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IT’S ALL IN THE SOCKS!

http://www.smoothtoe.com/athletic-socks/

Training is going well and I can feel now that I am fully recovered from all the racing I have done in the past month. The quick recovery is no doubt a part of my genes but also due, in a large part, to the smoothtoe compression socks I use during training and recovery after training and racing. The older weather are a great excuse to throw on these socks and keep warm for those first few frigid miles during an early morning run and a great idea to keep the blood flowing till the body warms up. I wear my smoothtoe socks during long runs routinely and they keep my legs from getting fatigued during my 20 plus mile runs. They also work well during workouts and pretty much any run I do; they are worth a try.

Some big workouts scheduled for this week to see just where I will stack up in a 5000 meter track race in November. It is always better to be prepared and I am looking forward to Saturday’s workout!

Photo Courtesy of Tony Austin

BC CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS: OCTOBER 31ST HALLOWEEN DAY

We all lucked out with the weather, no rain and plenty of sunshine and the course at Jericho was dry and fast. I got out quick and aside from getting side tracked at the first turn I navigated the course from then on just fine. I went hard from the gun to feel what it was like before National cross; in Guelph the course goes from a mass start to a sharp right turn and funnels right away into a narrow trail; so those who get stuck in the back of the pack right off the start are pretty much screwed before the race really gets going, I know from experience as I was one of the guys back in 80th place after that turn. It would be much better to get to the front quickly instead of spending 5 laps trying to pull yourself back up in contention. So getting a feel for that this weekend was a priority on my lists of things to do in the race.

Another priority on my list was to win; however there were many people on the start line who could make that difficult. I got out well and hit 5:50 for the first 2 km loop, then I got a bit stuck in no mans land. I slowed down a bit on the next loop but still under 12 minutes, I was in second chasing down Jon Brown with Richard Mosley and Jim Finlyson chasing me. The next 2 km I got just a bit slower losing some ground to Jon and Richard and Jim were working well together and making some ground on me. I was listening for how much closer on each lap the cheers were coming for Jim and Richard behind me and the sound of spikes on Gravel to get an idea of how much closer they were getting to me. 8km and one lap to go Jon had pulled away enough where I was running for second but in my mind that place wasn’t mine yet. I could tell Richard and Jim were close and I figured that if they didn’t catch me on the hill that it may come down to a kick for the finish. I pushed the last lap and as it turned out I had just enough room to keep that second place; but after reviewing the tape I could see just how close they actually were to me at the end.

In the end it was another second place and I secured a place on the BC team heading to National Cross in Guelph. I felt good during the race and I have enough time to get in even better shape for nationals. Next up for me is The Chiba Ekiden Relay in Chiba, Japan. Richard Mosley and I have qualified to represent Canada at the relay this year. I am going as a spare and running 5km on the track, Richard Mosley is in the relay and Coach Richard Lee is going as the team coach, the other relay runners are Reid Coolsaet, Dylan Wykes, Marilyn Arsenault, Megan Metcalfe, Denise Robson, and Malindi Elmore. Team manager is Thelma Wright.

Figured it was time to post that!

IS IT TIME FOR ANOTHER UPDATE?

Sure, I am focusing on Cross country right now and we have been putting plenty of work in on the trails and over the, up till a few hours ago, BC cross country course in Stanley Park. I have been paying close attention to my energy and being able to push in workouts since the marathon and I am back to 100%, there is no fatigue or lasting side effects lingering from the race.

I kept my mileage after Victoria at 72 miles for that week and as my recovery was going well I picked it up for the next week running 85 miles off 6 days. Coming up this week end is the BC Cross Country championships and I am running it so mileage wise I will stay at 80 for this week. With the main goal being National Cross this November I will continue cross country training after this Saturday and also work on the speed a bit.

I have had 6 workouts so far since the marathon and they have all gone well. Along with the standard thursday progression runs two Sundays ago we did a workout at Stanley park over what was supposed to be the provincial cross course. We ran 1km/ 500m over the hill/ 500m hills/ 1km/500m/500m/1km/500m/500m/1km for a total of 7km. I was able to get quicker on all the kilometer repeats ending in 3:03 and I kept all the hill sections steady throughout the workout. We took a 2 minute jog break between the intervals.

That following Tuesday we were at Burnaby Lake on the grass for some miles followed by 200 meter strides across the soccer field. I kept all the repeats at around 5:00 which was good over the route we had set out. Then it was on to the strides 6x 200 meters. I was able to hit 32 seconds on the first and kept the pace steady for the rest of them.

Thursday was the same old same old and Saturday we were back to Stanley park for some serious hills. We have this figure 8 loop where we ran 4 moderate hills and 3 big hills with a downhill jog between them all. All in total I got in 4.5 miles on the day and was able to get faster and stronger on each subsequent hill.

Which brings me to this Tuesday, we were again at Burnaby lake but on the lit path this time for a shorter workout. 2 sets of (800/400/400/800) with 200 meters jogs between and 3 minutes between sets. except for right in the middle we had a 400 meter jog between the two 400’s. I was feeling really good; like my legs were coming around again. I was starting to feel the same as I did before I headed to Victoria for that 10 km in Sidney. We did a workout right before that race on the path also and I felt that energy in my legs again this Tuesday.

We were to run it comfortable and easy jog breaks between so right off the bat I made sure to run hard but comfortable. Richard and I hit 2:24 for the first 800, then 69 for the 400, 70 for the next 400 and 2:21 for the final 800m. I was feeling stronger as the workout went along while keeping the effort the same. After a 3 minute jog rest we started the second set. I hit 2:18 for the first 800m, then 67 for 400m, 68 for the next 400 and finished off with another 2:18. I really felt good that day. This whole week I have been making sure to take my easy days easy and I think it is paying off so I will continue along that road for now.

BC Cross Country up next…

RETRO WEDNESDAYS: ON FRIDAY FOR SOME REASON

TRAINING GOES ON...

I HAVE TRANSITIONED FROM MARATHON RIGHT BACK INTO TRAINING WITH EASE THIS WEEK. I NEW I WAS IN GOOD SHAPE WHEN I WENT OUT FOR 10KM THE MONDAY MORNING AFTER RVM AND HAD NO SORENESS AND HIT 6 MINUTE MILE PACE RIGHT OUT THE DOOR. IT WAS NICE TO BE BACK IN NANAIMO FOR THAT RUN TOO AND TO BE ABLE TO CIRCLE ROUND THE LAKE WHERE I HAVE DONE MUCH OF MY RUNNING TO DATE.

I DID TAKE IT RELATIVELY EASY BY DECIDING TO HOLD OFF ON TUESDAY’S WORKOUT AND JUST GETTING IN SOME EASY RUNS BEFORE HOPING INTO THE PROGRESSION RUN ON THURSDAY AND THEN SATURDAY HEADING DOWN TO STANLEY PARK AND PUTTING ON THE SPIKES AND GETTING ONTO THE BC CROSS COUNTRY COURSE FOR 7KM OF WORK. IT WAS A WET WET DAY WHICH WAS GOOD PRACTICE FOR THE WORST POSSIBLE CONDITIONS THAT WE COULD FACE THERE IN TWO WEEKS.

NOW IT IS TIME TO GET BACK INTO TRAINING AND FOCUS ON THE RACES AHEAD. WITH A NEWLY SLIGHTLY MODIFIED RACING SCHEDULE THAT COACH AND ATHLETE AND ATHLETE HAVE GONE OVER SINCE THE MARATHON I AM STILL EXCITED WITH WHAT LIES AHEAD AND CONFIDENT THAT WE HAVE MADE THE RIGHT DECISION FOR ALL INVOLVED. DETAILS TO COME…

Victoria Marathon

Well the Marathon went about as good as Richard and I had expected. Regardless of my recent 10 km road race performance I was still coming into this marathon with minimal training behind me( 6 weeks total) so our expectations were not that ambitious. The plan was to run through half way in about 1:10, then try to even split or come back a bit quicker.

As it turned out I had some company through half way with this American who I was told had a 2:18 pr. So I got comfortable and just sat in. The 4 Kenyans went out hard and I had no intentions of chasing. I knew some would come back but there was enough talent up there that I also knew one our two would be able to hold on.

Just before the first half the American and I caught up with one of the Kenyans who I thought was dying already after going out too hard but when we came up to him he stuck right in and ended up running alot more of the race with me. As I started to head back to the finish I knew time wise I was slow and couldn’t make up enough time to get near my original goal of 2:19-2:20, so I just sat in and decided to race; and pick up any stragglers that may come back after a hrad first half.

Shortly after half way I picked up the pace a bit because I knew we were not running very quick and I had no problems picking it up a bit, as soon as I did this the American dropped off and it was just me and the Kenyan in Red. We ran together for quite a while, He picking up the pace and me dropping back a bit, then he falling back and me able to make some ground. Somewhere around 30 km we ran past the first victim of the quick pace of the leaders, this guy looked bad and was attended to by the medical staff right away.

Well one down, one running with me and two more up ahead. I was actually starting to enjoy this a bit, having people to chase down and not falling way back my self. Somewhere around 35 km I started to pull away from the Red Kenyan and quickly put time in between us, I think he hit the wall because I wasn’t feeling that great but I still put 30 seconds on him within the next kilometer and just increased that distance with each kilometer. Up ahead I could be another guy, the Kenyan in white, he was coming back to me quick, then just before the 4 km to go he stopped and started to walk and I ran right past him. Now in second place I was starting to hurt. First place was to far ahead to reel in so now I just wanted to protect second place.

3 km to go I really started to struggle and felt like I was jogging, but I kept moving, counting down the kilometers and looking back to see if anyone was coming back on me, but I couldn’t see any one. With a mile to go I took that split with my watch so I could see just how slow I was running at this point. I was able to hold it together to the finish coming in at 2:22:42, running the last mile in 5:50.

The winner came in at 2:19:26 which meant my record was safe for another year. I kept thinking during the second half of the race how in the hell was I able to run 2:16 on this course in cold rainy conditions, what did I do in training to have a day like that.

Post Race I am feeling fine and got out for 6 miles the next day and another 6 miles on Tuesday. I will ease back into longer runs today and do a workout on Saturday. Now I have the Houston marathon to look forward to and to figure out what we need to do to replicate another day like the one I had October 2006.

Beacon Hill

Feeling Better This Time Around

I am here in Victoria and ready to run the RVM. Since my last update training has gone well. I have done all the workouts that we had planned for this short build-up and they have all gone as planned. After the 15 mile simulation workout and a late night that night I picked up a bug. I looked at it as a good sign as it would be much better to catch some thing 2 weeks out from a big race instead of getting sick closer to the race. Turns out it only lasted a couple days and never got real serious, most likely because of the cold fx I started popping right away. 80 percent of the time this stuff works every time! So on the Tuesday I was slated to run 8 by a mile off 90 seconds rest. Because of the flu Richard decided not to push it and cut the workout at 6. I felt good and could have easily did all six but it was smarter to stay on the edge than to push over it. I hit 4:57, 4:49, 4:51, 4:48, 4:51, 4:49 on the path at Burnaby lakes. I felt under controll the entire time and they every second one was run in a bit of a head wind. After an easy Wednesday I went to Mundy Park and ran a solid 12 mile progression run. Next up was a 6 mile tempo run at Stanley Park followed by 3x 1000 meters around Bear Beaver Lake. I started off on my own and the rest of the group started at the two mile mark for their 4 mile tempo. I started off a bit quick, 5:07 pace. I was supposed to start off at 5:30 and finish off in 5:10, but I was feeling good and it was difficult to slow down. At 3 miles I hit 15:32, and I was starting to pick up some of the group. I ran 10:21 over the next 2 miles running 25:53 for 5 miles. I then made sure to coast it in over the last mile and ran 31:08 for the 6 mile total. The group re grouped and we jogged to Bear Beaver Lake and ran the 3 kilometers off 2 minute jog. I hit 3:00/ 2:59/ 2:55 for those. Not a bad week and I was able to get 90 miles in off 6 days. Sunday we tamed down my long run to 15 miles on the Dykes. Richard, John and I ran it easy to start and picked the pace up as we went finishing the run at 6:23 pace per mile. The week before the marathon there were only 2 more moderate days on my schedule, Tuesday and Thursday. Tuesday the group went back to the Burnaby Lake path for 8 by 800 meters run off 2 minutes jog. This is Richard Lees feel good workout and that is the percise point of the workout; to feel good. I ran this with Dylan and we rsn a bunch of 2:21’s, some 2:25’s and a couple in between. Point is it was a feel good workout that felt good; objective met. Next up was and easy run on Wednesday and then Thursday’s 10 miler. I was supposed to start off easy and get faster as I went, and I did finishing in 58:15. And brings the log up to date, 3 days to go.

RETRO WEDNESDAYS

IT IS RAINING SIDEWAYS HERE RIGHT NOW AND ALL I WANT TO DO IS GET MY WORKOUT OVER WITH

Saturday morning I got up early, 5:30 am, to try and simulate not only the workout that I would be doing that day but also the time I will need to get up and the things I will need to do on race day in Victoria in order to get ready that day. The plan was to start the warm up at 7:30 am, 3 miles, and to be ready to go with the 15 mile marathon simulation workout at race time, 8:30 am. I even had some company out there at this early hour, Micheal from Ireland, came out to do the first 5 miles with me and it helped to have some one to distract me for at least 5 miles. Now before I get into how the workout went I need to say that last year getting ready for the Ottawa marathon we did this same workout with the exception that I took a few easy days before it and probably looking back at it put too much of an emphasis on it. Richard and I decided that instead of running the workout like a marathon simulation we ran it more like a 15 mile time trial. If I remember I was hitting 25:00 for the final 5 miles of the 15 and that was, in hindsight, probably not simulation the marathon that we wanted to run. This time I was given specific instructions not to run faster than the prescribed paces I was to hit, I was supposed to run it while keeping in mind that this was to simulate the first 15 miles of the marathon in Victoria and that when I was done I would need to feel as though I could go the next 11.2 miles and either hold pace or more preferably pick it up. The other change we made this time was there was no resting up for this effort, I had a full week of training with two hard workouts on the Tuesday and Thursday, a big run of 14.5 miles on the Wednesday and by Saturday I was on pace for a 119 mile week, so to say the least I had some fatigue in my legs; just like I would in a real marathon.

The workout was 15 miles run over three 5 mile loops through Stanley park, the same route we have been running for over a year now. The paces to be run were 5:20 per mile for the first 5 miles, then picking it up for the next 5 miles at 5:15 pace and then bringing it down to 5:10 for the final loop. Micheal who was fitting the flu did the first 5 miles with me. It started off slow, no doubt it had something to do with the early start, I felt comfortable but not that I was quite hitting my stride yet. The first mile was 5:30, too slow. The next 2 miles are hilly but I was able to get closer to that 5:20 mile pace. By 4 miles Micheal was falling off a bit, but with his flu it was not surprising, and I was starting to warm up a bit better and my stride was loosening up. I hit the first 5 miles in 27:00. Slower than planned but Richard did say to just go with how it feels so that is what I did. The next 5 miles felt much better than the first. I was running closer to the pace we wanted to hit but also trying to make sure that it felt comfortable, not a struggle, trying to imagine that I still would have 21 miles left to run in the actual race. I went around in 26:30. By now I was feeling way better, I told richard who was riding the bike with my drinks that it must have just taken a little over a lap to get warmed up but I was feeling much better by now. On the third loop I hit mile 11 in 5:13 when Richard said don’t push just keep it relaxed and think about this as being the first 15 of a total of 26. I kept the next mile at a 5:12 pace and by mile 3 I said to Richard I can see why we ran a big week leading up to this workout, you were trying to tire me out. Well it worked but I was hitting my stride now and I ran that third 5 miles in 26:00 and finished with tons of energy.

15 miles in 1:19:30, run at race time and in a controlled manner. I quickly changed into my trainers and ran 5 miles for my cool down before rushing to the ferry to head over to the island for the week end, 23 miles total for the day. I think the workout went well and the way I needed it to. I didn’t feel great at the start but I ran through it and got better and better as it went on the same way a marathon goes sometimes. The biggest thing I took from this workout is that I will just need to listen to my body on race day and take the race as it comes without any perceived expectations just like I did in 2006. Just race and not put any pressure on myself.

Next up is a big workout Tuesday, mile repeats. Just under two weeks to go!

Hanging out on Gabriola.

This Week and The Road to the Victoria Marathon

Started off this week with two easy runs on Monday 11 miles total. Feeling good after the race on Sunday and looking forward to Tuesday’s workout. There are only 16 days left till the marathon and each workout is a step closer to that day so I just want to keep rolling through them.

Tuesday the group met at Burnaby lake for the workout but this time we got off the trails and roads for some work on the grass. The workout was 3 sets of 6x400 meters in spikes on the grass with a quick 200 meter jog between and 3 minutes rest between sets. It was good to get in the spikes and see how they felt with cross country season coming up. I hadn’t worn these spikes since national cross last year and I am glad I tried them out because they felt a bit stiff and it may be an idea to contact Adidas and see about getting a pair of cross spikes for this year. Anyway the workout went well and I felt great the whole way. We were hitting some good paces on the 400’s over soft and bumpy terrain, good practice for cross country.

Wednesday was just a mileage day but I went a bit further than planned during my evening run because I got re-routed from my usual course due to another gang hit about 1200 meters from my place. I heard something about a torched vehicle on the train tracks with a body in it; pretty creepy. The Fraser valley has turned into quite the area to live lately; I picked a good time to make the move over. Anyway I designed a route to run in my head and once I had it planned it didn’t matter that when I got going it was evident that it would be a bit long. 14.50 miles instead of 12, but it was a nice scenic run and I was feeling really good so I just kept a comfortable pace the whole way. I think it is good to get in these odd distance runs on over distance days anyway they just feel good and work the body a bit more than the average 10 milers I do during the week.

So Thursday we had a good size group meet up at Mundy Park for some 2km loops in the Park, well not quite 2km but a good hilly loop none the less. Video of the workout below. Dylan G, Trevor Fenny, Mark Bomba and myself were out for the workout and a new addition Jay Macdonald came out to join us. Richard Lee was there to time and his daughter Robin came out and watched one of my chihuahuas for me. Richard M. is winding down for the Half in Toronto this week end so he was absent from the workout. Anyway the workout was 5x 2000m, or a bit less, with 3 minutes rest in between. All times are outlined in the video below but the basic idea was to get quicker with each interval and I managed that starting at 5:55 for the first one and bringing it home in 5:25 for the final loop. I felt really good that day, everything was firing right, now if I can just carry that over to my workout on Saturday.

Saturday I will head down to Stanley Park for a 15 mile marathon simulation workout. Pretty much the same thing we did building up for my last marathon but with one change we are starting the warm-up and workout at the same time I will do so before the Victoria marathon. Might as well get used to racing at that time of the morning so why not practice it in our workout. This is an important workout to get an idea of how the marathon could go in Victoria. Results to come…