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.

Doing the work, sort of...

Trying my best to get the workouts in but the log tells me it was only 87% of the planned miles last week. The combination of a work trip and poor weather resulted in a total of 60 miles in 5 runs. Two of those were on the treadmill as I attempted to avoid the awful cold weather that had swooped down on us from the arctic. High winds and dangerous windchills were the result so indoors it was.
Today's run, seen here in graphic form included a jaunt across the ocean floor with the tide out and a series of hills which were a real struggle for the legs. This was meant to be an easy recovery run in preparation for yet another long run on Sunday morning with Andrew and Jon. The main challenge will be figuring out the time zones and time of day with Daylight Savings kicking in tonite. Our final decision was to pretend the clocks stayed the same and to meet at the same time, 630 EST (730 Atlantic Canadian), meaning I get to sleep in a bit! (Yes!!)

ORN's

• Tues - 8 miles easy on the treadmill
• Weds - work trip, brought running gear but no treadmill at hotel, -30C windchill
• Thurs - 8 mile on treadmill with 8x800m at 3:20 to 3:30
• Friday - 15 miles with 8 attempted at marathon pace (managed 740 only) on dead legs
• Sat - 9 miles easy on dead, tired legs
• Sun - plan for 21 or more (thinking I need a 3 hr run) with last x at MP
  

Have a good weekend! Wish me luck on the long run.

For inspiration and pure fun check out the Chasing Kimbia blog and videos. Kenya, Kenya, Kenya!

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!

Snow Day

Yup, it's still winter here and we'll just have to make do and put up with it for a few more weeks. They did a pre-emptive strike at the local schools shutting them down for the day, even though it didn't even start to snow until noon and very little accumulation until about mid-afternoon. I guess they just want to be extra cautious, "But in my day, we never got a day off ...".

So what am I doing out in this you ask? Why didn't I play it smart and get my run in early before it all started? Well a couple of reasons, #1: hate to get up early (only for the long runs), #2: still feeling the effects from the interval workout on Tues with a bit of general tiredness and not looking forward to the ambitious plan in my log for today.

As I posted before, things were great on my 90 minute run on Weds, the day after my mile intervals as I sailed along at an easy pace of 8:10/mi. However, the next day the old DOMS (delayed onset muscle syndrome) kicked in and things were very slow and stiff. All I could manage was a 1hr run at about 8:25 pace but at least the heartrate stayed low. Bonus was the nice sunny day with temperature just around the freezing point (almost balmy!).

Back to the plan. Today it called for a 2 hour run with 6 miles at marathon pace. Sheesh! Maybe if I delay long enough the coach will give me a pass. Oh, I'm the coach! No free pass today. Besides it's not that cold and not accumulating much so let's try the roads 1st. Maybe, I could do part of the run outside in the fresh snow and then finish with the fast miles on the treadmill. Oh and I'd forgot to mention that I'd worked thru lunch and left work early so I could run before the real storm hit. After even more time-wasting, window gazing at the dark clouds and snow, gatorade mixing, and setting up the treadmill along with a change of clothes it was time to go. The 1st part of the run, which turned out to be about 8 miles, was actually rather nice. The temperature was only about -1C (30F) and the driving wind and snow was only an issue for a few open spots where it felt like running in molasses. Besides that I just cruised along at an easy pace mostly on the deserted side roads in town. There wasn't much accumulation yet (less than an inch) and so the footing was good for the most part but not anything to try faster running on. The picture was taken just as I got back from the 1st part of my run.

It was then a quick change and on the awaiting treadmill. After a 1/2 mile warmup it was straight into 6 miles at about marathon pace where I slowly ramped the pace up from 7:30 to 7:13. Ended up with average pace of 7:18 and heartrate of 143 although it was getting to be harder work for the last two miles. All in all it was a decent workout and managed to get my money's worth once again.

Hope you're running is also going well.

coming around

After a couple of tough weeks both mentally and physically it looks like things are finally starting to come around. The grind of weather, work and trying to get my running fitted in have been a bit wearing to say the least but in the last few days we caught a little bit of a break with warmer temperatures. In fact we've had daytime highs above freezing now for two entire days in a row and you'd think that it was summer or at least closer to spring. However, the forecast for the weekend is a blizzard with 20+ cm (that's about a foot) of nice white fluffy stuff. Local forecasters call it 'Sheila's Brush', ha! I think winter has a few tricks left yet up her sleeve...

Legend of Sheila's Brush
Sheila's Brush is the last of winter usually around St. Patricks day. The snow is a result of Sheila's sweeping. Legend has it that Sheila was St. Patrick's wife, sister or mother. Sometimes a storm before"Paddy's" Day is called Patrick and Sheila.

But speaking of coming around I had a workout yesterday that made me think I might be finally getting into decent condition. I had taken Monday off, as per usual, and didn't really feeling any ill effects from the Sunday long run besides the usual residual tiredness.

However, my penciled in workout for Tues of 4x1 miles had me a little nervous all day. Am I rested enough? Do I really want to do that many? How hard/fast should I go? My 800m repeats last week were barely at 6:40 pace on the treadmill, what can I possible aim for today? Even the sunshine and calm winds had little effect on my dark mood. "Are you running outside today?" my wife asked as we got home after work. "I'm not sure, I'll figure it out when I get dressed" was my reply and the next thing I knew I was breathing fresh air and slowly jogging down the road towards what felt like impending doom.

Finally, after a 1.5 mile easy jog, I'm lined up by the high school at the start line of our annual Father's Day race. Ready, set, go! Click the watch, roll down the slight incline, these new shoes feel good, this isn't so bad, 1/2 mile gone and pace is looking good, watch the form, save it for the next three, click, 6:38, whoa that was unexpected! Easy 1/4 mile jog, meet a walker going the other way, turn and start the next repeat, blast by the walker, hold back now, cruise around the Point ignoring the fantastic view on a calm sunny day, now uphill slightly and working harder to hold pace, holding on to form, click, 6:35! Next one in 6:32, meeting a jogger during the recovery and then worked hard to catch him on the final one in 6:36. I'll take my roadkill where ever it comes. Finished with a couple of easy miles with a very content feeling. I've got no idea where this came from but it gives me a standard that will be fun to try to maintain and improve on over the next several weeks.

Today I was no worse for wear as I had expected to at least have some stiffness or tightness in the legs but nothing. We had another lovely mild day (anything above freezing is a bonus) but not yet shorts weather. Managed a nice relaxing 11 mile easy run in about 90 minutes and heartrate low at 128 average. The run felt smooth and easy as I enjoyed some old Beatles music on the ipod.

Thus February ends with 248 miles in the bank and now at 500 thus far for the year. It just seems to get better and better. Good running all!

It doesn't get any easier

I don't know where to start, 20 milers in 15 of the last 16 weeks but "It just doesn't get any easier!" Just ask Andrew who bonked and collapsed in a heap in his car after surviving today's run; I wasn't too far behind.

Today's run started cold and windy (-5C and NW 30-40km/hr) so we decided to head north, doing our regular Boyden Lake loop in reverse, in order to avoid some of the windy open spaces along the route. It proved to be a good idea as our pace in the 1st 10 miles was a bit quicker (around 7:40) with the wind mostly at our back and the hills down. However, this later became our undoing as the 2nd 1/2 of the run seemed to be mostly into the (stupid) wind and uphill. Whether it was the quicker 1st 1/2 pace, a lack of pre-run carbs or just us being wimpy, we'll never know. Things did get very quiet 2nd 1/2, which is very unusual with A and the pace slowed too, which was a welcome relief for my weary legs. Maybe next time we'll borrow a snowmobile. Tough run but we got it done (mostly).

Thus ended another week of training with only 7 weeks to go now.

A few other highlights during the past week. Total of 62 miles in 6 runs, 3 on the treadmill due to winter blues and the nasty weather. Time for spring is coming soon, happier running ahead!

Drag days of winter

I never thought you'd hear this come from me but this stupid winter is for the birds!! In the last week we've had 2 snowstorms, there have been 3 snow days for Andrew and the temperature has barely improved one iota. Yuck! And the slippery, slushy roads are driving me crazy too.

Positive note: received my confirmation acceptance card from the BAA today. (55 days to go)

Back to the rant, Sunday's long run was a slog fest from the get go. It was snowing when I started and snowing when finished but it did let up during the run. On the positive side it wasn't -20C with a crazy windchill and my ipod was charged up with a few podcasts to keep me occupied during the run. Negative side again; roads were very greasy and required the Yaktraxs for the 1st 15 miles of the run. I only took them off during the final push home along the highway as my feet started to complain about being cramped in so much. Anyway 20 miles mostly a steady easy paced run but got very tired over the last few miles. Then literally collapsed on the couch for the rest of the day. Enough said.

On Monday we had another storm here with schools closed and very high winds with blizzard conditions. Work still went on as normal though... so I walked the mile in across the field instead of venturing out with the car. Today with the roads still snow covered and 1/2 plowed I decided to take it easy and use the treadmill option again. It's not necessarily always an easy option but at least you don't have to work about getting hit by snowplows or falling and risking injury. But I did just take it easy with an hour of running at recovery pace.

Hang in there winter runners, only a few more weeks till spring.

Sunday's are good days

First, here's a nice link to the Ottawa Ice Sculpture competition. Click on a carver in the list and you can see the design and some great pictures of the best ones. The competition is ongoing with the masters competition and the amazing snow sculptures can be seen here.

Second, I've been a real slacker with keeping up to date on my blog lately. It's been ridiculous again at work and the first thing that seems to go is writing up the latest happenings. Even my blogline reading and commenting is way behind. However, I'm keeping up the running end of things no matter what and with only 8 weeks to go the end is in sight.

Rewind to last Sunday which seems like ages ago now. The three amigos got in a super fun run on our standard Boyden Lake loop with a Sipayik Trail loop thrown in for good measure. The conditions were decent with good footing, light winds but a little on the cold side at -15C (5F).

Oh yeah, just to put my 2 cents worth about my comment at our little break at the Farmers Market. I must have been getting a little impatient about all the stretching and lolligagging or something as I started up the road with "Let's get this show on the road!". Didn't realize what an impression that this made on 'the boys' but they quickly fell into line and then proceeded to crank things up and put the 'old man' in his place.

Lots of good conversation made it seem like a short easy run but it got a little tough in the last mile or so. I was just hanging on for dear life as Marc picked it up when he started to smell the apple pie and brownies waiting for us at the car. I spent the rest of the day flaked out on the couch rehydrating with whatever could be found in the fridge.

Monday - rest day
Tues - hill workout (profile above) on a local incline called 'The Bunny Hill', not because it's easy but because a local resident raises rabbits and there are often bunnies along the roadside. I only noted one today but maybe they were indoors with the cold and windchill of -25C (-15F). Today's 11 mile slogfest was brutal with the wind but I was well dressed for it (love my new balaclava) and the roads were mostly bare. The hill section of the run was a set of 4x 1/2 mile downhill efforts at a cruising marathon pace which ended up close to 6:30/mile with the steep incline. Slow jog up and repeat then finish with an easy run back to the start.

Weds - another dumb work trip which messed up our Valentines Day plans at home. I now have a big IOU to make up. We had to leave early in order to beat the snow storm that was barrelling up the coast from Downeast no less (not from the Great White North). When we got to Dartmouth there was time to get in an 8 mile run along with a few strides and another run was in the books.

Thurs - up early to get a run in before the meetings but the streets and sidewalks were treacherous with ice and snow. Even with the good old Yaktrax it was tough sledding but managed 6.5 miles without falling down. Pace was near 9 minute though.

Friday - home at last again but the roads are barely plowed and my medium long run was a true slug/slog fest. Again it would have been un-runnable without the Yaks and still nearly fell a few times on the slick roads as I barely managed to get in 11 slow miles with a nasty north wind blowing. I totally agree with Andrew's sentiment, "Enough already with this winter cold".

Sat- blew off any attempt to run in the cold and jumped on the treadmill for a change of pace. After a few miles warmup and a few pickups I was able to put in 5 miles at marathon pace (7:18 avg) and with heartrate below 150. It felt good to move a little faster for a change in just shorts.

Total for the week of 66 miles with 97% of my plan completed. The week was a repeat of what I'd intended last week as the next 5 weeks will be aimed at race preparation. I'm considering running the Hypothermic 1/2 marathon next Sunday in Saint John but may hold off and see how bad (or good) the weather is going to be.

Have a great week everyone!

What a crazy week!

The week started out on Sunday in Ottawa amongst the ice sculptures which were pretty cool! But instead of a long run it was 8 miles of skating on the canal and my streak of 12 long runs of 20+ was ended.

Another neat sculpture which stands about 5 feet high.

But back to reality a few days later with a work trip to Dartmouth, NS. Winter really has quite a grip on us now as we've been in the deep deep freeze for about 2 weeks now with no end in site. I was able to get a 7 miles in early on Tuesday before our meetings but it was a might nippy at -28C with the wind. Any thoughts of going fast or too long were quickly squashed as I was on a tight schedule.

On Weds there was a bit more time before starting our trip back home so was able to fit in a decent hill workout in downtown Dartmouth. After a 3 mile easy warmup I found myself at the foot of the Maple Street hill which is well know by local runners and an unwelcome part of the annual Bluenose marathon. My workout plan called for 6 hills and that's what I was able to pull off but the urge to walk became quite strong after about 3 of these at about 3 minutes up and 2 minutes jogs back down. The hills and valleys in elevation and heartrate tell the story. Finished the run with another 3 miles back to the hotel.

Thurs - back home at last and just an easy 8 miles on heavy legs. Also submitted my Boston application and received a little bonus cheque for my age group placing at Wineglass. A little late but that's fine.

Friday - another cool day with winds and windchill near -20C and waited till later in the day to get my medium long run of 15 miles in. Ran it as an out and back figuring to run into the wind on the way out and do my marathon pace miles on the return leg. But somehow it seemed that the wind was shifting continually and was in my face during most of the way. Still managed to get in 5 miles at just under MP at 7:30 pace and heartrate of only 147 avg. It was work but quite manageable despite the weather and all the layers. Maybe the new shoes helped!

Here are the new shoes, Mizuno Wave Riders and this is pair #23 for this brand. They work very well for me and I can easily get 500-800 miles on them before it's time for fresh ones. Bought 2 pair so that I can save one for the marathon.

Today was just a short 1 hour run to give the legs an easy day before the long run planned with Marc and Andrew on Sunday. It was cold again but I've got the layering thing down pretty good now.

Total for the past week was only 53 miles for 73% of my planned week. Oh well, at least my Parrot predictor is coming down to near the 3:30 mark. Actually looking at my plan, next week is scheduled to be a rest week but since I've slacked off so much this week, maybe I'll call this a rest week and just repeat what I'd planned last week. Does that make any sense? I'll bounce it off 'the boys' in the morning and see what they think.

Happy running!

Ottawa report

I'll try to keep this short but it might be hard as there is so much to fit in and not enough time. As you can see I made it to Ottawa and found the canal nicely frozen for winter fun.

The trip up was eventful and with a lucky last minute flight change I got an upgrade and 1st class service on the flight up. My treatment by Air Canada was exceptional and very different from the poor service that Phil got a few weeks ago. The short story was that I arrived early, well fed and raring to go for a run around the city before the meetings began.

So quickly out the door of the downtown hotel I was soon on one of the many running trails in Ottawa. This one goes down the Rideau River past the parliament buildings and then down by the canal. I ran on the sidewalks for the most part doing the entire route while watching the skaters on the ice. I attempted to run along the ice for a short bit but found it was too slippery for even the Yaktraxs and quickly got back on the road. Ended up with a nice 12.5 miles on a perfect calm and almost mild day with temps around -5C.

That night, fantastic beer and meal at Pub Italia with my son. This restaurant has over 200 beers on it's menu, you get a beer list booklet and we sampled only a couple; Satans Killer Red from Kingdom of Fire (malty amber red beer) and an Erdinger Dunkel from Germany (very smooth dark wheat beer). And the food was good too!

Saturday - up early for another jaunt on the trails but this time I headed up the river searching out new unexplored territory. Due to some construction and blocked access I proceeded to get a little bit lost or should I say misdirected before finding my way as far as the Champlain bridge before turning back for the hotel. The hour plus run was very slow due to the snow packed and lightly traveled route that I took. Total for the week was 67 miles and more or less on track, just missed the tempo run.

Saturday night, Saturday night, Saturday night at the hockey game with the Ottawa Senators and the Toronto Maple Leafs !!!! We were so lucky to get tickets and the game was unbelievable. Sold out 20,000+, almost as many Toronto fans as Ottawa and an exciting 2-2 game which went to overtime and a shootout! To bad the home team lost but we got our moneys worth, WoW!

Sunday morning - blown long run but instead we were up early and on the canal by 7am for some great pictures and uncrowded skating. Total of 8 miles return trip on the ice which was in great condition. The temp was cool around -15C but there was little wind and we were very well dressed. It didn't even hurt when I crashed one time when distracted by the view. Also spent some time at the ice sculptures which were very impressive.

I flew home later that day but this time had to endure the coach class with little or no elbow room. Thankfully I wasn't between large bodies and the trip was only about an hour. But the streak of 20 milers has finally come to an end with no obvious way to fit one in before the weekend.

I'm now in Dartmouth, NS for an emergency work meeting and my running will be catch as catch can for the next few days. I was only told about it when arriving at work this morning and basically just repacked my bag and headed out once again. Took only enough time to put in a quick 5 miles on the treadmill before hitting the road once again.

Have a good week out there! I hope to get caught up soon!!

Ottawa bound

Believe it or not I did survive the weekend and am still able to kick the can down the road. Now on the road again with a trip to Ottawa for work aka union business so I'll get a chance to visit my oldest son. Another bonus is that it is the Winterlude festival and the Rideau canal is open for skating. It lays claim to being the world's longest skateway and my skates are sharpened and ready to go.

Very short post this week with things sort of working on the running front. My legs are still sore today (Thurs) from Sunday's brutal downhills.

Monday - day off and very tired and sore just walking around

Tues - easy 8 mile loop in the cold and wind. The legs were extremely stiff, especially on the downhills

Weds - 11 mile run with 4miles at marathon pace (avg pace about 7:20) Again the legs were sore but was able to get the pace up for the MP portion of the run. I also underdressed and paid the price by being chilled after the run. At least I was able to curl up around the fire.

Thurs - easy 8 miles again but it was a very tired and slow run.

Now visiting with my sister and will be flying off early in the morning. Hope to get a quick run in when I land in Ottawa before the meetings later in the afternoon. Wish me luck at staying upright on the canal!

3 blind moose

So much to say and so little time to say it... and I'm still very tired and need more sleep. This post will be mostly just the highlights and pictures.
The choice of wine was appropriate at many levels.
Marc's camp is, well a running camp to die for. Eat, sleep, drink, run, repeat.

The standard butt shot for the Pink Lady, pre run on Saturday morningIt was a little chilly but nothing we couldn't handle with the right gear. Andrew was showing his age a little too, don't you think?

After the run we scouted out the course for Sunday's long run. This is the view from the top of Tory Hill , which was the big climb we did. As you can see there are some big hills in this region of Maine. We're about 15-20 miles away from Sugarloaf Mountain which has an elevation of over 4000 ft.Here's the Garmin plot for Sunday's run with the elevation in green and my erratic heartrate in red. You can see our little rest breaks where the red line drops drastically, mostly for water and gear but also to avoid very large dogs. You'll have to check out Marc's blog for more pictures and the full story about those man eaters.

Between the beer, ice cream, bagels, coffee and naps we got two great runs in. We kept saying to Marc that he's so lucky to have all these great hills to work with but he just keep looking at us like we were nuts. There is only two directions around here, up or down, no flat and easy to be found anywhere.

Saturday morning was an easy 8 miles as an out and back or should I say down and up where I/we deliberately tried to run slow as we could. It was a cold morning -20C (-2F) but not a breathe of wind and we had a comfortable run with the right layering (once we got warmed up of course).

Sunday's run was another story. After taking our time getting ready with lots of coffee and food we were on our way into more hills. The final plan to park the car at a midpoint area of the run turned out to be a saving grace in this brutal 20 miler. The 1st mile was a gradual rise which then quickly turned into a really tough long climb with about a 900ft elevation change. The monster dogs were actually a nice rest break near the 1/2 way point up where we had a short flatish respite before an even more brutal downhill. My yaktraks were put to good use in maintaining myself upright with the light snowcover on the ground.

Of course going down only meant one thing and that was more uphills over even more treacherous backwoods logging roads. The lack of traffic made it a safe run from that point of view but the footing was tough for Marc and Andrew without cleats. But we soldiered on with no other options available to us, finally arriving at the car around the 14 mile mark. The final 6 miles got progressively more difficult and it was a great relief to finally be able to stop after doing an out and back to Marc's house. A run to remember guys! Thanks for a great weekend.

It's now more than 36 hrs since the run and I'm still tired and sore. Time to get some more sleep I think. Good running!

Making hay while the sun shines

And the fire is now burning brightly. It's cool having a remote with flame and fan setting controls but there still is a bit of trim work and likely room redecorating to come.

I'm all set for the running weekend with the guys, Downeast Andrew, Marc on the Run and possibly Jamie-Maine Runner down in southern Maine where the wind never blows and the sun always shines brightly, ha! The plan is to motor down on Friday and get some runs in on Saturday and Sunday between the eating, ice-cream, running movies and beer.

Thanks for all the interest and nice comments on my 'plan'. I've started to implement the details and so far it's been 100% except with the usual rearranging of days to fit my schedule. After Sunday's long cold run with Andrew, Jonathan and a drive by sighting of Stephanie the 1st day of the plan on Monday was a rest day! I also spent about 7 hours on the road driving my Mom back up to Bathurst from her appointment in Saint John. She's doing very well and it's really nice to see her on these long trips when we can get all caught up on things.

Tues was the long drive back home from Bathurst but it turned out to be very revolutionary in my thinking about how I approach running because of the podcast that I was listening to by Simply Stu. It's episode #52 and the idea is a bit hard to explain in detail but the short story is that Stu recently was tested at a high tech lab to determine his lactate levels while running and he was discussing the results with the physiologist Neal Henderson. He could tell that Stu overtrains on a regular basis before taking even one step on the treadmill and that his easy paces are never truly walking in the park easy when doing base work. As a result he does not improve because he never allows himself to rest and recover. You really should listen to it but what I got from this is that there is a place for easy running in my program and it starts today by using heartrate as a guide.

So... I arrived home all enthused to go for a run at an easy, easy pace (love it!) Since the sun was shining brightly with no wind at all I made it a medium long run of 14 miles, at the prescribed easy pace with heartrate below 135. There were also 2 marathon pace miles thrown into the day's schedule which came in at 7:17 and 7:10 each where the HR pushed up to about 150. Total time of 1:54 for 8:04 pace and felt great!

Weds - just an easy 1 hour run, again trying to keep the heartrate low as I meandered around town. Conditions were again calm and mild around -2C.

Thurs - 90 minute run today with hillwork. Started out with an easy 1 mile warmup and then ran at a strong effort up a 1/2 mile gradual hill of about 150 ft elevation. Finished each repeat with an easy jog down the hill. Repeated for 4 loops and then completed the 11 mile run with (you know) an easy run around town. It was cooler today, around -10C and a noticeable wind with a bite but felt good when it was at your back.

So far so good but I can see a few bumps coming up in the road with the weather and busy schedules. Good running and watch out for those SUV's and snowplows!

Plan of attack

Well, I'm glad this past week is finally over. The weather has been awful, brutal, miserable, blustery and cold (take your pick) but it is winter and that's to be expected. Running-wise the week was OK with a total of 62 miles but nothing with any speed/tempo except on the treadmill. Despite having had a recnet cutback week it seemed that I was tired and slow on most of the runs. Is it OK if I blame it on the icy snow covered roads?

Thurs - tired before the run, in fact it was tough even going up and down stairs at work. However, once past the 1st mile, I was able to complete the 95 minute run with 11 miles covered. Sloppy roads but warmer temp around -4C and light winds.

Friday - tired and sore from the slipping and sliding on Thurs and decided to can the scheduled 2hr run with an easy 5 mile loop. It's been awhile since I've had to call off a workout but you need to be able to take a break on occasion and save your energy for another day. It was an interesting run with conditions going from light rain, then sleet, then ice pellets and driving snow and wind by the end. Good thing it was a shortened run!

Sat - easy 1 hour run was the plan and I was feeling much better this morning. After cleaning off the 2-4cm of snow in our driveway it was off for a quick loop around town. The yaktraks again came in very handy on the icy roads as I meandered around. Ran across another runner, which is highly unusual in our little town and detoured to say hello. Turned out to be a visitor from Boston and we had an nice chat before veering off in different directions to finish our runs. Total of 10 miles in 84 min with temp of -5C and medium winds to make it interesting.

Sunday - today was the 'coup de gras' as far as tough runs so far this year. I met Andrew and Jonathan out at Boyden Lake in near ridiculous conditions of -15C with very strong NW winds for windchill of -25C (-15F). These are marginal conditions where there is risk of frostbite with prolonged exposure (duh). We organized our vehicles so that one van was at the halfway point with drinks and snacks stashed away and the others at our usual start and this turned out to be a saving grace later on. Jonathan has not been running much lately so Andrew and I met early for a quick 3 mile warmup to test our clothing in the conditions. By the time we got back Jon was just arriving and after a quick stop we were off with the wind strategically behind us.

Note - wearing 3 layers on top with a goretex jacket, running pants and goretex pants, balaclava, neck protector, fleece toque and gloves

The 1st 7 miles were reasonable with a slight cross or following wind. With our faces exposed the conversation was varied and understandable but once we hit the vans and geared up for the northern passage things changed very quickly. Balaclavas on, faces covered and all conversation was now muffled or completely unintelligable. As we came to a junction in the road with a choice of going north with the vans 9 miles away or going right with only 4 miles to go we made a vain attempt to start north into a driving headwind. This lasted all of about 100yds before the mutual decision was made to hightail it on a more direct route. The swirling gale still slowed our progress to a near halt on occasion but the cover of the wooded areas made this a much better choice. Another quick stop (with a coffee break even) Andrew and I then finished off the 20 miles by retracing our route back to my van at the Farmers Union. Oh boy, it was nice to stop and was that chocolate brownie EVER GOOD!

Meanwhile, I've also been busy coming up with a plan for the final 12 weeks to go for Boston. It's a mixture of what has worked in the past and a bit more consistency in the long runs and time on my feet week in and week out. Here goes:

Good running and stay healthy out there!

Just blab it out

After a relatively nice, easy recovery week it's back to the office both in the real world where you get paid for your efforts and in the play world, where, well you know. I'm having a bit of trouble coming up with interesting things to put in this thing so please bear with me if it's just the ORN.

Monday - rest day feeling fine. We had a decent snowfall (6 or 8 inches) on Monday with the schools closed at noon

Tues - bit of a cool day at -8C and windchill of -16C but got well layered up and had a nice if not slow run. The roads were very slippery and often felt like I was sliding back about 6 inches per step. And this is with my trusty Yaktrax in place. Without them I'd have been doing faceplants and snow angels. I think this is a nice form of resistance training that is much like running on sand dunes. Total of 8 miles in 71:00 but the heartrate was high for such a slow pace.

Weds - extreme windchill here today, around -30 in both C and F and was told by Coach not to even 'think' about running outside today. Why not? I can dress for it... Heard the usual 'freeze your lungs' stuff from co-workers and decided to go with the flow and run indoors on the treadmill. It's been awhile since I've used it because of our ridiculously mild winter and it took a mile or so to get into the rthym of the thing again. Started out at 7 mph (8:30 pace) and slowly ramped up the speed by 0.1 mph every 1/4 mile, working up to 8.6 mph (6:53 pace) before dropping down and starting up the scale again. It made for a nice speedy feeling (but sweaty) workout that lasted just 64 minutes for the 8 miles.

And that's all she wrote. Good running!

The long and winding road

First a quick peek at the custom oak mantle for our new gas fireplace. It is a beautiful piece of furniture that will soon be warming up our cold fingers and toes during the chilly winter evenings yet to come this winter. Of course the gas insert is yet to come, but soon.
On the running front, it was yet another long slow 20 miler; alone again with my trusty new Ipod. Winter has arrived and with temps around -8C (15F) I was in no hurry to get going this morning. When it's cold there is always time for an extra coffee, another blog to read, lay out the gear, charge up the tunes, check the weather again, etc. But once you get going with the enough layers, after a few minutes it was positively balmy ( right you are Zeke, we are getting soft with the mild winter thus far!).

Started the run with a 5 mile slow loop around town and was shocked awake around the 4 mile point while listening to Phedippidations to hear my blog being highlighted on his latest podcast. Cool, thanks Steve! Listen in next week for the story of George Sheehan (part 1). It woke me up a bit but didn't help my pace or energy level much as I made a quick stop for drinks and then continued out of town for another dozen miles. The hardest part of the run was arriving back home with 18 miles under my belt for another drink refill and still 2 miles to go. Somehow I managed to grab my bottle and turn back down the driveway to finish off the run. Average pace was 8:20 but felt more like 9:20's.

This makes it 10x20 but it's not getting much easier. Next week it will be back with the Boyden Lake gang and Jonathan is promising to come out with us. As long as he doesn't push the pace any more than Andrew it should prove to be a fun run. I've gotten very spoiled in the past year or so doing these long runs in a group setting. Previous to meeting Andrew I did 99.9% of my running and training alone, year in and year out as Boston or the next marathon approached. It really is so much easier when you share the pain!

Good running out there!

Lazy week

It's about time that I reported in with the weeks activities which have been slack on the running front. The idea was to take an easy week with 50% of daily mileage to give me a bit of a break and also to take the pressure to run off while at meetings all week. The plan seemed to work as it turned out to be hard to even get the short runs in. OK, short and sweet here goes.

Monday - rest day, dodgy drive to Dartmouth in a snow storm

Tues - meetings all day but able to co-ordinate a run with Anthony, our team captain for the Cabot Trail relay. He's only 2 weeks away from doing the Miami marathon and is very fit and ready to gun for his goal of 3:40. We had a great chat as we zoomed along the darkened streets but the run was over too quickly with much left to say. 5 miles covered and conversation to be continued.

Weds - crazy day with work and then a really rushed short run before going out to supper with collegues from the meeting. Went hard on a hilly out and back for 3.5 miles from the hotel and the pace was down to about 7:25 for the effort. The meal at Salty's was amazing!

Thurs - another crazy meetings all day , day finally over! Met Anthony again for another short run and again I spent most of the run just trying to slow him down a little. This guy is really ready to kick butt in Miami! After the run we met at a local Irish pub, Celtic Corner with great locally brewed beer and live music. It was a nice evening after a hectic week with good friends.

Friday - up early with time for my favorite run when I visit the Halifax-Dartmouth area which takes me between the 2 bridges and across the Macdonald bridge to the city of Halifax (screenshot below). The sun was just starting to come up and the crisp morning air made for a great 1hr (med-long run for this week). Then the long 5 hr drive to get home at last
Sat - time for a quick 30 minute run in the morning while waiting for our fireplace mantle to be delivered. It's a beautiful piece of furniture that now only needs the heat throwing device that will sit in the middle. Something tells me we'll be needing this soon as the cold arctic air rolls in from out west.

Total for the slacker week was 44 miles with 6hr of running. The body feels recovered somewhat with no aches and pains but there isn't much spring in the legs despite the low mileage. Perhaps a little work break will be in order to refresh the brain.

Home alone

All the preparations were made, breakfast laid out, coffee ready to start, spare gear packed, post run snacks chilling, and even woke up 2 minutes before the 6am alarm. Almost out the door but then decided to check my email and 'Oh, oh, Andrew's cancelling out sick with dizzy spells and general unwellness'. Darn, I hope that flu bug is not catching via email but glad that I double checked.

So, no great rush to get on the road and may as well have another cup of coffee and catch up on bloglines while waiting for the sun to come up. It's been kinda slow in blogland this weekend, either everyone is busy, sick or just not running and posting. Finally around 730 it was time to just do it. I was not particularly looking forward to 20 miles today and the missed opportunity to run with Andrew and Marc made the distance seem that much more daunting. My initial plan was to do a few 5 mile loops around town with pitstops at home for gatorade to break up the run a bit. I'd also loaded up my new ipod shuffle (very cute) with some ZZ Top and Phedippidations podcasts for company (very poor substitute for Andrew & Marc though).

The starting temperature was 3C (38F) with gusty westerly winds and the 1st 5 miles went OK with one quick stop to talk with a friend. On the return leg home I found there was still plenty of juice in the waterbottle and so veered off on the bare grass of our local golf course and then meandered around town again with trips to all the sideroads, cemetaries, trails and parks that could be found. As much as possible I prefer to stay off the pavement when and try to save my legs; that and the fact that it's time for new shoes with my best pair pushing 400 miles (others are at 700 & 800).

Finally after 13 miles I trudged back up my driveway for a refill of gatorade and courage before heading out the highway for the last leg of the journey. By this time the temperature had warmed up slightly to about 5C (43F) but there were still occasional patches of black ice here and there and the wind still remained strong (and it seems always in my face). The pace was quite slow today, likely feeling the effects of yesterday's intervals and also the lack of a fellow pace pusher. The music and podcasts helped keep the mind occupied and finally IT WAS OVER! Man, that seemed like a long way today! 20.1 miles in 2:51 for 8:30 pace including stops. That makes 9x20 mile weekends in a row and we'll be going for 10 next weekend with company this time, right A?

This coming week will be a rest week of sorts as I'm away for work meetings in Dartmouth, NS and it's time for a little recovery before the big push to Boston really begins. The plan is to keep the long run and rest day on Monday but to cut all my other runs by 50% by time. So runs of 30, 45, 30, 60, and 30 minutes are the plan with some strides & intervals thrown in. It will be a little strange running so short as I'll barely get warmed up most days.

Good running and watch out for that flu bug that's going around!

Weekly roundup

The strange winter weather continues here in the Maritimes. It was +9C (48F) this morning with a southerly breeze and light rain and fog so I was a little unsure as to what to wear. Ended up with long sleeves, light jacket and pants which was a bit much as I had to carry the jacket after a few miles. The plan for today was 1hr with a set of 10 x 1 minute efforts (5K'ish) with 1 minute breaks and so I eased out for the 1st 4 miles along the highway before turning back for home. This workout is alot harder than it appears on paper and my jog breaks soon turned into walk breaks so as to get the HR down a bit before it was time for the next effort. As per usual the last one felt better than the 1st but maybe it was the downhill with the homestretch in site. I was then home early for a Saturday morning and had time to prepare a wall for a new gas fireplace that's in the works. Hmm, perhaps we should consider an air conditioner instead?

Oh, and then there was Friday which seems to be the day for blown out runs for me lately. The plan was for a medium long 2hr run with 14-15 miles but it just didn't happen. No excuses but mainly due to work and a lack of time all that I could manage was 8 miles. There was also a bit of payback from the nice run that was Thursday's tempo run in shorts. It was a pretty tired and slow shuffle of a run, such as it was.

Finished off the week with a total of only 65, down from last week due to the medium long run getting cut short. Coming up on Sunday is another long one with Andrew over in Perry, Maine but unfortunately Marc has had to bow out. In fact the last I heard the poor guy was still flat on his back (or maybe still on his hands and knees) with the flu. Get well soon guy!

What was that?

Wow! What a great spring day we had here today! At noon it was 10C (50F) with sunshine and light southwest winds so the decision to wear shorts and a long sleeve top was made for todays 90 minute effort. This has got to be the 1st time ever for me in shorts in January but I'll check the logs later; crazy weather!

So far this week I've been busy, on the run delivering our daughter and her cat back to college in Truro and then work has been hectic as I prepare for a long round of meetings next week in Halifax. There was time for a quick run on Tuesday before we headed back home. It was a warm morning, about 8C with a light rain but I was feeling very sluggish and slow with tired legs from Sunday's run. Managed a total of 8 miles in 67:00 in a very draggy run. Maybe it was the lack of coffee before the run but that's doubtful. In fact on Monday, my regular day off, I was weary/tired most of the day and even went to bed early after our 4hr drive.

My Weds run was a rushed effort with a shortened run after a busy day at work and then not being able to get going right away. I managed only 8 miles and threw in a set of 10x25sec strides to loosen up the legs. Andrew would not have approved today's route across the ocean floor to Minister's Island and the backroad trails that were covered along the way. Feeling a bit slow but the pace was OK at close to 8:00/mi.

Today's run was another story with the legs and body finally coming around for a change. I'm afraid that there will be payback for my exhuberance later in the week but when you're feeling good it's hard to hold back some days. With an extended lunch I was able to squeeze in a 90 minute run with some tempo on this gorgeous 'spring' day. The run was done as an out and back with the out at a relaxed easy pace for the 1st 47:00. At the turn I increased the pace and did 2 miles at tempo (1/2 marathonish pace) with splits of 7:05 and 7:11 back into a slight headwind and hills. I then took a break intending to jog the rest of the way in but lo and behold spotted another runner off in the distance. The bait was immediately taken and the pace increased with the next 2 miles in 7:03 and 7:23 as it became apparent I wasn't going to make a catch. Oh well, made for a good 2nd half of the run for a total of 11.7 miles in 91:00. The rest of the day was spent with a happy tired feeling in my legs and body, mmmm!

A quick update on my training plan such as it is. Tommorow it will be 100 days until Boston and soon it will be time to start some marathon specific training. My current base is mileage/time aka Lydiard with 60, 90, 60, 120, 60, 150+ minute runs through the week with one day off usually Monday. Next week is a rest week where I'll be cutting the time factor by 50% except for the sacred long run on Sunday. I'm now throwing in a few short speed tempo sessions courtesy of BC Mike but after that the speed / tempo / marathon pace sessions will come from the Renato Canova plan that Coach Andrew is also subscribes to. The base miles (time) will stay the same and may slightly increase giving me about 70 miles/week for the next dozen or so weeks before the taper kicks in. And that's all she wrote!

Happy running!