3 Good Weeks...

Here is the first professional picture from my wedding (http://www.feliciliveshere.com/). I cant wait to see the rest of them which should be done next week. My cousin Marissa and her husband Jo Jo are the genius's behind this picture.

After returning from our honeymoon we jumped right back into regular training. First week back I did 125.5km's, second week back I did 130.5km's and third week I did 138.5km's. These 3 weeks went very well. I felt good right through the end of the 3rd week. In the 3rd week I did my first workout this season that was faster than my zone #1/easy day pace. I did 2 X 5km with 1km easy inbetween. Tim walked this workout with me since my pace was the same as his easy day pace. I was supposed to go between 5:26-5:09/km. The goal was that no matter what, the 2nd 5km is supposed to be faster than the first. I ended up walking:

1st: 25:49

2nd: 25:40

It felt great and easy. It obviously really helped having Tim walking with me.

At the end of the 3rd week, we decided to go to Las Vegas for the Vegas Marathon/Half Marathon with our friends Lili and Anthony Cordova. They were going to do the half marathon and I told Lili that I would walk with her as part of my long and easy days. It was a really fun weekend except for the fact that it is FREEZING in Vegas this time of year. It was 2c the morning of the race an the race started at 6:15am, 2 combinations I dont like...cold and early, eek! Lili did super well after only been training for a month since her hip surgery.

I think the cold weather and the long drive got to me because when I tried to train on Tuesday, I had a super high heart rate and felt very congested. These symptoms have continued all week and because of this, my week of training was shot. Its better to take the short time off when you arent feeling good instead of trying to train through it and it be longer than a week that I have to take off or easy. Now Saturday, my heart rate has improved but I still have a few days until this cold is gone.

We go to Long Island, New York on Friday for Christmas. I am looking forward to being with Tim for the first time at Christmas. On the 26th we then go to McAllen, Texas for the USA Junior Racewalk Camp. Its going to be the biggest camp we have ever had with over 60 kids and 30 of them from outside of Texas. Looking forward to it!

Keep on walking,

Rachel

Wedding is Over. Time to get back to TRAINING!

Our wedding day was perfect. I know that everyone says that but absolutely nothing went wrong on our wedding day. As you can see in this picture, we had the best weather. We are so happy to finally be married. A few days after the wedding we went to Oahu, Hawaii. Neither of us had been there before and we really enjoyed it. It was just like San Diego except for better beaches and warmer weather (which is nice when you're a tourist!). We drove at least 1000 miles during those 11 days. We covered every part of that island and did everything we could. It was a fantastic trip.

For 3 weeks, I barely had time to do much real training. The week before the wedding I had my family arrive on the Monday to help me with the final touches. The next 2 weeks we continued to host guests for a few days after the wedding and then took off for our 11 day honeymoon. Like I said, barely any time for training.

We have now been home from Hawaii for 2 weeks. We jumped right into full time training again. Even though we were very tired when we got back, we have managed to get some very good mileage in. Last week I did 125km's and this week I will have 130km's. The mileage will just keep building over the next 2 weeks leading up to a race that I will be doing in Long Island when we go home for Christmas. So far training is going well and I am looking forward to the 2010 season.

Keep on walking,

Rachel

Married in 10 days!

I cant believe how quickly the wedding has come. It is now only a week and a half away and with not much left to do, I can now just enjoy and look forward to the big day. I mostly am looking forward to my family and friends coming for the wedding. My sisters are coming in just a few days so that they can be here to help me with the final touches. Here is a picture of Tim and I at the spot where we got engaged in March in Sedona, Arizona.

Training has been going pretty well but I have been pretty stressed and mentally tired from all the wedding preparations. The last few days I have been more relaxed and have been feeling better while training. My mileage has been coming on slower than I would have liked because I have been pretty tired and busy. Last week was my biggest week of the new season at 114km's. This week I should have around 120km's and then I will have about 3 weeks of pretty low mileage because of the wedding and our honeymoon in beautiful Hawaii where we will be for 11 days. I have managed to get up to 18km's for my longer walks but this week will do 20k for the first time since the Ontario 20km RW Championships on September 20th. The last three Sundays I have gone hiking. Hiking is a really great break from racewalking or running but allows you to be on your feet for hours so its a good workout and gets your body ready for the longer racewalking workouts.

I will be continuing to do base training for the next few months, trying to build mileage and get stronger. I will not be racing until the end of January at the Millrose Games again. Looking forward to it!

Keep on walking,

Rachel

Training on the Strand

Finally after barely being in San Diego since April, I am back and getting into a new routine.

A lot has happened since I was last here. We decided to move from Tim's studio apartment to a two bedroom apartment that is 20 meters from the trail that we train on every day, the Silver Stand. The main reason for moving was to have more room but more importantly to be closer to the trail so that we didnt have to drive to practice every day. It has been so great living so close, we are loving it so far! The apartment is still a mess from moving but it is coming along.

Along with the new apartment, we have bought a "new" car. Its a 2007 VW Rabbit and VERY importantly, its AUTOMATIC :) haha! I dont know how to drive standard so we had to get an automatic so that I would be able to drive. It has felt so good being able to drive here. I feel so much more independent now.

Training has been going ok. I started training again on September 7th and was pretty stressed the first few weeks of training because I was packing up all my stuff in Canada and getting ready to move. It was a big step for me. I walked at the Ontario 20km RW Championships on September 20th as a workout. It went really well. I was actually very surprised how good I felt. I ended up walking 1:52:21, walking every 5km faster than the previous one. I tried to walk with some of the other walkers during the race to try and help them and so that I could have some company! The last 5-6km's I walked with a man named JP who was doing his first 20km. He did so well! His PB for 10k is around 55 minutes so that shows how well his first 20k was! It was really fun walking with him.

The last week I have been feeling much better. My heart rate has been getting lower and my pace has been getting a little faster. I have been consistently under 6 minutes/km on my easy days which is fine for this point of the season. It will just gradually get faster in the next few weeks. I am using my disappointment from Berlin to motivate me and I am really looking foward to this coming season!

It is now October 2nd and Tim and I are getting married in 29 days! WOW! Time goes fast. I am feeling pretty much ready. There is some stuff that I still need to do which is typical but I am looking forward to having everything done and being able to enjoy the week before the wedding with my family.

Keep on walking,

Rachel

Week #1 Done!

After 3 weeks of rest after my very long season, I finally got back to training a week ago. So far things have been going well. Usually the first few times I racewalk after having my annual break, I usually feel awkward. This year was the first time that I can remember not feeling like that. I pretty much felt like I got back into racewalking, almost like I never stopped...until I look at my watch. My times are slower and my heart rate is higher but that is to be expected after having that much time off and not really doing much training if any at all.

Sunday I have the Ontario 20km RW Championships in Welland. I will not be racing this by any means. I will simply be participating and doing the 20km as a workout. So far the longest workout I have done is 12km's easy. Tomorrow I will walk 15km's and that will be the longest walk I do before Sunday's 20km. Im confident that I can walk around 2 hours comfortably. It will mostly just fun to be there and see so many faces that I havent seen since June at Nationals.

I have still been having problems with my left leg at the attachement of the glute and hamstring and so I managed to get an MRI appointment on Friday so hopefully something positive will come out from that.

Keep on walking,
Rachel

Disappointing Day in Berlin

Sorry it has taken me almost 2 weeks since my race to put up a post race report. If you saw the results you would have probably figured that I was pretty disappointed about how it went.

I had a very good last week of training and resting before the race. I remember feeling so happy with how easy training felt and how it was great how low my heart rate was. I was eating well and resting and drinking a lot. I didnt do anything unusual, I did everything that I did in preparation for any race.

The men's 20km race was the day before mine and the weather was pretty warm for them (around 25-28c) so I figured that the weather would be warm for my race also but the thought of it being over 30c never crossed my mind.

I ate really well the morning of the race and felt that I had eaten enough to last me through the race which started at noon. I got to the course and it was hot like I knew it would be. I figured it was around 30c which I have raced in once before in Brazil so I knew that I could do it but that I would have to have a different race plan, no personal best time today! I did usual 3km warm up with my heart rate monitor on and my HR was really high, too high. I didnt know if it was because of it being hot or because of nerves. I just shook it off and went to the call room. It was in a tent and it was super hot and we had to be in there 30 minutes before the start of the race. I just relaxed and stretched. When they brought us out to the start line, I really felt the heat, it was brutal but tried to not be bothered by it.

When the gun went off, all I was trying to think about was not being drafted by the whole group. I knew that they would all go out pretty fast so I was trying to stay back, even if that meant that I was in last place. I went through 1km's and my split was 4:53 and I was in last place! I tried to feel like I was easing into a pace and a good feeling but all I was feeling was a little heavy and tired, after a couple kilometers. I tried to keep up a good pace but I found myself going slower and slower as the race went on. I was just dead. I couldnt believe that this was happening to me in the biggest race so far in my life! This was my dream all season being in Berlin. I felt tired that I was racing so poorly when my parents flew all that way to see me race. I was feeling terrible but I didnt want to stop, I wanted to finish, I didnt want a DNF for my first World Championships. I felt like I was dragging my body to the finish line though. It was just terrible! The last lap I honestly felt and thought that I was going to fall over, if not then at the finish line. I managed to not fall until around the finish line when the volunteers kind of caught me. It was terrible. My body temperature was so high. At that point I knew that the weather had to be higher than 30c. When I saw my parents after the race, they had a thermomitor on their backpack and they said that it got up to 38c during the race, 38!!!!!! I just couldnt believe it. No wonder I felt so horrible! I ended up finishing in 35th place in a time of 1:45:45.

Right after the race, the only thing that made me feel somewhat ok was the fact that I was now on a break from training and could enjoy the rest of the time that I had in Berlin. It was nice touring around the city a bit with my parents and after they left, I went to the track to watch the rest of the meet everyday. It was so amazing seeing such incredible performances. It made me really motivated for when I get back training that I want to just continue to improve and be ready to come back in 2 years and do so much better. I have a lot more to improve and im looking forward to dropping more time on my personal best.

So far I have had almost 2 weeks off training and will have 1 more week to go before I have to start training again. I am doing the Ontario 20km Racewalk Championships on September 20th where all I have to do is win which will not be a problem at all. I will just do the race as a 20km workout. It should be fun to see everyone that I havent seen from the Canadian racewalk world again! For now though, I will continue to enjoy my break!

Keep on walking,

Rachel

Berlin Tomorrow, Race Sunday

My time in Kamen has gone very well. I have had very good training and have enjoyed my stay here with the other athletes. We havent had the nicest weather since Saturday. Its been overcast, 18c and sometimes raining lightly. Its been nice for training in the morning but for the rest of the day, its very gloomy.

On Saturday I did a Norwegian Fartlek and I felt great! My plan was to do the "hard" sections at around race pace or just under and I think I managed to do that. I felt very comfortable, relaxed and that I got into a very good rhythm. After that workout, I am feeling even more confident towards the race on Sunday. From now on I will just been doing easy walks except for Wednesday when I will do 5 X 1km at race pace just to do a little something to wake me up a few days before the race.

Part of the team leaves tomorrow for Berlin. I leave in the morning with some of the other distance athletes. I am really looking forward to getting over there. Its a 3.5 hour train ride to where we are staying now.

My parents will get to Berlin on Friday and we will probably get together on Saturday, the day before my race. I put a picture up from last years World Racewalk Cup because my race this weekend will just be like a World Cup, the only difference is that all of the other track and field events will be contested throughout the week also. Im not nervous (yet) thinking about the race because I have been to two World Cups already and I know that this race will have all the same girls and all the same protocalls so it will be nothing that I havent already experienced.

I wont update again before my race but I wanted to keep you all informed that I am feeling great and ready to go on Sunday! You can find the results at: http://berlin.iaaf.org/results/racedate=08-16-2009/bydate.html

Wish me luck :)

Rachel

In Kamen, Germany

I arrived in Germany yesterday after a long travel from San Diego. I arrived at 7:30am which I hate doing because you then have to try and stay awake all day to best adjust to the time difference. This time I have a 9 hour time difference so we will see how I deal with that compared to 6 hour difference from Toronto.

The training centre we are staying at is very nice. This is a picture of the centre and the town from an areal. There really isnt much to do around the town so we are sort of restricted to our rooms in a sense. Our rooms however are very nice. We all have our own room and they are very modern. I will be here until August 11th when I take a train to Berlin. There are quite a few bike paths here. The one that I have been training on is around a corn field which is sort of neat and different. I just have easy distance for most of the time I am here except for a Norwegian fartlek on Saturday and 5 X 1km on Wednesday. The race will come before you know it!

My parents decided to come to watch me so I am really excited about that. They will be staying with my good friend Sabine Krantz's parents house (the top German racewalker). I havent seen them since Nationals so it will be great to see them and to see them here! After my race we will do some sightseeing around Berlin. Im really looking forward to getting to Berlin!

Stay tunned,

Rachel

Last Hard Workout before Worlds!

Today I did my last hard workout of the year, I guess! Sounds kind of strange to be done all the hard work for the season. Things went very well today though. Tim walked with me to help me and we did 7 X 2km with 2:30 rest. I felt very good and strong. My heart rate was very low for me which was nice to see. We also took lactate four times. All results from today showed good fitness for me leading up to Berlin. Here are my times and lactates from today:

1st: 9:47

2nd: 9:45 (2.1 Lactate)

3rd: 9:44

4th: 9:45 (2.4 Lactate)

5th: 9:41

6th: 9:38 (3.2 Lactate)

7th: 9:35 (3.7 Lactate)

All of my times were either at or under race pace and my lactates didnt even reach the theoretical 4.0 which is the amount of lactate that you can hold for 20km race pace. I am now really looking forward to the race in Berlin as this workout shows that I am ready for another good time, hopefully a PB!

I leave on Monday morning for Germany! I am really looking forward to going and doing as well as I can! I also just found out that my parents will be coming to watch me so I am really excited about that!

Keep on walking,

Rachel

We're Going to BERLIN!!!!

Athletics Canada has just announced the 31 member team for the World Track and Field Championships and I am on the list!!! I found out last Wednesday but could not say anything until the official list came out! I was not expecting to be selected for the team so I am very excited about this opportunity! I have qualified off of the B standard which in Canada is called Rising Star.

I now leave on Monday, August 3rd for the pre-camp that is just outside of Dusseldorf, then on August 11th I will take a train to Berlin and then on August 16th is my race at noon.

I have now been in San Diego since I got back from Serbia. It has been good to be back here, training on th course I was on during most of my base season. I was able to get a good training week in last week and now this week will be good also. Then starting on Monday when I fly to Germany my training will start to go down again in preparation for the race.

You can follow the Canadian team in Berlin at http://athletics.ca/berlin2009/ and you can find the official results at http://berlin.iaaf.org/index.html.

Thanks for all your support in helping me qualify for this team!

Keep on walking,

Rachel

Success in Serbia!

My race went so well! I had high hopes for what I could do as a result but I manage to actually make my hopes a reality! My goal for this race was to break 1:38. My personal best time coming into the race was 1:38:30 and I was ranked very far back in the field.

My plan going into the race was to stay back from the lead group and let them go as fast as they want and for me to try and go as close to my goal pace as possible which was 9:48 per 2km loop. There was no 1km split in the 2km loop so on the first lap, it was really hard to tell how fast or slow I was really going. I felt great though and my heart rate was pretty low (high 180s). When it came up to the first lap being finished, I heard the lead packs split time of 9:52 and I was behind them so I knew I was going too slow. I hit my lap split and I was at 10:04, WAY too slow! Once I saw that I immediately thought that I needed to start going. My next lap was 9:39 and I was feeling good but thought then that 9:39 was a little too fast for this early in the race. I kept my eyes on the other competitors ahead of me and just tried to stay focused on them and staying relaxed. I just kept clicking off laps in the low 9:40s and the high 9:30s. None of the splits fazed me. I went through 10km's in 48:48, roughly the time I wanted to do for my first half.

The second half of the race continued to go well as I started clicking off all my splits in the 9:30s. I couldnt believe how great I still felt. By 14km's I was in the top 10 among all of the competitors which I was so thrilled about. At that point, I was just hoping for my placing to stay in the top 10 and for me to continue around the same pace so that I was able to fulfill breaking 1:38. I then moved into top 8 and then top 6 and by 16km's I was in 6th with 2 other girls chasing me down. When I hit the 16km split I was at 1:17:34 and was thinking that if I managed to do around the same pace that I was doing that I would be able to break 1:37!!! Well under my time goal. However, by 17km's my legs had a different plan for me. I could no longer keep up the leg speed that I had been doing the whole race and slowed down quite a bit. Once my legs seized a bit, I was just trying to finish. I hit the 18km split in 9:52, way slowed down! One lap to go and the 2 girls that were chasing me down, now I was chasing them but they had much more in them then I did. I ended up finishing my last lap in 9:56 and finishing the 20km's in 1:37:22, a minute and 8 second personal best time! I also finished 8th place, much higher place then I could have imagined! I beat so many other girls that had much higher personal best times then I did!

Even though I slowed down considerably the last 2 laps of the race, I was so thrilled anyways! I beat my goal by much more than I could have imagined. My time also puts me eligible to be selected for the Canadian World Track and Field Championships team that will be competing in Berlin, Germany in mid August. My time 'only' achieved the B standard so this means that it is not an automatic that I make the team so I will have to wait till July 26th to find out if they select me or not.

Here are all my splits from the race:

1st: 10:04

2nd: 9:39 (19:44)

3rd: 9:43 (29:27)

4th: 9:42 (39:09)

5th: 9:38 (48:48)

6th: 9:35 (58:24)

7th: 9:32 (1:07:56)

8th: 9:37 (1:17:34)

9th: 9:52 (1:27:26)

10th: 9:56 (1:37:22) *2nd 10km split: 48:34*

I really feel like this year has been a big breakthrough for me now that I have finally improved enough to make it worthwhile to chase an Olympic berth in 2012. I have improved on my 20km time by 2 minutes and 35 seconds this year! I am hoping to continue my improvement this coming year. If I dont qualify for Berlin then I plan on going to the USA 15km Racewalk Championships that will be held in Minneaplois on August 15th to try and beat my 10km PB one more time. Then I will take a much deserved break from training before I start to prepare for next year.

The rest of my trip was really good. I got to relax a bit and not worry so much about anything and just have fun. I went and watched the rest of the track and field events and did some sight seeing. Overall it was a really good trip.

Tuesday myself and the rest of the team travelled from Serbia to Toronto. The next day I travelled to San Diego where I am now for a little while. Its so great to be here again since I havent been here since April. I have a lot of wedding planning to do while keeping up some good training in hopes of competing in Berlin. Ill keep you all updated on what Athletics Canada decides.

Keep on walking,

Rachel

Almost Race Time!

Everything has still been going very well here in Belgrade, Serbia. Ive been getting in some good training, just short and light workouts to keep me strong and sharp for the race. I have been feeling really good. Yesterday I did 5 X 1km on the track at race pace and it felt really solid. Its been pretty hot here which has been hard for me to be able to keep my heart rate down. My body has been feeling really good the whole time I have been here though.

The Track and Field competition of the games started yesterday. A lot of our team competed yesterday and for the most part, a lot of people qualified for their finals. Tomorrow morning (Thursday at 7:30am) is the Men's 20km Racewalk. Inaki (beside me in the picture) is the lone Canadian male competing in the race. There is some solid competitors in the race but I think he can do well and for sure come out with a personal best time!

I race on Friday morning at 7:30am. Here are the entries for my race: http://results.ub2009.org/results/ENG/AT/ATE132C_AT1092XXXXXXXXENG.htm I have raced quite a few of the girls before but I am still sort of going into the race blind, not knowing what everyone has walked so far this year or what their personal bests are. I am hoping for a top half finish for sure and a personal best! I am feeling good and ready to go.

Now I just have to rest and relax for the next few days until my race! You can look at the results for Track and Field here: http://results.ub2009.org/results/ENG/ZZ/ZZG103A_ATXXXXXXXXXXXXENG.htm

Wish me luck :)

Rachel

In Serbia!

I arrived in Serbia safely on Tuesday afternoon. Everything has been going pretty well here so far. I have adjusted to the time change very comfortably, no middle of the night wake ups or anything so I am thankful for that! Since it is a games (all sports), we are staying in an athletes village that is basically like 10 huge apartment buildings all in one area and is all fenced in. Its like a mini version of the Olympic Village that you would hear about. There are restaurants, grocery stores, you name it, there is one in the village. We are also close to a mall so its nice to be able to get out of the village and do something. Most people around here speak english so its been easy to get around and figure things out.

The weather has been great! It hasnt gotten any warmer than 26c and when I train in the morning its maybe only 18-20c. The first few days I struggled with trying to find a place to train but the last few days have been great. It seems as though they have bike paths all over the city instead of sidewalks! Its great for me. Very smooth, asphalt surface and the paths are everywhere so you never have to worry about running out of path.

Today we went and looked at my race course. It is a 2km loop, very flat and smooth. It has very wide turns so it seems like it will be a good, fast course. I race next Friday, July 10th at 7:30am. I am really looking forward to it. I have already seen some of my competitors training around the village. I havent seen the startlist yet though so I dont know how many people are in my race. I will probably find out in a few days.

I have my first hard workout tomorrow since Nationals. It will be my only harder workout before the race. Ill have one on Monday or Tuesday but just some 500's at race pace just to loosen up.

Btw, Nationals went well. Coach Tim told me the night before the race to just take it easy and just go fast enough to win so I did just that. I took it like a tempo walk and felt very comfortable through the whole thing. I wasnt breathing at all through the whole race and was able to talk and joke around with people the whole time. It made it a lot of fun! I ended up walking 1:43:28. Its funny to think back to when this time was a fast time for me! Im so happy with how far I have come over the years.

If you want to know more information about the meet, you can check the website at: http://www.universiade-belgrade2009.org/

Keep on walking,

Rachel

Home Sweet Home...Not for Long!

I have been home now for almost 2 months! I cant believe how quickly it has gone by. I will leave in a week to go to Toronto for the Canadian National Track and Field Championships where I will race on Sunday. Then on either Monday or Tuesday, myself and the Canadian team that are competing at the World Student Games (FISU) will depart for Belgrade, Serbia. Its strange to think that I will be gone again a week for a month and a half. After I am in Serbia for just over 2 weeks, I will be heading to San Diego for about a month to spend time with my fiance Tim and to plan our wedding since we will be getting married there on October 31st of this year and...we have nothing planned yet!!! Uh oh!

Training this week has been good and bad. It started out pretty good on Monday since getting home from New York but then on Tuesday, very surprisingly, I felt terrible and just couldnt get going. My workout was 6 X 2km/1km fartlek but I only managed to do 4 and my times were terrible. I felt better on Wednesday when I had my last longer walk till Nationals, 18k. I have been having a lot of shin pain in my left shin where I have also been having a hamstring issue since Flagstaff. I decided to wear a new pair of shoes (Wave Ronin 2) on Wednesday and see if that made my shin splints go away...and it did. Phew! I didnt think I was wearing my other shoes too long but I guess I was. Im happy that problem is fixed.

I had my first day off on Thursday since leaving Europe on May 2nd to come home. It was about time, I could tell that I needed it! I felt good yesterday in training and thought that I would have a good workout today. Today my workout was 10 X 1km with 2mins rest inbetween. It felt a little bit of a twinge in my hamstring before I started the workout but let it go. I did the first 4 repeats and everytime I had to stop for the rest and then re-start, it felt like I was pulling on my hamstring. After the 7th one, I decided that I would do 1 more and then stop for the day. My times were good, faster than I was wanting to walk them and I could have finished but decided that it wasnt worth the risk a week before Nationals.

Tomorrow will just be a short training day since I have a fundraiser going on at Runner's Life, downtown Peterborough at 9am to raise money for my trip to Serbia. Its a fully self-funded National Team and is going to cost me $2,600 to attend. So far I have raised a bit of money and am hoping more for tomorrow. My community has been so great to me and I so much appreciate all of their help!

Now I can just rest up a lot and do some short training sessions every day leading up to Sunday! Looking forward to the race!

Keep on walking,

Rachel

Gloomy Days on Long Island

I just got back home lastnight from being on Long Island, NY for a week. It was dark, rainy and humid all week! It was sort of depressing to be honest, its so true that your mood changes when the weather isnt nice. It was hard to get motivated to train all week. A lot of the days we would have to wait till the afternoon to train because the weather was so bad. I also had some shin problems which forced me to not racewalk for one day and instead ran. I had 2 good workouts though on Wednesday and on Saturday and I was also able to train with Maria on Saturday and Sunday!

On Wednesday I had 7 X 2km with 2:30 rest. I was looking forward to doing this and had planned to walk some of them with Maria while she did her lactate test. Her and Tim went to the track early and I was going to go a bit later to do her last 2 2km's when she was going around my pace but when I tried to go to the track, the school security guard didnt let me go into the track area so I had to wait to train for a few more hours. I was really upset because I had waken up early (6:30am) but instead I had to wait around and didnt start training till around 10:15am. By this time, I was getting hungry and the humidity was 100%! Either way, I got through the workout even though I felt terrible. It helped that Tim ran with me because his knee was hurting. Here were my times:

1st: 9:56

2nd: 9:46 (2.7 Lactate)

3rd: 9:45

4th: 9:44 (2.9 Lactate)

5th: 9:44

6th: 9:39 (3.8 Lactate)

7th: 9:43

We took lactate on the 2nd, 4th and 6th repeats and it showed that it was a good pace for me, around 20km pace or a little easier so it was perfect. Im really happy that I got through the workout but it was definitely the hardest workout I had in awhile because of the humidity and the length of time I had to wait till I trained that morning.

Saturday was much better! I was really looking forward to training with Maria since it had been SOOO long since I trained with someone, it was actually weird though to be honest. Im just so not used to having someone there racewalking with me. It was good though! We had to do the workout on the track (right behind Tim's parents house) because our friend Mike Bartholomew was being ordained as a priest later that morning. So Maria and I did 10 X 1km/400m fartlek. Here is how it went:

1st: 5:05

2nd: 5:01

3rd: 4:54

4th: 4:52

5th: 4:51

6th: 4:50

7th: 4:46

8th: 4:49

9th: 4:42

10th: 4:38

I felt great for this workout. It felt very easy and comfortable. It didnt feel like I was really pushing which was exactly how I wanted it to be. Tim wanted Maria and I to make sure that we walked the 400m's inbetween repeats together. We walked much slower for those 400's than I would have wanted to or usually do but it didnt matter, as long as I just had a training partner, it was good. Its nice to see Maria getting back into good shape!

Overall, I had a good week, especially being with Tim and seeing his family again. Now I wont see Tim for another month but I have a lot to concentrate on to keep my mind off not seeing him for so long. I have Nationals in less than 2 weeks (June 28th in Toronto) and World Student Games on July 10th in Serbia! Now training is going to slow down and get "easier" so I can race well!

Keep on walking,

Rachel

A Good Improvement!

Saturday I did the 4 X 3km/1km fartlek workout again after having done it in mid May. Tim and I had an engagement party at my sisters house on Friday night and it went late and we didnt get to bed till after midnight. We were going to London, ON to visit family on Saturday after the workout so we had to train at 7am. Man did that feel early! Either way, we got up and were lucky to have a few training partners to go with us...my parents. My Mom ran with Tim and my Dad ran with me. I was just hoping to walk a little bit faster than the last time I did this workout. Last time I walked 19:54, 19:46 and 19:41. I finished the 15km fartlek in 1:16:58. This time, it definitely went better:

1st: 19:47/5:50 (25:37 for 5kms)

2nd: 19:37/5:40 (25:17 for 5kms)

3rd: 19:08/5:40 (24:48 for 5kms)

For a total 15km time of 1:15:44, a minute and 14 second improvement from the last time I did this workout!

It was a super workout for me. The first few really felt easy so Tim said to pick it up and so the last one I did and I still didnt feel like I was pushing too hard.

One shocking and unfortunate thing did happen that day in training though...if you can believe it, I killed a squirrel. About 2.2km's through my last 4km interval a squirrel ran infront of my Dad who was a few steps infront of me and so he jumped over it but then it went infront of me and I didnt see it and...yes, I STEPPED on it! AHHHH! I screamed, I was so shocked. I didnt notice that I had killed it until we turned around and went past it. I felt so bad and still do!

After that we went to London for the weekend and Tim got to meet some of my relatives, it was a lot of fun! We did 25k on Sunday and it went really well. We both had our training partners again so that helped a lot. It was a great weekend!

Now, Tim and I are in Long Island visiting his family till Sunday! The travelling never seems to end!

Keep on walking,

Rachel

Its about time!!!

On Sunday I walked a 10km at the Art Keay/ Ontario 10km Race Walk Championships on the Toronto Island. It had been raining and cloudy all week so it was nice to wake up to the sun that morning! Once we got over to the island though, it was ridiculously windy!

The race started and there was so much head wind that I was focusing on pushing through the wind that I didnt notice how much I was pushing. I went through the first 500m's in 2:17, EEK!!! So after that I tried to slow down a bit since I had been hoping to do around 4:40/km pace for the whole race. I went through 1km in 4:36, a little fast but I thought that I could handle it. I decided to try and slow my pace a little bit so that I didnt build up a lot of lactic acid right from the beginning of the race. I went through the first 2.5km loop in 11:43 which was right on the pace I had wanted to be at. I slowed down a bit between then and the 5km split which was 23:37 but not too bad. The wind was really hurting me at that point, I had a hard time pushing through it by myself. I slowed considerably the next lap and had a really bad first km of the 3rd lap because it was like the wind was a wall infront of me and I ended up doing a 2:29 first 500m of that lap! It was crazy! I regrouped for the 2nd 500m (2:24) but it was still a 4:53 km which is my 20km race pace! I ended up finishing in 47:30 (23:53 last 5km's) which wasnt what I was hoping to walk but I think considering the conditions of 40km wind gusts that it wasnt too bad. It was a 7 second PB which I was happy about since my PB was from 4 years ago so it was about time! Its good to get the 3rd PB of the season and im hoping to get another one before the season is over.

Tim has been here with me this week in Peterborough. He hasnt been here since September so its nice to have someone to train with. We will have the 3 X 4km/1km workout again tomorrow. Hopefully I will have improved since the last time I did this workout a few weeks ago. Next week Tim and I go to Long Island to visit family. My next race will be Nationals on June 28th, im looking forward to it!

See you on the roads,
Rachel

Ottawa Race Weekend Fun!

This weekend I went to Ottawa to participate in the Ottawa Race Weekend. First I went to the expo on Saturday afternoon to get my race kit and was surprised by how many people I saw that I knew from Peterborough! After getting my race kit I went to the Mizuno area and met some of the people that work with me and the rest of the Mizuno Brand Ambassdor athletes. They were so welcoming! I feel so fortunate to be supported by them.

I had registered for the 10km even that night at 6:30pm so between the expo and the race I went and spent time at the hotel suite of Roger Burrows and the Bytown Walkers (http://www.bytownwalkers.ca/) before I had to warm up for the race. It was really nice to be surrounded by other racewalkers. Since I am away so much from Canada, its always nice to get to see the other Canadian walkers and get to know them. They were also racing the 10km that evening.

I always getting worried when I enter a running race if I decide to racewalk it, especially when there are a lot of entrants because either I can get trampled on or have to weave through everyone to pass the slowing runners. My bib number said that I could choose the corral that I wanted to go in so I decided to go in the first corral, that way people that were faster than me could pass me and I wouldnt then have to do as much passing. It ended up being the right decision too!

Before the gun went off, I was looking all around me to see if I could see Tim Berrett, who I knew was also participating in the 10km race but I couldnt see him. So I started and funny enough, almost a km later I hear a familiar voice behind me and it was Tim! It was a really nice surprise and we ended up walking together for the whole race. We were talking the whole time, catching up since I hadnt seen him since Nationals last year and when I saw the first split that I caught, which was at 4km's I thought oh no we are going to walk 50 minutes! Coach Tim wanted me to walk around 49-49:30 for a good solid tempo pace workout. So we went through 4km's in 20:03 and then when I caught the next split, 9:58 for the next 2km's I thought ok maybe we can get it back on track while still having a full on conversation. Finally I felt like we were getting into a better rhythm and then the next 4km's was great. My splits were: 4:53, 4:53, 4:46 and a shocking 4:40 last km uphill that felt great! So I ended up finishing in 49:15 (25:02 first 5km, 24:13 second 5km). So I was happy with how it went and it was really fun to walk with Tim!

Usually when you enter a running race and racewalk it, you always hear different comments but to my surprise, everyone was saying "look at those racewalkers". I cannot believe how much I heard the word racewalkers out there! Usually you always hear speedwalker, power walker, etc. So it was awesome to see that the crowd was educated on the proper name for our event!

Here is a picture of Tim Berrett and I at Nationals last year when we both won.

Tomorrow I have a speed workout, my only "hard" workout this week since I have the Art Keay, Ontario 10km RW Championships on Sunday.

Keep on walking,

Rachel

Tim and Jefferson's Commercial for State Farm Insurance

Hey there!

I just wanted to put up a link to a State Farm commercial that has a short clip with Tim and Jefferson Perez in it: www.youtube.com/statefarm Its pretty cool that they wanted to use a clip with some racewalkers even though you dont see them racewalking or anything.

Enjoy!
Rachel

Another Good Day!

Today I had another long interval workout. My confidence has definitely come back after last Tuesdays 3 X 4km/1km workout and it continued today as I had 4 X 3km repeats with 3 minutes rest inbetween. Again, today the goal was just to be around 20km race pace and a bit faster by the end of it. It wasnt meant to feel too difficult and it definitely didnt feel hard at all. I finished the workout feeling like I had just done an easy distance day. Here is how my times went:

1st: 14:56

2nd: 14:42

3rd: 14:34

4th: 14:23

We should have probably made this workout a fartlek with 1km medium inbetween each 3km repeat to make it harder but since I am just starting to come back now into regular training and we wanted to make sure that it went ok. My mentality has changed completely in the last week and a half that my training has been going well and consistent after struggling with my hamstring.

This weekend I will be heading to Ottawa for the Ottawa Race Weekend that includes the National Marathon Championships which, by the way, my Mom won twice in the 70's and my Dad came 2nd twice alson in the 70's. I will be participating in the 10km event on Saturday night for fun to support Mizuno (http://www.mizunocda.com/) the headline athletic sponsor for the event.

Keep on walking,
Rachel

Weekend in the Windy City!

Today I got back home from being in Chicago for the weekend. Even though the city is called the "windy city", it definitely wasnt windy! I was there for a few reasons. First of all to see my fiance, Tim Seaman, who I havent seen for a month because of me going to Europe to race and coming home to Canada after being away for 4+ months! The other reason was to help him and Jeff Salvage with their Racewalking Clinic that they were holding there on Saturday and Sunday. They had about 23 attendees and it went very well. Everyone really enjoyed the clinic and we got some very good positive feedback about how professional the guys were with their very high tech power points and pictures. If anyone is interested in attending a clinic or hosting a clinic held by Tim and Jeff you can visit their new website, www.racewalkclinic.com. You can also see their new "Race Walk Clinic- In a Book" book on that website available for $23.95 USD.

It was really nice to be training somewhere different than my usual course for a few days. There are a lot of great training paths there. The one that we trained on 2 out of the 3 days I was there was the 19 mile in one direction path along the lake. It was so nice and flat and there were always so many people out there running, walking, cycling, rollerblading, etc! Saturday I did the Norwegian Fartlek (2mins hard/2mins medium, 4/2, 6/2, 8/2, 7/2, 5/2, 3/2, 1). I felt like it went really well. I was able to get my heart rate (HR) up to just over 190 bpm which is usually about 20km race pace HR. Even though I dont know exactly how far I went in the 50 minute fartlek, I felt really good about it. Tim and I then managed to go for a 6km run after the clinic on Saturday. Sunday I had 25km's on the schedule and since we didnt have any kilometer marks on the path, I just walked by time and HR (2 hours and 30 minutes/ 160 HR). My mind was playing some games with me a little bit. It just was difficult mentally to go for that long by myself and without any KM markers to go off of. I did make it through the whole thing and overall felt good. It was my first time in over a month and a half that I did a 25km walk.

This week I had 126.5km's for this weeks mileage. I feel so good that I dont find that much mileage high anymore! Tomorrow I have another good long interval workout, 4 X 3km/3mins Rest! Im looking forward to it!

Keep on walking,
Rachel

Back to Normal!

I have been home from Europe for a week and a half now and I am finally feeling back to normal now after struggling with training for the last month and a half of having a hamstring injury. Its still not 100% BUT it is almost gone.

Since Saturday, my heart rate has dropped drastically and I am feeling great. I have been having great workouts and feeling good since Saturday and not pushing in training even though I feel great. Today I had a really tough workout, 3km warm up, 3 X 4km with 1km active rest in between, 2km cool down, 20km total workout. Here is how it went:

1st: 19:54/5:55 (25:49 for 5km)

2nd: 19:46/5:52 (25:38 for 5km)

3rd: 19:41/5:49 (25:30 for 5km)

Im really surprised how easy this workout felt. I was really worried about it because ive lost some confidence in my training since I started struggling with the injury, however, after this workout, my confidence is definitely back. Coach Tim told me that the goal for this workout was to make it feel comfortable and not go faster than 4:55 pace, which is my PB 20km pace. My total time for the workout was 1:16:58 for 15km so that was great.

Now im looking forward to getting more training in before my next race which is on May 31st at the Art Keay on Toronto Island where I will walk a 10km.

Keep on walking,
Rachel