blargh!

No sooner did I accept the invitation to run the half marathon in Victoria on Oct 12 do I get sick! Just when things are going great I come down with a cold. I'm not going to lie but this doesn't surprise me one bit. I have been burning the candle at both ends lately and its that time of year as well. I do recall that last year I got sick not 6 days before the Scotiabank Waterfront Marathon, which was this past weekend so I was off by only a couple of days this year! Speaking of which, turns out it was a humid day and we didn't get many quick times at Scotiabank, so things are looking pretty wide open for the Berlin team, unless of course you are pessimistic and don't think we will get 5 guys and so no one will go! So in a selfish sense I have no complaints about the times, and I am looking foward to Ottawa 09. I am still sick and less than two weeks from the Vic half so I am a bit worried, because I had made a promise to myself that I wouldn't race until I am fit, but sure enough I commited to this race thinking I could get in decent shape. This just aint gonna happen...I suspect I will be well in another day or two so i'm going to hit the ground running on thursday or friday and get 7 crazy days in so I can put in a decent showing. My goal will be to run under 70. Thats all for now, i'm off to bed.

Busy Busy Busy

Evidently i've been quite busy and have completely forgotten about the blog. Things have been busy but right now busy is good! School is going great and running is following right along. I've been keeping in conservative and only running 75-80miles, however I went from one workout a week to one workout and a long run, to this past week where i went two workouts, a long run, and two easy runs that had 5 X hill sprint in them. I also ran a few doubles and in general am feeling quite efficient. Not to mention my base morning weight has dropped 4 lbs in the last 3 weeks! AND my calf/shin injury is slowly getting better, so all things are positive and I am really happy. This past weekend I worked out in Stanley park with SteveO, Mosley, Geoff Reid and Matt Johnston which was good, I did 2 X 3 mi @ <5:20/mi and could have done a third but my calf thing was feeling the volume of the workout. Anyway it was a good workout and I am looking forward to meeting those guys this week. My workout this morning with the SFU crowd was also great, fast and consistent. I have decided I will do the half marathon in Victoria on Oct 12 since things are coming along so well, so i'm excited about that too. Anyway thats the update, I can't even think of anything negative to say about training so lets hope this ball keeps on rolling right up to BC Cross and beyond! Happy trails!

The Grind

Whew, tough week, I only did one workout, the 4 X 2k on tuesday which went well, and I just finished a 2 hour run at about 7min/mi from my house down the trans canada trail up to SFU, so it was rolling, and some massive hills the entire way, no flat whatsoever. I am still in awful shape but for me the 2hr run, no matter what shape i'm in means i'm on the comeback trail. The 2h run has been a benchmark for me for a long time, perhaps its mostly mental, but I never felt like a long distance runner till I started doing 2 hour long runs. So i'm pleased to say the least, 75 miles this week is respectable considering I ran about half that last week. For the next 6 weeks leading to BC Cross, I am not even worrying about mileage I am just going to get FAST, so i'm doing some 200m pick ups on my monday morning recovery run, tuesday long intervals, wednesday hill strides, thursday 60-90sec hill repeats, friday easy/off, saturday threshold stuff in stanley park, and sunday will be like today at a pace that is not hard but not easy. I am going to keep the volume pretty low since the intensity is high, and so yoga in the evenings, and perhaps some easy jogs in the evenings to shake things out. I"M EXCITED, YEAH RUNNING!

Comin around...Comin around...

Well I did a bit of running over the last week and things are feeling a bit better. Ran with the SFU group again today and did the full workout...still got my ass beat, but not so bad this time around. My legs and lungs and everything definitely felt better today however I am still feeling quite heavy and sluggish. Over the next week I am going to try and run for at least an hour a day and do a longish run on sunday. I am pretty sure I won't be training with the older guys in stanley park this weekend since I am not ready for that yet, but perhaps the following saturday i'll be there. I am looking forward to shedding some weight and running faster that is for sure. Other than that, life is feeling pretty good, school is interesting and exciting and so is running right now, I can't ask for much more at this point.

My...oh...my

I suspected Tuesday's workout with the SFU group would be ugly and boy was it ever. Had my ass handed to me, how embarrassing. Two 2k reps in and I was sucking wind. It is exactly what I wanted and needed so at least that is good. Hopefully next week I will fare better, I know I will, those young punks will get theirs. It is definitely nice to be back to running even if it is slow and painful. Unfortunately my calf injury is still bothering me and I am not quite sure what to do with it. I am going to have to get into the yoga again and hit it with the massag stick and keep stretching it all the time since at the moment I can't afford to get any kind of treatment on it. I am applying for funding fromt the Aboriginal Sport Circle but I don't know when that will come through since I missed the deadline and there probably won't be another round of funding for a few months. Anyway, it is manageable so thats what I will do. As for plans...I was thinking...ok dreaming...about the Victoria marathon but there is obviously no time to get in shape for that and my calf wouldn't be able to handle it so I am just going to try and get fast on singles, and try and make the bc team for National Cross. The tentative plan is to do the half marathon in victoria on I thinnk October 12th, then BC Cross and Nationals, and perhaps i'll jump into a roadrace or something to keep it interesting. I am pretty excited to get training and really excited about school so i'm pretty happy in general which is a great thing with the weather getting colder and the immenent rain. Well i'll try and update each week again, can't wait for my Brooks order to come through, maybe it'll come on my birthday on friday! happy trails, hope you all had a great summer.