The Big Race of the Year - Moncton Half Marathon

So after Bluenose in the Spring, I decided that having done so well on such a tough course while being sick, I must be able to do even better on a friendlier course. I chatted with my buddy Craig a bit and we thought doing something big in the Fall (when the temps should be cooler) might be good. We would have all summer to train and once the  heat of summer broke, things would be looking up. Moncton fit the bill. It was a trip, though close to home, flat, and in late october. Now of course it could have been rainy or stormy, but that is a risk with any race.

Training went well, and a few tune up races showed me my pace was in the right area. I wanted to run a 3:48min/km  pace or better, having done 3:54 at the Bluenose. As race day was approahing, I had been doing a lot of travel for work though, and was really starting to feel worn down. I couldn't wait for the race ot actually happen.

The race venue and hotel was great. Downtown Moncton, and the hotel was at the start line. We arrived the day before and managed to hang out with a group of BLT Runners that had made the journey.

We were all kind of wondering what to do about the weather though. It was supposed to be sunny and calm, but only -2C to start at 8 AM. This is certainly a temp we hadn't experienced yet this year. Some members ran out and bought extra clothes. I wasn't sure which way to go, though I knew I would be wearing shorts and a singlet. In the end I decided to wear arm warmers as well and swicth from my normal lightweight racing socks to a pair of lightweight Smartwool socks.

As the morning arrived, I ate my oatmeal, waited as long as possible indoors then braved to cold and hit the start line. There I found Andreas who is a great runner that is very smilar in pace t me. I also found Craig, who was looking to race a PB and a few other BLT Runners (I didn't get a chance to see everyone that early though).

And then we were off. I found out afterward that this was the New Brunswick Half Marathon Championship, which would explain why so many people zoomed ahead. Andreas and I started off easy and then picked up te pace heading into kilometer 2. The course is pretty flat, though it is twisty, narrow and parts are on crusher dust path. I knew this and did a lot of speed work on our crusher dust trail, so this wasn't an issue.

By 4 kilomters in, the sun was up and I could actually start to feel my legs. Our average pace was 3:47 at this point and we were doing well, having formed a pack of 2 runners with a big gap in front and behind.  By 7 kilometers in I could finally feel my hands. By 8 kilomters Andreas obviously decided he needed to take control and jumped in front of me. I tucked in behind and off we went.

The first uturn was at 11 km (ish) and then we wee headed back running against the other runners. This was mostly fine, though Andreas ended up running into a woman that wasn't paying attention. Luckily both we fine and he didn't lose his momentum.  Off we continued.

I know my pacing was better in this race as I hit the 10km mark at about 38 min, fast but not unstainable. I think the cool air was really helping, as I wasn't sweating or feeling hot at all, and this was obviously helping me conserve my energy.

Nutritionwise I took 2 sips of gatorade on course. Just enough to wet my mouth and get a new taste. Also a little sugar can go a long way. I have been happy that my aerobic endurance has been so high this year that I know I am not burning hot while running, or in other words, burning too many carbs. That makes long distance running more sustainable.

As we approached the 17 km mark (having run through some extra twisty bits, on boardwalk and more crusher dust) a woman appeared  zooming up behind us. She was putting on some speed trying t catch up to us. And truthfully, I didn't care at that point as I knew I was finally starting to feel my legs start to burn a bit and my breathing to start to pick up. Our pace was still at 3:48, so I knew this was just time to hold on now.

By 19 km, the three of us were together. Then I was a little behind those 2 as we headed to the final corner (dang things happen fast).  I checked my watch and it seems we were at 21.1km yet the finish linme loomed in the distance. At this point, I picked up my speed, dodging 10km racers, passing the other two and fought to beat the clock to 1:20:59. In the end I failed to do that fficially, getting a 1:21:02. Truly though it was known that the course was long (200-300m). My time should have been 1:20:15. Most importantly, my average pace was 3:48, my goal, and with that I was very happy.

I finished 6th overall and fastest male 40-49.  I trained hard,  smart and hit my goals, all of which were attainable. In total this year I knocked almost 4 minutes off my old half marathon PB.  I also ran injury free this year, thanks in no small part to Alan at Seaside Chiropractic and knowing my limits.

The most important thing I achieved that day though? See the next blog post.

One Weekend Two Races 2017

This was a big weekend. I ave done this in the past, and was even injured at the time. That was when I was dumber. I am less dumb now, notice I said less.

Anyway, Saturday started with my now traditional walk to the start of Leg 2 of the Rum Runners Relay in Halifax. With my running clothes in a bag, a little food and a hobo like attitude I search for my team of people I don't know and prepare for a day of trying to find rides.

This year I was running Leg 7 of the relay. After last weekends decent result in the MEC race, I figured I would be able to do well enough and keep my streak of top 7 finishes alive. Unlike last week, this Leg of the relay was anything but flat. It was hilly, and while it doesn't have the total vertical gain of some of the Legs, it has the most per kilometer. At 9. 4 km long it has 122 m of elevation.

Oddly it is the hills that made me dread this Leg. Nope, it is the fact that every year I have attended the Rum Runners Relay, this particular Leg is super hot and humid. It takes place at 1:50 pm and just seems to be tough weather wise. This year though I lucked out. The recent humidity had broken, the clouds were in and the air was cool. Perfect for running.

I lined up near the front and after our race brief we were off.  I decided to run mostly by feel on this one and tucked in with the leaders, four of us together. Soon we were the only four in sight of the lead car.  Drew had held back a little bit but was now moving to take the lead, with the runner from A Few Good Men with him. I held my ground, knowing the big hills were coming. 

As we fought up the first of these hills, it became apparent that the Mountain View Runner (I think also named Ian) was starting to fall back a bit on pace, so I bridged him and took solo command of third place. I pushed hard up and down each hill, remembering all the extra training I had done earlier in the year for Bluenose. It certainly helped.  And before you know it, I had beaten the 5 monsters and was in the final 3 km, which is relatively flat. By this time I finally glanced at my watch and was really happy to see my pace was rather good. I also finally glanced back and saw I was all alone.

I won't lie. At the 8 km lark I was tired. But my core work this year has done wonders and I was able to keep running strong. The finish is a tight 180 degrees and up hill. Knowing that all that matters is time, I pushed through hard and finished third in 34:26 with an average pace of 3:43 (it was 150m short per my Garmin). My official pace is 3:40. Not as nice as last years win, but I will say a far better run.

How did the saga of my hobo journeys go? Well I had made it to Leg 7 start, then was left behind after my great run, found a drive with Denis, refound my other drive, but lost my pack and change of clothes, then got all that back and finally managed to get home somehow!

The next day as I awoke early (again) and dragged my carcass out of bed, I was ready for another race. This time the every fun Riverport Duathlon. I knew I was not going to be able to give this race my A game, but it is too much fun not to do.

The field was down in overall size this year, but the number of tough athletes was way up. It was a great field. I hoped I would be able to at least give some good runs, as I hadn't done a lot of bike training this year. My warm up run though made me feel like crawling back into bed.

Still I took to the start line and was soon running. The pace seemed fine at the start, though ultimately my Garmin wasn't doing anything so, I had no idea what I was running. So I hoofed it as best as I could. I quickly fell into 6th place, and while I feel like I could have pushed it past some of the guys ahead of me when fresh, I certainly couldn't that day. Still I apparently had enough oomph for a 3:36 pace and a 14:22 run for the first 4km. (Last year I did 14:08 in the first run)

 

That isn't me waving

To the bike, but not before a brain failure made me have to go back and remove my running shoes. D'oh. But then I was riding. This year I wanted to see how well I could do  riding by cadence and trying to keep to high. So I didn't look at distance or speed (I know the course well enough though). I did well but the uber bikers did manage to pass me. Eventually dropping me to 12th overall. The second half of the ride was also really rough with some nasty paved areas. I wish I could say that my cadence experiment was a success but then I was about 1 minute slower on the bike this year. But a fair comparison? Probably not. While riding the flats was fine, the hills just couldn't be over with quick enough, as my quads were burning.

  I was happy to see the finish line though and made a decent dismount (with a flying bike shoe). My transitions were pretty mediocre though, like much of the race I was just kind of in a fog. I could certainly race, but had no zip. Both my transitions were about4-5 seconds slower than last year.

But now, I had the chance to shine! My 2016 result was bad, as my injured knee didn't allow me to actually run the second run, rather I did a shuffle jog sort of thing. This time I headed out and pushed the pace. With about 500m to go I finally caught the 11 place guy Paul, and overtook him, claiming a small victory. I ran the second leg in 14:53 for a 3:43min/km avg pace. I was happy with that, and a 1:20 time overall. That was 2 and a half minutes faster than last year.

Not my crowning achievement, but overall I was pretty happy. I was inured, I had the strength to push through two tough events and give it my best effort in both.  Certainly I wouldn't suggest racing back to back events that mattered to you (though I do love both of these events), but finding those limits can be something nice.

Then we finished the weekend with a 7 kilometer hike.

Now to rest up for Moncton in 3 weeks.

MEC Race 4 - September 2017

So it was race 4 in the 5 race MEC series. My first 3 went well with 3 second place medals. But those were races in tougher conditions (winter, heat, hills!).  This race is flat and in the Fall. So while there was some humidity, the air temp was cool enough and the course was pretty easy.

I started with a warm up run of about 4 km at a super easy pace, finishing around race pace to warm up the legs. I had opted for the 15 km option, as I wanted to see how my half marathon training was progressing. Ideally I wanted to run my A goal pace on this course (I have a B goal pace as well, but that is another post). That would be a 3:48 min/km.

This year, due to the number of people entered in the race, the 15 km race started first. We lined up and were soon off. The top 4 men soon formed a pack and we took off from the rest of the runners. After a bit, even though I was feeling good, I glanced at my watch and saw we were running too fast for my goals on the day, more in the 3:33 range. I eased a little and soon found a good sustainable pace of 3:44. My placing was now 4th about 100m behind 2nd and 3rd.

The first 2 water stops came and went and I didn't bother grabbing anything. The final stop on the trail was the turn around, and as it required me to come to a crawl to get around the cone, I grabbed a glass of water and rinsed my mouth out before taking off.

My pace had dropped off  a little bit and I was now averaging 3:46 as we headed through kilometer 8 and 9.  I didn't look at my watch much but kept my distance to the top 3 runners fairly even, running on feel.

By kilometer 11, I was starting to feel the humidity a bit, but was enjoying the on trail shade.  Now we were starting to come across runners from the 10 and 5km races, which did require a bit of moving about on the trail, though everyone was pretty spread out and it wasn't a huge issue.

I knew I was starting to fall back pace wise, but with 2 kilometers to go I hit 3:48 as an average and knew I had to sustain that. I picked up my pace a little and had a good effort for the final kilometer. I crossed the finish line with a time of 56:47 and an average pace of 3:48. My perfect goal pace. So while I missed out on a medal, it was still a success.

What I learned was 3:48 is sustainable, but to be cautious at the start not to push much harder. I'm not sure I could have been much faster, though today (the day after) I feel pretty good, which means there was another level of harshness I could push down into if need be.  

Maritime Race Weekend Pace Bunny

The 2017 Maritime Race Weekend has come and gone. Many runners, decent weather and even beer were to be had. For the second year in a row I decided to Pace Bunny the event, helping others get to a goal finish time. I opted for the 10km 45 min duties again this year, just like last, though this year i was all fit and not slightly injured, which made the day even nicer.

So while I said nice weather, it was a bit humid, and that meant the heat level felt a lot higher than usual. Some runners that pushed really hard certainly felt it. Still, it wasn't raining, or windy and therefore, I was happy.

I started the day with a warmup run with Craig and Stacey (more for them than for me), then settled into the start line area to allow people to find me, should I be there goal running pace.

Soon we were off and I fell in behind the fastest runners, making sure they had a clear exit (the start is a bit crowded and tight). Once we made it to the street, everything opened up and I soon got into a good pace and rhythm.

Immediately I begin chatting with my runners. The start of a race is often the worst part. By talking and laughing we keep the effort level a little subdued, this allows them not to overdo it and burn out fast.  This is a flat and fast race except for the 1 decent hill at the 3 km mark. So keeping everyone in check is ideal for a fast finish.

Unlike last year, I managed to hold a good crowd around me for most of the race. By the worst of it (the hill section) I had a great crew of 5 runners keeping pace.  Then by around the 6.5 km mark, the first took off. By 8 km in the next took off and finally I was all alone. My little ones had gone on to glory, but I was happy to finish solo.

But it wasn't over there. Back out I went and found my buddy Jon in the half marathon, pacing him to the finish. Then Shane and finally a whole host of others, eventually clocking in over 25km of running for the day.   It was a great time, and I look forward to putting the ears on again soon.

Canicross Excitment 2017 - Long Lake Lap Dog

So not only do I race and train (which I do a lot) and occasionally coach but I get involved in organizing races as well. Last weekend was such a case, with the third Canicross race being held under the Maritime Association of Harness Dog Sports (MAHDS) banner.

This race was held in Long Lake Park in Halifax. Without a lot of time to organize, the field was small, but this allowed us to test out an interesting race format.  As well we got to try out some new race timing software on our phone, ideal for small races like ours.

First off, for those that don't know, Canicross is a sport where humans and dogs run together via a hands free harness system. This leads to some fantastic run speed as well as the ability to really work with your dog in a race as a team, not just run with your dog.

Our race was a two lap time trial, with each lap (3km) separated by a rest period. The racers hit the start line, two at a time with 30 second intervals.

The new software is called Cloudtimer. Due to the small size of our race series right now it worked really well. Low priced, offering mass start or time trial based starts and the ability to use a smart phone to do all the onsite work, it was a treat. I was even able to change the start order on the fly. Apparently it is able to  also hook up via bluetooth to various auto timers, which is something that may make sense in the future.  Timing Canicross races can be a bit tricky, but this part of the day went really well.

The 2 lap time trial system was great though. All racers got 2 races for a low price, the ultimate winner Sarah with Eddie, winning both heats.

This a great and growing sport in the Maritimes, with two more races in the series this year. Huge thanks to our support from Inukshuk Dog Food, Salomon, and Aerobics First. Now enjoy a few more great pictures, with more on our Facebook Page, linked above.

2017 MacPass Mile Bridge Run

So it is Natal Day weekend in Halifax and after a 2 year absence, the MacPass Mile Bridge Run is back. Conveniently one of the bridges in Halifax is a mile long, and for many years a free mile run has been held on it, with cars being excluded for the entire morning. I have raced this once before in 2014, where I finished 13th overall, 4th in my division (Masters) and a time of 5:18.

That year I raced this on a whim, as I had been preparing for my marathon and didn't do a lot of summer racing. This year I raced it on purpose, and while I didn't specifically training for a mile race, I did incorporate some 800m repeats in speed work this year at mile pace.

Race morning came and we had a bit of rain in the early hours, but as we arrived to sign in at the race, the rain had cleared off and the air was just slightly warm.

First up was the women's race. We watched as the first few ran to the finish with some speedy times. Then we had to take off to the other side to get ready for the men's start. Just as we did, the rain started. It came hard and fast. We got soaked. So much for staying dry for the run.

It came time to line up, heavy soaked shoes and socks and all. I took to the front to get ready and then we were off.

The run starts on a downhill for a couple hundred meters before starting a climb up. I picked a decent pace and just held it. The uphill felt perfectly fine and as I crested the top of the hill (likely around halfway through the race) I was in 3rd place overall and felt fine. As the downhill portion started, I lost 3rd place but picked up my overall pacing. Like any good mile race, the aches and pains of running started to come on strong. The race finish as the downhill settles out to a more or less flat 300 meters of agony.

One more person passed me at this point but I was more concerned with overall time. I pushed as hard as I could, but ultimately did not make my goal of a sub 5 minute mile. I clocked in officially at 5:07, 5th overall, 3rd age group. It was a good effort and I think I ran it well. The rain that soaked us certainly did not help and may have slowed me down a bit, but who knows.

Shaving 11 seconds off my mile time after a 3 year absence wasn't too bad though. Maybe these aging legs have some speed still. Maybe the sub 5 min mile can happen. It was nice to hear my name announced during the awards though. 

Product Review - Rekarb Gels

So I was given a couple of samples of Rekarb gels to try out. Newish on the market, I hadn't given them a try yet but have certainly tried a huge variety of other gels. Usually most are pretty similar, in that they are a simple sugar, with flavouring and electrolytes and possibly caffeine (sometimes protein as well). That doesn't mean they all taste the same or even all go down as easy. I definitely prefer some gels more than others. 

What was nice about these (aside from them being a Canadian company) is the ingredient list is so minor. Maple Syrup (the simple sugar), Sea Salt (the electrolyte) and in the case of the 2 "flavoured" versions Cocoa and Matcha Tea (both of which contain some version of caffeine as well as other electrolytes). None of those ingredients are extracts, or heavily processed versions, simply the raw(ish) form. These aren't maple flavoured, they are essentially maple syrup.

Their website contains all the marketing jingo, though even it is simple and sticks to the basics. This company really does keep things easy going.

So enough of the marketing stuff anyway, how were they? Well I gave them all a try in a variety of settings, though all at a hard pace to see how they really went down. I tried the first one at a Duathlon, the next at a Triathlon and the third at a hard trail run in humid hot conditions.

I am pleased to say that they all sat extremely well and gave me no issues. The texture is very fluid, so they go down easy and fast. The one issue is that (and this is the same with all liquidy gels) you can easily get it on your hands, which is a bit sticky. I figured that out quickly after my first one and was more prepared on the second.

The maple flavour (being the man ingredient) is strong. So if you gate maple syrup, you will hate these. I like it and loved these. My favourite was the Cocoa, and I normally hate chocolate gels.

I don't use a lot of gels in training, but I will be switching to using these a lot more in racing. On a hot day when my mouth is dry, the fluid nature of these makes them so much more palatable. And as well, in the cold, they don't get thick either. Win win.

As is always the case, try nutritional products outside of a race setting first (unless you are me) to make sure you can stomach them. But it is great to see a new player on the market, whose product is just that little bit different.