We are alive!

Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, we are BACK.  It has been a long time since my last post.  It's been a long year!  To our faithful readers (and I might just be talking to myself here), thank you for your patience and understanding during what has been a very busy 10 months period of work, work, a bit of running, and then more work.

From a running and racing perspective, the past 10 or so odd months have been exciting, rewarding, fun, tasty, painful, maddening frustrating, exhilarating, and all-around awesome.  In this first post, I think I will focus on all the amazing and exciting adventures our club has had.  We have done some great races.  Below are some quick summaries, photos, and updates to get us started.

One the most exciting developments was JaJa's full marathon training.  JaJa signed up for the Mississauga Marathon and began training with Marathon Dynamics.  I knew that JaJa needed an excellent coach and I also knew that Kevin Smith, founder of MD, was just the man for the job.  Kevin set JaJa on a good training program and before we knew it, JaJa was crossing the finish line in Mississauga...and qualifying for BOSTON in her very first marathon!  Well done, JaJa -- and kudos to Kevin Smith and MD, perhaps the only coach and club that could simultaneously rein JaJa the wild stallion in while also pushing her to be her best.

JaJa heading toward the finish in Mississauga...and heading for Boston!

Soon it was summer and the Go Girls headed off to the airport to race the airplanes.

Here we are the 2011 Pearson GTAA Runway Run, where all the runners are stars.

Post-race ritual at the Rosedale Dinner: The Breakfast of Champions.

A beautiful Saturday morning run along the Martin Goodman Trail.

In August, JaJa and I participated in A Midsummer Night's Run.  What a great event!  So far, I have logged 45K in this great event.  JaJa has logged 15K.  We both expect to participate again.  Who doesn't love a race with pace fairies?!

JaJa and I do A Midsummer Night's Run: here we are before the race, as Race Fairies....

...and post-run, as Zombie Fairies!

In the fall, we headed to Prince Edward County to run the County Half-Marathon.  The weather was awful but we enjoyed ourselves all the same.  We ate good food (Mariana's highlight was the Crepes/craps, which apparently were better than finishing her first half-marathon), enjoyed good company, and two of us -- Mariana and JaJa -- logged awesome races.  Nana and I were sick and/or injured (or both).  But JaJa and Mariana sure made us proud.

This cow was like, wha?  You girls are running how far?  Girlfriend, that 's crazy...

Here are more cows.  They did not run in the race.

Here are some bikers.  They did not run in the race.

Here is a blurry Mariana.  She did run in the race and she is holding a medal because she was awesome.  But all she's really thinking about was eating the blueberry crepe waiting for her at the B&B.

The fall turned into winter.  Well, sort-of.  We sure did not get much snow.  As a result, it was a great winter for running: relatively mild temperatures, no ice, and so forth.  Unfortunately for me, I suffered a stress fracture in January and could not run.  I was able to determine that I had a stress fracture after logging a 10K with a very sore foot.  By the end of the run, I knew two things: one, I had just set a PB for 10K with a broken foot (1h19) and two, I had a broken foot.  I do not recommend that you use a 10K run as a diagnostic tool, however.

While I was sitting around, waiting for my foot to heal, the girls were out in full force.  Mariana continued to run, as she has made the transition to Canadian runner.  She even invited a new runner to join our group and  gave him guidance on the appropriate gear to wear!  And yes, she recruited a BOY.  However, Richard (or Ricardo, as I immediately renamed him) was awesome and a great addition to our club.  Ricardo has now returned to Brazil.  It seems that we were not family enough for him, and he wanted to go back to be with his wife and children.  However, he has apparently promised to return to Canada to run with us again, and next time, he will bring his wife and children.  We look forward to that visit, Ricardo!!!

JaJa was also busy with her marathon training.  But this time, JaJa was not training for the Mississauga Marathon.  She was training for Boston.  Leading up to the Big Race, JaJa and the girls participated in a few local events.  As usual, we sent a delegation to the official kick-off of the spring running season: the CRS Harry's Spring Run-Off!  JaJa and Nana signed up for the 5K.  I had signed up for the 8K, but was unable to run due to my foot injury.  Mariana gamely agreed to run in my place.  And run she did!  I impressed on Mariana how important it was that she not screw the race up.  After all, it was going to be on my permanent record.  Mariana, like a good intense A-type, took my threats and cajoling seriously.  She ran a terrific race, finishing in about 48 minutes.  Perhaps most impressively, she did NOT stop to use the bathroom even though it was becoming necessary so that she would not add time to "my" finish.  Now that is a great friend!!!!  Thanks Mariana!

Everyone had  great races at Harry's SRO.  JaJa won two prizes: she placed first in her age group in the 5K and she won best costume!  (She wore a dress made of ties!)  The Go Girls OWNED Harry's SRO  this year.

JaJa crosses the finish line at Harry's Spring Run-Off.

And then finally there was Boston.  Boston: the dream race for runners; not because it is easy but precisely the opposite: because it is so difficult to qualify and because the course itself is challenging.  And then there is the weather.  The weather is always the wildcard for Boston.  At times, it has been very cold.  Several years ago, there was actually a Nor'easter on the day of the race.  If the Nor-easter threaten to drown runners, freeze them, and then blow them off the course, this year's weather threatened to melt the runners with its intense heat.  The heat led the BAA to take an unprecedented step: it offered to let runners defer their race entry for a year without penalty.  But many runners were not deterred.  They had trained for this race and they were determined to run it.  JaJa was among those determined runners.

And so JaJa ran the Boston Marathon...prevailed over the course and the weather.  It was not easy.  Reports from the marathon indicate that runners were collapsing all along the route and that over 100 runners were admitted to the hospital (this is to say nothing of the hundreds of runners who sought assistance in the race first aid tents).  With runners dropping left and right, JaJa soldiered on, stuffing ice cubes down her bra whenever she could and telling people at the water stations that she was "still alive".  We are very proud of JaJa for her hard training, her excellent race, and for her grace under pressure.  Check out her race photos below and ask yourself, "how does she look so good?  She's running a marathon in terrible heat!"

JaJa, making it look easy.

VICTORY!

And that brings us to May, 2012.  Stay tuned for more race updates, more exciting stories about our adventures, more photos of food (because we really are an eating and drinking group with a running problem), and the like.  In the meantime, keep running and we'll see you out on the road!

Branded!

One of the benefits of having an Artiste in our group is...well, maybe it is easiest if I just show you.

Yes, we now officially have a logo! Isn't it amazing? Many thanks to JaJa, our Artiste, for her awesome work on this logo. There will be T-shirts. There will be tattoos. There will be underwear. There will be bedazzled jean jackets. Maybe.

Guess what? T-shirts have a front and a back, and so does our logo. Check out the other part of our branding strategy, uh, I mean, our logo:

Again, JaJa stepped up and gave us an amazing design!

So, coming soon to a designer store near you, the full line of GoGirlsWear, featuring the amazing art of JaJa!

This is How We Roll

Many of our fans write to us and ask, "How do the Go Girls roll?" Perhaps you have asked yourself this very question. Well, wonder no longer. In this post, I show you how we roll.

A small note. I should edit this little movie clip before I post it. I have done some work on it, but you'll see there are glitches. I apologise. I considered trying to do more with the clip before posting it. But Marianna made a powerful argument for publishing the clip straight away. So, without further ado, I present to you the Go Girls in "This is How We Roll".



A few notes. Yes, the woman in the white jacket and hat (#26) and the woman right beside her (pink shirt, lovely short hair, a bit shorter, #95) are both Go Girls. Now here's a little game. Which one of these women is our Southern Belle/Resident WASP and which of these women is our Artiste with a background that includes an infusion of Mediterranean blood? Can you tell the difference?

Here's another fun game. Go to 0:20. Do you see the blonde woman in the pink shirt with the orange long sleeves in the second row? She is also one of ours. Do you notice how she is laughing too hard to dance? Guess why?

The Go Girls are an amazing diverse club. We have dancers and we have, uh, people who were on the decorating committee for the dances...

You GO GIRL!!!

Good Golly, Miss Molly!

As my last post indicates, I am still catching up with posts about the Go Girls' adventures in the winter and spring of 2011. So here is some new, old news.

The Go Girls Now Have a DP*^!
*Designated Pup
^Soon to be a DD -- Designated Dog

In late December, Alain and Nana adopted a wee Westie terrier. Her name is "Molly". Here is a photo of our DP, Molly:

Now, Molly has grown a lot since this photo was taken. A LOT. (Eating everything from kibble to peanut butter to bananas to iPads will have that effect on you.) But all the recent photos of our wee Westie are stuck on my camera and my camera cable is broken. (Maybe Molly got her little teeth on it? No, I think not. But Dave and Winston, the DCs (Designated Cats), may have played a little too hard with the cable.) You will have to just imagine Molly as a bit bigger, well, mostly a bit wider. Here is some music to help you as you visualize a bigger Molly...



I did an interview with Molly so that we can all get to know her a bit better. Here is a partial transcript.

TM: Molly, welcome to the Go Girls!
Molly: Woof.

TM: I take it that means "thank you".
Molly: Whatever.

TM: What are your first impressions of the Go Girls?
Molly: For a running group, they sure spend a lot of time drinking and eating.

TM: How does that make you feel?
Molly: Right at home.

TM: What is your favourite thing to eat?
Molly: Bananas! No, peanut butter! No, meat! No, anything I find on the ground! No! Ipads! Wait...what was the question?

TM: Who is your favourite Go Girl?
Molly: Well, clearly I love Nana and Alain. But besides them, I would have to say Joanna and sometimes Mariana.
TM: I'm just going to write "Theresa".
Molly: Woof.
TM: Whatever yourself.

TM: Molly, what is the one most important thing our society needs?
Molly: World Peace.
TM, whispering: This isn't a dog show, Molly...
Molly: More peanut butter.

TM: Molly, we have to know....when Nana says that she is "running at home", does she? Does she actually run on her treadmill?
Molly: Hey! Is that a squirrel! SQUIRREL! Woof! Woof! WOOF!
TM: Enough said. Thank you for your time.

Stay tuned for the further adventures of Molly, the Amazing Go Girls Westie!

Baby...it's hot outside!

My oh my! It has been a long time since this blog was updated. So much has happened that it is difficult to know where to begin. I suppose I will begin by telling you why I am choosing now to update the blog. It's hot outside. Very hot. To quote Matthew Broderick in Biloxi Blues, "it's Africa hot".



I don't like the heat. So I am hunkered down in my partially air-conditioned apartment. I've played multiple computer games and even worked (!). Since there is no chance that I will go outside, I've decided that now is a good time to update this blog. Besides, it's long overdue.

First, let me briefly explain why I have not been updating the blog. I've been very busy with work. But more significantly, I developed post-concussion syndrome. (Actually, I had this syndrome the last time I updated the blog in December.) As a result of this syndrome, I had to limit my time on the computer. I found it difficult to focus on the computer screen in any case. I had to limit most forms of stimulation. My brain was injured and needed recovery time. A lot of recovery time. I was going to write a post about being injured. Ultimately, however, I think I will likely give such a post a miss. I will say that being a runner and having both post concussion syndrome and a broken and battered tailbone was a terrible combination which involved an extended recovery period. Truth be told, I am still recovering from these injuries. I am now able to run, but I spent many weeks over the winter and spring watching the backs of my friends as they ran off into the distance. This recovery period was one of the loneliest and most frustrating periods I have experienced in recent memory. (Then again, my memory is pretty short and often punctuated with gaps, given my recent head injury.) I am glad to be back running. I do not want to relive that injury period and so I have decided not to write a post about being injured. My advice about how to manage injuries? Prevention is the best cure. Don't get injured.

Now, onto more important matters: what have we been doing for the past six months? The answer is quite simply being awesome and awesomely modest, as usual.

Let me start with by telling you about JaJa's accomplishments. JaJa set out to run her first marathon this year. Her training included running Around the Bay. The ATB (as we runners in the "know" call Around the Bay) is North America's oldest road race. Yes, it is older than the Boston marathon. The ATB is a 30K race around "the Bay", which includes a run up the Niagara Escarpment. I'm not sure anyone told JaJa about the "up the Escarpment" part of the run. But nevertheless, she flew through the race and represented the Go Girls well, as per the usual. She finished in a blazing 3:05:35.

In early May, JaJa ran the Mississauga Marathon. This was her first marathon and she completed it in 4:06:36! She finished third in her age category and she qualified for Boston! And she did it all while looking like she was merely going for a walk in the park. Congratulations, JaJa!

Isn't she lovely?

JaJa tells us that the end of the marathon included a few hills (unexpected!) and rain. JaJa's hard work and dedicated training clearly paid off. We are looking forward to watching JaJa set and exceed her goals going forward.

When we weren't running, we were studying and/or writing papers. Or at least Joanna and Mariana were. We are very proud to announce that Joanna was accepted into the Harvard LLM program and that Mariana received tenure this spring! They truly are a Dynamic Duo.

J and M...they're most than just runners! They're scholars, too! Neato!

Now, truthfully, the Go Girls are a pretty intellectual bunch. (One might occasionally say that they are too intellectual for their own good, but I digress.) One ongoing topic of debate this spring has been our policy on aliens and zombies. (Yes, we have policies on things like aliens and zombies. Don't all running groups?) We seemed to have reached consensus that it is appropriate to shoot to kill when dealing with zombies, but the question of how to deal with aliens has not been resolved. Aliens: shoot first and ask questions later? Or is that too extreme an approach? We'll be publishing our official policies on these matters soon. And you thought we were just about hydration.

Karen, our bad-ass girly-girl, also had some major accomplishments this winter and spring. First, she ran her first half-marathon! Karen and her sister-in-law, AnneMarie, completed the Burlington Chilly Half on a frosty day in early March. Karen finished in 2:06:08, notwithstanding the cold and one bathroom break.

Karen, evidently glad to be done her first 21.1! Happy First Half-Marathon, K-Mac!

A friend, Danielle, and I (T.) went to cheer Karen on and to offer support. We added a touch of dignity to the event. Or at least I think we did.

A dignified event deserves a dignified celebration.

Karen also completed the Ride to Conquer Cancer in June. She cycled a total of 200 miles over two days. She rode from Toronto to Ancaster and then (after spending a night in a tent with a total stranger at the Ride's camp) she cycled from Ancaster to Niagara Falls.

I (T.) also participated in the Ride to Conquer Cancer, but my ride was considerably more comfortable than Karen's: once again, I drove a big ol' Penske truck as a crew member. I was part of the Gear Crew. We moved approximately 10,000 pieces of luggage -- twice -- over the course of the weekend. I may not have cycled, but believe me, I worked hard!

In case you are wondering, this is how T "works" hard...

In other news, Carol's daughter was married in July in Scotland. Some of us had the great pleasure of meeting Carol's daughter and celebrating with her and with Carol here in Toronto. We are delighted to extend our congratulations!

Meanwhile, Joanne became a true Upper Canadian by purchasing a cottage. We are happy for her, but only because she promised that we could come over for a weekend at the cottage. Remember that, Joanne?!

Finally, the Go Girls as a group have attended a number of races, including the Markham Women's 5K and the GTAA Runway Run. Boy did we have fun! (Okay, I did not have so much fun at the Markham race because I had had dental surgery two days prior to the race, but I did enjoy watching the Girls do their warm ups!!!) I promise to post some photos soon as evidence of our presence at these events.

In the meantime, folks, this is all the news that is fit to print...and then some!

Update!

It is has been a long time since I updated our blog. Sorry, faithful readers. It was a busy fall and my situation has been complicated by a wee concussion that did not get better. (More on the concussion and being on the "DL" in an upcoming post.) I finally have a bit of time to write some posts. This post is all about catching up. It was a busy fall for all of the Go Girls. We accomplished a lot this fall and, now that we have a moment to catch our breath, I thought it would be nice to outline what we were doing for the past 4 to 6 months.

Let me begin by telling you what JaJa has been up to. JaJa has been tearing up the roads and looking fine doing so. JaJa spent part of the summer in Switzerland, painting and running with Heidi in the mountains.



This is Heidi, running. JaJa is, no doubt, far ahead of her. Run, Heidi, Run...or you will never catch her!













JaJa entered a race while in Switzerland and finished first for the women! She was also named "Sportswoman of the Week" in one of the local newspapers. After tearing up the roads in Switzerland, JaJa returned to Toronto. She participated in the Go Girls Terry Fox Run and she ran her first Half Marathon! In fact, JaJa ran two half marathons this year...and she was amazing. In her second Half Marathon (the Toronto Goodlife race), JaJa finished in under two hours! We are very proud of JaJa. We only wish we could keep up with her.

Since Mariana and I could not keep up with JaJa, we had to seek out re-enforcements...a new runner...someone with chutzpah, speed, a good sense of humour, and the appropriate level of the "je ne said quoi" that makes the Go Girls what they are (read: edginess and sometimes style). A successful recruit was found in Karen, a cyclist, hockey player, and runner. Karen has been running with us since September and we welcome her with open arms. Karen has become our resident "girly-girl". But she is a special sub-category of "girly-girl": she is a "bad-ass girly-girl". Bad-ass girly-girls are quite rare and we consider ourselves lucky to have found one. In case you are wondering, a bad-ass girly-girl is, well, a woman who can kick your ass but she'll wear pink while she does it and she will look fabulous before, during, and after the ass-kicking. That's our Karen!

Mariana continues to run with the Go Girls. However, owing to a cranky knee injury, she has shortened her runs and no longer begs to go for 16K jaunts along the waterfront. Mariana completed her tenure file this year. She sent us a photo of what the tenure file looked like: it was a photo of a plate of food. We don't know what Mariana is doing at the university, but apparently it involves cooking.

Mariana also missed a bunch of runs due to her attendance at various conferences this past fall. Or at least that was what she told us. Sure, Mariana, we believe that you went out to California's wine country for an academic conference. And your "conference" in Minnesota in November was really just about law and development....well, actually, that one might be true. Who goes out to Minnesota in November voluntarily?

Olga and Mariana "conferencing" last year...

In the fall of 2009, Nana was very busy studying for a big financial planner exam. This fall, Nana was very busy putting what she learned into practice. We often received emails from Nana saying that she would join us for coffee, but that she would have to visit "clients" afterward. She claimed that she had run the night before or promised to run the next morning. All we know is that Nana continually arrived at Timothys looking suave and chic, particularly when compared to the rest of us runners who typically appeared sweaty and a bit haggard after our run. But she and Alain (one of our DHs -- Designated Husbands) would join us anyway before zipping away to advise these alleged "clients" about money matters.

I should note that there is evidence that Nana was running. After all, she ran the full Scotiabank Waterfront Marathon!!! Congratulations, Nana! We are very proud of you!!!

Speaking of marathon runners, Carol and Joanne traveled to New York City to run the NYC Marathon! NYC is considered one of the marquee marathons and we are proud to have sent two of our members to the Big Race. We are also very proud of how Carol and Joanne conducted themselves during the marathon. Now, some running groups emphasize results and speed. They train their runners to finish strong and fast. The Go Girls are a more refined running group. We train our runners to finish in style and having fun. Carol and Joanne did not disappoint us. They stopped for lattes during the race and made at least one bathroom pit stop. Yes, we are the Go Girls: Running Refined.

Olga continued to run with us this fall, although her running schedule was punctuated with regular trips for business. Olga is a classy runner: elegant, even in running gear, she runs because she can and because she enjoys the company and the community of "the girls". There is something pure in her approach: she has no need to prove herself and no need to accomplish athletic goals. Olga runs because for the community of runners and the joy of movement. It is always good to have a runner like Olga around to keep us balanced and to remind us that it is not all about speed, distance, and time.

Finally, a few words about my fall. First, my fall was shaped by a fall that I had in July while on the ice playing hockey. Yes, I was wearing a helmet. But I broke my ass, er, uh...hurt my tailbone and developed post-concussion syndrome. So I was not able to run nearly as much as I would have liked this fall. I'll post something about dealing with injuries in the near future. In other news, I defended my SJD dissertation and graduated from U of T this past fall. I also continued to teach part-time at U of T and began teaching part-time at Ryerson. And I had my kitchen and dining room renovated. All of which is to say: this is why the blog has not been updated.

Some additional highlights from Fall 2010...

We took on the Terry Fox Run.

The 30th Anniversary of the Terry Fox Run

The DH (Joanna), Mariana, and Nana

JaJa and Joanna had jam sessions...and we began working on The Lonely Cat Blues, the first Go Girls song, intended for release in 2011.

JaJa performs at the Open House celebrating
my graduation and Nana's birthday.

DH Joanna performs with JaJa at the Open House.

We smoked cigars to celebrate the completion of my SJD...ah, who are we kidding? We just wanted to smoke cigars.

The Go Girls: Running Refined.

Hey kids: don't smoke! It stunts your growth! This is Exhibit A.

It only took JaJa, our resident artist, five tries to get this shot right.

And oh yeah, I graduated. The red on my gown means that I'm a doctor. Heh heh.

It's Dr. T!

Why we do what we do

Here is the trailer for the documentary "Marathon Women", which was produced in 2007 by some colleagues. (They used some archival footage that I shot!) I am working on getting the actual documentary linked to our site. This trailer is just to whet your appetite.