2023 Ottawa Race Weekend

Another Year and getting ready for the penultimate test of will for runners in the Ottawa region to either qualify for Boston or just get out and do an in person racing. It has been one year later that in person racing has returned to Ottawa. 2023 would be no different and there were no caps on entries and of course crowd support was more than present. This year I decided to only do the 10K race, but also be true to myself and be support to the 2K and marathoners for the weekend. But before that I volunteered my time with the Xtra Mile Crew and went to the Race Expo. This year it moved from the Shaw Centre downtown to Lansdowne Place on Bank Street. Run Ottawa provided a shuttle service from City Hall down to Lansdowne. To my surprise we were able to ride on one of the sightseeing double decker buses. Of course I decided to ride on the top level as we waited for others. The expo was definitely brighter and it was deceiving to see how you could accommodate the number of people and vendors in one spot. One of the perks of being on Xtra Mile was that we were supported by Xact Nutrition and of course they sponsored the shirts and our kits for nutrition. Before the fun really begins I was fortunate enough to be invited to the Warm Up party and be included with many people to sample some catered food and chat with other like minded people. Some amazing food was had and a nice way to start race weekend by getting runners pumped up. Saturday races are always hard. Especially if you've done any of the Ottawa race weekend events you know this weekend is always blessed with super hot weather! You train so much in winter like conditions and then bam instant summer. My first event was the 2K supporting the A-linkers. If you don't know what those are then just google the A-linker bike and you'll understand what they look like. It's basically people doing their first race coming up from an injury or major surgery. This is a way for them to get active and support their return to physical activity.

I was happy to walk along side them even if they were on wheels. I had just enough fun with families and their kids doing the 2K as they were looking forward to getting to the finish.

I had chance to cheer on the 5K folks while I was getting ready to line up for the 10K to get ready to do my race.

10K Race

Plans were made and then plans changed. It was another hot race and we (Suzanne, Sammi and I) were going to run together. Well it lasted about maybe 1K and then I lost them. They surged ahead and I stuck to the one gear I knew. Slow and steady. 

It was very warm and I felt pretty good going steady up until I got up the hill and back down towards Queen Elizabeth. I started walking and came across Jesse and her family who saved me a freezie. Thanks Jesse ❤

By that time the heat was getting on and I saw several Xtra Mile teammates helping out other runners. By the time I got to the bridge the heat was quite warm and saw some OCRC folks along the route and I saw Lindsay who screamed in her mom voice and wished me luck. 😆

I took on that energy and just kept moving forward and finished strong.

I waited for Suzanne and Sammi to finish and we managed to get one decent photo of the three of us.

It was a long day of support and running and Mei-Ling and I were done for the day. It was another early start and time to head home and there may have been a burger stop along the way.

Xtra Mile Crew

Sunday was Marathon day (half and full) ML and I got their early and went right to the VIP area and they had some breakfast for us. It was a nice way to start before having to report to my station at the 37K marker.

Before all that we made sure we got to see all the elites start off as well as the "Michelle's".

I was made team lead for the group this year and it was nice to lead a great bunch of like minded runners who were out to support other runners on their journey to completing the marathon.

It was a long day and I saw many familiar faces and were able to keep up with them for a short distance before running with others that were on the struggle bus.

I ran with one woman who only spoke French so that was a challenge but we got by. I managed to run with her most of the way until I handed her over to Annie who I didn't realize she was nursing a sore ankle. In any event she finished. I picked up a few more and I was handed this one woman who was a pacer and she was doing the half as a walk and she was hurting really bad. She did not want to quit, but I had to flag the medics over and by that time she was beyond reason and did not want to quit. The medics finally took her and rushed her over to medical. 

Eventually I walked back towards the Shaw Centre and saw another person walking the half and she was all dressed in black and was definitely struggling. The furthest she ever walked was 10K but jumping from that to walking a half marathon was quite the feat. I didn't see many other behind so I stayed with her and walked her right to the end and made sure she made it. She surprised me by running the last bit on her own. Very impressive.

So many memories for another great Ottawa Race Weekend. Next year is a banner 50th celebration so you'll probably see me doing the same gig as 2023. See you in 2024

The Michelle's

The last freezie! Thanks Jesse <3

Xtra Mile Crew group photo

Post 10K photo

Yes I wore a cape for Xtra Mile Crew

Ablation Anniversary - One Year Ago

Ablationaversary

Exactly one year ago today my heart would be changed moving forward. After my diagnosis in June 2018 of having an arrhythmia issue I chose to have an invasive procedure done called the Ablation!

Most of you know my story by now but if you just stumbled across my blog you may want to read my very 1st post.

This past year has been quite the roller coaster ride of emotions and anxiety but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. The tribe of family & friends that have been there for me I am truly grateful.

As I sport this 14 day Holter where I will post numerous pics of wearing these electrodes aka pasties as it monitors my heart.

As I reflect on the past 12 months I can summarize the following:

3 months - the toughest part of recovery for a cardiac athlete is actually letting your body heal. Having to slow down was extremely hard and I learned that Dr Google is the worst physician 

6 months - learning from the previous 3 months it was nice to get back moving and running as if I was finding my fitness. It was an amazing lead up to race weekend and to represent the Ottawa Marathon as a Team Awesome ambassador and of course supporting other runners as Xtra Mile Crew.

So heart wise mine was quite full meeting team members and helping many friends cross that finish line or just running with them even if it was just a short distance.

9 months - this was the absolute toughest block. I shall dub these the Michelle months. If you’ve followed along my social feeds where I rolled my ankle and suffered the worst sprain ever without breaking a bone. It was traumatic to say the least. BUT heart wise it somewhat helped. Weight wise it did not as I sunk into food as my comfort to cope but couldn’t get out of that funk which lead into the next three months. But one salvation was meeting my cankle buddy that helped bring me some perspective and knowing that I wasn’t alone. She reached out when no one else did. Probably because she had just come off of her own debilitating injury. So it was Cankley meets Michelle IRL (In Real Life).

Year 1 - the only saving grace was accomplishing one goal I had set out which really wasn’t a goal but to have fun but along the way. However recovery wiser I managed in:

1. Doing a furry fun run with my oldest & Shade.
2. Seeing my youngest get her G1 and
3. Completing one final run; one final race & one final way to redeem myself by doing the 1/2 marathon at 9 Run Run.

The last few weeks have been a mix of burnout and just general anxiety. I took a break of almost three weeks of any activity feeling sorry for myself but after talking to my tribe the problem wasn’t me and I had to move on and get over it...so I did. I volunteered to do photos for ArboRace2 (some cool photos if I do say so) and then Santa photos at the Old Fashioned Christmas Fair. Then I went back to the gym and crushed a workout then started heading back with the trail running group. It was those feelings I was missing. Those calls I was making silently weren’t being heard and within me I snapped myself out of the fitness funk I was in. I think just getting back out with people that just get me and understood who I really am and what I needed. So to those that listened me in those chats thank you! You know who you are.

So as I celebrate the one year Ablation Anniversary my wisdom to you all is

1. Stop chasing people! Cherish the tribe that want to talk to & hear you. Those are your people.
2. If you’re in a fitness funk it’s OK. You’ll find your way back. Take a breath! Just read wisdom #1 above. Reach out to those people that know you.

Hopefully at my next update you may see me as a graduate from the Heart Institute ️

Some photos from the last few months that depict the roller coaster ride that goes from heart condition to fitness funk to finding fitness and the tribe that just gets me!

Happy Holidays all.

It wouldn't be the same if I didn't add a Hamilton reference

one of my tribe posted this and it helped me refocus

During that 9 month point I had one goal which ended up being a support for these two lovely ladies

If you know me this is me volunteering and giving back

ArboRace2 - collision course/obstacles

Volunteer Crew for the Goulbourn Museum Old Fashioned Christmas Craft Fair

You'll find me here almost every Saturday

The main crew and the 💓 of my life

The U2 - UltraCliff and Unicorn Chaser

Ottawa Mother Runners

I may not be a "Mom" but this crew gets me also!

Six Months Post Ablation

Six Months

It seems like i posted not too long ago since Race Weekend and there isn't much to say, but I'm slowly rebuilding and doing a lot more. However since it is now six months since my surgery it is time for another Holter Monitor!!
Cue all the scarring and skin rashes!

Ouch!

 As part of my 6 month anniversary I finally received my vanity plates!

Before

Yep I did!

Oh and when I was at the Heart Institute running late I parked illegally and so now these virgin plates have received it's first official ticket! $60 for parking illegally. I sometimes wish I had more time to park, but I should have just paid the parkade valet SMH.

So next time I head there to go and drop off my Holter I'll just circle or take my chances and park in the parkade.

Mei

Last week I received a note from Mei Ling...not my daughter but a friend I met from the Team Awesome 2018 fam and mutual friend of Becky who takes care of Shade. I had the honour of running her in on her marathon at HOTtawa! So she shared the pictures that were taken of her from Marathon Photos.

Thanks Mei for sharing them with me!

2019 Ottawa Race Weekend

Race Weekend Timeline

Thursday

I decided to book off the Friday of Race Weekend and I had thought about going to pick up my race kit on the Thursday (which I probably should have) and get in on all the goodies, but seeing as though I carpool and had to go all the way to Stittsvegas and then I would have to fight rush hour traffic to get back. Anyhow I opted out and decided to put my feet up and do nothing. So I get home and was ready to watch the telly and then I see the phone ring. It's the Heart Institute. It's Guy-Anne! She has my stress test results. (Heart goes flutter in anticpation) She told me that the report isn't up on the system yet, but she managed to get a copy from them and wanted to share the news since she knew I was running in the race weekend.

Guy-Anne reviewed the results and said that everything looked normal. I was in normal sinus rhythm and there didn't see any signs of the Ventricular Tachycardia that was present. So during exercise when I had the Holter may have been a blip, but I was on the treadmill for 12 minutes and there were signs of PVC's but that was normal during recovery as she said they expect that after a workout. My fitness improved from 9 METS to 10 as well during the test my HR peaked at 179 and was steady. She was happy which made me ecstatic.

So she gave me some leeway in case I wanted to "race" this weekend so she upped my steady pace HR to max 160 and for interval to target between 150-170ish, but I need to recover back down to 125 which could be tricky when it comes to speedwork, but definitely will look at this as a positive recovery milestone.

We chatted some more as we always do and I mentioned that one of my gym rat buddies saw a photo I had posted and she said that they worked together. Small world. So Mina (?) was another PT that works with Guy-Anne so as always we got off topic. So basically I went into euphoria and was happy to hear the good news and literally running into the weekend.

Note: I'll be just cutting and pasting from my FB post since it's just as long on race weekend. I will add some stuff I didn't post on FB. (We shall see how if you actually read this ha!)

Friday

I took the Friday off to "rest", but I ended up running a bunch of errands. I went to Service Ontario with Kiera to finally transfer over the SUV (Plates) to my name and then I get a call from the DD15 that she needs a ride home so I had to head out to the high school to pick her up. I attended the President’s reception and met several of my Team Awesome teammates that could make the trip on Friday. We enjoyed chatting, drinks and snacks. On my way out of the Shaw Centre I somehow crossed the road, made my way up the spiral staircase and tripped on my own clown feet and bashed my knee. Perfect! Just right before race day. 😡 In any event I iced it and applied some Voltaren that night and all day Friday ( morning and pre/post race).

Team Awesome

Team this is why we're awesome

 

Race Kit

Flat Dan

Official 2019 Race Gear by Surge Activewear 

Social Media Champions

Dan Pak Fan Club 😄

Team Heart, but Shirt was too small 😞

Saturday

I met up with Team Nuun at Noon and met other ambassadors. Learned about when some products may or may not make it up from the states all depends on Health Canada. 
Then Jennifer Tuthill and I hung out as she was taking over the IG for Ottawa Marathon. Also ML was my usual valet/Sherpa/Pak Mule to hold my gear. 
ML and I went to the Rideau Centre and had lunch. So of course I had Asian. 😉🤪
Then we went back and found Jenn and relaxed while we waited for the 5K to start so we could head to the VIP area and cheer on the speedy 5K folks. 
Then I went off to stretch with Team Heart and loosen up for the 10K. Then it was off to the yellow corral where two of my teammates Chantal and Sonia found me. We all started together but soon Sonia peeled away. 
The highlight was the RCAF flybys. Definitely deafening and awesome. Thebrain held off until about 3K and then it rained. I never saw Sonia but did find Leanne and ran with her until her walk break. I continued and saw Jamie and Rebecca and gave them 👋🏼. The next cheer section was the OCRC gang and they were loud and saw Suzanne and Brianna I had a comfortable 1st 5K and then I increased my speed along the way for the back half thanks to the community of support and finished in a respectable 1:08 for my 5th race of 2019. Oh and thanks Éveric for the finish line vid merci beaucoup! Tu es formidable! 
We finished off the evening by cheering on the last of the 10K runners still on the course. 

Nuun at Noon

The dreaded spiral staircase to the start corral of the new course

Yellow Corral

My TA crew

RCAF fighter flyby

10 K race - 5th Road race of 2019

Negative split

Earned the bling

Sunday 

I traded my Team Awesome shirt for Xtra Mile Crew Ottawa as well I went downtown early with my fellow 37K crew members Cathy and Deena and we wanted to see the elites as they went by. We all went to the 37K point and saw the lead groups again and then just began cheering all the runners of different paces. 
I saw several run friends (too many to tag) but definitely inspired by your perseverance in the drastic weather that is HOttawa aka Race Weekend. I ran with several runners and ran at least two in all the way. Oh and thanksNicole for the water 💧 One was Mei Ling who I saw as I dropped off someone at the medic table and then who I found later on just past Rideau and ran her all the way in but had to make a stop with the Bad Ass lady gang where she did a burpee 😂
We stuck together and then I went back out to help others. 
One of which was my GP who had a hunch and sent me on my journey with the Heart Institute. So we chatted and I left him to walk himself to the end. It was his 30 something straight Ottawa Marathon streak. 😲 
I have to say wearing the Orange shirt was an honour. There are runners afraid to ask for help but definitely some that just said run with me. Very gratifying. 
When the last of the remaining Marathoners were coming in the rest of the crew all ran together to the finish and we posed for a group photo. It was definitely an amazing weekend. Congratulations to everyone that had many firsts and for running in temperatures that we have not seen very often. Wear that bling proud! You’ve earned it. 
🏅🙌🏼🍻

Ready to cheer on the marathon crew at 37K

A few more showed up

Choose wisely

Cathy and I

 

Deena and I

Cam

Peggy

It's a tad hot on this stretch

Found Mei and brought her to the Bad Assery

Bad Ass Lady Gang

Not having any fun at all

Best finish line run in

Run/Walk the equivalent of a 1/2 marathon and some

That's it for us!

Finish line group photo

Race Photos

So I wasn't going to buy the photos, but I did anyways as I wanted to show the Cardiac Athletes gear and of course the weather and how quick it changed. Thanks Marathon-Photos!