Wednesday, June 30, 2010

June in Review

Wow, I can't believe that we are now halfway done with 2010. Doesn't seem right somehow. On the one hand I have accomplished a lot in the first six months of the year, and on the other it seems that there is never enough time to build up the mileage to the level that I want prior to my first marathon attempt in September. When you are training for a long race like that the weeks, which normally look long and far away, are all of a sudden in short supply.

This week I finished off the month with two short recovery runs. I ran a really easy 5km on Tuesday morning and woke up a bit earlier today and ran 10km. My legs feel quite stiff, likely a byproduct of Monday's good leg weights and the high mileage in the previous three weeks. The first couple of kilometres this morning were quite creaky and slow, but I loosened up a bit toward the end, though I kept the pace nice and slow  because this is a recovery week.

So, things are moving along as smoothly as can be expected. More milestones were achieved in June and my training continues to slowly inch further along as I head towards September 26th and the Toronto Waterfront Marathon. Once again, I hit all my goals for the month and did not miss any training runs despite a little scare in the weight room where my left kneecap forced me to stop a workout and ease up on the leg weights for a week.

Here are the details:
  1. Ran 236.3km (goal was 215km)
  2. Averaged 55.13km/week (goal was 50km/week)
  3. Established a new high in weekly mileage (65km) and monthly mileage (see point 1)
  4. Broke last year's total mileage (975.5km) and currently stand at 1054.05km for 2010.
  5. Weighed in at 188.3lbs, nice and stable now despite my continued affection for all things in pie form.
As I slide down the other side of this annual mountain things are bound to get a little tougher. July will not only prove difficult as my mileage continues to increase, both weekly and for my long runs, but also because it will be a very busy time for us as a family. Two baseball tournaments out of town during the longest of my long run weeks will mean I will be waking up extra early to fit my training in. I hope that the lack of down time will not lead to some unexpected injury. My goal for the month of July is to average 55km/week, which means I am aiming for a total distance of 244km. Should be tough, but achievable.

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Sunday, June 27, 2010

Crack of Dawn

Just a quick post as I am exhausted and am still to watch the Argentina-Mexico match that I recorded earlier today. I was up at 5am and out the door fifteen minutes later this morning getting my long run of 20km in prior to leaving for Barrie with Owen for a double-header of baseball that the little guy's team was playing today (with yours truly acting as one of the coaches, as usual). It was the first time I've ever started a run prior to the Sun peaking over the horizon, and that was pretty cool indeed even if I was running West for the first half and had the whole celestial show at my back.

The run felt better than expected and I certainly was anticipating many more creaks and groans from the knees and ankles. Although I did not break any land speed records I managed to maintain a decently quick pace no doubt as a result of the tight time lines that I was forced to work under. The sooner I got back home the more time I would have to shower and eat before jumping in the car and making the hour or more drive to Barrie.

Ultimately the run went well with no incidents, injury or otherwise. It also marked the end of the third week in a row in which I ran at least sixty kilometres (on the nose this week) and pushed my total up over my mileage goal for the month of June as well. Now I have another recovery week of reduced mileage and my body, although not screaming out for rest, likely needs a bit of a reprieve prior to embarking on another three week session of even higher mileage.

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Friday, June 25, 2010

Almost Back on Track

After my tweaked knee during Monday's squat session I was a bit worried about how the running for the rest of the week would be affected. I wore a patellar strap for both Tuesday's 10k and Wednesday's 15k runs, but today I felt confident enough to venture out with it on. I did not do any leg weights yesterday choosing the conservative route, but I did manage a brief core session. Must continue working on the core...

After dropping the boys off at school on account of the schoolbusses being cancelled due to the G20 Summit for the entire city (what a crock!) I headed out in the warm, slightly breezy, but not humid conditions for my run. It ended up starting off a bit faster than my typical runs and I kept up the pace for the entire duration, slowing only on the way back up the hill on Jones Avenue where I definitely spiked the old heart rate. The loop was something similar to Wednesday morning's run as I ran towards the lake and then ran along the boardwalk at Ashbridges Bay. This time I kept to the trails in the park for a much longer portion and had a great time running all the way out to the western point before turning around and heading home. In the end I managed 15km at a decent pace. The knee was fine, although I think my body is starting to tell me that my next recovery week couldn't come soon enough. Luckily it starts after Sunday's long run so the timing is good.

I have inched up over the 200km mark for the month and am on track to hit my goals for June.

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Wednesday, June 23, 2010

One Thousand!

On Tuesday morning I got up early and went out for what ended up being a 10km run. I wasn't sure how it was going to go because on Monday I felt a twinge in my right kneecap while doing squats that forced me to abandon the rest of the weight training session and as a result I was apprehensive about my ability to do any training runs this week. I wore a patellar strap just in case and ran really slow over to the local soccer field. I then proceeded to run around that field on the nice soft grass. As my body warmed up I was able to pick up the pace and the kneecap didn't give me any trouble while running.

This morning I once again had to get up early for logistical reasons and set my alarm for just after 5am. I was on the road at 5:30 with the patellar strap and all. It was a beautiful morning for a run even with the humidity and the ever present worry of being stopped by riot cops on account of the G-20 Summit going down this weekend. I decided to not run towards downtown and instead did a loop down to the waterfront and over to Ashbridges Bay and then back home. Again, like the previous morning, I started off really slowly and tentatively but was able to pick up the pace a bit towards the end of the run. I managed a decent 15km, making it the longest mid-week morning run ever!

But with all that an even bigger milestone was achieved: I crossed over the 1000km barrier for the year! Next milestone is one thousand miles and then onwards to two thousand kilometres. Here's hoping this rickety body holds up. So far so good!

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Sunday, June 20, 2010

See Ya Later, 2009 Mileage!

It's been a tough week of running even though I pulled back a bit on my mid-week mileage. I was up to 37.8km before today's long run and had the intention of just running 20km after last Sunday's 24km LSD. Instead, looking forward to next weekend, I decided to change things up a little bit and went longer. Next Sunday we are off to Barrie for one of Owen's baseball games on Sunday morning, and the 1hr+ drive means that I would have to get up way too early to get a really long run in prior to taking off. So, this weekend became my longest LSD training run ever at 26km.

It was tough right from the start, so I kept a slow pace and just focused on keeping the same pace throughout the entire run. That was successful, but I have to admit that with the heat and my general tiredness the last few kilometres had me wondering if I even have the ability to complete a full marathon. I barely walked up the stairs at Coxwell Avenue leading out of Taylor Creek Park at a little past the 24km mark and it was a struggle to start running again to finish off the entire 26-er.

Anyway, it was tough, I drank one litre of Gatorade over the course of the entire run, and I'm having trouble looking at anything lime green right now.

In other news, with the extra distance on the long run I have not only reached my second highest weekly mileage total ever at 63.8km, but have also surged past my 2009 mileage total (975.5km) and now sit at 979.05km for 2010! I know it's not a massive amount of mileage for many runners, but for me this is a real accomplishment. If I can maintain consistency for the rest of the year 2000km is a real possibility. That would be cool...

And lastly, I wore a white hat and the birds left me alone on the trails. Thanks goodness for that!

Update: Took my first ice bath this afternoon, well sort of. I sat in the tub while it was filling up with just cold water, and it was painful. After it had filled up there was no need for any ice since it was plenty cold in my estimation. I sat there for another fifteen minutes before getting out, and my legs were definitely frozen. I guess I can't claim my "first ice bath ever", but it was pretty close and definitely unpleasant on many levels. I just hope this helps in the recovery. I don't know how anyone can just climb straight into a bath of ice water! A couple hours on now and I must admit that my legs feel pretty good so this (cursing myself as I write this) may not be my last.

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Wednesday, June 16, 2010

One Hundred!

That's right! Today marked my 100th run of the year 2010. I don't know if number of runs is something people track, and to be honest I wasn't tracking it myself given that the bigger and more sexy stats are distance and pace, but when I hit the "report" feature on the old Garmin Connect website and checked my stats back to January 1st there it was:


So, it got me curious to know how many runs I did all of last year given that I am closing in on that mileage total and it's only the middle of June. The answer? 115. I guess my average distance per run is a bit higher than last year, but not by all that much. I've just been running more consistently. (In fact my average distance per run last year was 8.36km and so far this year it has been almost exactly one kilometre more at 9.39km.)

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Sunday, June 13, 2010

New Mileage Heights

The first official marathon training week is done! I had a good week of training, which included six training runs spread over four days and five weight training sessions. I already wrote about my run in with the birds, and haven't had any other issues on my other runs because they were not done in the trails.

On Wednesday I ran 6km to work and another 9.25km after work picking Owen up from school. I did the same thing on Friday, although the afternoon run was an even nine kilometres. This put me at 41km leading into my weekend long run.

That long run happened today and I had a really tough time dragging my ass out the door. It is my intention to try and be out running by 7:30am on Sundays because that is when the marathon for which I am training starts. Today I failed miserably and was not out until a little past 8:30.

The weather was great for running; overcast and not very warm (around +18C) with periods of very light drizzle and almost no wind to speak of. I was really sluggish starting off and ran very slowly. I had little motivation for this run and decided to do something different as far as running routes go. Instead of my usual loops I tried an out-and-back along Bloor Street, just seeing how far out twelve kilometres was. It's farther than I thought as the run took me past High Park.

After I turned around my pace picked up a bit and having averaged 6:00/km for the first 12km I managed to run at an average of 5:23/km for the second half and to bring my total average down to 5:41/km for the entire 24km run. Coincidentally, that's the pace required to run a 4-hour marathon.

Anyway, clearly the way back was faster. It wasn't any easier physically, but mentally it was so much better running towards home rather than running away from home.

This run brought my weekly total to a new high of 65km, which is a bit more than 40 miles! I am now just a shade over 60km away from passing my mileage total from all of 2009.

And lastly, I had a funny thing happen to me early in my run that made me smile. As I ran along the Danforth just about one kilometre into my run I ran past a couple of teens sitting on some steps. As I ran past one of them asked me if I had any extra cigarettes! I'm sure he was joking, but he did it with a completely straight face. Like I said, it made me laugh a bit.

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Tuesday, June 8, 2010

What's With The Frickin' Birds?!

I am officially scared to run in the Don Valley Trails, which sucks since it's the place that I most often run given that there is no traffic and no lights to negotiate for long stretches and its a set amongst trees and nature.

That last one used to be 100% great, but recently it seems that the local birds have taken a dislike to yours truly and have started to let me know. I already wrote about being dive bombed by a couple of birds on my last run, and this morning I got up to get my run in before work and it happened again. It wasn't even the same stretch of trail where the other incidents happened, so now I am really worried. Monica seems to think it's my Cleveland Indians hat since it is all black with a small red crest on the front making the Red Winged Blackbirds think that I am one of their kind coming to steal their young or something. Now every time I hear a bird chirping as I run along I can't help but look up to see if one is making a bee line for my noggin...

Anyway, I did manage a decent 10.75km run despite the attacks and the fact that I felt really stiff starting out. In the end the run was a bit faster than any of the other post half marathon runs and that tells me things are slowly getting back to normal. Yesterday I managed a really good leg weight training session and I think that was the real reason behind today's stiffness. Marathon training has started, and I have not only injuries to avoid, but also birds it would seem. At least none of them has pooped on me yet.

On a happier note I ran past a big fluffy hare this morning and said, "Hello Bunny!" as I went by. It looked at me, hopped a few times, and then kept looking at me. It's the first time that I've run past a rabbit an had it stay out on the trail. All the other times the creature jumps back into the bushes at the first sight of me.

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Sunday, June 6, 2010

The Birds Seem To Hate Me

The end of my "recovery week" has come, and I have completed all of the intended running. This is no small feat because my body seems to forget about the whole 36-hour rule and I am more stiff and sore now than I was two days after last Sunday's half marathon. It is true that on Thursday I did do some leg weights, but they were not very heavy and I thought that it would help rather than hinder my recovery. In any case, although sore, I am not going to let that stop me from starting my marathon training this coming week.

Today I finished off the aforementioned recovery week with a slow 14km, which brought the total for the week to 32.5km and a shade over 850km on the year. During the run I was once again dive bombed by a bird while in the Don Valley Trails leading up to the stairs at Riverdale Park. In fact not one, but two, birds decided that my head was somehow threatening their territory and decided that the best course of action was to peck at it as I ran along. It was not fun at all, let me tell you. I am now in the uncomfortable position of not wanting to run along that stretch of trail, and that is not a good thing. Big angry dogs, sure. But little crazy birds? Maybe they just hate Cleveland Indians as I was wearing their hat. Makes me wonder if they would attack a Blue Jays hat as well or simply leave their feathered brethren be.

Dumb ass birds...

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Thursday, June 3, 2010

Ottawa Half Marathon Race Photos

I'm doing pretty well as far as recovering from the race goes, all things considered. I have no idea how long I'm supposed to take off, or take it easy, but I will err on the side of caution without ceasing running altogether. Case in point, I ran a nice slow 8.4km last night and although the first 5-6km felt really easy, I started to tighten up a bit at the end and slowed down even more. Also, my heart rate went up even though my perceived exertion remained the same indicating that I am still feeling the effects of the half marathon.

Anyway, here are some photos that I captured from the thingy that wants my money:


At the strange 8.6km chip timed split. What a weird distance for mid-race split!



Chasing a major heel striker near the end of the race:


Crossing the Finish, and getting beat by the heel striker it seems. (I wonder if the guy celebrating in the back made it across the finish line. Early celebrations can lead to epic fails.)




After the race: (duh!)

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Tuesday, June 1, 2010

May 2010 Review

The month of May was good to me, as far as running goes, and otherwise. I reached some new milestones and completed my first half marathon! A summary bullet list is all I can come up with...

  • Ran 225.6km (goal was 200km)
  • Averaged 50.9km per week (goal was 45km per week)
  • Weighed in at a steady 187.7lbs despite slacking off on the diet a bit
  • Ran a half marathon with over 9000 others and had a great time, both literally and figuratively!
Now as I take another recovery week I am looking forward to a great June and a nice Summer of training for my first marathon. I just hope that I don't pay any physical price, in the form of injury, for pushing myself a bit more than intended during the race. (Right now I am of the opinion that it was totally worth it!)

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