3:10 to Boston

Sidelined

2012-01-31T19:20:00.000-08:00

long time between posts. again. like the training, without a firm goal the output slides. Busy time of year at work, the family moved to a new home, Christmas, etc.
had a pretty exciting year mapped out. signed up for the Chucknut 50K in Bellingham on March 17th. Once again, talked into something by runninggunner. so far, his advice has been painfully good for me and i expect this time to be no different. have a free entry to the vancouver first half and am planning on using that as a nutrition 'test day' by stacking on some miles before the race and seeing how the fluids stay down. I should say 'was' planning on it, because as of right now I am on the shelf with a banged up knee.
With the 50k looming on the calendar and a long run scheduled, i went out last Sunday knowing that conditions were rough and the footing was a little dicey. it had been snowing and warm throughout the day and then clear and cold at night making for some slick, glassy streets.
I had cut the run short and was carefully picking my way back through the neighbourhood when I just lapsed for a few seconds running down a hill. planted the right foot and it shot right out from under me. I went down pretty well right on top of my left kneecap and rolled over on my hip/shoulder and into the intersection. luckily, it was early and i didnt get run over to add insult and more injury to injury. my Salomon jacket held up to the concrete slide. i was amazed.
running the 2.5 miles home from the crash site was probably a bad idea but it was rainy and cold and my family was getting out of bed.
anyways, i took a week off and mentally committed to a rest week off to keep myself from getting ancy about approaching races. well, a week plus 2 has passed and i'm closer to running but not back yet. trying to stay positive but a little discouraged and watching the red circles on my calendar get closer and closer.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T05:19:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas, everyone. I wish the best for you and your families.

200

2011-12-14T20:23:00.000-08:00

This is my 200th post two days after my 37th birthday. One of the best birthdays in a long while. My good friends and family came through with many things that I love. Jamie got me a sweet new dress watch to wear when i'm Suit Guy and planned a surprise dinner with a bunch of our friends. I had super tasty ale braised short ribs. Runninggunner was supposed to be there but he ~~doesn't like me~~ was sick. My homie Ryan hooked me up with a pound of red licorice, I scored a Value Village gift certificate for more thrifting treasures and Andrew scored me the hunter green Snuggie I have wanted for ages. An All-Snuggie photo post coming soon.
Spent the afternoon with Violet and hit up the new Muppet movie. It was her first time to the theater and the show was excellent. Very wholesome, very earnest, very Muppet-y. A great experience, aside from the fact that they initially loaded the wrong film into the projector. The previews seemed a little intense for a kids movie and when the 'Feature' started it was Twilight-Breaking Dawn. Needless to say, my 4 year old daughter was not a fan of the werewolves. Crisis averted with a minute or two outside the theater while they shut down the wrong film and got it sorted.
Great run on the back 9 of the canal course of Northview Golf and Country Club. Great run, scenic, quiet, rolling. Would be a great spot for a little race. Maybe next year in support of Mo-vember. Felt fast-ish. Soundtrack was the Fanfarlo album from a few years back.

40 less 2

2011-12-09T19:57:00.001-08:00

last day of my forty day stretch. great run tonight, clear skies and a nearly full moon. Christmas lights up everywhere. beautiful. ipod on shuffle: plants and animals, the pains of being pure at heart, wilco, yeasayer, bon iver, real estate, lady gaga, fleet foxes.
since i posted two zeros during my 40 day stretch I'm going to extend the streak two more days to 'make up' for the missed days. cause i'm obsessive like that.

39

2011-12-08T19:15:00.001-08:00

good run this AM. legs felt good, head felt good. cold and dry. saw some blue in the sky in the afternoon, a rare treat in Vancouver this time of year. great day in the city.
decided to take a stab at learning a new language. wanted to try Punjabi but could only find Hindi language podcast for free. learned all the consonant sounds and vowel sounds today. thinking about my little girls and how they managed to learn to speak without formal instruction. mind boggling that any of us learn at all. a fun challenge, so far the 30 min i spent listening to podcasts is 29 minutes longer than my attempt to learn mandarin.

testing testing

2011-12-06T19:51:00.001-08:00

exam coming up on friday. that has stolen my focus and is dictating my schedule. still managing to get some miles in before work but short and easy has been the theme. body feels good, a little tired I think, but hard to discern the source. likely a cumulative effect. was very tempted to skip the run this am. was trying to convince myself that 36 days was was plenty and that really, a zero or two in the last week wouldn't diminsh what i had done up till then. kind of like packing it in during the last 6 miles of a marathon and then making sure to tell everyone your half split so they can still be suitably impressed at how well it had gone to that point.
telling, a good insight into where my head is at and has been.
starting to look back on my little experiment and evaluate how it went. more to come.

last 5

2011-12-05T09:09:00.001-08:00

last 5 days of my 40 day challenge started with some sprints at the local all weather field. feeling good. the momentum has definitely swung back towards training as the default and not the exception. Some of the other areas of focus still need a little more attention: the strength training, the no candy rule. but, the heavy lifting of getting a running routine reestablished is done. now, maintenance.

confused

2011-12-03T19:11:00.001-08:00

having a hard time keeping up. thought for sure i had posted here today then realized i was remembering a tweet...dur...
good npr podcast this AM about the music scene in NY in the mid seventies. Amazing the things that came out of that era, the live music club being the one that blew me away the most. hard to believe that prior to CBGB's in the mid 70's there weren't public places an up and coming band could play original music.
looking forward to tomorrow. got a new backpack with bottle holders and all sorts of cool features and tomorrow on my long run im going to try it out for the first time.
Also, i may start learning a second language by way of podcast with some of the time i'm out jogging about.

wup

2011-12-02T21:20:00.001-08:00

missed a day posting again. glad it was just a missed post. Thursday Friday got out both days. Stopped by a local 'nutrition' store on my way home to see if they had any maltodextrin. nutrition has been a issue in the past and I'd like to get it ironed out. The girl there was quite striking: 6 feet tall, blonde and buff. Nordic warrior, like she should have been wearing fur boots made from wolves instead of lulu pants. sadly, she was only somewhat helpful. found hammer nutrition, which was the only product there which had a first ingredient of malto. at $55 for about 100 servings, it was still cheaper than gels but i balked.

obliged

2011-11-30T19:46:00.001-08:00

nothing of note today. just posting because it's day three of week five of my forty day 'post and run-a-day' challenge and i feel obliged to the commitment. which, i suppose, is in some respect analogous to the training days where i put on the shoes for much the same reason. there's growth in that.

Donut

2011-11-29T16:43:00.001-08:00

posted a big ole zero today. Was laying in bed having an argument with myself about whether i should get up. Next time i checked the clock, the decision had been made for me: must have fallen back asleep and not known it.
on the plus side, hip feel great.

Hip-ster

2011-11-28T16:52:00.001-08:00

sore hip. nothing serious but more 'injury' sore than 'tired muscle' sore. Took it easy today and ran in the PM rather than the AM to give it a little more time after the long run yesterday. Felt better as the day progressed and fine after the short jog around the hood. we'll keep an eye out for changes.
legs otherwise felt good today. poppy. the combination of sprints/long run on alternating days seems to leave my legs feeling light and bouncy.
listed our current house for sale today. i'm glad that barring something unforeseen our next house will be our last. i have not enjoyed the process.

wet

2011-11-27T07:58:00.001-08:00

12 degrees Celsius, windy and wet. soaked through pretty much immediately. wind was driving the rain so hard that it hurt on any exposed skin. stinging face! I nearly bagged it about ten meters from my door. but, turned to run with the wind, warmed up a bit and stuck it out. jogged over to the golf course, did a sweet lap of the hilly ridge course at Northview G&C and came home. was thinking t would be fun to use the course to structure an interval/drills course where at each hole marker along the cart path was a different exercise and the par 3 holes were faster intervals.

OK Go and the muppets

2011-11-26T18:47:00.001-08:00

Just fantastic. Love it.

out and back

2011-11-25T06:52:00.001-08:00

easy morning. lots on the plate right now: bought a new house, listing our current one, new office, licensing exams pending, Jamie's got report cards to do...
Nice to just get out, jog and clear the head.
Feeling fatigued this week. Couple days where i was dragging it. there have been later bedtimes, lunches out for work and a couple slips on the 'no candy' commitment. taken together with all the 'busy-ness' and it's adding up. gotta be mindful.

lean

2011-11-24T06:39:00.001-08:00

Good stuff on the endurance planet 'ask the hybrid/ultraunner' podcast with Lucho and Tawnee. got some good advice about nutrition, race planning and form that i feel will have immediate benefit. was happy to learn that some of the things i have undertaken with regards to improving form and along the right track: improving hip strength and flexibility, the short flat out sprints. i've had some issues with shin splints when using a jump rope in the past but i can see the benefits if a person can implement it properly and stay healthy. will try and gradually add that in as well over the next while and see how it goes.
was mindful of trying to 'lean from the ankles' this AM when i was out. it's one of those things that will feel awkward until it doesn't.

Every day i'm shufflin

2011-11-23T18:37:00.001-08:00

odd day. adizeros were wet from last night. wore some old mizunos and it felt like i had two sofas on my feet. so spongy and heavy. i can't imagine running in that much shoe now. felt a little gassed, my bed was so warm and i could hear the wind pelting rain offmy sindow. But, up and atom, another mental win.
Wore the Solomon windbreaker and it was beauty. So light and windproof.
Also, got a new Ultimate Direction running pack which I can't wait to try out this weekend.

Week 4 Day one

2011-11-22T20:19:00.001-08:00

Skipped a beat yesterday with the post. Got the run in though. Four weeks in, lots going on, little things getting missed. Take some advice from the Black Keys and tighten up...
good run today, rainy and wet. Warm, no gloves, no sleeves on the coat.
Starting to tee up some races in my mind for 2012. The area of most opportunity for me on race day is mental toughness and late race fitness, which may be two sides of the same coin. With that in mind, and with a goal of taking a crack at sub 3 hours in August I have two races in mind to assist: a 50K trail run in April to help with the long fitness and Vancouver marathon in May where I had imagined running the first 20 easy and working on nutrition then running the last 6 at tempo - pace. fell like these two things, plus solid training and nutrition leading up address the gaps in my game. at least those that can be addressed, unlike my weak ginger genetics!
thoughts and advice always encouraged.

sunday-long run

2011-11-20T19:56:00.001-08:00

cold here to start, - 6 degrees Celsius at 5:50AM. waning crescent moon, clear skies, beautiful morning. Saw a Fuji Shockproof, waterproof camera in the classic Sears Wish Book the other day and am adding it to 'the list' for this years gifts. the list now has one item on it. A crescent moon over a frost covered tree with an eagles nest in it made me wish it I had a camera to snap a Lucho-esque moonlight tree silhouette photo.
Legs felt great, lower back was loose throughout. I credit the warm up and cool down for the mobility through the spine.
Have to remember that a really light day and a day of sprints helped me to pop out of a rough patch of training.
bowl of cereal for breakfast today. felt OK till about an hour in, then sharp stomach cramps, im guessing my body finally starting to digest the milk.
Headphones are passing with flying colours. There is a volume dial on the cord which at first I thought was an unnecessary feature added to pad the price. however, when running though changing terrain (ie city streets to trails and back) in potential inclement weather conditions over longer periods of time when you might go through a few different albums, having the ability to adjust the volume while leaving your ipod/iphone/walkman tucked away in whatever case it might be stashed is nice litttle perk. Also, it's designed that you can work it with a light glove but won't self adjust when bouncing around.

down a couple

2011-11-19T21:17:00.001-08:00

missed two days blog posts due to disconnected interwebs while the painters were here.
running streak still alive. after a couple sluggish days, feel better today, legs were poppy but stomach is upset. bad diet, stress of getting ready to seel our place. Who knows. it will be interesting to see how i feel during tomorrows long run.
Also, pretty sure i just saw two UFOs. large orange lights in the sky, moving in a steady and unnatural way. clear night, lots of stars, lots of planes and then these two ??? They freaked me out so much I almost cut my run short and ran home to get inside.

off

2011-11-17T07:01:00.001-08:00

feeling off yesterday. some dizziness throughout the day, felt bagged and heavy legged this morning. legs a little tender from yesterdays sprint work. working hard to be moving slow.
Congrats to Beth for taking the step up to the pro ranks next year. Very excited for her and James.

sprints

2011-11-16T05:57:00.001-08:00

wanted to mix it up a little from the aerobic jogging as of late without actually triggering any physiological adaptation/response so jogged down to the all weather field, did 6x55 meters flat out on full recovery and jogged home. I was doing these through the summer as part of Mark Sisson's Primal Fitness program. My time to recovery now much quicker then in August. Felt good and was tons of fun.

week three-day one

2011-11-14T19:34:00.001-08:00

solid outcome so far from my 40 day initiative. For the most part, runs have been easy and short but my body is responding well to the 5AM wake up expectation and the accompanying bedtime that said wake up requires. Re-establishing the morning training routine was a top priority for me and so that's a huge win and I'm pumped.
Couple longish runs so far and both have been comfortable. Lower back tightness toward the end of the longer runs. I presume it's from weak hamstrings and/or core and feel good that the tightness will go away as I get stronger.
I have been obsessing over the fact that I voluntarily missed what turned out to be Broken Social Scene's last show on Canadian soil before they called it quits. As a result, I've listened to pretty much nothing else but since I replaced my headphones save the one day I primed myself with Hey Rosetta for the concert that night.
New stuff when the grieving period is over.

too much birthday

2011-11-13T21:25:00.001-08:00

wasn't a zero but it also barely counts. Hey Rosetta concert last night meant no early morning. then, had a birthday party and family photos. too much food at the party made for a short run.
girls were at grandmas and grandpas for the night and most of the day. jamie and I were "unsupervised" for the day and we had a great brunch where we just leisurely ate in the glorious silence.

Oops

2011-11-12T09:22:00.001-08:00

missed the blog post yesterday but got the run in. One of those days where I had all day to do something and then didn't.
good run, about 90 minutes, legs felt great. New headphones are solid. It was super wet and they stayed put throughout. No ear pain from the buds inside the ear canal like with some types. Can't say how it will feel after 2 plus hours but soon will be able.
excellent rock show at a dive bar The Cobalt on Main street. Second of three shows this week wit hthe last one back at the Commodore tonight. When it rains it pours.

work week

2011-11-10T20:14:00.001-08:00

work week is done for me. tomorrow is a holiday and I took saturday off.
concert last night. Elliott Brood is good times, boot stompin whiskey drinkin good time and the commodore ballroom is a legendary venue but i preferred the seedy club show at the biltmore before they were 'famous'. fewer inhibitions as we moved down the social status ladder meant more dancing and everyone knows what dancing leads to.
good run today, legs felt springy. moved this weeks long run to tomorrow AM as I have two more shows this week Friday and Saturday night and the standard Sunday long run wont be happening this week. late night concert + girls at the grandparents = sleepin in.

adaptation

2011-11-09T06:08:00.000-08:00

Up extra early to squeeze something in before my morning meeting. Warm and overcast again today but no rain. The ground was wet so i'll credit staying dry to fortuitous timing.

headphones review is mixed so far. Sound quality is good but i was playing with them a lot to get them to stay put. I'll try tomorrow with a different set up and see what happens.

one foot after the other

2011-11-08T21:31:00.000-08:00

warm and wet this AM. overdressed but there may be some benefits to that according to Lucho's podcast. A good listen if you have the chance. Dude is knowledgeable.
Bad planning and engagements in the morning and evening before and after work have me staring at a forced zero for tomorrow. May have to make a withdrawal from the bank of goodwill I've built up with my wife to get something in in the very limited time I do have available. Tentative at best.
No juice in the ipod today when i went to run so headphone review is pending as well. Although, I will say they have the best bass tones of any phones I've owned.

Product Testing

2011-11-07T17:41:00.000-08:00

bought some new headphones today. Adidas Sennhesier mx 680. they beat out a similar behind the neck pair because I'll often wear headphones with a touque and the behind the neck ones seemed like they'd get pretty annoying/uncomfortable running that kind of set up. The 680's have some soft rubber fins that sit in your ears and keep the earbud style speakers in place as well as a number of different size configs for the fins and the bud pieces. . I have never had luck with bud style headphones but these were endorsed by users on a couple different sites online. I tried to pull them out by the cord when they were in and it took a pretty good tug to get them off, that's what she said!
They weren't cheap but I have 30 days to return them and if they work well i'll more than get my money's worth. Waterproof, sweat proof, Kevlar cord to prevent fraying. good features as those two issues will be the demise of most phones in time.
I'll repost after some usage re: comfort and fit. As well, now that i'm running again and I've got some new phones, expect the music content to return again. I got some catching up to do!

Sunday

2011-11-06T19:23:00.000-08:00

Day 7 of 40 in the books. First longish run in a while. felt good but can tell it has been a bit since going 90 min +. Looking forward to snapping back.
6 days into Movember and starting to see some shade on the lips of some of my fellow gentlemen. Keep up the good work boys, don't forget to hit up all your friends for monetary and moral support. 1 in 6 is too high a number.

Saturday

2011-11-05T20:54:00.000-07:00

Answered the bell today after a small mental battle with myself when the alarm went off. Like always, happy I got up and went after I was done.
Was chatting with Lucho today and it got me thinking about reputation management and commerce in the age of the web.
There was a time when a person stayed in one place, worked a craft, or a trade, and traded with some other people who also stayed in one place. Over time, if that person did a good job for fair value word got out. And so, when the people in that place needed the service or trade that person provided they knew where to go. Sometimes that person would be the only provider of their service in the area where they lived and sometimes they would've. And in the cases where they folks had choice, people, as we are prone to do, would include other criteria besides the purely rational factors for choosing a service provider and go with the person they liked the best, or who was most like them. The idea that who you are and what your brand is were separate would have seemed like new age nonsense then. And if I'm being candid, it kinda seems like nonsense now. A person didn't work at building a brand. They worked at their craft and the brand evolved from that.
Small town, web store, major corporation same rules.
Be something, do a good job, repeat as necessary. Simple.

Habitual

2011-11-04T20:47:00.000-07:00

Staring to settle back into the rhythm. Run, write, repeat. Feels good. Colder and clear again tonight. Tights were out for the first time this year. Happy it wasn't raining. Enjoyed it while I can.
CFL football season is wrapping up. Home team is 1st in the Western conference after a slow start and the Grey Cup is here this year. Finding myself uninterested for the first time in years. NHL is in full swing and same goes for that. I saw an NHL replay of a guy drive his helmet into the face of another player from a yard away the way a football lineman would after the snap. Hard to find it in myself to follow a sport where that's part of the fabric/culture.
Oddly, I don't have the same feeling of revulsion when reading of guys being hospitalized thanks to their efforts at endurance races. It's not good, to be sure, and dangerous, but there's something about inflicting that level of violence of yourself that makes it more palatable. Lacking the element of victimization maybe? A reflection of my own demented ideas, perception bias, who knows...anyhoo...

Day 4

2011-11-03T20:15:00.000-07:00

Sleep was very interrupted again last night. Been a while since I've had a really, really solid nights sleep. I would chalk it up to the mental gear grinding of changing jobs but last night it was mostly because I had eaten too much dinner.
Short run today. Enough to avoid the bagel, not quite enough to make up for yesterday's miss. Good WU and cool down. no candy. Solid.

Blown

2011-11-02T21:42:00.001-07:00

I had meetings from 7AM through to 9PM tonight. Alarm was set to get up at 5:15 to squeeze out 30 minutes before work. Was still awake at 3AM and it didn't happen.
It's not the falling down but the staying down. Back at it tomorrow.

Day 2 of 40

2011-11-01T19:05:00.000-07:00

surprisingly easy to avoid the candy today.
First day of the second week in the new office. Was an alternative transportation commuter today. Rode to work, ran home. about 8km each way. Felt really, really satisfying running past the stopped traffic on the last stretch of road leading to my home. I have to drive tomorrow and Thursday but would like to get two days a week at minimum where I ride in, then run home with the opposite the next day so that I get all my gear and bike back home by the end of day two. Short W/U, cool down was dinner with my family as I arrived just as the stew was being plated (bowled?)

Halloween

2011-10-31T19:53:00.000-07:00

5 miles easy this AM, w/u that I saw Sara Hall doing on YouTube, modified Myrtle routine cool down.

Still warm enough for shorts.

Discipline Squared

2011-10-30T22:13:00.000-07:00

Today at church, Roger laid out 6 daily disciplines which are foundational to shaping spiritual character and challenged us to spend the next 40 days taking a serious step into them.

To pull from his blog: Disciplines, practiced over a period of time, become habits or lifestyles- habits and lifestyles, repeated over a period of time, become character- and character over time shapes a life! So, it follows that if you want to change a life- start by establishing an appropriate discipline which will lead to a habit/ lifestyle which will develop new character which will change how life is lived.

There seems to be something significant about the 40 day time period. Long enough to start a new habit and build some momentum, for sure. With that in mind I'm going to lay out 6 running disciplines for the next 40 days to kick start my return to training and re-establish some of that lost 'character'.

1) Run every day. Simple. Basic. Even if it's only 30 minutes. No zeros for the next 40 days.

2) Long run each week. 90 minutes at least.

3) 2 days strength work per week. I've been using the Mark's Daily Apple Primal Fitness regime and it's been working well. Keep it up.

4) A small warm up and cool down each time out. Nothing special, basic movements for strength and flexibility. More about the discipline to do the small things that make a difference than anything else.

5) I went all of 2009 without eating candy. The day of Halloween seems like a good time to start that again. 40 days, no candy. I reserve the right to take a different stance towards ice cream.

6) Post here every day recapping how it's going. Hold myself accountable for how it turns out. A couple words, a few paragraphs, no matter.

Discovery

2011-10-26T19:51:00.000-07:00

"When we run, discovery is the first objective. We discover the countries, we discover persons, we discover mountains, and discover myself."
A great quote from Kilian Jornet from the latest installment in the Salomon Running video series.

In that vein, some things discovered (or reminded of) returning to blogging and training.

-Life is full of paradox. I can get out of bed at 4:30AM to run during a 70 mile week and then struggle to get my feet to the floor at 6:30 during a 10 mile week.
-Momentum is powerful. The propulsion of routine is strong. Popping up when the alarm rings at 4:30 or 7:30, the momentum of the previous day makes a difference in how I approach today.
-The new normal is the old normal. Somehow, despite the gravity of momentum, with focus new habits can be formed surprisingly easily. This is both reassuring and terrifying.
-Racing hard hurts just as much fit as unfit. The pain just starts earlier and is less familiar.
-There is no substitute for doing the work. Success is the culmination of large periods of time doing small things well.
- I miss K. Wlad's blog.
- Inspiration is everywhere. Blog posts, changing leaves, tasty cupcakes. If you are looking, you'll see reasons to run.
- Mainstream pro sports have lost their appeal for me almost entirely.
-Listening to Lucho's podcast made me realize I didn't take full advantage of his knowledge while he was my coach.
- Running is fun!

Raced this weekend. First organized event in some time. 10K trail run in North Van at the Lynn Canyon headwaters. A beautiful day for a race; Sunny and cool. The course was an out and back, mix of stairs and climbs and rooty, muddy technical flats. The flat rooty stuff was just my cup of tea. Very similar terrain to what I'm used to in the Watershed. I went off the front of the small group I was working with coming through the roots on the way back.
The climbs were a different story. Not a lot of power in the legs. I can't imagine what it would have been like if I hadn't been keeping up somewhat with the squats over the last little while. More lowr body strength work will help. I've been doing one legged box squats and feel they have made a big impact on balance and joint mobility as well as strength.
Finished in about 57 min, 21st overall and 6/18 in the AG 30-39. Overall winner was 42 minutes.

Calves were feeling pretty trashed the next day. Made me wonder about hill running form and ankle mobility. Question to any vert running readers: When climbing, do you keep a flat foot, bend your leg and flex the ankle or come up on the toes?
Anyways, the soreness put to bed my pipe dream of running 30 hours on the 30th of November in support of prostate cancer research. Maybe next year.

Concert

2011-09-29T06:44:00.000-07:00

This Saturday, Small Ritual is hosting an fundraising concert that I helped put together. If you're in White Rock on Saturday night and have a few hours to come hear some original music from some brilliant independant singer-songwriters, we'd love to see you.
Above is the poster I put together for the event using a free trial copy of Corel Picture-Paint, which was roughly the equivalent of giving the keys of a Ferrari to a toddler. What a complex, amazing piece of design software. Light years beyond what I had used for my last foray into 'graphic design' when I very slightly enhanced an other wise completely legitimate photo of me pipping a certain female triathlete in the finish chute.

Happy Anniversary!

2011-09-24T22:30:00.000-07:00

Hard to believe that it has been exactly one year since my last post. It doesn't feel like nearly that long and I don't even want to think about how long it has been since Boston.
Lots has happened over the last year but very little of that has been training. I've struggled to come up with a reason why training fell off the wagon. Partly it may have been Boston burnout, which I'm sure is very common. Part of it was having an 8 month old daughter who was a very light sleeper and the desire to avoid waking her up with my alarm clock. Training leading up to Boston had me as quick as I had ever been and feeling like a shot at a sub 3hr marathon was a realistic goal. Now, whatever the factors might have been, Boston 2010 + 16 months mostly finds me more Fatdad than Fitdad much to my chagrin.
That said:
Surrey, the city where I live, announced that next year, almost a year from today speaking of anniversaries, they are holding the inaugural Surrey Marathon. Surrey was recently designated as the region's next metropolitan center (Vancouver is the other, for those of you unfamiliar) and have started to built a legit downtown core in what was/is one of the Lower Mainland's rougher neighbourhoods including a new library (Google it, it's beautiful), a new City Hall, Courthouse, University, Brew pub! etc. The race is a coming out of sorts and a chance to showcase what Surrey City Center (forever known to Surrey residents as Whalley. Don't Google it, it's NOT beautiful) has become.
I have lived in this city all of my adult life and the idea of achieving my last remaining marathon goal in the first ever marathon in my home town holds tremendous appeal.
Beth's post today reminded me of blogging and training days gone by, when the interweb was a place to un-self consciously post goals, successes, failures, workouts and any other inane thing that was on my mind at the time I sat down at the keys. I've missed the encouragement, accountability and inspiration of a community of people whose dreams are, for the most part, even wilder, and crazier than my own.
It's my hope that one year from now, I'll be looking 6 days forward to another marathon attempt and back on more than just one post here.

For JW

2010-09-24T13:50:00.000-07:00

Short post, and really would be a tweet if I had a mobile phone. Just wanted to throw up a little something for JW: I scored four free tickets this Sunday to Seahawks and CHARGERS!
Real post and pics to follow.

Back in business

2010-08-19T21:38:00.000-07:00

Almost two months since the last post. Longest stretch without a post since I started this thing.Probs anyone who had been reading this has long moved on.

It's been a great and busy summer thus far. Training has been sporadic to say the least since Boston. Ran a 19:57 5K a month ago and dragged it in because of bad pacing. Ran a 3 mile tempo in 20 min yesterday and felt great. Shrug. Who knows.
Getting back to it for real this week and I'm looking forward to trying my hand at XC this year. I'm pretty sure it's mostly cause I want an excuse to buy spikes but whatever. Running over the hills on the grass. Good times.

Spent a bunch of time hanging with the family getting outside and it's been rad. Did a little camping in Squamish just this side of Whistler. It was great times with a pile of families from church. First trip out with my new T2Plus from REI and it was a solid tent. Got a little rain, no leaks. Happy for the rain when it arrived, first few days were dang dusty. Group site had a huge dirt pile in the middle and the kids were pumped. And dirty.

Violet loved it. This was about 15 minutes after she woke up on Day 1.

Rolled over to Alice lake for the day for a little swimming and a lot of beach time. Lucy bonked hard and needed a boost.

Headed over to Parker Isalnd where Jamie's brother Jared and his wife Annette were kind enough to host us all for a few days at Annette's parent's oceanfront cabin. I brought Gunner's wetsuit and had my first open water swim from Parker Island to Galiano Island. The red arrow is my house. I live in Surrey. It's near Vancouver. BC. In Canada.

Parker Island is the 'A'.

The blue is water.

Tons of boat traffic in the little channel so Jared agreed to paddle support in the kayak. He's all kitted out. I can't tell whether he looks super cool or a little retarded in this photo. I'm OK to remain undecided.

The iPod did not survive the crossing after getting dropped in the sea. Salt water plus electronics...not cool.

Good swim, about 1000-1200 meters maybe? The little dots are boats. The swooping white lines are also boats. I'm the red line. Started at the dock in the lower part of the page, swam to the point and then booted it across the channel. The water was only about knee deep at the tip of the point and it was covered in starfish, er sea-stars. Had to watch where I stepped when I stopped there to rest. Awesome.

One thing to note in this photo is the total lack of icebergs, walrusus, Olympic mascots, or snow. Although a pod of about 22 killer whales went through this same channel the next morning. So I guess there's that for you folks hoping for some Canadiana.

First time in the water since......two years I'd guess. Made me think maybe after XC it might be fun to race some Xterra next summer. Thats a long time away and I'm just riding out the remainder of the good weather before the rain comes back. Good times up here.

Sorry for the long delay.I'll pop back soon.

Perspective

2010-07-08T19:56:00.000-07:00

A great two video companion set with Lauren Fleshman. This should be Lucho's new coach. 15 minutes for both videos, then and now. Well worth the time.

I'll take my chances

2010-06-29T20:08:00.001-07:00

Took down most music a while back after a visitor with ties to the music industry and a law degree stopped by. My desire to share this band's music with you has compelled me to break the silence. As always, comments/suggestions/thoughts are welcomed.

Fang Island - Daisy.mp3

Fang Island - The Illinois.mp3

Summer Fun

2010-05-27T20:42:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post to keep the blog alive after realizing that my last post sounded somewhat final. It's been about a month since Boston and I've run about 4-5 times. It's been good to have a break but I'm getting a little tired of sleeping in and eating chips. If you can believe it.
Started riding my bike to work on a challenge from Gunner to see who could get to work under their own steam for the most consecutive days. I get one 'free' day a week to drive to take stuff back and forth: my suits, laundry like towels etc.
I should have asked for odds as his round trip is approx 3 miles and I'm 6.5 one way.
Weather here has been good. Dry for Vancouver this time of year and relatively warm as well. It's made for good cycling.
Not sure what I'll do through the summer. I've got my eye on a Cross Country series that runs in Fall which could be just the ticket to keep me motivated to train through BBQ season.
Regardless, should be a good summer and I'm hoping to head to Puerto Vallarta in October rocking decent 'fitness' read-abs! haha

Epilogue: Now that all the running is done

2010-05-14T05:47:00.001-07:00

My carmelized onion, blue cheese and BBQ burger at the All Star Sandwich Bar and the tap list at The Lizard Lounge in the basement of Cambridge Common. Pretty much sums it up.

Hopkinton to Boston

2010-05-12T19:48:00.000-07:00

Funny, just as I started to type this, a song called 'Marathon' by the French Canadian group Poirier started playing on the podcast I'm listening to. Weird.

The one thing that stands out to me when I remember the race in Boston is the influence that other people have had on my training and on my race. The blogger community has been so instructive and supportive that I hardly get embarrassed at all anymore when I refer to my 'internet friends'

I would never have attempted to qualify if it weren't for my friend Brian who believed that I could do it. Once I had been convinced, reluctantly that I could make a legit attempt at a BQ, I signed on with Tim, who trained me up enough to put up a qualifying time in Vegas December 2008.

And so, almost 2 years later, I found myself rolling through the hills of New England.
The most memorable thing about Boston is the amount of people who come out to support the race. There really isn't a single spot on the race course without spectators. In some places they were two, three rows deep on the fence and in downtown Boston they were stacked four, five rows deeps on the sidewalks. Really incredible support.

First mile was packed and I felt trapped. Were moving slow and I was constantly looking at my watch. First mile was about 7:20 and I knew I had to make up time.

I remembered some advice from Kerrie who told me to find a group that was running my pace and let them carry me along to a good time. Trouble was I started a few corrals back from anyone running 6:50's so the first 10 miles I spent running alone trying to hide from the wind on the rare occasion it blustered up and looking for a pack. I had the Garmin set to show only current pace, elapsed time and average pace. I kept pressing hoping to get that average down to 6:50 before half.
At halfway is Wellesley College and the sound gave me goosebumps. Yes, you can hear it before you get there. Yes, it sounds exactly like what you think it will sound like. One side of the road for 1/4 mile with screaming girls separated from the course by a crowd control fence. Adidas has seized on the marketing opportunity and many of these screaming collegians had branded signs that said 'Kiss me I'm_________________'. Kiss me I'm Irish, Kiss me I'm from Georgia, Kiss me I'm a senior (my vote for 'most likely to work'), Kiss me we're on TV (my vote for 'least likely to work'. Hello, I have a wife!). Loud, crazy, unbelievable. Chicks dig runners. Honest.

For me, Wellesley unofficially marked the end of 'things to look forward to'. The rest of the course had Heartbreak Hill, the stupid flippin Citgo sign and the last 6 miles, other wise known as 'things I would later realize I was right to be worried about'.

Halfway was also the next time a blogger's words popped into my head. I passed through half in 1:30:30, a 2 min PR for the half. I remembered Kerrie's post about her crushing defeat at the hands of GG in their last open marathon and Glenn's quote popped into my head 'I just set a PR in the half, I better slow down'. Kerrie's advice to GG, which would later come back to bite her in the ass, was that it was a race, and in a race you don't slow down on purpose. Well, i didn't slow down on purpose, but I did slow down. By mile 17, I was starting to fatigue and Kerrie's advice popped into my head again "Just turn off your brain and run". By the time I hit the rollers at mile 18-ish the downhill first half and aggressive pacing had taken their toll.

My quads were cooked and there was no turning off my brain. I started to cramp in the quads and calves and was bleeding speed all over the course. I was still moving but a sub 3 time slipping away.
Halfway up Heartbreak was the first and only time I stopped to walk in the race. My legs were done and I was losing it a bit mentally. For the last time that day, another person influenced the outcome of my race.
I was walking, staring into space trying to collect myself and will the legs to get going. The hill was half done and my legs were hella sore from the downhill pounding and cramping. Then, from the corner of my eye I noticed movement and a lady who I remember mostly as a voice and tiny 5'2" shadow takes a full step off the sidewalk onto the race course and angrily shouts into my ear, her surprise, disappointment and near disgust booming:

YOU'RE A TRAINED RUNNER!

C'MON!!!!!

I'd be willing to bet my next week's salary that she has experience coaching track athletes. Exactly what I needed to snap me back to reality.
Or course, the only thing I could do was start running again and as I chugged up the rest of the hill I could hear her shouting encouragement behind me.
Whoever you were, thanks for that.

By the top of Heartbreak, it was obvious the 3 hours had come and gone. I took a shot and it wasn't my day. I was okay with it but there was still a lot of race left. I'm sure that fatigue played a role in my decision, but with that goal gone I decided that I had two options: kill myself to run a 3:08 or try and enjoy the rest of my day in Boston as much as possible. I went with plan B.

Three things of note about the race course from mile 20 in:

1) It's downhill again. Not great news for the quads.

2) Boston College does not get the credit it deserves for the fan support. The course narrows and you essentially run through a tunnel of screaming college students. It was sweet, although a runner who went through before me later mentioned that he saw a soccer ball pop out of the crowd and onto the course. Hmmmmm.

3) There is a Citgo sign that is well, well, publicized for marking the last mile of the course. Well, what is not so well publicized is that you can see that freakin sign for 2 miles before you actually get there. Yeah, it's huge and you run at it, and run at it, and run at it and it never seems to get any closer. I get that it's an icon, and although I don't even know what Citgo is, I'm boycotting their products. ;)

Last 6 were coasting with the occasional burst to see if the legs were finished cramping. They weren't.
Jamie was waiting near the finish. I had my head on a swivel to try and spot her. Good luck, city was packed out. Grandstands at the finish line against the building in the middle of the frame.

She did snap a great shot of me just after trying to throw down a surge to the finish. Legs cramped and I basically stiff-legged it to try and keep moving and run out the cramps. Couldn't have timed it any worse! Gives a good idea of what the last few miles felt like. I'm mid screen in the red.
Smoooooth...

And that was it. The race was done and the goal of running Boston had been accomplished. Collected my medal, grabbed my food which was cleverly preloaded into a branded lunch bag, got changed, met Jamie.

Once back in Cambridge I realized that other people's influence over my race was done but influence over my day was not.
I had promised my Mom that I would get a photo of myself in my race bib and I hadn't done that yet. So, like any good son, I put my wet singlet back on and ran down the streets of Cambridge painfully recreating the race to get a photo for mom.

Race Recap: the failure that was a success

2010-04-28T19:27:00.000-07:00

First, let me start by qualifying the title. I don't consider the race a failure. I'm not that guy who runs well but is always blathering about how he's slow. I have no illusions about being a 'fast guy' but recognize this run as a decent job and a major accomplishment. Certainly my best and fastest by 5 minutes. I just thought the contrast in the title was catchy, so if it's not totally accurate, whatevs. Poetic license.

Anyways, in so much as I did not meet the time goal I had set, the race did not go as planned. However, from the get go, the goal was a stretch and I knew it. The success came in that I laid it out going after it and I learned a lot in the process.

Also, let me say this: For those of you who haven't been out to Boston and have that as a goal, I encourage you to stay with the training, book the ticket, do what ever it is that you haven't done to help you get there. I'm not saying that every runner need aspire to Boston, but if you are considering it and there is something in the way, move it and get there. A very special place for a runner on Patriots Day.

Rode the bus 45 min out to the athlete's village staging area in Hopkinton with a guy who was staying at the same B&B as I was. Dude named Neil O'Brien(O'brian?), a great guy from Milwaukee who ended up running a 2:48. I'd link his blog but don't know if he has one. I could link you to his TripAdvisor review of the B&B?
Great to have company on the ride. It's a long trip even with the seamless logistical execution of transporting 27K runners 26+ miles across the state.
Even with someone to talk with the time spent on the highway driving from the finish line to the start can't help get in your head a little. Just a little. Here's Garmin's map of the run from the start on the left side to the finish in DT Boston. It's a ways.

Anyways, sit in the staging area for 2 hours then head to the runners corrals. Runners are segmented off 1000 in each corral, separated into two waves of 15,000 starting 30 minutes apart.

It's Patriots Day in Massachusetts so the race starts predictably with the national anthem. I had my hand over my heart in the port-o-potty line up simultaneously wondering why I felt patriotic hearing another nations anthem and whether I would make it through the line and to my corral by the time I was set to start. There were people peeing outside the johns but the race rule book said that doing so put you at risk of losing your start bib. I wasn't going to chance it.

Less predictable was the 'fly by' of two F-14 (F-16?) fighter jets immediately following the anthem. The coolest part was realizing that a plane can't hover and in a matter of seconds they went from unseen and unheard to screaming overhead, to out of sight again. Crazy fast. Cheriyot fast. Forgive me for not knowing the type of jet. In Canada, the military 'jets' we have are still biplanes.

My corral was 7000-8000. It was on a pretty serious uphill. That didn't jive with what I had heard about this being a downhill race. You couldn't see the start line from the corral but the PA was loud and clear and so was the crowd, also unseen as yet. What you could see was about 10-12,000 runners trailing off down the hill behind us and more streaming into the corrals behind them.

The gun goes off, and it's five minutes of shuffling before we actually cross the start line. I should say the timing pad, because there's also a start line painted on the road that says 'it all starts here'. I'm reminded that this race is legit by the huge ass boom camera that swoops down from 40 feet high to just barely above our heads as we cross the line, capturing the nervous excitement on the faces of the crowd of athletes. And then, you see the crowd, all the people of Hopkinton gathered on the steps of the Town Hall, or the Courthouse, or whatever it was. I can't actually remember whether the building was either of those things but it had the essence of them. It was grand, and old, and like only buildings like that can, it had gathered its people to its steps and its lawn and the people, the people they were psyched!

And it's only then that you see why everyone is always going off about the downhill nature of the course. The first hill is immediate and is so steep that the wheelchair start is half way down to prevent the chairs from flying out of control into the New England countryside, which is pretty much what I ended up doing
To be continued...

3:10 in Boston

2010-04-20T05:40:00.000-07:00

3:10:40. Very happy with the day's effort. The legit BQ time that eluded me in Vegas. Had a goal to try and go under 3. The goal was beyond me but I had my mind set on taking a shot at it. Was tracking pretty well at half (setting a 2 min PR in the process) but by the hills in Newton it became obvious that I had gone out too hard. Quads/calves were cooked and cramping from the downhill running. By the top of Heartbreak 3 hours was gone as a goal and legs were smashed. Decided to bring it in easy and enjoy the last stretch of the race. Likely could have put up a faster time with a more conservative start but I have no regrets about the decision to get after it. Posting from a PC at the B&B where we are staying thats about 10 years old. More detailed report to come.
Spilts:

0:22:04 5k
0:43:31 10k
1:04:44 15k
1:26:05 20k
1:30:43 Half
1:47:51 25k
2:11:04 30k
2:35:12 35k
3:00:03 40k
3:10:40 Finish
0:07:17 Pace
2661 Overall
2446 Gender
1646 Division

Race day Updates

2010-04-16T19:27:00.000-07:00

baa.org

Bib 7389

Seattle tonight, Boston tomorrow.

Delayed

2010-04-04T14:37:00.000-07:00

No HR charts for Friday. Freaky wind storm made the scheduled workout impossible. One minute the wind would pick me up and blow me laterally off the sidewalk, trail, etc. and the next minute it would stop me dead mid stride.
Similar workout scheduled tomorrow. Will try and get the data then.

Week 22 Update

2010-04-01T21:05:00.000-07:00

Week 22, two and a half weeks to go until we leave. I guess two weeks tomorrow until the plane leaves. Things are coming together and I'm feeling pretty good. Chart above is from long-ish run from Monday. It's no Lucho-esque effort, but I was pretty happy with it and the PE for this was pretty easy until the last push.
Still trying to settle on a race pace. Gunner has been pushing me to take a shot a 3 hours and Jamie is on board with that plan as well. I'd need to run 6:50's to get there.
Because of family and work commitments over the next little while this may be the last shot I have at a marathon for a while. I'm in better shape than in Vegas and there wont be as many pre race distractions. And I have had a sub 3 as a goal.
But, there is a voice in the back of my head that keeps after me about the level of my fitness and whether I'm fit enough to run sub 3. And if I can't shut that voice up in the next two weeks I'm not going to pull it off.

Anyways, now it's time to see what I'm made of. I really don't have anything to lose by throwing it into the fire and seeing what happens. Worst case scenario, I set a new PR in the half, blow up all over the place, have a nice walk through Boston and enjoy my week's vacation. Actually, that wouldn't be so bad. At least that would mean that I went after it. Worst case scenario is putting in all the training, getting to Boston, being close and not taking a shot or letting off the gas before blowing up because I'm worried about hurting too much later.

This is the part where a fast old lady from SK stops by the comments section and blows me up.

Anyways, I'm running a 4x10 minute threshold session and I'll be wearing the HR monitor. I'll put the charts up tomorrow. If there are any amateur internet physiologists out there that can see something in there, have a go.

Week 19 Summary

2010-03-16T20:48:00.000-07:00

Another good week. 70 miles, 8 sessions, 6 days. Felt good. Solid quality workouts, feeling healthy, legs feel good. All in all ,things are rolling along. Bought some new shoes and am wearing something other than Mizunos for the first time in three years. Bought two pairs of Adidas Adizeros: the Mana and the RC (a discontinued model from 08 maybe). The Mana is what I would describe as a lightweight trainer and the RC is a flat. When I asked the helpful clerk at the general sports store to which I had a gift card I received as a Christmas gift what the difference between the two shoes was he replied the RC was for shorter distances. I responded oh, 10Ks and such. He was shocked! Oh no, short sprints. That's all. I bought both pairs with the intention of running in them on the tready and retuning one pair. At home a little internet research yielded some additional info on the RC (which I'm guessing stands for Road Course) and confirmed my suspicion that contrary to what the helpful acne faced lanky teen told me could be used for more than sprints.
The Manas are nice, they fit well ,they're very light compared to the Mizunos and are likely the shoe I'll run in Boston.

The RCs though, sweet baby, are they something special.

I have never owned a flat so that might be part of the juice but they feel really, really fast. Light and bendy and grippy. Super comfy with or without socks. Love em. Just love em. I'll run a few sessions between now and race day and try and gauge whether or not they'll hold up over 26. Website says optimal performance up to the half distance and I tend to believe that's accurate but they're so much fun to run in I might not be able to resist.

On a related note: I just tossed the Mizunos Iève been running in since I qualified for Boston back in December 2008. They were well beyond the recommended 500 mile replacement lifespan. I am sure that running those shoes into oblivion is what enabled me to successfully transition from a shoe that weighs 11oz to one that weighs 7. For those of you out there who might be thinking of going smaller, lighter, less as a result of the newly ignited debated about footwear, mechanics, efficiency, etc. take note: The difference between the two shoes is significant and if you switch without prep you will get injured. For me FOR ME, the progressive breakdown of the cushioning in my old shoes provided a gradual injury free transition.

Anyhoo, couple charts: weekly summary, first Q workout of this week. Felt good, ran well. Still trying to figure out pacing for Boston. I'm thinking sat 7:30- ish for the first half and then start cutting it down. Suggestions are welcome.

Week 18 summary

2010-03-07T20:43:00.000-08:00

Good week. Lighter mileage, about 50 or so. Legs felt good. Quicker paces were easy whether due to lighter mileage or increasing fitness I don't care.
Key workouts this week were:
a 40 minute tempo workout (where I somehow hit the lap key on the Garmin a couple minutes short?) which was supposed to be at 7:15's but felt easy and restrained at 7's
and an interval workout set for 6:45's which ended up nearer to 6:30's. Short intervals: 4:30 on 4 min rest and 3:00 on 2 min rest.

This week is the last 70 mile week between now and Boston. 5 weeks of training left. Booking my flight and getting my passport tomorrow. Things are coming into shape.

There have been a number of posts in the last while about running by feel. Lucho put one up, Kerrie Wlad wrote about training according to feel, Brandon Fuller wrote one about running fast when he felt like it, etc.
I'm hoping for some feedback on this topic because for those who do it well, it sounds like second nature but for those of us who do not it's a bit of a guessing game.
Because there are days that I run OK but feel like crap. And there are days that I feel like crap and run like crap. And there are days when I feel super fresh and can't really get going at all.
And when the training is heavy, I never feel all that great.
So, where does one begin? Can this skill be developed without spending years of running gadget free in the snowy mountains of Colorado? If so, how to start....
Feedback from gadget free, snowy mountain runners is welcome, as is advice from anyone else who has any to offer. I'm in a spot where I've become aware of the limiting effect of seeing those pace splits on the Garmin. That said, like many runners, I like a nice system and I'm a little uptight. After all, this post has three graphs in it!!!

Jamie and I were at the Saskatchewan pavilion for some of the Olympics. We were scheduled to be there on the Sunday of the gold medal men's hockey game until my parents got tickets to the closing ceremonies and we were short one set of babysitters. Thanks Dad!

Dear England re: Olympics

2010-02-22T13:37:00.000-08:00

Dear England,
Even without snow, our coastal mountains are whiter and straighter than your bottom row of teeth.
Feel free to comment on our Olympics when you can deliver this:

rather than this:

Jolly good.
Ward

Week 16

2010-02-17T19:33:00.000-08:00

*Update: had someone named Loren from Beverly Hills download some content here. Loren is affiliated with the Grammy's, is a member of the Beverley Hills Bar Association and works in entertainment law. I don't know anything about copyright law and I'm in no hurry to find out. For now the box.net content has been removed. *

About 8 1/2 weeks until race day. Lots of little things to take care of between now and then: book the plane tickets, get a new passport. You know, minor issues.
Training has been mixed. I've been training under the Daniels Elite marathon program. Daniels offers a 24 week training plan containing two quality days per week and supplemental easy/recovery mileage for the other days. Q1 day is usually a long run and Q2 is almost as long but has a stronger focus on interval/threshold type work. A typical Q1 long day would look something like this:

2 miles easy+
4 miles threshold +
10 miles easy +
4 miles threshold +
2 miles easy

for a total of 22 miles and 8 miles of quality effort. A Q2 day might not be much less mileage (maybe 17m) but with a higher proportion of quality work at threshold or interval pace.

In the body of the textbook, Daniels suggests that the percentage of weekly training at threshold or interval pace be capped so as to prevent over training and/or injury. For everyone except the elite/sub elite big mileage folks, the quality days listed above take a runner well above suggested weekly caps. For example, imagine a runner doing 50 miles as week. They would perform almost half their total weekly running on a single day with a full 20% of their weekly mileage coming as threshold work in a single session. It's not hard to imagine that runner getting smashed pretty quickly.
Daniels is a smart guy and a great coach and he understands that a healthy runner will get faster than an injured one so to get around the problem of athletes breaking themselves on distances and help the average runner train under the system, Daniels suggests that non-elite runners replace prescribed distances with time targets dependent on the pace. So, if the schedule calls for 1 mile of threshold running, a sub elite athlete could replace this with 5 minutes of threshold running. One mile of interval work equals 3 minutes etc. In this way, Daniels attempts to provide enough quality work without pushing the athlete beyond the suggested weekly quality caps and risking their health and ability to continue training.

So, our example above turns from 22 miles into something like this:

12 minutes easy +
20 minutes threshold +
60 minutes easy +
20 minutes threshold +
12 minutes easy

which for everyone but the elite will end up being quite a bit less than 22 miles.

I am most certainly sub elite. I have never run a 5 minute mile. I have never run a 100 mile week. I am certainly training using times not distances. Or am I?

Initially, that was my intention. But when I calculated total mileage based on timed running using my training paces, I didn't feel that the plan had me running far enough. Sure, the quality portion was appropriate but the total distance for long runs peaked at about 15-16 miles if I remember correctly. This didn't seem to me to be far enough and so I devised a compromise. A hybrid approach if you will. I would run all the prescribed easy pace miles as miles and substitute time goals for the quality work. That way, I would still run what I considered far enough on long days. So our example turned into something like this:

2 miles easy +
20 minutes threshold +
10 miles easy +
20 minutes threshold +
2 miles easy.

It's only about two miles less total mileage but the quality portion drops from 8 miles to about 6, a reduction of 25%
I had found a solution and for 6 weeks it worked brilliantly.

What is it about human beings that causes us to make the mistake of thinking that if a small amount of something is good, then a large amount of something must be even better?

You know where this is heading: Training is going well, I'm getting fitter, times are dropping, I'm not missing workouts or getting banged up. Of course the logical thing to do is switch it up.
If a little threshold running is good, then more must be better.

Next two weeks were great, hitting workouts feeling good.

Then, a little twinge in my calf, then some pain in my calf, then a little bit of grumpiness, then a lot of grumpiness, then some missed workouts, then a cold.

So, this week, I'm back to running by time. Kerrie wrote a great post this week about being patient. I wasn't and paid the price. Good news is the calf feels good, there is still lots of time until Boston and I'm confident that the training I am doing will get me to race day feeling fresh and healthy and ready to go.

Week 14

2010-02-07T09:01:00.001-08:00

The twinge in my calf turned into pain following last week's 22 miler so I shelled this week's second quality workout and moved around the other workouts to try and put as much time between runs as possible. Still managed 52 miles of mostly easy running against what should have been a 63 mile week. Legs feels better after an Epsom salt bath and a couple sessions with the stick. Easy 20 on tap tomorrow and I'll be running two out and backs on trail to give myself a chance to pull the chute if things flare up at all.
The rest of the week is easy running and a 10 mile tempo effort on Thursday.
Had a chance to preview some of the new music I picked up including the latest album by a group called Fanfarlo. They are from England and that's pretty well all I know about them. It took me a while to think of who it was they reminded me of but then I clued in: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, indie rock darlings circa 2005.
Three songs this week. One from Fanfarlo and a couple from C.Y.H.S.Y's self titled debut from 2005.

Week 13 Summary and quality workouts

2010-01-30T15:08:00.001-08:00

Week 13, 11 weeks till race day. Biggest mileage week for me ever. Just over 70. Legs feel good. Bit of a twinge in my right calf that I'll have to keep an eye on but otherwise feeling good.

Stopped wearing the HR strap for the key workouts because it was pretty uncomfortable and giving me a spot of chafing on my sternum. Long run was tough, ran on a dike next to the Pacific, 11 mile out and back, with the wind on the way out and fighting it all the way back. It's a hill without a summit. Effort equal to about 20 sec/mile faster pace. Good for the mind. Toughen up...

With the internet comes podcasts, and with podcasts comes new music. I DL'd about 10 albums today and will throw up some more good stuff once I've had a chance to listen to it all.
Today, something a little outside my usual sphere: a Canadian/Somalian rapper named K'Naan and two singles from his latest album 'Troubadour'. He was raised in Mogadishu until he was 13 and then moved to Toronto. Powerful perspective listening to someone with his background.

Inter-not 2.Oh...

2010-01-06T17:16:00.001-08:00

Connection down at home again. Switching providers at the end of the week and should fix things for good. Training is solid, about 60 miles this week, stats to come once i'm back up at home.

Week 8 Q2

2009-12-23T07:20:00.001-08:00

Workout overview and totals. Forgot the HR strap again.

Covering Ground

2009-12-22T20:11:00.000-08:00

Good week training wise. 52 miles vs. weekly goal of 54, 8:36 average pace. Right on target. Week 7 of the program, 18 weeks to go until race day. First week running quality sessions since before Vegas last December. All told felt pretty good. Funny how after a long stretch of base training all you want to do is run faster until a few sessions show up in the training calendar and then all of a sudden maybe easy running doesn't seem like such a bad idea. Just nerves though and legs felt good. Session
Following Daniels elite marathon plan with a few adjustments. Daniels recommends that only elite athletes use the mileages listed and that everyone else adjust the plan and run for time rather than distance with one mile being 'worth' a certain amount of time depending on the intensity: 1 mile easy equals 6 minutes running, 1 mile at threshold = 5 minutes, etc.
When I calculated total mileage using this formula I wasn't going to put in enough miles on my long runs to prep me for Boston. So, I have kept the easy miles as actual miles and substituted time goals for milage run at other intensities: M pace, T pace, etc. That way days that are just long easy runs I'll still get the mileage but when quality is added to a day I won't run over suggested mileage caps for intensity and will hopefully keep myself from injury and over-training.
First quality session of the week was before I figured out how I was going to adapt the program: 12 minutes Easy
30 minutes Marathon pace
4:45 minutes Threshold pace
25 minutes M pace
4:45 T pace
12 minutes Easy
I'm going to try and remember to wear my HR strap on the quality days just for curiosity sake.

Second quality session was more straightforward:
12 minutes Easy
6 miles Tempo
12 minutes Easy
Felt good. Workout called for 8 miles and I could have ran a couple more but wanted to keep the total tempo mileage under/close to 10% of weekly miles. At 6 miles I was already a little over.

More fun this week including some interval work tomorrow AM.

On the music front, I've been hearing a ton of covers popping up lately. I'm on the hunt for a good quality version of a Death Cab cover I've been hearing a lot lately and if I find it I'll post it. Until then, here are two very different takes on the same song. Bonus points if you know which is the original.
Merry Christmas.

Mo-vember/Training update

2009-12-09T20:27:00.000-08:00

A couple of pics of my costume from the Mo-vember wrap up party. Our team ended up raising about $1000 for prostate cancer research. Thanks to everyone for their support.
The wrap up party was at a club in Chinatown called Fortune Sound Club. I walked into the line and the girl in front of me turned and said" When you were coming up the street all I could think was 'Oh, I hope that mullet isn't real'". Best compliment ever. It's a bit disturbing how real it looks and how much I enjoy wearing it...

And beneath the Canadian tuxedo, my new favorite shirt.

Training is going well. I'll end the week close to 50 miles and begin adding faster
efforts next Wednesday.
Weekly schedule will look like this initially:

M-Easy
T- Off
W- Key workout 1
Th- Easy
F-Easy
Sa-Easy
S-Long/Key workout 2

Hopefully, the rest day wont leave me feeling dead legged for the week's second key workout. The way my week sets up with work and family doesn't leave a lot of wiggle room to change things around.
Monday is 18 weeks until Boston. We've rented a room in a B&B across the water in Cambridge for our accommodations. We've got a room on the third (top) floor seperated from the rest of the units. Pretty pumped that we'll have the ability to do our own cooking and won't be held hostage by the hotels and their overpriced menus.
The suite is about 1M from the finish/shuttle areas and very close to the subway line. Local transit passes are $16 per week and include unlimited subway travel and access to the innrer harbour ferry. We're there for a week and I can't wait to check out the city. This time, unlike Vegas last year, we're flying in just before the race and staying for a few days after. Super pumped. Maybe check out a Bruins game, who knows. Never been to the Eastern seaboard. I'll probably swim in the Atlantic just in case I never get back there.

This one's for Gunner

2009-11-24T21:23:00.000-08:00

Crazy hipsters

What is going on in Europe?!?!?!?!

2009-11-07T21:37:00.000-08:00

I expect crazy things from Europe, with its 28% beers and its cigarette smoking infants, but this is off the chain redonk. North American Hipsters: you've been put on notice by unitard wearing German teen girls. And you thought a track stand was cool....

My Co-workers are Sweet

2009-11-03T15:42:00.000-08:00

That dude, Derek, works with me here at the CU. He's actually the guy who replaced me in my last role after I got promoted. He's a funny kid and is helping raise awareness and funds for Mo-vember. Here's a photo: Derek and I in our Halloween costumes at work on Saturday. Yeah, his costume is what you think it is. I was flattered. I'm either the best assistant manager or a total tool.

Man in Mo-tion

2009-11-02T08:05:00.001-08:00

Super pumped to have things back up and running here at our place. Literally and figuratively. Internet connection is fixed, the blog is back from the dead and with 23 weeks today until Boston training is ramping up. The next three weeks will be daily easy runs bringing the mileage up to about 50 miles per week and where I go from there will depend on how things feel over the next few weeks. If legs feel good then we'll throw some long runs in the mix for the next few weeks before starting some faster efforts.
I had a good chat with Jamie yesterday about training and how I can structure my days/weeks/plan so that the demands on family time don't get out of hand. It's great that she's behind me and committed to helping make this work. Thanks Jamie! Do you think the Boston vacation has something to do with it? I wonder how supportive she would be if I planned a destination marathon to Alaska...
Halloween was a good time. One of my colleagues at work dressed up as 'Ward'. It was a pretty great costume and I was flattered. I'll post a pic this week.
The girls gathered up a pile of loot from the neighbours. Surprisingly, Violet has sort of forgotten aboutthe big bag of candy. Jamie on the other hand.....

Other than serious training, something else started this weekend: Movember. For those of you who aren't in the know, Movember is the month formerly known as November where men and women join forces to raise awareness and money for prostate cancer research. The campaign tag line is 'Changing the face of Men's health' and with a name like Mo-vember, I'll bet you can guess how awareness is raised: That's right, folks, mustaches. Lot's of mustaches. So, over the next several weeks please be warned that it's not going to be pretty around here. Those of you expecting a Lucho-esque flourish of facial hair will be sorely disappointed. Undeterred by my woeful inability to grow hair (or keep the hair I do manage to grow, for that matter) I will be sporting a stashe for the next four weeks. If you want to join the cause, you can swing by http://ca.movember.com/get-involved/ and get going by joining a team, starting a team or signing up as an individual. Ladies, if you love a bro with a mo, you can get involved too in the same way. If you want to join my team, out team name is 'Mo-ving Forward Together' and I'd love to have you.
If you cant join a team but would like to support the cause swing by, donate at the link below and become a Citizen of Movember.

https://www.movember.com/ca/donate/your-details/team_id/46757/

Here's the last time for the next 30 days I won't look like someone who might be married to his cousin. November 1, clean shaven:

Lastly, a few weeks back, Beth from Cali called out for workout songs and this is one that I've been rolling a little the last month or so. Apologies that I've posted three Elliott Brood songs in the last few posts. If you didn't like the last ones, I don't think this one will change your mind. If you did, then you're in for a treat, Either way, listen to the first few bars and tell me that this song isn't the one they use in all those Workopolis commercials.

Inter-noooooooooooo!

2009-10-21T11:10:00.000-07:00

I've been without internet access at home basically since my last post. I'm actually adding this from work (shhhh!) just so anyone out there who might actually still be reading this used-to-be-a-training-blog-but-now-is-mostly-a-music-blog-because-the-writer-is-lazy doesn't think that I've torpedoed my training entirely.
Back soon with real posts. The memory card slot in our camera is having problems. If we cant get it warrantied we'll be stuck with just the internal memory. This means 2 things:
1) We'll be shopping for a new camera and
2) I just scored myself a running camera.
Stay tuned.

Realizations

2009-09-29T21:06:00.001-07:00

i had a big post that didn't save so now this is all i'm adding. pots title doesn't really make sense now but whatever. more tomorrow.

this song isnt for everyone but i dig the fuzzy synth baseline and subtle textures. listen for the tip of the hat to Queen about 15 seconds from the end

Adjustments

2009-09-19T22:02:00.001-07:00

Having a newborn baby sleeping in your room can throw a wrench into your schedule! It's always been about balancing training with family and the way I managed to make it all work was to get up before Jamie and Violet and get the work done before they were even awake. Evenings were family time but if got up early that time was all mine. No one complained if I wanted to get up at 4:45 to work a run in. Well, no one complained except me. It was a good system and it worked.
Lucy's arrival has required we revisit the plan.
She's a great kid with a sweet disposition. She eats well and she doesn't cry all that much. But she snorts. She snorts like a pig hunting for truffles. And once I'm awake, her tiny little baby snorting keeps me up and listening. And it's been awesome except when the alarm goes off to prompt me out of bed only an hour or two after I've finally gone to sleep.
Training has been spotty the last few weeks. Every couple days, 8 or so miles at a time give or take. At least the legs always feel fresh!
Boston registration is done, we might have found accommodations, now I just need to get out there and do work.
Parents of infants: send me your advice. I'd love it.
Also, for anyone who is reading this in the lower mainland and is interested: Elliott Brood is playing the Biltmore on October 7th. Tix are $17 and I'm going. If you'll be there let me know and I'll buy you a beer!

One more thing

2009-09-11T16:34:00.001-07:00

This track from the Elliott Brood album, Mountain Meadows, is pretty sweet too.

Five things

2009-09-09T21:46:00.000-07:00

1) This blog is still alive
2) I registered for Boston today.
3) Two kids is TWICE AS MANY not 'just one more'.
4) Lucho is amazing. I don't understand how he did what he did when his second son was a newborn. Incredible.
5) This song is pretty cool.

Violet's little sister

2009-08-27T19:52:00.000-07:00

Training took a backseat this week when we were called in to the hospital a couple weeks early for our C-section.
Lucy Rene joined the family at about 2:40 on Tuesday afternoon. 8lb 3oz at 37 weeks. We're all home now and mom and baby are both doing great.
Violet is super stoked to be a big sister.

Thanks to Grandma for taking care of Violet while we were in the hospital and thanks to everyone who came to visit with burgers and coffee. And a special thanks to Jamie for letting me eat it in front of her while she was waiting for the nausea from the anesthetic to wear off.

More Music

2009-08-19T19:24:00.001-07:00

Training is going well. Lots of comfortably hard efforts, working up the mileage, stressing form and core strength, all the important boring things that happen while building base and prepping for training later in the season.

Couple interesting tracks: Phoenix is a buzz band from France whose horribly titled album, 'Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix' is a pretty good listen.

Metric is another Canadian band whose 2009 album 'Fantasies' was also shortlisted for the Polaris prize. Interestingly, the beat to this song is a perfect 90 cadence. Solid.

My Pick for the Polaris Prize

2009-07-25T20:29:00.001-07:00

First two tracks from Hey Rosetta!'s Polaris prize nominated album 'Into Your Lungs'. It's my pick to win it this year. I put the first two tracks up so you can get a feel for the whole album.

Updates and Excuses

2009-07-24T17:11:00.001-07:00

What I have been doing lately is hard to call 'training'. Lots of easy efforts, 140ish HR, one hour in duration or so, 4-5 days as week. I'm getting leaner and maybe a little faster. Averaging about 30 miles per week without a long run. Trying to work a long run in but finding it tough to get my ass out of bed on Sunday morning when I dont have a race day deadline staring me down. The goal is to get frquency and duration up to 6-7 days/50+ miles averages going in to Fall.
Gunner is off the DL and we've managed to get several runs in together. Running with him really helps to keep the efforts down!
Work and home life has been nuts and have kept me away from the posts a little. Jamie and I are meeting with a designer next week to talk about some renos on the place so I'll be able to post about that at least.
Polaris Music Prize has announced theior short list and an album from 'Hey Rosetta' made the cut. It's been a huge fav of mine this summer and I'll throw a track of theirs up here tomorrow when I'm not posting from work!

Another road trip, another mountain, another post

2009-07-15T19:43:00.001-07:00

This weekend made a mad dash to Vernon to see my mom and Keith for the weekend. Jammed straight from work on Saturday and got there about 8:30. Put Violet to bed and was crushed from a long day of work and driving.
It wasn't until Sunday that I realized I had totally forgotten to do my push ups on Saturday. Some background: I stated doing push ups every day in January of 2009. I started with 10 a day and have added one to the number I do each week. I'm up to 41 push ups a day and Saturday was only the third day all year that I haven't done them and the first two were because I was literally too sick to get out of bed. So, needless to say I was pretty bummed. I swear that my pecs looked smaller.

Sunday we had all day so after breakfast we headed up to Silver Star mountain just outside of town before heading over to meet my mom for lunch.
Here's Violet crushing a bowl of berries.

Once again I found myself at the top of a lift line wishing I had my bike. It was crazy. We got there just before the lift opened and the mountain and village plaza were empty. Took a quick stroll out onto the mountain to check it out.

Beautiful views of the valley below:

Violet and I hopped up onto a trail that wasn't for hikers to check out a sick MTB bridge built over the path. The end of the bridge we are walking away from is a sick 25 foot 45 degree ladder with a super sharp banked turn at the bottom. It gave me butterflies to think about riding it.

The mountain was awesome and the views were incredible. I just don't know why I keep torturing myself by going to mountains without my bike. It's a sickness.

By the time we walked back to the village the lifts were almost open and the place was packed with tons of super sweet rigs including a girl rocking full armour and riding a bright pink dually that reminded me of a 'roided out version of this girl's ride.

The Vernon area is semi arid climate and all sorts of crazy wildlife lives in the area. Keith took us up to a nature conservatory that's funded entirely by donation so we could check out some of the exhibits and support the local conservation movement. It was rad! We were the only people there when we arrived and the two girls who were working were all over Violet!
The even busted out a gopher snake that was as long as Violet is tall and my little girl was brave enough to let it crawl on her hand. I was pretty impressed.

Met up with mom for lunch and pretty much relaxed in the heat for the rest of the trip. Lounged, ate, slept, repeat.
A highlight of the trip was hearing that my mom is planning to start riding her bike to work! I'm so pumped to hear it. We went to a local shop and picked out a super cool Trek 7 speed cruiser. It's 7km from her house to work and this bike should totally do the trick. I'll throw up a pic if she buys it. So pumped. Go Mom!

***UPDATE***
I just finished cleaning my bathroom and I don't care if they discover that five penguins die for every can they make: I will never stop buying Comet.

Whistler 2010, Summer Style

2009-07-10T20:10:00.000-07:00

Hit up Whistler for the July 1st holiday with Jamie and Violet. We were hosted by the Visschers' who put us up in their sweet family pad. Yeah, that's a totem pole in the living room.

Here's the view from the top of the stairs. Totally roughing it.

There were three couples who went up with their kids and each of us was responsible for one meal over the three evenings. Trev and Jen were cooking up some beer butt chickens for dinner the first night we arrived. Meat cooked with beer? What's not to like?

One for me:

And a couple for the chickens:

Trev looking proud and protective of his delicious birds.

Hit it up with a little Slipstream ale and some corn and black bean salad. Good stuff.

The next day I was up early to get a little run in. The weather was really warm and I wanted to get going before it got too hot. The scenery was unreal and I wished I had brought my camera. I had meant to take it pretty easy but kinda clipped along instead. The first section of the run was downhill and the legs just kept going after that. Fitness isn't really there but it's coming along. I got lost following a trail map that I picked up at a take out BBQ place the day before and pushed it a little for the last couple miles.

After breakfast, decided to hit up the village and check out the parade. Olympic reps were there and I got a chance to hold an actual Olympic torch. I applied to be a runner but never heard back. This is as close as I'm going to get. Apparently, the torch runners have the option to buy the torch they run with and there are 14,000 Olympic torches made like this. Pretty sweet!

The kids were super pumped about the chance to see the Olympic mascots Miga, Quatchi, and Sumi who were rumored to be in the parade but they were late to show up and nap time forced us home before the kids all imploded. Violet and Theo (Trev and Jen's son) were pretty stoked to see some giant stuffed versions instead.

Whistler is known for the mountain but there are tons of gorgeous lakes up there as well. Owen (our host) busted out the Kayaks and took us all don to the lake for a paddle. Here he is with Violet after a spin around Alta Lake.

What a view. Hard to believe that we're only two hours from home. Life is good.

Violet was a little played out from all the sun so I went up to the alpine meadow with the rest of the crew to take a ride on the Peak to Peak gondola. It is the world's longest unsupported span of gondola in the world. The cable runs from Whistler to Blackcomb, 4.4 km over a valley between the two mountains. The unsupported length across the middle (distance between the two towers furthest apart) is 1.88 MILES. Yup, big ole gondola, two miles between towers, valley floor 200 feet below and 360 degree views. $40 to ride but it was worth it.

A pic from the gondola on the way up to the Peak to Peak. The lake in the back of the pic is where we were staying. You can see the village at the bottom. It's kinda tough to see but if you follow the gondola lines down you can see a building. That's the midpoint station and you can see some of the mountain bike trails shooting off from there and heading down to the village. Yes, from the midpoint to the village is all rolling down hill all-mountain goodness. And if you're feeling it, you can off load at the top and ride all the way down. Next time I'm bringing the dually.

And a crazy shot of the Whistler glacier from the Peak to Peak gondola. I stopped taking pictures after the first one when I realized that there was no way the camera could capture how majestic it all was.

Four days and it felt like two weeks. Thanks Visschers for a rad stay. Can't wait to do it again.

And for all y'all down south reading this: C'mon up and join us for a couple weeks this February and see for yourself! We're very friendly and your dollar goes a long way!

"Race Report"

2009-06-30T21:24:00.001-07:00

OK, so who am I kidding. There's no race report coming. I had every intention of writing one but time got away. I've attached the chart from my Garmin. It was hilly singletrack. It was lots of fun. I'm going back next year. Nuff said.

Training is going well. Running every day with pretty easy efforts. Running on PE about an hour a day and trying to get long runs in on the weekend. Keeping it nice and easy and just trying to build up that aerobic base so I'm ready for when the real push comes leading up to Boston.
Did my first run over 10 miles for some time yesterday ( I did say trying to get the long runs in). Beautiful day here at the coast. Slapped on some sunscreen and headed out for 2 hours easy. Ended with 14.6 miles, 8:12 pace average against HR average of 153. HR started rising a little towards the end of the run due to fatigue, heat and lack of fuel (IE hungry!)
Those of you who've seen me know that I've got a pretty sickly cave tan going most of the year. Sunscreen is a must. SPF 50 is a minimum. And yet, for some reason I didnt think to do my legs yesterday. Moving too fast for the suns rays to catch them. Yeah, not quite.

That white dot is my normal pigment. Check out the sweet sock line. Looks great with the flip flops. Endurance athletes are sexy!

Tomorrow is Canada Day and Jamie, Violet and I are heading up to Whistler to chill until Saturday. I'm looking forward to some epic scenery and promise lots of pics when I get back.

North Face Endurance Challenge 10K

2009-06-11T21:50:00.000-07:00

Just a shorty race report with the real one coming. Didn't take the 'advice' of some and run the 50 miler. 10K time of 54 minutes, good enough for 10th overall and 3rd in the AG.
Set a few small goals for myself going in to the race and was happy to have achieved them. Course was tough with a lot of climbing. Lost three spots in the last mile that I could have held if I could descend singletrack faster in worn out road shoes. Next time.
Pics and a bit more detail to follow.

Feedback

2009-05-29T19:46:00.001-07:00

Training is going well. The issues with the lower leg from the form work are resolved and I did some barefoot strides the other day with no discomfort. Sweet!
I'm looking for some feedback around how to fill my days between now and when Boston training begins for real.
Originally, I was going to train for 5-10K using Daniels' plan. Then, I thought that rather than train for a specific distance, I'd work from one of Daniels' 'general' fitness plans included in the second edition of 'The Running Formula'. Now, having re read some stuff that suggests staying in 'base mode' as long as possible, Im debating sticking to relatively easy mileage with one threshold run and one set of strides per week until about 20 weeks out from Boston.
I know that as long as I'm running regularly and staying healthy, I'll be in a great spot to launch into a 20 week plan leading up to Boston.
I guess I'm looking for opinions from you guys out there.

Yarrrr...

2009-05-18T22:08:00.000-07:00

Last post got flagged for copyright infringement and the song file was removed from my online file sharing provider. Piracy: It's not just for Somalia anymore.
The only song I've posted that's been used by Apple in an ad campaign is the only song that's ever been pulled. Coincidence?
Training is going OK, got over a little set back with my ankle that kept me sidelined for about 5 days. Feeling good and looking forward to building the mileage now that the weather is better, the days are longer and Brian is back running again.
Thinking of heading down to Bellingham to run the North Face Endurance Challenge race in June. The 10K looks good andfor those who are up to it they are offering distances up to 50 miles. It's $50 to enter and includes some decent swag including a shirt and some socks. It's Jamie's birthday that weekend and we're going to send Violet for some bonding with her grandparents for a couple days and make little vacation of it. Might book accomadations here.

Slack Post

2009-05-08T20:14:00.001-07:00

Been doggin it a bit on the posting lately. Back training on a schedule again for the first time since early December and Vegas. A little bit of track work and getting the miles up. Found a great grass field near my house and have been running barefoot strides there to work on my form. I've overdone the form work on the track and have beat up my lower legs a little. My ankle is pretty sore so I'm going to take the hint and ease up a bit.

It's been a WHILE since I've put any music up here. Mostly because when I'm not doing long runs I'm not listening to new music.

The girl in the header photo is my 2 year old daughter Violet. This song is not a new one, but it's currently our favorite dance song. She calls it party song and can sing all the words to the chorus. Sweet.

Sun Run Update

2009-04-24T20:26:00.000-07:00

OK, so right off the bat: no front line pic. I'm about 7 rows back and you can see me in the aerial start shot but not the ground level one. And to tell it's me, you'll kinda have to have a circle around me. And and arrow to the circle. And squint. And put your face really close to the monitor. And have a good imagination. Whatever. It's still cool...

I'm in this one too. I'm the guy on the right in the long white nighty, er, T-shirt and blue gloves clapping at the wheelchair race. No wonder they asked to see my bib about 50 times as I was warming up.

Race results were decidedly non elite: 44:25. I had no juice and was struggling right from the get go. That afternoon and night I was super bummed about the result and couldn't believe I was suffering so bad after I race I ran so slowly. Then Monday night and a fever so bad I sweated through the mattress and left a puddle on the floor. Next night, slept with three towels: one under me, on on top of me and one at bedside so I could towel off what the other two didn't absorb.
Turns out I have strep throat and likely have for a while. Now the race makes a little more sense.

Ummmm....yeah.

2009-04-18T07:56:00.001-07:00

Each year, the company I work for sponsors a corporate team in the 'SunRun', a 56,000 person 10K run through downtown Vancouver. I believe it is the second largest road race in North America. Long time readers might remember that last year Gunner and I ran to the start line. Along the way, Gunn was so afraid of what he thought was a porcupine, which turned out to be a basketball, that he crossed the street to get away. In fairness, i thought it might be a porcupine too. What can I say? It was early...
Good times.
I signed up again this year and the race goes on Sunday. Because there are so many people, they have wave starts and unless you get a decent spot near the front you cannot run. And, like many things, lots of people over estimate their ability and you end up with a number of people in your wave that should not be there. This year, I am 'that guy'
The race organizers ask for a recent race time in order to assign waves. I gave them my 3:15 time from Vegas marathon. They gave me my bib. It's blue and the number was surprisingly low.

Below is the back of the race big which assigns your starting corral according to the color of the bib. For context, the red numbers run from 55,000-80,000.

Never been in the first corral before. Pretty sure I'll be the only guy in there not wearing race flats. This race is sponsored by a large local newspaper and a big, colour picture of the front row at the start always ends up in the paper. My new race goal: get in that picture!

Newness

2009-04-14T21:17:00.000-07:00

I've been doing most of my running at night now that I am getting Violet ready for daycare in the mornings. About one mile from my house is a public golf course. Two 18 hole courses at one venue. The security guy there sees me but doesn't seem to mind that I run there after dark. 9 holes plus the distance to and from is about 5 miles. Quiet, peaceful, smooth, rolling terrain all to myself. It's awesome. Last night I wished I had my camera. I'll bring it along next time. I'm also thinking of buying some cross country spikes so I can run on the fairways instead of the cart paths!
Speaking of spikes:
I've been watching a lot of track and field videos on Flotrack. I don't know how it happened but I became a running fan. I know names, schools, I can tell you what DMR stands for! Weird. NHL playoffs are starting and I couldn't tell you who made the cut. But, I do know that Austin Abbott from UW is confirmed in the 1500 at Mt SAC. I kinda want to kick my own ass...
So, like I've done my whole life, I see something and think "I can do that. Maybe I should train to try and run the Women's Olympic 'B' standard for the 5K." Seriously, I literally watch elite athletes and then think, Hmmm, why not?
I remember watching a BMX video when I was a kid and then buying a Haro Master so I could become a freestyle BMX rider. Now I work in a Credit Union. hahaha.
So anyways, I watch these videos of these elite runners and I notice something: fast runners spend a lot of time running up on their toes. And those 1500 guys, their heels never touch the track. And I've heard the same thing about Haile. Below is a picture of some cross country spikes. Notice where the 'spikes' are.

So, with this in mind, and because watching elite video automatically qualifies me to train like them, the next time I go running I make an effort to get forward on my foot strike. It feels awkward, like I'm way up on my toes but the road is meeting me right on the balls of my feet. It's quick and quiet and faster.
It's also prevented me from walking right for the last two days. My calves are trashed! When Daniels talks about base training being time for skeletal and muscular adaptations, I'm guessing this is what he means.

Lazy Squared

2009-03-27T11:42:00.000-07:00

Training has been spotty. It's base building and there's sorta only one way to run from my house. Which means that every run is almost the same. Same distance, same pace, same route. Mentally, it's a challenge. Funny how routine becomes boring only in regards to some things. I could sit on the couch and eat the same flavor of ice cream, in the same bowl, in the same portion every night and be perfectly happy.
And when I don't run, I don't post. It's pretty much that simple.
Today I have a question and a comment:
1) The Credit Union I work for has an annual awards party which is coming up next Wednesday. It's pretty relaxed and is a chance for everyone to celebrate the year passed, have a few cocktails and let down their hair. Every year there is a theme and almost everyone dresses up including all the executives. Last year the theme was '80's Prom' and the CEO, CFO, COO and some of the VPs dressed up as KISS and did a kick ass air band. It's that kind of party.
This year the theme is 'Olympics', as Vancouver is hosting 2010, and I'm having trouble thinking up a costume that won't get me fired. Any ideas?
Now, the comment. Totally unrelated. And it's actually another question:
Why is it the man's responsibility to ensure that the toilet seat is put down? Both men and women have different seat needs and I don't understand why this is not a cooperative effort. Ladies, show your men some love and lift that seat.

UBC Sprint Tri Race Report

2009-03-10T19:10:00.000-07:00

Kept this kind of under the radar. Hadn't really been training much for tri's since Gunner broke his collar bone. I was having trouble sleeping and my new morning schedule at home was making it tough for me to get to the pool in the AM. So, after Brian got busted up, I really started to question how committed I was to training for triathlon and the longer I thought about it, the more it looked like this would be my first and last tri race of the year.
Aside from the Oly distance race I did about 4 years ago on almost no training, this was my first tri race, period.
Not much to report, really. Raced without a watch, just wanted to sustain a good effort without paying too much attention to where I was time wise. I was pretty much counting on coasting off my residual fitness from Vegas!
750M swim, 20KM bike, 5 KM run, finished in 1:23, 61/360-ish. 5th in my AG.
Bike rank, 30th overall, run rank 45th overall, swim rank 175th! Looks like I did all that shaving for nothing! JK.
Gunner took some pics. Best shot is me having a mid race chat on the wall in the pool with another swimmer. Classic Canadian conversation:
"Sorry, you go ahead"
"Oh no, I insist, you first."
"No no, you go. Please."
"OK, sorry, you sure?"
"Sorry, yes, I'm sure. OK, sorry, go ahead"
"Sorry, OK, thanks. Thanks again, sorry about that."

I'm switching back to running for the rest of the year in a long multi stage build up towards Boston in April 2010. The plan at this point is to train short and fast (5K and 10K) through the summer, some cross country maybe in the Fall, a little rest then back to marathon mileage (hopefully with some new speed) through the winter and spring. If I feel like I've found my limits at that point, I'll come back to triathlon. If not, I'm going to keep running until I have.
And of course, chin ups, push ups and no candy until at least the end of bathing suit season. I might not be a triathlete, but that won't stop me from wearing the Speedo!

For the haters

2009-02-26T19:55:00.000-08:00

Cribs

2009-02-24T19:44:00.000-08:00

Here's a couple of shots of a room where I spend loads of time: the bathroom!
I thought it would be a good time to offer up a progress report on 'Operation 2009: Be less of a P*ssy'.
So far, I'm hanging in there with the daily push ups and core exercise. To round out the strength training I added this little beauty: chin up bar!

I don't know if you can tell from the pic but it's wider than the door frame so you can do wide grip pull ups as well as underhand grip chin ups. According to the packaging, you can do about 176 different exercises but to be honest there are grips in spots I can't imagine using.
As of this week, I'm doing 21 push ups, 16 v-sit ups, 6 wide grip pull ups and 6 underhand grip chin ups every day adding one to each every week. I'm the guy who started lifting the calf until he could pick up the bull!

This shot is for any spouses of endurance athletes who might be reading the blog. Yeah, it's not just their bathroom that has smelly ass clothes hanging in there all the time.

I got this idea from a friend of mine who used to write herself notes on the inside of her car window with a white board dry erase marker. I started doing the same thing on my bathroom mirror. I put in on the bathroom mirror so it's the first thing that I see in the morning and the last thing I see at night.
'No chain' is a phrase that I read in Lance Armstrong's book that he used to describe how he felt on great days on the bike. He felt like there was 'no chain' on the bike, it felt that easy. For me, the best way to feel good on the bike is to stay on the couch!

I'm also keeping track of the days that I have managed to get my push ups, sit ups and chin ups in. That's 55 hash marks. Every day in 2009. It's also the number of days since the last time I ate a piece of candy.

This last one is a reminder that I sign up for this crazy business of my own demented free will. No whining!

I'm adding inspirational/motivational/insightful quotes to the mirror as the year goes along. Any ideas?

Ride on

2009-02-19T21:01:00.001-08:00

Another amazing weather day in Vancouver and I thought since I had some free time I would take advantage and go for a ride and enjoy some more beautiful Canadian scenery.

The snow boot, the spare car battery from Canadian Tire, the ice skate and the mitten. All iconic parts of the rugged Canadian landscape.

Took a nice little out and back route. Coming home was uphill and into the wind.

But the view made all the hard work worthwhile!

Super Sunday

2009-02-16T19:11:00.001-08:00

Beauty shot of the Vancouver skyline looking south east from the Stanley Park seawall. I was treated to almost 2 hours of this Sunday morning.
Ran my first pseudo race of the year: the Pacific Road Runner's First Half half marathon. Our friend Stephanie was racing and convinced Jamie and her brother Jared to run. Jamie signed up and then decided she wasn't going to run so I figured that one of us should. After all, it was $55 and the race sold out in about 5 hours. So, I agreed to run and to meet Steph at the 10 mile mark and run her in the last 3 miles. I hadn't done a long run since Vegas so this was mostly for fun but I was curious to see how I felt. Here's Jared on the way down at about 6:30 AM.

The race was amazing! If you live in the Greater Vancouver area and can get in, I would recommend this race FOR SURE. A beautiful course around the sea wall and a great expo/food line afterward. This is the most surprising shot of them all: Jamie with a big smile after being woken up at 5 and dragged to a race that she wasnt running. And yes, it was a little chilly. Sunny, but cold.
Even Violet came to cheer me and Uncle on.

I took a page out of Speedo Steve's book and decided to run with a camera. Did you know that a Canon Powershot will fit in the front key pocket of your tights? Well, it will. And you'll get many odd looks when you reach in there and grab it during the race!
Not sure why I look so intense in this pic. Kinda reminds me of Zoolander, but as a runner. One pace? One pace? Really, really, ridiculously fast looking. Haha

There were only 2000 runners so it didn't take long for me to catch up with Steph. I started back in the pack so I would be sure to see her at least once before the 10 mile mark.

I also ran into Michelle, another Sugoi Brand Champion. If you enlarge the pic you can see the cool West Coast Native design on the arm warmers. Looking good Michelle.

The course was pretty much 13 miles along the water. If you've been to Vancouver, you'll know that the weather is always like this. Sunny. Always.

The run for me was actually pretty good. I started back in the pack and hit my watch to start as soon as the gun went off. It took me about 1 min to get to the line and I stopped once during the first mile to adjust my stuff. The camera and iPod, that is. Garmin said 9:30 for that first mile and I was between 7:10 and 7:20 for the next 9 miles. I felt not bad for having not really been running.

The rest of this post is bascially an ad for the 2010 Olympics. Vancouver is rad, the weather is always sunny and warm. Come and enjoy our city.

Ups and Downs

2009-02-08T22:01:00.001-08:00

This weekend was a mix of highs and lows.
Saturday was Violet's second birthday party and we had a sugar fueled toddler rampage at our house. Jamie made sugar cookies and the kids all decorated them while the parents tried to keep tiny hands out of giant tubs of icing. So much fun. Pictures are on Violet's blog.
Sunday was 6 months since Oliver was born and we stopped by the cemetery to see him in the morning. It's a difficult thing to hear your child say hello to her brother through a grave stone.
Today was a beautiful Vancouver day with typical flaky West Coast weather. It was hailing at the Y when Violet and I finished swimming and by the time we drove the 15 minutes to the beach it was almost too warm for my hoodie. Spent the rest of the morning throwing rocks into the ocean and saying hello to seagulls. Violet leaned the new word 'creatures' to describe what you find when you turn over a rock at the shoreline.
The most important part of training is the recovery so now we're both off for a nap!

New Music

2009-01-29T19:42:00.001-08:00

Not Andrew Bird: that's still coming. This is 'Furr', title track from the new album by Blitzen Trapper. This tune really stuck a chord with me. It stirred up feelings of my deep primitive connection with nature and reminded me of the great joys I've felt running on those perfect days when I felt fast and smooth and beautiful, dangerous and powerful and free, frothy and breathing heavy, at home charging down the trail, a beast closing in on imaginary prey.
Plus, it's got loons! How sweet is that?

We are the champions!

2009-01-24T19:55:00.001-08:00

Brand Champions that is! What do you think of the new suit I'll be rocking this season? A local Vancouver company called Sugoi was looking for some brand champions and my application was accepted. Part of the pitch was that Gunner had already been picked up and we would look sweet racing and training in the same gear. They've got a dope looking West Coast themed line just for brand champions including the tri suit above and the singlet below (the two items I'm going to pick up for sure.)
Pretty pumped about getting accepted and it's pushing me to get going on the bike and in the pool so I can rep them with a little pride. You can check out what's up with me and the other brand champs here.
The first running shirt I ever bought over 7 years ago (an insulated long sleeve) is a Sugoi and it's still in the rotation today on cold days. Yeah, I know, that's kinda gross, but the thing looks as good as when I bought it. And I'm cheap. So it stays! Along with the five or six other items from them that have worked their way into my regular rotation.

Training has been pretty light compared to the build up to Vegas and it's been a challenge to get a handle on where things are fitness wise. I haven't spent any time in the pool or on the trainer in the past so there's nothing for me to compare to. I'm just trying to get as much time in as I can and go from there. One thing that's rad about being a total beginner in the water is that every swim there's so much improvement!
Last year early in the season I spent a lot of time strengthening the core and I've gotten back to that and hope to be well balanced and rangy by the time race season gets here. There's a kick ass core workout on Flotrack from Team Indiana Elite that I'd like to work into the program eventually after the basic stability exercises have addressed any muscles imbalances. An area that I could have worked harder last year.
Almost finished reading 'In Pursuit of Excellence' the first time and I'm going to have to re-read it for sure. Maybe hitting up a few pages in the A.M. while I'm, er, sitting, might not be the best way to retain the info...
Musically, two dudes that I'm big fans of, Andrew Bird and M. Ward, both dropped new albums but I haven't had a chance to hit them up yet. Stay tuned.

Fixing a hole

2009-01-14T19:19:00.000-08:00

Keeping in mind the theme of 2009 (be less of a pussy) I've added a few things to my weekly routine to help toughen up a little mentally.
The first thing was to pick up a book recommended by Bree Wee and Paulo Souza. It's called 'In Pursuit of Excellence' and so far it's been, well, excellent. As a side note, I ordered it from a local library by way of Google books and was reminded once m ore why Google will one day rule the world. Three clicks and my library card number and the book was on it's way to the library nearest me. It was awesome. Yeah, that's right, I just said that ordering a book to a library using the internet was awesome. You know what else is awesome? Nerds like this guy.
Anyways, I've only read a few chapters but so far it's been really helpful in breaking the idea of mental preparedness into small action steps. The plan is to read it once through to get a feel for what it's all about and then go back and start working it.
Last season I started off strong with the core work but later in the year faded off because of having 'no time'. For 2009 I stole a great idea from my friend Brad who did this as his New Years resolution in 2008:
On Jan 1st, Brad did 15 push ups. On Jan 2nd, Brad did 15 push ups. Brad did 15 push ups every day that week. And on the first day of the next week, Brad did 16 push ups. And every day that week he did 16 push ups. On Monday the following week, Brad added one push up and did 17. And so on, and so on. Brad was doing push ups while his wife was in labor giving birth to their first child, a daughter. Brad did push ups EVERY DAY in 2008. And by the end of the year he was doing 67 a day. Brad was pretty much a machine. I voted him 'Most inspirational pecs 2008".
So that's what I'm going to do. I've added one challenging core exercise to the set as well and I'll be doing a few of both every day. In addition I'm doing a really rad core workout that I saw on Matt Fitzgerald's blog 3 times a week (the routine, aimed at runners, is at the bottom of the linked post). That should toughen me up a little. I debated taking a picture of my flabby ass once a month as a way to track the changes but there are probably enough naked pictures of me on the internet already.
A sad thing I discovered about myself last year was that I didn't really like pain. I was OK with a little but I didn't like 'race pain' and I never learned to handle that. When the big pain came, like I knew it would, I started to panic a little, tried to employ any one of my three feeble mental 'tricks' to make it go away, and then slowed down. Not this year. This year, I'm doing wall sits, using the same methodology as above. Started with 1 minute everyday. Added one minute a week. Three minutes of wall sitting gets the pain going in the legs pretty quick. Once I get to 10 minutes I'll start adding weight.
I read a cool quote from Lance Armstrong's book 'Every Second Counts' that my homeboy Jackson picked up for me at the thrift shop. I'm adopting it as my motto for 2009:
I have the will to suffer.
Oh, and I think I'm starting to learn to swim.

New Years Photos

2009-01-11T23:06:00.001-08:00

Me doing my best (worst) John Bonham impression.
"John Bonham's playing 'Moby Dick' for real! " Oh 'Stepbrothers'. What a film.

Jamie enthusiastic on M. I. C.

This kid should not be allowed to get a drivers license ever. Look at the crazy grin. I'm nervous already.

This one is pretty self explanatory...

Next morning we all went to the ocean for a little swim. Violet hitched a ride and was dressed appropriately for the weather. Others of us, however, were not.

Rob and I congratulating each other on an excellent swim while Brian looks on. And yes, those are his goggles on his head.

Pretty rad way to ring in the New Year. Thanks Gunn's for hosting such a kick ass party!

2008 recap and 2009 looking forward

2009-01-06T19:08:00.001-08:00

I have to start this post with a big shout out to Julie Gun n who was supposed to email me pictures of Dec 31/08-Jan 1/09. No pics as of yet but when they arrive I'll throw a few up. It was a pretty sweet night of Rock Band where I rocked the mic right. I scored very highly according to the computer but sadly not according my band mates. Haters.
New Years Eve was followed up with a breakfast of banana chocolate chip pancakes and a mid day trip to the Pacific Ocean for a little Polar Bear swim. I'm counting that in the training log as the first swim of the year. Total: 2 meters. Hardest set ever. Is a Speedo supposed to be that baggy in the front?

2008 was a pretty rad year (for training) and marked a number of firsts for me as well as a few personal bests:
I set out (and started this blog because of) trying to qualify for Boston. And I did. So 'A' goal for 2008 acheived!
PB at 10K by 13 seconds, broken by a couple minutes later in the year
PB at 26.2 by 20 minutes! (and a BQ by 13 seconds! Close call!)
First race at 13.1.
PR at 13.1-ha.
First year with a running coach
First online fued/challenge with another runner
First super public race day smack down by said runner...

All in all, a great year for me training wise. I logged more miles last year than any year in my life so far and did it while remaining injury free for the most part. I had always seen 50 miles as my peak weekly milage and this year logged a couple 70 mile weeks with no ill effects (aside from the odd day I sleepwalked through the first half of my work day. Note: If I did your financial planning between August and December, you might want to recheck the math!) which brings me to the big take away for me from 2008:

When done properly my body can handle a heavier training load than I previously thought. This is good news for a guy like me who doesn't have any real natural gifts but isn't afraid to put in the work. I'm making the switch over from running to triathlon this year and although I was a little apprehensive at first, now I'm pretty excited to see whether I can learn to swim and ride a bike up a hill and not just down.

Even though I set some big PB's and had what I consider a great training year, I didn't perform as well as I could have. I neglected the mental aspect or training during the year. That brings me to the big goal for 2009:

Be less of a pussy.

I've ordered "Pursuit of Excellence" from my local library and will focus a lot more attention this year on the mental game with the goal of getting tougher between the ears and bringing pride to my countrymen and wome n around the world. Long story short: I'm going to learn to "suck it up, princess!"

Oh, and also, I've sworn off candy.

I should be working but....

2008-12-27T11:05:00.000-08:00

The branch is open today which means I'm at work but with the weather (yup, still snowing) and the season things are pretty quiet around here. So, instead of doing some much needed filing, I'm doing time wasting things like this:

44 miles per gallon

Created by The Car Connection

Seriously? Seriously?! Seriously.

2008-12-21T08:43:00.000-08:00

More snow. A whole week of sub zero temperatures. This is not Saskatchewan. Or Colorado. This is the time of year when we Vancouverites are supposed to be lording our weather over the rest of the country.
What happened to you? Vancouver, you've changed, man.
Tried to run outside yesterday. The temp was -11 Celsius. That's about 12 F. Was feeling OK until I realized my critical error: the glasses I was wearing were made of metal. Metal is an excellent conductor. Metal feels like burning when it gets cold and touches your skin.
1.5 miles in total.
I never thought I'd say this but I miss the rain.
Couple cool tunes. One from The Hold Steady off their new album 'Stay Positive' and a older favorite from The Decemberists off the 2006 album "The Crane Wife'. One is a song about working construction and getting drunk with your buddies on the water tower and the other is based on a Japanese folk tale about a man who rescues a bird who ends up turning into a beautiful woman who spins the most exquisite fabrics and then flees when her husband discovers that she is spinning the cloth out of her own feathers. I'll let you guess which is which.

Laid up

2008-12-17T15:23:00.000-08:00

Gunner was fighting the tail end of a cold when we were in Vegas. Violet and Jamie caught it and I was giddy in my endurance athlete smugness for not having gotten sick. Oops. Looks like I gloated too soon. Home from work today resting up. I would have been home anyways because there's about 6 inches of snow on the ground and Vancouver is shut down. This city does not function in the snow. C'mon people, we should be used to this. It's just frozen rain and heaven knows we get enough of that! I leaned out the front of our townhouse and snapped the pic above.
What a waste. It's like getting sick on vacation. I blame the swimming...