Day One

-7deg. 30mins. New Salomon Speedcross. Lungs and throat cooked. Back on the horse.

#cccccold

W/E August 25, 2013 - Edmonton Marathon - 5th

Mon - 55min:  Feeling stiff and tired today so just went for an easy run in the new trail shoes.

Tues - 30min: Tired again, taking it easy.

Wed - 60min w/ 2xHill (93, 96): Legs feeling better

Thurs - 30min 

Fri - off

Sat - off

Sun - 42.2km: (2:42:35) 5th place.

Well unfortunately the Edmonton Marathon did not go as well as I hoped. I was feeling pretty good going in but things never really started clicking in the race. I expected to be able to grind out a 2:35 given that I was able to overcome some adversity to run a 2:42 in Kamloops. In this race I didn't have any particularly acute problems but felt generally sore as the race went on. Of course you expect a marathon to be bring about a certain amount of soreness or pain but I was feeling unusually sore and in strange places. I would attribute most of it to having done 100% of my running on dirt roads and trails but I didn't feel this 'pounded-out legs' feel when I did Kamloops a few weeks go. At any rate, my left shoulder and arms in general got really sore and tired, my inside left shin was aching, both my knees were aching and towards the end my left patella was very sore. This was all soreness that was abnormal. So my only guess is that a combination of the pavement/asphalt surface and the terrible condition of the roads in Edmonton accounts for this. ANYWAY, thats marathoning, you can always count on ups and downs. In particular, racing in Edmonton is always hit or miss for me, I have run some great races there like my 2nd place Canadian half-marathon championships, one of my best races in my career; and my horrendous near last-place finish at World half-marathon championships, one of my worst races ever; I have dropped out; and I have won there. 

Next up:  I am in Toronto now visiting my tsétse (younger sister) but will probably go for a jog tomorrow and try and get the legs moving a bit next week. I have committed to doing a 10k, yes a 10k in East Vancouver for an organization I used to work for in a new Canada running series race called....East Van 10k.  Its going to be brutal, I don't even remember how to run hard for 10k, so it should be interesting. I can't even pick a goal for it.

W/E August 18, 2013 - Bread and Butter

Mon - 4x2xHill (93, 96, 93, 94, 93, 96, 96, 94)  Good hill workout but don't seem to be able to squeeze any more speed/power out of the legs)

Tues - 63min + 1 set leg lifts: little tired from yesterday but legs feeling strong too. Got run off by that same dozen horses. Little unnerving!

Wed - 93mins: good run, short break to let a herd of rounded-up escaped cows walk by.

Thurs - Off: was going to do another hill workout today but felt really tired.

Fri - 4xhill, 3xhill, 2xhill (93, 93, 93, 95, 90, 91, 93, 92, 92): Longest sets, most reps, fastest average time this year. Awesome workout.

Sat - 60min: Good easy run, way too much driving the last couple days.

Sun - 62min: feeling a bit tired and stiff in the legs.

Total: 6h38m

Originally I had hoped to do the second hill workout on thursday so I could do one last long run this sunday but it just didnt work out. I had a fairly busy week, energy levels were low and I spent too much time driving places.  Nevertheless my first hill workout of the week turned out well doing 8 total reps for the first time this year and then on friday I had an excellent hill workout doing sets of 4, 3 and 2, all at an average pace more than 1 second faster than Monday. All-in-all I am feeling fairly fit and have shed 3 pounds; still 6-7 pounds over my training weight but its coming off slowly.  I'm going to do a longish run tomorrow of 2hrs with some marathon pace effort to get the legs moving then maybe do 2-3 hill reps wednesday. I have lots to do this week but i'll back right off on the recovery days. Thursday i'm going to drive halfway to edmonton and camp out then the rest of the way friday to break up the driving and save the legs.  Things are going well.

A recent campout looking south. A land of valleys: Arrowstone Creek running into Cache Creek running into Bonaparte River running into the Thompson River.

W/E August 11, 2013

Mon - 58min easy

Tues - 85mins: Mission Creek Greenway in Kelowna, just like old times, but 100mi/wk less...

Wed - 78mins: feeling pretty good, some bounce in my legs again today

Thu - Off, unplanned but necessary

Fri - 3x2xHill (97, 94, 93, 97, 93, 92), Left foot sore, started on wed, not sure what the issue is.

Sat - 30min: hot, tired, dehydrated and hungry. Partly b/c of a long week but no excuse for not eating enough.

Sun - 80min: good easy hot run in Kamloops

Total: 6h26m

As predicted this week was super busy and tired me out. Fortunately I am not coming down with a cold. My legs felt good today, albeit a bit tired. I have decided not to do a long run this weekend and opt to put in a few hill workouts to get some speed and strength. Will plan for one next weekend.

W/E August 4, 2013

Mon - Off

Tues - Off, still very sore.

Wed - Off, back at er tomorrow.

Thu - 20mins jog, legs feeling pretty good.

Fri - Off - unscheduled

Sat - 55min - feeling a bit tired, long day yesterday

Sun - 30mins easy

Total - 1h45

Really easy recovery week. I was fairly busy and not getting a lot of sleep this week so recovery was a little slow. Feeling ok now though and will get back at it this week, however a few very long days ahead. I will have to be careful not to catch a cold.

W/E July 28, 2013 - Kamloops Marathon 2:42 - 1st - Tough Day

Mon - 30m: sore feet and tired body from Saturday, still. Otherwise body feels ok.

Tues - 30min: still fairly sore and tired.

Wed - 45+min: 2xHill (87, 91), coming around. Realizing how tiring everything last week was.

Thurs - 60min: nice easy run

Fri - Off:  Compulsory day before the day before race day, off day.

Sat - Off: Not-so-compulsory day before race day off.

Sun - 42.2km in 2h42min and change for the W. Tough day. Race report forthcoming.

Well, it certainly wasn't very fast but a satisfying win nevertheless. For whatever reason my guts were really acting up today so it made for a rough day out there.  Off the gun Hans Aaybe headed out pretty quick as per usual so I didn't think to much of it and had assumed he was running the half marathon. I ran with Rick Brewster, also doing  the half marathon for about 10k till he mentioned Hans was doing the full marathon. Although my legs weren't feeling fantastic at that point I had to start thinking about how I was going to manage to win this thing. I continued to run with Rick for a while until we made it around The Dunes golf course out Westsyde then picked it up. Unfortunately this was short lived and around 19k my guts exploded and I needed to make a pit-stop asap. There were just houses around so I had to slow right down and hope to make it to the next port-a-john at about 20k or so, so Rick and the other two guys passed me and Hans would get further and further away (although at this point I had seen Hans was not going any faster than us; I was able to see him on the long straights).  Anyway, things got really bad and I found some bushes. Once I got back on the road I got around the corner and sure enough there were port-a-johns...SO, feeling better I put the hammer down and started reeling those other guys in which was no easy task. for about 10k I pushed it pretty hard eventually seeing them in the distance, then closer, and closer. Fortunately Hans had slowed and the other two guys were bringing him in as well. Once I reached the crest of the bridge crossing the Thompson River I was able to see all three of them within about 250m.  At this point I figured there was a good chance I had the race in the bag because I was feeling OK, and it is very unlikely that in the last 15k of a race they would be able to pick up their pace much. With this in mind I eased up a bit and slowly reeled each one in and passed them, Hans being the last, not long before the turnaround.  From here I was feeling happy with my accomplishment of coming from way behind and just tried to enjoy the rest of the race. Unfortunately at about 35k my guts started aching again so I stopped drinking any water or eating any gels, which didn't help energy-wise but kept my guts intact. As things got tough I just concentrated on my form and driving forward, cruising home in a not so fast time but a good solid effort. No complaints here. Defended my title on Secwepemc land, righteous.

I was also making a political statement. I am 100% against the proposed AJAX mine just outside of Kamloops. The main complaint from many Kamloops residents is centred around air quality however between this mine and the existing New Gold mine enormous amount of water will be pulled out of Kamloops lake (Thomson River system) putting pressure on already struggling salmon populations. Additionally, there will be a huge, highly toxic tailings facility as there is with mining operations which will last indefinitely. Tailings facilities are far from fool proof and subject to leeching and breaching due to unpredictable environmental events over the next hundred-odd years, with the only place to go but downhill into the Thompson watershed which drains into the Fraser River.  This is an unacceptable level of risk to future generations of human and non-human life.