Power walking the Chilly Half Marathon

Sandwiched between a day of extreme winds and a day of extreme cold, Chilly Half Marathon organizers, participants, and volunteers were blessed with a truly perfect Mach day last Sunday to host, walk, and support one of this Year's most anticipated races.

Why the anticipation? Because this is the race that keeps many of us training through January and February - the months when it would be so much easier to stay in bed, watch Downton Abbey, surf the Internet, drink copious amounts of hot chocolate and other more toxic beverages, research RRSP options, go shopping at indoor malls, hang out in coffee shops. You name the activity and it's probably easier (well, maybe not the RRSP bit) than layering on the technical fabric to go for a training walk.

So, kudos to the walkers and runners who laid it out on the pavement last weekend. Special mention to those of you who entered your first race. Watch out it could be the beginning of an addiction.

Robbie Burns 8k race

Aye, there's nothing like a few bagpipes to get a person moving quickly. With last name Scott, I guess it makes sense that I would love the bagpipes. I feel taller and stronger when I hear them. Then there are people who hate the bagpipes. My guess is the sound of them at the start of the Robbie Burns race in Burlington last Sunday made those people want to move quickly away! Whether your feelings about bagpipes are positive or negative, they serve as perfect motivation to move fast!

Power walkers did not enjoy a separate start this year. We had to find a suitable starting point among the running pack. The energy of so many participants is high but it is difficult to know your competition and where they are located. There could always be a power walker ahead that you did not see starting in the pack of runners ahead.

On the whole I think it's better for the sport to have a separate start but I find it interesting that I am often finishing with better personal times when I keep pushing because there could be a walker ahead. On Sunday, as I approached the 6k mark I could see one of the local power walkers, Joanne, pushing as hard as she could toward the finish line. WoW! How did she get way up there? If she could do it, I should be trying harder. And, so I did. Finding a reserve that I wasn't sure existed, I caught and passed her. I owe her a great deal for that. She brought out a strength and speed in me of which I was unaware. She's probably responsible for my extreme need for a nap Sunday afternoon!

After the race, I spoke with her and she, too, tried really hard to catch up to me after I passed her. So, I pushed her to dig deep into her reserves.

Its all a fantastic sharing of energy.

WoW coaches at Flying Pig 2011

I don't know about airborne porcine objects, but Karen and Vera sure were flying at The Flying Pig Marathon last weekend finishing with personal bests that smashed their previous times by almost 11 minutes. In just a few years Vera has brought her marathon time down by half an hour!

It's a lesson in patience and training!

Big Sur Marathon, 21 miler, 10.6 miler, and 9 miler

WoW Power Walkers covered all the distances at BSIM 2011.

The route was changed this year because of a road slide in March that closed the highway just north of Bixby Bridge. The up side of this change meant that those of us entered in the marathon, 21 miler and 9 miler events could walk together to the start from our hotel in Carmel!

The weather was postcard perfect as you can see from the attached photos.

Taiko drummers keep our feet to the beat.


Sublime views keep our souls singing.


Hallelujah is right. Except that we have a full year to wait to do it again.



Doesn't this just say it all. Congrats Meg.

Catalina Island Marathon

I estimate we climbed 4300 vertical feet in today's Catalina Island Marathon. Climbing was one thing, going downhill was another. This is the first race in many that I have suffered. And it was all on the downhill. I kicked a rock so badly (did I mention it is a trail race), I think I lost a toenail to it. I have my first race-induced blister ever on my left heel, It's about the size of a toonie if you put it on a rail track and let a train run over it (kind of how my legs feel right now). And I wrenched my right knee.

But, what a beautiful race. We left on a boat at 5am, in the dark, to follow the eastern coast of Catalina Island up to Two Harbours. It is called Two Harbours because there are literally two harbours, each on either side of an isthmus. We landed at one harbour and walked over to the other harbour for the start. (I look pretty happy before we started!)

After that it was all about uphill, downhill, uphill, downhill, more uphill, more downhill, one giant uphill until the final gruelling downhill that dropped almost 1600 feet over two miles.

The race went through the interior of the island making tracks on dirt road and trails to Avalon harbour from where the boat left in the early morning. I include a few photos to give you a sense of the incredible beauty.

P.S. they had a walkers start, but I was encouraged to start with the runners considering my expected finish time and because results for walkers were not "official". When a race has a walking start, I'd really like to see it offer a proper walking division.

Chilly Half Marathon 2011

If you woke up on race morning for the Chilly Half and groaned, imagine how the organizers felt! While it looked like a winter wonderland from the comfort of my kitchen, coffee in hand, it was not a walking wonderland on the roads.

The first challenge was getting to the race. The highways were snow and ice covered. As I carefully made my way along the rutted QEW, I was grateful that the other cars and trucks were behaving sensibly. Once I arrived at the race site, it made no sense to go up and down the roads warming up as I knew it would just be another hour with cold, wet feet.

Walkers were supposed to have a separate start after the runners. A few blue walking bibbed participants had to be pulled out from among the runners. Ultimately, we were set off rather unceremoniously while runners were still crossing the start line. This made it impossible to see if walkers were running.

While the start was somewhat frustrating, the organizers had a cyclist on the route who was monitoring the blue bibs to ensure they were walking. A few people were transferred to the running division. This attention to the walking division did make for much happier walking division participants!

HUGE kudos to the enthusiastic volunteers on the course - especially the WoW Power Walking water station gang at 18k. it can't have been easy to stand in that slush and ice for more than 4 hours - looking and acting so enthusiastic.

Athens Classic Marathon, 2010. What a foot race!

The 28th Athens Classic Marathon is over and what a maraathon it was. The management of more than 16,000 particpants was perfection. This is no small feat for a race organization that has seen only about 3,000 participants in recent years. Local citizens lined almost the entire route, some offering olive branches. Children were excited to high-five competitors. Bravos were shouted from corners, apartment baclconies, bridge overhangs, and especially along the last kilometre before we entered the Panathenaic Stadium.

It was sunny and hot enough that we were pouring the plentiful water over ourselves as much as drinking it. The view of the hills at the Marathon, the very same protected by the Athenians from the Persian invaders 2500 years, were covered in olive trees as they were then. My corral, block 6 Orange, happened to be alongside the marathon flame which has been lit all year to celebrate the 2500 anniversary of the battle. Cities around the world that are hosting marathons are invited to bring the flame to their marathons. In Toronto, it arrived at the end of September for the Toronto Waterfront event. Look for it, if you are attending any big city events before the end of the year.

I am having some trouble uploading photos to the blog from Athens but there are a few key ones posted on my Facebook page. Check them out. You can access that page by clicking on the Facebook icon at the bottom of any page of the wowpowerwalking.com website.

Original marathon course

The Athens Classic Marathon is celebrating the 2500th anniversary of the battle of Marathon this Sunday. I am here to walk the closest thing to the original route Phedippides took from Marathon to Athens to announce Athenian victory.

We will cross the finish line in the stadium built for the first Olympiad held in 1896 in which the Marathon was the highly anticipated final event.

There is a power walking division although the organizers insisted that faster than 6.5 hours register as a runner. Power walking results will not be posted separately apparently. All things change in time, often for the better, so I hope this marathon will soon recognize power walkers of all speeds and post results!

More details and photos to come soon. I need to go find some Greek coffee!

A Power Walker among runners

The weekend of Canadian Thanksgiving I walked the Victoria Half Marathon. There is no walking division in this race but it is a glorious route and the crowd support is in encouraging and consistent. I felt the special date of it this year - 10th day of the 10th month of the 10th year - had a positive karmic feel to it. So positively karmic, in fact, that I somehow managed to convince my entire family (3 sons, husband, sister and brother-in-law!) to participate in race day. We didn't all walk, and we didn't all pace each other, but we were all out there!

The attached link will get you to a video finish of me with a lot of runners. All through the race I was wishing there was a walking division since I have felt strongly for several years that walking divisions set a new standard for walkers - a standard that promotes improved fitness through walking.

When you see my finish in the attached video, it gives you an idea of how my finish time listed with the runners does not really do justice to what I am doing. This is true for all people power walking a race as fast as they can. Let's keep pushing for walking divisions and recognition of the walking competitor.

http://www.brightroom.com/view_user_event_video.asp?EVENTID=61987&BIB=10057&LNSEARCH=1&PWD=

What's that race doing at the end of my training walk?

The most recent issue of Runner's World suggested a training strategy for long training runs of ramping up the speed for the last 5 to 8 kilometres. By extension I think we can do the same with long training walks. The idea makes sense to me. Just when the training walks get slow and tiring, pick up the speed to race pace. The challenge is making it happen. I'd probably need a large dog chasing me to pick up the pace!



So, when I recently realized that I could incorporate the inaugural Bang and Olufsen 5k race into the final 5 kilometres of my planned long training walk last Sunday, I signed up. Being in a race, I thought, would ensure I walk at race pace.

Waking up early Sunday, I walked through a quiet city ending up in celebrity village - Yorkville during the Toronto International Film Festival - where the start/finish line was in place. No, A,B, or C grade celebrities in sight, though there were lots of black limos and security types hanging around the entrance to the Four Season's hotel. There wasn't a lot of time to search them out since I arrived in time to get my timing chip and walk a lap of Queen's Park to stay warm before the start.



While there was no walking division, a funny thing happens when I cross a timing mat. I get competitive with myself! Even though I had walked 17k to get to this race, it was like those 17k had not been walked. I wanted to finish in a good time - darn it!

The weather was perfectly cool and overcast, the course was flat and easy to follow, the bagel at the end actually had slices of cheese, lettuce and tomato, and there cinnamon buns for the craving!

Best of all a cheque for $10,000 was handed over to the YWCA Elm Centre as part of the awards festivities. Like I always say, these races are win, win, win.

Big Sur Marathon 2010

The Big Sur Marathon starts with a 3am wake-up to make a 3:45 bus from Carmel that will take us to our start line. For those of us who walked the full marathon, that means making our way along the inky black Pacific coast to the Big Sur Ranger Station. For walkers entered in the 21 miler, they headed to the Andrew Molera Park, 5 miles north of the ranger station. Finally, there is the option to walk the 10.6 mile event leaving Rocky Point (oh the view!) or the 9 miler starting at the event finish line in Carmel and tours the unique Los Lobos Sate Park.

I knew we were in for a spectacular day when not a wisp of fog could be seen on that dark drive down the coast. The Point Sur lighthouse swooshed around the blackness for most of the drive, the stars and the milky way clearly visible through the tired glass of our school bus windows.

Once the sun cleared the horizon, the Big Sur coast boasted its finest views like a proud peacock. Audible gasps from participants could be heard at frequent intervals during the race - passing Point Sur Lighthouse, climbing Hurricane Point, snaking our way down to Bixby Bridge, catching the vista toward Rocky Point. Add to this the fun of the new mile markers, the joy of the volunteers, and the beauty of the hand-made medals at the finish line and you have the best marathon day.

Twas the night before Big Sur

...and all walkers are well hydrated, fuelled, and trying to get some sleep. Good luck! We're too excited and too terrified we will miss our buses. Those of us walking the full marathon need to be on the bus at 3:45 am, those walking the 21 miler are climbing aboard at 4:30, and 10.6 mile walkers at 6am.

It was a glorious day beside the Pacific and we are hoping for more tomorrow. Pics are not posting tonight...so I will try for some tomorrow.

...pics added! Top: our WoW gang after our early Saturday morning walk along Carmel Beach. Bottom: Coach Jill, in her Boston 2010 jacket - half way to completion of the Boston to Big Sur challenge!

Walking the Boston Marathon

Yesterday, WoW Power Walking coach Jill Pettit, with her husband Jay, walked the Boston Marathon. Yes, the Boston Marathon which requires qualification times for entry!

Their times were amazing: 5:02:51 and 5:17:57. And that's just half the story. This Sunday the pair will walk the full Big Sur International Marathon - from Pfeiifer State Park to Rio Road, Carmel. They will be feted as two of a a mere couple of hundred who have completed the Boston to Big Sur Challenge 2010. And they will be the only two to have achieved that impressive feat with one foot on the ground at all times, walking!

I'll have more for you after the race!

Pre-race fun at Around the Bay

I found the perfect place to write inspirational chalk markings on the Around the Bay 30k Road Race route yesterday. The last "heart-break" hill, which would be more appropiately named "soul-destroying", at the 26k mark is normally closed entirely to traffic. This means that before the race, I could park my car at the barrier, walk down the hill, and write the chalk messages on the road without having to worry about traffic.


About 5 minutes into the task, I heard a powerful engine come up behind me and, as I glanced over my shoulder, a police officer pulled up on a powerful and large motorcycle that looked like a smaller version of the Hindenburg. (My son thinks it must have been a BMW - for those who want to know) He came to a stop and cheerily asked. "OK, who are you rooting for?."


Sadly, he had just barely spoken the word "for" when he toppled backward, the bike almost falling on top of him. He rolled down the hill and into the gutter. He looked more mortified than cheery as he lay stranded on his back in the grass.

Tactfully, I hope, I asked if he was OK. Seeing his cheery face turn red with mortification, I thought it best to proceed with my chalk messages. He certainly didn't want me helping him out of the gutter!

After a few minutes of me tactfully ignoring his attempts to right his toppled motorcycle, I realized he may genuinely need some help to get it back on its wheels. So, with me pulling and him pushing, we got the blimp standing and ready to roll.

Without a word further, off he drove!

Another race, another good story! (no pic out of respect!)

Chips that follow your every move

On Sunday I am walking the Around the Bay Road Race. While I do so, my timing chip will be sending signals to Facebook so that if anyone cares to, they can follow my every move over the course.

Well...maybe not my every move, but timed updates. It's a brave new socially, digitally networked, walking world.

The main purpose of this race is a training walk for my two destination races this spring in Big Sur and Ottawa. I hope my ego stays in check. It may be a challenge to maintain a training pace, not a racing pace, in order to impress all those Facebook friends who will giving up their Sunday to watch my race updates!

Wish me luck and stay tuned!

Get out the green

We're talking serious green at the St. Patrick's Day 5k walk for the Achilles Track Club - a wonderful race that supports disabled athletes.

The WoW team showed up in their greenest finery. Sadly, I showed up without my camera, so I am begging anyone who has some pics to send them to me.

We love this 5k event that supports a very deserving, and often overlooked, local charity. The short distance offers a perfect opportunity to get family and friends involved who don't enjoy long distance walking. (It's a sneaky way, to get them hooked!) Challenging winds and rain did not deter participants from walking, running, or smiling!

It was perfectly fitting that this race, which supports and features so many disabled athletes was timed coincidentally with the 2010 Paralympic Games.

Rockin Las Vegas Marathon

We missed Cher!!!

I know it's churlish to complain about the one thing I missed on Sunday....but really...when one has been awake since 4am, eaten breakfast at 4:45, and been ready and waiting in the start area since 5:40 only to discover that Cher has come and gone - singing the national anthem while the speakers were malfunctioning - is just so very disappointing.

Surrounded by a thousand imitation Elvi, we had one of the real queens of Vegas singing for us, and we didn't catch even a glimpse of her on the mother of all jumbo screens outside of the Mandalay Bay Hotel. A search of the Internet proved fruitless - not one photo of her at the start platform - although I did learn that Celine Dion sang America the Beautiful before Cher took the stage!

I'm not sure I believe any of it happened. In a city of copycat Eiffel Towers, pyramids, and Italian cities and palazzos, not to mention thousands of copycat Elvi, there really is no real here.

Mind you, all the fakery does add up to some effective distraction. If a person suffers from any sort of attention disorder, Vegas is the half marathon to enter.

I have included some of the pics here and more on facebook.

P.S. I walked only the half marathon with Team Prevention so can't speak to the full marathon route but my first instinct is that the half marathon offers the best of Vegas - covering the Strip from beginning to end.

I know there were several WoW Power Walkers out on the course and it would be great if you would post some of your thoughts on the race.

Vegas does it zany

I love, love, love the wonderful and zany marathons I have walked over the past decade as a power walking coach - wine in Bordeaux (!), gladiators in Rome (!), pigs in Cincinnati (!). I fully expected Vegas to take zaniness to heretofore uncharted territory. Thankfully, it has exceedeed my expectations and I haven't yet made it to the start line. When the entrance to the Rodeo Cowboy Show is barely two walking lunges from the race expo, I figure we're in for some fun. The indoor plaza/casino/food concourse is feeding tens of thousands of people (and I'm not exaggerating the numbers) into one of these two doors - one for cowboys and one for marathoners. I have seen some marathoners enter the cowboy show but I have yet to witness one cowboy brave the marathon expo.

Personally, I'd like to see more cowboys take up marathoning. I think they could teach us a thing about good hats.

More on the marahon itself after the race tomorrow!

Walking off pre-race jitters

Here I am in Philly to join Prevention magazine, as their Walking Coach, with their team of more than 300 walkers. The weather could not be any more perfect and this morning about 25 members of the team brought all their jitters out for a "welcome walk".

Even if you're on your own at a race, it's calming to go out the morning before te event to scout out the start area (especially port-a-pottie locations!). Here in Philly it's even better than usual because the start and finish are within a few hundred meters of each other - at the base of the "Rocky Steps" Ta-da-daaaah. Ta-da-daaaah.

Here are some pics of our Team Members at the top of the steps and the view from the steps looking down the first kilometer of the race route toward downtown Philly.

Looking forward to tomorrow!

Long Beach Marathon with Team Prevention

Any race with palm trees lining the route, is a good race. In Long Beach last weekend with a team of readers from Prevention magazine. the weather ended up being perfect - slightly cool and overcast. Long Beach may not be the most scenic of California towns but the race organizers have brilliantly captured the best of the city. The route visits the highlights of Long Beach including the Queen Mary which is permanently docked in LB and at least 3 miles walking along a cycle path beside the ocean. The full marathon goes through the University of California at Long Beach where the students treat each participant like an elite athlete.

It's a huge treat for me to meet readers from the magazine after months of training on their own and getting to know them on the magazine’s online forum.

http://www.prevention.com/community/forums/index.jsp?plckForumPage=ForumDiscussion&plckDiscussionId=Cat%3aTeam+Prevention+Walk+It!Forum%3a8501091424Discussion%3a5481097795&plckCurrentPage=3

The day before the race, I got a chance to walk with several of the readers during a “welcome walk”. We walked out to the start area for a little orientation – a helpful thing since it is dark when we arrive before the race. On race morning I rode a bicycle through the course dispensing encouragement, food, and fuel to Team Prevention walkers dressed in highly visible pink shirts. This worked exceptionally well because the roads were closed entirely to traffic. At each traffic light there were always at least four police officers stopping traffic. This made it easy to ride and I’m sure it makes it an A+ course for participants as well. And it shows organizer commitment to making the race an enjoyable experience right down to the very last finisher (although we’d like to see them be prepared for all their participants with medals – they ran out toward the end for half marathoners).

And at the end of the day, all the Team Pink Prevention – many of who are first-time marathoners – finished with a smile, faded memories of any early morning nerves, and, hopefully, plans for their next race!

** In LB there is no walking division, there was an early start for walkers entered in the full marathon. These participants did receive a race chip time but the results were not considered “official” times for qualification purposes.