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The Snow is here finally and conditions are getting tougher to run in out here in Langley, Icy roads and -7 degrees, but I am going with the flow. I think back to the snow storm we got a few years ago when I was still living in Nanaimo and what I remember was a November and December when I got in a lot of hard solid training and came out of it fit and ready to run the quickest I ever had for 8km. I remember running in trails with snow up to my knees and shoveling the local track to run some intervals on lane one. Now, just like then, I am going with the conditions and doing what I can as far as training and using the icy snowy roads as a training stimulous. The highlight of the week was my 21 mile long run through fort langley where I had to run in traffic. With the icy conditions I was surpirsed with how quickly I was ablr to run it.

I THINK THESE VIDEOS CLIP SPEAKS FOR ITSELF

Found out these guys are reuniting for Coachella 2012 after 11 years apart. I missed my chance to see these guys live 11 years ago and I’m not missing it this time. These guys split up right when they should not have and formed two other bands that were not terrible but not great either. This album was gold from start to finish, wonder if they will play some new shit at Coachella.

That’s How I want to Start 2012

Last week went a little rough after I attempted a 10 mile tempo out here in Langley. The Solo attempt, in not ideal conditions, was hard and sucked and wasn’t anywhere I wanted to be pace wise so I decided that since I hadn’t had a single day off in 7 weeks it was time for one, but 1 day off turned into 3 and if I continued to slide things would get ridiculous. I started back up slowly and even hit a couple workouts just in time to feel good about heading over to Victoria for the Pioneer 8km.

Despite the BLOOD, SWEAT and ICE, I still finished the workout.

I traveled from Langley to Gabriola yesterday for the holidays, left at 1:30 pm trying to catch the 3pm ferry but ended up on the 5, and arrived here at 9pm. The upside of the day was I got my medium long run done before I left Langley. Training is going great; this week is a down week for me after 4 weeks of building mileage, convenient considering this is such a festive week. I got to drop all my double day runs for single run days, two workouts and with a long run already done for this week it is a pretty light week. Unfortunately Sunday is my long run day and Christmas is on Sunday so guess what I am going to be doing this Sunday after watching Ari open Presents… that’s right a 22 mile long run around the entire island.

Today I did my first run here on the island; which happened to be a workout. I decided to run a 5 mile tempo. After a good warm up I started out on the run. I’ve run here on the island enough to know the first half of this workout is going to be and up hill bitch so I decided if I averaged 5:30 miles I would be fine with that. I am still far enough away from marathon specific training that just getting a good workout at a decent clip is enough for me now to keep me going. On route I decided to go out 4.5km and come back 3.5. It was nice and sunny over here on the island but still cold and icy out on the roads. As I reached the turn around point I was feeling good and relaxed considering the climbing I did to reach that point; I took a wide turn (using the entire road), to turn around and head back to the start and I knew I had to slow down and take it easy as to not slip and fall. Well as the above photos show I fell anyway. It sucked big time. I tore up both knees and my hand and my left hip took most of the blow and my right side of my neck got wrenched. I spent about 3 seconds deciding if I was going to slow and see what kind of damage I did or just screw it and keep going. I kept going. After a few meters I knew things weren’t to bad and my pace hadn’t suffered too much so at that point I just wanted to get this workout done.

I finished and hit a better pace then expected so despite the turn around slip it was a successful workout. I logged my 10 mile for the day and jumped into the hot tub at my parents right after the run to relax a bit. I hit up a few beers after that to make sure my battered body would recover from the earlier fall and that is about it for today.

Despite the BLOOD, SWEAT and ICE, I still finished the workout.

I traveled from Langley to Gabriola yesterday for the holidays, left at 1:30 pm trying to catch the 3pm ferry but ended up on the 5, and arrived here at 9pm. The upside of the day was I got my medium long run done before I left Langley. Training is going great; this week is a down week for me after 4 weeks of building mileage, convenient considering this is such a festive week. I got to drop all my double day runs for single run days, two workouts and with a long run already done for this week it is a pretty light week. Unfortunately Sunday is my long run day and Christmas is on Sunday so guess what I am going to be doing this Sunday after watching Ari open Presents… that’s right a 22 mile long run around the entire island.

Today I did my first run here on the island; which happened to be a workout. I decided to run a 5 mile tempo. After a good warm up I started out on the run. I’ve run here on the island enough to know the first half of this workout is going to be and up hill bitch so I decided if I averaged 5:30 miles I would be fine with that. I am still far enough away from marathon specific training that just getting a good workout at a decent clip is enough for me now to keep me going. On route I decided to go out 4.5km and come back 3.5. It was nice and sunny over here on the island but still cold and icy out on the roads. As I reached the turn around point I was feeling good and relaxed considering the climbing I did to reach that point; I took a wide turn (using the entire road), to turn around and head back to the start and I knew I had to slow down and take it easy as to not slip and fall. Well as the above photos show I fell anyway. It sucked big time. I tore up both knees and my hand and my left hip took most of the blow and my right side of my neck got wrenched. I spent about 3 seconds deciding if I was going to slow and see what kind of damage I did or just screw it and keep going. I kept going. After a few meters I knew things weren’t to bad and my pace hadn’t suffered too much so at that point I just wanted to get this workout done.

I finished and hit a better pace then expected so despite the turn around slip it was a successful workout. I logged my 10 mile for the day and jumped into the hot tub at my parents right after the run to relax a bit. I hit up a few beers after that to make sure my battered body would recover from the earlier fall and that is about it for today.

As you can see the beard is still in full effect and I have been getting some mixed opinions on it. I like it and have no thoughts of cutting it, but if you have an opinion on it you can post a comment. Really I just want to prove to Karen that more people think it is the shit than it is shit so prove me right!

WTF INDEED

Well to answer that question I don’t know, but what I do know is I needed to change things up. I have known that things needed to change in order for me to enjoy running and get back to doing the things I needed to help my training but it took a 6 week illness at the end of my last marathon build-up to give me the opportunity to sit back and reflect on the past few years and then move forward. First I needed to make sure I still had the desire to train, I do. Then I needed to figure out what my goals are and if they are the same as before, well they aren’t not entirely anyway. Do I have the ability to improve on what I have achieved before? I think so. Then what do I need to do now to move forward and reach my new goals?

It is simple really. Training. I need to get back to running, but more than that I need to build up slowly with a clear plan and follow through with that plan. I have been training steady through the first part of this winter so I am taking care of the first part. Next I need a goal race to make the training mean something and I do. I will be running the Lake Biwa Marathon in 2012, as they have been nice enough to invite me back again this year. So now the last part of the puzzle I need someone to bounce training ideas off of and who can, from the outside of my training bubble, offer ideas and suggestions to help me reach my goal. I have partnered back up with my long time coach Al Johnston and with that I have what I need to get ready for Biwa.

In the mean time training is going well and I am back to using my altitude chamber again. Last week I eased into some workouts by joining the crew at Trinity Western University. Bomba has been nice enough to invite me out to train when it fits with my schedule and right now it is a good fit as I build-up towards marathon specific work. The marathon is a long lonely race and I think to be prepared for the marathon- training for the most part should be long and lonely. I have taken a lot of good training ideas from my previous marathon build-ups. I have learnt what real marathon workouts are and how they feel and what I need to do in training to get to the point where I can get through them. There were many good things in my past training but there were things I knew I was missing in training that were nagging at me and I think this time around I can combine the two for a more specific program that works for me.

Next up for racing will be the Pioneer 8km in January and after that a half marathon in February I still need to decide on, but first up is the 8km where I can see where my current training has taken me.

The Good, The Okay, and the Could Have Been Better…

I’ve been neglectful of my website so this is going to be a quick gloss over of the last couple of months with the intention of bringing readers up to date. The quickest way to do this I think is to touch on the last three races I have done and just saying that training in between those races has been steady and good.

First off would be the Victoria Track series 10km on the track ( video coverage under this post). The race went about as well as I figured it would for me, I was in good fitness at that time and as it turned out I had some help early on with pacing but after 3km I was on my own and the race turned into more of a steady state workout. The plan before the race was for me and Trevor to trade off pacing for most of the race with the goal of getting in under 30 minutes. It wasn’t Trevor’s day as he fell off pace after 3km and I got into a comfortable pace early and didn’t vary from that too much from start to finish. Looking back I could have pushed and taken some chances mid race to run a bit quicker but in the end I ran a negative split and accomplished the one goal I really wanted from the race which was a positive experience to keep me motivated through the next phase of my marathon build up.

Training between this race to my next at the McNeil Bay Half Marathon went well with some good long run/ marathon paced workouts and intervals on the track and leading into the half marathon I was confident that if things went well I could run fast. Leading into the race I picked up a bit of a virus but it didn’t really take hold till after the race so it had no bearing on my result. I ran a 1:06:11 on a course that was deceptively difficult. I felt good the entire way and when the course was flat I was able to run at a good clip, on the way back the hills got difficult and my pace drifted off a bit but I kept my effort high and worked hard coming back and was okay with the result and the place I was in training.

Next up was the national 10km champs in Toronto. With my cold holding on all the way through to this race I was not optimistic with my chances there but I was able to train through the sickness and even get in some good workouts but they had definitely taken more out of me than if I was not under the weather. So I went out i conservatively at the start of the race and just kept working the entire race bringing myself from 20th place to 11th or 12th by the end. The one good thing I can say from the race is no one passed me once I settled in; but instead I reeled people in which is going to be something I will want to do in my upcoming marathon.

Two days after the Zoo run 10km in Toronto we had a 40.2km run we did out here in walnut grove where we ran each consecutive 10km segment faster as we ran and I was able to run well and feel good doing so so I was happy to see my body rebounding from sickness. Now I am into my taper and brining down my mileage and overall volume of workouts. Today I ran a good in and out workout where I alternated 3minutes on and 3 minute off around a trail near my home and I am feeling confident my training has gone well and that I am as ready as I can be for the Toronto Marathon at this point. Next up thanksgiving over on the island and a tempo workout on my own on Gabriola Island.

Victoria Track Series Elite 10,000 meters Track Race.

I got it done with a couple group runs.

This past week has been one of my better ones it quite a while. It started off with a group long run last Sunday out here in Langley. The plan was 28km with a 10km pick up at 12 km- 22km. We started out at a moderate pace hitting around 6:20 pace for the first 12.4 km before picking it up for the next 10km. Wykes put some distance on us pretty quickly, which was fine with me, as I settled into a pack with Gant and Simpson. I felt surprisingly good and knocked off that 10km with Gant in just under 34 minutes, for me right now that was a good starting point to see how much faster I can go next time we do something similar to this again. We ran back to the start of the run and a good clip and rounded out almost 29km.

Gabriola 35km

Me, My Garmin, My Shuffle and Myself

The last three weeks have been great for training. During it though I have been pretty much on my own with the exception of my Garmin watch and ipod shuffle. As my mileage steadily climbs each week so do my long runs and I am happy to say that I am finally back on a consistent schedule of Sunday long runs. Last week I put together a 26km run and this week I did 30km. The long run is probably my favorite run of the whole week and I find with the sheer duration of this run it gives me a lot of time to think. This Sunday long run will be a group affair with runners from the LMElite group heading out to Walnut Grove, my neck of the woods for a long run with an up tempo section. I am looking forward to this run and the plan for me is to hang in as long as I feel I can but to also add to the mileage total that I ran for last Sunday’s long run so 35km is the goal in mind. With the conclusion of this week I will be starting some workouts next week, I will have three solid weeks of mileage so I think this is the next logical step but I am still undecided to what specifically I will do.

I got back into my tent this week, I dropped a bunch of cash on the thing so I might as well get back to using it. Altitude wise I will be starting out in lower Albuquerque for 5 days, then heading to upper Albuquerque for the next 5 days, making a road trip down route 66 and spending 5 days in Flagstaff before ending up at the base of Snow Bowl for the duration of my altitude stay.

While I am starting to add the little things, like the altitude tent, weight routine and Medicine ball, I have gotten back to another helpful practice during training; regular massage. It’s funny because I say the same thing every time a get a massage after a long long lay off from doing so, it helps and I feel way better during my runs when doing so. I had a massage Thursday and it was painful; I knew it would be but man parts of me were really tight but the pain was worth it because I know it will loosen things up and make my daily training go a little smoother. Later that day I headed out on a 21km run along the Fort to Fort trail, which was on flood watch and had many road blocks I had to jump over, and I felt really good; I ran the same out and back I did just the day before at around the same effort but covered the run much faster the day of my massage; so I’m sold, again, weekly massages it is.

So with things heading in the right direction I am starting to think about my next marathon. The problem with marathons are that you need to register and commit months in advance to these races but when you are a bit out of shape and just starting back it is hard to gauge when you will be ready to race one at your optimal fitness. Regardless you need to think and start planning out that schedule and right now that is what I am doing. I have some ideas of what I could be ready to race in the near future and some races that may be a bit more realistic with my current schedule, so I will plan for both and try to iron out the final details of those in the next 10 days.

Double Day-double Post (for the week)

We headed up to the Okanagan this morning for the long weekend. Long weekend you say; well when u don’t work every week has a long week end feel to it. I headed out for 10km in the morning put on Walnut Grove before hooking up the trailer and heading east.

5 hours later we were in Osoyoos and 35degree weather. After setting up the trailer I headed out for another run along a path around the lake before I did anything else. Ari and Karen walked across the road from our campsite to the lake and headed towards town at 6 minute pace in the beating sun looking forward to a beer or three when I got back. A few Dead frogs after an 11 km run sounded good to me.

This week is rounding out well just like last week and should end up in the 130km range. Not bad for starting from square one just over a week ago. Good thing is I get fit quick. Another week and I’ll get into some workouts and don’t worry everyone I am not going to pass up a golden opportunity; I’ve talked with Wykes over email and we will still be getting together for some runs and workouts; so Toronto may very well still be in the cards for me this fall , but I’m not going to worry to much about that now. 10-13 Miler planned for tomorrow morning and possibly another double then it’s back on the road Friday to Vernon for another camping local.

And Matt u were right Osoyoos sucks! Well not that much our campsite is good but the lake is gross.

*Correction the lake is a little nicer slightly to the right.

2 IN 1 IS A BULLSHIT TERM!

I hate heights so climbing up on this ladder to paint the trim of my house is probably not the smartest thing to do; so why in the hell did i buy two new ladders from a garage sale up the road today?

This past week was a good one for me as far as training has gone. I ran everyday and got in 117 km. I even managed a long run on Sunday, my first in quite a while, where I ran 17 miles. Next week I am planning much of the same, mileage, solid runs and in another week or two I will start in with some workouts.

I saw something pretty funny on my long run, two people dressed up in there tight fitting, spandex, tour de france looking biking gear in the tuck position whizzing on down the hill where I was running. Problem was they were on a tandem bike. Who the hell does that? and how do they decide who gets in front and who gets in back for that wild, sweaty, stinky ride? Sometimes going out for a run can be pretty damn entertaining.