After being banged up the previous week, the latest stretch of training went quite well. Based on my workouts, I am inclined to believe that my fitness is continuing to advance despite hiccups here and there. Even with temperatures below -20 Celsius I was able to crank out a solid 9x3 minutes on Tuesday and a 40 minute tempo out on the Bayfront on Thursday.
I must admit that I'm plagued with a bit of uncertainty regarding how I should proceed forward with training for the marathon. I've tried to consume a fair amount of literature on varied types of training, so it's not as if I don't have a sense of the general pieces (which often boils down to running lots of miles and spending significant time running at marathon pace). But specific components like how much faster running (i.e significantly below half marathon pace), if any, should be included and at what point during the build up these pieces should be included give me pause.
I have written frankly about my doubts regarding my self-coaching decisions in the past, and I do so again because I prefer to be transparent about my limitations in this area and see this blog as a sort of record of progressive understanding (or so I hope!).
At any rate, I am 16 weeks and 6 days out from taking my first shot at the ultimate distance.
Monday 27 January 2014
Sunday 19 January 2014
Could have been worse
So about that 3K I mentioned last week. Definitely could have gone worse! Myself and four of my running buddies cranked it out and as a team swept the first three spots, with me finishing third in 8:59. I was quite happy, especially given that the first kilometre was called out to be around 3:03.
The rest of the week's training left something to be desired, as I was banged up following a brief re-introduction to speed on Tuesday, with my right knee needing some rest. That was a bit of a shame given that the weather this week was the best it's been in quite some time for both footing and temperature. I'm hopeful that everything has resolved itself (and it wasn't like setbacks weren't expected) so that I can rebound with a good week...just in time for more cold weather to roll in.
The rest of the week's training left something to be desired, as I was banged up following a brief re-introduction to speed on Tuesday, with my right knee needing some rest. That was a bit of a shame given that the weather this week was the best it's been in quite some time for both footing and temperature. I'm hopeful that everything has resolved itself (and it wasn't like setbacks weren't expected) so that I can rebound with a good week...just in time for more cold weather to roll in.
Tuesday 14 January 2014
Fast and Serious
So I figure I might as well get a marathon under by belt and debut at Ottawa in May. Which means that I will soon have to begin doing a lot of longer workouts at marathon pace, steeling myself for 26.2 miles of hard road. Things are about to get very serious, and I'm wondering how well my body will hold up.
But before all that fun starts, I'm racing a track 3K in Toronto on Saturday. Prior to this I will have run a grand total of one workout on the track (not counting 3km with three 200m pickups done on Saturday at the end of a long run). Should be interesting to see what I can manage, but I predict it will feel terrible regardless of pace. It always used to take a few workouts for my track legs to develop to the point where 3 minute kilometres were feasible during university, and while I feel I have the strength right now, I'm under no illusions about my ability to blast off fifteen laps around the oval at U of T.
But before all that fun starts, I'm racing a track 3K in Toronto on Saturday. Prior to this I will have run a grand total of one workout on the track (not counting 3km with three 200m pickups done on Saturday at the end of a long run). Should be interesting to see what I can manage, but I predict it will feel terrible regardless of pace. It always used to take a few workouts for my track legs to develop to the point where 3 minute kilometres were feasible during university, and while I feel I have the strength right now, I'm under no illusions about my ability to blast off fifteen laps around the oval at U of T.
Tuesday 7 January 2014
Into the Meat-Locker
The cold snap continues around much of the continent, and Hamilton has not been spared the wrath of the "Polar vortex." I think when it gets this cold, it's best to adopt the Rocky Balboa approach. If you can remember the scene, as he first walks through the meat-locker that Paulie works at, Rocky hates the place, is cold, and wants to get out as soon as he can.
After watching Paulie take a swing at the meat in frustration, Rocky realizes he can use the meat-locker to his advantage to prepare for his fight with Apollo Creed. Who would be crazy enough to bust their knuckles on dead animal carcasses to get ready for the ring? A contender, that's who.
This cold weather? It's less than ideal, and that's being nice. When I left my house this morning, the wind chill reading was sitting at -38 Celsius. The folks in northern Ontario and some of the prairie provinces had un-aided temperatures near or below that. It's not comfortable for anybody to be out for extended periods of time in this weather. But if you can bang out some miles in this stuff, you're tough. You're doing something that isn't glamourous and falls under the definition of what the general public would consider crazy. Because it is. Unless you want to run fast.
This past week has been the coldest I can remember, and I managed to run about as much as I ever have in 7 days. Stay motivated folks!
After watching Paulie take a swing at the meat in frustration, Rocky realizes he can use the meat-locker to his advantage to prepare for his fight with Apollo Creed. Who would be crazy enough to bust their knuckles on dead animal carcasses to get ready for the ring? A contender, that's who.
This cold weather? It's less than ideal, and that's being nice. When I left my house this morning, the wind chill reading was sitting at -38 Celsius. The folks in northern Ontario and some of the prairie provinces had un-aided temperatures near or below that. It's not comfortable for anybody to be out for extended periods of time in this weather. But if you can bang out some miles in this stuff, you're tough. You're doing something that isn't glamourous and falls under the definition of what the general public would consider crazy. Because it is. Unless you want to run fast.
This past week has been the coldest I can remember, and I managed to run about as much as I ever have in 7 days. Stay motivated folks!
Thursday 2 January 2014
Progress and Time
First blog of 2014, comin' at 'cha!
Sorry about the late post this week--this really should have been the last blog of 2013, but social activities diverted my attention elsewhere.
I raced the Boxing Day 10 Miler last Thursday. It was my fourth time doing the race, but unlike the previous editions, the course was different thanks to the bureaucrats at city hall. The organizers did a good job working with what they had, making it essentially an out and back on the waterfront trail. I do miss the escarpment section (yes, even the climbing!) of the old course though.
The new course was also certainly faster, but how much so I can only speculate. I ran 54:02 this year vs. 55:38 in 2012, finishing sixth behind my training partner Ryan Tice. Regardless, even with the course changes, I'm fairly confident I'm in better shape this year, and I was happy enough with the effort despite having to deal with some cramping in the sixth mile.
I already sort of re-capped my year in my first post resuming regular blogging back in October, so I won't bother with that again. I will simply say that 2013 on the whole was a very good year for me, even if the final four months since returning from Europe have brought a bit of adversity. The key words in that statement are "a bit". All factors considered, it was probably the best year I've had since I started university. And for that I can only be thankful.
If I follow the template for how these types of posts are supposed to work, I should probably state some running specific goals for the upcoming year. But to be frank, I don't have specific times in mind as a much as I hope to be consistent as possible over the next 12 months. When I started running seriously, I was better than average but not elite. I continued to improve through high school by running what I thought was a fair bit (though I chuckle when I look back on some of my training logs now) and staying healthy.
My training at Waterloo became more focused and scientific, but also highly erratic as a result of the work I needed to put into my academics. Following the passing of Terry Goodenough, my mindset shifted from the bigger picture of long term development to the goals I wanted to achieve each season. I had some performances I am particularly proud of, but also spent a lot of time in the wilderness of trying to get into decent shape following a layoff for exams or injury.
For some reason I got a reputation for being a high mileage runner in university. I will concede that I ran more than most of (if not all) the other guys on the team at Waterloo during the season, but often I was (unsuccessfully) trying to make up for lost time. I have never run more than 110 miles in a single week, and am not sure I have ever strung together even a month averaging over 95 miles. My average mileage values for each year would be depressingly low if I ever felt the urge to calculate them, which I haven't. I am a high mileage advocate, but struggle on the follow-through.
This is a whole lot of words to say that I want to continue improving this year, and in order to do that I need to run consistently moderate mileage (at the very least) or stick with cross training when issues inevitably creep up. The last five years have been a product of my own design, and the trick will be becoming a consistent runner once again.
Onward to 2014!
Sorry about the late post this week--this really should have been the last blog of 2013, but social activities diverted my attention elsewhere.
I raced the Boxing Day 10 Miler last Thursday. It was my fourth time doing the race, but unlike the previous editions, the course was different thanks to the bureaucrats at city hall. The organizers did a good job working with what they had, making it essentially an out and back on the waterfront trail. I do miss the escarpment section (yes, even the climbing!) of the old course though.
The new course was also certainly faster, but how much so I can only speculate. I ran 54:02 this year vs. 55:38 in 2012, finishing sixth behind my training partner Ryan Tice. Regardless, even with the course changes, I'm fairly confident I'm in better shape this year, and I was happy enough with the effort despite having to deal with some cramping in the sixth mile.
I already sort of re-capped my year in my first post resuming regular blogging back in October, so I won't bother with that again. I will simply say that 2013 on the whole was a very good year for me, even if the final four months since returning from Europe have brought a bit of adversity. The key words in that statement are "a bit". All factors considered, it was probably the best year I've had since I started university. And for that I can only be thankful.
If I follow the template for how these types of posts are supposed to work, I should probably state some running specific goals for the upcoming year. But to be frank, I don't have specific times in mind as a much as I hope to be consistent as possible over the next 12 months. When I started running seriously, I was better than average but not elite. I continued to improve through high school by running what I thought was a fair bit (though I chuckle when I look back on some of my training logs now) and staying healthy.
My training at Waterloo became more focused and scientific, but also highly erratic as a result of the work I needed to put into my academics. Following the passing of Terry Goodenough, my mindset shifted from the bigger picture of long term development to the goals I wanted to achieve each season. I had some performances I am particularly proud of, but also spent a lot of time in the wilderness of trying to get into decent shape following a layoff for exams or injury.
For some reason I got a reputation for being a high mileage runner in university. I will concede that I ran more than most of (if not all) the other guys on the team at Waterloo during the season, but often I was (unsuccessfully) trying to make up for lost time. I have never run more than 110 miles in a single week, and am not sure I have ever strung together even a month averaging over 95 miles. My average mileage values for each year would be depressingly low if I ever felt the urge to calculate them, which I haven't. I am a high mileage advocate, but struggle on the follow-through.
This is a whole lot of words to say that I want to continue improving this year, and in order to do that I need to run consistently moderate mileage (at the very least) or stick with cross training when issues inevitably creep up. The last five years have been a product of my own design, and the trick will be becoming a consistent runner once again.
Onward to 2014!
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