Be Patient

I woke up feeling fresh and ready for the six minute challenge. The mile is a drama in four acts. Todays playlist was "If God Could Send His Angels" for the first 4 minutes and finishing with "What Shall We Die For." The first quarter mile went by very quickly and comfortably as did the second quarter. The third quarter is about hanging in there and unfortunately today I only made it to .62 mile when I had to take a 30 second pause before I finished off the run. After the break I felt more mental resolve, which is encouraging because I can work on the mental part of the run as long as I am physically prepared.

I have to be patient. I remember when I could only walk 3.0 mph for seven minutes. And I was in pain for the last minute! I just kept plugging away and believing that my body was changing and adapting to the challenge. The first time I actually ran for a full twenty minutes (at a challenging 5.0 mph!) was an amazing accomplishment and I know I will run 10 mph for forty minutes some day. I just have to be patient and keep trying.

I'll Miss This Run

Todays workout called for 4 laps of Cedar Hill Chip Trail. Lots of dogs but they are mostly on leashes. It was raining and windy the first two laps but I emerged from the trees to brilliant sunlight on the third lap. This trail is the perfect place to get your brain and legs stronger. I hope I find a replacement. As much as it is a grinding 8.66 miles, I will miss this run.

Rainy Day at the Track

I love training in the rain. Today was a track speed workout and it was raining and cold. Perfect. Because while everybody else is at home in bed hoping the sun comes out, I'm outside training. Plus, nobody wants to walk their dog in this weather, which is fine with me. Actually, about halfway through my run some dude with a dog showed up at the track and waddled off a lap and then ran away...

The plan calls for me to start pushing some paces now. Especially on track day because the distances are smaller I need to be pushing the pace while keeping my form and cadence. Todays workout felt great, first four laps in 102, 100, 100 and 95 seconds. Next three laps in 98, 93, 95 seconds. Next two laps 92 seconds each. Final lap in 78 seconds, which is three seconds off my goal.

I seem to be running more comfortably but as fast at the 184 bpm cadence (Civilization 4) as I am at the 208 cadence (Bad). Likely this just means that I am not fit enough to maintain my stride length at 208 bpm. I'll have to keep an eye on this when it comes to choosing my race day playlist.

All in all a fun day. Looking forward (kind of) to a tough workout tomorrow.

Learn to Suffer

Paul Tergat said "the great runners aren't scared of pain, the good ones are."

I Think I Need A Week Off...

Todays 9 mile run marked the end of another three week cycle. I completed 14/15 planned workouts. My legs are tired and my new shoes have given both feet fierce blisters. Can't say how glad I am for planned rest weeks...

A New Run Every Time

Yesterday was my treadmill 6.2 mile run at 2.0 incline run at 8:00 mile pace. I use this run to simulate the mental challenge of running the 10K race. Physically it is an endurance run where I focus on form.

The run teaches me about my mental stages in a race. The first stage is pre-run. The alarm goes off at 6AM. My body wants to sleep. My brain starts rolling over all the usual excuses..."I had a stressful day yesterday", "I'm dehydrated", "My body needs to rest today". Finally I have to remember why I run and hence why I need to get up. Next stage is mile 1. The run starts and I can feel my heart rate increase and my breathing becomes harder. Mentally I start rolling through all the reasons that today I just need to run 1 mile or 3.1 miles instead of the full 6.2. By mile 2, my mind has accepted that I am running. But the excuses start up again as I near 3.1 miles (5K). "I really just want to be a 5K racer." Or, "Its okay to cut back just this once..." But I focus on whatever song I am running to and make sure that I stay on cadence and on good form until I am past the 3.1 mile mark.

After the 3.1 mile mark, I magically begin to feel more resolved. I begin to visualize the race. My favorite vision is me finishing the Edmonton Marathon. I am either the winner or setting a new Canadian record. My run is the final 10K of the race. I am racing against the greats...Gebrselassie, Wanjiru, Ryan Hall and Bekele. Every two miles I drop one of them behind until finally it is just me and (usually) Wanjiru in a sprint to the finish. I imagine the crowd's interest increasing as word spreads that a Canadian is in the lead pack. I see the lead car with the time posted driving down the street and the crowd gets anxious to see if I am still behind it. They cheer when they see that not only am I still in the lead, but I am running strong. The crowds are growing as I run down Whyte Ave and the River Valley. They hold their breath to see who leads the race at the top of Victoria Park Road. Excited children start to run with me in the final push to Commonwealth Stadium. Finally I run into the dark tunnel that leads into the stadium and the final 400m finishing lap. The crowd chants "Ca-Na-Da" when they see me emerge onto the track in the lead as thousands of cameras flash. My wife waits at the finish.

And then the race--and the morning run--are over. The doubts and excuses are gone, replaced by joy, confidence and anticipation of the next chance to race.

New Shoes

Todays workout called for 4 laps of Cedar Hill Park chip trail. According to the Garmin, it was 1100 total feet of elevation gain over 8.68 miles. A tough run but I managed to make the last lap my fastest. Just as I was starting the first lap another runner passed me on the way up. He wasn't going much faster than me and I was tempted to pass him back but I decided to stick to the plan. It is good training for race situations because there will always be somebody faster and I got to learn to run my plan and not just react to other runners.

Anyhow, during the run I noticed that my shins were hurting more than usual. This is usually a sign that my shoes have worn out. I have had these pairs for 4 months and put alot of miles on them so I'm not surprised. So right after the run I hauled my sweaty self into Running Room for new shoes.

I usually run in Nike Air Pegasus. I like them because they fit my narrow foot and have enough midsole padding. They are also on the lighter side which is nice. So I picked up another pair. I also picked up a pair of Asics GT 2140 Trail shoes. Winter is coming which means alot of running in mud uphill and downhill so I hope these will provide a bit more grip.

Sitting at the bottom of the shoe shelf was a pair of track shoes on sale for $30. I have never run in spikes before but I am planning alot more track work. So I went ahead and bought them too. New Balance MDS 330. You even have to screw in the spikes yourself. Can't wait to try them out.

When it was all over, I found myself charging $350 on shoes. What have I become?

Track Workout

Sundays are really my favorite day because the workout is short and different. Today was sunny with a little wind. There was a group of dog walkers at the track which always bothers me. Honestly, miles and miles of city sidewalks and parks and you have to walk your mutt on the track.

I call todays workout cutdowns because each successive interval gets shorter in distance and faster in pace. Interval 1 is 105 second 1/4 miles X 4 (7 minute mile). Interval 2 is 97 seconds 1/4 miles X 3 (6:30 mile pace for 3/4 mile). Interval 3 is 90 seconds 1/4 miles X 2 (6:00 mile pace) and the final 1/4 mile is 75 seconds (5:00 mile pace.) 1/2 mile rest between intervals. Pretty easy workout but fun to try to hit that 75 at the end. In case you are wondering, the world record for the 400m is 43 seconds and change.

All the intervals felt very comfortable today. I ran faster than my paces for intervals 1-3 but ran the last 400m lap in 80 seconds which is an official Garmin GPS personal best (my best unofficial time is 68 seconds...).

Tomorrow it is back to the grind. "The Grind" is a good nickname for the run because it is 4 laps of Cedar Hill Park Chip Trail.I think its about 8.8 miles of hill training. Basically mountain running up hill then downhill steep. Lots of fun once its over.

Lochside Repeats

I don't know why but I always get anxious before my big runs.

The plan today called for 5 X 1.5 mile repeats at 8:00 minute pace (12 minutes per lap). I learned from the Times Colonist that one of my problems is starting out too slow so I set the playlist for a slightly faster cadence ("When You Are A Soldier"). So as I started out on the first lap I noticed that I was running fast but not feeling much effort. This continued until the end when I noticed I was going to finish in about 10:30 so I purposely slowed down and still finished at about 11:10. Two minute rest and back at it. Every lap felt great, not pushing. There was a slight wind on the return laps which magnified the effort but didn't affect my time.

All in all a good work out.

Tomorrow is cutdowns at the track. I am hoping to hit 75 second quarter mile on the last lap.

Still Running!

Wow I can't believe I haven't updated this since July!

Looking back the race in Utah was awesome. But I told my wife that there would be no more travelling to races until I break 40 minutes locally. Seriously, that trip to Utah cost me around $5000 in lost income and travel costs and all for a 48 minute finish.

Anyhow, I am training now for the 2010 Times Colonist. I feel I have unfinished business with the race.

Happily I have found a training regimen that works for me and my current travel and work schedule. Sunday is track intervals. Monday is hill training mostly at Cedar Hill Park. Wednesday is speed training on the treadmill. Thursday is easy distance run on the treadmill and Saturday is 1.5 mile repeats at Lochside. Tuesday and Friday are rest days. The treadmill runs are done at a minimum incline of 2.0. Every fourth week is a rest week with reduced distances but a run on each work out day.

I have seen good results so far. I even clocked a 68 second quarter mile at the track a couple of weeks ago but lately have been settling for 81 seconds.

This week was rough 'cause I'm at a conference in Nanaimo and have to run earlier than usual. This morning's treadmill 6.2 was mentally tough. I was tempted to stop at 3.1 miles but am happy I pushed through it.