2013 Winterman Half Marathon Post-Race Report

So yesterday was the big race over in Ottawa - the Winterman Half Marathon. The day started at 5:15 in the morning with a big yawn, after sleeping for a total of about 15min the night before - maybe pre-race nerves, maybe not being at home. I had my normal breakfast - muesli with banana and fruit (blueberries, rasberries, etc.) and we were out the door to walk to the start by 7. I layered up pretty well, but still at -28 (and by the river) it's impossible to have enough layers on while still having mobility in the upper body. So i figured it would be better the under-dress than over - my toes and hands objected to this plan the whole way over - even my trusty ipod nano stopped working on the way over - i figure the battery froze (luckily before the race i was able to reset it)

Anyways enough back-drop, standing at the line, sizing up my competition, I was nervous but had the confidence of knowing that no one in the total of 1500 competitors (not all in the half some in full, and 10k/5k) had trained harder than me. Therefore, I felt I was going to take my hamstring exploding for someone to challenge me. Boom! An artillery cannon sounded the start of the race. I flew out of the start - mostly startled from the sound. Some people my age practically went into an all out sprint from the start and I stayed calm and knew they wouldn't keep that. After about 300m I was up at the front with 2 other guys. I caught up to the first, he was in the 5k, then the leader he was in the 10k - so leading out of the gate, good start. After another minute or so my lungs started to complain about the cold, but I pushed on. I won't detail every foot strike along the route, but basically 1 lap went, I was leading, second lap still leading, 3rd lap I saw my chasers on the other side of the road (its a 5.247km out and back loop) no too far back maybe 30 seconds. On the 4th and final lap they were more than 4 minutes back and with 3k to go or so I knew it would take a catastrophe for me to lose this race. However, I didn't want to start celebrating because I didn't know what these guys were capable of - maybe they were saving for finale - i didn't know, so I kept my pace high and flew into the finish for my first career victory.

Here's the breakdown of the laps and the data from my garmin.
Lap 1 - 18:52, Lap 2 - 19:15 (lost about 30 seconds on this lap after going the wrong way for a bit), Lap 3 - 19:03 , Lap 4 - 18:52.  Also along the route a section of the course narrowed to a sidewalk so for lap 2,3,4 trying to pass the 10ks and 5ks along the sidewalk added some time overall. The official time was 1:16:00 but i figure with the delays and mistake on my part was easily sub 1:15.
http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/274874821

Just copy the link and insert into browser (in the top right corner click view in metric)

One more thing I wanted to add into this long post was a quick review on my race shoes - the Adidas Adios 1.0. I wore the Adidas Adios 2.0 in the 2012 Scotiabank Marathon, and wore them for basically all my long runs leading up to this race. I got the 1.0 in January for about 60$ (as they are a few years ago's model). I liked the 2.0 so much but 160$ + tax is too much for a racing flat. 60$ sounded pretty good to me and I figured they would be similar to 2.0 (many reviews have said they like the 1.0 better than the 2.0). When I bought them I intended on wearing them for the 2 tempo runs leading up to the winterman just to break them in, the race itself, the around the bay 30k in march, and a full marathon in may.

In terms of performance, the shoes are great. They are feathery light, tight close to foot fit which I really like in a racing shoe, and extremely stiff. As much as I like shoes like the Saucony kinvaras and brooks pure connect which have a soft feel, for racing I like a shoe that is stiff since it pushes back on you at toe-off (acting like a spring). Also, I love their colour - and as much as this sounds fruity - I think it's very beneficial during a run to look down at your shoes or at the reflection on a window and say, "Damn I look good."

After the race i looked at the bottoms of the shoes, and they were beat to shreds. The soles were actually destroyed, and pieces from the sticky rubber sole had fallen completely off. I mean this is ridiculous, I literally ran only 48km on these shoes with the race and the two tempos before it, and the shoe is falling apart? I'm going to try to see if I can return them, or get some sort of discount on my next pair because a shoe should not break apart after less than 50k. I mean for the Adios 2.0, i put atleast 500-600km on them and not a single piece of the sole has broken off - not even the little nubs of rubber seen in the picture on the right. So basically in terms of durability these shoes get a 0 out of 10. If you have the money definitely go with the 2.0 over the original, if not for racing flat similar to the 2.0 I would give something like the Asics Hyperspeed 4 or 5 a try.

Heres a look at the bottom of my shoes, look at the toe and the two missing nodules:

So here's a quick post number 2,

After a long run this morning, a two hour 28k LSD (long slow distance) I was feeling like having a special dinner. Growing up, my favorite dish was from a restaurant, in Trenton Ontario where my grandparents live, called Tomassos Italian Grill. It is a beautiful restaurant on the banks of the Trent River. We were regulars on March Break, and during the summer's when me, my sister, and cousins would go down to stay at our grandparents for a week or so. Our grandparents are good friends of the owner Tom, so we always had "our spot" when we went - this table beside the big bay window looking out onto the water. Anyways, there was a dish there called Sausage Penne alla Forno -- this unbelievable baked penne with italian sausage and grilled pepper, with beautiful mushrooms, and best of all it was absolutely smothered in the best cheese your ever have in your life. Now I haven't ate cheese in who knows how long, but tonight I was inspired by the Tomasso's dish and made my own much healthier version with just a bit a parmesan cheese.

So here it is:

Before being baked.

1 Skinless, Boneless Blue Menu Fresh Chicken Breast - seasoned with whatever you really want; I used rosemary, pepper, cayenne pepper (for some spice), basil, garlic, and whenever you are cooking an Italian meal lots and lots of oregano
1 cup Catelli Healthy Harvest Whole Wheat Penne Rigate
1 Cup of white onion
1/2 Red Bell Pepper
1 cup of White Mushrooms
1 Tsp. of Sunflower Oil
1/2 cup of Blue Menu Garlic and Mushroom Sauce
2 Tbsp. of Kraft Light 100% Parmesan

After.

Directions: Heat 1 tsp. of the oil in frying pan on low-medium heat. Sear the chicken until golden brown. Boil water, and once boiled cook pasta for 11 minutes (or until your preferred tenderness). For the 11 minutes the pasta is cooking, get all your veggies into the same pan as with the chicken. 11 minutes should be enough to begin the carmelization of the onion. Take the chicken out of the pan 3 minutes before the end of the pasta's cooking time just to cool off and retain all its juices before cutting. Drain the pasta, and add the veggies into the pot. Cut the chicken into small chunks, and add to the pot, along with the sauce. Put the whole mixture into a casserole dish, and add your cheese. Bake in a 400 degree oven covered with foil for about 25 minutes, or until the cheese is golden. Let stand for 2 minutes, and enjoy Chicken Penne al Forno.

Nutrition Facts: 673 kcal, 13 gram of total fat (4g of saturated fat), about 450mg of sodium, 50 grams of protein (mostly from the chicken)

Just Getting Started

Hi all,

In this blog, I will chronicle my journey to becoming a sub 2:30 marathoner. My current PRs are 2:52 in the 2012 Scotiabank Marathon -- which gave me the win for the 20-24 age group (since the top 2 in the category finished in the top-ten overall), and 1:18 in the 2012 Mississauga Half -- giving me #1 in the category and 8th overall. In the blog, I will give post-race reviews, gear tips and reviews, as well as share some delicious and healthy food recipes. The blog will have a strong focus on nutrition as I live by the saying, "You don't fill a Ferrari with regular gasoline."

I have a big race coming up next weekend - the Winterman Half Marathon - in Ottawa. From my training runs I am hoping to at least break 1:15 and if the conditions are right and my hamstring (which i have had problems with in the past) stays inline then i think I can run sub 1:14. Last week I had a 21k training run in my new Kinvara 3's coming in at 1:19 - and it was not supposed to be a fast run (the new shoes just carried me along). I also had a 14k tempo run this Wednesday in my race shoes the Adidas Adios coming in at 46:13. So i figure I am in PR form for this one. Right now just keeping a close eye on the weather.

Anyways that's enough of an intro..my first post here will showcase a recipe I came up with today for lunch post 15k steady run (4min/km pace). So here it is:

Serves 1 Runner:
Tuna Pita Sauce-less Pizza

The yellow stuff there is the dijon. The color isn't great in the pic.

1 can PC Low Sodium Solid White Tuna
1 cup of fresh diced tomato
1/2 cups of chopped white onion
2 100% Whole Wheat Pitas
10ml (2tsp.) of olive oil
1 cup PC Broccoli Slaw
Dijon Mustard (optional) - I put some on one of them

Nutrition Facts: 595 kcal, 620 mg of sodium, 14g of total fat (less than 2.5 g of saturated fat), 47 grams of protein (most from the tuna)




Simple Easy Directions: Spread 1 tsp. of olive oil onto each pita. Flake the white tuna coating the top of the pita. Spread the tomatoes, onions, and slaw (using it like a cheese) over the pita bread. Place the pizza onto non-stick baking pan, and into a 375 degree oven for approx. 15 min. Then turn oven to broil and continue to cook for an additional 3-5 minutes - depending how powerful your oven it - just until the crust of the pita is looking crispy. Let stand for 1-2 minutes and enjoy.