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.

bumpity bump bump...bump

The road has been bumpy! What a december, between the exams, getting sick, going home(and nearly dying on the drive), december has been a rough one for training. I suspected this would be the case and didn't fight it! I have one week before school starts and I have virtually no responsibilities so if this isnt the key to a proper start to training, i don't know what is. Unfortunately the weather is pretty crap, well actually its the leftover snow that is making the running a bit difficult. Since when are the running conditions worse in Vancouver than in Kitimat? Hopefully we'll get more rain and wash all this away, I really want to get training again here, full tilt. I am definitely ready to get healthy, fit, and feeling like a specialized animal again, its about damn time.

I finally have my class schedule and it isnt too bad, but will force me to workout on tuesday mornings, so I might try to tie in with the SFU group again, which is alright, hopefully Dylan will be there. Thursday is open and I will be able to meet up with someone to do thursday's focus session. So its really not too bad, other than my 830 am class on wednesday which is horrific, I don't even want to think about it right now aaah. The good thing about the schedule is it leaves a few evenings open so i'll be able to work a bit more, and attend functions in the community and what not. All in all, it is not an ideal schedule but I think it will work out fine. I am a bit nervous about my classes but excited as well. It is going to be a great semester and a great year I am certain of it, virtually everything in life is on the up and up, so here's hoping I can keep a good balance.