Bedding down for the winter

No, not this runner going into hibernation but rather preparing the yard and pond for the long winter months.
Waders were required for the cold water today as I moved plants around and adjusted some of the plumbing before the big freeze to come. The goldfish are still active and were swimming around my feet and legs.
Jo's pond is now put to bed for the winter. We only need to put in a 'night light' which will provide an air hole for oxygen exchange for the fish. I'll post some pics when things freeze up later on next month although we might get lucky and have another mild winter.

Things have been kinda boring on the local running scene with just easy runs all week. 6 miles here, 7 or 8 miles there, 5 miles today with a total of 40 miles in 5 days of running for the week.

Don't forget to keep an eye on Thomas who is running the Dublin marathon on Monday. He is runner #10176 but they don't seem to have online tracking. I won't jinx him by predicting a time and will just say that he is set for a breakthrough race. Go Thomas!

Recovery almost complete

First a quick update on my oldest son, Chris who was home for the weekend to pick up his new (to him) car. Can you tell it's his 1st from the big grin? He's worked hard, saved his money and deserves it, I believe.The Chicago marathon is over but you can still view the video of the entire race at their website which is now saved in a bunch of video clips (love it!). The Chasing Kimbia runners had a bad day but still ran very well and were in contention up to 20 miles; their pacemakers did a super job too. Dallen had an awesome race finishing in 2:42, but slowed in the 2nd 1/2. Zeke had a very smart race and looks like he held back with even pacing to finish nicely under 3 hrs in 2:58. Way to go guys!!

Another runner I've been watching closely is my cousin who was making another attempt at a BQ today in the Kennebecais Challenge Marathon. The results haven't yet been posted but I've got my fingers crossed on what would have been a tough run on a cool blustery day with a headwind for most of the way. Go Jerry, you deserve it, and you will do it!

On the local running scene I did a short 4 mile jog on Saturday as part of my compulsive habit. Needed a few miles to up the weekly total to 35 from the previous week of 30. The plan for the coming week is 40.00 miles (no more, no less) and it needs to be a small progression each week, not an exponential increase that some other (unnamed) runners attempt.

Today's run, was a medium-long 13 mile slogfest in the cold and wind with temperature between 2-4C (35-40F) and light winds 5-10mph but felt worse than that. I started just after 7:30am just as the sun was coming up and never really found my stride the entire run. Seemed to be dragging the entire way and the wind seemed to always be in my face. Things did get a little better after about 1 hour but then the tired factor began to play a part as well. I guess the recovery thing is still incomplete and running 4 days in a row may also be playing a part. At least Monday will be a rest day and hopefully things will improve next week. I'm still mulling over the training plan and goals for the coming training cycle and will post in the next few weeks. It's either an all out attempt looking for substantial improvements, tough with our unpredictable winters, or a sort of maintenance level running at 40-60 miles per week to get me through the next Boston.

Good running and have a great week!

Training is ...

. “There are no secrets in running. You train hard. What you learn you pass on to the next person.”

Chasing Kimbia

Short and sweet

Like Andrew, I'm slowly, slowly getting back into running, sort of... It's nice to take a bit of a break and not be fussing and worrying about the next run or being fearful of the next hard workout.

Sat - easy 5 miles at home before blasting off to Bathurst to visit my Mom. The run was alot faster than planned because the legs felt strong and loose and because Jo's famous pancakes were waiting for me after the run. I would pay for this enthusiasm in 24 hours... Total for the week was all of 30 miles.

The drive up was uneventful (about 4.5 hours on non-divided highway) and it was great to see my mother again, who is looking very well. We talk every week but visits are fewer than I'd like. Her health has had a downturn recently but she's getting really good medical attention and treatment with a good prognosis thus far. I also got to visit my sister who immediately put me to work doing some wiring in her fix-er-upper house. But she did feed me pizza, beer and ice-cream (knows what I like, eh?)

The next morning I was up early for my medium-short long run. After being silly last weekend and running in the Phedippidations 1/2 marathon (though not as extreme as DawnB with her back to back marathons!), this weekend the plan was for about 1.5 to 2 hrs depending on how it went. It didn't go that well with my legs feeling sore and tired from the start. Usually this feeling goes away after 10-15 minutes but today it was still there after 30-45 minutes out. But it was a beautiful morning with cool temps and sunshine so I just kept on moving my feet. Ended up with about 12.5 miles in 1:43 but this is only a guess because it was pretty ugly at the end with sore cramping hams and a general tired feeling. Blaming it on the semi-tempo and working in Sis's basement the day before, oh well.

Then it was off to Saint John with my Mom so she can make her appointment the next day at the Regional hospital there. We got to visit my brother and were able to celebrate his birthday with cake and a few candles.
Did I tell you he was my little younger brother? Ha! Happy 48 there Bro ;-)

Oops this was also supposed to be a short post. Gotta go play volleyball now. Hope the rust is out after the disaster that was last week's games. Cya later!

Good luck to all those running marathons this weekend. Can't wait for the reports from Zeke and to see how the Kenyans do too!

run, rest, repeat

simple isn't it?
but that's all there is to it.
the trick is in the infinite variations of these 3 ingredients

run long, run short, run hard, run easy for months or weeks on end
rest short, rest for days or weeks

repeat

don't get injured
feeling twinges or soreness? deal with it, don't ignore it or you'll get bitten

monday - holiday here and a rest day

tuesday - easy run of 5 miles in 40some minutes, no aches or pains or twinges or anything, feeling smooth but slow

weds - another rest day; biking back and forth to work; volleyball for 2 hours in the evening felt awkward and rusty

thurs - heavy rain and wind all day; cleared late in the day and walked home in time for a 60 minute run before supper. trusty garmin is in for repairs and felt strange with a simple digital watch. hmmm, how does this work again? on/off! nice quiet run in the aftermath of the storm with fog and moist air, along with the back woods paths and fallen leaves.

friday - another rest day is planned

Sat - short easy run before heading up to Bathurst to visit my Mom for a few days

next week i'll run 4 days, the week after 5 days, and the week after that it may be back to the 6 days a week schedule though on reduced mileage for another month or so. at least that's the general 'unstructured' plan for my off-season before the buildup to boston begins in mid-late december.

happy running !

A post with many names

There has been alot happening lately and I can't decide what to call this post and so here are some possible post titles:

• One year Bloggiversary - post#184
• Phedippidations 1/2 marathon race report
• Better home and garden ponding update
• Tabletop Hill adventures
• Guinness! It's spelled Guinness!

So...I'll tackle them one at a time. Yes, today is exactly one year from my 1st tenative post into the unknown. Little did I know what I was getting myself into and it was all good. The virtual community of runners of all abilities who support each other and offer advice and kind words during the good and bad times. Though I've only met a couple of these bloggers in real life whom I can now call my friends, I'd like to think that many of my other virtual friends whom I've never met would also become good buddies if we ever got together for a race of a run. It's because of this community and people like Andrew and Marc that my running has gone to another level and is ready to progress even more in the coming year. Thank you all!

Today's run was my version of the Phedippidations 1/2 marathon on my own private course. There were no mile markers, no water stops, no cheering crowds except in my head while listening to the latest edition of Steve Runner's podcast. My results are now posted. It was just a normal Sunday morning run with loops and turns around town, a quick stop at home for extra drinks. I was feeling fine for most of the run but did tire a bit over the last few miles. Total of 13.1 miles in 1:48:48

We've also been busy, or at least Jo has been busy reworking her pond lately. My involvement is mainly in the heavy lifting, wading into cold waters, and removal of small dead animals from time to time. As you can see there are some huge plants surrounding the pond and gazebo area. The tallest plants with the red flowers are a Canna lilies and are over 6 feet high!
Right now the focus is on the waterfall area of the pond and getting some large flat rocks in place. The trick is to get them level and not have huge leaks that take away from the flow rates. There is also the aesthetics of it too and so the 'right' rocks must be found for each spot in the overall arrangement. It might take some time and alot of foamy glue stuff to get right.
Did I say what a gorgeous day we had here today, in fact all weekend has been near perfect, though a little cool in the early morning. After lunch today we took a few hours to do a little hike in the local area of Bayside called Simpson Hill. It was a winding but rugged trail up and down and the view of the river and estuary were quite amazing on this perfect clear day. It's hard to believe they're considering turning this into a quarry.
There wasn't alot of wildlife but we did run across a few small snakes basking in the sun which I captured on camera for Dawn. Sorry, Dawn ;-) but it is a cool shot with his forked tonque in the sun and all.
Now last but not least is the Guinness story. Thomas gave me a hard time for misspelling the name. It was an honest mistake and now here is the offending beer in full blog glory including a closeup of the rocket widget.
It's not quite like the Widget on the how it works website, maybe it's an American variety? I guess you learn something new every day, right Thomas?

Rest and recovery?

It's been almost a week now since Wineglass and already the wheels are turning, thinking about the next run, the next training cycle and the next race. But 1st a little R&R in the form of no running, lots of good food (including the occasional beer and ice cream), and some gentle exercise like walking and biking. We took our time coming back from Corning by way of the back roads, avoiding the interstate, and were treated to some great scenery through New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.
But it was still a long 2 days drive and Jo and I were happy to be home at last. A was glad to have us home too after minding the ranch on his lonesome for 5 days!

There were no bad after effects from the race other than sore feet from my blisters and slightly stiff quads which is normal. Going up and down stairs was not the problem it usually is and there was little stiffness in my legs. I almost went to volleyball on Weds but held off at the last minute after getting 'the look'. "Yes, I know I should take it easy for a few days, coach."

However, my nervous energy made me lace on the shoes and head out the door for a short easy 4 miles on Thursday. It was great to just go along for an easy jog with no pace or distance in mind except to be able to run again. We're into those cooler crispy days now where it's cool in shorts but only until you get started. The air seems so fresh and with all the fall colors it's a perfect time of year in my books and so I hate to miss a day.

On Friday I took another day off though my body and mind was begging to go again. Instead I biked to and from work and tried to ignore the temptation by having another Guiness. Do you know about the 'rocket widget' they put in each bottle? It kind of caught me off guard when I heard this rattling noise in the bottle that Marc had given me. Is it some kind of joke or trick? (I've never had it in a bottle before, only on draft at the bar). But yes, they put this little 'rock' inside to do whatever it does, perhaps to help stirr up the thick malt, mmmm! So I went and bought some more!

Today, Saturday was another lovely fall day here and didn't dare let it go to waste unrun. After our traditional blueberry pancake breakfast with plenty of strong coffee it was on with the previously bloodied shoes and then off for another short run (sorry Andrew but I can't help myself). This time it was a 5 mile 'jog' around our town Point on the water on another perfect calm, cool (4C. 38F) fall morning. I was thinking Kenyan shuffle, nice and easy jog but average pace was 8:02! Spent the rest of the day lazing around the yard, helping Jo with her pond and waterfall. I'll post some pics later on when we're done the revision.

On tap tommorow is the Phedippidations 1/2 marathon would you believe? No, I'm not crazy but I'm planning to run this virtual race with over 500 runners world wide. Anyone can enter, design your race course, pickup your virtual goodie bag, get your t-shirt design and then run the distance on Oct 7 or 8 and submit your times to the race website. The reason I'm running is.... well, I signed up months ago before Wineglass and so now... I have to do it cause I said I would. That's all there is to it, just a nice easy, easy relaxing run with a Phedippidations podcast on the mp3 player and that's it! Besides it's going to be another perfect day here in the maritimes and what's a perfect day without a nice run?

Happy running (or not)!

Wineglass Race Report

Where to start? Had a great sleep and then up at 6am for a light breakfast with the usual cereal, coffe and juice. I was not feeling overly tense or nervous, just a sort of ready feeling and after mapping out my splits and gear the night before the only decision to make was when to leave for the bus and how much extra clothes to wear. After being dropped off, the bus ride from Corning to Bath went very quietly as I kept to myself in the back of the bus. Arrived at the start area in plenty of time and relaxed while imbibing a quart of gatorade. There was little happening except runners milling around and the usual lineups. One bit of entertainment was a runner duct taping gel packs to his shorts. I wonder how far he got with that and if it worked in training too!?

About 30 minutes before the start I found Andrew & Marc in the very short bathroom lines and so entertainment and laughter was assured. We discussed our race strategies and decided that the best warmup was going to be no warmup at all. The temperatures felt only a little cool and the overcast skies just added to the perfect conditions as we lined up near the front of the crowd. Finally, we were off and Marc and I ambled down the road for the 1st easy mile in 7:37 (too fast, not the 750 planned). It was difficult to run this slow early on but the fear of going out too fast and ruining all my training kept me in check (sort of). Next miles were still too fast in 7:35 to 7:31 as I pushed it on a small hill to get past one group! Slow down will ya! The next few were more of the same as I completed my 6 mile warmup in 45:06 just about 1 minute faster than the planned 46:00.

It was a bit of a relief to get to 6 miles and then be able to open up the pace a bit as the next few miles went by in 7:19, 7:18, 7:14 all feeling ridiculously easy and holding back and watching my pace (according to Garmin) closely. This pattern continued for the next several miles as I cruised along nicely, slowing catching runner after runner and still the feeling of holding back more than ever before in a marathon. The 1/2 floated by in 1:37:30 and still feeling great but wondering when the wheels would start to come off. Not for awhile yet, next mile in 7:07 was my fastest as I allowed the horses loose for a few minutes in getting by a group of runners. The course between mile 15-20 is a blur in my mind but splits were all around 7:20 as my only task was to focus on the pace and attempt to run as relaxed as possible, waiting for the real race to come. And come it did, starting with some hamstring issues about 16 miles, likely due to the constant flat downhill nature of the course. Some strategic hand massages helped and the pace held up for awhile longer.

Mile 19 was nice in that I got to see my photographer for the 1st time in the race and surprised her by swooping in for a good luck kiss. I heard a funny comment from the crowd saying "you're going to loose time for that!", to which I replied "not a chance!". But then I immediately proceeded to get distracted and started up a conversation with Mr Alaska (nice shirt and had lived there for several years) and my next split dropped to 7:40 as we talked away. I had thought we were cruising a bit faster but not so and when he slowed at the next water stop I applied the gas again, though looking back for him to keep up. Miles 21 and 22 went back to 7:21 and 7:16 but the pace and effort were starting to make itself felt, with the feeling of 'holding back' now long gone. About this point the hamstrings started acting up once more and then the dreaded side stitch hit as I struggled through the next miles in 7:29 and 7:31.

Why do things always get so tough in these last miles? I was a good boy and started nice and slow, why can't these last miles feel as easy as the 1st ones? Miles 25 and 26 in 7:42 and 7:40 were just a blur of counting (but not able to get much past 20) and one foot in front of the other, telling myself just one more mile, just from the flashing light to home, just one more mile, just through this tunnel, just to the end of that block. Finally the Glass Museum and the bridge and finish was almost in sight! The guy at the turn called out 3:11:xx and 1/2 mile to go and I was able to calculate that a 3:15 was in reach but unable to go any faster than one foot in front of the other. Finally, finally the finish! Can I stop now? In the hok position, "are you all right?", looking at my watch unable to get grin off my face, wait till I see Andrew, finally able to move, wow, glad that's over but that was worth it!

Post race, much food, drink, the world's best post race massage, debriefing with Andrew and Marc, nice awards including champagne for placing in my age group and then back to the hotel for a nice shower and rest.
It was a perfect day, what more can I say?

The Marathon Gods Have Smiled v2

Update is at the bottom...Just time for a quick post

Perfect day and weather... cloudy, cool temperatures and light winds

Perfect course...flat and downhill with a few tiny little hills along the way

Perfect friends to run and share the weekend with...

Check out the results at Wineglass

Andrew 2:56:59 (major PR)

Mike 3:14:56 (PR)

Marc 3:38:11 (good run on no training!)

More later when I get a better connection. What a day, what a race!

Here are a few more pics for now...
Pre-race at the start line before we drove the course for the 1st time.
Andrew reminded us not to forget the standard 'butt' shot for the Pink Lady.
At the expo I was lucky enough to meet Dick Beardsley and had him sign my copy of his book Staying the Course which tells his amazing story.
At the 8 mile mark, right on pace but didn't see my photo lady because of a vehicle that was in the way.Here's Andrew flying by the 19 mile mark looking very in the zone.

Still smiling at the 19 mile mark and about to kiss my photographer for good luck. It worked too!
Here's Andrew at the finish wavng to the crowd. I don't see who he's outkicking, perhaps they were roadkill back in the distance?
Looking for the finish that couldn't come soon enough and no idea what my watch was down to at all.
Here I'm getting the best post marathon massage of my life by two (count em, 2) lovely ladies. Thanks to Rebecca and Jessica, you're the best ;-)
The three amigos with their hardware. Thanks guys, great times and a great weekend!

More taper talk

Only 2 days and 12 hours and I'm still in one piece physically and mentally. All the do's and don'ts have been done and not done for the most part and all that awaits is the very long 14 hour drive and the last minute preparations.

So what have I done in the do column? Just easy runs for the most part this week as per the schedule. On Monday I did an easy 5 mile with the 'other Andrew from work' but he was feeling punchy and the pace (7:57/mi) was a little faster than planned but we were both feeling good. The plan called for a second run of 4 miles easy but I dropped that, just because there was no real need for it. Other good do's were in the diet and rest categories with extra sleep and only one piece of chocolate cake (but no ice cream, which was hard).

On Wednesday Pfitz has you doing a marathon test run where he suggest gearing up in all your clothes & shoes that you plan to wear and then do a few miles at marathon pace. I decided to ignore the clothes thing for a couple of reasons, 1) new Mizuno shoes have already been race and long run tested with 60 miles on them 2) my skimpy Canada shorts are only for special occasions and I wouldn't want to scare the locals too much. However, the marathon pace is a good plan to remind the legs what's in store for them so I did an 8 mile run with 6 miles of progression pace as I'm planning for the 1st 6 miles of the race. The Garmin is perfect for this task when set to autolap for each mile and in lap mode so you can track your average pace within each mile. After the 2 mile warmup the splits (and how they felt) went 7:58 (jog), 7:50 (fast jog), 7:47(still felt easy), 7:40 (easy controlled), 7:26(now working with a hill), 7:08 (final race for the barn and let the horses go). Great workout, didn't strain at all with overall pace of 7:50 for the distance. That night I splurged and had a beer and ice cream too!

Today was just an easy 6 mile loop around town. Nothing special, nice sunny fall day with light winds, pace about 8:05. The achilles was a bit twingy for the 1st mile once again for the 1st time in about a week but after the warmup and post run it was fine. I'm now cut off from the beer and ice cream until after the race but will still enjoy my bagels and peanut butter.

The plan still calls for a couple more 4-5 mile runs on Friday and Sat. but will play this by ear if I feel the legs need a little stretch. I wouldn't mind jogging the last few miles of the marathon route the day before, but again will have to wait and see what the days bring. The latest forecast for race day in Corning still looks like the initial prediction from 5 days ago and that is 'Cloudy with a 40 percent chance of showers. Highs in the lower 60s.' This is near ideal, no direct sun, coolish temperatures with the 9am start and as long as the showers hold off or are just short in duration we should be fine. Bring it on!

Training wrapup

With only a week to go to Wineglass you can hardly call the running I'm doing lately as training but it's still miles on the road and some gentle reminders to the body not to get too lazy.

The work has been done weeks or even months ago and so any running done this week will be mainly to keep my alter ego, Evil Runner, happy. When in heavy training it was always ER who was the 1st to complain and whine about the workouts, early mornings, mid-week runs, the weather, you name it. And now that we're slacking back for the taper, you know who's the 1st to start 2nd guessing and want get one more hard session in, etc well it's ER again! I know he's determined to sabotage me one way or the other and I'll have to tread very carefully and remember that less is better in all things for the next 7 days (except for rest, stress and sleep).

Quick recap of the last few days. Easy 5 mile runs on Friday and Saturday around 8:10 pace with a few strides to stretch the legs out. Feeling good but not great, no spring in my step yet. Total for the past week was 50 miles with an average pace of 8:03.

Today's last short-long run was 13 miles here at home (alone) in 1:45 with a few stops to check on a friends' cats and to refuel my drinks. Finished off the last 4 miles of the run with a mini-progression to mimic my plan for the marathon start with splits of 7:58, 7:49, 7:39 and 7:23. These paces all felt very comfortable and in my easy aerobic range except for the 1st 1/2 mile of the last one due to a continuous uphill climb. The elevation profile of Wineglass with it's gradual downhills should be very conducive to even pacing and so I'm not worried, yet.

Looking forward to seeing Marc again and travelling down with Andrew next weekend. We'll just try not to bore poor Jo to death with all our running talk on the long drive to Corning.

Taper on!

Happy Birthday

Just a quickie post to wish A a happy 17th birthday!

A huge surprise package arrived today which had very little weight...
What is it? It must be for the birthday boy!
It's a cool remote control plane from big brother ;-)















Smoke but no mirrors. A delicious cake, especially with ice-cream!!

ORN - 8.5 miles at lunch with 3 miles at so called 5k pace (as fast as my legs can go). Managed a 6:50 (into the wind), 6:23 (with the wind, downhill & flat), and 6:35 (down and up). Running fast and as hard as I could but not getting tired and HR stayed low (<150) go figure!

Taper on...

More boring runs

To follow on a theme recently proposed by Andrew, here are a few short words on the boring running as of late now that taper is seriously on.

Monday - rest day, a few niggle aches and pains and some extra tiredness from the marathon pace workout on Sunday

Tuesday - still a little tired but it was a nice mild day for a run and ended up with 8.5 miles at 8:17 pace including a few strides with walking between. Resting heartrate was 38-40 so I'm well recovered in that department. It will take more time for the legs to completely recover from the many weeks of increasing intensity.

Weds - an easy, easy 6 miles at 8:18 pace with a temp of 16C (60F) in the pouring down rain and it felt great! Love to run in the rain (if it's not too cold). Still feeling a little lethargic (no spring in the legs) and the achilles is still a pain for the 1st mile.

Planning for Wineglass is now fully completed, hotels and places to stay are booked, departure time and itinerary is also being firmed up. I hope Marc has lots of beer and ice cream cause there won't be any holding back after the run.

That's it! Just a short boring post about short easy runs. Happy running!

Story of a short long run

As Andrew and I cruised along in the final miles of Sunday's 17 miler we tried to decide if this counted as a 'long' run or not. According to A it needs to be at least 20, while I 've been going with Pfitz with 18 as my cutoff. So the vote was that it did not count as a long run in our books and we tried to come up with a name for this in-between type run, how about 'sh-long'? or maybe 'sorta-long'? Whatever, it was still a great run with benefits to the overall training load.

With all the 'stuff' that's been happening to A lately it was a wonder he was able to even make it out this Sunday. Thankfully though his family is now on the mend and are finding their way out of the hospital and back to the safe confines of home.

At 6:32 I arrived at the good old Boyden Lake meeting spot to find my unsuspecting buddy ready to roll. Little did he know the evil plan I was about to spring on him as he has been a bit out of touch with the cyber world lately and had no inkling that someone (me) was out to get him.

"I've got a plan. Do you want to see it?" I asked.

"Huh, sure what is it?" Andrew replied looking a little puzzled by the scribbles on my pad of paper.

"It's a practice run for pacing at Wineglass with 6 miles of cutdown before getting to marathon pace from something I read. "

"OK, sure, sounds good" (good old Andrew is always up for just about anything)

And we were off at a slow jog for the 1st few miles, easing into the run as planned. The conversation began and never stopped and sometimes I even got a few words in edgewise! First, I went into detail about what pace I'd like to do based on recent races and training and how the cutdown pacing works. It calls for mile 1-2 (30 sec slower than MP), miles 3-4 (20 sec slower), miles 5-6 (10 sec slower) and then goal pace. The idea is to give away 2 minutes in the opening miles by starting slower than goal pace and saving the glycogen and energy for the final miles. It will be difficult to do on race day because running this slow will feel like a jog after the taper and so it needs to be practiced during training, like the long runs. However, the payback comes in 2 ways, 1st after easing into the marathon for 6 miles you then only have a 20 miler to go. Secondly, if you can stand being passed in the early going, the fun will come in the last miles as there will be plenty of 'roadkill' to swoop by.

So we just eased into this sh-long run with the 1st 5 miles in about 42:00 and then slowly began to cruise along a bit faster. For some reason the hilly nature of this route was not much of a problem today with only 3 of the many inclines hard enough to still the conversation if only for a moment. After mile 11 the pace dropped to 730 or below but the effort was not noticeably harder as I began to monitor my Garmin a bit closer, reading off the splits to Andrew as we went. Last 7 miles at 7:27 pace with heartrate at 140 or about 80% of max. A perfect run on a perfect day!

This is a summary of my training mileage and long runs by week since Boston in April. It's gone fairly well for the most part with consistent mileage around 70 and a decent number of long runs. There have been a few races but not nearly enough as I could have used a good 1/2 or another 10k in recent weeks to gauge fitness.

Taper, taper, taper... Good running all!

Hard, easy, repeat...

That is the mantra of any athlete in training and attempting to improve their performance. The hard part seems obvious but the easy can be just as important so that your body can enjoy the benefits of the effort without being broken down by next hard effort. Many of us (myself included) just like to coast along putting in the miles but avoid the really hard efforts because, well ... they're hard. Actually it's usually never close to as hard as your evil runner try's to tell you it is. Whether it's a bunch of repeats on the track or road; or a hard effort in a race, it's never that difficult when actually doing it. The hard part is turning the doorknob, getting out the door and just getting started. Once committed the workout or race just unfolds as it should and you can debate with yourself afterwords whether you put in the effort it deserved or not.

Take my Friday workout for instance. I ended up doing a 10 mile run including 5 miles at tempo (1/2 marathon) pace during the run. The key for getting this run done as planned, after waffling and switching runs around all week because I was 'tired' from my race, was simply to decide to do it on Thursday and then begin preparing for the effort. Preparations began with good snacks that evening (and some bad snacks too ie. ice cream) and then getting a good sleep than night. The next day at work I was careful to hydrate all day and avoided the big lunch and sweets at a retirement party late in the day. Instead, I headed out early from the party so I could get my my 'workout' in before supper. The run went well, starting with an easy 2 mile warmup on a 5 mile out and back route from home along a highway with good wide gravel shoulders. The numbers (mile splits) according to the Garmin were 657, 658, 707(hill), 654 and 655 for a total of 34:53 for the 5 miles. It was work and I needed to keep my focus on my breathing and running rythm but was not overly 'hard' while my heartrate hovered around 155-160 or 90% of max. Finished off the run with 3 easy jogging miles and was happy to arrive home where the cold beer awaited!

Today, Saturday was time to apply the easy part of the equation, where I like to think I'm good at for the most part. It's a trait of many runners to run their 'easy' days too hard and then compromise the effort for the next 'hard' day and I sometimes get caught in that trap myself. However, today was a day to sleep in, have a nice relaxed morning breakfast with several cups of coffee before venturing out into the beautiful day. We had some fog at first to keep things a bit cool but the temperature hit 25C (77F) later in the day. My run was just an easy jog around town along the back streets and trails with a stop at a friends to check on his backyard project. Total of 7.5 miles at 8:20 pace which was just perfect. The legs felt good today, no problems with the achilles but my hip was a little sore after the run for a bit (now ok).

End of week 16 of 18 for the Wineglass training program with a total of 48 miles; down a bit due to a missed long run last weekend with the race but this is taper time and we won't sweat it too much.

Now it's time to prepare for the next 'hard' run which is tomorrow's long run with Andrew over in Maine. I actually don't consider these long run's hard unless there is some extra pace work mixed in but am thinking of springing a little trick on A in that regard if he's up for it. It's something I've seen before and just re-read and it might be nice to 'practice it' before the big day. It'll be interesting to see how he reacts to my latest mad plan...

Mid-week blahs

Putting in some runs but seem to be skirting along the edges of the training program and have been cherry picking my workouts from the schedule. There were no major issues to the body after Sunday's race except being a little tired and lethargic. There are now some race pictures posted on the RunNB website and also here in my Webshots.

So after a day off on Monday I went for an easy 6 miles on Tues (instead of 10 with strides) and used up my Saturday easy run. The run went OK on a perfect sunny day with only light winds but was slow (8:18 pace) and I felt tired with no energy.

On Weds things were feeling better but work got in the way and only had time to squeeze 8 miles in over lunch before rushing back for a meeting that started late and went downhill from there. It was another lovely day and this run went smoothly. Started out slow and easy but the pace just started to ratchet up as I went with overall 7:58 pace on a hilly course. But so much for doing 14 miles...

Today Thursday I was able to finally get my Tues 10 miler in but just barely. For some reason (perhaps a lack of sleep) my energy level was again low and the run was a bit of a struggle as I ignored the watch and just put one foot in front of the other for a median pace of 8:12. At least I have a good handle on my survival shuffle pace this week but hope it won't come into play just 16 days from now.

This the 1st real week of the taper and it seems that a few easy runs would be in order but I'm feeling guilty for missing the long run on Sunday and not having any quality miles so far this week. The key thing to remember in the taper is to have a few good quality sessions so the legs remember what they are supposed to do while drastically reducing mileage. Reducing mileage is the easy part, the hard part is not doing everything easy and losing the speed and turnover that you've worked hard to build up. Writing this it suddenly came to me that the choice for my remaining workouts is obvious; forget about the 14 miler this week and tommorow do 10 miles with 5 at tempo pace. Then on Saturday run easy and I'll be ready for a nice 17 miles with Andrew and the gang hopefully on Sunday.

It's decided! Happy running!

Hampton 5 mile race report

Instead of getting up early for the usual long run across the bay with Andrew and company I got to sleep in a bit since today's race was not until 10:30. After the usual breakfast of cereal, coffee and juice we were on the road, arriving in Hampton before 10. Five minutes later I had my number and t-shirt with plenty of time for an easy warm-up.

I've been bothered by a tight achilles lately and needed to be sure to get a couple of miles in before the race. Strangely there was not even a twinge out of it today as I did about 1.5 miles before the race and held up a few trees as I fit in some extra stretches. It would have been good to do a few strides as well, but just couldn't fit it in. However, everything was feeling good and loose despite the cool temps and light winds and I was ready to go. Race time temperature was 10C (50F) with a light N wind of about 15 mph. After a few short speeches the crowd of about 330 runners and walkers was away!
It was a bit crowded at 1st with the usual slow people at the front but was able to get on my pace within the 1st 100 yards. I then had to make a quick drop off of my extra shirt in the 1st mile, throwing my not-too-sweaty garment at Jo who made a nice catch.

It was then down to business and trying to figure out how fast I could manage today without blowing up. The 1st mile which had a few downs and ups went by in a quick 6:20, faster than my 800m workout pace from last week, oh oh! I then hooked up behind Richard, who is often close to me in races at this distance and tried to just hang on to him. The main key for me in these 'short' races is to focus on my breathing and to try to keep it under control and not to gasp and make alot of noise. Anyway, the next mile which was mostly uphill came in at 7:00 but at least we were at the highest point in the course and had some nice dowhill rolling sections ahead. My focus was still on Richard, who is a big tall guy and was looking very smooth with his long strides. I was just trying to stay close, not make too much racket, and to keep the legs turning over on the downhills. The next mile went by in about 6:40 (I say about cause the watch was on autolap and seems to always measure a few yards short during measured races).

Still on poor Richard's heels we made the turn onto the main drag for the 4th mile which was mostly downhill. At this point I could feel him starting to slow as I had to be careful to stay to one side and not accidentally get to close. You don't want to send a fellow competitor flying by clipping his heels going at full speed downhill! This mile went by in about 6:30 as we bottomed out with a small climb and turn to the final mile marker and finally, I pulled even and passed him. After the pass, I now began to focus entirely on my breathing and counting with each exhale and trying to run strong and smooth. Though I was certainly tiring I was able to pass a few more people and actually picked up the pace for the final mile. In the last 200yds I jockeyed back and forth with one runner and couldn't hold him off as I was only able to manage to hold my pace. Last mile about the same as the 1st mile in about 6:20 and was able to squeak in under 33 minutes with a 32:52.
Heartrate, speed and elevation data for the geek in me with all the gory details. Main point for me was the heartrace (red line) was in the red zone (about 150) for most of the race which confirms the effort was there at least.

Results are now posted on the RunNB website and there should be a few more pictures there later on. I'm quite pleased with my race which the 1st all out test I've had in awhile and the 1st thing I did was to plug the results into a few race predictors to find projected marathon times from 3:10 to 3:15 which is what I've been shooting for in any case.

Of course all these predictors come with various qualifiers when extended to other distances with a longer race being better for the marathon. For example, Thomas ran a huge PB in 1/2 marathon today coming in with a 1:35. Plugging this number into a calculator will give a better estimate than a short race like a 5 miler which has less of an endurance component and tells us that he will easily shatter his current marathon PB of 3:55. Way to go Thomas!

Only 20 days and counting, let the taper begin! Have a great week everyone!

Harriers - A True Story

On a side note I just finished reading an interesting book about cross country running written by 2 high school runners. It's called Harriers and was written by Joseph and Paul Shrivers, two cousins on the Salem, Ohio cross country team. This true story is quite inspiring and I found it very well written with each chapter leaving me satisfied and looking for more, though it was a little slow at first. I was sorry to see the end of the book and would recommend this book to runners of all ages and interests.

The reason I'm telling you about this is that the publisher, Lora, found me in blog land and asked me to do a review of the book in return for a free copy of the book. At first I was ready to order the book on my own at only $5.95 but then how often do you get something for free now-a-days? In the end I'm glad to have read the book and am always looking for more good stories about running. I also plan to talk to the coach of the local high school x-country team and see if he is interested in getting copies of the book for the entire team.

The book is available at Amazon or directly from the publisher.

Enjoy!

Another week in the bank

Check! At last a decent week of training, more or less according to Pfitz that is but with a few minor modifications and ommissions.

Today's run was just an easy, easy 8 miles with thoughts of Sunday's 5 mile race in the forefront as well as Andrew's very insistent reminder to take it easy on my recovery runs. So instead of going by how I feel and running 8:00 pace or faster, I went out purposely as slow as I could without tripping over my feet and feeling like I was walking. I also kept a close eye on my heart rate, keeping it below 135 (which is the upper limit of my easy aerobic zone). The result was a relaxing 8.1 miles in 69 minutes for an average 8:32 pace. How's that A?

The run was followed by a dip in the pond to re-arrange and prune some water plants. The water temperature is getting more refeshing now-a-days and it feels great on the legs after a run. Total weekly mileage 74, avg pace 8:01, YTD 2205.

The Evil Watch and the slow runner

Where to start? I'm hot and cold, fast and slow, energized and then exhausted and now just a blank mind and a tired body. Mmmm, maybe some ice cream and bagels would help...

That's better!

After Sunday's great run with Andrew it was nice to take the day off on Monday and relax a bit unlike A who just turns around and cranks out another 15. What a machine he is turning into! But I need my rest, so despite having a day off I slept in on Tues instead of doing an early morning run. Not a great start to the week but made it up at lunch time with a quick and easy 6 mile loop around town (7:58 pace). That evening I had nearly given up on the 2nd run of the day until the guilt trip hit me just as the sun was about to set. What the heck, it's only a few miles, and I was out the door for a really nice 4 miles in the cool evening air along the roads & trails (this time at 7:40 pace, what gives?).

Wednesday's plan called for 12mi with 6x1200 which didn't seem so intimidating after last week's 10x800 but you never know how things will pan out. Started off with a nice easy 3 miles before stashing the water bottle in the bushes by the high school. The plan of attack today was to do the run back and forth around the Point which is one of the few flattish areas of more than a few hundred meters around here. With the trusty Garmin setup for the session including 2:00 rest breaks I was off. The 1st couple came in at 4:53 followed by a slightly quicker one at 4:49. Next was a 5:03 on a slight return uphill as I was beginning to tire and the watch started to run faster (though it seemed that the interval was never going to end). Finished with an average of 4:56 (6:35/mi pace) and assumed the 'hok' position known by all runners. But the run was not yet over; still had 3+ miles left to finish off the 12 miles. Did a slow jog with a water stop at the town square and was barely able to make it back home. Whew!

Thursday was just an easy 8 miles with 'the other Andrew' from work. He did the 1st 5 miles with me or should I say, dragged me around the loop. My legs were tight and my achilles acted up again for the 1st mile or so before going away just as quickly. Finished off with another short slow loop for an avg pace of 8:17. No more quick feet today. That night it was mostly me horizontal on the couch and too tired to even blog...

Friday! Yay, the weekend is almost here! But there is still that nasty midweek run that I've been delaying all week. Unlike Andrew there is no way in h#%& that I'm getting up at 3:30am in the morning to do an 18 mile run. My more civilized plan is to sleep in and to then slip out of work early at 3:30pm, after making up the time at lunch! And the 2nd secret to my evil plan was to cut the run short at only 14 miles after zigging and zagging the trails and backstreets of our little town. That beer was really good tonite! (avg pace 8:04)

On tap for the weekend is an easy 8-10 on Saturday and then a 5 mile race on Sunday in Hampton. I may or may not add some more miles to make up for the missed long run miles but will see how I feel. Meanwhile, the clock keeps ticking...

Good running all!