5 Tips to Up Your Running Game in 2018!

December 18, 2017December 18, 2017Leave a comment

This post was originally written for and shared by Canada Running Series. View the original post here.

The start of a new year is a great time to set goals and try something new. So whether you are starting to run for fun, or are fired up as a goal crusher. Here are 5 tips to help you up your running game in 2018!

5 Tips to Run for Fun!

1. Track progress. Whether it’s on your favourite app (there are so many out there) or on an old fashioned calendar on your fridge, tracking your workouts, recording how you feel, or even checking something off your monthly workout plan will give you that extra feeling of progress and accomplishment.

2. Create the perfect playlist or find the perfect podcast. Music or podcasts can be a great motivator to help you get to into the running mood! Make a new playlist filled with high-tempo tracks or save a new podcast for each workout to inspire you to keep moving while on route.

3. Sign up for a race/fun run. Committing to an event gives you a good reason to create a training plan and stick to it. Start planning ahead now, the Race Roster Spring Run Off is just around the corner.

4. Fuel up. Running on an empty stomach can keep you from having the right amount of energy, but eating too much can lead to cramping. Look for a small snack containing carbs and protein for sustained energy.

5. Join a run Tribe. Whether it’s a friend or family member, community run crew, or virtual group of online friends, having people with a similar interest to connect with and learn from will help keep you accountable and having fun.

5 Tips for the Goal Crushers!

1. Get into proper form. It may seem like the simplest way to work out, but running does take knowledge and skill to make sure you don’t end up on the injured list. Get reading, listening, or meeting with professionals in your community to make sure you’re running to the best of your ability.

2. Get out of town! Taking your runs to new roads is a great way to combine travel and your favourite sport. Destination races within Canada or abroad will leave you with a new sense of adventure and motivation to move.

3. Cross train. Don’t limit yourself to improving your pace only out on the road. There are many things you can do when you aren’t running that can help: Take a yoga class to improve your flexibility; strength train regularly to build speed and prevent injuries; meditate to find focus and calm those pre-race jitters.

4. Roll out. Massage your muscles with a roller to increase flexibility and range of movement in the knees while breaking down scar tissue and adhesions.

5. Give back. Whether you volunteer to help a new group of runners get their start, support your local school’s track and friend day, or give your time stuffing kits at a race expo, giving your time back to the sport you love will leave you filled with gratitude and pride for your local run community.

5 Things I Wish I Knew Before My First Ragnar Relay

May 25, 2017May 25, 20176 Comments

This past weekend, myself along with 11 #TribeSoleSisters, 4 drivers, and 3 pacers drove to Coburg in order to run the 304km to Niagara Falls as part of the Niagara Ragnar Relay. This was the second time this race has taken place (the first back in 2013) and my first experience with such an event.

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Like many runners I kinda read the Race Bible, knew bits and pieces of what this experience would be like, watched the Ragnar “From Fat to Fit” documentary on NetFlix, but until you actually race an event, you don’t totally know what to expect. So rather than doing a lengthy race recap, I though I would share my key learnings of things I wish I had known before I started the race. Because let’s face it, if you follow me on social, you know I had a blast!

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Bring Food! Now this might seem obvious to you, but we were trying to keep our packing low and we had compiled a list of 24 hours restaurants, so I really didn’t think it was necessary to bring actual meals with us. I did bring bars, gels, Nuun, and other hydration. What I didn’t take into account was the short rely legs, long times in the car, and how speedy our team was. As Van 1 we had to be at the check in point in Coburg for 8am. I didn’t run until 1pm, so we were in the car driving from transition to transition, all caught up in the hype, and all of a sudden it was noon, and I had to race almost 10km without eating since we left TO at 6am. So If I had planned better, had actual food with me, we wouldn’t have been so panicked to find somewhere to eat and I wouldn’t have had 4 sesame bagels with butter and peanut butter from Tim Hortons.
Bring A Pacer. I had a pacer, well two actually, for my 13km leg that started around 10pm. I was thankful for Billy and Brandon because they not only made my run easier by hitting the light buttons ahead of me, throwing out my garbage, and being giants and making me feel like a celebrity as we raced passed (killed in Ragnar terms) 14 other racers, but they also made me push to a pace that I haven’t raced all season, averaging 5:05 per/km over the 13km. Since our team was running for 28 hours straight many relay legs started at 2 or 3am and ran through areas that were a little “sketchy” – Hamilton lift bridge/beach strip area I’m talking to you. I think next time we will make sure we have pacers (aka security, aka wind blockers, aka person cheer leaders on the run) for all runners over the night shift. It definitely brings peace of mind and the social is nice too.
Bring Extra Runner Lights. Each van was required to have two head lamps and two tail lights per runner. We had this, however at about 8pm, when both were mandatory, one of our brand new tail lights broke. Teams without tail lights would receive a time penalty and that isn’t what we wanted, so we eagerly reached out to friends on other times, and gratitude to Trieu Nguyen who had a bag of them and lent us one to race with. So I would suggest having extras in order to avoid the drama.
Bring Attire For All Weather. While I was ready for racing and cheering in the sunny summer heat we’ve been having, I was not prepared for the 3am chill when the weather dropped to single digits and we were cheer along the waterfront with waves actually splashing up on the race path. Sweaters, warm pants, fuzzy socks, a water and wind resistance shell, or even a blanket would’ve been great to have too. Not just warm running gear, but warm cheering gear too.
Bring Magnets. So this was a weird Ragnar “thing” we didn’t know about but clearly others did because after the first transition we started “collecting” magnets with other teams names and branding on our van. This was very fun and fun to keep afterwards, but we had no clue it would be happening so didn’t have any to share. A couple notes on what not to do for your magnets: 1. attach a magnet to a bottle cap that will scratch the rental car, 2. instead of using a magnet use a sticker stuck to a rental car, don’t do it. Stick with magnets and make them cute, creative, and connected to your team name and social handle.

We had a blast at this race, and if fun and friendship wasn’t enough the preliminary results (as of May 25th) had us placing top 3 in the Open Women Category, yeah Team Tribe. We worked hard, kept our cool, and placing top 3 just makes it extra sweet.

Follow along with the fun by searching #TRIBExRAGNAR on Twitter or Instagram. Looking forward to doing this race again, and being that much more prepared.

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Scotia21K Race Weekend Recap

April 25, 2017April 24, 2017Leave a comment

Last weekend was an awesome experience for our Tribe, and the Toronto running, community. With the support of Canada Running Series (CRS), Run TO Beer and Tribe arranged a bus trip for our crews to have a weekend away racing in Montreal.

All Aboard

At 8am on Friday morning the 40 runners and CRS staff boarded the on route to Montreal. Participants had the option of signing up for bus transportation only, bus and hotel, or bus, hotel, and race. When racing participants could run the 5km or 10km on Saturday and/or the half marathon Sunday. Participants who raced both Saturday and Sunday received a special “spinner” medal (photo at bottom of post). This was the first time CRS had ever created such a medal, and they out did themselves, it’s very cool.

On route we had one stop in Kingston at Sir John’s Public House. Although we had a reservation the pub was not prepared for such a large group (plus they had a second large group booking) which made our lunch for 40 a challenge. We also had many unique dietary requirements which, although the bud said they could accommodate, they put us on a group menu, is the types of foods were limited, which posed another challenge. I ordered a chilly which ended up being delicious. I was very hungry by the time it arrived, so certainly could have used a bigger portion, but it tasted great.

Eventually we were on our way at made it to our hotel, the Novotel Montreal Centre. The hotel processed everyone very quickly and we were all off to our respective rooms for a short break before we reloaded the bus to head over to kit pick up and the shake out run, hosted by Run TO Beer, at the Boutique Endurance.

The Shake Out Run

Boutique Endurance is an amazing running store. Not only do they have all the best names, the varieties of styles, and gadgets and gizmos every runner needs to very extensive. We received our kits and then checked them with the CRS team who shuttled them to the finish location of the shake out run, Ma Brasserie. As always, Run TO Beer had a great team of pacers ensuring that no one was left behind as we ran a simple 5km route through Montreal.

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Ma Brasserie was a large brewery that had plenty of seating, reasonably quick service, considering they were open to the public and we were a group of 50-ish. They also sold food, so while others were sampling some of the local offerings I had a delicious pre-dinner humus.

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After a drink, Tribe exited the party early to get some real dinner in us as some of our crew was racing the next day. We randomly found a place close to the hotel called Cibo & Vino and it was perfect! We arrived and the place was empty, we later came to the conclusion that people in Montreal eat very late, and with our race schedule we were having dinner between 6-7pm both nights. Our group of 12 was split between pizzas and pastas. Everything made fresh and just to order.

After dinner I called it a night. Nanc (my sister) and I had the 5km race the next day and I wanted to get in some good stretching and be in bed before 10pm. This is a typical race routine, so I really wanted to stick with it, even being away.

The 5km

The next morning we were up to catch the bus for 7am. The 10km started at 9 and the 5km started at 11. It was going to be long day of racing and cheering. The bus arrived to the race area in great time, and rather than heading to the start most people stayed warm and cozy on the bus. Eventually we headed to the start. CRS had provided us with VIP passes so we were able to hang out inside an area with seating, drinks, eats, and our own washroom. This was very thoughtful of them and greatly appreciated. They let all the members of our group come in.

After a hour plus of cheering it was mine and Nancy’s turn to race the 5km. We got ready in the VIP area and when we ventured to the start line it started to pour! This wasn’t great, but luckily it eventually let up.

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The 5km used the same route as the ten and turn around at a fun round about, so you literally just ran in a big circle – which was nice compared to the hair-pin turn I was picturing in our minds.The course was very flat and while the terrain became very wet from the rain and run off we still managed to have lots of fun. Plus how could we not with our Tribe cheer station motivating us to the finish!

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This was Nancy’s return to racing this season so we took it easy and had a great time being together. And since I was racing the 21km the next day – and because I love my sister – I didn’t mind.

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After the race we all boarded the bus and returned to the hotel. Everyone took a brief break and around 1:30 reconvened with some of the group joining the Run TO Beer pub crawl that was already in process and the other adventuring through Montreal doing the tourist thing – I did the tourist thing.

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We hit up a great boulangerie for lunch, then went to Simons and eventually made our way to Notre Dame. The walking on top of the mornings race was definitely getting to us, so we changed our dinner plans to this little Italian place across the street from our hotel.We met at 6pm and AGAIN we were the only people in the restaurant. With most people racing the next day it was pastas all around. Again the food was amazing and everyone left happy and ready for a night of chilling and stretching before bed – or at least that’s what I did.

The Half Marathon

Saturday morning came very fast. Breakfast was a repeat of the day before which was Allison going to McDonald’s and getting bagels and juice for Nancy and I, along with her own breakfast. Once we arrived to the start line we made our way again to the VIP room. The team stretched and prepared for the race. The weather was amazing. It was already getting close to double digits when we hit the start line.

file-6 The 21km course take you through almost every area of Parc Jean Drapeau. This included a loop around the amusement park, circling around the rowing basin, and looping along the Indy track. A very cool experience as this was the location of my Half Iron Man in September. It was fun to relive so many of those memories while running through the space. I think this, along with the heat, led me a few times to get distracted and confused with my pace. I thought I was at different km then I actually was, and the pacing math in my head just wasn’t making sense. It was a great run, fun course with awesome sites, and I certainly am not going to complain about the heat. I didn’t come across any great finishing time. I knew with racing the double this was more about fun and time on my feet. I did reach my goal and I did have lots of fun.

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Following the race we had time in the park to relax while the remainder of the bus tour crew who didn’t race or cheer arrived. We lounged in the sun, explored the biodome, and just enjoyed being outdoors in the great weather.

The trip home was also uneventful which is always nice when traveling. We stopped at a plaza filled with lots of different fast food places to meet everyone’s needs and a few hours later we were back in TO.

This trip was a blast. It was my goal when discussing the idea with CRS was that we would bring our elaborate TribeTour race trips to a more accessible price point. And with their help, and our friends at Run TO Beer, I think we did it.

Next Tribe Tour Seawheeze, and then Barbados! Hope you’ll join us!