Tag Archives: half marathon

Oct8

Lost Soul Ultra 50km

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NOTE: I am writing this post during the Alberta Public Education Teacher Strike. I will not be doing a post regarding the importance of this current situation, but I am noting it so it’s a reminder of why I was able to find time to get this done from my to-do list.

Anyway. Onto my Lost Soul 50 km recap….

This would be my final big race of the year. The year started with my focus on London Marathon, and during that training I did a great local 10km race (Moonlight Run). I completed the London Marathon, earning my 5th Abbott World Marathon Major, then onto a solid half marathon a few weeks later. Trail season hit and my body felt it. It needed recovery. But I kept moving on and eventually got into a good swing of training this summer and kept building, feeling strong.

Could this be the year I not only beat my time from 2019 (6 hr 48 min) but could I get close to a sub 6 hour Lost Soul? Before the new year, I had written time goals for all my races. For every goal race so far, I had achieved my written goal. My goal for Lost Soul 50km was a 6:0x.xx. A dream goal was a sub 6 hour.

Overall my summer training went really well without mistep. I had one big stupid fall in late July and that sidelined me for about a and a half. But after that, I had a really great 4 hour run and felt as ready as I could be. But then, after a cool summer with an unseasonable amount of rain for Lethbridge….we got the heat.

I became worried. Heat is troublesome for me. I get cranky AF. I hate it. And I didn’t have a heat training built from a summer of burning, so I got nervous. If it was hot or smokey on race day, my goal times would have to take a backseat and my focus would be on a finish.

As race day neared closer, I started making my game plan. I knew it’d be tough for my husband to be my crew person, as I had some detailed plans for aid station stuff. Dan would have to be also taking care of Andy, and if they were late to an aid station and I was stressed, it could be a disaster. I offered the idea of being “my crew” to my returning Cross Country athletes at my school. All 6 boys took it on, and honestly…the day wouldn’t have gone as well if they hadn’t been my F1 Pit Crew. Sure, they had a huge cheat sheet that I went through with them the night before and put all the stuff together (I think I made it pretty hard to screw up…you just had to follow directions, haha). I know they were a bit nervous about the idea of actually screwing up, so I think that pressured them a bit to be on the ball with everything…they knocked it out of the park!

Race day came, September 6th. The weather had cooled that week and I knew it wouldn’t be terrible. The morning would be great but after the first two hours, it would start to warm. After going back and forth about what I would do to stay cool, we decided I would in fact use an ice-pack system in the bladder of my pack starting on Leg 3 (There are 5 legs total in the race). I borrowed a second Salomon hydration vest from my coach/friend so that way the F1 Crew could get it prepped to swap with me after Leg 2, with ice ready. I would also take ‘my stupid hat’ at that time, with water and ice in it. I HATE HATS. But I wore this Ciele bucket hat for the remainder of the race and it honestly probably saved me.

Courtesy of Ralph Arnold Photography

Back to the start of the race…I was a tad nervous in Leg 1 because I KNEW I was pushing it. I did Leg 1 is great time, under an hour, at 54 minutes… and I was admittingly a little worried if I went out too crazy. Leg 2 I kept holding on my pace pretty well and fell into a good groove. I did start to get hungry so getting to the aid station at Softball Valley was a welcomed arrival. I arrived to Softball Valley approximately 1 hour and 49 minutes into the race. I did my vest switch with my crew, had some more fuel and headed out.


Courtesy of Ralph Arnold Photography

I knew going onto Leg 3 that if I was to start to fall apart, it’d happen after Gun Range and Ryan’s Hill. I would feel it in my body, that I pushed to hard. I kept moving and going and felt strong. A note for this whole race is that I was pretty much on my own the entire time. No one with me to pace, no one right in front of me or right behind. I had to completely count on myself. I made it into Pavan almost exactly 3 hours into the race. So, I had 3 hours left to hit my goal of sub 6 hours. But it was onto the dreaded North Loop, which is 16km, pretty desolate and a big mind f&$K.

My F1 Pit Crew and I

I went on out and felt solid, very grateful for my stupid hat and ice in it. A weird thing happened, though, when I got to the first major coulee climb in the private land–my inner thighs started spasming. SHIT, I am going to fall apart out here on this private land that has nuclear sign warnings placed randomly. I am going to have to have someone evac me out.

Spoiler alert-I did not need an evac.

I kept moving, and I think my mind telling me to make it easy to figure out how fast I needed to go on the last leg….I made it back to Pavan in 2 hours. I was roughly 5 hours into this 50km foot race, with only about 7 km left to go (It is a 50 km race, but it measures approximately 51km). A friend came up as F1 Crew helped me and told me I was 3rd female, but did not know where 4th was in relation to me so I NEEDED TO GET GOING. I got going.

Every uphill I faced in the short final leg hurt my inner thighs, always spasming. But I had my eye on the finish. I kept going, knowing I was so close to home. And I could hit my goal. And surpass it.

As I made the final turns back into Softball Valley, the sweet sounds of Macklemore’s “Downtown” played in my airpods, I started crying, and I came into the finish line surrounded by people cheering me in. I not only got my handwritten goal of a 6:0X.xx, not only did I break 6 hours…I finished in a 5:47.33. Never in a million years did I think I had the ability to place 3rd place female overall in this damn race. This was the most amazing feeling and I could not be happier to be surrounded by Dan, Andy, my coach, my friends, my coworkers, my cross country athletes, and all other spectators. It was a fairy tale ending.

We stayed around to cheer other runners coming in, hang out with the people who cheered me in. I went home and showered and then headed back to Softball Valley to cheer on more finishers and just soak in the whole day. The next day was the banquet where we had an excellent breakfast, speakers and awards. It was everything I could have asked for in this weekend and I will always cherish Lost Soul 50km 2025.

May7

London Marathon 2025

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I am about a week and half post marathon, and I know the sooner I get this post out, the better it will be. I don’t plan to make this lengthy, just want to give an account of what the experience was participating in the 45th edition of the famous London Marathon!

More on this selfie later!

Last year I realized that the London Marathon would fall the week after Easter. This was a jackpot spot for me, as a teacher, as my school division has Spring Break from Good Friday through the following week. This meant I would be able to travel overseas for this event and only have to use my minimal personal days to cover a few days after the race. The entry and cost was the next step, and I found a tour provider, Dream Travel Canada, who I joined quickly. I didn’t care about the cost–I knew this was my way in. If you are curious about the cost, you can easily google it…it is pretty steep for getting a guaranteed race entry into this event. However, with the other option being their “Ballot” (the lottery) and it getting more insane every year (just a few days ago the ballot closed for next year’s race and a staggering 1.1 million people entered) this was my way to assure I got in during the perfect Easter bubble.

Training had been going great all season. I had a different goal going into this race, though—train for a 3:30 time, but know that this will not happen. I had that mindset for a variety of reasons.

1.) The overseas travel and jet lag to take into account. And that I would be landing in Paris the Tuesday before the race, doing Disneyland Paris, sightseeing, Eurostar to London, sightseeing, etc. When I do my recap on Disneyland, I really will comment on how much we actually walked before the race day…and while I had some regret in this about a week post-race, I know that looking back I truly have no regrets on how hard Ali and I toured Europe. I don’t know when I’ll be back there again! I didn’t want to spend my days leading up to the race in poorly air conditioned hotel rooms (come on Europe, that’s the only thing I have a complaint on)!

2.) Other world majors I have done can be very crowded. Lots of weaving, not sure how the corral system would work, etc. I didn’t want to be frustrated trying to weave through people and then ultimately fall short. In the end, I found the flow of the course to go quite well and that was not a problem at all (I think my start corral helped)

3.) I am paying an insane amount to travel here, so I wanted to have fun! I set a dumb goal of really going all out the first half, admitting to my coach I would “most likely fall apart” the second half, but then try to really just take in the sights and enjoy it. That is, in fact, exactly what I did and you can see that with my data on Strava.

The tour group we went with was great with communication. We had a meet up on the Friday evening at our hotel, a Holiday Inn, so we could meet other runners. At this meetup, someone offered me their spot on the bus for race morning to get to the start area. I gladly took this so I didn’t have to deal with transit race morning and it was appreciated. Race morning came, and they started breakfast early downstairs for the runners. It was mainly a cold buffet, and I thought I had eaten enough. In retrospect, I should have taken more food with me to the race area to eat before the event because I was struggling with hunger throughout the race. This has been something I have spoken with my coach about, as this training cycle I seem to never have enough calories. Sometimes, I know I am not eating enough. But other times I am baffled to why I feel empty. We hope to get this sorted out before my 50 km in September.

A group of us from the bus who were in the Blue Wave stuck together during the morning after going through security. We had around 1.5 hours to just sit and wait. Weather was overcast, but it was predicted to keep warming up throughout the day. One really great thing was the number of porta potties. I went, I think, 3 times before we got into the corrals and I never had to wait. This is a nerve-wracking thing for runners! The announcers were clear with directions and they explained when they would start queuing the different start waves. I was wave 3 in the blue corral. I admittingly put an estimated finish time 10 minutes faster than my personal best. But, given how I knew I was tackling this race, I knew that for at least the first 10 km I would be cruising at that pace. What was cool about the Blue corral was that we got to start on the ‘official’ start line. There were two other corrals that would then feed into one another around the 5km mark, and they started in other off-shoots of the main start line. My co-worker, Jeni, who killed the race in a 3:07 and was the 10th fastest female finisher from Canada, was starting in Pink. We were at the same hotel, but we never saw each other on race day due to start area logistics.

It was an exciting start and I do think I teared up as I went across the start line. Music and excitement at these races bring on emotions and I can’t control them. This was the start of my 5th Abbott World Major…now I just needed to get to the finish! I went out fast, like I said I would, and just kept with the pace. Crap-already hungry. I had eaten one pack of my Honey Stingers while sitting around, so I have one more pack of honey stingers and 4 Xact bars, along with Xact electrolytes to get me through. Thank god for the spectators later in the course who had cut up oranges and gummies…god bless.

I won’t talk about mile by mile, but my first half generally went with the plan. Go hard, then fall apart…haha. The point I knew things would change would be as we approached the iconic Tower Bridge. I actually met up briefly with a former math student of mine the day prior-he lives near Tower Bridge. He and a friend were going to come watch race morning. I actually spotted him….Zitong! Zitong! He got my picture. Then the vibe over Tower Bridge was electric. So many photographers. So cool. Such energy. Then I got off the bridge, all hyped up, to then do a double-take….IS THAT GORDON FUCKING RAMSEY??? I turned around and went BACK around 50 meters and basically yelled in his face “GORDON RAMSEY!!!!?!?!?!?!?!” He just started laughing. I think he gave me a hug, maybe a fist bump, I now don’t remember. But I asked for a selfie. That is the photo at the top of the page. He was laughing and I was digging my phone out of my pack. He tells me to hurry up! and I get the photo, thank him and on my way….but not until i take the time to send this photo to a group chat of friends at what would be around 3:00 am. This was a race highlight and if I had been taking it too seriously, wouldn’t have been able to enjoy.

Hi!!!
I don’t know that woman, but she looks happy too!

The second half of the race started to get warm. It got to a high of around 22 degrees Celsius, which on paper isn’t “hot.” But all week we were getting emails warning us about it. When you train all winter and pull off outdoor workouts in -40, this is quite the swing. There was also something about the air flow in the second half of hte race….larger buildings around, sun reflecting off the buildings, etc….I was taking the small water bottles every station they had them. I would swig some water, then squirt a bunch all over my head. Rinse and repeat. There was also ice that I grabbed and put in my buff.

This whole time, since race start, my calves were cramping. They actually were like this since Friday morning. I had woken up in the middle of the night with what I thought were Charlie horses. Whatever it was, the cramping never went away. Probably due to the fac that on Wednesday I walked 38,000 in Disneyland Paris…but that’s another story. I contemplated time and again about stopping at an aide tent to get my calves massaged, but I was worried that if I stopped it would be harder to stop again. So I just slowed down and trucked on.

As I got to the final 5km, Ali was able to find me from a spot she was standing on the bridge. I wasn’t aware of this until after the race, but I am glad she was able to spot me in the masses of 56,000 people. She said my tall red socks along with bright yellow vest helped a ton. I knew I could still get a sub 4 hour time, which honestly was the time I wanted in the back of my head when all was said and done, so I kept moving. Running to see Big Ben was awesome! The turn down the finish line in the Buckingham Palace area was also really cool, but I couldn’t really properly soak it in as I just wanted to finish. In the end, I finished with a respectable time of 3:57.26. Of my five world majors, this one is my 3rd fastest—I’ll take it!

Big Ben in the background
5th World Major completed!

They only had water and their sport drink to hand out as post-race refreshments. Possibly due to the sheer number of runners, but this was rough as I was really wishing for a bagel or something. I guess if you knew you’d want something right away, you woul dhave wanted to check a bag. But then you’d still have to walk to claim that and all. It was just weird to me as a North American to not get any post race food item. But, I will say that exiting the race was a lot quicker than North American races. In New York, I swear we walked another 5 km through Central Park to help ease the crowds before we were actually allowed out. Here, I just wandered through this wide gathering area to an exit, and then Ali sent me visual descriptions of which alley way to turn down to find her at a pub, where she waited for me with a beer in hand. We then took a slow walk back to our hotel (about 2 miles) and we stopped at a pub that was giving a free burger to all finishers who brought in their medal. There—I got my food!

Do I recommend doing London? Hell yeah, especially if you are on the 6 World Major track. Would I do it again? No. There are too many other races out there in the world to do. The cost for me to get here to do this race was heavy, but it was worth it. I had a great experience and I cherish the memories not only of the race day, but the trip to Europe and all the hard months training. I am really proud of the things I accomplished leading up to this race, and only I can understand how important those milestones are. London 2025….thank you for everything.

Mar27

Moonlight Run 2025

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Moonlight Run. I have written so many recaps of this race over the years. It is a Lethbridge staple in the running community. I am sure I have also referred to it as the “kick-off” to the running season. 8:00 pm start for the 10km…8:15 pm start for the 6km. Over 2000 runners. Twilight start, and moonlit ending. This race had everything. There has been years it’s been windy, raining, snowing, ice-skating terrain, mud….but this year was something special.

Photo captured by oncourse photographer, Blair Takahasi. Coming around the last corner by CASA…my 1st race as a 40 year old, so the speed limit sign is fitting.

Our whole family was registered for Moonlight Run, and as the race day got closer, Andy just wouldn’t stop talking about it. He was very excited about it this year, as last year was his first time doing the 6km. But, it was in a full-blown blizzard! He ran in snow boots and snow pants! And the time was a chiptime of 58:13. Even after the terrible weather last year, he was ready for this year. We went as a family to pickup our race bibs and shirts on Friday night, and Andy was excited to put his shirt on at home that evening. But we would have a long while until the race began the next evening.

Excited we could get a kids shirt that fit him!
Family bibs ready to go!

The interesting thing with race day for Moonlight Run is that you have the WHOLE DAY before the actual event. No early wake up, no needing to think really about your breakfast intake….you go about the day almost as normal, but don’t want to be doing too much in preparation for the race. Even a nap midday is helpful, and then having to plan an earlier dinner, but not too-heavy of a dinner, before the race.

And the nerves. They build. With it being the start of race season, I put a lot of pressure on myself when I race the 10km, as this sort of sets the tone for the season. Yes, it’s ‘just a local race,’ but for me (and probably many more of our friends) it is much more.

Andy was so excited about the race that he drove us bonkers all day long. He was acting silly, asking tons of questions, telling us the same thing over and over again about Moonlight Run, reminding us about running in snow pants last year…we were going to walk over to the race start, since our house is located very close to downtown, an we ended up just leaving the house earlier than planned since it seemed the anticipation was driving this kid nutso.

Before the race!
Andy giving us a smirk as they get setup for the race

It is always very busy at the start area and lots of stuff going on to see. They had drummers and other performers, people congregating and meeting up with friends, announcements about race procedures. I ended up leaving Dan and Andy with our friends so I could do a quick warmup. I ended up stripping down my layers to put away in our backpack (which Dan would check eventually) along with my phone, and got into the start corral. After some announcements, pep talk, a draw for a free pair of shoes, and Oh Canada…we were ready to start!

My race plan all along was to start out hard and try to hold on best I could. I really wanted to just go ‘all out’ and challenge myself to achieve a 10km race time that I used to achieve. I also was ok with knowing that perhaps my legs would give out before heading back up Wendy’s hill. So I went out with nothing to lose. First mile I knew I would be going fast…and it’s downhill. I ended up clocking a 6:22 minute mile for the first one. OK…lets see how long I can hang on to something. My second mile was 6:55. Still a sub 7 minute, so that was something. I then set my mind on getting a great 5km time. We were now on flat ground and heading north in Indian Battle Park. We were starting to get more spaced out, so I just kept my focus on individuals close to me to try to catch up to people and not let them get too far away. By mile 3, I was at a 7:13. I was slowing, but I knew that would happen. I just couldn’t let that discourage me. My legs, particularly my quads, were sore (from the fast downhill pounding to the river valley) and I was starting to notice my empty stomach. I needed this to be done sooner rather than later so I could get some food, so my focus now went to just getting the thing done.

I was able to make some ground on people in front of me, even as we all got more spread out. I clocked a 7:18 for mile 4. I knew then at that point I had about one more mile of flat, then would have the rest of it uphill out of the river bottom. I was feeling strong, but I did slow more, but I felt powerful as I was able to make ground on people around me. I was at a 7:30 mile when I got to the biggest challenge of Moonlight Run-Wendy’s Hill.

Why is it called Wendy’s Hill? Well, there is a Wendy’s at the top of the climb out of the river valley! It is about a 1 km ascent from the river bottom to the top of this hill, and then still a slight incline all the way to the finish. At this point in the race, the 10km runners are also joining up with 6km runners who are on the same return (they just never headed out north like we did). This hill is well lit and the incline is fairly constant, so even though it is long, it doesn’t change drastically. I was able to stay strong as we climbed up and I kept focusing on my goal of hitting a sub 46 minute time. I knew I would be close, and not quitting on myself would be important.

I climbed out of that river valley and could hear the one pipe band playing near 7th st. I could see the crowds starting to build near CASA and the finish line. I was almost there. The time for mile 6 was a 8:47, which seems like such a drop compared to the other miles, but I know that incline out at the end is HARD. And I knew at this point I couldn’t slow down. Lots of people around me were trying to kick in for their last stretch, much like me in that photo at the top. I felt like I could sense someone gaining on me….no clue who it was…they could have been a 6km runner, 10km runner, older/younger….I didn’t care. I didn’t want anyone passing me in the final 100 m. I ran the last approximately quarter mile in around a 6:42 pace. I crossed the finish line in a chip time of 45:28, well surpassing my goal!

I may had finished my race, but I wasn’t done yet. I now quickly made my way to the bag drop to claim our backpack. I got out my phone and checked on the Garmin Live Tracker where Andy and Dan were. They were coming up Wendy’s Hill and were over half way done. I went down the course a bit so I could hopefully catch them coming in to the final stretch. The livetracker was so helpful as I refreshed it every 30 seconds or so to see their blue dot come closer and closer. With the darkness in the sky and the street lights and crowds, it was hard to sometimes pick people out. And lots of people were coming in now. I saw them coming and I just started taking picture after picture and yelling for them. They were doing awesome! Dan and Andy finished strong and Andy had an extremely strong finish time of 41:10….remember his time last year? 58 minute and change! What an improvement! Dan said Andy was AWESOME the whole race…it was very crowded and he listened so well and never walked or complained. Next year he is going to go for under 40 minutes!

Matching strides!
All smiles!

This night went as well as we could have hoped for and exceeded our expectations. We got our slices of pizza after finish, bundled up and walked home. Andy got thrown in the shower immediately and emerged in his bathrobe and finisher medal. He went to bed then dad and I had snacks, beer and watched a movie. My body felt like shit the next morning, but it was a good shit. I earned it. And I was happy.

Here’s to the 2025 running season! And to showing myself that being 40 years old doesn’t mean anything! If anything, it makes me stronger than ever before!

Dec30

2024 Recap &2025 Sneak Peak

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Running, Disney & Dad….That’s what the title of this is, right? So I’m going to do a short recap of 2024 and a look ahead at 2025 for each of those things!

2024

Running

If you’d like to read my recaps on the races that occurred this year, that was one thing that I actually posted about! This year I had some minor goals for myself that I wrote on a high-quality post it note. Some achievable time and health goals, meant to help me get back on track. I did my own training and planning this year, and I really just wanted to build consistency and get back to where I once was.

Disneyland half marathon weekend, Moonlight Run as a family in the snow, numerous 5km runs with Andy…they were great! Red Deer Half in May holds a special place, as I achieved a time goal I set and somehow won the whole thing (despite having ran faster half marathons in the past). This was a great confidence boost.

Disneyland, Jan 2024
Park Run
It’s not always running…family biking is great cross training!
Age group award at a very Wisconsin 5km!
Great form Andy!
Red Deer Half finish, May 2024

In the last 1.5 years, I have lost over 20 pounds. I attribute this to diet and lifestyle changes. Cutting back on alcohol intake definitely made a huge impact. I also know that getting off an antidepressant had to have some effect on me too. I am also now off my blood pressure medication, so the only things I take daily are vitamins. I now just need to cut out tortilla chips and maybe then I’ll be in perfect health…wait….don’t be crazy Lammers….Being lighter has helped me start to push myself more again on the road and trails and it feels great.

Disney

I mentioned above I was in Disneyland for the half marathon at the start of the year. This was great because later in the year, my bff Ali actually moved from Southern California away from Disneyland. She is now in Florida and lives right outside Walt Disney World (so convenient!)

In August, Andy and I flew down to Disney World for a trip with Grandma. Since Ali now lives there, she spent time with us too! It was a hot and busy trip, but fun had by all!

France Pavillion…Remy ride and lunch was a hit!
EPCOT with the bestie
Tiana’s Bayou was fantastic!
Andy is becoming a little daredevil!

Dad

June 8th, 2024, was the date Quebec opened up submissions for family history research. Well, let me explain….they have been under lock and key for some time in various capacities about what those who were adopted can find out. But their Bill 2 was set in stone that day, and how that benefits me is that as the child of someone who was adopted….I can now request information regarding my dad’s birth parents. I filled out and submitted all the paperwork promptly that first day I was allowed. I have received confirmation of the receipt of the submission.

So now…I just wait.

It has been 6 months. And now news yet. I know they probably were swamped with submissions. And who knows how many people are tasked to finding the information for those requesting it. And how long each submission takes. I last emailed in the summer (probably unnecessary, but whatever) to make sure everything was still in process. Sure is…now I just need to wait.

2025

Running

I’m going to run in to the new year with the great base I built and I have even bigger plans! In April, I will be heading to Europe to run in the London Marathon! This will be my 5th Abbott World Major, and I am beyond excited. The way Easter falls this year makes it possible for me to participate, due to Easter Break. Dan will stay back with Andy, but I won’t be alone…Ali is going to come along with me and cheer me on! We will be celebrating our 40th birthdays together.

I am also registered for Lost Soul Ultra 50km in September. I am making it a goal to try to beat my 2019 time of 6 hours and 48 minutes. The race is slightly a different route now than it was in 2019, and back then it was closer to 54 km…now around 51km.

Other smaller races will occur during the year too….Going back to Red Deer for the half and other family 5km races. The main goal this year is to stay healthy and strong as I train for everything. I hired my friend Tracey to be my coach, and my training plan for London officially starts on New Years Day. Maybe I will write more about how the training is going…I will try to, that’s for sure!

Disney

No Disney trip planned with Grandma this year, however, I forgot to add above that while in Europe for London Marathon, Ali and I will first be flying in to Paris to go to….Disneyland Paris! I will definitely post photos from that trip and a recap of our two days there. We have hotel reservations at Disney Hotel Cheyenne and two dining options booked…Captain Jack’s and Walt’s an American Restaurant. Neither of us have been to a Disney park overseas, so this will be an exciting adventure!

Dad

…Now, I just wait. I hope, hope, hope I get some answers and closure on this long search for my dad’s birth family. I have myself prepared to not find out much. And that the information given doesn’t get me anywhere…people have passed away, people don’t want to talk, etc. But to get a confirmation on a name, even if only his mom….my grandma…would be amazing.

2025 has so much ahead…and I simply cannot wait!

Lethbridge Coulees, Fall 2024
May29

Red Deer Half Marathon

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Red Deer Half Marathon

Oh Red Deer. Every May Long, this race comes up and most years, we sign up. Dan’s family lives in Red Deer so it is a relatively “easy” event, in that we can head up on a holiday long weekend and have someplace to stay. I have only ever ran in the half marathon at Red Deer, but they do offer a 10km and full marathon distance (Dan did the full for his first full marathon!) They also have the kids run, which is approximately 1 kilometer. I have had some good results and poor results from this race in the past. My goal this year was to do better than last year, and I figured that could be somewhat easily attainable due to lots of changes. But you never know what to expect race day. And what happened on race day this year, I did not expect.

Last year, they had to cancel the full marathon distance due to forest fire smoke. This year, weather played in our favour. It was cool at the start, overcast, and no wind. The race starts and finishes near Lindsay Thurber High School and follows some great trails in the Red Deer trail system. You head to Kerry Wood Nature Centre, along the river, Heritage Ranch, Bower Ponds….sure, these mean nothing to someone who doesn’t know Red Deer. But really it’s a good highlight real of the nature and surrounding area.

Race start was at 8:15 am (10KM started at 8:00 am). My plan for this race was simple-go out harder than was smart and just try to hold on as long as possible. No, seriously. It was. Would I recommend this to everyone? No. Would I do this all the time? No. But, with the training and progress I have been making along with it being so long since feeling somewhat confident in going into a race, I figured I shouldn’t hold back or approach it gently.

Starting out, the main thing to note at this race is I started strong, with my first mile clocking in at 7:22. Now, I knew I wouldn’t be able to hold on to that pace the whole way, but I settled in and felt comfortable and confident. At mile 2, there is a turnaround near the nature centre. At this point, I could clearly see which female runners were ahead of me. There were 3. And they all had marathon bibs.

Ok—I was in first place for the half. This won’t last longer than 6 km into the race….for sure…..

Well. Spoiler. It lasted past 6km. And past 10 km. Past 15km. Somehow, I held on. My slowest miles were at mile 6 (which was definitely the uphill from the river trail to then head towards Heritage Ranch) and then mile 10 (which had another small climb and that is just a tough spot for me at any half).

So yeah, this is the shortest race recap ever because nothing with my positioning in the race changed amongst the other female runners during the whole race. I stayed in the same position I was since the start and managed to win the Red Deer Half Marathon. As I was coming into the finish, I started crying under my sunglasses. This was insane and unexpected. I have ran faster Red Deer Half Marathons before in the past and never even placed top 3. Everything aligned in regards to who wasn’t there….but more importantly, who did show up: ME. My final time was 1:44.37. Welcome back Lammers, welcome back!

Dan finished his half and then we were able to watch and cheer Andy on during his kids race. Andy did really well! It was a shorter race than he was used to, and immediately he wanted to know his time (my next blog post will touch a bit more on his times!) but this was not a chip-timed event for kids. He was happy to receive his finisher medal and some snacks from the tent. We headed back to nana and gramps’ house to shower and clean up. Then, Dan and I had to make it back for the awards ceremony.

There was some live music in the school gym before the ceremony and actually a decent number of people turned up for awards. They demolished the pronunciation of my name, but that is always funny to say the least. I was surprised to get not only a medal for overall winner, but for my age group. Usually they don’t double dip. Along with an additional medal, I received not one, but TWO gorgeous tiles form a local artisan (one for overall and one for my age group) and a $300 cheque! This is the largest cheque I’ve ever received at a race! Again, my mind always keeps looking at this in disbelief because I have ran faster in the past. But, every race is different. This was unexpected but icing on the cake.

That $300 immediately was deposited and put towards my London Marathon down payment I have already made with the tour provider. After awards, we had a great family dinner and an easy-going night. My body also didn’t feel too awful in the days that followed. While I don’t have any upcoming road races this year, it is not going to be trail season. My plan is to keep building on my mileage into this summer and fall so that when that London Marathon training plan starts, I have an excellent base….and a lot of motivation to see what else I can push my body to do!

Apr3

Running, Dad & Disney….Isn’t that what this is all about?

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I can’t promise I will start regularly posting, but I know I am good for at least one yearly post.  So here it is.  In reverse order. 

Disney

Well, of course Disney is still a huge part in my day to day life.  Yes—day to day.  I feel like I am always thinking or daydreaming about it.  It really is my ‘happy place.’  Last August, Andy and I went on a mommy & son trip to Disney with my dear friend Maureen and her son.  It was such a great trip and we made so many memories.  The memory I want to forget is catching COVID for the first time while there and us having to truck through the trip with that going on.  WOW-that took a lot out on my body.  Andy had one night where he broke his fever and was a bit of a mess, but he trucked on.  My positive test when we came back confirmed how shitty I felt, and it honestly threw off my running for about a month then.  At least I didn’t have any big events planned!

Disney 100!
Cheese & Castles
Grandpa Andy’s favorite character

We are doing another mommy & son trip to Disney this August, with hopefully no COVID, and with Grandma.  I am really excited to see what rides Andy is most interested in doing and all the memories we can make.  Dan and I have been working with Andy a lot lately preparing him for swimming pools, because he is not keen on his swim lessons.  We have him in private swim lessons starting a few weeks from now, so hopefully that helps.  I made a fake ‘threat’ that Grandma wouldn’t book us at the nice hotel anymore if he didn’t start to want to learn to swim….hopefully that’s lit a fire!

Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party…in hot August

Dad

This month marks the 20th anniversary of when my dad passed away.  I turn 40 this year.  That’s a lot to take in.  I have worked really hard in the recent years to deal with the grief that still was lingering and I feel like I am in a pretty good place.  There hasn’t been anything new with the family history/DNA/ancestry area.  My one close contact hasn’t talked to me in about two years, and it was sort of left that there may be some family resentment/conflict due to the potential unknowns/family skeletons.  I decided to send one more message earlier this week to just touch base and say hi…you never know what things could have changed?

There is also a date I am awaiting, and that is June 8th.  This day is the day after what would have been my dad’s 72nd birthday, but it is also a day that Quebec puts forth Bill 2 into action.   I will put a snippet below from the Province of Quebec website regarding what Bill 2 entails:

This act amends the Civil Code in respect of filiation, the law of persons and civil status. In particular, it amends the rules concerning the knowledge of one’s origins in relation to adoption so as to broaden their scope. Thus, this act allows the adoptee greater access to information about the identity of the parent of origin by eliminating almost all possibilities that a refusal to disclose would hinder it. It also gives the adoptee the right to obtain, under certain conditions, a copy of their original birth certificate and the judgments relating to their adoption, as well as the names of their grandparents and brothers and sisters of origin, and, if they consent to it, the information allowing them to contact them.

It extends services to new categories of applicants, such as the original grandparents of an adopted person and the first-degree descendants of a deceased adopted person. The latter will be able to obtain the same information and documents as the adopted person.

Lastly, it enshrines a person’s right to know their origins in the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms. These measures will come into force on June 8, 2024. Until then, the current provisions on knowledge of one’s origins continue to apply.

Honestly.  That statement in bold…that is me.  And this gives me so much hope.  I read this outloud to Dan just now as I typed it and he paused….and said “I am cautiously optimistic for you!”  Hopefully, 2024 can be the year we find the real answers.

Running

This is a year, other than the pandemic, that I have no real big races planned.  And I can say that I am at a place in my life that I am ok with that!  I started the year off with a quick trip to Los Angeles where I was able to take part in the Disneyland Half Marathon weekend with my bff.  It had been since 2017 that Disneyland had races (due to conflicts with the city of Anaheim and then the pandemic, etc) so it was great to be back there in that atmosphere!

Cheese & Castles (mom’s turn)

A few weeks ago, we did the Moonlight Run 6km as a family-this was Andy’s first 6km distance.  Even in the late-winter snow, he did fantastic.  We finished just under one hour, and that was even with him in snow boots.  My race focus this year should have been more explicitly stated-it is to run 5km races with Andy!  Up next….Coaldale Family Fun Run.  He’ll also have the Red Deer Kids race during marathon weekend, Little Souls, and I also plan to get him signed up for a kid’s race in Wisconsin.

Moonlight Run

Andy and I head to Wisconsin in July, and I will be doing the Dances with Dirt Half Marathon Trail Race in Devils Lake.  I am looking forward to my first trail race outside of Western Canada!  I am not looking forward to the humidity!  I will also sign up for one of the local beer garden 5km events that coincidentally have a kids event too. 

Dan and I are signed up for the return of Lone Wolf in September, and Coulee Cactus Crawl in Lethbridge will be our warmup trail race together.  Still trying to think of a good team name, otherwise our Lone Wolf original of “Lammers & the Dilf” will still hold on.

One big thing to mention that ties directly in with where I am at with my running is to talk about where I am with my health.  Without going into too much, I will say that I am in a much better place than I was one year ago.  I have lost close to 20 pounds.  My body is not hurting.  With the guidance of a doctor, I weaned off my antidepressants that I had been on for close to 12 years (but I think were doing more harm than good the last while).  I have now been off them for 7 months.  I took time off alcohol.  Between the being off the antidepressant and pausing on boozing, I weaned off my blood pressure medication.  I tracked my blood pressure off the pills for about 2 months in November and December (some time while drinking, some while not) and it has now been stable since January.   And I am not on that pill either.  I am actually now on no prescription medication—just a daily multivitamin and collagen because I’m old hahaha. And, I had my yearly echo and my heart function has improved since the last one.  And super minor, but I am not consuming even CLOSE to the amount of caffeine as I was previously….living on the half caf/decaf life.  The meaningful changes I started making a year ago really have made a difference-the tests don’t lie.  I am not going back to where I was before. 

Took this photo a few days ago. Now it’s pounding snow.

A week ago, this blog entered my mind during a workout.  And I reflected on how great I felt when I was actively posting about my running and training.  It was therapeutic.  I know it will take some extra effort to make posting happen, but with the upcoming Disney, Dad and Running events on the horizon, sharing the good news could do some good. They will be shorter than this, more often than not, and not very well proof-read. But I know this helps.

Until then….

Apr24

A reframe, per say.

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Hello.

Yes. I still exist.

Life is funny. And busy. And not linear.

I have really dropped off with keeping this site updated over the years. Back to work after maternity leave, COVID and excuses all weigh in.

But, doing this site has really brought me JOY over the years. I would to start writing monthly again. But I am not sure what to focus on.

Yes, I am still running. I actually did the Disney Marathon weekend this January and did Goofy Challenge and had a blast. I’ll share a photo(S) below.

And prior to that , I did my first 100km trail race in September 2022. I never wrote a recap on that race. And I plan to do a second 100km this September.

And prior to that we went to Disney’s Aulani in Hawaii! I didn’t even do a recap of that! Well, we returned and moved into our new house so timing was a challenge.

I’ve gone to Disney world a few times since the Pandemic. We bought a new house. And the 19th anniversary of my dad’s passing is tomorrow.

19 years with him. Now, 19 years without.

I need suggestions on what I should post about below. Yes, the origin story of my dad is still in question and I have some new avenues I need to pursue. Yes, I am still running and doing Disney races and crazy races. Im going to Disney this summer with my good friend, her son and Andy. And we are making our own family memories.

What do you want me to write about if I start up monthly writing?

Sep2

Summer Running Recap

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Of course, I did my last post 3 months ago. Of course, I haven’t written about any of the races I did in the late spring and any of the training I have been doing this summer, and I haven’t written about what is ahead.

So, I am doing it now. It’s going to be pretty concise, but it’s a post.

I left you with the fact that the race weekend for Whitefish Half and Full Marathon was upon on. We headed down for the Canadian long week in May and had just an overall fantastic time. We went with our good friends Nick and Alycia, and my husbands parents also came down and stayed at a hotel to help with Andy. Dan and Alycia would then run the full marathon, while Nick and I both ran the half.

En route

Everyone runs the first 13 miles together. Half course was relatively “easy” as far as elevation, turns, etc. Dan and I ran together and had a very good pace for most of it. Dan was actually killing it and ended up leaving me at around mile 8 or 9. I had trouble in those two miles and was very tempted to just start walking and quit. My competitive edge felt lost. However, I mustered up some willpower and pushed through. My finishing time was 1:47:47, which I will happily take after it being such a long time without racing! 20/237 for women and 4/40 for women 35-39.

At the end of the half marathon
Four finishers!

The following weekend I had the disaster that was the Calgary Full Marathon. I need to stop doing this full marathon because it’s never a good race for me. The half goes well. The ultra has gone well. But this damn distance. Anyway, 5km in to the race I knew stuff wasn’t going to go right. I also had my worst day of my period and felt like shit (yeah, I’m whining. but I’m talking about a natural thing that everyone should know SUCKS when you are trying to compete) so there’s that. The fact I finished is just good enough for me. I ran a 4:30.23, and YES-Dan’s time at Whitefish (even with the crazy elevation!) beat mine. He ran a 4:07.25, with a 1:45.41 half split. And his time for the second half wasn’t slower because he hadn’t trained….it was slower because the second half of that course was EVIL!

Happy to be done with a beer!

In the end, Calgary was completed. But the highlight may have been seeing the photos and video of our son Andy run the 1.2 km kids run. Ohhh, he had the best time!

Mascots at the kids race

How was summer then? Well…we bought a house, sold a house, moved, went to Hawaii….and oh yeah….I trained for the Lost Soul Ultra 100KM. This race happens ONE WEEK FROM TODAY and HOLY SHIT IT IS STARTING TO GET REAL.

I did the LSU 50km twice—once in 2019 and then also last year in 2021. Last year, a monsoon came in the middle of the night before the 50km race start so they had to change things last minute and make it the wet-weather route. Not a trail race, but it was done. This will be my first ever go at a 100km race distance, with my farthest ever before being the 54km that is the regular Lost Soul…and the most I’ve ever run in one day is 70km during our silly 100 point day.

Look really close and you can see me. The coulees were so green early in the summer!

My good friend Tracey is crewing me (thank god) and the weather appears to finally be getting cooler. The rain needs to hold off and all should be good. I know there will be some really high HIGHS and some pretty low LOWS during my attempt at this. But as long as I finish, then it’s a personal best.

I really do hope to do a detailed report on this race because this is a pretty big deal for me. I’m grateful for having the time in the summer to do the training while not teaching, and also for Andy being at daycare so I have this selfish time to run.

Next post will hopefully be posted in this same month! I can’t wait to share stories from the trails!

May20

Race Weekend!!!! FINALLY!

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Well well well….it’s finally time. The time has come. It’s here. WE HAVE A RACE WEEKEND GETAWAY!

I know there have been events happening elsewhere in the last year even during the pandemic. But in Canada, most of our things were still cancelled due to gathering laws. And then the ‘easy’ border crossing by road wasn’t easy because it was closed to traffic until I don’t even remember when…November 2021?

In early 2020, we had chosen the Whitefish Marathon Weekend in Montana as our spring race. Had an AirBNB booked with friends. Going to be great! Well, that got cancelled (obviously) and our race entries got transferred to 2021. The race happened in 2021, but none of us from Canada could go…I mean, unless you flew. We weren’t allowed to cross the road border.

Now its 2 years later. And it’s been about 3 years since I have done a half marathon race (my last was Woody’s RV Half Marathon in Red Deer, May 2019). I ran a 1:43.20 then. After that race, my focus was a full in Haida Gwaii (3:42 and change) and my 50km Ultra Trail Race.

I have trained pretty well this spring….but my base and my ability is SO DIFFERENT than it was since I last toed the start line of a road race. I know I should just listen to Dan and focus on that this race weekend is about travel and having fun with friends….but I am nervous. I would used to thrive on being competitive to myself in road races. I am going to push the best I can, and while I have done the mileage in training, I am not sure if I will just explode part way through. It almost feels like this is my first time doing a race and don’t know what to expect.

We leave this afternoon to do the 3-3.5 hour drive to beautiful Whitefish. The weather for the weekend looks ideal. We are staying with really good friends at an AirBNB close to start and finish. In-Laws are already down there at a hotel and are going to watch Andy race day and then take him on Saturday night so we can have some fun.

This trip and race has been 2 years in the making and we finally get to go. I have no clue what my “Race Report” will be. Maybe I’ll surprise myself. Maybe my legs will give out and I’ll have to walk my ass across the finish. Either way, I just have to remember that this means one thing—RACING IS FINALLY BACK!!!

Dec30

2019…the new normal

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You can take a look at my 2019 race result link to see the events I did this year. And then, if you feel like it, you can click on 2018, 2017, 2016…and you’ll soon realize how few events I did this year in comparison to other years.

This was the first full calendar year that 1.) I was back at work full time after maternity leave and 2.) we would be now parents to our son Andy, who turned 2 in October 2019. Before a child, I could run whenever I wanted and sign up for any race I wanted (obviously within reason). There were really no constraints! Even when I was pregnant, I kept up the running and shorter events. During maternity leave, I actually did have lots of time to run and train because I was off of work and I was willing to take Andy with me to any daytime boot camps he was allowed at. We still could travel lots and my schedule was flexible. Coming back full time to work with a child at daycare and trying to manage your own activities is not for the faint of heart.

Race medals from my 2019 events

I barely remember the winter and spring of 2019, but it was me focusing on just running in general. I did start a run streak during that time to get myself motivated for the season, but stopped in late March due to just being worn out. My husband never understands it, but Moonlight Run in March is always stressful for me. The first race of the year! I ran alright, and now looking back at that 45:17 I don’t know why I was that down. Then Rita’s Run 5km in May and Woody’s Half Marathon. The half was frustrating for me because 1.) Dan beat me and 2.) my time was actually about a minute slower than the year before while on maternity leave. I just felt down about my decline.

2019 race swag

As summer hit, things got better. Switched over to trail season and I had a lot of fun. This was my first year really giving trail running an honest try. Dan and I did a two-person coulee cactus crawl team and actually placed in the mixed division, even beating teams who had up to 5 members. We also did Lone Wolf in Fernie as a 2 person team and had a blast with our friends and Andy that weekend. In July, we travelled way West to Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, where I ran the full marathon. What an experience that was! It was a small field of runners, but I was honoured to place 2nd female with a pretty respectful time. With little recovery time and still a busy summer, I had to stay prepped for my first trail 50km Ultra. And I did the Lost Soul Ultra in September, even beating my goal time and placing in my age group.

Special awards

I had one more half marathon race lined up in October before the NYC marathon would come in November. That race never happened, as my world was flipped when I got a phone call late September that my Uncle Ed had passed away. This was my dad’s only sibling. I was shook. I travelled to Longville, Minnesota, for the funeral and to see family. When I came back, I could never get back into a groove. I forced my body through the NYC marathon, thankful that my only goal that race was to run with my husband and our friend and have fun. And since after NYC I’ve just lost motivation.

Am I going to stop running? Hell no. But I need to be a little easier on myself and get back to the root of running—-to stay healthy. Dan reminded me that about two days ago. That is the number 1 reason to run. And now, our number 2 reason to run is to spend time as a family and with our friends. That is something that has changed a lot in the last year or two and I am forever grateful for our running friends. Not just the ones we see at marathon club or races, but the ones we hang out with while in NYC…at beer miles…on our patio…our friends who hosted us while we ran in Haida Gwaii…the ones who cheered me on and crewed never at Lost Soul…the ones we are running with in New Years Eve for a group pub run. The last thing is to be competitive. That may have been a higher point to me in the last years. But it shouldn’t be now. It still matters to me; I’m still going to be competitive. But I gotta remember what is more important.

So 2020, what will you bring? I am registered for the Lost Soul 50km and hope to better my time. Dan and I are also doing Lone Wolf again, and our friend and his daughter are going to come and camp with us! We also plan on having a group of us go down to do the Whitefish Half Marathon in May and making it a fun long weekend with friends. 2019 may have been different compared to my other years, but now after reflecting on it, I’m looking forward to what my running future looks like!

Goodbye 2019…hello 2020!