Jean-Paul Bedard is training hard for this triple marathon at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon. We caught up with Bedard to find exactly how he runs on tired legs, his plan for race day and how others can show their support for #BeenRapedNeverReported.
iRun: Jean Paul we know you put a lot of kilometres in a week How many kilometers did you log last week and what are you looking at as a total this week?
Jean-Paul Bedard: I’m hitting the high mileage block of my training right now, so last week I ran over 200 km, and this week should be around the same, or a little bit more.
iRun: You have been running for a long time. When did you run your first marathon and where was it?
JP: I started running shortly after I entered a treatment program to address my drug ands alcohol addiction. My first marathon was the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, and I had the honour of running it with two other gentlemen I met in the treatment program. I can still remember the hellish last 10 km of that first marathon, and how I was literally in a run against the clock, desperate to qualify for the Boston Marathon. I ended up crossing the line at 3:11, and the Boston qualifying standard for my age group was 3:15! I qualified for Boston in my first race. I’ve been back to Boston 10 times now, and I’m heading back again in 2016 too.
iRun: How do you determine how far you will run each day? Do follow a plan?
JP: Having run over a 100 marathons and ultras, I don’t really follow a plan. I run for 2 hours a day Monday to Friday, and Sunday is my long run, and that usually ranges between 36 km and 55 km. I try to incorporate a hill run (but not repeats) and a tempo run at race pace, once per week.
iRun: Your upcoming, triple Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon is less than three months away. How do you prepare your body to run 126.6 kilometers?
JP: It’s all about time on my feet and learning to run on very tired legs. I make sure I go out for a 23 km run the morning after my Sunday long run of 50 km. It’s not fun, but it’s necessary to train my brain to shut off and run through the discomfort. Leading up to the triple marathon in Toronto, I’ll be running the Rochester Marathon in September, The Toad 50k, and then the Bank of America Chicago Marathon the week before my triple in Toronto. It sounds a little insane, but 42.2km is a taper run for a 126.6 km race.
iRun: Can you share with us the plan for your triple marathon?
JP: I plan to head out around midnight and run 2 of the marathons before the official marathon, which will be my third of the day. I’ll be aiming to keep the runs fairly conservative, so I’m hoping for 4:30 for each of the first 2 marathons. The third one will be about survival and having fun on the course. I’m totally looking for people to join me for as many km as they want. I’ll be posting a schedule with the approximate times for my arrival at designated spots along the marathon course. I’ve already got some people who are coming along for the fun. My wife will be following in a support vehicle for the first two marathons, so if anyone needs to bail out, they can hop in the car!
iRun: You are running to draw awareness to sexual abuse and sexual violence with the campaign hashtag, #BeenRapedNeverReported. Is there an official hashtag for your triple marathon?
JP: This triple is all about raising awareness for survivors of sexual assault and to show the community how resilient we are. I decided not to raise money for this run because I wanted to keep my focus on continuing the momentum of the dialogue around sexual assault that appears to have picked up a little steam lately. The other hashtags people can use are #ItsNeverOkay and #STWMx3. If you’re reading this, I would really appreciate you firing off an email to me to show support. It’s people like you who help people like me get through the tough times, not only in running but also in coming to terms with being a survivor of sexual assault.
Want to join Jean-Paul or even come along side on a bike to keep him company?Send him an email for more information on how you can get involved.
Looking for more motivation? Read additional #FindYourStrong stories here.
