Back on track

Can you spot the gardener in this picture? She's never happier then when her hands are in the dirt. It's a lot of work but the results make it worthwhile.

The past week went quite well on the running front for a change now that my work schedule has slowed down a bit. All I have left is some report writing and one more meeting in mid-June to explain the results to my 'clients'. I'm already looking forward my my vacation for the month of July!! Anyway here's the weeks recap:

Sun- 10 quick miles before church
Mon - off as per usual
Tues - 6.5 mi easy cruise around town
Weds- 10 miles with killer 'Bunny Hill' x 4
Thus - 5 mi. easy, feeling it from Weds
Fri - still feeling sore and tired but managed 8 mi in 59:10 (7:22 pace) in the cold pouring rain. Picked up the pace trying to keep warm and then picked it up some more in the 2nd half where I was almost 'pushing it'. Nice run with bucket brigade to enter the homestead once again.
Sat - easy 10.2 miles to get the weekly total up to 50 for the 1st time since before Boston.

Total of 50.1 miles, 6hr 34min running and avg pace of 7:52 for the week (according to Garmin) and without any clock watching along the way. I'm feeling ready to start some serious training soon for my set of goal races this summer. The idea from RunNB is to Run for the Cycle where you do a 5k, 8k, 10k, 1/2 and full marathon and they take your total times for the overall score. So far I've got zero races entered because they only count events from RunNB. I guess I'd better get entered in a couple of races soon!

On Sunday I had a great run with Andrew today. He was car-less and so we met in his hometown of Eastport, Maine which is the eastern-most 'city' in the US. We did a few of his standard loops with comfort stops at his house on each pass. You can see from the track plot that we were all over the map and that there are more than a couple of hills on this seaside town (not city). The only flat stretch was the airstrip which is 3/4 mile long and but we only did 2 loops of that, despite my protests/pleas to do more loops. "Nooo, I have more hills for you to do" Andrew would say! One of the streets was even named 'Redoubt Hill' ;-)
Total of 17.4 miles in 2:21 with avg hr of 132 (70% effort) and while comparing notes after the run it was interesting to note that I was working at a higher effort level compared to Andrew despite having a lower HR. Sometimes life just isn't fair is it A? Oh, and we never saw the scenic ocean views with the thick fog the enveloped us for the entire run. The air temp of 50F (10C), lack of wind and natural air conditioning made for perfect running conditions today, unlike what poor 'Mad Dog' Phil suffered through down in Phoenix today. He's just going to have to come visit us some time to see the benefits of the northern climes ;-)

That's all for now. Have a great week!

Like a thief in the night

Looking over his shoulder for oncoming danger. These masked bandits are kinda cute but so smart and destructive. We now have to bring in our bird feeders at dusk or the raccoon family will eat all the food and tear up the plastic feeders. We caught this guy in broad daylight about to climb the pole. Now should I be looking over my shoulder for trouble?

The plot thickens. Now surely a fun run with no markers, no water, no timing will be a good opportunity to get an easy run in with some company? I was immediately given a little 'talk' from Coach who reminded me of my inability to take it easy in race situations and that the real race is only a week away. "Pardon me. I didn't hear that. What did you say?"

Oh, and by the way, did I mention the hard 8 miler on Friday with 3x1 mile repeats? I'm a sucker for doing the workouts that are scheduled no matter what. If it's written, then it must be done right? After a 2 mile warmup the 1st mile went by in 6:35 going by effort alone with no watch in sight until the beep at the end. A short 2:00 jog and back the other way with the lactate making the legs heavy for a slow and disappointing 6:44 along a slight uphill. The final one was aided by an encounter with a friend running with his dog who agreed to go with me. Little did he know that it was going to be a race. Again, I just went hard by effort focusing on my breathing and rhythm and soon the sounds of my now opponent's breathing were fading. Final mile in 6:19! Finished with an easy 2 miles home.

That night amidst a flurry of email with Andrew and (No Show) Jon I get a 2nd lecture regarding my inability not to race. Is there a pattern here that I'm missing?

Saturday morning we arrived at the race run about 15 minutes before the start to see, surprise, surprise a little sign up booth, water, race run numbers! Surely, this must be a race right Andrew?? (who showed up a few minutes later). After a few announcements over a PA system (another sign of race in progress) the horn went off and so were we. The 1st mile went by at a slow jog and a loop back to collect Andrew who was somehow lost in the crowd enjoying the sunshine (I think). Soon enough we were cruising along enjoying each others company and the miles were clicking off nicely around 7:40 or so. A little fast but still not out of control, yet.

"I think he's slowing down, we'll get him on the 2nd half" says Andrew.

"It's not a race" I remind him.

A few miles later we catch up to Chris whom Andrew immediately befriends before beginning to lay the hammer down as the pace drops to 7:30's and below. We chat some more and the pace keeps increasing. Next mile in 7:25. Less chatting now. Andrew!! Next mile in 7:17. I guess it's a race now as our new 'friend' Chris is now hanging on for dear life. Andrew slows a bit over the next mile but when he sees I'm not interested in matching his pace, then he simply takes off and leaves us in the dust.

With about 2 miles left to go, it's just me and Chris and neither of us yet willing to call it a day. We did a little back and forth but on the last hill about 1/2 mile before the finish our new friend finally fades and I sneak away and follow Andrew in who had put 2 minutes on me over the last 2 miles. What fun!

The gory details look like this.
And don't forget to check out Andrew's point of view and all the trouble he gets me into.

And the countdown continues with 7 days to go. Have a great week!

It's April!

See? The goldfish survived the winter but are still under protective netting to keep the leaves and raccoons out of the pond!
We have finches nesting in our shrubbery; the robins have arrived and the crocuses are up.
In fact if you watch very closely you will even spot the occasional Gardenus compulsivis poking around trying to tidy up the mess left by the long winter's nap. Hope that I don't get into trouble for telling.

First a little wrap up for the month of March. Finished off the last week with an easy 5 miles yesterday to give me 58 for the week and 287 for the month. Aced the plan for the week as far as mileage went but the hip issue prevented some of the quality stuff that was in the schedule. Things are almost back to normal for the 'injury' and now give it an 8 or 9 out of 10.

The 'long' run today of only 17 miles was completed here at home alone without much difficulty. I played it like the race day as far as the timing went and waited until after our Palm Sunday church service. After a snack of a 1/2 banana, 1/2 bagel and gatorade I was on the road by noon, only 1 hour later than guntime on the 16th (with adjustment for time zone). We had a great day here with bright sunshine but coolish temps around 4C and light-medium northwest winds. The 1st 7 miles were just at an easy pace as I made a loop around the town before a quick stop at home for more drinks and then heading out of town. The next 5 miles were a bit tougher, directly into the wind as I attempted to push the effort a bit. The last 5 with the wind now at my back went nicely and was able to drop the pace to 7:30's to finish the run in 2:17. No problems with the hip although it could be felt as a slight background noise and might interfere with full extension on my stride when I get moving faster. Rated as a good run and I'm looking forward to another easy week as the mileage will fall to the mid-40's.

You might be interested in checking out all the Canadians going to Boston from our province of New Brunswick. The Run NB site has the full list of all 84 runners and some predictions for top ten performances. I'm little miffed about not even getting a mention as I'm often close to the bubble but the competition is stiff and maybe that will just give more incentive to prove the critics wrong, eh?

In blogger land, we're all anxiously awaiting the results from Thomas in his 1st ultra (39.3 miles) at the Connemara marathon in Ireland. Go Thomas, you rock!

Have a great week!

I can almost see the top of the mountain

Just a few more weeks and it will be all downhill to Boston but . . . well I could go on and on about how tough the winter has been and how hard it's been to get some of the training in but . . . that's all water under the bridge. What's done is done and just 2 more weeks of real training left! And then 3 weeks of winding things down and trying to stay sane.

Andrew and I 'survived' our 20 something mile run yesterday despite the cold rain that poured for the entire duration of near 3 hours. You know of course that it stopped almost immediately when the run was over. We did the usual Boyden Lake loop and were smart enough to park one vehicle at the 1/2 way point with a change of clothes and some drinks. We also were smart about the time change by completely ignoring it and not loosing any sleep from springing ahead and then having to start in the dark. The plan had included Jon who is all gung ho about starting his training up so he can smoke his new age group. However, he got sick the night before and couldn't make it, at least that's what his sleepy spouse told us (sorry guys).

With no more excuses of our own it was off into the pouring rain (about 5C or 40F) with only Andrew's witty conversation to keep me warm. Let me tell you, some of his jokes are pretty funny! This week the run was navigated in the easy (clockwise) direction and we both agreed that the hills are less mountainous this way. The 1st 1/2 went well with our main goal to run slow so that the 3 hours would come with less pain and suffering than by running faster and further. By the time we reached the van we were soaked to the bone and the change of clothes was very welcome. This is the 1st time I've ever switched jacket and running shirt in the middle of the run. Andrew astounded me by removing his long pants and going to shorts! What a madman! Within a mile the color of his legs were a perfect match with his red hair and orange hat! Brrrr!

The 2nd 1/2 of the run was more of the same, good conversation, lame jokes and a bit more traffic than normal. We didn't see our 1st car until 5 miles into the run but it was more frequent on the narrow hilly roads later on. I guess some people did 'spring ahead'. We were also amazed to see a truck driving on the lake but I suppose it's been cold enough lately that one day of rain won't be a problem. Nevertheless we struggled along and images of marathon pace miles quickly dissolved into a slowish shuffle to the vans (barely under 8:00 pace). I was able to convince A that 20+ was a better number than 19 and we did a slightly faster last 2 miles to finish in a cold shivering heap. Those chocolate brownies were sooo goood we barely tasted them!

Thus ends another sad story. I hope to run one of my long runs with somewhat fresh legs in the coming weeks but it might have to wait until taper time.

Have a good week all!

And if you like to smile check out the latest Chasing Kimbia video blogs. And also the regular Kimbia site.

Yet another long run

Or how about "The Long and Winding Road" which was one of the more appropriate song titles that was on my ipod today? Whatever, another 20 miler is now in the books and it's nice to sit now by the fireplace with my glass of Keith's Amber Ale with pizza in the oven for supper. Actually my glass is empty, perhaps I need a refill. Hydration is key to recovery, right?

Marathon and Beyond has a great article in the most recent Jan/Feb issue (see table of contents for articles summary) by Guy Avery on goal setting and training which has got me thinking about the obvious that "you can't do on race day what you haven't trained for". Which comes back to today's long run which was meant to stress and simulate conditions that will occur on April 16th. Namely I will get tired and sore and will dearly want to stop but there will still be 5 or 6 more miles to go. I like to say that the main purpose of the long run is to get to the last few miles where you are (usually) tired. Granted, there are days when it's a slog from the 1st step but what you do in training while tired will pay dividends on race day both mentally and physically.

Today's run was done from home as my usual Boyden Lake route was canceled with Andrew who was away for most of the week and not up to another long one. Maybe next week, I miss the company. However, only about 1/2 mile into the run I ran into a friend from work who I was surprised to see on the roads. Les is just getting into running and is preparing for his very 1st race, a 1/2 marathon at the Bluenose International Marathon in Halifax on May 20th. We ran together for a couple of miles and then continued our separate ways, Les to his warm home and myself for 17 more miles. But it was a nice break; long runs go so much quicker with company.

Back to my music and listening to some podcasts as I did 2 loops of the town for 12 miles before refilling my gatorade and heading out of town on the highway for the real meat of the run. The next 4 miles were at a slightly faster pace (close to 8:00) and into the steady 10mph wind with temps around 34C (felt a bit cool). Finally it was time to turn for home and to see what was left in the tank for the last 4 miles which I hoped to do around marathon pace. There was still a bit of energy left as I managed 7:26, 7:28, 7:19 and 7:08 with heartrate slowly climbing (along with the hills). It was sooo nice to stop! Another one in the books....

Oh yeah, recap for last week was 6 runs for 70 miles and a Parrot Predictor now falling to 3:20. I think there is hope for my goal of 3:10 if I can just make it through the next 3 weeks in one piece and then begin the taper. Time now for some delicious Chocolate Fudge Crackle vanilla ice cream, mmmm! Not good for the diet but the furnace is hot tonite.

Happy running!