Hiatus

Jon and I saw plenty of neat sights this past Sunday on our little jaunt around Boyden Lake. There were woodpeckers, turkey vultures, Canada geese with their chicks and of course horses. 13 miles in no time at all.

I'm now in Bathurst helping to take care of my Mom who is doing very poorly but is resting comfortably in the hospital under palliative care. I've been running every day and it's helping to relieve the stress. My posting will be taking a bit of a hiatus as we take time to be with her as much as we can. Please say a little prayer for her. Thanks!

Yet another (Slacker) report

Only the title of this post has been changed to protect unsuspecting readers from unnecessary title duplication.

Wow, It's been awhile since I've had the time or felt the urge to report in on my running around the country. The trip to Ottawa was good and we spent most of the time driving or packing and moving and then driving back again. I found time to squeeze in 2 runs of 6 and 8 miles during the week and made the most of the great paths and trails along the Rideau River and canal system.
And of course my handy camera was always in my pocket at the ready.
Chris got this humongous 27 foot truck for the move and we filled it for the single cross city trip.
And with some help from his buddies and family it all went smoothly and quickly.
And don't forget about Andrew's new apartment. It's very close to everything and he's got some good roommates for next year.

Fast forward to the end of the week, and 11 hour drive back home and quick emails to Andrew and company re our Sunday long run. All systems were go, so the next morning I was up early again for yet another curious border interrogation, "You're going where? And you're doing what??". But they let me through once again.

Nice to catch up with the boys and the run was fairly uneventful except for once when I had to stop because I was laughing so hard at Andrew's joke. And then he made me spit out my cookie when he pointed to a wet patch on the road saying "See, that's what's left of me from last weeks run!" We took it very easy today as I only did 18 miles while J & A went for 20. Since I had some spare time while they did their extra miles I whipped the car down the road and setup an instant water and fig newton pit stop for them at mile 19. They seemed very eager and interested in my offerings.
Since then things have been quiet, just trying to get caught up on chores and work around the house. Real work has been busy as I prepare for a couple of days of meetings in Nova Scotia next week. Running has been almost back to normal as I'm doing 6-8 miles every other day. Total for last week was 43 as I broke through the 1000 mile barrier for the year so far. Today's long run was canceled with Andrew nursing his sore heel and so I just did an easy 10 miles when I had a chance later in the day.

The focus in the next few weeks will be to get ready for the Cabot Trail relay which I'm doing once again. As of now my team is short one runner and I may get double duty with legs 2 and 14 which will give me about 38km of running over 2 days. The legs are not overly hilly and so they shouldn't pose too much of a problem as long as I remember to conserve a bit of effort for the 2nd day (actually night).

Well, that's it for now! I'm hoping to be more regular with my posts and will try to at least log my runs as I go along and try to figure out what's next. Meanwhile, take care on the roads and Happy Mother's day to all the wonderful Mom's out there!

Itching to get out

It's been a whole week since the marathon and everything is good to go so far. A few aches and pains and some soreness in the legs but nothing a little RICE and stretching can't fix. I usually do a post race evaluation or analysis and try to figure out what went right or wrong and what I could do better next time. This time around I can't really figure out what the heck happened but will give it a go.

The good:

• consistent training with plenty of long runs since Christmas
• perfect weather on race day and good taper and rest the week before
• good downhill training which helped my quads survive the journey
  

The bad:

• lack of enough tempo runs for me, though I did follow Pfitz's plan more or less to the letter
• no races leading up. A few good 10k's or a 1/2 would have helped tune things up
• more pace on long runs with at least some fast finishes would have helped too but my sore hams all winter prevented that
  

The ugly:

• obviously the fast start didn't help but the 1st 5k was within a minute of where I wanted to be. Looking back I should have monitored my HR which shot up right from the start and I paid the price later in the race.
• not getting treatment for my sore butt/hams came back to bite me. I waited too long to get it sorted out and just barely got healthy enough in time for the race. This problem interfered with getting my quality training in and ended limping along for most of the winter instead of doing the right paces.

The future plan:

• stick with the ice and stretching routine that I'm now back into; stretching especially after a short warmup mile and after all runs
• this spring and early summer will be aimed at my shorter distances and then going for a goal race marathon in the late fall.
  

The present:

• 2 easy runs in over the last 7 days since Boston with a 5 miler on Sat and long run 6 miles on Sunday! No issues but my legs still felt sore and didn't push the pace at all.
  
• Boston race pictures are now up and it appears that my uniform attracted the cameras more than usual. I especially liked the ones with the camera! You need to select Boston 2008 and enter my name 'Power' and race #6812 to see them all.

• off to Ottawa in the morning to collect one son and to help the older son move to his new place. The running gear and camera is packed and ready!

Have a nice week!

Boston: the blow by blow

This could be a long post.

OK, it's been a few days and I've had time to come down out of the clouds. I didn't set any smoking hot PR despite the almost perfect weather, but I did make the best out of a near blow up and salvaged a decent race and had a great time doing it. I'll try to put a few details around my race and some initial analysis of my results though there's sometimes no explanation for why we sometimes have good and sometimes not-so-good race days.Here's our arrival at the Athlete's village after a 1 hour+ bus ride! We didn't get lost but the traffic was heavy and there were some bottlenecks getting into Hopkinton. I might try getting on the buses a bit earlier next year to avoid the rush. We arrived here at 9am and they were already starting to call the 1st wave runners (lower numbers) to the corrals.

The long lines of yellow school buses at the Boston Common (remember to 'go' before you get on).
There are huge rows of port-o-potties at the village but the lines were 30-50 people long (you don't see the waiting customers to the right in this picture here). I did a quick walk around the village and then headed for my corral hoping to find shorter lines nearer the start. After ditching my extra warm gear and stripping down to the basic Canada outfit with one throw-away long sleeve pullover on top I was lucky to find short lines just before the corrals. At least I didn't have to go for Plan C which is the pee in the spare bottle trick. I was in my corral by 9:30 and got quite near the front and then started doing my regimen of stretches (despite not being able to warm up properly).

About this point the skies started to clear and I realized that I'd forgotten my sunscreen (damn) but it sure looked like we were going to have a perfect weather day. Little or no wind at the start 45-50F, couldn't ask for better. Soon enough the ropes are dropped and we squeeze together like cattle heading for the exit chute. Crowds cheering, cameras clicking, like a big party and we're off!
This is in the 1st mile looking down the road at the sea of people. With my #6812 I was close to dead center of the 1st wave which went to #13999. There were lots of different costumes around me and I focused on putting in a steady hard pace while keeping my breathing under control. The 1st mile went by in a surprising 7:18, followed by 7:08, 7:21, 7:16 and finally a 7:30 (target pace) in the 5th mile. These overly fast miles felt really out of my control, despite trying to hold back and take it easy. It didn't seem like my breathing was hard but it didn't seem easy either as I continued rolling along (to my doom ;-).
Seeing this guy made me think of Thomas but I know it is the wrong flag. The next five miles were in the 7:20-739 range and I was feeling better about these numbers but already the effort was starting to seem harder than I'd like so early in the race. When you're running a good marathon I like to feel like the 1st 13 miles is just a warmup with the real work beginning after that. By now I knew today was not going to be the day and the going was going to get tough sooner than later.

At least my hamstring (right leg mainly) behaved during today's race. It's been a big worry over the past few weeks and has bothered me during all my long runs since before Christmas. But maybe the icing, massage and physio did the trick and it stayed at bay for the entire run. My worry was that it was going to seize up and I'd not be able to even finish the race but my luck held. In fact my hams were as good as they've been all year and it was the rest of my leg (muscles) that didn't measure up .

The next five were more of a struggle with 7:40's and then 7:50's as the crowds were in full cheer mode especially near mile 13. With my pace now slowing and the effort increasing with each mile it now became a mental game for me. Mile 16 in 7:46 which would be the last sub 8 as the hills began with mile 17 in 8:24.

At this point I hooked up with Mike from Fredericton and we talked our way through the Newton Hills (including my stop for photo's with friends on Heartbreak. Splits now dropped more into 8's including a 9:05 and 9:22 on miles 19 and 21 (the hills). After that it was more or less downhill to the finish and I managed 8:20-8:35 to the finish by feeding off the energy from the crowds. My legs were hurting but not as badly as some years.
The CITGO sign and 1 mile to go is a welcome relief after all the hard miles and effort required to keep one on moving down the road. It's funny how you forget the hurt (already thinking of the next one) but what I remember in the last mile is the cheering roar and following a medical 4-wheeler with a runner on a stretcher. It was going just a bit faster than me and I couldn't catch it. I was also scanning the crowds faces looking for Andrew (but stuck on the left side while he turned out to be on the right) and missed him.
I snapped this one of the crowds and by accident got a sign cheering for Bruce (who drove me down and was the #2 New Brunswick runner).
I finished right behind the Hoyts who have been doing this marathon for years and years.
The scene at the end was one of shining rustling space blankets. The temperature was now in the 60's but we felt cool when in the shade or in the wind.
Some interesting analysis of my 5k split times in recent marathons compared with Lance's (yellow), the top woman Tune (pink) and top man Cheriyot (blue). Red line is the heat wave in 2004, black line is this year. Notice how my 5k splits get slower and slower as the race goes on while the elites tended to get faster as they go along. The top women's increase in pace is just mind boggling to me. I still have alot to learn about how to run this course.
Finally a plot of my average heartrate and the elevation profile of the course. I didn't really monitor heartrate during the race except when going up some of the hills and was surprised at maintaining such a high level for me for most of the race (over 150). The dips down here and there are slowdowns at water stops and I'm afraid the spike took place at the Wellesley scream tunnel (wonder why?). There is some decrease in heartrate near the end of the race but not much and I'm happy with the overall effort.

It's getting late now and it's time to do my stretches and get to bed. Maybe I'll have more thoughts on this race later on but I'm already thinking of looking ahead for what's next. Eager to get that 1st run in a day or so too! Have a great week!

Baaaston is AWESOME!!!

You'd think I'd get used to this race as old hat, 'been there, done that' but it simply gets better and better. What a great day, what unbelievable crowds, what an awesome good time I had! My finish time was only 3:28:59 after a too fast 1st 1/2 in 1:38 but it was sooo much fun (I'm still in post run high mode).

I'm just going to post a few fun pics for now. Full race report later when I have more time.

pre-race in the subwayIn my corral waiting

The people you meet while running. Pink dress and pink shoes too!

Friends from St. Andrews on Heartbreak Hill and I took a moment to rest! Ha!
Ahhh, now my clothes get a little rest and cleanup too. That coffee, doughnut, chocolate chip cookies and beer were soooo goood!

That's it for now. Time for more beer, steak, brownies and ice cream (nothing is off limits after a marathon)! See you later ;-)


Oh, yeah, I did a little video of the insane Wellesley Girls Scream zone!
;-)

Going through the motions

A pre-race picture from 2003.

There's not alot to report this week except for the waiting. And the sitting and icing and waiting. The weather has been absolutely perfect for being outdoors and running all this week. Clear skies, light winds, warm temperatures, no rain or sleet or snow, perfect! The only problem is that my right hamstrings are still sore. The icing and stretching is helping but I don't find it's doing that much to make it go away like I'd prefer.

After Sunday's 13 miler the legs were quite sore requiring several applications of my handy ice bags.

Tues - physio in the morning and easy 6 mile run. As usual the legs were very stiff for the 1st mile but then loosened up nicely after some stretches. Unfortunately this won't be an option on Monday unless I want to get passed by 2000 runners.

Weds - 7 mi with 2 at MP run went nicely. Another great shorts & t-shirt days. I found myself running too fast with the 1st mile in 7:15 before dialing it back to a 7:26 for the 2nd mile almost on target. I don't have 'spring' in my legs that I'd like but at least they are freshening up a bit.

Thurs & Friday - just 5 mile easy runs where I debated not running but decided that I'd stiffen up less if I put in a short run. Sitting at a desk all day is not the best way to get ready for a marathon or to ease sore hamstrings. Total of 37 miles for the week and now 920 YTD.

So, I'm just sitting here waiting, writing this watching more hockey while sitting on my ice pack. The plan is to head out in the morning around noon with fellow Boston bound NB runner Bruce Rosval. It's a 6-7hr drive down and then we'll drive the course, get a meal and drop in our wonderful Boston hosts. On Sunday we'll take in the women's Olympic trials and pick up our race numbers.

Followed by more waiting...I can't wait! My bib #is 6812 and you can follow me at the Boston website on Monday. It will be all good no matter how things play out. Boston is the best! Have a great weekend, I know I will!

Sweet 13

Mmmm, sweet! These were our tasty treats at the end of our medium and/or long runs today. I've had cravings for chocolate in recent days and Jo was kind enough to whip up an old recipe from my Bathurst cookbook. She was reluctant to make it 'It's all sugar!' but in the end I got my hearts desire ;-)

The easy recipe for my treats which are named 'Dogfood' (or 'Moose Droppings' by Jon):
1c coconut, 2.5c oatmeal, 1/2c cocoa - mix in a bowl
1/2c milk, 2c sugar, 1/4c margarine/butter, 1/2tsp salt - mix in pot and bring to boil for 2 minutes. Combine mixtures, add droppings to pan, place to cool in fridge,

Today's run was an easy short loop of Boyden Lake where I met Andrew and Jon at our standard start spot but Andrew had already put in 7 miles by parking down the loop earlier and running to the start. It was a very easy paced fun run with various stops along the way, for stretching, for water and nature breaks and of course picture stops. We've seen these horses and dog all winter and this was the 1st time that I took a second to preserve the memory. The barn is just at the edge of the road and the dog only wagged his tail at me and tried to get closer.

A very quick feeling run that seemed to be over before it even got started. We just rolled along easily at about 8:30 pace in constant conversation and laughter. Plans were made for next weekends activities as I'll be meeting Andrew and Marc in Boston. Perhaps a nice pasta meal at La Cantina and then the Womens Olympic Trials on Sunday and of course the main event on Monday. And all along the way I kept teasing the boys about my promised 'treats', the only hint I gave was that all food groups were included. I think the pace picked up a bit as we neared the cars and the stomachs started to grumble.
The 'treats' went over very well but I couldn't wait to inhale mine. Also missing in the picture are some cans of sardines that I brought along to provide a protein supplement for my runners which are also very high in omega 3 fats!

And the final week of taper continues.

My cousin Garry has now finished his 2.4mi swim and is into the 112 mile bike ride at Ironman Arizona (bib#1635). Wish him well!

Have a great week!

Final preparations

I'm just going to make a few notes on my last few runs of substance before I get to go completely stir crazy on a diet of rest days and easy runs. Despite being called a taper there is still running involved which is either faster or longer than normal. What is a normal no-stress run for me? That would be typically anything less than an hour in length and usually slower than marathon pace. You might think that marathon pace might be a little fast but my usual easy pace tends to be only 30-45 sec/mile slower than MP and seems to be where I'll settle in on auto-pilot.

I've been following the Pfitzinger Advanced Marathon 70 mile/week or less, 18 week schedule and all his schedules has you doing the following workout at 10 days out from race day: VO2max, 8mi w/3x1600m @5k race pace, jog 2 min between. I've done this workout over many marathon buildups and it's never been much of a problem but you do wonder why you're running this fast so close to the end. Even Pfitz says in his book 'VO2 max sessions have their place in marathon preparation but they should be included sparingly'. My pet theory is that this is just a not so gentle reminder to my limited (lazy) fast twitch muscles to wake up and start producing mitochondria and glycogen or something like that'.

So... on Friday I tentatively headed out for my 8 miles with 3x1600. It was a lovely sunny day but there was a cool northerly wind so I dressed in shorts and a long sleeve shirt. After the 1st easy mile I stopped for about 5-10 minutes of stretching before continuing along. I used to do this warmup and stretch routine in the past but it gradually got lost in the shuffle mostly due to time constraints and not wanting to stop. However, the recent benefits have shown me the routine is well worth the extra time. I've found that my legs feel much better on restarting the run and there appears to be some improvement in range of motion and stride length.

After another mile of easy running I then eased into the heart of the workout as I did the 1 mile repeats back and forth on a fairly level stretch of road on the town Point. The only issue with this route was having the wind either at my back or in my face for about 1/2 of each interval. I imagine this must even out but it's never fun running hard into a tough headwind.
The first mile went by in 6:44 (avg hr 150) and felt like a controlled hard but not all out effort as I carefully monitored the hamstrings and breathing throughout. There were a few minor twinges but no pain or feeling of restriction from overly tight legs.

After a 2 minute walk/jog rest the second mile started out exceptionally well as I floated along (slightly downhill with the wind at my back) at under 6:30 pace for the 1st 1/2 but then reality set in as I slowed in the headwind with a 6:39 final split (avg hr 151).

Another easy 2 minutes and I was off on the final effort. This time it felt like more work and took concentration to not daydream and fall off the pace. The legs were still feeling fine and only slight twinges if anything as I struggled in with a 6:45 (avg hr 150). The rest of the run was just easy running to fill out the 8 miles and I've had no soreness or after effects since then.

Today, Saturday was just a 5 mile easy run around town. It started out in a light rain with a cold temperature of 3C. As usual I stopped and stretched under some convenient cover after the 1st mile before hurrying along to keep warm. No planned strides today as I wanted to get out of the cold in my light garb of shorts, shirt and rain jacket but still a nice finish to the week. Weekly total of 49 miles in 6hr 30min on the roads.

And that's all he wrote. Take care and have a nice weekend!

Taper madness

There is nothing quite like the Great Canadian Winter and we had our share these past few months. However, I'm thankful that we don't live in northern New Brunswick where this picture was taken this past weekend. It's hard to believe and we're seeing this after a significant melt! BTW it's still snowing.

A few hundred miles south and the crocuses are blooming in our backyard and I've been running in shorts all week. Awww, so nice and my pace has picked up on the easy runs as a result. I think the lack of extra clothing and layers can produce a 20-30 second per mile improvement with no training involved at all! At least that's what my watch has been telling me lately.

The leg is also getting better after over a week of treatments and multiple icings and stretching. It doesn't hurt to sit at my desk so much and there is less tightness and reduction in my stride but I'm still reluctant to push the pace. Actually, at this point the work is done and all I can do is hold back and try not to do any harm.

I had a nice visit up to Bathurst but it was a long drive over winding bumpy roads. We stayed for a couple of days and there was time for one easy 5 mile run in the snow and rain. The return drive on Sunday was a little better using some alternate roads but my ice packs were of limited help for the sore hamstrings. Immediately on arrival back home it was out the door for my last long run of the program. Despite starting out stiff and sore, things loosened up nicely after the 1st mile and it was hard to go slower than 8:00 pace during most of this run. I've found that the stretching after the 1st mile of running is helping more and more. It seems to lengthen the muscles and I feel alot smoother after a quick 5 minute session mid-run. The rest of the run went well, mostly in cruise mode trying to hold back the horses but towards the end things began to tighten up as the legs got sore again. 17 miles in 2:18 (8:06 pace).

Monday - very sore hams all day as I paid the price for the long car ride followed by a long run. Icing every hour or so helped but it was not the best way to be feeling so close to the end.

Tues - physiotherapy appointment thankfully was scheduled 1st thing today but the leg was feeling much better today. My easy 5 miler came back at 8:03 pace as the sunny 14C temperature made running a real joy today.

Weds - 8 miles with some so-called stride pickups but held back on the speed so as to not strain those hammies any more than necessary. Another shorts and t-shirt day made for a great run. Time to whip out some sunscreen!

Thurs - easy 5 miles today in 40:30. These short easy runs hardly seem worth doing but I guess we have to remind the body that there are no days off yet. I've got a harder 3x1600 workout scheduled this week but have been putting it off because of, well you know. Might try it on Friday but as I've said the work is done and there is no point in pushing it unless things feel right. We'll see.

Meanwhile, this weekend has the London marathon taking place and you can get it live at 5am eastern on WCSN. Even more exciting, my cousin Garry from Alberta is doing Ironman Arizona and you can track his number #1635 at the Ironman website starting at 7am on Sunday. Give him a shout out and wish him well. He'll need it, the bike course looks sick and the marathon route is hilly too. The things we athletes do for fun, eh?

Have a nice weekend!

It's all downhill isn't it?

It's taper time and I'm just putting my feet up and drinking beer and eating ice cream because all the training is done and it's all downhill from here right? ''Oh no! What about the downhills?".

Remember what the Boston course profile looks like?
The detailed profiles are here as well. There is a net elevation drop of about 450ft but those hills between mile 17 and 21 can do you in when you are tired. Experience has shown me that the downhills are murder on my quads, so much so, that by the time I reach mile 21 I'm usually hobbling in pain and can't take advantage despite the final easy downhills.

Thus Wednesday's 12 mile run looked something like this. The green line is elevation and the blue line is speed. The basic story was an easy warmup with some stretching after 1.5 miles, then easy running until about mile 6, followed by 4 miles of hill repeats where I ran hard 'down' the hills at close to 7:00 minute pace, easy up the 1/2 mile hill and repeat, easy run back to finish. I was beat after this workout but my quads will thank me in a few weeks time.
The rest of the week has been rather uneventful.

Monday - rest day but still very tired from Sunday and so I took the afternoon off work to rest. My legs were quite sore and finally made an appointment for physiotherapy.

Tues - got my physio today and after a complete workup she agreed I had a hamstring problem. The solution was to continue with my stretching program but to add to it and hold each stretch longer (15-30sec), repeating 3x. I'm also on a regimen of icing 10 minutes at a time 3-4x per day. I'm also stopping after a 1 mile warmup and stretching as well as after the run. Believe it or not but it's working! I can almost touch my toes again and can feel some improvement after only 3 days of self therapy! Tuesdays run was just an easy 8 miles with some pickups (not worthy of being called strides)

Weds - hill session above

Thurs - easy 6 miles in hurricane winds but mild temps

Friday - easy 5 planned then off to Bathurst to visit my Mom who is not doing too well.

Have a good weekend. A special good luck with to our Irish friend, Thomas, running the Connemara 39.3 mile ultramarathon. He will do awesome and have the stories to match!

Take care out there.

Cool running

After a 4 week lay off due to weather and various commitments I finally got back together for a great long run with the guys at Boyden Lake this morning. It was a lovely sunny day with starting temperature of -5C (23F) but a cool north wind of 10-20mph made us happy we had an extra layer on and warm headgear. It warmed up a bit during the almost 3 hour run as we covered 20 miles over hill and dale but not a whole lot, barely reaching the freezing point.
I'm amazed that this shot turned out as we roll along at full stride. Notice the shadow taking our picture for us! Maybe I can use this new technique come Boston in a few weeks?

Lot's of good conversation today with the topics of food and banking at the forefront. We did squeeze in a few funny stories about trunk monkeys (warning you may laugh until you cry) and 101 year old marathoners and of course Andrew's jokes (groan). But you have to take the good with the bad, I guess.

Post run pose after Jon was finally able to pick up his hat off the ground.

It was 'A beautiful 20 miles'. Great fun guys!

My official taper now begins. Have a nice week all.

Sweet and not so 'sweet'

Thursday was a perfect day for a run as the weather has finally moderated a bit. The temperatures this week have been close to or just above the freezing point on most days with a substantial warming from morning to afternoon. It made it all the way to +5C on this day and I nearly broke out the shorts but had forgot to pack them.
A day later... and not so perfect. A view from the historic blockhouse in St. Andrews looking towards the town wharf. Today it was just around the freezing point all day with white 'rain' falling gently and melting on impact for the most part. Eventually the temperature dropped and we got a bit of accumulation.
Running this week has been more on track and will be giving myself an 8 out of 10 for workouts completed vs the actual plan. I did everything as scheduled except for missing a 4 mile recovery run and not being able to hit my paces during the interval workout on Tues. I got bonus points for some extra repeat hills on my medium long run and for maintaining the regimen of stretching and Trigger Point self massage. Total of 63 miles in 6 runs and now at 777 miles YTD ( a nice lucky number).

Sunday - 18 miles in 2:39, sore tight legs, breaking in new shoes reserved for the big day

Monday - rest, feeling ok

Tues - slept in and skipped 4mi pre work run (sleep was deemed better training than running). Then ran 6 easy miles at lunchtime and felt almost good with no leg issues.

Weds - 11 miles with 6x1200m in 5:10 to 5:40 on the roads. The goal was closer to 5:00 but the hills, wind and tight hams conspired to make it less. Overall it was a good tough run but felt a little unpleasantly tired afterwards.

Thurs - the glorious sun and warm temps as shown above. Ran a slightly up-tempo pace 9 miles including 6 with a co-worker. I was trying to take it easy but the pace crept up a bit as we jabbered away. If you can still talk while running up hills it must be slow enough, right?

Friday - 14 miles in 2:00 (see snow scene above) nice and easy, feeling decent and being very gentle on the legs while listening to some good music and podcasts. Finished off with 3 x 0.5 mile downhill repeats at marathon pace on the Bunny Hill to begin to remind the legs of the downhill punishment that will be coming soon. Log says 'Decent run for a change!'

Sat- very very easy 5 mile loop around town feeling stiff around the hip joints

I keep looking at my training numbers over the past few years and was trying to find some 'predictor' for success at Boston besides the weather. You might be interested in this plot of average monthly mileage for the 4 lead-up months (December-March) versus my finish time. The 2004 heatwave year with a 3:48 finish from 235 mi/month average was excluded. I'd say the relationship of More Miles = Better Finish Time seems to hold up for me. March is now almost done and so I was able to plot out the current year average of 260 mi/month and it's resulting prediction. It's lower than I'd like but you can't argue with hard numbers, now can you? At least it will give me a goal to shoot for in the realm of the possible. Just about 3 weeks left to go now and I'm still hoping to stick in a race of some kind to give a better indicator of fitness than just overall volume of work. I've got a few possible options but will have to wait and see what is feasible to do with the travel involved. Have a nice week out there, spring is in the air!

Death of Smoochie and Friend

It's a sad story. While doing some pond repairs to the light box that keeps an open air hole for the goldfish we made the unfortunate discovery of two little ice encrusted fish.
Poor guys, they were only about 1 year old and didn't have official 'names' but will now be known as Smoochy and Friend. Only a few weeks to go and they'd be happily chewing away on mosquito larvae and the latest crop of baby fish. It's a cruel world.
But the world is not all bad if you like chocolate, ice cream and beer (all at once too). This was my dessert at the pub last week and no I didn't deserve it and my doctor would freak at the cholesterol and calories but I like to live by the 'furnace burns hot' theory when it comes to running and eating. Mmmmm! Note, this was preceded by a Guinness or two (remember it was dessert).

Seriously, the running is going fairly well for Boston. This past week I was able to get in a total of 54 miles for which I get a 7 out of 10 for effort. Missed my speed workout, dropped one day of running due to travel and work and no 8-15k race available to run and so the lower grade. I got extra points for the good marathon paced effort last Sunday with 14 miles right on pace as part of the long run.

The bib numbers are now up for Boston and I scored #6812 this year. Remember that all numbers (except for the elites who get assigned numbers below 100) are based on each runners qualifying time and are assigned starting at 1000. You then are allowed entry in your starting corral of 1000 runners and placed with runners of similar Q times. Just before the start they remove the barriers between corrals and then there's lots of squeezing around to get near the front.
Since I like numbers I decided to show this plot of bib number for my 8 Boston's along with the resulting finish time compared to qualifying time. The goal has been to run at least as fast as my entry time but you can see this does not happen much. I was only able to do it once in 2002 when we had a perfect overcast, cool, calm day and everything worked out. Other than that, you can see some of my excuses like heat waves and nor'easters and the fact that I just can't seem to produce results on the big day.

The goal this year is to again try for my BQ time of 3:15 but I'll call success anything close to average (see green bar). Finishing is also success and running this race is always worth the effort. Still, we work so hard to qualify and get invited, then have to suffer through the winter training only to meet the unpredictable conditions on the day of the race. We like to run well at Boston and all you can do is prepare as best you can and hope for a good day.

Enough whining but I wasn't really complaining. I'll take what comes and make the best of it. Have a great week all!

Moncton travels

Busy busy but always can find time to run and stop for a picture or two. This is in Moncton, NB.
And this is besides the Petitcodiac River. You are looking at ice walls and a tidal stream that runs up from the Bay of Fundy.

And then I ran across the strangest sights I've seen in many runs... I heard this quack, quack noise in the middle of suburban Moncton and looked up to see a parking lot full of Mallard ducks!!! I'm not sure if they were being fed or not but I ended up taking pictures on 2 passes but the location. Easily several hundred ducks crammed in a small area. Very strange.
Running log notes
Sunday - 17 miles with 14 miles in 1:45:03 or 7:30 pace (+3sec) Tough love but felt good after.
Monday - day off but work day meetings from hell (survived). St. Paddies Day and visited 2 pubs that evening ;-)
Tues - 9 miles in 1:19 on very hard slippery sidewalks of Moncton (sore legs after). Also a very nice meal with filet mignon.
Weds - just 5 quick miles followed by another nice meal at the same Irish pub. Guinness is so smooth after a nice run.

And that's all she wrote! See you later!

By the numbers

Work is crazy but still getting most of the runs in.
Sunday - 18 miles on a grey windy day (see above)
Monday- rest
Tues - 11 miles with 6x1000 in about 4:15 each; Trigger Point arrived to work on legs
Weds- tired and sore; 6 miles only
Thurs- 12 miles
Friday - 5 easy
Sat - 8 miles easy

Total of 60 for the week, 660 YTD, 5 weeks to go.

Off to Moncton for meetings all week. After that I get a break. Have a great week!

Another week gone by

Is it really only a bit more than 6 weeks to go? That seems like so little time to do the final bits of preparation for Boston. I can't imagine that spring will finally be here and all the hard work will be ready to be tested on one of the toughest courses going. The past week has gone reasonably well (now that it's over) as I dodged a couple of winter storms and juggled runs to suit. The picture is from one of the better days, on Friday, looking over towards Pleasant Point and Eastport across the Bay.

Monday - after Sunday's disaster, this was a welcome break from running. I was extremely sore just sitting at my desk and finally broke down and ordered some massage tools from Trigger Point.

Tues - 9 miles with a modified workout doing 600m bursts at 5k speed after an easy 2 mile warmup. Instead of doing them continuously with 90sec jog breaks, my body convinced me to do them with 1000m breaks, starting at each mile marker. The workout was more of a fartlek than VO2 max but it did get the legs moving faster at least. It was a nice day with temps at +5C and light winds.

Weds - a nasty day with sleet, snow, rain, freezing rain and repeat. The roads were very treacherous and I delayed my mid-week run opting for 5 easy miles on the treadmill instead. It was nice to be dry and warm inside while watching the freezing rain slowly bend the trees further and further. Thankfully it turned to rain soon enough and there was little damage and no power outages.

Thurs - time for my least favorite run from the Pfitz training schedule but the medium long 14 miler went much better than usual. Despite starting late, feeling tired and rundown and running home after a long day at from work, this run was a surprise. It started out slow and the legs were still very tight and stiff but after a few miles I was able to roll a bit better. The pace wasn't great except for a few downhill miles close to 8:00 but the heartrate was low and the weather was nice today (+1C , calm and sunny). I was late for supper but my understanding better half didn't give me any grief over it.

Friday - just an easy 6 mile loop around town with a couple of photo op stops (see above). It was +4C, sunny and calm and might have got away with shorts but didn't (wimp).

Sat - the schedule calls for a 8-15k race and there's nothing like that for hundreds of miles. Plan B was simply to run a tempo/race effort for the given distance and see what I could make of it. I believe that the lack of race efforts before Boston has compromised my performances in the past and hope to fix that this year in two ways. First is to actually do a couple of short races (there are some 5-8k runs coming up locally for RunNB) and second is to really work at pushing the pace on my tempo runs where the workout calls for it. It's much harder to turn it on when running alone as compared to being in a race and getting pushed along by your fellow competitors but that's what you get for living in the boonies.

So, after a 2 mile warmup I walked up to the imaginary start line on Cedar Lane and proceeded run as fast as possible for the next 5 miles. I'm not sure if the Garmin misfired or what, but the 1st mile was in 6:32. I'll take it and then made my way down the Bar Road before heading for the hotel and around the Point. Next mile at 7 flat seemed more reasonable and was followed by several more very close to it. Five miles in 34:37 with avg heartrate of 155 was a satisfactory result. Then finished off the run with a couple of easy miles to get a total of 9 for the workout. It was a nice morning in the lull between storms and the leg/butt felt fine. Tonite is calling for a messy storm and so we've called off the long run in Boyden.

Another week is in the books. Total of 60 miles in 8.5 hours of roadwork. I also did a resting heart rate test this morning and it's down to 40 from 42 the last time it was checked. It gives me a base for watching for an elevation indicating something coming on or over-training. So far so good have a great week.

Failed Run

It looked pretty today...
And I found a new angle for the hotel
But the conditions were really on the nasty side today. The road was snow covered, slippery and slushy and the wind was blowing a gale, almost stopping me in my tracks in places. The run started out alright as I spent some time running slowly around some of the back streets of town but there was very little spring in my tired legs. The slipping backwards with every step didn't help much either despite using Yaktrax for extra grip. These are fine on ice but don't do alot in slush and light snow cover.

Today's schedule called for 22 miles but I found myself back home for a gatorade refill after 11 miles. It was with great difficulty that I headed out for another loop of the town at an even slower pace than ever. This time around the wind stopped me in my tracks several times and I found myself walking but still miles from home. Then decided to pack it in and headed back home with the intention of finishing off the run on the treadmill. Arrived back home with 17 miles in the bank but after walking for 10 minutes on the mill I finally threw in the towel and hit the showers. It was a tough day at the races. Time to recuperate...

I hope your day went better than mine. Have a good week.

Stormy weather

An ocean view this morning as the strong southeast winds announced the coming snowstorm. When the east wind blows here it invariably means nasty will follow very shortly. Forecast is for heavy wet snow overnight and into midday Sunday which will put the kibosh on my long run with the Boyden gang.

This mornings windswept run was a very easy 5 mile of recovery at 9:00+ minute pace after Friday's very tough run (more on that later). It took about 2 miles to just get loosened and warmed up as I felt aches and pains in new places today. Instead of the butt and hams, my hips were very tight, a feeling very similar to what I'd get after a hard race. A good sign that a decent effort was delivered the day before as the body was pushed and is now recovering. A nice bonus on todays run was the addition of my new Ipod Shuffle and the latest episode of the podcast Phedippidations. You should check out Steve Runner and his rambling diatribes for good company on your long runs. I'll be taking better care of this new ipod after ruining my last one in a rainy stormy long run last fall.

Yesterday, Friday was my key workout for the week with the scheduled 'Lactate Threshold: 12mi w/7mi @ 1/2 marathon race pace'. Just slightly harder than the 11 w/6mi @1/2 from 3 weeks ago and a chance to compare results. I ran this from work, leaving early after working through lunch. The 1st 2 miles were just a slow jog to gradually loosen my tight legs up. They've been exceptionally tight and sore lately and it was even bugging me to sit at my chair. It's now officially time to order my runner repair kit from Trigger Point. This comes highly recommended by my much faster (and slightly younger ;-) Tri-cousin, Garry from Alberta, who swears by it. He calls it a 'good hurt'.

Back to the run, not feeling too badly really, just a little tired and not too keen on doing the next 7 miles. 1st mile: slightly down and then up in 7:14 while feeling comfortable and in control. Next mile: mostly downhill/flat in 7:02 while trying to hold back and conserve energy for later. Mile 3: flat but into slight wind (-8C or 15F) working it a bit in 7:15. Next miles were more and more work just focusing on the effort with occasional glances at the watch in lap mode showing average lap pace for each mile. Splits of 7:18, 7:11, 7:16 and final one of 7:19 as I was able to count past 5 this time. Average pace of 7:13 and heartrate of 152 compares poorly with the last time of 7:10/148. I'd like to blame it on accumulated stress on sore/tired legs, continuous 7 miles, extra layers for the cold but it still was an acceptable effort. Finished off 3 miles at slow recovery pace to a warm home, toasty fireplace and a lovely glass of Castel del Papa homemade wine. Perfect!

Another good week completed with 65 miles logged. I'm trying to follow the schedule to the letter to get the desired benefit of both the hard and easy efforts and it seems to be working. Have a nice weekend and keep warm by the fire!