Friday, October 31, 2008

mmmm Sleeeep

Wow, total 180. I had been feeling a bit ambitious after the race and hoped to up the volume a bit this week but my body had other plans. I could not drag myself out of bed in the mornings this week so I didn't fight it and I think I averaged 9 or 10 hours a night, it was glorious. So, an impromtu recovery week, other than the excellent workout on tuesday. I am heading off to victoria for the weekend and likely wont get much running in so the plan will be to front-load next week then back off for Haney, do a medium workout the following tuesday and head to vic again for the Bear Mountain 10k on the 15th. Although that course is not fast I am looking forward to lacing up the T5s and laying it all out on a 10k. In another vein(is that a saying?) I am amazed at how quickly the last few weeks have gone, I expected it, with being so busy at school, but time is passing quickly which makes me excited for the spring racing season. I know it is far away but it will be here before I know it, and I look forward to sitting down after my exams and planning it out. I suspect we are going to throw down some fast times out west here this spring. Happy Halloween! Have a safe weekend.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Who needs XC anyway...

Oh man, rough day at the office. Saturday was BC Cross and I was quite excited about it until about half a kilometer into the race and I realized how specialized I have become. I haven't been in a cross race since NAIA nationals 2003 I believe. The uneven ground and short hills, and soft ground were really unpleasant. That is cross though. So anyway I wasn't feeling too good and given the conditions things went south in a big hurry and I found myself going backwards after 4k, and there was no where to hide! At least in a road race you can fake it on a bad day to a certain extent but the choppy hills and uneven ground etc doesn't give you that luxury in cross. Rather than struggle through the race and have my ass handed to me I opted to save it for the roads and pull out. Generally I don't like to pull out of races but it didn't seem like a bad option seeing as I am not a cross runner. Anyway, crappy day for me but thats how it is, i'll try and find a road race soon to get that out of my system. In the meantime I am going to inject some mileage into the program. And National cross is now out, no more cross for this guy unless it is just for fun. Looking forward to hitting the pavement tomorrow morn.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Mundy Morning

Solid workout this morning. On tuesday mornings I head out to Coquitlam to train with the SFU group and a couple post-collegiate guys at Mundy Park. It is for the most part bark-mulch and gravelish trails, and we sometimes to shorter loops on asphalt. Today I did a 4 x 2k workout off about 3:30 jog. It isnt actually 2k, and has one pretty big hill in it, and a nice long-flat-straight where you can really stride out. Now that I am getting stronger on hills I am really starting to enjoy this workout and really appreciate having the group to train with who pushes me to run faster. If I didn't train with the group I would probably not be able to run the reps as intensely and probably opt to just do more volume. This way I can work on my speed more which is really important. So today my times were 5:50, 5:47, 5:44, 5:39, again it is not really 2k! I wish I could pull off those times for 2k! Either way I am really happy with the workout because I am feeling very fluid and my stride is very strong and efficient, not to mention cutting down the time each consecutive loop, that always feels good. All in all it was a great day, good workout, good group, great weather, I am looking forward to BC cross on saturday more every day.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

It's All Good!

This was one of those weeks where in the past I would probably be displeased that things didn't go quite as planned but given my relaxed approach to this season I am actually quite happy with the way it went. As in the last post my hill reps on thursday were awesome, but Friday night I was up very late so I bailed on the practice in stanley park on saturday morning and opted to just do an easy hour run and then hammer today. In the end it was a good compromise because I felt great today and really pounded out a great hill farlek. I might have mentioned it before, but I run from my place at Nanaimo and Hastings down to the Trans-Canada Trail, then head east, ending on a huge downhill shortly before reaching SFU. There is every type of hill you can imagine on this route and the idea is just to go hard on the uphills and easy on the downhills and flats....it is one helluva workout! 90 mins round trip with a 3 min steep hill at halfway. I continue to feel really strong on hills and like I am floating on flats, which is such a great feeling. I totaled 53.5 miles for the week which I think is good for the week following a half marathon, with two solid workouts. I can't say enough about how much I am enjoying running right now, I really can't wait until the race on sunday. Oh! and the big news of the week is that Bob Reid asked me if I would like to join the Prairie Inn Harriers Racing Team, and I said yes, which is great. I have never been in a club other than the Brooks Marathon Project which was different. The PIH team looks really good and I am happy to be on it. Well I better hit the books. Happy trails.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Ironworkers Hills: awesome!

After a few days recovery from the half on sunday I decided to get back at it since my legs were feeling recovered and I was actually bouncing like Bekele on my run last night. This morning I set out to do some hill repeats I have started the last couple weeks. The workout is approximately 90secon hill repeats off 90seconds jog. It starts at a fire hydrant and heads up a 3 switchback paved hill and ends at a post at the start of the south end of the Ironworkers Memorial, or Second Narrows Bridge heading over to North Van. There is a trail that cuts through the switchback so I am able to get back down to the start of the hill in 90seconds. So thats the workout, and today it was great! I am really getting strong on hills and learning to run the workout right getting stronger as I go, today I did 8 repeats at: 93, 91, 90, 88, 86, 86, 84, 82. Not bad, if I do say so myself. It actually reminds me of a log by Greg Meyer(2:09:00-Boston), he used to do 'Pump House Hills' that were around 90 seconds as a staple workout. I have always found hill repeats of 60 to 90 seconds off approximately equal rest to be the best type of hill strength workout for me, and it will definitely help me to be strong in cross. I am continually more excited about running and really enjoying the relaxed lower mileage approach of this cross country season. Oh and as an update, my calf/shin problem has really gotten much better and is only sore once in a while, so that is great news. I am looking forward to the workout on the BC Cross course this saturday and long run or perhaps another relaxed hill fartlek on sunday. Keep runnin'!

Sunday, October 12, 2008

RVM Half-Marathon

Well I was very pleasantly surprised with the race this morning. At least I was after 7k, it took me that long to get warmed up. It wasn't as cold as it had been the last few days, but my legs took about 7k to come around so I was a bit concerned before that point, running with Jason Warick, and Jim Finlayson. Shortly after when my legs felt better I picked up the pace and it was Jim and myself out front with Jason not far behind and maintaining the distance. Jim and I would trade off leading each other until about 3k to go. Up until this point I was feeling pretty good but still not THAT confident in my fitness level so I was content with just sticking with Jim and running a slower pace. I knew that Jason and Jim had been training for and ran the Scotiabank Toronto Marathon two weeks ago so it was likely I would be faster over the last K with all the hill sprints I have been doing. In the end it didn't matter and I felt great and smoothly picked up the pace with 3k to go, gaining some solid ground on Jim and cruised it in for the win. I am not sure what my time was at this poing since I didnt wear a watch or look at the clock, but i'm told it was under 69mins, which I am quite happy with. It was an absolutley perfect day for distance running and I am super excited to getting fit and racing again, it was the perfect return to racing! Well i'm off to take a nap. Happy Trails!

Monday, October 6, 2008

Back in the saddle

Whew, for 10 days there I was fighting a sinus and chest cold but I seem to be almost at 100%. At least my ability to run is not impeded anymore. Yesterday I was still feeling some minor effects but managed to do a 90 min hill fartlek which was pretty great. I ran three 90 sec hill repeats the day before and 5 hill sprints in my run the day before that but I took an entire week off prior to that. I have a long standing policy to not even bother running until I am definitely on the mend. This morning I went out for an easy run at 5 hill sprints, which felt great despite the cold morning air so things are looking up. Furthermore, in the hill farlek yesterday I felt very strong on the uphills, which is encouraging. With less than a week to go now until the Vic half-marathon I am feeling quite optimistic that I will be able to run a decent time and look forward to hitting the pavement in flats and pinning a number on my shirt for the first time since June. The comback road is always bumpy but i'm enjoying it!