Philadelphia Marathon

On Sunday November 24, I spent 7 hours and 22 minutes in walking conversation with a 72 year old grandma I had never met before. To be accurate, our conversation was longer than that, as it began while we were in line for the porta-potties provided by Prevention magazine for their Walk It! Team attending the Philadelphia Marathon.

I had the pleasure of getting to know Grandma Ann because I am the Marathon Walking coach for Team Prevention. I was at the Philadelphia Marathon with the magazine to answer questions and be part of its support team. Ann was there with her daughter, her niece, and some friends - all of whom were walking in memory of Ann's sister who had succumbed to breast cancer a few years ago.

As part of the Prevention support team I was registered to walk the full marathon and help out where possible. As it turned out walking with Ann seemed to be the right place to be. We were keeping up the pace required by the race organizers to be just ahead of road openings - a 16 minute mile pace. And she was a game marathon player, more than willing to make a mad dash into the bush baring all for a pee party!

We arrived at the half way point of the race (which also happens to be the finish for the half marathon) just as organizers were picking up pylons and moving road barricades. We were told that we were the last two to "make it through".

Within 200 metres we were already confused as to where to go to stay on the marathon route. On the opposite side of the road thousands of runners crammed the race course on its last 100 meters making their way the finish line at the base of “Rocky’s stairs” up to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. No one was paying attention to two lonely walkers still heading out to complete the last half of the 26 mile route. I had to pull out my map and ask two police officers sitting in their cruiser if we should turn left or right. After that, I was reaching for my map at regular intervals to ensure we were still on course.

By mile 20, we were in the charming Pennsylvania town of Manyunk and being asked, or should I say instructed, to walk on the sidewalks. This is when our 16-minute/mile pace took a real nose-dive and we had to admit that we were not going to finish in the 7-hour time limit. We knew Prevention staff would still be there to welcome us at the finish but we weren’t guaranteed a medal, a finishers’ certificate, and an official time.

We were feeling good though. The course was following a stunningly beautiful route along the Schuylkill River and the temperature had warmed up from a very chilly start hovering at zero. It was a beautiful day for a walk! At mile 25 there was a crew of 2 (!!) Prevention staff cheering us on. As we rounded that last uphill curve to the base of the Rocky stairs, and what had been the finish line of the Philadelphia Marathon, there were more enthusiastic Prevention staff to greet us. And, thank you, thank you, there were still some medals.

I know Ann was walking the distance that day to complete, not compete, and to do that with an angel on her shoulder, but I wanted her to get that medal – to have that shiny, physical memento of a challenge undertaken and accomplished. Most of all, I wanted her to be wearing it for her grandchildren at the family Thanksgiving dinner a few days later.

More on cold weather

Today I needed to pack an extra bag for my weekend foray to the Philadelphia marathon. This is directly related to my long list of cold weather apparel as per my last blog posting.

If any of you reading this have walked a marathon or half marathon or 10k or 5k race, you know that the only real concern the night before the event is what to wear. I have been known to spend almost an entire pasta dinner ruminating over what to wear and then I can fuss for several hours in my room laying all the options out. Then, the first thing I do when I wake up on race morning is listen to the weather, or go to theweathernetwork.com, to check the hourly temperature and meteorlogical conditions! Does this sound familiar?

So, I packed what feels like every possible apparel contingency for temperatures hovering around zero. If there is precipitation at this temperature, it can be ugly. Rain at 2 degrees is honestly worse than snow at -2 degrees.

With furrowed brow, brooding over the potential for a cold, wet one on Sunday, I arrived at the airport with 2 jammed bags for 3 days away. Seated at the gate with my well-deserved latte in hand, I realized, hey, it could be 2 degrees and sunny! That would mean I need sunblock for my face! Which, of course, is nestled in my bathroom cabinet.

Ah well.

And for those of you who are out training or racing this weekend, here’s another cold weather thought that was discussed at the end of walking class today. There are many people who suffer from Raynaud’s Syndrome. The cold weather is especially challenging – fingers, toes, and noses can go completely white from cold as blood vessels constrict. If you are challenged with Raynaud’s, it really helps to add extra layers to the core area and keep the head warm. Don’t let yourself get cold at the beginning of the walk. It’s better to have to peel off layers as you warm up than have the blood vessels in the extremities constrict. And be prepared for the core to cool quickly after your walk is over. Pack an extra warm coat or vest for after training, especially if you are staying around for the oh-so-important après-walk coffee!

A few favourite cold weather things

This morning I tried to defy the reality of the approaching winter season.

At 5:55am, I could be found driving my car down a black street pretending that I didn't really need to get out and scrape the frost off the windshield. With the windshield wipers slipping furiously back and forth over the icy coating, about 100 metres down the road, I gave in. That ice wasn’t going anywhere fast and I could run over a comrade in early morning exercising, if I didn’t stop to remove the blinding layer.

Too bad my ice scraper was buried somewhere in the “winter” cartons in my basement. I was reduced to using my fingernails to scratch away a viewing hole.

Tonight, I will have to face the harsh realities of the weather, take stock of all cold weather necessities, and remove them from storage - ready for action.

Here’s my initial list. If you have anything to add, please join the discussion:

Ice scraper for car windows!
Hooded layer for the first 10 minutes of warming up.
Gloves/mittens.
Vaseline for skin protection.
Clear glass inserts for sunglasses to protect eyes in the dark from cold and winds.
Layers for legs.
Layers for upper body.
Layers for head.
Layers for hands.
Neck warmer
Yaktrax.
Reflective vest (especially for dark, rainy nights…there are a lot of boomers out there driving the roads who have little/no night vision – and no night vision when it rains!)

And I’m going to get out the oats, too. There’s nothing like cooked oatmeal for breakfast on these cold mornings. Last winter I discovered maple sugar as a topping and I now consider it a partner-for-life to oatmeal.

Winter tips welcome here!

Lee

Road etiquette

...no business like show business! National Women's Show business that is. WoW had a booth at the show this past weekend for the first time ever. It was a great success. We met lots of women (and a few good men!) and opened eyes to the incredible fitness possibilities walking offers.

We also met some people who had encountered some of us on the race course before. Usually this is a positive experience as they are inspired by the pace and form of WoW Power Walkers.

Sadly, in the case of one woman who visited us on the weekend – she had a different experience. Apparently, when she was participating in the Around the Bay Road Race 2008 she started with the walkers. She was doing a run-walk version of the course. And, she got an earful from some WoW Power Walkers that she needed to be walking. This continued throughout the race to the point when an argument ensued.

Well, we all know how this frustrates those of us who train to walk the entire course. I experienced it personally walking the Angus Glen Half Marathon two weeks ago when the male lead jogged just ahead of me for the first 2 kilometres. As I passed him, I struggled with what to say. It’s just so frustrating and, yet, I hate to discourage anyone who is out on the race course. As I walked by him I said “Good morning” and then suggested that he probably should have signed up for the running division.

I’m not sure this was the correct way to approach him, but I could not pass him without saying something. I do believe that race organizers need to be very clear that walking divisions are for people who walk the entire race. Many race organizers with whom I talk tell me that the “policing” of the walkers is the single greatest deterrent from introducing walking divisions. And no race organizer likes to be accosted at the end of an exhausting race day with a slew of angry walkers complaining that someone in the division was running. As far as they are concerned, the aggravation is not justified by the numbers in the division – at this point in time.

We need to be conscious of the challenges facing race directors while continuing our efforts to encourage them to publish clear guidelines for walking participants. At the same time we need to be good walking citizens on the course. There must be some way we can remind people jogging their way through walking divisions that they should be registered as a runner, without discouraging their efforts as a participant in general.

If you have trained to power walk the entire way through a race, you are an inspiration. Let your form and speed speak volumes. Together, let’s come up with a way to remind people on course and off course, that it takes a special effort to walk every step of the way.

Ideas welcome here.

Plyometric exercise for strength

As per my October and November newsletter discussion on plyometric exercises:



Plyometric moves have been shown to improve performance by training the muscles to reach maximum strength in as short a time as possible. Some plyometric exercises include jumping and hopping. We like to include plyometric moves in our training on occasion to add power to our endurance abilities as walkers. An ideal time to work on plyometrics is in the off season, but carefully considered and introduced plyometric exercise can be done during the taper phase of your program. This gives your muscles an extra power kick when they have been training to work in endurance mode.



Plyometric training develops three areas of muscle strength: starting strength where muscles must contract to move the body against gravity; stopping strength where the muscles must contract as they lengthen to absorb stopping energy; and, elastic strength which is the ability to absorb the stopping energy and overcome it to move again in a short time.