It's Been So Long, What's Up?

Well here we are closing in on the end of 2014. It has been a pretty good year sports wise for me, and so many other part timers that I have had the fortune to share my limited knowledge with.  I think come the new year I may do a blog post on my equipment choices for triathlon, maybe. But for now I figure a quick update on the happenings of now.

After my rest month of November, I started back into training. Last year I started a 24 week training plan that took me to the Bluenose Half Marathon and a new PB. While that was great, it was very run focused and left me a little off when it came to Triathlons and Duathlons. So this year a more balanced training plan was needed.

To start I have really been good about getting into the pool at least twice a week. I have also been very good about forming a swim plan and sticking to it. While my speed hasn't been coming up, it has been getting good and steady and my endurance has been creeping forward. That is great and thanks to my new swim watch I think I can make some real progress in this area (more on that in a future blog post).

My cycling has been coming along as well. Sure I am continuing my cycling commuting during the winter, but thanks t the great weather we are having, I have continued to get out, especially on the weekends for long more sustained rides. And when  I can't get out I have done some very nice harder short sessions on the indoor trainer.  The indoor trainer rides have been done using heart rate, as I frequently talk about. And thanks to a lap top and some good videos, I can actually stand sitting and riding the trainer for more than 10 minutes (ha ha).  I think as the winter goes along and gets less fun for outdoor riding, I will be hitting Kinesic Sport Lab for some of their awesome indoor Computer Trainer sessions.

Now last year I broke my run training into 4 specific periods of training, each with a specific focus. I also took to running 5 days a week. Now, don't get me wrong, that worked wonderfully and got me to new levels of running, but I think this year I will be refining that even more.

For starters I will be cutting back to 4 specific runs a week. This allows me to be fresher on the bike and swim sessions and get more out of them. It also allows me to go harder on the hard run days and still have good recovery time. And of course, I am not just a runner, but a multisport athlete, I I know I can't neglect the other aspects of racing.

The 4 phases of training will also see some alterations. For one thing, I found the 6 weeks blocks too long and by the end I was mentally not excited about the work. Perhaps if I was running in a group setting that might be different, but as I do most of my training solo, I decided to alter my sessions into 3 week blocks. Three weeks are a minimum to allow the body to adapt, so I can't go less than that.

To start I just finished off the first 3 week block of base training. Four runs a week at 7.5 km a run. All of this was done at Zone 2 or easy pace and I certainly saw my pace start to creep back to were it should be by the end of week two, which was actually much quicker than last year.

The first week of the second block has begun as well. I am adding the long run back in now, though as usual, all new things are added in cautiously to avoid injury. So my long run is currently 10 km. And finally I am already adding in a little bit of speed work. Not too much to start though.

I am adding in my interval / core training session to start. 30 minutes which consists of warm up, intervals interspersed with core exercises and a cool down.  I wanted to add some strength training earlier this year, and the intervals are helping to push that anaerobic barrier a little earlier as well, which should help with some of the mid winter races. Those intervals are done at Zone 5 intensity. No threshold work yet, though.

Anyway, enough rambling. I hope your training has started and remember there is great help out there if you feel stuck in a rut, are constantly getting injured or want to take things to the next level. So don't be afraid to reach for it.  Til next year!

What the heck happened to November?

Well here it is and we are in December already. So what the heck happened to November anyway? Well it does seem like it flew by really fast and while I was busy, it wasn't so much a sporty kind of busy, so here's a quick recap.

The last 2 years now I have made an effort to use November as a rest month. No structured training, limited to no running, and work on any ailments. Seems simple enough. That of course also mean no racing!

So in the month of November I think I ran twice for a total of 10 km, and frankly I did that because I wanted to try out a new shoe. I did stick to my regular cycling commuting and managed to add in some nice lazy bike rides both with my wife and solo, on the weekends. That was nice. Swimming? Yup, I did that, and in fact actually started to build back up my pool time in anticipation of an extra push this winter to prep for a few more sprint triathlons in 2015.

November is also a great time to work on some physio and getting my body stronger, so that I can hit the ground running, literally, in December as I make my push for another strong Spring and early Summer season. This was curtailed a bit due to a fall off my bike on an icy morning which may have lead to a mild wrist sprain. Now that it is better I am back on track though.

Oh and I managed some bike maintenance. Some bikes get prepped for their winter nap, other get ready to take full advantage of the less than stellar weather. Headsets are cleaned and greased, chains, derailleurs, cassettes are all shiny. A nice coat of wax to finish it all off of course.

But November is really Movember for me. I spend the month growing and grooming my awesome moustache and prepare for the great and exciting Halifax 6K Movember Trail Run. My buddy Mike and I have been putting this on for three years now and it is always fun. Great sponsors jump on board, the weather never cooperates and we get a great turn out. For the first time ever we actually sold out with 100 online registrants (we accepted a couple of walk ups as well). We raised a great bunch of money for the Movember Charity as well.

So all in all, a busy month, a relaxing month, a spill and fall on the ice month, and now it is great to get back to hitting the pavement with my feet under me (ha ha). Talk to ya soon.

Another Double Race Weekend - Oct 2014

Well the running season, for me, is coming to an end and what better way to celebrate than a double race weekend!

Things started out on Saturday with a local 5K put on to honor our local running club's 1 year anniversary. Courtney did most of the leg work organizing this event and things went off really well. There is a bit of joke because everyone got bib numbers in their race kit but me, though I did get pins for my non bib number. I had thought about just pinning on of the discount flyers to myself instead, but we did find me a number in the end.

This race was self timed, as it was more of a celebration of the group and an exercise in getting out and enjoying the day.Most of us have running watches of some kind anyway, so we know what's up.

 Some shiny exciting medals to commemorate the day

We all lined up at the super fancy start line, and after a nice speech by Courtney and our local MLA, we were off.

The race course was pretty straight forward. Up and over the big hill and onto the rails to trails. It was an out and back so getting lost would be very hard. Lots of volunteers guided us just in case.

I took off at a moderately hard pace, quickly took over first place and never looked back. I generally don't look back, it is too scary to do so.

At the turn around I had built a small lead over second place, but never rest on your lead as you don't know what can happen. So I kept pace as best as I could and got to greet all the other runners on my way back which was nice. It was also nice to see my wife pushing her limits to try and get a PB time for a 5K.

I didn't know if I had enough oompf this day to get close to 18 min, and as it turns out I was right, I didn't. But I did come flying home at a very nice 18:52.

Apparently I came home fast enough that we needed to retake my finish line photo

A great event, a nice end of season win and cake! Thanks Timberlea Tundra Pounders and Courtney.

So a win, then a rest and back at it on Sunday morning. This time the MEC Shuie Half marathon. Yup, a half marathon to follow my 5K race and to end the season for me. Why the Half and not choose the 5 or 10 K that day? Well, Why not. I had only raced 1 half this year, with the other being a pace bunny type deal. So I wanted to grab another sub 1:30 half marathon, on arguably one of the hardest courses in town.

The weather was perfect to start. The rain was holding off (again), the air was cool, and the wind was not strong. All good things for this race.

Now the Shubie Fall race is often more of a cross country event than trail run or regular road race. It is very hilly, it is primarily on crusher dust trails, but there are other sections as well. The trail is covered in wet leaves and this day there were large puddles and huge wash out areas (especially some of the down hills).  

This year we had a 10 minute headstart before the 5 and 10 k runners. That was nice as it avoided the bottleneck at he start of the race. I also decided to hold back a bit at the start and not try to hold a hard pace as I remembered that the back half of the race was extra tough. We began and I fell into second place quickly as the leader took off like a flash. I figured he was either incredibly fast or was going to burn himself out. Either way, I knew I could hold that pace.

The course was tricky, especially at corners, with the wet leaves. We climbed and descended hills, and avoided dogs (well almost avoided).   I help my place well enough at the start, but by the half way point David H. passed me. I thought I might be able to hold onto his pace and did manage to for quite some time, but eventually fell back by a bit. 

Still in second at this point, but not for long

We came upon the water/gel station and I hoped a little sugar would boost my spirits. It did but couldn't compensate for the pounding my quads were taking. From this point on, David and I kept getting closer then pulling apart. When you are running solo, it is often hard to hold a pace, and Shubie's hills don't help.

5K to go and somehow I look happy again

With 5K to go, we looped back to the start/finish line and got a few cheers. Again I was pulling David back to me, but not nearly fast enough, and I didn't know how much he was holding back anyway. I knew at this point I had a decent lead over 4th place and was hitting pace for a decent time, so I aimed at being as steady as I could. I managed to run into a walker, as he couldn't decide which side of the path to go to and kept stepping n front of me, but I didn't slow me down that much.

Finally the last half a kilometer loomed. It was up another big hill, then a series of tight turns. I was very happy to see the finish line at that point and found a little extra speed to grab a 3rd place overall. That means I medaled in all the MEC races I enter this season. Phew. 

A great finish to the season with 2 races and 2 podiums. And while they were not my fastest races of the year, considering that I had let up on training the past few weeks (work, life etc...) I was very happy with the results. All in all a great season with a solid training plan and no major injuries. What more could one ask for.

I'll do a full season summary soon enough. For now, rest and onto the Movmeber  6K Trail run that I and my partner Mike host each year. The RD hat is a fun one for sure. And there are still plenty of awesome races out there as well. If your legs need a challenge, Fall running can be awesome. Check this event out if you really want to try some fun and basic Cross Country running locally in Halifax. Back to Basics Cross Country Running Series.  

Valley Harvest Half - Pace Bunny Time 2014

So wow, this is a late update. But hey, its free to read right? Sorry, things got busy so I'm trying to fit blogging into life (get it?).

Anyway, 2 weeks ago now was my last race. Well it wasn't a race as much as a challenge. This was the Valley Harvest Race and I chose to enter the half marathon as a pace bunny this year. First I didn't feel like I wanted to gut out another fats half marathon and second I liked the price of entry (free).

So entering as a Pace Bunny means that I am responsible for setting a pretty decent pace and sticking with it in order to cross the finish line at a set time. In my case it was a 1:40 half marathon.  I wear big pink ears and if anyone wants to finish at that time or beat that time, they always have me to set their sights on.

Sure in this day and age of Garmins and GPS watches, it is fairly easy to set a pace and stick with it. But mentally there is nothing quite like having a person lead you around and take care of you. I have found pace bunnies handy in the past.

So I volunteered for a 1:40 because it is slower than my PBs at that distance (1:23) but also fast enough for me to enjoy the run.

So we lined up at the start, I chatted with a few people and go them ready and then off we went. It took about half a kilometer to find some quality open space and settle into my average pace of 4:44 min/km, at which point I started to have some chats with people around me and guide them through the first bit of the race. Some would leave me, others would stay with and some would fall back.

Here I am surrounded by those who love me, or hate me

By a little past the halfway mark, I lost most of my followers. Now I didn't want to have this happen, but the steady pace I was holding was just a tad too much I guess, especially as we traveled through the back hills. And at certain points I was quite alone.

Sometimes a person would run and pass me and proclaim they were going to beat me, and I was happy for them. A few didn't make it, but many did!

15km in and still smiling

Soon we were running back through the town of Wolfville and towards the track. I started catching one guy who wanted to beat me and as we ran the last half kilometer, I knew he had to pick up the pace to get a good finish. So I ran behind him and yelled until he did. Good on him.

All in all a fun day out with great weather. My wife also got the half marathon demon off her back and got the finish she had been hoping for the past 2 years. Will I pace bunny again. Sure thing and the Half Marathon is a great distance to do it at. Should you do it? Certainly, if A) you have had some personal success at the distance and B) Can run a pretty steady pace.

Riverport Duathlon 2014

Well the Duathlon season came to an end recently with ever magical Riverport Duathlon. As always Riverport offers 2 flat fast 4 km runs with an epic 28 km bike ride separating them. The ride is rollers with an epic (that's a lot of epicness Ian)  climb part way in, Grimm Road. Conquer the Grimm and you may win.

So a big storm was supposed to blow in during the race. As usual for Riverport, the weather can be anything, and it is usually not what you expect. On the drive to the race that morning there were patches of rain and wind, but nothing too crazy, yet.

Come race time we lined up for the start and the wind was beginning to howl, but again no real rain to be seen. I looked around and there were plenty of fast feet to be seen. This one was going to be rough.

Twas a dark and storm day and yet I wear my sunglasses

The pace started fast. I tucked in behind a few guys and instantly regretted wearing my lucky hat as the wind was really whipping around good.

I had to start passing people though, so as not too lose contact with the larger group. I knew I could in no way hang with the top guys that showed up, but I wanted to stay as close as I could.

At the turn around I was feeling good and decided not to burn up my legs too badly before the bike. With the final few hundred meters left of the first 4 km I decided I wanted to at least grab a good time for the run and beat Greg to at least one point. Run one was done in 14:04 for an average pace of 3:31 min/km. Not too bad.

Onto the bike as quick as possible (28 second turn around, nice) and I was off. It quickly became apparent that this was going to be a fun ride. Within a kilometer I was maxed out of gears and going about 45 km up hills. Uh oh. The wind was really picking up. I was now at a big disadvantage on my bike. Most of the faster riders have bigger gears and during this type of weather that can make a huge difference. Still I was really happy that I wasn't getting passed by many riders until much further into the race compared to previous years. Some more winter work and who knows how the bike will progress.

After Grimm, we hot the head wind. Ugh. There were gusts that were blowing me around. That top gear was no longer needed and we even had some rain start to fall. Fall is a nice word, it was more like big rain drops being thrown at us. Luckily, the rain was minor and the heavy stuff didn't start coming down during the race.

I finally found the end of the ride and the head wind after 47:57 for an average speed of 35 km/hr. That was 1 km/hr faster than last year, and while the tail wind helped this year, the head wind taketh away.

I was now behind a few riders. I had hoped to be able to keep up with Kevin a little better this year, and while it took him longer to pass me on the bike, he was no where to be seen as I got off my bike.

But a super quick (quickest of the day) 16 second transition to the run surly didn't hurt things as I headed out to hunt down anyone I could.

I found my running legs fast enough. I really wanted to keep my pace sub 4 min and was able to easily enough. And soon I found Kevin. The question was, did I have enough time chase him down with such a short run? I kept my pace steady as I was gaining on him and I didn't know if he was out of steam or just holding station. Eventually with 1 kilometer to go I caught up and passed him. I dared a look back with a few hundred meters to go just in case, but I was clear.

And I crossed the finish line with a second run of 15:24 for a 3:51 min/km pace and an overall time of 1:18:07. That was good enough for tenth place overall, and 3rd in my age group. That was hard fought and a great race. It put me 3rd on the qualification list for the World Duathlon championships as well.

And with that and my beating Kevin, I was able to hold onto the point championship lead and for the second year in a row was the overall point champion in the Duathlon series. And it was fun.

Big thanks as always for Jeff Zahavich for helping me with my run speed and overall aerobic fitness. And as usual my guys at Sportwheels for keeping my bike going strong and Aerobics First for keeping my feet well covered.

Next season will be fun!

Sept 27-28, 2014 a Weekend of Running

Well it was a busy weekend for me. Two events on consecutive days and two great days of weather.

The first event was held on Saturday and was the Rum Runners Relay, which I have blogged about before. A team of 10 runners run 10 different legs from Prospect to Lunenburg in Nova Scotia. That is about 100 km. This year I was slated to run Leg 4, which is considered quite difficult due to its length of 17.1 km. As I had just been doing all of my marathon training this year, I figured it was as good a time as any to tackle this beast.

The day started early as I had to show up for Leg 1 to help out Mike, our first runner and drive his vehicle. It certainly was dark and chilly at the race start.

Yup it was that dark at good old 6:30 am

Mike ran well, as did all of the members of the Fundulators. We even had a win on Leg 5 with our last minute replacement.

See how happy I am before I had to run

Leg 4 is one leg that attracts a lot of the fast runners. The terrain isn't especially hard, mostly rolling hills with no epic climbs. But the day was really hot and even by 10:10am the heat was in the high 20's C. I started out running with the front of the pack, but within the first kilometer things had sorted themselves out. I was placed in about 7th at this point and was running quite well. I hit the 10 km mark at 38:50, which isn't my fastest 10k ever, but quite good. But then the wheels started to fall off. I managed to hold my pace but it felt hard. I was hot, and my breathing was laboured. But it was 17 km, and I knew I could make it through that easily enough.

At least I looked good while running

With about 5 km to go, I was passed. I stayed with Matt for some time, but eventually he pulled away from me. My pace dropped slightly and I had to look back. No one was behind me, so I felt comfortable holding my pace as best as I could.

Eventually I saw the finish line in the distance and managed a small pickup of speed. I cruised in at 1:08:15 for a 3:59 min/km pace. Whew.  Then it was straight into the ocean for me for a cool down.

I later checked my Garmin and found that my heart rate averaged 179 for the race. Yikes, that was a bit high and explains why I felt so bad on the run. That is essentially my threshold, or heart rate I can hold for 1 hour. Ouch, I guess that sun was working its magic on me.

This was the first year I stayed for the entire RRR, and boy was I ever tired from that. Up at 5, in bed by 10:30. And then it was up at 6 the next morning for race number 2.

Sunday was race 4 of the MEC race series. I missed race 3 sadly, but had 2 2nd place finishes in the other 2 races. Originally I had signed up to run the 15 km race, but after the way I felt waking up, I decided I should drop down to the 10 km (I didn't think I had enough oomph for a really tough 5 km either). 10 seemed like the smart choice.

It took about an hour to get to the race site, so I had to leave early and while it was chilly at the start I knew it would be warm like Saturday. 

It is a mixed start for the MEC races, with the colour on the bib dictating the distance. I started up front and quickly started running side by side with another guy (Chad was his name). I swear his bib was a 5K bib, so I tucked up behind him and let him pace the race to start. After a kilometer another runner popped through into first and I saw his bib was a 15 km one. His pace seemed doable and I didn't feel like pushing the first 5 too much. As we reached the 5 km turn around, I noticed that Chad didn't turn off and I got  slightly confused. Now I didn't know what distance he was running and I didn't feel like I wanted to have a duel this day. But we reached the 10 km turn around and only I made the turn. Whew.

I was also quite alone at this point and it was another 1 minute or so before I started to see more runners coming along. So I knew that if I maintained this pace I should be able to take the win. I cruised along listening to my tunes as as the last kilometer came into view, Supertramp's Long Way Home started to play. I laughed as this happened  during my marathon as well at the end. At this point I wanted to really take the short way home. 

As I came through the last half a kilometer I picked up my pace, pulling out a 3:40 over the last kilometer on average and passed the clock at 40 minutes. Not my fastest (even for the weekend) but it was what the legs had left in them. My average heart rate was 167, so much better than the previous day and more in keeping with a 10 km race.

I was told that the Bib of the Beast devoured all souls. Perhaps that is my magic to winning?

Regardless, a great weekend even if I feel like a truck ran me over. I was just not ready for the heat of the Fall I guess and pushed my heart rate limits a little too far trying to maintain a pace.

Where I found this leaping ability after the second race I'll never know

And That My Friends Was The Marathon (In the Zone) - Maritime Race Weekend

So this weekend was D Day. Maritime Race Weekend in Eastern Passage, Nova Scotia. A pirate themed extravaganza. A double race under the setting and rising sun. And my marathon debut.

So this whole summer I stopped racing and set about building my training from earlier in the season to be able to tackle my first marathon. And it seems like forever, though it was really just 12 weeks.

As I previously blogged my training schedule, I won't really go over it much, but suffice it to say I stuck to my plan pretty well over the summer. I limited my weekly mileage, I upped my weekly strength and "prehab" training, and focused on staying as healthy as possible. I didn't just want to complete a marathon, I wanted to see what I had in me at this time, without going over board. I am sure with addition time and more training and no life I could have eked out even more, but that wasn't the point. I wanted to have some fun this summer.

So the weekend started with a 5 km Sunset race. I wasn't completely sold on the idea of running a hard 5 km run the night before my marathon, but I figured I would use it as a bit of a shake down to keep my legs loose. I lined up early by the under 20 min pace sign and made no effort to stop those that felt the need to squeeze in front of me prior to the start. I was after all going to take it easy on this run.

I took off with the pack and we held a decent pace for the first kilometer. I was passed by a few people but held my line and pace and slowly moved ahead of them. I didn't need to surge at all. My legs felt great and free. Eventually I moved into the lead by the 1.5 km mark and held that for quite some time before being passed before the turn around. Still, there were some fast people behind me that were not running the full the next day and I fully expected them to eventually surge past me.

We passed the 3 km sign and I was still holding second place, with 1st pulling away. I had plenty of speed left, but decided to just hold what I was doing. I had no idea what that pace was but it felt good (the glare of the setting sun made it too hard to check my Garmin).

As we approached the final 180 turn to the finish I dared a glance back and saw Ray was not too far behind and with only a few hundred meters to go, I decided to push a bit and claimed second place overall, with an easy for me 18:06. I highly look forward to see what I might be able to pull off on a stand alone 5 km later on this season. Looks like my distance work didn't kill off my speed work, one check for my training.

Quickly to home and to bed for me. And oddly enough I slept rather well. Good thing, as I was back up at 5 am to get my food into me and into the car. For the last 6 weeks I have eaten the same food before every long run, 2 slices of homemade bread, toasted with 1 banana and all natural peanut butter. This is washed down with a blended drink of 1 half a beet, 1/2 cup orange juice and 1/2 cup water. Stick to what you know.

Skipping ahead and it is race time as we all line up by the pace we are running the various races (5, 10, 1/2 and full all start together). I lined up at the border of the sub 3 hour and 3 hour marathon. My plan was to ease into the first half and see how I felt after that. The weather was perfect, sunny, with a bit of chill in the air and slight breeze.

And then we were off. I started easy and carefully thread my way through the first few turns of the run, trying to not get involved with any 10k or 5k runners. Then as we hit the open road I started to slowly pick up my pace until I hit a good speed. My Garmin was showing Pace, Heart Rate, Time and AVG Pace. The goal was to keep my heart rate below 160 at all times, to keep my avg pace below 4:20, and to take a gel at 1 hour intervals.

We hit the first hill around 4 km in, I slowed slightly to keep my heart rate down, then picked up the pace again at the top. At this point the 10 km runners and 5 km runners had left us, and it was just full and half marathoners.

At each water stop I grabbed a glass of Gatorade, took a good mouthful and carried on. At all times I was checking posture  and heart rate, knowing full well that the first half could be run very fast, but I needed to add another half after that. Slowly the leaders pulled away but I was still hanging out with a group. That thinned a bit more as we approached the split and suddenly it was myself, one guy behind and 2 guys a bit further up.  I hit the half way mark at 1:30, on target for a 3 hour full, though I knew that ultimately the time I ran would depend on a few other factors. Still I was happy and felt strong.

Oddly enough, I expected the next 6-7 kilometers to feel easy, as it was a crusher dust trail that is relatively flat, exactly what I do a lot of training on. But for some reason I has issues keeping my speed up and felt like I really had to push through. Some levity soon approached though, as every full marathon runner had a custom sign made to cheer them on. Mine asked what Zone I was in. "Three" I yelled.

Eventually back to the road we were, and my legs picked right back up all springy and light. Whew. But within 4 km at about the 33 km mark, I hit a decent hill that again sapped my life. In order to keep my heart rate low, I slowed right down to a 5 min/ km pace. But I knew this brief rest would be worth it in the long run. Life came back again as I crested the hill, though I would have to watch my heart rate on a few other hills as well.

Though I was obviously getting tired at about the 35 km mark, I was happy to notice my posture was still feeling great. I had no specific aches or pains, other than a bit of a blister on one toe (I knew that was coming but it didn't affect my gait). All that prehab I did was surely very helpful in taking care of my weak spots, so I am very glad I spent the time with my Physiotherapist earlier in the year.  And as we approached about 37-38 km in I actually passed another marathoner who had passed me quite a long time before but was now looking decidedly bent over.

And now the hardest part of the race, the big Caldwell downhill. What I didn't need at this point was a controlled decent, but alas it was there. I survived and the final few kilometers were mine to bask in.

It was essentially downhill but only slightly. I was tired and just accepting the pace in my legs at this point, though again, not hurting in anyway. I crossed the finish line at 3:02:09 and was perfectly happy with that result. Sure it wasn't a "3 hour marathon" but it was darn close, it was my first, and I walked away from it feeling physically good. And while it is a Boston Qualifying result, I won't be exercising that option. I was 8th overall and 1st out of 14 in my age group.

And I won jam, twice. Age group winners get jam. I got it for the 5 km and the marathon.

This marathon experiment was a good one with a good result. My training plan turned out to be what I needed to get to the end healthy and happy. Oh and my average heart rate was 157, only 2 beats out of Zone 2, so just perfect. Big thanks to Jeff Zahavich and Kinesic Sport Lab for that.

Now some rest, some cycling and back at it. But now with more speed.