music motivates us, grounds us, allows us to kick it up a notch when we didn’t think we had any gas left in the tank. For example, do you transform the funk of the JBs into PBs? Do you put on some Daft Punk to help you go harder, better, faster, stronger? Does every running playlist feature at least one AC/DC song? We’re curious. If you have a playlist that you think might inspire your fellow distance athletes to train harder, send it to media@runottawa.com. And stay tuned for details about our upcoming Training Jukebox competition! Europe – The final countdown Eating for Peak Performance – Are You Getting Enough Vitamin D? Are you physically and mentally prepared for your sport but nutritionally challenged? If so, you need to take a serious look at your nutrition and put some structure into your eating. The most successful endurance athletes pay attention to nutritional details, including: Nutrition periodization is meant to provide your body with the needed amounts of nutrients and fluids at the right times throughout the different cycles of your training program. You will have slightly different nutrient needs based on matching the nutrient needs of each cycle. For instance, weight management strategies and calorie control will likely be needed in the transition between the end of one competitive cycle and the preparation of a new competitive cycle (e.g. the end of the ski season and the beginning of your cycling season). Carbohydrate loading would be appropriate in the competitive cycle, and specific guidance with respect to macronutrient quantity (e.g. protein needs), timing (recovery nutrition) and hydration would be essential in the preparation and competitive cycles for all endurance athletes, regardless of competitive distance. The overall goal is that of optimizing your body’s ability to recover and rebuild. It also helps ensure that you peak for a certain competition or series of competitions. The result: better performance in your races and less risk of injury. Here are some nutrition principles that you can apply year round: About Beth Mansfield and Peak Performance Beth Mansfield is a Registered Dietitian, Sport Nutrition & Exercise Specialist with Peak Performance, a sport nutrition and corporate wellness consulting company in Ottawa. Beth educates Canadian athletes of all levels, including Olympians, national and provincial team athletes, as well as University, masters and recreational athletes on sport nutrition for health and performance. Beth is a popular corporate wellness speaker throughout Canada and also maintains a therapeutic lifestyle change (TLC) clinic for people with elevated cholesterol at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. She is currently working on her PhD at McGill University focusing on energy balance and body composition in health and disease. You can check out her show on CJOH/CTV the 1st Wednesday of every month with Leanne Cusack on the News at Noon. Email Beth – beth@peakperformance.ca You need food to fuel your body – to help you push further, to run faster, to perform at the highest possible level. But food should be more than just fuel. It should also be a pleasure to prepare and eat. Each month, we share a simple, nutritious recipe to help stoke your energy for the race, or help replenish energy spent during long training miles. Healthy eating does not have to mean bland eating. Just as training runs can be immensely satisfying and, under the right circumstances, even fun, so too can healthy food fill you up with good things while indulging your taste buds’ desire for big flavour. And that is certainly the case with this dish, which combines three flavour-packed primary ingredients: pork tenderloin (lean and rich in protein), fresh fennel and shiitake mushrooms. Add some carbs in the form of delicious ravioli and you have a healthy main that will knock your sport socks off. Enjoy! This month’s recipe is sourced Health.com, which you can visit by clicking here. Ingredients (serves 4) 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 1/2 cups chopped onion 1 3/4 cups chopped fennel bulb 1 1/2 cups shiitake mushroom caps, chopped 2 garlic gloves, minced 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 10 ounces pork tenderloin, cut into 1/2-inch cubes 1/3 cup dry white wine 3/4 cup canned crushed tomatoes 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary 1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano, plus more for garnish 1 (9-ounce) package fresh cheese ravioli 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese Directions Bring a pot of water to a boil; cook ravioli 11 minutes or until al dente. Drain; transfer to a serving dish. Add sauce and three-quarters cheese. Top with remaining cheese and oregano. Nutritional Info: Energy 436cals Protein 29g Fat 15g Fiber 5g RUNNING WITH YOUR FEEDBACK! Over the past few months, we’ve been tweaking our Ottawa Race Weekend Newsletter format and content to offer more inspiring stories, training tips and nutritional info. Now we’d like to hear from you about what’s working, and what you’d like to see covered in future editions of the newsletter. And we’re also interested in hearing your inspiring stories of athleticism and endurance. So don’t be shy! Send your impressions, ideas and stories to media@runottawa.ca. The Pulse - March 2010
RACE NEWS
Register for Ottawa Race Weekend now!
Free subscription to iRun
Fashion forward
Exciting Volunteer Opportunities
Fly Porter to Ottawa for Race Weekend 2010
Introducing Ottawa Race Weekend Media Sponsors!
Africa Still Needs Your Shoes!
For more information please visit our web site at www.SoleResponsibility.orgHelp turn the 2010 Ottawa Hospital Challenge into a million dollar success!
Other Upcoming Events!
These events represent an excellent opportunity to run with friends or family at a pace that suits personal fitness levels. Each run also has support along the route to simulate race conditions, including a water station, marshals and distance markers. Which makes the event on May 11 a great way to ease into race season and get your legs ready for the Ottawa Race Weekend, which takes place a couple of weeks later.Four great ways to stay on top of the latest Run Ottawa news
MOTIVATION
Wisdom in Motion: Tapering
One Runner’s Journey
Ks covered: 437
Ks to go: 665
General mood: happy
Running highlight: 10K in 52:49
Equipment status: Still stinky
Body status: Chafe on wrist… yes, my wrist!
Weight: 144.5Combating Low Motivation During Training
Training Jukebox
This month’s playlist is provided by Sebastien Savoie, a 25-year-old Montrealer who will be running Ottawa’s full marathon for the third time. And we now have an answer to one of our earlier questions: AC/DC does not necessarily appear on every runner’s playlist. Thanks Sebastien, and happy training to you!
HEALTH AND NUTRITION
Eat and Run
