Well, at this time last week I had finished the Bluenose and we were on our way home. I found out after the race was over that my grandfather had passed away so its been a difficult week.
My legs stopped hurting on Wednesday. By Thursday afternoon I was running again. This time just an easy 4k on the track, this time with no heart rate monitor or mp3 player. Just my vibram five fingers, shorts and a t shirt. That felt great.
Looking back at my 2011 Bluenose, I wasn't able to start running again until sometime in June and even then, I only ran 3 times in June and July. Not so this year. What a difference a year and over 1000 km worth of training runs make.
The question was asked of me, "ok whats next?" And honestly, I don't have an answer for myself or anyone else at the moment. I expected to be injured again so I never made any plans. I suppose my short term plans (next two weeks) are to just get back into some easy, short runs. I do plan to run the Navy 10k in August and probably a couple of 5k runs in June and July.
As for what I'm running this fall, I'm not sure yet. I have to make up my mind before July so I can get back into a training schedule but as of right now, I'm torn.
I'd like to run the Valley harvest again, just to "exercise the demons" so to speak but I would also like to attempt to qualify for Boston. To qualify to run in Boston in 2014, i'd have to run a marathon in 3:25, a lot faster than my 4:06 Bluenose time. There are 3 fall races in the area that are Boston qualifier races, Moncton, PEI and the Valley harvest. The problem is that these courses do not look to be "fast", ie flat or slightly downhill. In order for me to have a shot at qualifying, I have to a) train like a bastard and b) have every possible condition working in my favor at a race (cool temps, flat course, tailwind). I don't think I have a realistic shot at qualifying at any of the local marathons, too hilly. So what do I do? Exact my revenge on the Valley harvest or attempt to qualify for Boston? arrrrrrrgh! More soul seeking is required.
Sorry I don't have more to report on. Hopefully I'll have more news next week on my weekly running and if I've come closer to a marathon decision.
Onward and upward.
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Monday, May 21, 2012
Bluenose!!!
Well here I am, 24 hrs after the Bluenose marathon, my legs are beginning to forgive me for yesterday. I learned a lot about myself yesterday and in that process of learning, have discovered more questions that need answering.
My day started at 4am. I got up and started eating. I started with leftover pasta from the night before. I followed that up with 2 bagels with peanut butter. I washed this down with 700ml of gatorade. There, that should have topped up the glycogen stores to last me for the first third of the race. I made sure all eating and drinking was stopped 2 hrs prior to the starting gun.
We left the house at 6:15, making sure to get there early to find a parking spot. I figured with almost 10000 runners arriving for the different races that it may be difficult to find a spot. we had no trouble finding parking.
My worst nightmare pretty much came true for this run and I saw it coming all week in the form of warm temperatures. Anyone who has read my earlier blog entries may remember the meltdown I had back in October at the Valley harvest. I was nervous all week and every forecast just made it worse.
As per my previous plan, I lined up at the back of all the runners and once the gun went off, walked slowly to the start line before breaking into my run. People were looking at me like "uhhh, don't you know you should be running now?" lol At 8am it was already 14C. Not good, not good at all.
Before I had even run 1k, I already had stopped at the first water station. I wasn't thirsty, I just wasn't going to take any chances.
Most of the first half was pretty uneventful, I was cheered on by a friend who showed up at 5 or 6 different places. It helped to keep it interesting because i never knew when she was going to appear again. I get back to the MacDonald bridge (about 18k) to find myself embedded in a pile of slow 10k runners. Just wonderful, they're hogging a water station that I need and I doubt that they do.
I'm fortunate to be carrying a 700ml bottle of gatorade with me for just such an occasion.
I cross the halfway point at around 2:01, very close but above where i wanted to be at this point and with the temp at 20C I was beginning to think that a faster second half wasn't going to be in the cards today. Instead of letting that get me down, I decided to say "f**k it" lets just see how I can do despite the conditions. The heat was really getting to me in the 24-29k range as the distances between the water/gatorade stations was slightly further than earlier. Or maybe it just seemed like they were further apart because of my suffering. Even though the heat was uncomfortable, my knee wasn't giving me any problems! This was a good sign.
I remember thinking at the 29k sign, "oh wonderful, only 13k to go" and I wasn't being sarcastic this time. At just past the station around the 32k sign is where I got sick to my stomach for the first time, I'm not sure if i had drank too much or what but I had to walk for a minute or less to keep from puking, I had to do this two more times during the remainder of the run. If i walked for a brief period of time, the feeling went away, another good sign. Once I got to Young avenue, there was a station set up by someone providing orange slices. OMG! Heaven! I grabbed 2 slices and gobbled them down, looking forward to passing by this station again once I get out of point pleasant park. When you've been eating nothing but gels, gatorade and water for 35+km, a slice of something real is a real treat.
As each kilometer marking sign passed after the 35k one, I KNEW I was going to finish this and finish strong (if finishing slower than the first half can be considered "strong" but I do). At around the 39k mark, I noticed that one of my right toes had become numb. It just didn't feel right. At that point, it doesn't really matter, you just keep going. What I was doing at water stations now was i was taking a glass of water to drink and another to soak my hat with. That felt good. At the last station (41k) I just poured it over my head. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Cool.
At noon I heard the cannon on Citadel Hill go off, telling me that my sub 4 hr marathon was officially out of reach but i was very close. I didn't really care, I knew that I was in the process of setting a PB (personal best) marathon time for myself. Just before I finished I glanced to my right and saw my Mom and step dad, cheering me on like crazy. I think I smiled back at them, I'm not sure, everything was kinda fuzzy at that point. lol I crossed the line at 12:06pm, 6 minutes behind my predicted finish. I finished 42.2k in 4:06:04!!! Stacey found me right away and held me up, I was pretty wobbily. I started drinking chocolate milk right away!
Once I got in the Metro centre, I continued to walk and just eat practically anything I got my hands on. Milk, juice, bananas, yogurt, bagels... etc.. you get the idea. It doesn't take long to start feeling better once you start stuffing some food back in you. Now onto my numb toe. It wasn't as bad as I thought, just a blister on the end of my toe and slightly underneath the toenail. No black toenails, sorry to say.
So in one 4 hr run, I have erased any doubts about my ability to a) run in heat and b) run without injury issues. Any ghosts of the Valley Harvest Marathon have been put to rest. I was so scared that my IT band was going to start hurting again at the halfway point. Nope, not a peep from it. I didn't even experience "the wall" this time. Sure the last 10k were tough but I never thought "I can't do this", like I have before. The questions raised by this run are: what next? I'm kind of drawing a blank as to what to do next. There's a tiny, crazy voice in my head that was whispering "Boston" in my head before this run. It's louder now. I'm going to enjoy my week off from running and then decide whether to listen to it or not, its a good voice this time but one that would mean a pile of work.
some stats from yesterday
42.2k in 4:06:04
3200 calories burnt
42800 steps taken
average heart rate 175, max 197.
onward and upward.
My day started at 4am. I got up and started eating. I started with leftover pasta from the night before. I followed that up with 2 bagels with peanut butter. I washed this down with 700ml of gatorade. There, that should have topped up the glycogen stores to last me for the first third of the race. I made sure all eating and drinking was stopped 2 hrs prior to the starting gun.
We left the house at 6:15, making sure to get there early to find a parking spot. I figured with almost 10000 runners arriving for the different races that it may be difficult to find a spot. we had no trouble finding parking.
My worst nightmare pretty much came true for this run and I saw it coming all week in the form of warm temperatures. Anyone who has read my earlier blog entries may remember the meltdown I had back in October at the Valley harvest. I was nervous all week and every forecast just made it worse.
As per my previous plan, I lined up at the back of all the runners and once the gun went off, walked slowly to the start line before breaking into my run. People were looking at me like "uhhh, don't you know you should be running now?" lol At 8am it was already 14C. Not good, not good at all.
Before I had even run 1k, I already had stopped at the first water station. I wasn't thirsty, I just wasn't going to take any chances.
Most of the first half was pretty uneventful, I was cheered on by a friend who showed up at 5 or 6 different places. It helped to keep it interesting because i never knew when she was going to appear again. I get back to the MacDonald bridge (about 18k) to find myself embedded in a pile of slow 10k runners. Just wonderful, they're hogging a water station that I need and I doubt that they do.
I'm fortunate to be carrying a 700ml bottle of gatorade with me for just such an occasion.
I cross the halfway point at around 2:01, very close but above where i wanted to be at this point and with the temp at 20C I was beginning to think that a faster second half wasn't going to be in the cards today. Instead of letting that get me down, I decided to say "f**k it" lets just see how I can do despite the conditions. The heat was really getting to me in the 24-29k range as the distances between the water/gatorade stations was slightly further than earlier. Or maybe it just seemed like they were further apart because of my suffering. Even though the heat was uncomfortable, my knee wasn't giving me any problems! This was a good sign.
I remember thinking at the 29k sign, "oh wonderful, only 13k to go" and I wasn't being sarcastic this time. At just past the station around the 32k sign is where I got sick to my stomach for the first time, I'm not sure if i had drank too much or what but I had to walk for a minute or less to keep from puking, I had to do this two more times during the remainder of the run. If i walked for a brief period of time, the feeling went away, another good sign. Once I got to Young avenue, there was a station set up by someone providing orange slices. OMG! Heaven! I grabbed 2 slices and gobbled them down, looking forward to passing by this station again once I get out of point pleasant park. When you've been eating nothing but gels, gatorade and water for 35+km, a slice of something real is a real treat.
As each kilometer marking sign passed after the 35k one, I KNEW I was going to finish this and finish strong (if finishing slower than the first half can be considered "strong" but I do). At around the 39k mark, I noticed that one of my right toes had become numb. It just didn't feel right. At that point, it doesn't really matter, you just keep going. What I was doing at water stations now was i was taking a glass of water to drink and another to soak my hat with. That felt good. At the last station (41k) I just poured it over my head. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Cool.
At noon I heard the cannon on Citadel Hill go off, telling me that my sub 4 hr marathon was officially out of reach but i was very close. I didn't really care, I knew that I was in the process of setting a PB (personal best) marathon time for myself. Just before I finished I glanced to my right and saw my Mom and step dad, cheering me on like crazy. I think I smiled back at them, I'm not sure, everything was kinda fuzzy at that point. lol I crossed the line at 12:06pm, 6 minutes behind my predicted finish. I finished 42.2k in 4:06:04!!! Stacey found me right away and held me up, I was pretty wobbily. I started drinking chocolate milk right away!
Once I got in the Metro centre, I continued to walk and just eat practically anything I got my hands on. Milk, juice, bananas, yogurt, bagels... etc.. you get the idea. It doesn't take long to start feeling better once you start stuffing some food back in you. Now onto my numb toe. It wasn't as bad as I thought, just a blister on the end of my toe and slightly underneath the toenail. No black toenails, sorry to say.
So in one 4 hr run, I have erased any doubts about my ability to a) run in heat and b) run without injury issues. Any ghosts of the Valley Harvest Marathon have been put to rest. I was so scared that my IT band was going to start hurting again at the halfway point. Nope, not a peep from it. I didn't even experience "the wall" this time. Sure the last 10k were tough but I never thought "I can't do this", like I have before. The questions raised by this run are: what next? I'm kind of drawing a blank as to what to do next. There's a tiny, crazy voice in my head that was whispering "Boston" in my head before this run. It's louder now. I'm going to enjoy my week off from running and then decide whether to listen to it or not, its a good voice this time but one that would mean a pile of work.
some stats from yesterday
42.2k in 4:06:04
3200 calories burnt
42800 steps taken
average heart rate 175, max 197.
onward and upward.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Last Long Run
Well it's Sunday morning and normally I should be planning out my long run. I decided a few days ago to move things up by a day to free up my Sunday.
My total mileage this week was 40k, down 24 from my max a couple of weeks ago. Half of my mileage was the long run yesterday, accounting for half of my weekly mileage.
This time I decided to go to Halifax and run the 2nd half of the Bluenose route, well almost all of it minus 1k. My coach told me to run 20k, thats what I did. haha! The reasoning behind all the runs on the Bluenose route is that a) to build confidence and b) i read somewhere that you run faster on routes that you're familiar with. It was a perfect morning for a run, sunny and about 9C when I started at 8:30 am. Unlike last week, I did not run at MP ( marathon pace) for any of this run. I got my hand slapped for doing it last week and I had no intentions of doing it again. lol
I gotta say that it's so nice to see a lot of runners out in the city and especially Point Pleasant Park on such a nice day. That doesn't happen very often where I normally run. You'd be lucky to see one other runner out on a run. Sad to say but Sackville must be home to a lot of lazy people. Or maybe running is just not their thing.
At around the 7k mark of my run, a lady passed me, saying "hello" as she went by. As I watched her slowly distance herself from me, it was obvious that she was doing the same run as me. I checked the ego at the door and let her go. This isn't a race, right??? Anyhow, at 10k I picked up my pace a little to give me the negative half splits (finishing the 2nd half of a run faster than the 1st) I was aiming for. At around the 13k mark, I noticed I was gaining on someone familiar. lol I caught her just before Serpentine Hill in Point Pleasant Park, saying "hello" as I passed her this time. If you're reading this, I'm sorry you started too fast. lol
The rest of the run went without a hitch, no joint pain, just a little muscle soreness. I got back to the car in 2:01, spent about 10 minutes walking and then stretching, got changed in the car (no small feat in a tiny car) then proceeded to get a cupcake for myself and Stacey at FRED. After that I went home, mowed the lawn and followed it all up with an epsom salts bath.
Other than 3 runs this week totaling 18k, all my long training runs are finished. I'm not quite sure how I feel about this. I'm happy to have made it this far but also a little sad that all the training is ending. I know that with such short runs this week, I'm probably going to go stir crazy. I'm also excited for the Bluenose marathon next week! I remember last year I was scared shitless. Not so this year, I just want this week to get over already so I can get out there and erase my last marathon result (the Valley Harvest 5:22 meltdown). My goal time this year is under 4 hrs which would be 48 minutes faster than my 2011 Bluenose results but if I can finish without any injuries, I'll be happy with that to. My strategy is to start near the back of the group and see how many I can pick off over during the run. No 1 minute walk breaks this year, just walk long enough at the water/gatorade stations so i don't spill the stuff all over me. And definately no walking to talk someone through their "wall" this year, its a race and I have no intentions of holding someone's hand to help them, thats up to them to deal with, just like I had to back in October.
This will be my last entry until after next weeks race. If you're around the town clock in Halifax next Sunday between 11:45am and 12pm. Stop by at the finish line and say "hello". Barring any unforeseen incidents, this will be when I'm crossing the line.
Onward and upward!!
My total mileage this week was 40k, down 24 from my max a couple of weeks ago. Half of my mileage was the long run yesterday, accounting for half of my weekly mileage.
This time I decided to go to Halifax and run the 2nd half of the Bluenose route, well almost all of it minus 1k. My coach told me to run 20k, thats what I did. haha! The reasoning behind all the runs on the Bluenose route is that a) to build confidence and b) i read somewhere that you run faster on routes that you're familiar with. It was a perfect morning for a run, sunny and about 9C when I started at 8:30 am. Unlike last week, I did not run at MP ( marathon pace) for any of this run. I got my hand slapped for doing it last week and I had no intentions of doing it again. lol
I gotta say that it's so nice to see a lot of runners out in the city and especially Point Pleasant Park on such a nice day. That doesn't happen very often where I normally run. You'd be lucky to see one other runner out on a run. Sad to say but Sackville must be home to a lot of lazy people. Or maybe running is just not their thing.
At around the 7k mark of my run, a lady passed me, saying "hello" as she went by. As I watched her slowly distance herself from me, it was obvious that she was doing the same run as me. I checked the ego at the door and let her go. This isn't a race, right??? Anyhow, at 10k I picked up my pace a little to give me the negative half splits (finishing the 2nd half of a run faster than the 1st) I was aiming for. At around the 13k mark, I noticed I was gaining on someone familiar. lol I caught her just before Serpentine Hill in Point Pleasant Park, saying "hello" as I passed her this time. If you're reading this, I'm sorry you started too fast. lol
The rest of the run went without a hitch, no joint pain, just a little muscle soreness. I got back to the car in 2:01, spent about 10 minutes walking and then stretching, got changed in the car (no small feat in a tiny car) then proceeded to get a cupcake for myself and Stacey at FRED. After that I went home, mowed the lawn and followed it all up with an epsom salts bath.
Other than 3 runs this week totaling 18k, all my long training runs are finished. I'm not quite sure how I feel about this. I'm happy to have made it this far but also a little sad that all the training is ending. I know that with such short runs this week, I'm probably going to go stir crazy. I'm also excited for the Bluenose marathon next week! I remember last year I was scared shitless. Not so this year, I just want this week to get over already so I can get out there and erase my last marathon result (the Valley Harvest 5:22 meltdown). My goal time this year is under 4 hrs which would be 48 minutes faster than my 2011 Bluenose results but if I can finish without any injuries, I'll be happy with that to. My strategy is to start near the back of the group and see how many I can pick off over during the run. No 1 minute walk breaks this year, just walk long enough at the water/gatorade stations so i don't spill the stuff all over me. And definately no walking to talk someone through their "wall" this year, its a race and I have no intentions of holding someone's hand to help them, thats up to them to deal with, just like I had to back in October.
This will be my last entry until after next weeks race. If you're around the town clock in Halifax next Sunday between 11:45am and 12pm. Stop by at the finish line and say "hello". Barring any unforeseen incidents, this will be when I'm crossing the line.
Onward and upward!!
Monday, May 7, 2012
673km down, 59 km to go!!
Ok so this week I'll start tapering. Honestly. I will. No really. I promise!
If you want to nitpick about last week and how it should have been a tapering week, I will say that I did stick with my given mileage. I was just off a bit on the intensity of my sunday 24k run. Instead of running a pace range of 5:44 min/km to 6:21 min/km, I ran it at marathon pace, or 5:32 min/km. There was a method to my madness. Even though I was doing the distances I should have, there was still that lingering thought about whether or not I could run my marathon pace on the first half of the Bluenose course. I had run the first half several times before during training and the best I could do was around 2:18. I had run my marathon pace before as well but never on a course as hill as what the Bluenose has to offer so on Sunday I decided to put that last shred of self doubt to rest once and for all.
It was partly sunny and warm for running, about 16C so I was also going to get to push it during weather I'm not 100% comfortable running in. Thats the problem with running outside all winter/spring, you never really get to run in warm weather. So I take off at the clock at Citadel Hill around 1pm. I'm cruising pretty good, wondering if I can maintain this pace for the whole 24k. I slow down to get over the bridge and up Nantucket Ave. That's ok though as I speed up on the downhill portions to make up the difference. I make it to Shubie Park and I'm still averaging a 5:28 pace! I slow down a little in Shubie park but this time I didn't get lost. I exit the park still on pace.
On to Maple Street, a tough, never ending uphill. By the time I get to the top I'm really sucking air but my overall pace is still in the range I want it. I start smiling at this point (18k), I know I'm going to break 2hrs for a half marathon but don't know by how much. To be honest, I didn't care. I get back to where I started (21km point) in 1:55! Holy shit, I did it. I finish the whole 24k run in 2:15, 4 minutes faster than my previous best 21k time!!! I felt great. All doubt has been erased and this week I can really relax and enjoy the taper. I only have to run 20k this weekend so the plan is to run the 2nd half of the Bluenose route but at a slow pace. I promise I will behave and do it at a 6:00 pace. Honestly!
Last Wednesday I had my first theraputic massage. I knew it wasn't going to be overly relaxing and yup, it wasn't. The therapist worked on just the legs. It wasn't so bad on the quads, glutes and hamstrings but when she worked on the calves and feet, holy crap did it hurt. After I left it felt like someone beat me with a baseball bat. lol Ok, another tip I didn't know, a hot epsom salt bath after any kind of muscle abuse seems to work pretty good in cutting down on the amount of pain you'll feel the next day. I had one after the massage and even though the legs were still a little sore the next day, I still felt like I could have run if needed. I also had one after my long run yesterday and I feel good today despite the thrashing I put the legs through. I'm heading back for another massage session today and have one more scheduled for next monday, just to work out the kinks and help relax.
673 km down, 59 to go!!! Less than 2 weeks to the Bluenose!
onward and upward
I hope I don't go stir crazy with the further drop in mileage this week.
If you want to nitpick about last week and how it should have been a tapering week, I will say that I did stick with my given mileage. I was just off a bit on the intensity of my sunday 24k run. Instead of running a pace range of 5:44 min/km to 6:21 min/km, I ran it at marathon pace, or 5:32 min/km. There was a method to my madness. Even though I was doing the distances I should have, there was still that lingering thought about whether or not I could run my marathon pace on the first half of the Bluenose course. I had run the first half several times before during training and the best I could do was around 2:18. I had run my marathon pace before as well but never on a course as hill as what the Bluenose has to offer so on Sunday I decided to put that last shred of self doubt to rest once and for all.
It was partly sunny and warm for running, about 16C so I was also going to get to push it during weather I'm not 100% comfortable running in. Thats the problem with running outside all winter/spring, you never really get to run in warm weather. So I take off at the clock at Citadel Hill around 1pm. I'm cruising pretty good, wondering if I can maintain this pace for the whole 24k. I slow down to get over the bridge and up Nantucket Ave. That's ok though as I speed up on the downhill portions to make up the difference. I make it to Shubie Park and I'm still averaging a 5:28 pace! I slow down a little in Shubie park but this time I didn't get lost. I exit the park still on pace.
On to Maple Street, a tough, never ending uphill. By the time I get to the top I'm really sucking air but my overall pace is still in the range I want it. I start smiling at this point (18k), I know I'm going to break 2hrs for a half marathon but don't know by how much. To be honest, I didn't care. I get back to where I started (21km point) in 1:55! Holy shit, I did it. I finish the whole 24k run in 2:15, 4 minutes faster than my previous best 21k time!!! I felt great. All doubt has been erased and this week I can really relax and enjoy the taper. I only have to run 20k this weekend so the plan is to run the 2nd half of the Bluenose route but at a slow pace. I promise I will behave and do it at a 6:00 pace. Honestly!
Last Wednesday I had my first theraputic massage. I knew it wasn't going to be overly relaxing and yup, it wasn't. The therapist worked on just the legs. It wasn't so bad on the quads, glutes and hamstrings but when she worked on the calves and feet, holy crap did it hurt. After I left it felt like someone beat me with a baseball bat. lol Ok, another tip I didn't know, a hot epsom salt bath after any kind of muscle abuse seems to work pretty good in cutting down on the amount of pain you'll feel the next day. I had one after the massage and even though the legs were still a little sore the next day, I still felt like I could have run if needed. I also had one after my long run yesterday and I feel good today despite the thrashing I put the legs through. I'm heading back for another massage session today and have one more scheduled for next monday, just to work out the kinks and help relax.
673 km down, 59 to go!!! Less than 2 weeks to the Bluenose!
onward and upward
I hope I don't go stir crazy with the further drop in mileage this week.
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