Anyone who strolled into Walnut Grove Community Centre on
Sunday could be forgiven for mistaking the morning assembly in Meeting Room No.
2 as a casting call for the Wizard of Oz.
There was a lot of discussion about heart, courage and
brains from this North Langley gathering consisting of many cute munchkins,
sleepyheads, a Winkie guard (hello Bob), a lame lion (hello Brian) and at least
one hot air balloon (hello Arian).
We won’t get into wicked witches or jitterbugs as this
scribe still has to spend six more weeks with this eclectic Sun Run training
group — providing I can catch these flying monkeys from now until April 27’s
big event in downtown Vancouver.
It was 5K day Sunday and for the first time since this fun
learn to run exercise began, I fought the road and the road won.
The biggest mistake, leader Arian Soheili pointed out after, was I and several other
excited newbies started too fast, didn’t establish a proper pace and died
midway through the run. That’s putting it nicely.
If truth be told, I was really bummed out for a few hours
after. A good week of training, improved eating habits and increased exercise
didn’t translate into a strong run. In other words, I performed like a Canuck
power play.
We were given two 5K choices: One group that went six
minutes then walked a minute, or the other which went 10 minutes, then walked a
minute.
I picked the latter and that proved to be a tad too
ambitious. Wasn’t quite ready for that group, albeit for the first 1½ reps I
was OK, but at about the 17-minute mark I ran out of gas. The rest of the route
was a bit frustrating.
Good food, good fun, good people mingle after Sunday's 5K |
I joked after that because there was a potluck lunch at
the finish-line I wanted to get first crack at the good stuff, but in reality a
combination of poor pacing and strategic stupidity did me in. (Or, maybe I’m
just a better runner before the Daylight Saving Time change!)
The other notable thing was the “undulating” course — the Merry-Go-Mountains,
in Oz speak.
The natural thing for new runners or those getting back in
the game like me (rusty Tin Man) after a decade of couch surfing, is seeking
flat terrain to start.
That’s good until you run a few hills like we did Sunday
and you realize that you need to include them in your weekday training or you
will struggle every time there is an incline as it impacts breathing, pace and
energy output.
So, I will add a hill or two this week, slow the pace down
a tad and try to go longer and run smarter. Ironically, the Runner’s World calendar for
Sunday said the new runner rule of thumb was to focus on going farther before
going faster.
Soheili told our group over lunch that you can teach
running, but you can’t teach courage and he said we all have to find that inner
strength to win our own battles while running.
“We have to shed the fears, the doubts that are in us. I’ve
done a half-marathon and half way you ask yourself ‘what the heck are you doing
here? I don’t want to be here, somebody come and get me.’ Really, literally, I’ve
felt that.
“… But I’ve had to have the courage in me to say ‘no, you’re
here, it doesn’t matter what time you finish, but you’ve got to finish.’
“You’ve trained and you’ve had a setback, but you don’t
quit. Don’t allow yourself to quit. Ever.”
While we give Arian a tough time for his loud and
mischievous ways, he always seems to be the voice of reason when it really
matters.
And on Sunday, when some of us were thinking of new
hobbies and selling our running gear, he challenged us to remember the
positive, keep training, run a bit slower and smarter and to go kick some
asphalt.
While often he’s more blizzard than wizard, on this day
the motivational message from the leader of Arian Nation was pure money. Even
if his mouth was half full!
Yep, we’re not in Kansas anymore …
ON THE PADDY WAGON: Do
you know what Bryan Adams, Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Larry King, George Canyon and Bobby Clarke have in common?
They are all diabetics who have found ways to excel
despite dealing with this metabolic disease.
This Saturday, the 10th BMO St. Patrick’s Day 5K is
being held at Stanley Park. The run has raised more than $80,000 for the
Canadian Diabetes Association and will boost that impressive total this
weekend.
Kudos to the organizers and participants for this worthy
event and for demonstrating, once again, how the running community is paying it
forward for a plethora of worthy charities in this province.
The winner last year, Geoff Martinsonof Victoria, completed the course in a
lightning-fast 14:38, while the top female was Sabrina Wilkie of Vancouver in 17:07.
Whipping through the park in first leg of 5K. Dude in the back (that's me) enjoys the view and drafting (wink, wink!) |