Winter hibernation . . .

This winter was a terrible one for southern Ontario. We had record cold temperatures, lots of snow, and very few thaws. Combine that with the last few gentle winters, and it was a recipe for disaster.

The worst part of the weather this year is that it has caused a lot of us to do drastic things this winter. A lot of folks have relegated themselves to the treadmill, indoor track, or *gasp*, even the couch!

Well, today marks the first day of spring, and the weather is improving, in spite of the snow still on the ground. Now is the time for you to start taking back your fitness, and get into a routine again so you're ready for when the nice weather hits!

Here are a few tips on how to get back outside, or just active again:

• Pick and activity you like - if you don't like going to the gym, what's the point of getting a gym membership? Do something that you enjoy, whether it's running, boot camp, swimming, walking, or something else. You're more likely to stay active if you actually enjoy what you're doing.
• Sign up for a class - having someone else plan your workout can make getting active much easier. You just need to show up, and do what you're told!
• Do it in a group - you're more likely to stick with an activity if you're doing it with a group of other people. Knowing they're waiting to see you there can be the motivation some people need. Signing up for a gym class, a running clinic, or just connecting with an open run time can be the kick to get out the door we need (**store promotion: we have new clinics kicking off April 22nd at 6 pm. Find details at www.therunningworks.com. We also have open groups that go out Saturday morning at 8 am, and Tuesday/Thursday at 6 pm.)
• Do it with a friend - a group of people you don't know not enough? Join a group with a friend! Someone who can give you a call when you're waffling on showing up, and help kick your butt out the door. If you join a class together, it's even that much more motivation!
• Schedule your activity - life seems to be getting busier and busier for everyone. Adding your active time to your calendar is a good reminder to stay active, and ensure you get out the door. Signing up for a class is a great way to ensure you set that time aside.
• Set an achievable goal - it's easy to set a goal. What can be hard is achieving that goal. If you've just started running, don't try to run a marathon this spring. Set out to do a 5km or 10km race. By setting achievable goals, you can keep your motivation by reaching them. 
• Sign up for an event - the first two local races of the year are coming up fast! Sign up for the Marden Marathon 5k, 10k, or half marathon (April 12th), or the Billy Taylor 5km or 15km (April 27th), and get out the door!
• Get some new gear - sometimes, all we need is a little retail therapy to help us get out the door. A new outfit or accessory can be just the trick to kick start the fitness routine. A new toy like a Garmin GPS or Polar Loop can give you a good excuse to get out the door, while a new spring outfit can always raise our spirits.

Cold Weather Tips

Brrrrrr! It's cold out. Windchill into the minus 40s isn't exactly what I call a good time.

That being said, weather like this doesn't have to mean you're sentenced to a treadmill death, or to do endless laps around the 200m indoor track.

Here are some tips to keep you warm and safe even when the mercury goes off the scale!

• Finish your run with the wind at your back: Wind in your face while finishing means that you'll be both colder and slower. Depending on how challenging the run is, it can mean a dangerous drop in your core temperature, or fatigue that can make finishing your run a challenge. Wind at your back to finish means you get a little boost to your speed, so you can get home that much quicker.
• Protect your skin:  A little Bodyglide over exposed skin creates a barrier from the elements, meaning you'll lower your risk of frostbite. Also, touch exposed skin every couple of minutes to warm it up.
• Wear layers that wick well: Keeping your skin dry is key to staying warm. Wear a good wicking base layer, mid layer, and a shell that will allow sweat to evaporate. You'll stay more comfortable longer.
• Wear a good wind-proof layer or two: Most of us can deal with a raw cold. It stinks, but you warm up. The wind is what can cut through you, and give you a chill that is hard to shake. Wearing a good wind-proof shell will help make that wind bearable.
• Gentlemen, two words; Wind Boxer: These are a pair of fleece lined underwear that have an extra wind proof layer in the front. When was the last time in the winter you thought, "I'm too warm" down there?
• Ladies, two other words; Bun Toaster: Similar to the men's Wind Boxer, there fleece lined underwear just don't have the wind-proof panel. Great way to keep your bum warm.
• Plan your route well: Set up your route so you can cut off and get home quickly if needed. Also, planning a route where you can stop in somewhere to warm up is a good idea.
• Keep your nutrition warm: If heading out for a run where you need water or nutrition, remember to keep it warm. We have insulated bottles, or you can try wearing your belt under your coat. Keep your gels and chews closer to your body so you can consume them quickly.

If you do decided to stay indoors for your run, here are a few tips:

• Adjust the incline: On a treadmill, change the incline through the run to reduce repetitive fatigue.
• Don't worry about the pace: Treadmills calibration can be spotty. Don't worry about how fast or slow it says you're going, just run comfortably.
• Turn around: If you're on an indoor track, change direction mid-run to reduce the stress from tight corners.
• Take the longest route: Run on the outside lanes of the track. You'll run a bit farther, and reduce stress from the tight corners.

Keep running, but stay safe!

Better late than never

I've tried to sit down and write this blog a few times since the race ended, but it's all felt a bit silly.

Pre-race gear shot.

We took the Go into town, got my race kit, headed over to the hotel, and did general mundane things on Saturday. We had a lovely dinner with Robert and Tricia McRae, who we ran into in the hotel lobby (both had a great race in the 5km on Sunday). We went to bed a bit early, which was still a bit late for Emily, my 3 year old. Our sleep was pretty bad, as Emily woke up about 4 or 5 times, and I had trouble going back to sleep after a couple of those.
Breakfast at the hotel was good. We were back in the room around 7:30, and I nervously paced the room for the next 45 minutes. We headed downstairs about a half hour before gun time, and hung out in the lobby for the next 10-15 minutes. We made our was to the start line, and found my corral. I said goodbye to Emily and Shannon, and got into the corral.

Emily giving "Heidi's dad" a hug.

I thought about really pushing my way up to the front, but I didn't want to get too pushy, so I settled in and waited for the gun. The gun went and we were off. First observation from the race; the crowds were awesome. It was very hard to stay relaxed when you have hordes of people cheering. Tip for future races: if you want people to cheer your name, smile. I couldn't help but smile with the energy coming from the crowd. I was a bit quick over the first 8km, when I pulled over for a quick pit stop. I was back on goal pace when I got moving again, and settled into that right through half way.

Photo courtesy of Scott Cameron, around 13km. Running with fellow Guelphite Boguslaw Wojewodka.

I went through half in 1:22:31, which was exactly what I was shooting for. for those of you who haven't run STWM before, a couple of things happen around half way. First off, the half marathon runners turn off to their finish around 19.5km. Suddenly, the bodies around you are thinned out completely. Next, around 22km, the course hits a dead spot. The spectator numbers drop significantly, and it gets to be a little tougher. Still, I was running on pace and the legs felt alright. Around 23km, things started to get a little interesting.

First off, I have a confession. I use expired gels. I've done this for years. Gels have a "best before" date rather than an expiry date, and I've never had an issue with gels well past the BB date, nor have I spoken to anyone who had an issue. I figured it's better than throwing them away. So, at the 18.5km mark, I took a gel that really didn't taste right. I took some water, and tried to forget about it, but around 23km, my stomach started to feel off. I was expecting to see an aid station at 24.5km, but it wasn't there (it wasn't on the course map when I looked later, even though it was listed on the "aid station" page). I really wanted a bit of water there, hoping it would help my stomach feel better. By the time I got to 27km, I was stopping and dry heaving. At 31km, I finally was sick just off of the course. Fortunately, it was just the gel that came up, and not all my stomach contents. Just after this point, my legs started to cramp up. I went through the last 11km running about 500-800m, then having to stop and walk or stretch. I even had to stop about 300m out from the finish line, where you think you can gut it out to look good running through the line. I changed my GPS to just the watch, so I wouldn't worry about how fast I was moving. Around 36km, I was wondering if I should ask a spectator to text my wife to let her know that I was okay!

Overall, I'm disappointed with how the race played out, but I'm really happy I finished. 11km is a long way to go when you've realized how the rest of your race is going to play out. I contemplated dropping out, but  I knew Shannon and Emily would be at the finish waiting for me. We talked all weekend about Emily coming up to watch me run the race, and I wanted to make sure she was able to watch me cross the line. It was important to me for her to see me finish, and it's really what got me to stick it out through the finish.

Emily enjoying the medal on the ride home.

So, I finished the race in 3:09:38. A 1:22:31/1:47:07 race wasn't exactly what I was looking for, but I stuck it out, and it is what it is. This was a good experience overall. Like I said earlier, the spectators were awesome. There was a lot of Guelph love on the course, and I saw a few people out there who I haven't seen in years, or just didn't expect to see. Thank you to everyone that cheered for me, and said hi out on the course.

The real goal with running this marathon was to get back into a running routine. I've been very inconsistent with my running over the last number of years. I know running makes me better overall. I'm happier, have more energy, eat better, and am more efficient at work and home. I needed to get back into running consistently, and this race gave me the accountability I needed.
Also, running a marathon was a new goal and challenge. I've struggled with motivation in my running. I know I'm never going to run another 5km PB. I'm not going to run another 10km PB. But the marathon is a clean slate. I can adjust my goals and expectations, and really test myself to see how I can do while balancing the rest of my life.

A big thank you goes out to my wife and daughter. They put up with all of the training mood swings, holiday's spent on a long run, self centred talk of my running, and were extremely supportive through all of it (it's amazing what my 3 year old knows about glycogen stores and electrolytes). Thanks, too, to my staff. They got to hear about the details of my training, and offered some great advice. And thanks to you for following the blog. It's been a rewarding experience, and I'm excited for the next challenge.

Cruel Go joke.

I'm keen to get back on the horse. I've already sketched out a couple of spring training plans, looking to run another marathon in the spring. I've got a loose schedule to take me through to January/February, and I'll start to look at ramping up the training. I'm excited to see what I can do for the marathon. With a solid year of training under my belt, I think I can set my sights a little higher. I've learned a few good things from this training block (no more back to back to back week with 35k+ long runs, or expired gels on race day). I've been reminded about how much I enjoy running, and am happy to be back into it. I will probably be back to STWM next year. It was a great event, and I really want to have the race I know I can.

Rough road ahead

A neglected blog is never a good sign.

This blog has been neglected.

My last few weeks of training has not gone as planned. From the Reach the Beach relay until now, I've had 2 extremely disappointing training weeks, 1 okay week, and 1 1/2 taper weeks. A quick recap:

After the RTB relay I got really sick, leading to a full week off.
The following week was an okay week of training, but I backed off of the volume because I had taken a full week off. I ended up with a 25km long run, and about 70km of volume. Not bad, but I would have liked another 10km or so.
The next week was extremely busy at work. We launched some new software, which led to me putting in 2 14 hour days to kick off the week, and only 2 shorter runs during the week.
Last week was okay again, but it's taper time, so the volume was lower. A 20km long run was the biggest part of a 55km week.
This week has been easy so far. I've run about 30km, and I should run about 8-10km tomorrow. Saturday may bring an easy 3-5km, but just enough to shake the legs out.

So, I'm going into the race less confident than I was 5 weeks ago. I came out of RTB extremely confident that I was going to be ready for a very good run. Now, I'm not there. I know I've done enough work overall to be in fine shape to reach the finish line upright. Ideally, I would have had another run over 30km, another 2 or 3 over 25km, and probably an extra 175km or so since then. So, I'm not exactly where I thought I could be. That being said, I did get some very good training in. I have 4 runs of 35k or longer in. I have several weeks of 80km or more. If there was a stretch to have training be weak, I would prefer it to be now, when most of the work was done.

I haven't published any time goals yet. Heading into this, I had a general idea of what kind of shape I thought I could get into, knowing there were a bunch of factors that would impact that.
After RTB, I was fitter than I thought I could get to. I figured I should be aiming to run somewhere between 2:35 and 2:40. 2:35 would have been ambitious, but I felt really strong, and thought a few more weeks of quality training would have brought me in at least under 2:40.
Now, I've backed off  that and gone back to my original general idea. I think I'm still okay for 2:40-2:45. I would like to be closer to 2:40, but, after talking to Mark Linseman, seeing the WR splits from Berlin, and seeing a friend of mine run 2:42:52 with a 6-minute negative split in Chicago last weekend, I'm going to go out on the slower end of that goal range, and see if I can finish strong. Right now, I'm planning on going out on 2:45 pace for the first 25km, then trying to cut down pace to the finish. A negative split would be huge. Of course, there is the chance that I will completely blow up and run a big positive split (see Run for the Toad 25k, 2010).

I'm going to try to write another post on Saturday, maybe while I can't sleep in the hotel the night before the race.
If you're interested, Sportstats will let you follow my race on Twitter or Facebook. Our Twitter handle is www.twitter.com/therunningworks, while you can hunt me down on Facebook. You can also watch the race  live at www.stwm.com and see if local boy Eric Gillis, or former local boy Robin Watson can take a shot at Drayton's 38 year old Canadian Record.

Man down . . .

Sept 16-22

The trip back from New Hampshire was a long one. We were up at 4:45 am on Sunday to leave Cannon Beach and head back to Manchester. From there we picked up Terry's truck, and made the drive back home.

While I wore my compression socks for the drive home, I didn't get changed into my tights (which I had left in Terry's truck for the race) for any of the drive. That was a mistake. I expected to be sore after the race, but my quads and hamstrings were in really rough shape. 20 mile and 40 hours in a car will do that for you.

I had planned Sunday off, but wanted to get something decent in on Monday. Unfortunately, I woke up Monday morning with a wicked cold. I was still pretty sore, so I figured I would push off my run another day, and get back into it Tuesday. I was underestimating how nasty this cold was.
Basically, I would get up in the morning, feel okay, decide "if I feel alright in a couple of hours, I'll run." A couple of hours would go by, and I would feel exhausted. Priority came down to running, or getting well. I thought with a couple of good nights sleep, I would feel better, but that didn't happen, either. Wednesday and Thursday were both a wash, with me heading home early from the store on Thursday. Friday was the first day that I actually felt okay for most of the day. I flip flopped on running. I knew I wasn't going to get anything in on the weekend, as those are my usual days off, and I had a few things going on. I skipped Friday's run, giving myself a full 8 days off of running, and hoping that I would be 100% come Monday.

I'm not happy about missing a full week of running. For post race soreness, ect, I felt good to run on Tuesday, and was close to 100% byThursday. I think running through that would have probably helped me get out the soreness, and kept me riding the confidence gained at the race. With the cold, I had to make a choice; run and risk being sick for a few weeks, or rest and get better faster. Right now, I'd rather sacrifice a few days of training to be 100%. I'm going to change my training schedule a little bit in the next few weeks due to the layoff, but nothing was set in stone from here on in. I'll ease into running next week, and get in a good long run late in the week, aim for one more on Monday, before cutting back into taper mode.

Weekly total: 0 runs, 0km

Reach the Beach

September 9-14

The post here is going to be a bit long, since it features a race report. 

This week brings the Reach the Beach relay in New Hampshire. It's a 200 mile, 12 person, 36 leg relay. I have about 20 miles (32k) of legs to do. As much as the marathon training was for Toronto, I very much had this race in mind when doing up my training schedule. 

Monday was a scaled back long run. I went 27.5k, and did it comfortably. I wanted to come out of this run feeling like I could be well recovered for Friday. 

Tuesday was an easy 8k home from work. Wednesday, I wanted to go really easy, so I did a slow 5k on the treadmill. I hate the treadmill, so it felt like 2 hours. 

Thursday, my friend Terry picked me up around 12:30 to head to Buffalo so we could fly to Boston, and then drive to NH. 

As we were waiting to cross into Buffalo, I got an email from the airline saying our flight was cancelled. We got bumped to a Friday evening flight. Unacceptable, since the race started at 3:20 Friday. 

After talking with the airline, and realizing we weren't flying to Boston that day, we loaded into Terry's truck and made the 8.5 hour drive to Manchester, NH. Not ideal. 

We arrived in Manchester around 10:30pm, got some food, caught up with some of our friends, and went to bed. 

Friday brought quite a bit of excitement. While I didn't run last year, my team was the defending champion, and we wanted to keep that title. Teams started in waves, kicking off at 7:20 am. We were in the last wave that went out at 3:20 pm. That meant we had 2 challenges; to be the fastest team overall, and to be the first team to finish. We did a light 1.5 mile run in the morning, and then prepared to head up to Cannon mountain for the start.

I had legs 8, 20, and 32. Leg 8 was a 6.1mile rolling route. I got the baton from Terry, and took off. The adrenaline was flowing, and I was super excited to be out racing. I checked my pace a couple of hundred meters in, and saw I was running 5:08 mile pace. Not sustainable. I calmed myself down, and settled into a good rhythm over the rolling route. It was dark, and the runners ahead of me were all wearing flashing lights. The goal was to pick off as many of those flashing beacons as I could. I ended up averaging 5:36 miles, which was slightly faster than I was aiming for. I was really pleased, as the effort didn't feel that strenuous, and focused on recovering for my next leg. 

I tried to sleep a little before my next leg, but that didn't work. It was 6.83 miles, with the first 2 miles uphill before going mostly downhill after that. The first 2 miles was hard. I planned on going out conservative, but I didn't anticipate going as slow as I did.  My pace for those first 2 miles was 6:34 per mile. I felt like I as moving, and I was passing bodies, but I just wasn't able to move fast up that hill. 2 miles uphill is a long, long way. The last 8k was solid. It was more rolling than I expected, but I moved we'll and ran 27:50, or about 5:36 pace again. I was pleased with that, although I felt I could have pushed harder. I averaged 5:52 per mile, which was okay, but I would have liked a few seconds faster. I got into the van with the hope of sleeping a little before the sunrise in a few hours. 

Once again, sleep wasn't really in the cards. The runner after me, John, hurt his quad in his second leg. He wasn't sure if he would be able to run his final leg. We debated how to handle the injury, and reviewed what our options were. Since I was the leg right before John, one of the options we considered was having me continue running through the transition area (that wasn't an option in the rules). Fortunately, we had a physio on our team, and he got John ready to roll on his last leg.
My last leg was 6.69 miles, with a good climb in the middle. By the time I got the baton, we had only 2 teams left in front of us. The one team was within striking distance for me, while the other one, a corporate team that started a few hours earlier than they were originally slated, was over an hour ahead. We also had the overall lead by over 20 minutes. So the motivation was simply to get the leg done as quickly as possible so I would be done running.
I started out running about 5:30 miles. I looked at my watch and wondered how bad of an idea that was. I decided to roll them as much as I could, as I knew the big hill in the middle of the leg would take it's toll on me. As I got to the hill, I saw another runner, and dialed in on passing him. It was great motivation to get up the hill as a solid clip. The rest of the leg was small rolling hills, but my legs were beat up enough that the hills slowed me down. I ended up running 5:45 pace for the leg, basically running 5:30 or 6:00 pace throughout. It was hard, and I was extremely happy to finish.

We won the race, which was gratifying. It was unfortunate that we didn't cross the line first, but that give us something to shoot for next year. Overall, I averaged 5:44 pace for my 20.22 miles, which I was pleased very pleased with. I think that should set me up well for a good race at the Toronto Marathon.
An event like this creates a whole lot of different challenges for a runner. You have a good amount of distance to run at a fast pace. You don't have the time to do any real proper warm ups or cool downs, as you basically jump out of a van, run, jump into a van. You don't really get to eat really well  (I mostly survived on protein/meal replacement drinks, beef jerky, and peanut butter sandwiches). And, lastly, sleep deprivation. Throw in there running at times that you may not be used to (3:00 am?), and it's a great challenge.

I know I won't be able to hold the pace I ran this past weekend for 42.2km, but this does give me a better feel for what I think I can do. I haven't run a race in over a year, so going out there and running the paces I did, feeling good, gives me a lot of confidence. I know STWM isn't nearly as hilly as this event, either, so that makes me feel good. I think I can run the marathon at 3:40-3:45/km pace. I still need to make it through the next 5 weeks, but this was a good event for me.

Week total: 7 runs, 75km

Back at it

September 2-8

After a down week, and a weekend off, I am hoping to feel good this week. I was reflecting on why I've felt so rough the last few weeks. I know I've done some not-so-smart things with training that have left me flat. 3 35K+ runs in 15 days wasn't bright for a guy who had only run that distance 3 or 4 times before in his life. The weather didn't help with last weeks workout, and I need to accept that.
I realized that I wasn't taking care of the little things that can have a big impact on training. My hydration has been terrible over the last two weeks. I've been eating a bit too much junk stuff, and not getting enough good stuff into me for recovery. My core strength work hasn't been up to par, and I've noticed I'm getting some aches that I shouldn't be. So, on we go, but making sure we're taking care of the little things.

Monday brought another long run. I really wanted to get in another 35k run, since I think this will likely be my last chance before the marathon. I won't want to go that far next week with the Reach the Beach NH race on Friday/Saturday, and won't go that far the following week, as I'm not sure how beat up I'll be after the relay.
So, I set out to do 35k, but giving myself an out that if I felt rough, I could cut back to 32k. There was a thick fog in the air, and within 5 minutes of running my glasses had a nice layer of moisture. Fortunately, it was cool enough that I didn't notice the real heavy air. The run was relatively uneventful, which is a good thing. I cut my pace down as the run went along, getting down close to race pace for the last 10k. I went the full 35k, and was please with it. After the run, my legs were feeling pretty beat up, but I realized that was because I wore my lighter weight shoes for the run. I've been doing my long stuff in a pair of New Balance 1080v3, a very plush shoe. I've been wearing a pair of 1400 racing flats for workouts, going up to 25k in them. I do want to use them as my race day shoe, so I planned on getting a longer run done in them, but my legs were pretty beat up after it. I still have to say, this was a good run and a nice confidence builder that I'm recovering well.

Tuesday I was pretty sore, so I only ran the 8k from work to home. Wednesday, I loaded Emily up in the stroller and we ran down to daycare. I was still feeling a bit sore, so I ran the 9k to daycare, then walked to work. It leaves me about 3k shorter than I anticipated on these two days, but a few kilometers here and there isn't a problem.

Wednesday had another easy day, with a little run to daycare. I ended up doing 10k of running.

Thursday and Friday were a bit of a different story. Work had been getting busy with new clinics kicking off and new product arriving. I ended up skipping my run on Thursday because I was tired, and had a lot of work to do.
Friday was much of the same story. I came to work early, but instead of doing my usual run, I had to remerchandise the store, getting a bunch of our new product out. There was still a lot of new stuff to be received, labeled, and hung up, so I ended up working solid through to the end of the day. I did get in a quick 10k run, but it wasn't the 1k repeats I planned on doing.

This was a bit of a downer week for me. I was hoping for a good week of mileage, with a good workout. Instead, I ended up running about 25k less than I wanted. I've realized that my September running problems come with the busier season at work. I have more to do in store, so slipping out for an hour or two to run just isn't feasible. I have to really plan my weeks so I can get my runs in now, and keep my routine up through STWM.

Next week brings the Reach the Beach Relay. I'll do a medium long run, then back off for the week to rest up, and hopefully have a good series of legs. As of right now, I'm running about 6.6mi, 6.8mi, and 6.7mi on my legs. It will add up to a little over 20 miles of legs, or 32k. This will be a good test of my marathon fitness.

Weekly total: 4 runs, 63km