The Running Whys – Shelley Doucet
Editor’s note: This time last year, Shelley Doucet of Quispamsis and her husband Evan felt they could save half the time if they took their dogs running each day instead of their normal walk. They were busy, with two young children and demanding jobs, including Shelley’s role as a professor in nursing at the University of New Brunswick.
But in addition to the time saved, they rediscovered their admiration of the sport and a short time later, Shelley decided to enter Marathon By The Sea, signing up for the half marathon the day before the event. Since then, the results have been nothing short of electric, especially this year, with numerous victories in the provincial running scene including four course records since April.
Last week, for example, she set a new mark at the River Valley Rave 5k, coming in under 18 minutes and last fall, she qualified for the Boston Marathon in her first marathon.
In a few months, she will return to Marathon By the Sea, where this incredible string of success started last August.
Her amazing story follows below:
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From a young age, I was actively involved in a variety of sports, such as basketball, ringette, hockey, and soccer. This later carried over into playing on provincial (rugby, soccer) and university (hockey, soccer) sports teams. I always tended to stray away from individual sports, such as track, as I preferred to compete as a team. The reality is that I would put too much pressure on myself otherwise. My first real taste of running a race came in my final year of high school when it was mandatory for all soccer players to run cross country. I ended up winning the cross country provincials in Fredericton that year. I was offered running scholarships at two Maritime universities, but despite a love for running, I had no interest in pursuing racing so I immediately declined without further consideration.
Throughout my undergraduate and graduate education, I maintained an active lifestyle which involved team sports, strength training, and a daily 5K walk with my husband and two Airedale Terriers. Last July, it was hard for us to find the time to walk our dogs when I returned to work full-time after a maternity leave with my second child. We soon discovered that if we ran instead of walked it took half the time! That August, I heard that Marathon By the Sea was taking place in a matter of days. Those who know me would not be surprised to hear that I seriously considered signing up for the full marathon. Thankfully, my husband talked me out of this and agreed to run the half with me – we went to Rockwood and signed up for the half the day before the event.
Shelley Doucet runs the final stages of the River Valley Rave 5k race last weekend in Grand Bay-Westfield.
I have to admit, our handful of 5K runs did not prepare us for this new challenge and all I could think the entire time was thank heavens I did not sign up for the full! I vividly recall us joking about everyone with their gels and big fancy watches prior to the race. When asked by my colleague Daryl Steeves at the beginning of the race what our minute-per-mile pace would be, I struggled to figure out what our 30 minute 5K time would convert to. Minutes per mile was a foreign concept to us both. Halfway through the race, we were offered a gel and I admit that I quickly came to appreciate what these were for! Our two young children, my sister, and mother followed us throughout the entire race, which was the best part of all. Our children held signs saying “Go Mommy, Go Daddy”, which evoked a feeling that beat any local or national sporting event I had ever participated in. I finished the race second in my age group, with a time of 1:43, and was hooked. I went home that afternoon and registered for the KV Challenge Full Marathon that was taking place 8 weeks later. The next day I also bought one of those fancy Garmin watches that I had made fun of the day prior and a case of vanilla gels J
While training for my first marathon, I felt the need to play catch-up as I was nowhere near the suggested miles per week in any training program (believe me, I tried to find one that fit my level of experience!). I am sure I drove Alex Coffin crazy with my frequent calls about training and racing in those early weeks (and likely still drive him crazy now, lol). Week 3 into my training, I decided to do three 13.1 mile runs in four days at race pace and to no surprise became injured and could not run for 10 days. Not a good thing with only 4 weeks until my first marathon! I was very fortunate to end up having a full recovery in time for the KV challenge event.
During the KV marathon, I was chatting with fellow marathoner, Sean Kelly, and at the fourth mile I mentioned in passing that I was aiming to do a marathon in the spring to qualify for Boston. He said, “why not qualify today?” Prior to the race, I had no idea the course was a Boston qualifier and my goal was to break 4 hours. Let’s just say that I picked up the pace after that! I ended up qualifying by over 10 minutes (my time was 3:24) and was the first female to finish. My entire family cheered me on throughout the 26.2 miles.
Shelley Doucet is shown here running in the Lorneville Loop 13k race earlier this spring.
After my first marathon experience, I realized the importance of cross-training to prevent future injuries. At this point, I only knew how to do the breaststroke (and not well!) and my bike (which I never used) was from the 70’s. I needed something to motivate me to cross-train, so a few days after my first marathon I signed up for the Challenge Event in Saint Andrews, which is the distance of a half ironman. I was fortunate that my sister also agreed to sign up for the challenge so I was not in this alone. We were then committed to learning how to swim and bike together. Setting this goal was the best possible thing we could have done, particularly given the long winter we experienced. Through reading several books and watching countless YouTube videos, over the winter months we coached each other on how to swim. And yes, I also invested in a new bike.
The main challenge I am faced with is finding the time to train to reach my potential. I work as a Professor in Nursing at UNB and also have a 22 month old daughter and four year old son. I generally train in the very early hours so that I do not miss out on family time, which means I am not able to participate in the excellent coached training sessions with Daryl Steeves and Alex Coffin that generally take place in the evenings. I am very fortunate, however, to have an incredible support network who share my passion for this new journey. I think my husband learned early on in our marriage that I am much more pleasant to be around when I have had the chance to exercise J My mother, who lives with us, makes it possible for me to train with my husband, which is something I realize few couples have the opportunity to do. My children also see me training and racing with their dad and aunt, which at a young age is allowing them to see firsthand that physical activity is an important part of everyday life. In fact, my four-year-old son has actively participated in the kids fun runs at each running event – who knew he could run 1k!
I am running the full marathon at Marathon by the Sea this year for several reasons. First, I love having the opportunity to run locally, as you have your family, friends, and community there to support you along the way. And for a marathon, it is a long way J. I also like the course as it is challenging. I live in an area that is surrounded by hills in all directions so I am drawn to a marathon that is similarly challenging (although I suspect I will come to regret saying this on race day!)
In terms of my goals, I would like to improve my Boston qualifying time to be sure that I can participate in the 2015 Boston Marathon. My longer-term goal for which this marathon is a stepping stone is to break the 3 hour marathon mark; ideally sometime over the next 5 years. I look forward to returning to the race where this journey began for me and my family, this time with proper training and more experience. With every race I learn something new. For instance, I did my second 5K race last week and I learned the hard way to not go all out on the first mile when it is all downhill J Having only done one marathon, I have a lot to learn and look forward to this experience in my hometown at Marathon By the Sea with the incredible support of my family and AMAZING new friends from the running and triathlon community!
