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TEAM MEMBER ~ Stephanie Mills

GOAL RACES

2009 SCHEDULE

April 19 St. Albert 10 Miler
May 2 Great Human Race (or Vancouver 1/2 Marathon)
May 17 Woody's 1/2 Marathon
May 31 Little Big Run 10K
June 6 Broadway Mile
June 13 Canadian Mountain Running Championships
June 20 K100
Aug 15 Edmonton 10K or 1/2 marathon
Sept 5 Dino Dash 10K
Sept 13 Stony Plain 10K
Sept 26 Melissa's 10K
Oct 11 Okanagan or Victoria Marathon
Oct 18 Fall Classic
Stewart Cup
National Cross Country Championships

GOALS:

PB in 1/2 Marathon (goal sub 1:25)
PB in Marathon (goal sub 3hrs)

Toronto Marathon Update

Stephanie post marathon.

It’s been a while! Well, I am happy to say, on Sunday I finished my first marathon - the 2008 Toronto Marathon.

Training

Training has been imperfect for me. I’ve been working on an Industrial construction site North of Fort McMurray. For me the work is extremely rewarding but the location has definite drawbacks. It seems as though it is basically selling your soul to the devil as an athlete. However, I have done my best to get around that thought and have been lucky to find a few “kindred spirits.” I found a couple of guys who are running close to my pace. Over the last few months we would meet to do interval work on a gravel airport road that is approx. 8km long with no traffic. One of the fellows I was running with was training for the Ironman Canada so somehow that softly legitimized the position I found myself in.

The Race Itself

I felt great the first 15km, which is really what I was hoping for. It also helped that my friend I had toured the first part of the course and I knew it had a nice downhill grade. At around km 18 I started to feel fatigued, and some panic-loaded questions came into my head:
- I recognized that I was feeling fatigued, had been running for over 1 hr and I’m not even half way… This run is a really long distance, was I going to finish?
- I started to feel my IT bands tighten, and my quads getting heavy, and wondered, at this rate were my legs going to lock up in the next 20 km as I enter uncharted racing territory?
Kilometers 26-38 were my painful kilometers. Thoughts of racing were fleeting out of my head and in came the thoughts of getting to the finish line. I played mental games with myself, thinking only of getting to the next kilometer and pushing through my weighted legs that were hindering my stride.
The end of the race was steady uphill and it was such a relief to see the kilometer 40 sign.
Overall, it was a gorgeous course, I couldn’t have asked for better weather (5-12 degrees), and I finished the race 5th woman with 3:06.57. I feel that 42.2 kilometers is now a conquerable distance and I know I could take a good chunk of time out of my first clocking after I apply some lessons learned from this experience to my training.

After the Race

What I definitely was NOT prepared for, was the pain I would feel in my quads in the days following the marathon. I basically feel like a newborn animal that has no control over its legs. Simple moves like getting out of a car, walking up or down stairs, are suddenly a very painful processes! Quite amazing!
It has left me asking the question, how can a human go from running 42 km straight over the course of 3 hours and then be left immediately afterwards disabled for 3 days?

My Domincan Escape

Training is going OK. I have realized however, that I was never blessed with the compulsive runner gene as some days it is an effort to get out the door. I did invest in a new MP3 player, and I've found lately that live Coldplay usually helps to get me into the first 20 minutes of the run.

Last week I took a necessary vacation from winter with one of my former Vikes teammates, Larissa, to a resort in Sosua, Dominican Republic. It was awesome. After my NWT treadmill running days it was so great to be back outside running in the sun.

During our trip, we managed to incorporate a run first thing in the morning to a) catch the coolest part of the day b) justify the remainder of the day relaxing in the sun. We found a few decent routes around our resort that allowed us to explore the area. Most often a run would involve dodging a horse on the road, stray dogs or vocal men asking if we needed a taxi.

Here is a breakdown of my mornings while on vacation:

7:00 - run
8:30 - jump in pool or swim in ocean (instant therapy for post-run legs)
9:00 - breakfast with fresh fruit and guava juice
10:00 - post-breakfast coffee talk

Where I Came From and How I Landed on a Treadmill in Norman Wells, NWT

Hello! It is a great honor to be part of the Fast Trax/asics Marathon Project and a big thank you to Jack for considering me. Honestly, I’ve never done a marathon so this project is exciting and a little daunting for me as I prepare to venture into unchartered mileage.I plan on documenting my training on my website page for two reasons, 1) to share with fellow Fast Trax runners some of my thoughts on running and 2) to keep me honest, as I train for my first marathon.

I thought I would provide some background on myself. Years ago, while at the University of Victoria, I trained with coach Brent Fougner and a quality group of runners, and I developed into a competitive middle distance runner. Between 1999-2004, I made 10 Canadian National teams for Cross Country and Track (5000m), traveled around the world, set some personal best times and met some amazing athletes.Now, post-university, the runner in me has evolved and modified to fit into my new lifestyle. Since university, I have discovered other passions, including my career in the field of Safety.

I always maintained a baseline fitness level since my competitive period, but it was only since moving to Edmonton last Spring that I began to refocus. I joined the Edmonton Thunder track club, and with the guidance of coach Glen Playfair and the support of incredible teammates Edyta Sieminska, Krissy Dooling and Chantell Widney, we hammered out some tough (and sometimes humbling) workouts in the River Valley, and I started to get the fire of competition back again

.In November, our team travelled to the National Cross Country Championships in Guelph, Ontario. With the assistance of Ethiopian-born Edmontonian superstar Aster Dimessise and 2007 Pan Games 5000m Gold Medalist Megan Metcalfe, we won the 2007 National Cross Country Women's Team Title. Aahh, the fire was back. It's always great to be on a winning team.

Now fast forward to January when Edmonton Thunder entered indoor track season. As my former UVic teammates and coach will attest, indoor track has NEVER been my favorite season. When I run on an indoor track I feel like a wheezing hamster spinning on a wheel in a cage known as the Butterdome. So, since January and until now, I have been running more for fun on my own and less motivated by goals.

January also brought a timely work-related challenge. I was asked to temporarily cover for an ill coworker at one of Ledcor’s remote field sites in Norman Wells, NWT. Since I have always found fieldwork to be rewarding, I was quick to make the decision to give up an indoor track season, and made the trek to Norman Wells.

Norman Wells is located N/W of Yellowknife and has a population of 800. Most visitors to Norman Wells arrive by air, though a winter ice road exists from December to March. While in Norman Wells (a.k.a.”The Wells”), I stay in a lodge where there is a cook who prepares awesome food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. From an athlete's perspective, this is a very nice perk as it allows me to simplify my life while I am here and only focus on work and running. Just 100 meters away from the lodge is a gym with two of the sturdiest, industrial treadmills I have ever seen (they advertise they can hold up to 600 lbs).

They say running is a sport you can take with you anywhere. I think I may be testing that theory. Currently, I am on my third 2-week shift up in Norman Wells and have seen a new temperature that no one from the west coast can fully comprehend... minus(yes, minus) 68. Yikes! This particular -68 consists of a 35 degree ambient temperature with a 50 km arctic wind-chill from the North. We only saw -68 here once, but -30 has been fairly frequent. Consequently, there has been little outdoor running as -15 is my cutoff temperature to stepping outside in my runners.

One week ago I committed to the Fast Trax/asics Marathon Project and so while I continue to work up in Norman Wells for the next week, I will have a newfound commitment to the treadmill. This morning, with the marathon project in mind, I ran for 1 hr 30mins on the treadmill. This morning's run is the beginning for many longer runs to come; the biggest focus of my marathon training is going to be increasing my mileage while staying injury-free. I actually got into a zone for a good second half of the run and really started to enjoy the treadmill. Until now, I have had little treadmill experience, but I am now noticing some unique facets to treadmill running. This morning, I was running facing a window where I could see my reflection, and actually ran looking into my own eyes. I could work on relaxing my shoulders and focus on my stride cadence, something I can forget about when I run outside. Also, I enjoyed being able to easily alter the pace, analyze the metrics (pace, distance, calories burned), have mid-run sips of water and read my gossip magazines.

Although I had a positive treadmill experience this morning, I was excited to check the weather website for Norman Wells and see that we should be hitting some single digit temperatures up here within the week.

Simple pleasures...