Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Banging my Head Against the Wall

…some times things just don’t work out. I’ve raced long enough to know that you can be as best prepared as you can be and sometimes the ‘gods just aren’t smiling’ on you. Going into Ottawa I felt prepared to run well. Not at my best, but good enough that I would at least put down a decent time and be competitive. My taper felt good. My mind felt positive and the race went down (pace wise) as I was hoping for through the first 15km, but alas there are always things the mind can’t control.

Initially, there were two main ‘Canadian packs’ in Ottawa. One at 67:30 pace and one at 69mins. I wanted somewhere in between and got lucky through 5km as the faster group was about 10 sec slow. ‘Perfect’ I thought. I hung on the back and figured that there would be quite a few guys coming back (‘carcasses’ I told Ryan Day as I surged to catch up to them… and a good natured ribbing from him after a few post race pops), although I think they slowed down more than I sped up. I hit 5km in 16:09and then the 67:30 group tried to get back on pace, but I was content to run my own race. Fortunately, there were a few guys who also had the same thoughts and we formed a nice little 4 man group at around 2:16 mid to high pace. Around 10km though 32:20 (prefect I thought) my pack split into two(some blonde haired guy) and we silently worked together picking off guys over the next 8km. Back came guys from the 67:30 group and we were moving nicely as we both split 48:38 through 15km and I was feeling more and more relaxed as we went along. I even had to hold back from time to time. We caught a couple of Mizuno team mates (Rachem Baghdad and later Jerry Ziak ...Jizzy) and kept on moving strongly

But then the problems began. I don’t know if it was the food we ate the day before (we had a buffet style set up that had more watery style carbs) or a combination of factors, But I began to have stomach pains and realized this wasn’t… errrrr… gas. I had to take a pit stop in some bushes and lost about 30 + seconds and then jumped back in to ‘no man’s land between the 69min group and Ryan Day. Go with the 69 group (with Taylor Murphy and Jason Warick) or try to catch Ryan. In 20-20 hindsight I wish I would have been more aggressive, but I decided to go with the larger pack and re-group. At about 20kms I knew that more problems were arising. I was now tight and my back felt ‘locked up’ to go along with a few more stomach pains. At the half I made the call to pack it in. If I had bee about 5kms further I would have grinded it out and probably ran decent (as my prediction of carcasses over the last half came through). I hate moments like this…quite simply feeling as I was giving up, but I also realized that I made the mistake of ‘stupid valour’ in Sacramento and it only got me a moral victory. I was not looking for moral victories this race…I was looking for a time.

Fortunately, (well for me at least) Ryan had also dropped out at the half and we walked back to the finish line (I swear I didn’t know it was only a couple of miles away). And a few mins after we began waling our club mate Nick Best (who had also canned the last ½) joined us in our walk of shame. I hate feeling like a failure, but sometimes I also find this sort of thing gives one a swift kick you know where. I’ve almost always had great performances after bad ones (unless there is a legitimate reason for running poorly) and I’m hoping that feeling this way will cause me to be a little hungrier.

Jizzy was my roomy for the trip and I chatted with him on the way back to the hotel about some possible future training plans. I also realized that my training for Ottawa had also become a ‘grind’. I’ve always felt that to train well you have to enjoy it and I can’t say I really enjoyed much of the ‘solitary confinement’ of training for a marathon this time around. The question now is what to do. I simply want to enjoy training again and I certainly don’t want to leave the season on such a bad spot when I am in good shape.

When I know… I’ll let you know...Oh! and if you want to know the real story it wasn’t my fault they shut down the airport down Friday for 90mins… I swear it wasn’t me… then again maybe I have that much power… but then again that’s another story……maybe next time you’ll find about my adventures with Transport Canada, the RCMP and YVR ‘Port Authority’ next time around. It’s a classic…

Monday, May 19, 2008

Form, form, form......aka my friend Bikram

... that's the key for me. From a car accident to one two years ago (but this one I got hit while out running across a cross walk) I have had various compensatory problems during my running career (another completely different story). If I can keep my mechanics efficient then my performances are good. When the mechanics are off… well let’s just say it’s a long day.

Back in 2005 I was able to find a really good chiro in New Zealand who I worked with on ‘natural’ form. The result was no pain and very fluid mechanics. But one year later, when I got hit by ‘the car,’ I ended up compensating too much and have struggled with efficiency ever since. Even last year I had some fantastic workouts that were pretty as much as good I have ever done. I found I could do the workouts, but when it came to racing I found myself working too hard at the halfway point of races and I would pretty much go backwards very drastically.

In the fall my wife took in a class of Bikram Yoga. It’s often called ‘hot’ yoga and is a series of 26 yoga poses, but this ain’t no ‘meditation’ relaxing yoga. This is intense yoga done in high 30 degree heat. They put you through the poses and it’s as much a core stability workout as it is stretching. At the end I am always thankful it’s over, but the next day my runs are always smooth and quick. I find I am ‘lazy’ in regards to early season Bikram sessions, but as I get closer to bigger races I try to get in two sessions a week.

Friday: Run at lower and upper SFU trails (the ’90 min loop’ as I call it). This isn’t a measured loop, but rather a ‘feel’ loop and I have certain spots along the way that let me know if am running slow-med-quick. At a certain point where I consider around 49 mins to be quick (and my best is 48) I hot 47 without much effort. The idea was to get through the first 50mins and then work the hilly sections the last 40. I was too quick at the lower levels of the trails and had to throw in some extra sections. The result wa 93 misn of good aerobic fartlek longish run.

After I hit some Bikram Yoga, but I was only about 90mins after my run and I just went through the motions.

Saturday: AM 50 min run at Buntzen lake trails with ‘dug’ and then took her to the lake for some ball throw and for me soaking my legs in the cold water.
PM 33 min at a decent clip

Sunday: AM 30min acceleration tempo run at Bby lake trails. The idea is 10mins below MP, 10mins at and 10mins at threshold pace. Didn’t feel smooth mechanically (I realized after I was running more with my arms and less with my ‘core’), but I thought this might happen as it was only about 40 hours after my Fri run.
PM 22 mins plus 6 x 10 sec strides. My form was much better and I felt great

Saturday, May 17, 2008

'Clickin...'

I wish I could sometimes explain my training. Sometimes there is neither rhyme or reason to why things all of a sudden begin to ‘click’. This past week has been one of those weeks. Could it be the forced rest of being sick? Maybe the good week I had last week? Maybe the long run I went on that I felt I really needed. Possibly doing some types of workouts I really trust (hills) or the more Bikram Yoga classes (my next post will be about Bikram) I have been attending. More simply (or more complex??) it’s all of these things I do to prepare both physically and mentally to get ready race. This almost always seems to happen to me at just the right time. Luck…maybe…coincidence…possibly…preparation…more than likely. My only concern is that it goes too well this week and I do too much… eeeekkkk.

Monday: I love runs the day after a big hill session. Me mechanics always feel great even if my legs feel a little tired. 60mins that felt easy but was very quick. A little Bikram Yoga later in the evening.

Tuesday: Yippee-ki-yay… Head out for a planned 12 miler….over the next hour I try to hold back my pace with a relaxed effort purposely running smoother, but trying to run slow, but it’s impossible… I love those days. I am hitting easy day splits that I have never hit before, but I can’t seem to run slower. Even when I do…I can’t. Hit the ‘Mundy Park power line hill’ and simply cruise up with little effort in a little over 8mins and the best part is that it’s muddy, which usually means slow, but not this time. Once I hit the top hill I force myself to run even slower. The result is 19.5 kms (approx) in 1 hr 14 mins

Wednesday: Hmmmm….’I ran too hard on Mon and Tues’ I tell myself. ‘You idiot!. I guess we’ll find out today’. This is my last tougher session, so I want to stay relaxed and not smash myself. The idea was to run the equivalent of a km (I have a section of Mundy park blacktop loop that I know is my standard ‘3mins’ ) jog 60 sec so my HR didn’t drop too much and then run back a bit slower (but at the same pace as my 12 x 3mins section last week), but relaxed. I think I got just the right mixture as my first 3mins was about 5 sec quicker (and uphill) and my second 3mins was bang on.
5 x 3mins harder-1min jog- 3mins hard- 2min walking rest. As I finished my thought of ‘doing too much and too hard’ were unknown as I figured I’d find out on Thurs.

Thursday: A gym session was on order and they have a new set up at Chimo Pool out here in the burbs, and it’s also about a mile from Mundy Park. I head out for my run with no idea of how fast I am going, but I feel slow (uh oh) and flat. I get into the Mundy Park trails and find out why I feel this way. I am actually running very quick, especially considering my workout yesterday. It’s been wet around Mundy Park and it’s been slower running recently, so I am shocked by my splits considering everything. Once again I simply try to stay smooth, but become more relaxed. ‘Slow down and relax you idiot’ is my mantra now. It happens…form gets smoother and my effort level drops, but something happens which I am not prepared for and I am pleasantly surprised. I thought I was running quick before, but now I am running easier and about 15-20 sec per mile faster…I run for an hour, but figure I covered 15kms in 57 mins and each 5km was 30-40 sec quicker than the previous one…a little gym work after (nice gym BTW).

I’ve written too much… tune in tomorrow for Friday-Sunday's report.....I don't know how today will be (sat) or tomorrow, but Friday made me smile and cringe.....

Monday, May 12, 2008

God I love the last two weeks....

before big races.....some people hate getting ready for races. I freaking love it. It's the mid season races I hate. My type B personality requires that I need a lot more stimulation than those crazy type A's and the early-mid season races just don't do it for me. That's the one thing I've come t realize. In general I really don't care what happens beforehand race wise, as long as I am confident in my training

I can't say that this training buildup has gone perfect, but then again it hasn't gone bad. But I seem to be clicking just at the right time in regards to mechanics, feel and most of all simple focus. I drive my wife crazy as I tend to get a little grumpy and completely zone her out. When I stay in that 'constant' state of neither getting up or down, but more a slightly 'glazed over look' that's when I know I am ready (at least I hope).

Here's to the taper....

Saturday:
AM: 68 mins at the SFU trails with 'dug'
PM: 43min easy

Sunday:
AM: 38mins with 'dug'
PM: Hill circuit 53mins at Deer Lake ( a series of hills that go anywhere from 2+mins for bounding all the way down to 50 seconds and sprints in between). I find a good hill workout has always worked for me. It helps my mechanics and my legs get fatigued without getting beat up.

At the end of the week I was a smidgeon below 190kms.

Some say follow a 3 week taper for the marathon, but with being sick I decided to go with the 'Bill Freeman taper'. Freeman wrote the old TnF News book on periodization and had a 5 week taper phase that went low week, med week, high week, low/med week, low taper week.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

But it makes sense to me....

Funny how some bad patches of training can be forgotten (somewhat) with a run here in some comfortable surroundings or a workout you enjoy. If there's one thing I've come to realize it's that what may make sense from a purely physiological standpoint doesn't always make sense from a mental viewpoint.

Around Xmas time Bruce Deacon and myself got into a good discussion on a warm down after a workout through the snow (a friend of mine Bert, who loves to talk ;-), didn't say a word. Instead he ran behind us and apparently was laughing to himself as he listened to Bruce and I banter back and forth like an old married couple) and the jist of things was how Bruce trained versus myself.

Bruce's results speak for them themselves, but he is a true blue type A long distance runner who argued that a very structured training regimen (or doing the least amount of work required) was key (egs specific marathon paces and workouts). I on the other hand am no slouch myself (espec as an ‘old guy’) being the type B former middle distance runner (who has had to learn some of the OCD compulsions of the long distance runner) argued that my training needed to be less structured and more fartlek or ‘feel’ style oriented. That's one I have come to realize with people I've 'coached/advised' over the years (and myself) that first and foremost you have to believe what your doing irrelevant of whether it makes perfect sense to someone else. As long as the effort and work is put in then the rest typically falls into place (unless you treat training like 'rocket science', which of course it ain't)


Bert on the other hand laughed as he commented after that you two are both right and wrong. I knew what he was saying and to paraphrase a quote from British coach Frank Horwill 'in the end it's results that matter'.

This week was one of those weeks. After my fiasco of being sick and then banging my head against the wall last week, I needed to get back some (at least for me) basics, which is simply some long reps, a good long run and a tempo (although I'd love a little quick fartlek right now, but that's for next week).

Wed:
After Tues session I felt a little beat up on my AM run, but my PM run was very solid and best of all my mechanics felt smooth AM: 30 mins PM 67 mins quick

Thurs: 2 hr 52 mins
My last real long run. Originally this was supposed to be done almost 10-14 days ago and a little longer but sickness and racing deep-sixed that one. Some people say do your last long run 3 weeks before, but I couldn't fit that in, so I figured do it mid week and reach a happy medium. Ran on my 'hilly as', but also favourite place to run, lower and upper SFU trails. The last time I did this run my legs were really beat up, but this time I put in 2 hr 52 mins at good pace. I don't know my exact pace, but I have places that I know are quick and this run was quick. That's the one thing with these trails. They are so windy you can't hammer all the time, but there is very little flat stuff so it's almost like a fartlek and the downhill can really beat up your legs. The idea was to really push the hilly sections the last hour when they appeared

Friday: 60 mins with 'dug'
My cold from last weekend is still sticking around. Nothing huge except I am blowing 'chunks' from time to time (eeeewwww) and it makes me groggy in the morning. This was one of those mornings...congested and sleepy so decided for an afternoon and evening run. Only problem was that I fell asleep after my afternoon run and woke up at 10:30. Once again if my body is telling me I need some sleep then I won't force the issue.... besides I will still end up with a very good week by the end.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Blips on the radar....

...I hope.....

Once again I mess around with my mechanics and this time I think I have to go with not what feels best , but rather what works. On Sunday I had no pain, but ran terribly. On Monday and Tuesday I ran with some pain and ran easier and faster...hmmmm......

Mon: aAfternoon: 65 mins on my '17km' colony farm loop and up the 'mundy park hill' in 9mins. I felt a helluva lot better than Sunday. How can this happen???? Oh yeah..I am an i deee ottt. Night: 33mins

Tues: Equivalent of km repeats. It might be more than a km, or maybe less than a km.....I don't care... 12 x 3mins off 1min on rolling hilly pathway, plus 4 mins of 30sec hard-med and 3 mins of 15sec hard-med. 3min reps were solid and consistent.

Wed: AM: 30mins pm: planned 60 mins easy as AM run felt terrible

Sunday, May 4, 2008

No?? Really??? What????Impossible??? Yep!!!

...the thoughts that now run through my mind...

...anything that could go wrong did today in the 1/2 marathon. Legs felt like crap, my mind was swiss cheese, but that's not even half the story... it gets much much better

I figure run a pace session so somewhere around 67-68 min pace, but I also knew that my legs were still dead from overcompensating from being sick so I also figured anything around 68 would be okay. Like I often say I am 'stoopid' and this was one of those times. I can train through 5 and 10kms, but the 1/2 marathon, at least for me, is a different ballgame. Todd Howard, Jim Finlayson, the Mazzotta brothers and a couple of guys from out of town were in the lead pack (huge props to Todd for a nice PR and Carmin for running his first half.....too bad he didn't lose his 'amateur status as he got outkicked near the end by some guy from Georgia). I knew early on that this one was going to be a struggle. My legs felt pounded at oh geeezzzz....1 mile.....yikes.... Anyways I was able to hang in there and felt smoother as we went along, but at about 3 miles I I started getting stomach cramps.... uh oh...bathroom (you've go to be kidding me I thought). At just before 5 miles I see some porta potties...head on in..lose 60 seconds. Ahhhh I thought 'it's a training run and besides I might still place' (if I only knew), so off I go in pursuit and feeling much better.

Off I go into Stanley Park (but I really don't know the course) and run past some course officials and on to the Sea Wall (where I assume the course goes), but no one says anything (I think I look like a runner with my race number and singlet). Now I can't see anyone in front of me, but it's twisty so I figure those guys must be rolling. I even run past some official looking people and see some official race signs that say 'garbage in here' and no one says anything to me.

I keep on running , but as I come around a corner I cannot see anyone on the Sea Wall. Hmmmmmm...... 'hey there's a guy I recognize way up ahead, but he's running on the road and is above me. You've got to be kidding me' I think. 'I am not even on the course'.....ooops!!!!! So I run up some embankment and back on to the road by the half way marker (I think mile 5 to the half took around 10 mins).

Well you can now guess where my mind is and it gets better I had to go to the bathroom one more time (stinking hamburgers my neighbour fed me last night.....lesson learned my body does not deal with beef well). In the end I ended up simply jogging in, but my legs felt pounded.

I am all about 'experiences' in running and I've been running a long time, but I don't think I've ever experienced anything like today.....now the question is whether this is good ...or bad....aaarrrggghhhhhh

Saturday, May 3, 2008

I already got my list in hand....

...for reasons I may run not run well at the BMO 1/2 marathon this weekend. On the other side if I run well I think I just got lucky. Being sick last week was bad timing, but alas one can only trudge on and do what is needed. If I didn't run this bloody marathon in 3+ weeks I wouldn't care, but IMHO certain things need to be done (for me mostly mental) that didn't get done last week.

So instead I had to do some of these things this week (said in a sarcastic and condescending tone of voice). I actually didn't plan to do this race, but when I couldn't run the TC 10km I felt it was required.

I haven't raced near fitness potential, but more importantly I've learned more and more with each race from a mental viewpoint. Hopefully this will be another positive learning experience. That's one thing (I'm kinda stoopid) I've come to realize and that is I am in a constant state of assessing and analyzing my racing/training to mostly tweak things, but for me that works.

I finally began to feel decent on Monday, but even then I decided to cancel doubles for a bit. Since My Tues and Wed were going to be long and hard it made sense.

Mon: 65 mins (Finally felt human)
Tues: 25 x 60 sec hard-easy. Figured I actually covered 15km and actually quicker than the last time I did this session (but only 20 x 60-60) and also more relaxed. I was very consistent and felt good I had good mechanics
Wed: I figured i might regret this one and as of right now I would agree... SFU 'hilly as' trails 2 hrs 25 mins. Needed a reasonable long run irrelevant of how it would impact my 1/2. (I know it's too close to the 1/2, but then again the 1/2 isn't my priority now is it).
Thurs: Man my legs hurt from those stoopid hills AM - 38 PM 66 - mins with dug. Legs stiff, but decent pace by the end
Fri: AM - 33 mins PM - 59mins. Felt stiff, but decent pace, but as the run went along I felt much better and worked the last 10mins pretty good, but also a good clip as well. PMPM - My fiend Bikram Yoga. I was supposed to get in at least two other sessions since the Sun Run, but I didn't figure I needed to get in a double sweat.
Sat: Plan is for two runs today that total 20 or so kms....feeling a sniffle.....hmmmmmm....another nail in the coffin???? (to hell with positive thoughts. Besides, I work better off negative ones)
Sunday: survive.....'those who survive the best run the best'