Unfortunately after my last post stating how it's important to live through your own performances, I was saddled with a combination of poor results and injury. Timing is everything kids!
Seemingly out of nowhere my left knee started bugging me one day about a month ago. I took it a bit easier during that particular week and then raced a half marathon the following Monday. The half was a disaster for a couple reasons-- firstly because I was way off my goal pace and where I thought my fitness should be, secondly because it was freezing cold (-20 and below with the windchill) and my face nearly froze off, and thirdly because it seemed to do damage my knee/quad even more than I expected. It took about three weeks for my knee to feel better, and I've still got some lingering effects. Understandably, my mileage totals during that period have been underwhelming.
The good news? I feel pretty fresh...which I suppose I should given that I've had a bit of a mini-taper as a result of the time off. And I got a real full-time job!
My employment status has been a real source of embarrassment and disappointment since I returned from Europe. I knew it would be difficult to land a job in my field in the fall, but I didn't think it would take until March to start one, and I wasn't ready for the mental fallout that resulted. Coupled with some issues in my personal life, it was a very trying six months with running being the only thing that was keeping my sanity. I never felt the desire to write about my struggles on this medium because it is specifically a running blog, but now that I am indeed working (I just finished up my first week), I am willing to be honest about how I was feeling in case someone reading this is going through the same thing right now.
I spent a lot of my time not wanting to go out in public with no money and no answer as to why I wasn't working. I applied to many, many jobs, and did some temp work prior to Christmas so I could purchase some presents for my family. Now that that period is over, I feel as though a weight has been lifted. My marathon training will take a hit because of the number of hours I'm working, but I am comfortable with that while I make the adjustment to professional life.
As always, thanks for reading!
Saturday 8 March 2014
Monday 10 February 2014
Live through your own performances
The Winter Olympics are in full swing and with the event comes shameless nationalistic pride that I feel as strongly as anyone while our athletes are competing. Because the casual fan can grow so accustomed to the favourites performing when it counts at the highest level, any instance of an athlete cracking under the pressure can induce a feeling of deep disappointment or even frustration. This was especially evident for myself four years ago during the Vancouver Games, when pre-games hype and expectations to "Own the Podium" were smashed when the medal haul stagnated in the first week of competition.
While the Vancouver Games were happening, I was pursuing my own athletic goals, first attempting to break nine minutes for 3000 metres, and then trying to better my time at OUA's. I realized that I should stop focusing on the performances of other athletes and instead prove that I could perform under pressure myself.
I shut off the television, stopped worrying about how Canada was doing in the medal standings, and broke the nine minute barrier. A week later at OUA's I focused solely on racing my competitors in the "slow" heat and clocked 8:49, in what remains one of the most satisfying performances of my life.
The lesson I drew from this was that while it's fantastic to cheer our athletes toward victory, their losses shouldn't invoke feelings similar to a minor personal tragedy. As it turned out, the Canadian team got red-hot in the second week and ended up with a record gold-medal haul for a single nation at the Winter Olympics. Certainly I remember Sidney Crosby's winning goal, but the feeling of disbelief looking up at the clock post-race and seeing a time under 8:50-- that moment electrified my entire body. I believe it's best to live through your own performances for this reason.
In training news, I remain consistent from a mileage standpoint, but my workouts have not been earth-shattering. To allow for more recovery, we planned a workout for Wednesday this past week but another storm made footing disastrous and we pushed 6x6 minutes (off a minute jog recovery) to Thursday. I felt terrible on the last two reps, and needed Saturday to be a good day once again to boost my confidence. To that end, Ryan and I ran 20 miles at a quick and steady pace; I felt good until the 18 mile mark when cramping and fatigue made the run more of a slog. That being said, I feel that my endurance is coming along, even if faster pace work is still lagging behind in the adaptation phase.
While the Vancouver Games were happening, I was pursuing my own athletic goals, first attempting to break nine minutes for 3000 metres, and then trying to better my time at OUA's. I realized that I should stop focusing on the performances of other athletes and instead prove that I could perform under pressure myself.
I shut off the television, stopped worrying about how Canada was doing in the medal standings, and broke the nine minute barrier. A week later at OUA's I focused solely on racing my competitors in the "slow" heat and clocked 8:49, in what remains one of the most satisfying performances of my life.
The lesson I drew from this was that while it's fantastic to cheer our athletes toward victory, their losses shouldn't invoke feelings similar to a minor personal tragedy. As it turned out, the Canadian team got red-hot in the second week and ended up with a record gold-medal haul for a single nation at the Winter Olympics. Certainly I remember Sidney Crosby's winning goal, but the feeling of disbelief looking up at the clock post-race and seeing a time under 8:50-- that moment electrified my entire body. I believe it's best to live through your own performances for this reason.
In training news, I remain consistent from a mileage standpoint, but my workouts have not been earth-shattering. To allow for more recovery, we planned a workout for Wednesday this past week but another storm made footing disastrous and we pushed 6x6 minutes (off a minute jog recovery) to Thursday. I felt terrible on the last two reps, and needed Saturday to be a good day once again to boost my confidence. To that end, Ryan and I ran 20 miles at a quick and steady pace; I felt good until the 18 mile mark when cramping and fatigue made the run more of a slog. That being said, I feel that my endurance is coming along, even if faster pace work is still lagging behind in the adaptation phase.
Monday 3 February 2014
The Ideal
Another decent week of mileage is in the rear-view mirror, but the workouts in these past seven days gave me more trouble than I expected. I had to work very hard to stay within 50 metres of my primary training partner on Tuesday's 6x(3min quick+ 1 min surge) up on the McMaster indoor track and was well off goal half-marathon pace during a 4 mile tempo on Thursday. Thankfully a 29 kilometre run with 13k at an estimation of current marathon pace went quite well, thereby salvaging the week somewhat in terms of quality.
Part of the reason for my lacklustre workouts the past week may have been the residual fatigue that carried over from the week before, and possibly the two hours I spent cross country skiing in the Dundas Valley on Sunday.
I absolutely love cross country skiing, even if my technique could use some serious tweaking. I've owned a pair of of classic skis since Christmas 2007 and in all that time have only gone on ungroomed trails/golf courses when the snow has permitted, which altogether has likely been less than 20 times (school work got in the way of many chances the past five years).
I tend to think the way cross country skiing is broadcast in Canada and the United States during World Cup and Olympic events is the ideal that distance running should strive for. Many of the races are of a similar duration; the men's 50km event at the Vancouver Games took around two hours and five minutes to complete, similar to Sammy Wanjiru's 2:06:32 for the marathon at the Beijing Olympics two years earlier. Yet there is a stark difference in the quality of the commentary, primarily because knowledgable former athletes are often brought in to provide analysis during the ski events while major marathons and long distance track races feature a talking head who has often been prepped more about the materials in a particular athlete's shoe than who the major players for medals are and their history.
Can this be changed? Absolutely. But it will likely take Canadians and Americans winning consistently on the world stage (again) for networks to take notice and focus more on the compelling story of the race that is unfolding rather than the personal tragedy of some homegrown talent meant to pull at the heartstrings rather than stimulate the minds of viewers.
Part of the reason for my lacklustre workouts the past week may have been the residual fatigue that carried over from the week before, and possibly the two hours I spent cross country skiing in the Dundas Valley on Sunday.
I absolutely love cross country skiing, even if my technique could use some serious tweaking. I've owned a pair of of classic skis since Christmas 2007 and in all that time have only gone on ungroomed trails/golf courses when the snow has permitted, which altogether has likely been less than 20 times (school work got in the way of many chances the past five years).
I tend to think the way cross country skiing is broadcast in Canada and the United States during World Cup and Olympic events is the ideal that distance running should strive for. Many of the races are of a similar duration; the men's 50km event at the Vancouver Games took around two hours and five minutes to complete, similar to Sammy Wanjiru's 2:06:32 for the marathon at the Beijing Olympics two years earlier. Yet there is a stark difference in the quality of the commentary, primarily because knowledgable former athletes are often brought in to provide analysis during the ski events while major marathons and long distance track races feature a talking head who has often been prepped more about the materials in a particular athlete's shoe than who the major players for medals are and their history.
Can this be changed? Absolutely. But it will likely take Canadians and Americans winning consistently on the world stage (again) for networks to take notice and focus more on the compelling story of the race that is unfolding rather than the personal tragedy of some homegrown talent meant to pull at the heartstrings rather than stimulate the minds of viewers.
Monday 27 January 2014
Miles of uncertainty
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.
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.
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!
Monday 23 December 2013
Gotta live with it
I have personally never liked using genetics as an "excuse" for why one person is able to run significantly faster than another. As the old saying goes, hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work. The East Africans that become champions work very hard indeed, often over a period of many years. Mo Farah was mediocre on the world level until he switched up his training after joining Alberto Salazar (I hope it's really only strength training that resulted in such dramatic improvements). However, I cannot disregard the fact that genetic potential is a reality; if I started training tomorrow to become a sprinter and run equivalent performances to my longer distance PBs, I believe it unlikely if not impossible that I would achieve such a goal.
When I stop and think about it, my body spends a lot of time and effort suggesting that I am not built to be a runner at all. Overuse injuries aside, I have some peculiar issues that make running less than ideal.
For starters, I don't seem to be built for any particular climate, hot or cold. In the winter I have to layer up my extremities more than would seem logical, wearing thick mittens on my hands, with the material from the arms of my long sleeve pulled up as far over my wrists as they will stretch. I tuck the bottoms of my tights into my socks in order to prevent inevitable frost bite if I leave my ankles exposed below zero. In running with many groups over the years I have learned that neither of these levels of protection is necessary for most of the general running population. Despite my efforts, the skin on the front of my ankles often still darkens from exposure over the course of the winter and I often lose feeling in my wrists and hands by the end of runs on particularly cold days.
In warmer temperatures, I sweat excessive amounts in comparison to just about anyone I've ever run with. I would love to be tested just to see what my perspiration rate is, because I can almost guarantee if would be several standard deviations above the normal level measured. One of the more daunting prospects of running a marathon is my expected fluid loss, and by extension how much liquid I will have to consume to keep within the range that does not result in diminishing performance.
It seems I'm more aptly built for sweating competitions they have on gameshows in Japan than for running. But I enjoy it enough, so I guess I'll just keep running.
This past week was a good one from a mileage standpoint. I'll be interested to see how the Boxing Day 10 Miler goes and if there's any residual lead in my legs.
When I stop and think about it, my body spends a lot of time and effort suggesting that I am not built to be a runner at all. Overuse injuries aside, I have some peculiar issues that make running less than ideal.
For starters, I don't seem to be built for any particular climate, hot or cold. In the winter I have to layer up my extremities more than would seem logical, wearing thick mittens on my hands, with the material from the arms of my long sleeve pulled up as far over my wrists as they will stretch. I tuck the bottoms of my tights into my socks in order to prevent inevitable frost bite if I leave my ankles exposed below zero. In running with many groups over the years I have learned that neither of these levels of protection is necessary for most of the general running population. Despite my efforts, the skin on the front of my ankles often still darkens from exposure over the course of the winter and I often lose feeling in my wrists and hands by the end of runs on particularly cold days.
In warmer temperatures, I sweat excessive amounts in comparison to just about anyone I've ever run with. I would love to be tested just to see what my perspiration rate is, because I can almost guarantee if would be several standard deviations above the normal level measured. One of the more daunting prospects of running a marathon is my expected fluid loss, and by extension how much liquid I will have to consume to keep within the range that does not result in diminishing performance.
It seems I'm more aptly built for sweating competitions they have on gameshows in Japan than for running. But I enjoy it enough, so I guess I'll just keep running.
This past week was a good one from a mileage standpoint. I'll be interested to see how the Boxing Day 10 Miler goes and if there's any residual lead in my legs.
Monday 16 December 2013
A bite from the cold
A large portion of North America has been experiencing below average temperatures for December. Southern Ontario hasn't avoided this trend, and I had my first instance of frozen elbows since the previous winter on Thursday.
The undefined problem around my 2nd and 3rd metatarsals of my left foot seems to have disappeared with the help of a few days off. Needless to say I didn't end up running a whole bunch this week, but got a faster effort in on Thursday and a long run on Saturday, so it wasn't a complete wash.
The undefined problem around my 2nd and 3rd metatarsals of my left foot seems to have disappeared with the help of a few days off. Needless to say I didn't end up running a whole bunch this week, but got a faster effort in on Thursday and a long run on Saturday, so it wasn't a complete wash.
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