Karyn Cooper
STWM was my first
full marathon. Best
crowds and best support.
I struggled at times but I
finished, which is a huge
accomplishment.
You
did
it!
coach me if you ran
coach
me if you ran
Cathy Andrews
Finished my third half
marathon with a smile,
just the way I wanted — a
beautiful day to run the
P.E.I. marathon
weekend.
Andrew Chak
My goal was to chase
down a Boston qualifying
time at the Waterfront Marathon.
I had run a qualifying time before
but I missed getting accepted by 7
seconds. I had to push with everything I had. My dream goal was to
go sub 3:10, and on that day,
my dream came true.
Janice Smith
Ran the Waterfront
Marathon and screamed with
sheer joy as I crossed the finish line. I dropped out of my last
marathon attempt in October
2003, so this time I just couldn’t
control the joy that I felt.
Don Flaig
I matched my
personal best of four
years ago in the half
marathon distance.
At 61, I figure
that’s OK.
Lily Edmunds
Last weekend I ran
an MTA 2K and placed
1st. My first ever AAA
gold!
Kenn Manzerolle
I ran a PB of 4:07.17 at
the Chicago Marathon
taking 10 minutes off
my best time!
Carolyn Pleasance
It took me 3.5 hours to
“wog” 21.1K. I was laughing most of the way because
I ran the STWM in a clown
costume, carrying a rubber
chicken and a balloon.
Angie Gordon
I did the SWTM
half in 1:57. My PB
yet out of three
so far!
Suzanne
Wintrob Oy vey,
I might be addicted!
My first 21.1K in a respectable 2:25. Such
a thrilling experience.
Alessia Cianni
When I realized I had
1K to go, I hit an emotional wall and cried to the
finish line. I thought about
all the amazing people in
my life. I still can’t believe I did it.
Erika Gorseki
Ran my first full
marathon today — and
surprised myself by running the entire distance!
“Trust your training” they
said, and I did. It paid
off tenfold.
Juan
Carlos Solon
Finished my first
Half Marathon
1:49:39!
Christa
Davidson
I ran a 31-minute
marathon PB at
#stwm
Jean-Paul
Hernandez Dressing
up as Batman for the second
year in a row on behalf of the
SickKids Foundation, I’m always
grateful for the support along
the course from the crowd. This
year saw $1,050 raised for
SKF. Can’t wait to do it
again in 2015.
Mat Savulesco
At 40K, seeing Tribe
Fitness cheering was
incredible! I crossed the
finish line after 4:58:10. The
true test came the following day: running in a
drizzle for 4.5K.
Kim Walker
Chicago marathon was
awesome. The most incredible experience. People
all along the course cheering.
Lots of shout outs with my
Canada shirt on.
Brian Temins
Goal achieved.
Personal best and Boston qualified on the
friendly streets of
Chicago.
Christopher Greig
This past weekend, my
family participated in the Detroit
Free Press Marathon weekend.
My daughters, Emma and Jaden,
ran and completed the 5K. They ran
really well and had a blast! I ran the
Detroit Half-Marathon, finishing
2nd in my age group (45-49).
Awesome.
Linda Youell
Today, I did Edmonton’s 10 Mile “Fall
Classic” in 1:44:25, which
extrapolates to a half-marathon time of approx. 2:17
— moving in the right
direction.
Mike Thornton
I ran STWM in 3:03:12.
I’m now qualified for
the Boston Marathon and
smashed my old marathon time
by 33 minutes! New mantra:
Does it hurt? Yep. Do we
care? Heck no!
Chris Hadfield is the first
Canadian to walk in space
and has been a runner since
university. He stepped up his
distance at 40, runs three
times a week and mostly
likes it today for stimulating
thought. This week, he took
EachCoachers’ questions.
Eileen Mortimer asks You set lofty goals very early and methodically went through life, planning and working toward them. What
advice can you offer for goals that are set much later, when you
don’t have a lifetime to work toward achieving them?
Chris Hadfield responds I’m 55 and set a goal when I was a kid
to fly in space and people say to me, “What are you going to do
now? You’ve commanded a space ship, life must be terrible!”
It’s not. There’s no age to stop having goals. Find something that
interests you and use it as a magnet pulling you along in your
decision-making. If you don’t know where you’re trying to get to,
how do you know what to do this weekend? But a goal gives your
life some cohesion. And be kind to yourself. Small decisions make
up your life.
Carina Vigna asks I’m training for the 2014 NYC Marathon! Is
strength training an important component of your distance
running training?
Chris Hadfield responds I run and strength train in parallel so I
keep the machinery of my body in reasonable tone so when I have
to make a demand on it, it won’t let me down. A marathon is a
big load on the body and I like to lift and do resistance training in
addition to my running, but for skeletal density, you need to find
the balance that works for you — and good luck!
Bridget
Roussy On Sunday I
finished my first marathon
— two years after I started this
“hobby.” It was agonizing, it
was a test of my limits, it was
incredible, and I’ve already
registered for my second
one.
Chantal Dagostino
Crunched my personal
best by 5 min. Just did the Toronto waterfront this weekend.
I went in feeling confident and
went with the flow. Ended up
finishing my half marathon in 1:42:09! Felt
great!
SUPERcoach
Janeele Sheen
I ran Toronto Scotiabank
Marathon and I qualified for
Boston! 3:37:35 in memory
of a dear friend Doreen who
passed away just a few days
before. She was the
wind at my back.
Vince Patry
I ran my last big run
of the year today Oct
11. It was a marathon in
my own city in St-Georges, Que. 3:19:00
Blair Poetschke
5:30 for a first
attempt at a slippery
and muddy 50K
Vulture Bait trail
race!
Charles Minor
Marathon # 4 in
the books! STWM
was amazing!
Dean Moratz
Beat my goal of
1:40 for the STWM Half
and finished in 1:38:47
beating my previous
PB by almost
5 minutes!
Lisa Davidson
I stuck to my race plan,
I dug deep, stayed focused,
had fun and thanks to coach
Brock, I finished in 1:38:06 :)
STWM has & always will be
my favourite race of the
season.
Leanne Richardson
I was honoured to be a
Digital Champion this year for
the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon and managed to
get a PB! Shaved 27:12 minutes
off last year’s race! Fantastic
experience! Incredible race!
Everyone should experience it!
Michael Luke
Ran my third marathon
(STWM), knocked 25
minutes off my best time
and qualified for Boston.
It’s been a good
year!
Charlotte Flewelling asks What do your legs feel like after running in space versus on Earth?
Chris Hadfield responds The problem with running on a treadmill
is it shakes the station, so we have an isolated treadmill, floating
on a big gyroscope. It’s like if you had a treadmill mounted in a
canoe, not exactly the same as a normal run. And as soon as you
finish, you’re weightless — it’s as if when you’re finished running,
you immerse yourself in a pool and never take your weight on
your legs again. When you come back, it’s just brutal and you’re
sore for weeks but finally, you get it back.
Jen Kelterborn asks How does one repair a broken ego? I registered for the Scotiabank Full marathon and due to an injury I had
to ask them to move me back to the half. They put me right in the
back, right before the walkers. WOW, talk about a let-down.
Chris Hadfield responds Don’t put strict measures of success
on yourself so you feel like a failure, instead, put measures of
success on yourself so you feel like you’ve succeeded. It’s a completely self-imposed mental state — look at the general population, you’re doing something that’s good for you. Stop measuring
joy by the number at the end of a race. Measure it by the process;
otherwise, you’re forever yearning for something and you’ll be
disappointed all the time.
Carolyn Pleasance asks I know people say, “You just make time,”
but seriously, how to you find time to run? I haven’t been outside
the atmosphere, heck there are days where I hardly make it outside my HOUSE.
Chris Hadfield responds Draw a pie chart of your day and how
much time you spend doing things. You’ll be surprised. Maybe
you realize: Did I really spend 2:30 checking email? Do I have to?
And remember, you don’t have to run for 45 minutes. If you can
get 20 minutes, just go do it. But I’m talking to myself, too …
Allan Smith asks Was training on the ISS similar to low altitude
(like Ottawa) or high altitude (like Kenya)?
Chris Hadfield responds It’s like running with the wind at your
back on a humid warm day. We keep sea level pressure in the
space station, partially for the physiology of the astronauts, but
actually for the machinery. At super low pressure, the equipment
doesn’t cool because heat doesn’t rise in space. Running in the
station is weird because there’s a bubble of hot air around your
body, it doesn’t rise, and the sweat slings around you. You have to
keep a towel floating in the air next to you to wipe yourself.
Duff McLaren asks What goes on in your mind when you get
tired? What “tricks” do you use to keep going?
Chris Hadfield responds Did you see the movie Gladiator? It’s
given me an image of walking through a field of tall grain in an
undulating field, and I can feel the grain in my hand and the sun
in my face and the wind blowing. I can take my mind there and
disassociate while my body chugs along. I used it during space
walks. Just take my mind out for a mental walk.
Erika Goreski asks Did you have any mantras that helped you
when you were in space?
Chris Hadfield responds Music. I will often be singing through a
whole song for a mantra playing in my head and mentally singing
along while I run.
JP Vermette asks At 38 years old, I’ve done 14 races and I’m
thinking of going for the half. What’s your best advice for
training?
Chris Hadfield responds At 40, your body doesn’t heal as quickly.
Recognize that, and as you go to the next level, know that you’re
increasing the risk of injury. Stay multi-faceted with your training, and remember the more you step up your running, the more
you need to step up your rest. Give your body time to recover.
Otherwise, sounds like a great plan.
Don Flaig asks Has getting enough sleep ever been a problem?
With time zones and micro-gravity on the ISS, it couldn’t have
been easy!
Chris Hadfield replies Some people are distracted by the Internet
but being on the ISS was like being inside the Internet — we were
literally in a machine. Back on Earth I travel a lot, about eight or
nine days out of 10, the way I do it is under-load what I eat. Otherwise, get a good book and take naps. Dogs do it, cats do it, lions
do it, why shouldn’t we?
what this is
EachCoach is an engine for setting,
sharing and achieving your fitness goals
with runners across Canada.
On today’s page, we’re celebrating the goals
our members achieved in their fall races. If
you’d like to run with us, sign up today at
EachCoach.com/goal