Peachbud and MEC 10 and 10 Recap

Peachbud 10
After the landslide victory in Barrie on the weekend, I headed over to Grimsby for the mar-key event of the Niagara Running Series, and one that always boasts a fast field despite a somewhat rolling hill-type course, the Tim Hortons Peachbud 10k. Unfortunately the weather was atrocious and for some time it looked like the race may not even run with major lightning strikes across southern ontario and in the immediate area. Also a 20 car collision on the 407, meant zig-zagging from jane, to steeles, to the 400, to 403, and finally back onto the 407, and the QEW. Let's just say it was a long drive which horrible driving conditions (torrential downpour). Thankfully, my Dad, the champ, battled through the rain and got me there just in time and was able to get atleast a 10 minute warmup in before the race. The rain had slowed but the humidity was off the charts with the air temperature in only the mid-20s but the humidex was making it feel 37. After already starting to sweat up a storm during warmup, I took note of the other elite runners in the race. Wow what a stacked field with 5 Kenyans (3 men, 2 women) including 2:09 marathon runner Thomas Omwenga, Daniel Kasia, and winner of the around the bay and 29 minute 10k runner Terrance Attema. Suffice to say my goal turned into trying to finish top ten. I wanted to run a fast race for this one but despite my legs and lungs feeling stronger than ever, I didn't expect to PB with a. the humidity factor; b. the hilliness of the course; c. running a race at 7:30 at night which I've never done before - although I did race the 3000 one time in high school at around 6 o'clock because the director wanted to wait until the extreme midday heat died down a little; d. after just racing a half marathon less than 72 hours before my right calf was still very sore. The gameplan was really just run a 3:05ish first kilometer, then settle into my pace, and if I felt Terrance's pace to be maintainable than try to stay with him for as long as possible.

Other kenyans are out of the picture on the right, beside the
Kenyan girl in yellow.

Gun sounded and we were off. This was a very strange opening by myself, and the 3 others in the top group: Terrance, Kasia, and Omwenga. We had the lead car with a digital clock on top of it with our time, and we passed by the 1 kilometer sign under 3 minute/km pace 2:59. It was pretty amazing as soon as the four of us saw the time and split we all instantly slowed substantially (almost tripping over one another) as if all four of us knew this was not going to be sustainable. The second kilometer my pace slowed to 3:15, and with that the pack was broken Terrance, Omwenga and Kasia up ahead, me and another Kenyan runner, Gatundu, left behind. Third kilometer, I pushed back and left Gatundu behind on a steep little hill with a 3:12 kilometer. So for the fourth kilometer until about 6.5 I was on my own trying desperately to catch back up to the three lead guys, with a 3:14 fourth kilometer, but then the humidity really started getting to me and on an incline over a bridge at 5k may pace slowed significantly to a pedestrian 3:22 for the 5th and 6th kilometers. My mindset wasn't very strong at this point and I started counting down the kilometers saying in my head okay 5.5 to go, 5 to go, 4.5, etc - essentially "this feels awful when is this going to end". Obviously, when this happens the pace suffers. But, at 6.5k I got a little more motivated and distracted myself since Omwenga was dropped from the lead group up ahead, and I made it my goal to catch back up to him. Obviously, I wasn't the only one effected by the conditions since even though I had a garbage 5th and 6th kilometers, the lead group wasn't exactly pulling away from me, they were still in sight. I quickly closed on Omwenga and actually passed him for a moment thinking how cool is this I'm beating a 2:09 Kenyan marathon runner. But he caught back up and we ran side by side for 2k. At 7.5k he put in a fast surge but I responded and stayed with him.

Look at the amount of sweat on that singlet.

However, at 8.5k he put in another surge, and this time I couldn't respond. Despite the middle of the race really taking any chance from PBing, I was really happy with how I finished with back to back 3:15 kilometers. Ran in through the finishing chute in 33:08 and fourth place overall. Initially, I wasn't very happy with the final time but then realized that Terrance, Kasia, and Omwenga who finished 16 seconds ahead of me, all ran 2-3 minutes slower than there usual times and that was obviously due to the conditions - humidity and wet roads. So i figured that time may infact be equivalent to around 31 minutes.




MEC Barrie 10


After getting in pretty late Tuesday night from
the race, I was exhausted and decided after lots of thought to break my running streak of 28 days in a row without a day off. So Wednesday I took it as a recovery day with an hour on the bike just to loosen out my legs and some strength work. Thursday I was back at it but still using the 20k run as more of a recovery run. With all this racing it feels so different because I'm not really doing true training, it is really just race-recover-race-recover-race-recover, etc. So the runs in between races are all really just at a comfortable pace, and no workouts. Sure I'll surge a few times over the course of a 20k just to make sure I don't lose that feel of the turnover, but no structured track work. Another 20 on Friday, and then Saturday was off to Barrie for a 10k race. This race looked like it would be alot of fun, and it definitely lived up to it. It was on the Oro-Medonte Rail Trail in Orillia which was in a beautiful spot. So beautiful that I think I've decided to live in Barrie someday down the road. The trail like any other rail trail is dead straight, no steep hills just steady inclines, on crushed gravel, and very similar to one of the trails I ran on in Park City called the Farm Trail. With trees lining either side, and some open areas with the sun shining through it was just beautiful, and looked like a perfect spot for tempo runs if I was to live in Barrie/Orillia someday. I knew the gravel would be slightly slower than the road but I do love running on gravel since it's a bit easier on my legs, and I did do alot of running on gravel in Park City so I was pretty used to it's feel. After the 15k race started, us 10k runners were off. It was kind of cool because most of the field recognized me from the Barrie half marathon the weekend before, and came up to shake my hand or give me a high five. I felt like a celebrity. My stomach was a little upset throughout my 3k warmup, and drills, but my legs did feel pretty good. Race started, and I quickly seperated myself from the field with a 3:08 kilometer. Quickly settled into my rhythm and clocked off 3:17, 3:14, 3:17, 3:16 kilometers. By 3.2 kilometers I caught up and passed most of the 15k runners who started their race 10 minutes before us 10k runners. At 5k made the turnaround and realized I was way up on the other 10k runners, and my legs felt unbelievable. They got that same feeling I had last weekend in Barrie, as it felt I could wind my legs and turn them over as fast as I wanted with nothing holding me back. A slower 7th and 8th kilometer at 3:21 a piece as I had to do some weaving around the 5k runners but then really turned on the jets. A 3:10 9th kilometer, and then a 3:00 minute final kilometer my fastest final kilometer to finish any race, a sprint finish. Final time a new PB! 32:32 -3:15avg pace for the 10k. Won easily by 5 minutes, got some prizes from MEC at the end, and felt awesome. After a 4k run to cooldown before getting in the car to go for breakfast, and then another 4k run at night my legs still felt great, and fully ready to race again soon on Tuesday. Here (top right corner for some reason) the final push at the end filmed by my Dad.

And one more thing, got the pics from barrie half marathon, here are a few of them.

I like this one with the sky in background.

Barrie Half Marathon Post-Race

Wow what a race yesterday, let me tell you all a little about it. Got there in nice time, perfect time to do my 20 minute warmup of drills. I've been tweaking and polishing this routine for 5-6 weeks and now it goes really smoothly, and I absolutely love it. Much more then what I would do in the past which was pretty much just running ABCs, and some hamstring swings. This one really gets every single muscle group in the thighs, hips, lower legs (including tibialis anterior which in the past can sometimes fatigue on me when I'm in my flats), and even the feet. The warmup could actually be a good workout in itself as you work up a pretty good sweat in the process. I could tell pretty quickly that besides Tyler, another competitor invited to the event to try to break my course record from last year (he had come second at the Mississauga Half Marathon 7 weeks ago), and another guy which looked scarily similar to Lionel Sanders with his muscles, it wasn't, but yes I walked up beside him to see if he had a tattoo on his arm to make sure it wasn't Lionel, this was going to be a two-man race since I was really the only person of 1500 competitors warming up (btw sorry for the long run-on sentence). My word of wisdom to those mid-pack runners out there, or even back-of the pack weekend warriors, do a proper warmup before your races it will really make a huge difference in your stride's form and snappiness, and your finishing time in the end. If not don't complain at 6k or so that you leg's are tightening up because it's your own doing.

So after a solid warmup over to the start line looking smart in my amazing new racing kit including an awesome Nike singlet, and brand new Nike Zoom Streak LT2 racing flats - the newest edition to my shoe family and the lightest by quite a bit. Normally, I wouldn't recommend to other runners out there to race in a brand new shoe literally right out of the box, as these were purchased just the night before the race. But then again this is a no-nonsense racing flat that probably doesn't require much break-in period anyways since it is essentially a very thin sheet of material to cover you feet and the thinnest, smallest piece of foam as the midsole. So really there isn't a whole lot of midsole and bunches of EVA that really needs to be broken in anyways. These nimble shoes weigh in at just 5 oz which to put into perspective, for a shoe that a wide range of people can relate too even though I don't really consider it a true running shoe, is anywhere from 2.5-3.3 oz lighter than Nike Frees depending on whether you wear the 3.0-5.0 varieties. More importantly, these shoes are 2.8 oz lighter than my Adidas Adios Boost racing flats which come in at 7.8 oz. For those thinking 2.8 isn't much think about the overall weight of the shoe, if the shoe only weighs 5 oz and the other is 7.8 oz that is more than 50% heavier. Plus according to the most recent lab studies every oz lighter a shoe is equates to roughly 3 seconds per kilometer faster. So let's do the math, if this shoe is 2.8 oz lighter than the adios (round to 3 to make things simpler), than the streak Lt2 is 9 s/km faster. Let me put this another way if that doesn't sound significant to you, 9 s/km faster is equivalent to 3 min and 9 seconds over the distance of a half marathon - which yes is significant. Getting back to the story, the reason I decided to go with a shoe other than the adidas adios boost goes back quite a bit. First off, if you remember I was not 100% sold on the adios 2.0 going into the Scotiabank Marathon last October, I even wrote a whole blog post pretty much dedicated to the issue. Problem was that after running in the original green Adidas Adios - of which were a feature to a poem I wrote last August or so on the beauty of running two-a-days, the 2.0 didn't have quite the same feel. They were somewhat clunky, and noisy hitting the ground. The original adios fit like a glove, the upper was simple and comfortable. Then with the 2.0 they changed the upper of the pedigreed shoe that smashed the world record on multiple occasions, to one that for some reason had more overlays, a thin plastic heel counter, and a small piece of plastic on the medial-posterior arch that seemed to me like a whole bunch of useless weight. I believe why adidas chose these components is quite obvious. Here how I think that story goes:

Original, light, simple, and bright Adios smashes the world record  on multiple occasions by the world's greatest runner of all-time Haile Gebrasallasie. Average runners see this and wonder what shoes Haile is wearing, and want them for themselves. Adidas reacts and says, well the everyday run of the mill Joe Blow can't run in a shoe as simple and lightweight as Haile, who ran barefoot for the first couple decades of his life, westerners require chunks of plastic and highly engineered stitched overlays to keep there pathetically weak feet from disaster. Let's release the adios 2.0 sell it for more the original, and market it as the world's fastest shoe even though it is completely different from the original, but now accessible to the everyday runner. Brilliant.

So to keep things somewhat short, they royally messed up a perfect racing flat with the adios 2.0. Yet, it still served as a good option since despite completely messing up the upper, the outsole was still unparalleled with the continental rubber. From there adidas released the adios boost, taking the same upper pretty much from the 2.0 adding more plastic stuff for some reason, and replacing the midsole with boost technology. Now the shoe was officially destroyed. The boost completely changed the responsiveness of the shoe, in that there really isn't any, now you try to push the pace in the shoe and no matter how much you push into the ground the shoe is still just squishing along in the same manner. It has brutal responsiveness, not to mention being ridiculously heavy for a racing flat, and really just feels separate from your foot. So after a hard workout called the Lumberjack Workout from NAU which is 5X400, then 4k tempo, 5x400 (5k pace), 4k tempo, 5X400 (10k pace) in the adios boost I decided my eight year long relationship of racing in nothing but adidas was over. The shoe felt like garbage, and I wanted something different. So to make a really long side-story short, went with the Streak LT2 which is great for any surface including cross country, gravel, grass, road, and even rubber.

Back to the race. Waiting around at the start line just before the race I was feeling very nervous. Not really sure why but my heart was already racing. Maybe it was the pressure I had put on myself to set a PB, or that I had been thinking and rehearsing this race in my mind while out on the roads/mountains in Park City, Utah for so long now. My gameplan that I had thought about was to run the first 5k with the lead pack of runners then at around 5k where I remember there being a good sized hill put on an early move and leave the pack in the dust. Basically use my hill climbing prowess that I gained running up the mountains in Park City to gap my competitors on a comparatively tiny incline in Barrie. Well, strategies are always good to have going into the race, but sometimes you just have to roll with what is given to you on the day and trash your plan. Essentially, about 35 maybe even less meters after the gun sounded I was out on my own. Going at 2:40 pace for the opening minute and a half I built an already sizeable gap, and felt quite comfortable. I wasn't going to hold back and run a loping 3:30/km pace just to run with a couple people after all that training. If nobody decided to come up with me so be it, I'll take control and run my own race. A little disappointing that Tyler or any of the other competitors couldn't stay with me and push me along for any of the race, but then again I do believe that on this day and after 800k put in at 7000ft and above I was at a different level than anyone and would have taken control and dominated anyone on this day. After a 3:07 opening kilometer, then 3:17, and 3:18 to follow I was quickly in rhythm, by roughly this point I stopped thinking about anyone potentially behind me, and just decided to focus ahead at the lead bike about 30 meters or so ahead. At 5k approached one of the bigger hills on the course and galloped up it like nothing really happened putting in a 3:22 kilometer. Hit the 5k mark in 16:26. Would have liked to have taken the turnaround pylon at 6k a little smoother, but after accelerating out of the turn looked up and didn't see anyone coming towards the turn around for a while. After finally seeing 2nd place, and then 3rd a little later, then the masses started coming, and after waving to first couple, stopped and focused ahead back on the lead bike, and went into what I've referred to in the past as trance mode and felt unstoppable. The oxygen was flooding into my body, and really I felt like my legs were just on autopilot, turning over faster and faster without straining too hard. Really I kept looking at my watch and the effort level and pace didn't really match. If I saw my pace drop to 3:25 which was a little faster than my former personal best pace at the half, I just simply quickened the cadence slightly and was back at 3:20 without killing myself. Not to say I was just chilling out there, after a 3:17 9th kilometer there was one more hill at 10k which did sting a little and really slowed that split to 3:29 (10k mark in 33:25), but recovered with a 3:20 and 3:22 on 11 and 12. After passing to the right of the finishing chute to start the final 4k out and 4k back on the gravel section of the course the lead cyclist made a wrong turn and cost me about 10-15 seconds. Onto the gravel section which even though it is clearly slower than the road, which I could tell by the fact that at the same pace I had to increase my effort level, my legs will always welcome a softer surface. 13-16k went smoothly, it was heating up a bit but my legs still felt full of running. At 17k don't really know what happened but after the final hill of the course I got a little out of rhythm, lost a little focus, and had a slow 3:32 km split. But on the final 4k of the race, I have never felt better during the latter part of a race. The final four splits were 3:20, 3:20, 3:20 and then 3:17. Really the last 4k my legs felt beastly and I could accelerate faster and faster. In fact in the finishing chute I hit a speed of 27 km/hr. Clocked in at 1:11:03 smashing my PB by 1 minute and 19 seconds, plus had I not made that wrong turn wasting some time would have been even quicker. I did what I said earlier in the month and dismantled any competition winning by 6 minutes, and beat my course record from last year by 3 minutes. Had this race been on the all pavement all downhill Mississauga Half I believe I would have been 1:08:30-45 - based on the fact that after last year coming into Barrie in great shape my time was 2 minutes slower than Mississauga so those 2 minutes are due to the course. Regardless, for me this was the most flawless race I've ran with my legs really feeling amazing throughout. From here onto the Peachbud 10k on Tuesday Night. The last couple days here post race my right calf has been pretty sore, I'm guessing from racing in 5k racing flats for a half marathon, but I'll still look to set another PB assuming the weather holds off (calling for some storms). Until next time, happy running.

Goodbye PC I''l be back soon

Just finished up an quick and easy 20k run to say goodbye to the mountains and Park City. Really a perfect trip in every way you can imagine and exactly what I needed. After the Around the Bay race at the end of March I felt broken, and defeated. Taking time off to nurse my injury was agonizing. Stress levels were definitely on the rise with final exams around the corner not to mention interviews for physiotherapy schools in the coming year. After receiving news that I had not been accepted into the various programs, I felt like all that hard work I did in university was a waste, since I had absolutely nothing to show for it. In fact, I recall on the plane ride over to Denver, the kind gentlemen in the seat next to me, with whom I had a nice conversation throughout the flight, asked me at one point what I plan to do next year after I had told him that I was graduating June 16. When he asked me that, I paused for a moment, and actually had to think for moment of a decent answer, because I was uncertain and really had no clue what the future would hold. And for me, there is nothing in the world that I hate more than having no direction. That goes for my studies, and for my running. It is why I always need to have a race on the calender to give my training some direction, some purpose, and therefore some meaning. Not only was I uncertain of what my academic future held, I was nervous and unsure of how my training would go in Park City. After the slew of injuries that lasted essentially from mid-November until May 16, I knew that there was a definite possible of the entire trip being a disaster. I was running again after the injury sustained to my right tibia sidelined my for a few weeks, however, my left tibia had actually begun to give me some issues and discomfort during my short runs at the end of April/early May. As a result, my mileage was quite low hovering anywhere from 70-90 kilometers. This was in fact a running trip, and I had an overwhelming fear that I may not be able to run very much, and what if I try to run a lot of mileage because after all I am here to run, and as a result I aggravate my fragile tibias, once again leaving me sidelined for the entire trip. Well my first day here I ran three times, and everyday after multiple times oer day for 10 straight days. Took one day off and then ran 17 straight days, overall running around 800 kilometers, climbing the equivalent of about two-times up Mt. Everest, and training for over 90 hours for the 27 day period. My legs survived, and really I couldn't have dreamed I would have been able to run that much without re-injuring myself. In fact, I wouldn't have thought I would have been able to run that much even 100% healthy. Great workouts throughout, and I feel stronger than ever, especially after yet another huge workout Friday morning which was lightning fast. As I imagine most people experience, yesterday afternoon I felt a little blue while packing up my stuff, and thinking that Sunday I would be back to running the flat concrete streets of Bathurst and Dufferin with nothing but suburbia surrounding me. But then I decided to for a long walk around Park City, not really going anywhere specific, just walking, thinking, breathing in the clean mountain air, and soaking in the beautiful views of the mountains. I ended up walking for an hour and half and realized something that really made me feel better and reinvigorated. Most people go on vacation and buy some souvenirs to remind them of the good times experienced on the trip for years to come. For me I realized that my souvenir was much much more. My souvenir was literally a part of me. I am taking a part of Park City back with me, and that is the blood running through my body, the new mitochondria, new heavily networked capillary beds integrated into my muscles, my fatigue resistant, powerful yet light and speedy leg muscles, and a new sense of mental toughness, not to mention a new idea of what a hill looks like. A great trip, and I am more than excited to test out my body and mind in competition in the coming weeks. Plus, I got an email from McMaster saying that I have in fact been accepted into there physiotherapy program to start in September. Basically, everything is great right now. The schedule for the next coming weeks is graduating Summa Cum Laude on Monday, then defending my course record from last year at the Barrie Waterfront Half Marathon on Saturday, then a few days later a fast 10k in Grimsby, then a 15k back in Barrie the next Saturday, then a 5k in Belleville, followed by either another 5k in Beamsville, or a 10k on the track in London, or a longer trail race in Collingwood - Apparently they advertise the course being tough and technical on Blue Mountain, I laughed and thought Blue "Mountain" and tough, I've summited the 9000ft Bald Mountain, Murdock Peak, Bald Eagle Mountain, and more on rocks, roots, and with mountain lions nearby watching my every footstrike. Until next time, here a a couple pics from that walk around PC,

Enlarge to see the PC sign on the hill. 

Erythropoiesis is cooking now

Monday: Started the week with an easy 8k to loosen up followed by a 45 min Indiana Core Workout. From there it was time for some 400s. Unfortunately the football team was having practice at the track - my goodness the punter on this team was awesome, just pounding the ball and had some sweet backspin on it - so the workout looked like it was going to be on the road behind the track. However, after the first couple repeats I could tell that this wasn't going to work with too many cars and a slight curve in the road which meant that I would not be able to see the oncoming cars well in advance. So I stopped the workout which was going to be 20X400 with 200m rest in between and dropping a hammer interval every 4th repeat (so 5 overall), and headed over to one of the baseball diamonds. Chose the one where just prior to HR fence there was a red clay warning track because I figured I would be able to go fast on it versus the other diamonds which were completely grass. So after measuring out the diamond around to mark off my 200m split restarted the workout back at number 1 (even though already did 2). Turned out the two 30-40 meter grass sections between first base and the warning track and then from the warning track to third base made it tougher workout then it should've been since running fast on the grass took alot of energy. Still completed the goal of the workout averaging 74 seconds for the 15 tempo 400s (so 3:05 per kilometer pace) and then 69 seconds for the 5 hammer intervals (so 2:52 per kilometer pace). Overall I was pleased with the hammer intervals, and once again focused on each interval, but I believe that had the workout been on the rubber track it could've been about 3 seconds faster per interval. Nonetheless the legs felt snappy, and turnover was nice and quick. Been really working on two things for the last while, one is getting better, the other still needs work. One, been working on keeping shorter levers as my legs push back which has been working well to speed up the cadence. The other is after watching some videos of me running on the track and watching them frame by frame I realized the my left leg is badly overstriding, and been doing so since atleast STWM 2013 after looking at that video as well frame by frame. I've always been aware than my left thigh is probably a good inch and a half larger in circumference than my right, so there is a muscle imbalance there for sure, but is that the cause or the result of the overstride - probably a good 2-3 inches longer stride then my right based on going back to the clay and looking at the difference between the right to left and then left to right footprints. Still after trying to fix this for a few weeks, the problem is still there. What is the result, maybe nothing, but also remember back in end of nov/dec I had a bad stress fracture in my left tibia, that yes from time to time will still experience some discomfort. Obviously I should fix this, but obviously since I've been doing it for so long it is kind of turned into my natural motion now, and I'm not entirely sure how to solve it.

But anyways after that workout went out for an easy 10k on a nearby trail.

Tuesday: In the morning headed out to the diamond again to do another hour long core workout and form drills. From there off to Gamble Oak Trail nearby for an easy pace 24k with 2000ft vertical (a few big climbs). From there back to do a big stretch, then watch episode nine of game of thrones season 4 - not much happened there, and then a smooth 6.5k around town, and to the grocery store. On that note, here has been my normal diet for the last 4 weeks:

Breakfast: Okay pretty simple start to the day, really just packing as many carbohydrates into my morning meal as possible for the long day.

-Big bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats w/ almonds with a sliced banana on top to get that potassium to prevent cramping.
-2 Slices of Whole Grain Flaxseed toast (for some Omega-3 to lessen any inflammation) with bunches of peanut butter spread on top for some protein, and some good unsaturated fat - plus my favorite food item in the world.
- 2-3 cups of Dark Roast Coffee depending on how much water I put in

During Runs: 2-3 Gels depending on the distance and water - historically I'm pretty bad at properly hydrating during runs, usually I have to consciously remind myself to drink before it's too late. So what I started doing to get myself to drink more is just put my gels into the water so I'm basically forced to drink.

Post-Run: GU Recovery Brew - loaded with glutamine for non-essential amino acid synthesis (transamination reactions), a little protein (8g) + antioxidants to prevent free radical damage, and lastly bunches of simple and complex carbohydrates to replenish the stores.

Pre-Lunch Snack: Clif Bar

Lunch: - Whole Grain Buckwheat Pancakes (usually just two massive ones), with muscle milk protein thrown in (it also has bunches of vitamins and minerals), and another banana.
- Another 2-3 cups of Dark Roast Coffee


Mid-day Snack: A bunch of red grapes for some resveratrol, and an orange with a 28mg Iron Supplement to promote erythryopoesis (RBC production). The orange is eaten immediately after the iron supplement since vitamin C promotes iron absorption.

Pre Dinner Snack: Another Clif Bar

Dinner: The main usually millet and legumes to make a complete proteins with bunches of veggies. On the side a salad with an oil based dressing to have some fat so that I could absorb the at soluble vitamins in the spinach/kale, and if especially hungry a big bowl of low sodium butternut squash soup.

Snack: Two slices of toast with peanut butters, and a big bowl of muesli - which has dried cranberries, oats, barley, and 5 other grains, sunflower seeds, and more.

Side Notes: Throughout the day drinking as much water as possible to stay hydrated - so whenever I'm sitting there is a glass of water there. Also having my bottle on the bedside table to take a drink whenever I wake up during the night.

Wednesday (Tempo Day): Off to the diamond for an hour worth of core and drills. Back in and off to Jeremy Ranch Rd for another 12k tempo. Started with 4k warmup, and a little dynamic stretching and then off. As said in the title of the post - was just hammering, same effort level but way faster than last week - feels like the blood is getting nice and syrupy filled with RBCs. There is no better feeling that lacing up the flats, taking the top off, wearing my split shorts, and hearing the countdown on my garmin watch for the start of the tempo. Starting at 3:18 per km pace and was able to lock into the pace within about 300 meters. When I felt that rhythm (by the way it just took me 4 attempts to spell rhythm correctly - Damn that's a tough word) set in that quickly I knew this would be a good one. Hit 3k in 9:58, 5k in 16:30, slowed a bit by a steep 200m long hill at 7.5k and hit 10k in 33:30 but bounced back and cruised into 12k in 40 minutes. 3:20/km pace at altitude, nice, I was thrilled. Plus based on the HR data I know I could go even harder averaging around 173 throughout, peaking at 192 on one big hill near the end. I was so happy with the tempo, the 10k cooldown back to the bus flew by. Right now off for a quick 20-30 minute run just to stretch out my legs.

Full Speed Ahead

Monday: The week started with the longest run of the trip, a 35 kilometer trek up the mountain here at Park City Mountain Resort, and across the famous midmountain trail to the Canyons Resort. Definitely a different 35k run then those that I did last July/Aug/Sep in my buildup to STWM. Lots of tricky rocky sections over 3000ft of vertical gain and consistently at over 8000ft altitude, a little different than Bathurst. The first chunk went incredibly well, but the last 5k or so was very tough. My feet had enough of the rocks, and my toes were starting to hurt bad. But battled through and finished. Some stunning views along the route, I can see why this route is a must-do classic of Park City - although most people do it on a bike, not on foot.

Tuesday (A 6 mile trip to Kenya): Jeremy Ranch Rd. is the tempo run road of choice for the Alberto Salazar coached Nike Oregon Distance project featured Dbl Gold Medalist Mo Farah, and Silver Medalist and AR holder for the 10000 Galen Rupp. Now, I can see why. After watching so many documentaries on Kenyan runners, as well are North Americans going to train in Iten, the running mecca of the world, a common discussion point about the training environment is the bumpy dirt roads meandering through the village. Jeremy Ranch road is the exact same, an amazing dirt road going forever, bumpy, and the road weaves between mountains very close on either side -creating somewhat of a tunnel. The road is absolutely perfect for race simulation tempo runs since has rolling hills throughout, and the atmosphere with the mountains on either side creating that tunnel really helps to just lock into your pace and stay there. After a 4k warmup, and some drills/strides I was off for a 12k tempo run. However, I didn't want to set a specific pace to hold, I wanted to just go by feel and wanted it to be at a comfortably hard effort. Started off really well clipping off 4k in a row around 3:25, then was hanging in at just over 3:30 the next 4. The last 4 however my legs got destroyed by a stretch with 4-5 good hills which sapped the pace and energy out of my legs, but the last kilometer was able to push through the extreme fatigue that overcame my legs and ran in for a decent 42 min 12k. At sea level 3:30 avg isn't going to blow anyone away, but I was very happy with the effort level evidenced by the HR avg of 172 - right at the comfortably hard level of about 85% HRmax. After a 7k cooldown back to the start and over to the bus for a good end to a solid workout. From there lunch, and then in the evening a 6k flushing out the legs run, and a 30 minute circuit workout on the track that I learned from Team Indiana Elite.

Wednesday: Wanted to work on some mental toughness in the morning by pushing through a 22k at a medium pace on a very hot day with zero water and no gels. First 17k went well, and last 5k accomplished exactly what I was looking to do: I felt dehydrated and tired, but kept it rolling and finished. It's exactly what I did all last year in my build to STWM running on those extreme heat alert days with no water or gels, and then thinking back to those and using those for motivation on the cool October morning of the race. After the run, off to the track for an hour long workout of drills and the same circuit workout. In the evening, a very high intensity but very different workout. Went to the biggest hill in the area - 25% grade average, and did 20X100m (9k with warmup and cooldown) all out sprints up the hill to work on form mostly, and put a different type of demand on my legs this time using power and strength instead of my aerobic base. Holy smokes, this was tough. Just gasping for air after each repeat, and with only about 30 sec rest in between each, started the next sprint already breathing hard, plus HR peaked out at 197.

Thursday: The final day of three day stretch of hard workouts and lots of speed work. After a 30 minute core workout in the morning, a 4k run over deer valley at 7300 ft for another speed workout. This time it was 8 X 1km with 600m rest in between each - so a decent amount of rest about 2 and half minutes so that I could turn my legs over fast for each of the repeats. This was a beastly workout, and I could see the sprint work up the hill last night paying off. Despite being at 7300ft still managed to run well under half marathon pace, in fact actually under 10k pace. A 3:12 avg per km for the repeats, and managed to actually get to the halfway point of one of them at 2:50/km pace. Even though I was flying, I felt in control and smooth. In addition, after about 4 years of training, I think I have finally mastered one of my biggest issues, and that is thinking about the workout as a whole instead of focusing on each individual interval. In other words, when I'm on interval #2 let's say, thinking "Wow, I have like 6 more of these to go, so leave some energy in the bank for the next one," or "okay two down 6 to go." I have been trying to overcome this way of thinking for a while now and after the last couple workouts I think I have finally have worked through the problem. The key thing during any workout is to focus 100% on the interval you are doing, not the next one or how many more there are to go. What ends up happening is subconsciously, or maybe consciously, you slow down on the current interval, because you are trying to leave some energy or the next few. This is especially evident on the second to last interval where you go a little slower than your goal because you want to hammer that last one. However, the goal of the workout is not necessarily to get faster with each split (sometimes that may be the goal) but instead to run an even pace from interval number one until the last. This time out I was able to focus on interval number one and only number one, then interval number two and only number two, and so on. As a result, the splits were consistent and fast. Here is a tip that I learned from the McMillian group training out of Flagstaff: Let's say you doing a pretty standard workout of 400m repeats, and let's say your doing 20 repeats. To prevent the workout from just accelerating start to finish every 4th repeat throw in what Greg calls a hammer interval. So for instance, do the first three 400s at say 69-71 seconds, and then the fourth at 64-66. Then repeat this pattern throughout. So the 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th, and 20th 400 is a hammer interval, the rest are all at tempo pace. Essentially what this does is prevent the workout just getting faster and faster since those hammer intervals will knock out some of the energy in your legs and keep you in-check. Back to the day, after another 4k back, chilled for a while and finished the day with a 10k run on the Prospector trail in the afternoon.

Friday: Okay so this was kind of a chill out sort of day, and let the legs recover from three tough days of training. So started the day with a 13k shakeout run, and over to the track to just do some dynamic stretching - mostly working on my left hamstring that had been getting a little angry with the heavy amount of speed work the last three days. Back in, had some breakfast than went out for another 13k this time up Armstrong Trail at an easy pace but still with about 1500 ft of climbing. From there, over to the bus to go for an hour long swim. Chilled out in the afternoon, and then in the evening went back over to the track to do another 30 minute Indiana strength circuit. O and I almost forgot, check out these two guys who were just chilling about 30ft from the door of my hotel for about 8 hours. Click on the picture to enlarge, it's tough to see because the camera is designed for high resolution up close, but not as good further out - pretty much nearsighted, plus there is no zoom, but I assure you I am standing about 15ft from the two of them (the other is behind the birch).

Saturday: Started the day with a 30 minute strength workout, and then was off to do a trail close-by that I hadn't done yet at Park City Mountain Resort. I have no clue what happened to the go-pro halfway through, it seemed to restart and erase the first half of the run, where the majority of the climbing was done. But anyways the run was 24k at an easy effort, but with 2500ft vertical gain - most on this one ski run that I ran up just for kicks. Afterwards it was time to take a nap, and then a speedy 6k run just before sitting down to see the Belmont. On that, what terrible tactics by California Chrome. He had the inside lane, but quickly let himself get boxed in, and Chrome is notoriously poor running from that position. The jockey made a terrible move, breaking to the outside of four horses in between he and the fence, trying to overtake the others on a turn. Every track runner in the world could have told you when he did that the race was over. This killed all Chrome's energy. Boy that was disappointing. For the video threw in some CCR and Jimmy Hendrix, in case over the last 3 weeks of videos house music isn't really your thing.

Sunday: And last but not least, the week ended with some drills/strides followed by a 32k long run where from 30-60minutes I did a minute on at marathon pace/a minute easy, and then the same from 90-120 minutes - so 30 minute total at marathon pace just to shake things up along the way and keep my mind occupied. After that a core workout, and that was it for the week. Overall, my second biggest every mileage week at 214 kilometers - ya that's right, a good serving of speed workout, and to top things off lots more elevation gain.

Training with a Chip on my Shoulder

After the painful around the bay race in March, taking time off to nurse a stress fracture, missing a winnable race in the Mississauga half, and being out 130 dollars from the Ottawa Marathon which I did not run in, I have been longing to get back to racing to prove myself, and as a result training harder and more aggressively than I have in the past. Now, when I run, I think about the long struggle it has been to get back, and dreaming of not just beating my competition in June and July, but dismantling them. You could say I'm running with a bit of a chip on my shoulder. With that theme this week included three hard speed workouts and lots of mileage once again.

Tuesday: After Monday's smooth tempo run, tues. started with a nice 8k shakeout run followed by some drills and a core workout. Then a "recovery" run, first rollerblading 4 miles up to deer valley resort (500 ft of climbing on rollerblades is damn hard). The run was up a highly technical trail, and after the big day yesterday plus 10 straight days of hard running each mile was exhausting. Still, summited Snow Peak Mt. and another summit up deer crest, and managed to get through the 21 km effort. Some pics of Snow Peak,

Wednesday: So today was my "day off" since it was the end up my 10 day block of training. So started the day with an hour long core and strength workout in my room, and then got on the free bus to Kimball Junction (6 miles from my hotel). From there a two second walk over to the beautiful aquatic centre, nestled into the mountain side. Only 4 bucks to use the amazing 12-lane  pool for as long as you want. So I decided to swim for 2 hours and 15 minutes, and it felt great. Well the swim did, the massive burn on my back didn't feel so great. It's amazing though how swimming in a different pool really feels totally different because I'm so used to York's Pool, and now here the sight lines are very different, and it just throws you off for the first couple hundred meters. But I had time to get used to it, doing a few big sets of 400s, 2X200, 100, 2X50 X 6 times. With warmup and cooldown there was about 8 kilometers of swimming, by far my longest ever swim (over 300 lengths). Besides my shoulder feeling raw afterwards, swimming at altitude is pretty intense. It kind of feels like, "Is it really worth it turning my head to breath every 3 strokes, because I'm not getting any oxygen anyways." A really fun day off, and felt like my legs were nicely recovered. 

Thursday (Workout Day): Up bright and early and on the road by 7:30 in the morning, and off for what would be the toughest workout of the trip to this point: 5X2 mile (3.2 km) cutdown at deer valley resort (7300ft). The goal of the workout was to start the first two miles interval just under marathon pace and cutdown to just under half marathon pace for the last interval. And wow, this was tough. The 2 mile loop I made included a pretty solid 600 m long steady hill with a steep grade in the last 50 meters that took some of the sting out of my legs each repeat. The first interval went well and my legs felt nice and snappy. A solid 3:38/km pace for the 2miles (11:39 overall). The second repeat was 3:35/km (11:29) for 2 miles. The third repeat was 3:30/km (11:08), the fourth was 3:25/km (10:58), and the last was perfect pacing yet again at 3:20/km (10:42). I was thrilled with how well the pacing went since it was exactly how I planned cutting down about 5 sec/km for each repeat. The effort level was huge, was only 2 min rest in between each and actually reaching VO2 max on the fourth interval on that hill at 199 beats per minute. Overall 14 miles (22.5k). After a core workout, took a nice nap, then headed up to Park City Mountain resort where I did 14k up Jenni's Trail and straight up a ski run where the other biker's/hiker's were taking the free ski lift up to the trails. But if there's is a path I can run up it. After a really close encounter (15 ft away) with a full grown moose, it was a great way to finish the big day. 

Friday: Okay, the big road day. Same run as last Friday up Royal St. but this time further past empire lodge and back down Royal Street. Overall a 30k out and back, (15k climb), 3000ft of vertical gain overall, and to 9000ft at the turnaround point. Didn't stop once on the climb and maintained Boston Qualifying Pace the whole way up - ya that's right, 10k point at 47 minutes, and the second half 15k downhill was obviously pretty fast although I had to actually stop twice on the way down for like 20-30 seconds, to stretch out my back which was hurting bad on the teeth shattering descent. Here's the video, it's long but I filmed the whole thing so I was going to post it and it was tough to cut it down under 10 minutes. Since it was a lot of climbing I put the gopro on the chest mount since it is really comfortable and I don't even notice it's there but it results it a shaky video. So a disclaimer if you get nauseous easily don't watch.

Saturday: A nice an easy 20k run on the Prospector trail to start the day, followed by a core workout. From there it was off to groceries where the cashier (same one as last time) messed up the change again this time giving me change back for 75 dollars when I only gave her 65, so I got an extra ten bucks, but hell I wasn't saying peep. Not my fault people can't count. Sure it may be dishonest, but last time she short changed me a couple dollars. Really learn how to count cashier - I know you read my blog. Anyways, after some more strength work and drills it was off for a under race pace pure speed workout that I got from Alberto Salazar for Galen Rupp off Flotrack. A broken 1500m where you do a 600, then 400, 300, 200 and repeat 3 times. Damn this was a fast and perfect workout for what I wanted which was to work on my leg speed and turnover. All repeats were done under 3min/km: the 600s in around 1:48, the 400s in 71 sec (2:57/km), 300s in 51 seconds (2:50/km), and the 200s in 33s (2:45/km). Felt nice to run that fast for the 200s especially, I wasn't sprinting wildly, it was more of a controlled fast effort. 

Sunday (Long Run): After an early morning core workout and dynamic stretching, I was off for a long run, a similar route to last Sunday. This time however, I planned on not getting lost like last Sunday. Overall the run was pretty fun, because of the test I inserted into it. I used the virtual pacer feature on my garmin and set it to a modest pace of 4:15/km. What this means was the watch would tell me how far (in distance and time) the pacer was ahead of me or behind me, the pacer keeping 4:15 pace no matter what. What was fun about it was that the first half was a gradual downhill, and the second half of the 33km loop was a gradual uphill - about 1300ft vertical (but nothing like the run from Friday). What that meant was that the first half I needed to try to give myself a cushion and build a good sized lead so that on the second half when I slow not only due to fatigue, but also the uphill, and being straight into a south wind, I could hold off the virtual pacer. The strategy works very nicely and I feel is a good practice for racing. I built a 650 meter lead (2 min and 45 second), and had to push pretty hard in the last first kilometers to hold off the pacer winning by 41 seconds. However, at one point the lead was down into the teens when I hit a really big hill on the way back at 27k, and it was just when my legs were starting to fatigue badly. Still good run, and a nice way to end the week. What I might do next Sunday for a different kind of test is set the pacer up the same way, however this time stay even with the pacer on the downhill portion (holding back), and try to stay with or beat the pacer on the gradual uphill. That would be very difficult given the nature o the second half of that loop, and would require a big effort, but it would serve as good practice. Now off to an ice bath, and more banana, muscle milk chocolate powder, buckwheat pancakes.