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.