Blog update. My Running Blog has now moved to it's own domain. Running with Scissors is my new website geared entirely towards running. There you will find my Running and Training topic blog entries as well as a plethora of information aimed entirely at getting healthy, staying healthy and training for running races. › Check it out. As for Daddyo.ca, my general, non running rants and raves will still appear here.
~ Steve Prefontaine
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Rambling and Running
Quick Thought: I will be fast, I will be strong. I will beat my marathon PB at least twice in 2010 ...read more
I went to the washroom and crawled back into bed. Nice!
The darkness and coziness of my single king size bed was to much on this day and the time flew by to a point it was 'too late' - but - not to worry, I am still doing the 10 km tempo this evening with the group so I guess I could skip the am run....hmmmm.
But I really wanted to run, and get myself to work on foot, so at what would be the last possible moment I jumped up, dressed and managed to get myself out the door. To a mess of slushy new fallen snow. Yuck.
I walked for a few minutes a bit bummed that the long streak of snow-less winter had finally ended. I turned the walk into a very slow saunter, to a dare I say it, jog, and finally started running. Running is never very fluid on new fallen, partially walked on, road slush splattered sidewalks. I mustered up the energy to fight through it and before I knew it, I was in the groove.
As I headed onto Dundas, I came across, as suspected, snow covered bike lanes. So I ran against traffic on the road which due to the lateness of the morning (after 7:30am by this time) was interrupted with frequent oncoming cars so I had to keep reverting back to the slushy bike lane. I was wet footed by the halfway point but not bothered by that at all. The run just felt so easy and smooth despite the conditions and I was actually upset when the greatness of my downtown building appeared.
Some days we really need to just run, not train, just run. Running to a destination is also something I find enjoyable on an easy run.
Tonight though, it's time to work hard again. Boston is not going to run itself you know.
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With the help of some thoughts I found on a Running Forum out there in the scary www, here are just some reasons. You may have more, and by all means, feel free to share them
There are no tricks. Run because you have to. Run because you love it. Run because you want to be fast. Run because you want to be skinny. Run to find some quiet time. Run to sweat. Run to eat. Run hear your heart pound in your ears. Run because you're a runner. Run because you gotta keep the streak. Run because you don't know why the hell you're running. Run because you fought with your partner. Run because your job is shitty. Run because you got no money. Run for the sunrise. Run for a race. Run because it's impossible. Run because it's easy. Run instead of doing the laundry. Run instead of watching TV. Run because no one else understands. Run because the cool kids do it. Run because you're tired of talking. run for numbers. Run for feel. Run to prove something. Run because it hurts so good. Or don't run. If you really do have something better to do.
I hate to say it. The laws that are in place are there for a reason and did not work in my favour yesterday.
Last August, on her birthday nonetheless, I was pulled over for speeding, while on my way to meet her at the cottage. Lo and behold, I had a nasty ticket and fine on my hand, one which I really felt not justified having been travelling with the flow of traffic.
So, we decided to fight it. Even tough I really felt ripped off, I knew there was not much of a chance to get out of this once. We hoped the officer may choose not to show up. Well, small town (ish) Barrie OPP obviously have no issues getting to court. I took their offer to a lesser charge and counted my blessings. Time to pay the fee, and a nice sunny day spent with the mrs. Worse things could happen.
At least the court time was late enough in the day, we were able to get in a decent run!
Back to running though. After the layoff with a broken toe, I am finally able to run again without pain and without it aching later in the day. Bliss.
I need to catch up on some fitness. I still maintain the same goals such as a PR in Boston and another in May at Mississauga. Add to that several other marathons and hopefully a record year of 8 or more marathons.
Last year was a good one, and I should be happy that the year went by with almost no sidelining injuries. I still have that nagging hamstring and piriformis issue, which I wonder how long will last seeing as it seemed to get worse during my down time. I am due for some physio on it for sure.
It was a good year for personal goals though. I look back and think of how well it went and would be glad to be able to maintain my rate of improvement before my body starts saying it is time to slow down. It won;t be easy, but then again, I do not want it to be. I embrace the challenge.
Today, my run into work (10.5k) took a lot longer than usual. I am a ways off to being race ready. But I am almost glad. I have that sense of need to improve that I had in the early days of my running career. Ultimately, I'd rather be in top shape and a look at improving my times dramatically but injury aside I have not been disciplined enough. Perhaps I let the toe break get me down but now I have fitness to gain and weight to lose in order to be where I want to be.
I can do it. I will do get to where I want to be. I just need to get season 3 and 4 of Dexter out of the way first!
No exercise is strange when you've been on a good run with no injuries or health issues like I have. I covered well over 2000 miles in 2009 and there was only one week I ran less than 3 days. Most weeks were 5 days, some 6 and a some 7.
December was supposed to be a high easy mileage base building month and January was to begin my toughest training schedule so far. Now, I am thinking of a start back program as opposed to launching into a marathon training program. I want to run a strong Spring Marathon and was hoping Boston would be the one but that is only 16 weeks away and I am not yet ready to test this slowly healing toe. Maybe I will make Boston a tune up race and go hard at Mississauga again.We'll see how well I bounce back
The toe injury is 2 weeks old today, and almost as sore as day one. Everyone I talk to who has experienced broken toes is saying 6+ weeks of healing and still, after those 6 weeks they had pains and soreness.
Cross training will be key here. I need to get disciplined and get out on the bike or to the pool. The holiday season, a cold, and busy days at work are not helping the cause.
Some may like these excuses and enjoy the downtime. I am just glad they all happened at once.
If you are one of the few people reading this, get out there and run a loop for me. I will join you as soon as I can!
Have you read Fiji part one yet? if not, click here It looks like this will be a good time to let my hamstring heal.
Why?
Well, let's just say, I am not 16 anymore. Breakdancing at parties however, is something that has stayed with me through the years. One move that I never really perfected when I was a youth, still impresses those who cannot break-dance at all, so every once in a while I pull it out of my bag of tricks and entertain the (primarily) intoxicated onlookers.
Don't try this at home kids. Also, do not attempt such a tricky maneuver with sandals. It started when the entire bar got the 'train' started. We all joined in and well, one thing led to another. The trained made it's way back to the dance floor with me atthe front. We ended off by formain a circle, which of course is my cue to hit the hardwood. I actually pulled of my A move and got a few cheers. As I stood back up, it occurred to me that my left big toe was sore. I figure I twisted it or something but over the following few minutes it proved to be worse than I thought. This prompted me to call it a night as it was getting late anyway. For the record, I was pretty much sober, it was just all in fun. Some might argue this point, but those present were too drunk to know I wasn't. Anyone else questioning me can get stuffed, I know my truth.
So I woke up in the middle of the night with throbbing pain. I managed to get back to sleep, but woke up early and decided I should ice it. When I called down to room service for a bucket of ice they thought we were still drinking and sort of questioned why I needed it.
After a short time 'ricing' my toe, I got up and headed for breakfast, knowing that this indeed was more than a bruise. By the end of the day, it was swollen, and part blue, purple, brown, grey and a new colour I have never seen before. I knew then it must be broken. I have not seen a doctor about it but I know that would be futile as there is never much they do about a broken toe. 3 days later and I still cannot walk on it. I assume, after Googling about this, that I will be laid up for a few weeks. Last night I stubbed it, with shoes on and it was some serious pain for a few minutes. Not fun but on the positive side, like I said, my hamstring needs the rest anyway and I probably would never let that heal properly if not for this.
My absence from the online world has been nice. While away, I managed to attend a work conference in Fiji that despite the full day of travel in each direction was worth it for the 4 days we spent there. Although we did have plenty of indoor sessions, they were interesting, motivating and better than most conferences I have been on. We had plenty of free time, including the whole first and last days and the evenings of both middle days. My primary focus was to have fun and not get too caught up in the party atmosphere that tends to get out of hand at Flight Centre Conferences. I was successful here and managed all mornings hangover free. I choose to make the best out of the early evenings, consume heaps of water and not stay up too late. This definitely made it easier to sit through the work sessions we had planned.
I was also able to get up early enough to fit in a few runs with a couple of fellow Flight Centre runners (before I broke my toe...that story later). The island we were on, the main island of Fiji, which was named Viti Levu is fairly large and our area was great for running although it was tough due to the fact we were situated in a very hilly area. Each run required some hill navigation before hitting the flat areas. The people of Fiji are said to be the friendliest in the world and I;d say that is no lie as every one we ran by greeted us with their version of Mahala, Ola, Bonjour, Irie mon etc...Bula. They are actually quite exuberant with their bula greeting which can mean almost anything, like hi, hello, hello again, bless you, thank you, so we heard it as much as we needed to ... ever.
The heat took away some of the motivation to go long so I only managed 3 runs, the longest being 10.5 kms and I was well spent at the end of that run especially since I took the hilliest route possible that morning. All in all, a good trip, decent weather, enough downtime to make it feel like a break from work. I am still a bit jet-lagged but very glad to be home with my adoring family again.
Read Fiji Part 2
Funny enough, my first crack at an official Ontario Masters race was for the National Championships. How did I manage to qualify for the National Championships? I didn't qualify, but this race, held in Guelph, was also open to all Ontario Masters registered runners. Since I recently registered as an official Ontario Track and Field Association athlete, I was anxious to get out there and run. I have also been excited to try my hand, er, legs at a Cross Country event, especially after seeing Sarah and Cam run their XC races.
Now, as I mentioned, I was in a tough field, among some very strong runners and my only goal was not to finish last, or rather last in my age group.
This event, which I originally thought was a 5k race turned out to be 8k. No a huge deal but I had to reassess my strategy. Well, not really, I just planned to test out the waters and see what it was like to run on grassy trails, up and down hills completely expecting it to be a half hour of pain.
And that it was, 4 loops of a 2k route that started on the higher ground for the first km and headed downhill to the 2nd km where it rolled up and down before looping back a long uphill to the start/finish area. The hills were not good to me as I had yet to purchase spikes and had a hard time gripping the ground, and as well, my hamstring still does not like climbing hills, something that I normally have no issues with. I also ran the first loop too fast which made the final 3/4 of the race rough. Loop 2 was spent trying to recover from the fast loop 1 and I got passed by several people ... with ages posted on our backs, I was humbled by being passed by several '45' and '50' category runners not all whom were male. These were strong runners.
Loop 3 had me wondering what I was doing there and not sure if there was even anyone behind me anymore! I caught a glimpse through the trees and realized I was not last. I actually passed a couple of people at the end of loop 3 and set my sights on a couple more.
Despite running the final loop almost as fast as loop 1 I was unable to catch more than one person, and I finished 10 seconds behind a guy in my age group that turned it on as I approached him.
I finished the 8km course in 34:52, a fair bit slower than I would have run a flat road race in but pretty satisfying based on a few concerns that I had, such as many late nights in a row this week, off to work early every day and terrible pre-race Friday night (beer, wine and dinner consisting of only cheese and crackers!)I was 26/27 in my age group and 129 of 167 overall. I know I can do better than this but it will take a bit more discipline to get there. Next year, maybe less focus on marathons and more focus on shorter distances. We'll have to see how it goes.
For now, it was a joy to be a part of this racing community.
The remainder of the day was spent recovering and getting ready for the weekend's 2nd event, The Chilly Willy Half Marathon....race report coming soon!
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In preparation for this Saturday's 5k cross country masters race, I ran yesterday, as much as I could, along the grass portion of the Lakeshore path. During this part I made an effort to do some intervals, trying to hit the same 4 minute/km pace I ran last weekend's 5k race.What a shock, it didn't happen. In fact I couldn't even get close. I seemed to max at out around a 4:30 pace. Now, perhaps I was a bit tired, having already run 9k at lunch time, with only a few hours rest between but still, I could really tell the terrain was a factor in leg turnover.
Saturday now scares me, a little. Hopefully the grass where we race is not as long, or at least trampled enough that there is some firmness to the ground because it seems my stride is not suited for a soft spongy surface.
I went into this race, somewhat tired, unsure of my 5k fitness level. I know I am in decent marathon shape but the 5K can be a bitch, a tough race where you really need to hurt from start to finish in order to beat your best times. I have been so close several times to going under 20 (recent times of: 20:21, 20:14, 20:09, 20:09, 20:41) and I always finish thinking could I have not just pushed a bit harder in the final kilometre?
I thought I'd just go out on the appropriate pace and see what happens. I never did start my watch so I just followed my Pace readout and tried to constantly keep it under the 4 minutes per km I needed to reach my goal. I also had the joy of using Sarah as a guide as I knew she;d be in front and just tried to keep her within site. Last year, same race, we turned around at 5k and I let her go thinking I would not be able to maintain the pace and I finished 20:21. This year, same spot I decided to be strong and stick with it. I momentarily entertained the idea of saying Iwas done, no shame, run it in easy. After all, Iam not far removed from 4 marathons in a 36 day time frame, who would fault me?
Me, that's who. I'd be my own worst critic. Plough through Dave, plough through.
As we headed back on this out and back route, i saw Cam, and cheered him on, which also gave me a boost. he was not that far behind!. I saw Anita, further back than I thought she'd be. Turned out Josh's back had spasm-ed and she stopped to help him out and find a vehicle to take him back to the start. Such a shame.
I started using the old, reel 'em in technique and managed to pass a few people in the 2nd half. Occasional glances at my watch readouts were saying I was close, always reading either 3:55 - 4:05 occasionally a bit slower so I was concerned that I had not banked enough time on the initial downhill start. I got to 4km sign, 1 to go, did I have enough energy left in me for one more sub 4 minute kilometre? I had to try, I wasn't sure of my time so I just decided to give it a shot and finish as strong as possible. Then the hill, that damn hill. I just put myhead down (not the right form I know) and barreled through. I slowed slightly, as you do uphill at the end of a 5k race. I wanted to remain close enough to Sarah to hear them call out her name if she were to finish top female again. I heard nothing, but as I got within sight of the finish I heard them call the guy in front of me and thought they may have said "... in a time of 20 something" What? I missed again? I almost slowed in frustration but instead ran through the finish and glanced over at the clock....19:55...I did it. And today, I am more sore than after the marathons. A bit of a shock to the fast twitch muscle fibres!
I felt as relieved after this one as I have after any marathon. I found Sarah and we congratulated each other. She was 3rd female in a personal best time of 19:27...awesome. We turned around in time to see Cam, only 97 seconds behind me, 21:32...sick. Too bad Josh got hurt and couldn't finish. it would have been nice to see him cross that line too. Thanks to Anita for taking care of him and sacrificing what would most likely have been her best 5K time.
Next week, we do it all again, in what will be the last 'race' of the year. We will run the Santa Jingle and Resolution Runs for fun, but next weekend is a weekend of tough racing again. Sunday is the Chilly Willy half marathon in Mississauga. Another small but well run event. Saturday we head to Guelph for my first race as an official Masters Runner for Ontario Track and Field Association. It is also a 5k, but it isa Cross Country Race, no high hopes of another sub 20! I am looking forward to it though. Sunday's HM should prove to be a tough one the day after a 5k....no partying next weekend for me!
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