Victoria Marathon Training - Week 17 - GUEST BLOG by Ian A.

Running Bébé is busy winding down her training this week and thought it may be a good idea for a guest blog. This is my second guest blog entry – I wrote one a few months ago about a run we did together that didn’t go so well. Anyways, I thought I'd recap some of the highlights and lowlights of RB’s training for the Victoria marathon on Oct. 12.

Highlights:

1. The Lands End Half Marathon – This was a training run in early September. It was run in a rural part of Victoria and although RB didn’t have a great time, I had a fun time watching the race with RB’s dad and his dog. It was a beautiful Sunday morning and John, Reilly and I bombed around the countryside in his Jeep following the course. We probably stopped on the roadside 7 or 8 times to take pictures. The runners started to recognize us after a couple of stops which was fun.

2. Last 20 Mile Training Run – RB and I went on her last 20 mile run a couple of weeks ago in Pemberton. I was on my bike for 20 miles and she ran. We saw all of the sights – the mountains, streams and had a very nice day. My butt was sore from close to four hours on the saddle but I’d definitely do that again.

3. Podcasts – I am not sure if all runners are into podcasts but RB certainly is. Most weekends we drive from Vancouver up to Pemberton and our main forms of entertainment are listening to running podcasts and singing along to RB’s bad selection of songs on her iPod. She is the only person I know that only keeps 15-20 songs on her iPod so there is never much selection – I tried explaining that most people keep all of their songs on the ipod but I think she is very storage conscious. In any case, I am probably one of the only non-runners who listen to the likes of 4 Feet Running, Pheddipidations and Another Runner. I have been enjoying all of them and look forward to new episodes each week.

4. Longest Day 5K – I am not sure if this was during the actual training period but this was my first race ever and we had a nice time. Fun race followed by free BBQ – what could be better than that?

5. Blog Comments – The comments that readers have left are great motivation. Its nice to know others are in the same boat and have experienced the same things. Don’t be shy, leave comments!

Lowlights:

1. Pre-Marathon Nervousness – After RB had finished all of her long runs she had a bout of anxiety about the marathon. Its funny that it seems to happen after all of the hard work is done.

2. Land End Half Marathon – While this was a highlight of mine, it was a bit rough for RB. She had a bit of an asthma attack during the last 3 kms of the race. We couldn’t see her during this time and waited at the finish for her. She was on pace for a great time to that point so it was a little bit disappointing for her.

3. Running in Rain – we live in Vancouver, if you don’t run in the rain you will never run.

Its been a fun few months of training. It looks like RB is not planning to run a spring marathon so she will be doing other activities this winter (bring on the snow!!). I am looking forward to the marathon this Sunday and will try to update her Twitter if I can figure it out. Be sure to send her your best wishes for the race this Sunday!