Summer Sabbatical

Well as per usual I took the summer off from running and gained about 10 lbs. Oops. It was a great summer of school, the beach and riding around on my fixie but its now the fall and time to get back down to it. I have a really tough semester coming up but had a great 3 week vacation back home to Kitimat and over to Haida Gwaii, which was a good refresher. This morning I laced up the shoes and ground out a 30min run that was exactly that, a grind. My body was not pleased nor were my lungs, I am heavy and out of shape, a little bike riding really doesn't do much of anything to stay even in modest shape. I am somewhat excited to get in shape again although the time constaints wont make it easy, I am setting a goal of not embarrassing myself at BC cross, and I mean to do that by doing some hill work during the week and a long run on the weekend. Hills are the best bang for your buck and it just so happens I go to school on a small mountain so that works out reasonably well. Here we go.

The Itch

Well it took a good 3 weeks for the itch to come back. And today I scratched it till it bled.

Today was my long day of school, 5 hours straight fight to stay awake, and when I got home I decided to go for a nice easy 5 mile jog. But when I got over to the second narrows bridge I ended up crossing it running to the lions gate bridge and into the west end to my girlfriends place hoping she would be home and I wouldn't have to tack on another 35mins. Thankfully she was there but I still had to ride my bike home from there which takes about 20mins going hard. So it was a pretty tough go on the whole but I enjoyed it, its so nice to just go out and pick a goal and suffer it out. It certainly doesn't lend to consistency but as a way to get back into running it is always fun to do. Although I am officially back to running I haven't really thought of any goals right now and just going to take it day by day. The next fun thing is going to be the bike races on July 8th I think, time to get my sprint on, its going to be a blast.

Change of plans, or cancellation

Well the evening after the race last week I realized the wedding I am best man at is on July 4th, which means racing in Kelowna on July 5th is not an option. That being the 5th of the 5 timex races I need means there is no need for me to bother racing every weekend 4 weeks in a row. Which is why I didn't do the Sandcastle 10k yesterday and won't be doing the UBC 5k next sunday. So basically that is the end of any racing plans in the near future. Things have been pretty rough over the last couple of months and struggling with minor injuries is really played out so we have decided to just get healthy over the next month and get into training consistenly over the summer then get into serious training again come september. I think the goals for the fall will be to get a fast 10k in, maybe go to Ottawa for national 10k champs, and to try and have a cross country season. I know I decided last fall I was compltely over cross, but I want to give it a proper try this fall, I feel like there is some unfinished business there of some kind. I can't really imagine going all summer with just running and not racing at all so I think at some point i'll find a trail race or two to get into and keep things interesting.

In other news, I put a fixed gear rear wheel on my bike and have been doing quite a lot of riding around town. It is really strange at first because you always have to keep your legs moving, no coasting, and it ends up feeling kind of similar to running because you have no gears or extra moving parts just the mechanical advantage(and disadvantage) of one gear. Basically is it like the sprint bikes you see in the velodrome, so once you get a couple turns in you can really get moving super fast and it is a ton of fun to ride. I am actually hoping to get some racing in on the bike this summer, no training, just using my funning fitness which should be fun. There are some races around town that are informal and fun social events that I am going to check out.

Shaughnessy 8k - 3rd

Well, I won't say it was easy by any means. I knew going into this race it was going to be tough and it certainly didn't disappoint. I am basically 'racing into shape' and this was a step in the right direction. I went out at the start with David Jackson thinking he would be a good guy to key off of since we have run some similar times, and if I were going to run well it would be at roughly his pace. I had no idea that Ryan Mackenzie was in the race since I have never met him and didn't know what he looked like. So there was this running room guy hammering off the front and I was wondering what was going on until I asked David who it was. From about a mile in I realized I wasn't going to be able to stay with David so I just got my grind on and rode it out. I am pretty happy with the effort I put in since I am not strong on hills right now and was a bit worried about my calf and groin. The groin turned out to be just fine and we will see how the calf turns out, as of now they are both roasted, and I suspect some serious soreness over the next few days. The most important thing is that I got in a solid effort on a course that is not terribly easy, and I had fun. I am looking forward to the 10k next weekend now and hopefully can get a half workout in this week.

In other news, I ran twice up at sfu during class breaks last week and really enjoyed running on the trails, I am seriously feeling the trail racing itch so I am going to have to look around for one this summer for sure. Speaking of school, my schedule this semester is kick ass! And I am totally stoked for the summer of long weekends, running, relaxing and of course studying, good classes for the most part too! I think this downswing has more or less played itself out and I am excited for some more positive energy to flow. Happy trails!

Rookie

Well, things didn't go so well on the weekend, but it wasnt as though I was completely caught off guard. I didn't feel very good going into the race and it is partially because I made a couple of rookie mistakes like all the biking last wednesday, taking friday off completely, only going for a very short run on saturday after a few hours in the hot sun. When I went for a jog saturday evening to do a shake out, it felt like death, which wasnt entirely surprising. What was surprising was how strange my legs felt when the race started. I can't really describe it but they just felt funny and not like they wanted to run. I went out conservative and figured maybe things would feel better around 7 or 8k and that didn't really happen. Never the less at 7k I picked it up and went after Jim and Jason who I let go from the start. I managed to get up ahead of jason by 10k and ran with him until the turn around until it turned uphill and the wheels(what little I had) fell off. From that point on I just struggled home. I had resolved before the race that I would not drop out save for injury and the way I felt put this to a serious test. In the end I struggled home in just under 72mins which was entirly depressing but with a minor victory, in not dropping out, and by the guided realization that my groin did not bother me even a little bit. What did hurt were both my calves and hamstrings in a way that was foriegn to me and I can only assume is from the effects of the cycling. I guess I have to take the good with the bad, but one conclusion is that there is a good chance I may have to get into a half marathon sooner than Richard and I planned, to erase this memory.

So, on to next week. 8k! yow, that is slightly frightening. I suspect it will take me most of the week to heal up but I am going to have to get into some strides and drills and stuff to make sure I am good and loose and ready to do a fast paced race. I have no idea what to expect and wont really expect anything I suppose other than a lot of pain, it can't be worse than the 5k is going to feel at UBC the week after...

mmm...perogi

Seriously depleted. I'm not sure if I mentioned it earlier but I bought and old 10 speed bike from a pawn shop a few weeks ago, the front derailer(sp?) doesn't work so it is actually a 5 speed. So I have been riding around quite a bit. It is awesome. Even though it is a beater I can still get it going faster than a lot of people on their $1500 road bikes. The problem is that, as I tend to do with new things I am kind of over doing it, yesterday I rode from the westend all the way to SFU, went to class, bummed around, bussed to Coquitlam, did a short workout with Steve, then rode 30 odd km back to the westend. All this and I didn't really eat much that day, mainly because my guts are very particular and I didn't want to have to stop in the middle of the workout. So anyway, I was super depleted and dead by the end of the day, but it was great. I have always enjoyed going hard till you are tired then just continuing on, you know, when you get to that place where you just lock into an effort level and go, and don't realize how tired you are until you actually stop and it comes like a tidal wave. So anyway, that was my day yesterday and I didn't really replace the lost fuel as much as I should have and dragged my ass through the 10mile jog today after 5 straight hours of class. Now it is time to rest up for sunday's race.

By taking a mental survey of who is around and racing these days it seems unlikely that there will be much competition at the half this weekend, but that is also what I thought last fall when I went out for the half marathon that is part of the Royal Victoria Marathon, and sure enough Jim Finlayson and Jason Warick came out of the woodwork. I haven't talked to anyone but Jim does this race nearly every year so I wouldn't be terribly surprised to see him there, Todd Howard either, and David Jackson ran the Vancouver Half a couple of weeks ago so maybe he will come out. I think these guys are around the same fitness level as I am so it would be nice if they toed the line. I don't really have any expectations for this race since training has been pretty rough the last several weeks, and I dont really know what the course is like so I am just going to go out and run it hard and smart, trying not to get in over my head. It is also the first of a string of races i'll be doing; the remainder of the Timex series. Richard and I have decided on some shorter stuff which should be fun, if you call racing back to back to back to back fun! Luckily they are all local and the last one is in Kelowna where I haven't been in ages so that will be nice. Ok I feel like I am rambling here, so i'll post back with a race report and review of the new ST racers I recieved in the mail today!

Its like that...and thats the way it is

Well, I am still sick, the end is in sight but my 30min run today was utterly exhausting. With two weeks to go until the Ottawa Marathon it was decision making time yesterday. The marathon portion of training started off well when we did the 10miles medium, 10miles tempo, 2 miles easy, although the groin problems had already begun, but from there thing really just went off the rails. The groin did not heal and I started to get the breathing issues I had last year. I was willing to put up with this however, because I was still able to train well with the groin soreness, and I had seen the pharmacist and doctor and they concluded that it was not directly allergies causing my breathing problems but a return of some asthma problems I had as a child, which could again be helped by using ventalin. So I started working on getting the documentation and all that to submit to CCES. So in the meantime I missed a few workouts, but then I got sick and missed a few more workouts, and I am still sick. In sum, I have virtually missed 75% of the marathon specific portion of my training and so we have come to the conclusion that it isn't a reasonable expectation to put a good marathon together.

It certainly is unfortunate that I won't be able to go and compete at a high level in the marathon but unlike last year the dissapointment is not devastating. One of my major goals was to maintain a balance this spring between school, running and interpersonal relationships and i've done quite well I think. I may not be able to run a marathon but I have returned to a high level of fitness, i've achieved a 3.15 gpa this year, put a good effort into work, and maintained and developed relationships well. There is certainly a lot of improvement to be made of course. Another great conclusion of this marathon build is that I have moved from a mental space where I was seriously considering retiring from competitive running to wanting to continue, find new challenges and goals, and enjoy everything running has to offer from hard training to fun 'adventure runs,' road races to trail runs, and everything in between.

I'll post back soon after some planning and goal setting, but for now I am hoping to do the Oak Bay Half-Marathon in Victoria on May 24th. I may not be in marathon shape but i'll be rested and ready for a good half!

Vancouver Half - DNS

Fuck around. Bit of a tough morning here, an hour before the start of a race I am supposed to do, and feeling like shit. I woke up yesterday with a chest cold and was hopeful that race morning it wouldn't be much worse. At least I try to be optimistic. I woke up with fire in my throat and phlegm in my chest. At first I decided that I would still go to the race and start, do the first 5k and drop out, thinking somehow I owe it to the race organizers to at least start(what with the pre-race media stuff) but in the end I figure I won't be missed, and really my better judgement says to just stay home and sit this one out, and I would be willing to put money down that Richard would agree. I have a long standing policy not to run with a chest cold and today is not going to be an exception.

So what does this say for Ottawa? Well frankly, for now, nothing, but it is certainly a kick in the nuts after a dropping out of the second most important workout last sunday, and in general not feeling great. I decided earlier in the week that I was tired of feeling beat up, mentally and physically, from the workouts. Like they were bringing out any little pains and imbalances and making them big and hard to run efficiently and fluidly. So I just ran some easy/medium runs tuesday through friday with some decent volume and started feeling better towards the end of the week. The struggles continue.

....Sun Run

.....continued from last post....

Race Day! Despite the lacklustre week or so I was excited to lace up the T5s and hit the pavement for a quick 10k. I was prepared for disaster since my breathing had been so poor the previous few days but hoped the low pressure system and morning would help. Richard had said that this would be more of a "workman's race"(term coined by Bruce Deacon) meaning that we are training for a marathon here and we cant expect anything special, just a good hard race effort. Obviously as an athlete we hope that something special DOES in fact happen and you run really well! Not the case! In actuality I was happy with the race. I didn't feel good for any of it, in hindsight my legs did feel stale, and my breathing was only a bit of a problem(I had to breathe harder than I normaly would but it wasnt a restricting factor in performance I don't think, much like last year). That said, I didn't feel BAD either, and put in a strong mental and physical effort which I am happy about. I am also pleased that I was able to be very disciplined during the race, I new my groin and hip flexors were a problem and in a few point in the race I had the chance to really go full throttle and I held back knowing the fight was in Ottawa and risking injury here would be foolish. Unfortunately I didn't get to have fun like last year in the Sun Run and Times Colonist where I had a great kick and ran like a wild animal, that was fun! So, all in all, it turned out to be a "workman's race" who knew, Richard was right...again. Running sub 31 in these conditions is just fine with me, hopefully this summer I can get in 10k and try to break 30, I know its there somewhere.

DONE....for two weeks

The most brutal semester is over! What a few months it has been, the worst schedule, and trying to run hard while doing it. In general it was not that much fun, I am seriously tired out, which is probably why I have spent so much time in bed the last few days. It really is a relief. Even though I am starting 3 more classes on May 5th, my schedule is WORLDS better. I only have class on tuesday, wednesday and thursday morning, thats right, 4 day weekends! So awesome!

Running. Its been a trying couple of weeks, things were going really well but the wheels kind of came off two saturdays ago when we did a 3 x 3mile workout, it was solid(15:36, 15:16, 15:23) but it was more or less the straw that broke the camels back as far as my physical and mental energy could go with exams coming up, and it made my groin issues that much more sore.

I have been fighting a groin problem for a while now and, as expected, it is taking a while to heal, I am able to still do the sessions but there is an extra dose of caution associated with everything which is getting annoying, right when I want to be hitting it hard, I have to be extra careful(maybe that is a good thing). After that workout I did a hilly 20+miler on monday which I have since decided aggravated it a bit more, I reacted by doing some strength exercises to aid the healing. Ooops, went a little too hard and strained my hip flexors. I didn't really think it was an issue till the wednesday workout at the track where I had trouble getting around it at 3min/k pace(I also couldnt breathe!) So needless to say the allergy season is upon us, which only compounded the problem.

Last year was the first year I had allergy problems and I was in denial for most of it, and it really hurt my training and racing, mentally and physically. So, when I did the session on wednesday then went for a one mile jog(then quit) on thursday, and couldnt breathe, I was depressed to say the least. I decided I wasnt going to run for two days since I needed to summon all the mental energy I had for my exams on thursday and friday. I figured it wouldnt hurt to take a physical break too, even if it left me a bit stale for the race, i really needed a regroup.

Sun Run.....maybe i'll continue this in a new post.....

Row, Row, Row your boat....

Into the grind. Well now that school is over, well, since last week actually, but now that classes are over I feel like my focus has really come to full capacity for running and we are into the critical few weeks leading up to Ottawa. It is really important to keep this focus because training is hard and the volume is up, so any lapse in focus could mean injury or sickness or both. The reminders and cautions from Richard are invaluable and I am trying to make sure our communication is as transparent as possible. Right now everything is basically going as well as it could, despite the groin issues. They seem to be subsiding with the addition of some exercises and light stretching, and luckily I had to make very little, if any, concessions in training because of it.

I am starting to feel like a marathoner again.

The reason I say this is not because of the fatigue of the training but the mindset that comes from it. How to explain....ok here's an example. On wednesday night we did a 8 x mile workout(longest interval workout i've ever done) for a 14mile session altogether, which was really quite tiring. Then on thursday, while tired and sore, I headed out and did a 15mile run and despite being sore and tired my body decided it wanted to get moving on the return portion of the run. It is this type of run that tells me i'm a marathoner again, when you are tired and sore and your legs still want to roll. It is a great feeling! I really feel like I am on track, not on a high, but on track.

aargh!

So frustrating when you hope things will just go away...and then they don't...and then they get worse. I suppose it has been a couple of weeks now that I have a little bit of soreness/tightness in the left side of my groin. I can't really put my finger on exactly when it happened but I think it was racing up a flight of stairs to the skytrain the afternoon post-long run 2 or 3 mondays ago. I figured it would just go away with a bit of stretching but it seems to get a bit better then i'll do a hard workout and it will be bad again. I went in to see my massag therapist on thursday and got some work on it but by the workout this morning it was actually tighter than before. After the 10mile tempo(52:31) portion of the workout I stopped to change shoes and it really tightened up and has been tight and sore the rest of the day. I suppose it should be expected after a 22mile session but I am getting quite worried. I have only had a groin strain once before, and it was a lot worse actually, when I was playing hockey way back as a kid. Unfortunately now I am 13 years older and don't heal as fast and cant just skip out on practice for a week or two. So I guess the plan is light stretching and to start doing some strength exercises and hopefully that will be the ticket to heal it up. I am kind of kicking myself for not doing my regular strength sessions to prevent injuries, which I usually do on a semi regular basis. I am certain this would have been prevented. Oh well, thats how it goes, hopefully I won't miss any training over it.

Other than that the session was pretty much exactly what was planned so I am really happy with it. I didn't kill myself, and didn't feel great to begin with so to execute the workout is something to be pleased about. Just gotta keep on rollin.

20miles, finally!

I haven't been to concerned about getting in serious long runs in the past couple months but its time to get that distance on the legs. Not so much that the focus is shifting that way but there is certainly some more importance being layed on those runs. As I have stated in the past, I love long runs, not only do I love them but they are my forte. This monday I basically just wanted to get the volume in so I didn't worry about the pace too much. I made sure I fueled up the day before, got 9 hours sleep, made sure I was hydrated, and took two gels with me. The plan was to run up to SFU along the transcanada trail, and more or less grind it out, being the hilly run that it is. The groin was a bit tight from the workout on saturday but ended up not being a problem, and I was able to get moving pretty decently after about an hour. I am not sure why it is but it almost always takes me an hour of running to really start feeling efficient and strong when I do a long run, which definitely helped on this one because at that point I was on the far side of burnaby mountain! I cruised up the trail no problem and back to my house, no sweat, taking gels at 45mins and 95mins. It was actually very encouraging that I was able to do a 20miler like that with ease, which again is new for me. This whole program is so new in that I am coming from a place of lower volume and higher intensity but I am feeling like I am in a similar fitness level to where I was last year. The great thing about it is that at this point last year things really came unravelled but now I have a good coach and consistency on my side which is definitely exciting.

I am looking forward to seeing what I can do in the three upcoming races, lets hope for PBs in all three! Wouldn't that be nice!

9 weeks to go!

I realized today that I have been back in the Vancouver area for over a year now. It seems like a lot longer somehow, it has been a very eventful year but here I am again gearing up for the Ottawa Marathon. I received confirmation this week that the race organizers would be paying for my travel and hotel which is excellent, being the starving student-athlete that I am. It is coming up quick! I feel a lot less pressure this time around and also more confident in my training. The consistency has been great and I have managed to stay healthy. I have made it a priority to get a massage every week which is helping a lot, and of course having Richard as a coach has been invaluable. I have had my doubts as to whether I will be able to get fit enough to make the team for Berlin due to the time constraints I have put on myself with school and other things but with 9 weeks to go and my current fitness level, I am starting to feel some confidence that I will be able to make the team.

Today it was just myself and Richard on the bike out for a 3 loop 13.95k progression run in stanley park which turned into more of a tempo run I suppose. I went through the loops in 15:18, 15:05, 15:02 for an average time of 5:12.5/mile for 8.67miles. The course has some good hills on it so I am really happy with the way things went. With the few hill sessions I have done in the past few weeks I was able to really run strong up the hills and maintain good form throughout the run.

I suppose one of the other reasons I am feeling more confident is because I had an overall good week of training with an 18mile long run, great hill session on wednesday and the tempo session today, rounding out the week at about 92miles or so in 9 runs. I am really happy with the way my body is adjusting to the volume increase and will likely add another 5 miles or so this week. None of this really seems remarkable except for the fact that my training has been consistent and incremental. Who knew that it would lead to confidence and fitness! I see good things on the horizon, welcome spring.

Timeless

Richard said to not too worry too much about times for the next little while and sure enough on saturday I fully forgot to even bring my watch, and I was practicing on my own so it really was a 'run by feel' workout. It turned out that I picked a good day for it as well because it was gale force winds in the park, and my body felt better than it has a long long time, so it was nice to be able to pay such close attention.

I decided instead of going out to the UBC aquatic center for a massage like I did last week that I would make the trek out to richmond and see the massage therapist I saw last year when I was livng in richmond, Mike Reoch at Minoru Massage. This guy is good. I had reservations about going all the way to richmond from eastvan but when you find a good massage therapist I think it is best to just stick with them. So anyway I went there and he worked on my calf as much as he could in one session and also worked on my hips and hamstrings and, well most of my legs to be honest. As usually my body is a wreck. So anyway it was only a short 30min massage but did it ever make a difference on saturday.

Saturday's workout was a 10mile progression run in stanely park on the roads, which is probably one of my favorite workouts, with or without company, or a watch. This run in particular was good because I was SO LOOSE, I have not felt so balanced and loose in my hips and legs in a long time and when I was finally warmed up (wind and 1 degree I think) I just felt great. My hips actually felt rotated down or something, my hip flexors were bringing my legs up easily and i just felt efficient all around. There were still a few sore spots and what not but I felt worlds better and it was a very encouraging run. Looks like massage therapy is going to have to be slotted into the budget right next to food and coffee.

Salut...rubber oval

I said a month or so ago that I was happy with my decision to get on board with Richard as coach, and further that I was moving from a place of blind trust to belief in the program and his abilities as a coach. And last week was an interaction that continues to solidify that belief.

Normally I can't make it out to practice on tuesday nights due to school commitments so Richard had prescribed a hill workout for me to do on my own, but my class was canceled so I decided I could make it out to practice which was scheduled to be on the track at Minoru. Track is the bane of my existence, however I feel that it is important to work on your weaknessess so I took the opportunity to join Steve, Mosley and Tom for the workout. As is the case 95% of the time when I am on the track I either get in over my head, have a bad day, or both, and this was a typical case, couple that with my persistent evening running induced bowel problems I became furious in short order and after the 4th 1200m rep I walked off the track and told Richard I was never running on the track again. As much as I believe working on your weaknesses is important you have to weigh not only the good points of the exercise but the bad, and the mental beating that I take just isn't worth it. I am at the point in my running career where I am not willing to spend time disliking running, so, althought it was a decision in the heat of the moment, it was firm.

It is kind of funny, but during the rep where I decided to quit I was thinking 'thats it, I am never running on the track again, I wonder if Richard will still want to coach me?' But sure enough after I quit he came and talked to me and said that his gut told him earlier that day (when I told him I could make it out to the track) that he should tell me to do the hill workout anyway and forget about the track. Here I had thought he wouldn't like my decision not to run on the track and sure enough he had previously come to the conclusion it was a bad idea for me to beat myself up on the track. I don't know much about coaching but I have to say this is a sign of a good coach, when they know what you need before you know. So I am grateful for that and happy to hit the hills and work on my strengths and things I enjoy rather than beating my head against the wall. Yes there are benefits to the track, but taking everything into account my time and efforts are best spent on the hills.

This may seem trivial to some but for someone who has not been coached much it is important.

In other news, I am starting to get regular massage treatments which is exciting for me and even more exciting is that I am starting to bring up the mileage and training in general, to higher level. Ottawa will be here before I know it.

Nothing Comes Easy

I suppose the lesson of this weekend is that nothing comes easy. With highs, come lows, and this week was a pretty tough one for me, and I am now trying to recover from it. I am definitely at a place I haven't been before and I suppose I will be getting new lessons from it, as is always the case. The week started out with two midterms on monday, both of which I shit the bed, I even got my mark back for one of them on wednesday and I failed it! So depressing, I don't know why but during both of them I froze up and couldn't think through the problems. I didn't prepare properly either but there was no way I should have done so poorly by any means. I have put a lot of pressure on myself to do well in school so this was really disheartening, which set me up for this race on the weekend with the mindset that I have to at least do well in running. When things did not feel great in the race when I picked it up to a decent pace at about 7k I struggled until 10miles in 52:21, then ran the next mile in 5:36, completely out of fight and quit. What was going through my brain, was that I was doing poorly at the two pursuits I am putting most of my energy into so I just didn't have the mental fight in me, I was defeated.

This is really a new place for me also because I am so busy and have a level of mental stress I am not used to, and I suppose it is making it harder for me to recover and be fresh and ready to race, maybe I need to adjust my expectations. Right now, I am not entirely sure what I need to do. For starters I need to keep plugging away and ride this low point out, also I am going to start forcing more of a routine so that my life is a bit more predictable and consistent, so my body isn't confused as to what it is going to do each day. When you are busy, routine and consistency are definitely keys to success. Basically I need to be proactive and adjust accordingly, life won't get any less busy.

Race Week!

Finally in good shape again and excited to be racing on Sunday. It is actually hard to get excited since I am so busy these days but I am. Not just for myself but for Steve and Richard who I have been training regularly with for the last month. We have been working hard and I am excited to see how fast we can run this weekend. I am not in great shape but things have been going well and I fully expect to be able to run around 67 minutes given decent conditions. As per the race preview it looks to be a competitive race with Richard, Steve, myself, Mark Bomba, Todd Howard, Jason Warick, Scott Simpson, Jason Loutitt, and debutant(I think) Shane Carlos, among others. We can only hope for favorable weather and hopefully we can throw down some good times. At the very least it looks to be a competitive race which is always fun.

Training the week before last was pretty rocky but things came around last week after my sunday long run of 2 hours. Although it was cold and horrible a strong 2 hour run always makes me feel better and this time was no exception. A few days later we hit the track which I was a bit leary of since I have always and will always detest running on it, and never feel comfortable on. Despite my dislike for the track I managed to slug out a good workout of 5 X 1600 off one lap jog all in under 4:48 which was possibly my best track workout ever. I was quite pleased with it, especially because my guts were good throughout, and I managed to claw back the workout when it got away from me with a 68 second quarter about halfway through the workout. Later in the week we did some relaxed cut down/tempo stuff in the park which served its purpose as a feel good workout. All in all it was a really solid week followed by a day off yesterday, my first in 5 weeks. The legs are feeling pretty good but still some achiness in the calf area and some feelings of imbalance, but nothing too serious. I'll report back after the race!

and so it goes...

Busy busy busy. So much for having less schoolwork from taking less classes this semester. I suppose I was just being hopeful. One of my classes is looking like it is going to be an enormous amount of work, and another a lot of work, the third just average I think. I am not feeling overwhelmed yet but I have been stupid busy. I can't even say I have been hitting the books as much as I would like, but I have been working more and busy doing other things. I have made running a priority so I have also been somewhat busy with that, however only doing single runs, and the occasional double. Training is going great, I am feeling fit and doing some solid workouts, but definitely need to hit the yoga as I am feeling imbalanced and need to get a massage here pretty soon. Yesterday we did a speedier workout and it actually turned out fairly good despite feeling tired, and my guts being an absolute disaster. It was just one of those days where not only did I feel like crap but Richard and Steve were running really well which didn't make me feel any better! Anyhow, the group is functioning how it should, dragging along the guys who aren't having the best days. I am excited for the first half.

Fruition...or something like it...

8 or 9 months ago myself, Richard M, Bomba, and Ziak sat down at a pub on The Drive and decided that we needed to commit to training together at least twice a week, and for me anyway, today was this idea or plan finally being realized. Granted, as a group, we aren't in the greatest shape, but today we got together, along with SteveO and Richard L had us working out together in Stanely Park. None of us are firing on all cylinders at the moment but it was a vision of things to come. When we start rolling and some more guys come along, our group is going to do very well for itself and although it took a bit of time I am glad we have come to this point and I am certain only good things will come from it.

On a more individual note, it has been a really good week so far, I am getting the schoolwork done that I need, running some decent mileage and workouts, working as much as I needed to, spending time with the girl, and getting some personal time in. All in all, I am managing to keep a good balance in life which feels great.

In other news, I heard throught he grape vine that Micheal Ignatieff(sp?) was going to be in town at the Irish Heather on wednesday night, and it just so happened my work meeting was cancelled so I figured i'd go check it out and represent. I didn't ask any questions but being that I was wearing a hoody and sneaks, and everyone else was dressed up, i'd say I was representin east van! Not to mention being the only N8V person there. Anyhow, I wanted to check it out, and knowing nothing about him, I went there hoping for some kind of light in Canadian politics....no such luck. Obviously you can't judge someone on such little information and in such a setting but I actually spent most of the time right beside him, since I was keeping close to the door, and I just didn't get a good vibe from him. Anyway, it was interesting to be in that setting because I don't often get in a room full of highly political people. I guess we shall see what happens.

Novel

I have to say I am currently in a place I have never been before. I have obviously not been training very much over the last few months and so now as I am running a bit more volume, I am really quite energetically tired. So, in a sense I could say I am out of shape, but I also kept up with Steve on a 10X 1k workout on wednesday so I am obviously not out of shape. It is kind of a weird situation, but i'll take it. This week i'll end up somewhere around 70miles with some longer runs and so far, one good workout. We're only 4 weeks out from the 'First Half' so I am slightly concerned about how good of shape I can get into but, I am not going to go crazy like I would have in the past, as I get to know Richard I am shifting my belief in the program from faith based to confidence based so that is good. Not too much other news, it would be nice to do the Steveston Ice Breaker but I would rather just train. Everthing seems to be going very well, so I am just going to have to keep it up. Happy trails.

Long week

It has been a while since I have run each of the 7 days in a week and I happened to pick a bad week to do it. It was really ugly out there, day after day, ice-slush-snow, the conditions were different and unpleasant nearly every day but I did manage to get out there and get some decent runs in for a 65mile week. Other than being fairly tired, my body has held up well and my calf-shin issues are again slowly improving. Today I ended up taking the day off, not for any real good reason other than being tired and it being inconvenient to run, I should have at least gotten in a 30min jog or yoga session, but alas it is nearly 11pm. As another half-assed excuse, today was the first day of school so trekked it out to Surrey, wow is the campus out there every awesome, such a gorgeous building. I was also reading all day, I have been working on this book the last few days trying to get it finished before school starts because I know once I get my text books I wont be doing much casual reading. So other than not running, it was a productive day!

So I have spoken with my coach Richard and he thought it best not to do the Saanich 8k this coming weekend, which I am perfectly ok with. He figured it better to get some consistent running in to prepare for the 'First Half' which is fast approaching and I would like to put in a good showing. I really need to get my head in the game, well I stated that wrong, I am getting my head in the game right now. It was nice to be casual about running for the fall and through the first part of the winter but now I am conciously going to put some pressure on myself to commit to getting up at the same time and training each day consistently, and making a concious effort to stay hydrated at all times and eat more healthily. I have also found out that with the health benefits I get through school starting this semester I should be able to get a few massages out of it, yes! Well, thats about all for now.