Gatineau

I'm officially moved into my place in Gatineau- have been since Saturday in fact. In my last post I actually referred to Ottawa instead of the city across the bridge, but I'm basically a stone's throw away from the Parliament buildings- there's not much difference. 

Training is going okay, not perfect, which is probably how I expected it to go given the summer I've had, so I'm not crushed with the realization that cross training will be an essential piece to the puzzle this fall. A bit of an ambitious progression run on Thursday banged up my left foot, so I had to substitute in some biking around Gatineau Park on the weekend. The good news is that the park is fantastically hilly and so aerobically I was doing alright. 

I was disappointed to realize last week that my plans to attend team training camp wouldn't be very feasible (rides to camp would be possible…rides home not so much). So it seems like I'll just have to put myself through my own paces around here and wish the rest of the team a great weekend. They'll have a blast! 

In other news, my current first-world problems relate to greeting people when I run/walk by them. You see, in all the places I have previously resided, English was my go-to language of greeting. Now that I live in Quebec, I have doubts as I run by people. Which is their language of preference? Will they mind if I say hello, or would they prefer something en Francais? What if I attempt to greet in French, despite obviously being an  anglophone? The one time I tried an "allo" I felt like an idiot. Oh the dilemma. 

This has grated me more than you might think. Because if I'm judging on first impressions alone, Ottawa-Gatineau is an incredibly fit area- I've encountered oodles of runners and even more cyclists each time I've been out and about. And each time I encounter a person, I must resort to a nod, or worse, no acknowledgement whatsoever! Oh the humanity! What happened to the solidarity I felt as I encountered others on the roads and trails? 

Regardless, I'm loving Ottawa/Gatineau right now. There's plenty of stuff to occupy my time until I start work next week, and it feels nothing like Toronto. Glorious! 

Back on the (t)rails

Exams are done and I'm back in Mount Hope until next weekend, when I head to Ottawa for my final co-op term. I'm pretty psyched about the move to Ottawa- it's a fantastic city and from looking at maps of the area surrounding my place, there will be a bunch of options for good running. This is especially exciting because running this week has left me more optimistic than I've felt since May. 

Unfortunately, a lot of potential miles were not run this summer because of the niggles I struggled with. I started this blog with a goal of logging the most volume I ever have during the summer months, but in reality this was probably one of the lowest mileage base phases I've run in the past 5 years. The good news is that I don't feel completely out of shape, and as a result my confidence isn't completely shot. Part of this comes from experience- two years ago my summer base phase was inadequate as I spent my time keeping afloat during a school term. I ramped things up in late August and came into the 2010 season with low expectations, but surprised myself with good runs in Guelph and London in September, and eventually coasted off my unexpected good form to land a spot at CI's (where I ran terribly as a result of the same foot issue that has plagued me as a late). 

As of today, there are 12 weeks until the CIS Cross Country Championships. I want to be on the start line in London, and I want six of my teammates there with me. I can't say what kind of team performance it will take for us to get there, but I know individually I will have to be in the best shape of my life. Is this possible given my limited timeframe? I'm not sure, and my expectations have been tempered by the setbacks I've had. But I remain hopeful! 

My tentative racing schedule for the fall is as follows: 

Sept. 15: Queen's Invite @ Queen's 

Sept. 29: Don Mills Open @ Waterloo

Oct. 13: Vic Matthews Open @ Guelph

Oct. 27: OUA championships @ York

Nov. 10: CIS championships @ Western 

I've decided that making the trip down to London the third week of September simply isn't worth it. It's a long bus or train ride down just to run while I'm unfit, and I can use the weekend to continue building my fitness. As I already known the generic features of the Thames Valley course, I also don't feel like I'm missing out by avoiding an early season preview. 

I expect my first two races at Queen's and Waterloo will be underwhelming, but I'm hoping by Guelph things will be coming together.  If the season doesn't pan out as planned, I'll have 12 weeks of good training in my legs in preparation for the indoor season.  

Official Hiatus

Just a quick heads up- I'm in the thick of exams now and likely won't be updating until mid-August. Thanks for sticking with me! 

- Patrick 

Miracles

I debated putting the blog on hiatus since I'm approaching exams and such, but figured a quick update wouldn't take too long. 

I tried an experiment last week that entailed doubling as long as my foot or IT band could handle it. This bright idea was conceived as I was faced with the prospect of having to get orthotics…I figured if I'm headed down that road anyhow, I really have nothing to lose at this point.

Surprisingly, my body handled it pretty well. Monday through Thursday were double days, as was Saturday, and my IT band held up just fine. To help out my foot, a metatarsal pad was placed on the left insole of my flats by Waterloo Sports Medicine on Wednesday to aid in preventing the beating my forefoot takes in them, but this only seemed to exacerbate the pain towards the outside of my foot, especially when I wore the flats for a workout Thursday evening. This carried over into Friday, even though I switched back into my Asics, and though Saturday morning I was feeling good, I regretted the evening run. Got a little too excited about the trails while I was home I guess. 

Sorry about the downer nature of this blog at the moment. As I've found out consistently over the years, there are no miracles in running, and apparently none for recovery either. I'm truthfully quite encouraged by the fact that I was able to get 5 solid days where I felt semi-normal again. I'll try to build on that as August approaches.

The Olympics start in the London soon, so why not watch Great Britain's greatest milers in the Los Angeles 1984 final?  Again, the better video doesn't allow imbedding, so here's the crappy American version:

The video I wanted to imbed is here. 

Rotisserie grill

While other sane people were spending their Friday evening doing their best to stay cool or take part in activities more appropriate for the sweltering weather, I and bunch of other crazies decided we'd all get together at the track down in London and see how much we could make ourselves sweat after twelve and a half laps inside TD Waterhouse Stadium. 

Which is to say Liam and I went ahead with running the 5000, despite the humidex still being reported at around 37 Celsius when we toed the line at 9:20 PM. 

To be frank, it wasn't the most pleasurable racing experience I've ever had. The first kilometre was hit right on schedule- a 3:05 with Liam sitting in behind that was bang on from the first 200. Happy to hit the first checkpoint relatively comfortably, I stopped listening for splits and worked on maintaining the same effort level. Based on my experience last year, I was hoping difficulties wouldn't arise until passing through 3k.

"6:16! 6:17!" I still have no idea how it happened, but somehow 3:05 morphed into 3:10+ as we hit 2K. Knowing I couldn't increase my tempo, I checked out racing for time at that point and tried to hold my position. I put a gap on Liam near the halfway point and from there on it was a solo effort in no man's land until Matt Brunsting lapped me with 500 m to go. 

I crossed the line in 15:52. How much was the heat worth, and how would an extra 50 miles a week leading up to it benefited me? I can only wonder. On a positive note, my IT band had been hurting all day leading up the race, but wasn't impacted once I had my spikes on. 

Running history video of the week: Joan Benoit winning the 1984 Olympic Marathon. The time she ran in the Los Angeles heat is still the Olympic record. To take the lead 14 minutes into a marathon and hold it for the next 2 hours+? Incredible. 

Frankenstein

Last summer while working in Hamilton I trained with the Harbour Track Club, which is composed almost entirely of McMaster athletes who stick around post-exams. While the women running with the club were probably a dozen strong, there was only four guys who were consistently in town to train: Noah Fleming, Sean Bowen, Ryan Tice, and myself. As it turned out, given our preferred events, this worked out fine. Tice and I were focused on running a 5000 on the track and that required that each of us didn't overdo it so as to be able to help the other through the next workout. Since we were also doing our off-day runs together in the Dundas Valley, we are also quite aware how the other was feeling on a day-to-day basis. In this way we trained symbiotically, feeding off each other on tougher days while keeping the easy days easy whenever one of us was feeling a little banged up. 

As our off-day miles started to creep up, Tice's weekly totals became higher than he'd ever done before, but unlike in the past, he managed to stay healthy as we continued our build. We both cracked 16 by a significant margin in the early July 5000 we had targeted, and continued to work out together for the rest of the summer during Harbour Track's hiatus before the CIS cross country season. For a guy who had never even been an alternate for a championship squad, I predicted Tice would crack the top 7 for McMaster and race at CI's. 

Fast forward 12 months, and I can't believe the monster I helped create. Tice not only made the CIS squad, he was the 4th scorer on a team that finished 6th in the country. He ran low 8:40s and 4:02 for 3k and 1500m indoors respectively (for a guy who'd never broken 9:10 the previous year) and has already run a faster 5k on the track AND road this year than I ever have. Simply put, he's been tearing it up. 

Why the lovefest over Tice? Well first of all, he deserves some credit for how rapidly he has improved in a year. Secondly, there's a Tice 2.0 that's currently in the barn, getting ready to blow the doors off. His name? Liam Mulroy. 

I can't say for sure, but I suspect Liam has been running more mileage this summer than ever before. And he's certainly running faster workouts than he's ever done, and in the process is absolutely crushing me. In what is becoming a cruel twist of fate I can only laugh at, I've added Liam to the list of people that I've trained with that can sprint faster than me. So that means the list of people who I have better wheels than is now reduced to…nothing. Again. Darn. 

Liam and I are both running 12.5 long laps on the track in London on Friday. The humidex is predicted to be 42…here's hoping it gets down to mid 30s by the time we race under the lights. But watch out world! Liam Mulroy is gonna set the track on fire. As they say on Letsrun…you heard it here first!!! 

Personal update: I'm still having injury issues, but am hoping I can crack 15:50 on my lowest mileage summer in about 4 years. 

In other news, I'd like to begin some form of weekly segment on this blog: a video related in some form to the history of the sport of running. Most will be race videos, but I'll try to find other stuff as well. The motivation behind this is a general lack of knowledge I've noticed among runners about some of the great runners of bygone eras. Does anybody who cares about the NBA go "Magic Johnson who???" Heck no. So take some time and educate yourself. 

To begin, here's some background information to set the tone:  It's August 13th, 1997. To cap a monumental year in which he started by setting successive records at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in 800 in both the heats and the final, Wilson Kipketer is attempting to break Sebastion Coe's outdoor world record of 1:41.73. A month earlier he managed to tie the record, which had stood for 16 years, and so it was speculated that it was only a matter of time before Kipketer bettered what was then considered one of the greatest track and field performances ever. In Zurich, Switzerland, in a stadium full of knowledgable and enthusiastic fans, Kipketer made his run at history: 

"48.10 AT 400 METRES! "

Want to make track exciting? Have these guys commentate every race. No one does it better than the Brits. (I'm aware the quality of the video is poor. For a link to a better version that doesn't allow imbedding, check it out here)

Pogo stick

An up and down week to say the least. Let's get this post rolling…

A couple things happened to me for the first time at the Waterloo Classic 5K this past Sunday. The first was that I dipped under 16 minutes on the road, despite feeling the effects later on of passing through the first kilometre in a fraction over 3 minutes. The second novelty was a reward for my efforts: $50 cash for my third place finish. 

I want to state right off the bat that running fast gives me all the satisfaction I'd ever require. If I have to choose between prizes or quick times, I'd choose a good effort 10 times out of 10. But since most races insist on providing participants with some sort of finishing medal, it's really nice to see of that money being used towards a cash prize for once. Despite competing in road races since grade nine, I can't once recall actually winning any money. Most races I've done don't even offer straight cash to top finishes, which can still be okay if something comparable such as gift certificates are offered- as long as they are a reasonable dollar amount. Last December I ran a race in Hamilton that awarded gift certificates to the winners that were less than the entry fee. I finished second and was presented with a whole $10 to be used at the Running Room. Anyone that has ever browsed through John Stanton's chain of stores knows that $10 isn't enough to even purchase a pair of socks, never mind any else of practical use. Had I gotten the win, my winnings would have amounted to $25, with a net loss of $15 when taking into account the entry fee. Now I don't run races just to pick up prize money, but with over 400 finishes and a bevy of finishing medals and t-shirts available, I don't see how even offering to pay back the entries for the top 10 finishers would hurt the overall profitability of a race. Especially considering I don't need nor do I want another finishing medal to clutter my house or end up in a landfill. A better scenario would see the price of a race entry decrease by doing away with medals and t-shirts altogether. If the run raises some money for a local charity (and many do these days) that means that the price can remain reasonable with most of the proceeds still going to a good cause. More often than not the shirts provided are irrationally ugly and made of obviously cheap dry-fit material that chafes like sandpaper anyhow. I can probably survive buying my own running shirts that are functional, easy on the eyes and not a walking billboard for the local fun run. 

All of these reasons make twilight track races seem like a gift from the heavens. For an entry fee usually around $15, you buy yourself a spot on the line, and (assuming you finish) a time beside your name on the results page. There are no frills- just a chance to race your best with a group of other guys there to do the exact same thing. The only reward for running fast is the personal satisfaction that comes with it, which is the best perk in my opinion anyhow. 

…but this means it sort of sucks when you're banking on a little personal satisfaction and come up empty with a weak effort. For my second race of the week, I ran 4:10 over 1500 metres on Friday,  but it would really be a  stretch to call what I was doing "racing".  I was at the back of the pack at the start, but never moved up and eventually fell off as the race heated up. There was a 10 second spread between the winner of the heat (4:02) and the slowest finisher, so there was more than enough bodies to chase. But my legs ached through 800m as if they were being over-stretched, and my chest burned like I was racing indoors. Looking at a video of the race was telling- I looked pretty defeated my last lap. 

I've been struggling to determine what went wrong. Granted, my mileage this summer has been pitiful by my standards, and that always tends to hurt my performances at any distance. But I felt good enough both Sunday and Tuesday (during a brutally hot workout) that I thought the pieces would come together for a good time. Devon and Justin both had great races for personal bests, so what could my excuse be? 

I'm hoping that it was just a bad day. I briefly entertained thoughts of not running the 5000 in London two weeks from now, but figured my road performance has the potential to translate alright onto the track. This is assuming my foot holds. It's been hurting this past week, and since I've determined the Asics mess up my IT band even if they save my foot from taking a beating, I've got to be careful with my choice of shoes at the moment. Wish me luck! 

Back on the track

I'll admit it- I'm a total hypocrite. How can I possibly complain about other bloggers not providing a regular update if I don't do so myself? Not that it's a valid excuse, but the past two weeks have been pretty rough in the school department. I haven't slept nearly as much as I've wanted to, and I feel like my body is paying the price now. Regardless, it's time for another running update- sorry about the delay. 

My last post alluded to my pitiful lack of speed and confidence on the track at the time of writing. Since that post, I've done three workouts on the track. The first was one was simply vicious given the lack of any prior speed training: 800m tempo followed by 2x400 w/ 100 jog b/w, 3 minutes rest, 3x300 w/ 100 jog b/w, 3 min rest, 3x300 w/ 100 jog b/w. The 300s and 400s were all significantly under current race pace, and hurt a fair bit. This preluded my summer debut on the track, a 3000 in London last Sunday.

I was asked about my race goals and expectations by a few people prior to the gun that evening, and given my total lack of confidence, said under 9:20 would be an okay day, and 9:05 would be a pretty good one. I've always found it tough to predict a performance with little to no track work- I'm never sure how my body will respond to any pace. 

As we lined up, we were told Matt Suda would be pacing for 8:50 (the cut-off between the slower heat and the fast guys toeing the line later). Off the start, I got out slow and was spiked twice in the first hundred metres as I made the snap decision to move up and follow the group going with Suda. My racing instincts rewarded me this time- the gap opened in that first lap wouldn't close for the rest of the race. 

Settling in behind the rest of the group, I passed through the first kilometre in around 2:57. It didn't feel terrible, but I also couldn't go any faster, and so was content to sit on message board legend and Master extraordinaire Steve Boyd. His pace remained steady past 1500m, where I began to drop back into no-man's land and had to grit it out for the second half of the race. 

Coming into the final 200 metres I heard the split and knew I needed to run under 35 seconds to break nine. For most decent track runners I'd say this is not overly difficult to do the worst of times, but my best effort towards the finish still only snuck me under the barrier by 25 one-hundredths of a second. Regardless, it was a positive result given my expectations, and I was moderately happy about it until I realized I was faster at the start of indoor track season in January. 

Track workouts on Tuesday and Thursday this past week were run on remarkably little sleep; Tuesday took the title for the week though with only 1 hour, non-consecutive. 

Despite less than ideal recovery, I banged out some decent enough 600s with the boys in the wind on Tuesday. Thursday Liam and I decided to do some 1Ks and averaged 3:05 for five of the last six after opening up in 3 flat (2 minutes recovery) on a day where the conditions at Resurrection were actually ideal for a change. I was pleased with the effort, and am hoping it translates to a decent 5K tomorrow at the Waterloo Classic. 

I'm hoping mileage creeps up again soon. It seems school or injuries are happening on alternating schedules to make sure I can't run as much as I desire. I'm hoping issues with my IT band stay quiet as school calms down for a couple weeks. 

Rain on the parade

Yesterday was miserable weather to do just about anything. So after running 60 minutes in the rain and cold of the early morning and having wet feet after biking around campus during the day, I wasn't feeling the least bit excited to meet Justin for an evening slog (even though I had made the initial suggestion that we run in the evening). 

My decision to make this the first easy day double in a few weeks was poorly planned. The 5PM timeframe coincided with a torrential downpour of biblical proportions that only increased in volume as we waded through the creek formally known as Erb Street. After reaching the Line, the only motivation for continuing stemmed from the knowledge that the wind was actually at our backs, leaving us with an even more unpleasant second half for our out-and-back. 

On our return trip, we were reduced to squinting and groaning as the rain and wind pelted us like a rigged game of Whac-a-mole. I remarked that it was the wettest run I had ever done, and Justin agreed with the sentiment- the rain had never let up, instead alternating between bad and brutal. 

Not surprisingly, my legs were sore this morning, especially my hamstrings. Justin and I met up with Dave at Resurrection in order to pace him through a tough workout: 3 x 800 on full recovery, progressing from current to goal pace for 1500. We were both quite confident that hitting Dave's prescribed paces would come easy, and planned to do some 400s in between each 800 while he recovered. 

The first 800 was a complete shock to the system. Aiming to run 2:22, we came through 400 in 75, and closed in 70. The wind on the home stretch was strong, but I was absolutely expecting to hit the proper paces. 

The rest of the workout did not go any better. We managed to hit 2:20 on the second 800, two seconds slow, and for the final 2-lapper could only pull Dave through 400 before turning him loose to hammer home on his own (which he did successfully). 

I'll admit to being disappointed. Injuries aside, a 70 second 400 should not feel hard at this point in the season, and it completely saps out any excitement I may have felt on Thursday. 

Twenty days until London 1500m night. I have a need for speed. 

Sunday: Ottawa Half Marathon (1:28) 

Monday: 53 minutes

Tuesday: 4.8 miles am + 3.5k w/u, 3x(4x 2 min w/ 1 min jog), 3 minutes jog b/w sets, 4x150m fast, 3.5 k c/d

Wednesday: 61 minutes 

Thursday: 4.8 miles am + 4k w/u, 12x300 w/ 90sec b/w, 4k c/d

Friday: 60 min am + 55 min PM 

Saturday: 4k w/u, 800-400-800-400-400 (2:25, 69, 2:20, 67, 66), 3x80m easy stride, 4k c/d

Going to the well

Sorry about the slacking on the blog post this week- will try to keep it consistent with weekend updates. 

This past weekend a group of us headed up to Ottawa to compete in the five and ten kilometre road races in the capital. It was a smaller group than years past, but it was still a great trip on the whole, and accommodations with the Andersen family were top-notch. 

The week leading up to the race was frustrating, mainly because I was afraid of doing any more damage but also feeling ansy. My IT felt tight Monday, so I went for a long walk. Tuesday I felt a little better, so I added in short jogs of 3, 4 and 5 minutes into my stroll. My 20 minute test Wednesday was a success so I attempted (and completed) the workout Thursday. Friday morning the same tightness and pain returned, and I was quite worried during the ride up to Ottawa. Liam Mulroy (who was generous enough to lend me his foam roller, which has definitely helped my recovery) wanted my bib for the 5K if I couldn't run, and given how I was feeling, it was probable he would get it. 

The car ride up didn't help, and I was feeling incredibly stiff and sore when I went to bed Friday evening. But I woke up Saturday morning feeling better, which coupled with massaging my leg periodically had me feeling good enough to try a pre-race warmup. 

About 10 minutes into the warmup Justin asked me how the IT band felt, to which I responded that I didn't really want to think about it, which was truthful; my leg felt stiff yet did not feel like it was deteriorating. When we hopped into the corrals a few minutes before the gun, attempting to jostle our way to the front of the mass of people, I felt confident enough that I kept my bib, with Liam joining Justin and I as a bandit. 

The start was somewhat chaotic, mainly the result of too many people at the front not belonging there, and thereby getting swallowed up immediately by faster athletes. A few hobby joggers hit the deck, but the rest of us got out clean. 

I'll have to be honest- the race itself was a bit of a blur. The kilometres weren't marked, so without having any real idea how fast I was going, I checked my watch every few minutes and guessed how long I had until I would be done hurting. And I was certainly hurting, even early on. For the entire race, I did my best to chase down the leaders, and like my last race at the Terry Goodenough Memorial Run, I believe I really went to the well effort-wise. There are days when you feel like you could have pushed harder. But with these past two efforts, I really feel like I've dug deep, and have come away satisfied as a result. And while I may not be running stellar times right now, if I can get into good shape and still tap into my extra reserves, those will fall into place easily enough. 

As it turns out, the five of us were all fairly satisfied with our efforts in our respective races, and Ryan Dos Santos, who make the trip up after racing in Woodstock that morning, had a very impressive double as a bandit in the 10k, making the group 6 for 6 on the day. Ottawa Race weekend is great trip regardless, but driving 6 hours+ and running well makes it all the sweeter. 

The plan for Sunday was to hop into the the half marathon and use it as a long run. With the way the course was set up, we were able to slip right in with the masses exiting the corrals in the first 400 metres, and set out running kilometres in the mid-fours range, with no real goal finish time. After feeling it out for a few kilometres and making full use of the aid stations set up on course, competitive instincts kicked in and chasing the 1:30 pace group became a priority. 

Prior to the run, I had told the guys that I would potentially have to drop out before the finish, given my struggles of late. But as we clicked on progressively faster kilometres, bouncing between being well ahead of the pace bunny to slightly behind after combinations of pit stops and aid stations, my IT never worsened, and so finishing became the minimum. After covering the first 10 kilometres in around 43 minutes, we finished in roughly by dropping an average of 8 seconds per kilometre off our pace through 10k. 

In the final 100m, our shirts went off in tandem, and the crowds lining the finish reacted in a way I didn't expect- they absolutely erupted! In response, we hammered across the line.

A fantastic weekend on the whole. And something to build on for me personally I hope. 

Sunday: 1:30 biking

Monday: 60 min walk 

Tuesday: 60 min walk with 3, 4, 5 min jog 

Wednesday: 50 min walk with 20 min jog in middle

Thursday: Bike warmup, 9x300 w/ 100 jog, 4x150 fast-float-fast, Bike cool down

Friday: 35 min am

Saturday: 12 min w/u+ drills, 16:04 Road PB Ottawa, 10 min c/d