Belinda Kissack

June 9, 2008

I am happy to say that I ran my marthon last week and survived. I was very happy with my results as well. We had fantastic weather and a very flat course. There were camber issues at mile 13 which resulted in a sore IT band for me. I finally found the muscle causing the cramp 4 miles later and was then able to massage it intermittently. At mile 19 there were oysters to sample which I decided to try. I had been suffering from a lack of salt and reasoned that the oysters and cocktail sauce would likely help out my twitching muscles. The formula was perfect, until i had another sip of water which threw off my body chemistry again. I have learned from others that when the muscles on the verge of cramping to slow down which i did. I managed to stick to my 9 and 1 minute run and walk breaks. However, as I slowed down I only allowed myself to stop once per mile which was more like a 12 and 1. But that’s okay. I was happy to persevere and felt confident given the little amount of training that I did. In the weeks leading up to the race, I told myself that I would not do another marathon, but after experiencing perfect race conditions and a great race venue, I just might do another one. But not before I race my sprint triathlon in Qualicum coming up at the end of the month.

Belinda Kissack is a Registered Clinical Counsellor in the Cowichan Valley and trains for running races and triathlons in her free time.