#Grind#Powerthrough#MilesonMiles

The title is a really good summary of how this break has gone like so far. Last week with the arrival of my newest training partner, the Garmin Forerunner 920xt HR, for don't ask me how much money, my training took on a new level of drive and motivation. Some numbers: Since Dec 11-22:

1. 47 Hours of Training (not including stretching or warmup drills)
2. 108 km of running last week (sorry coach - 3km more than was supposed to) and 180k overall of running in the 12 days
3. 70km of Swimming with 12 days straight of heart thumpin workouts -- some of the workouts include 60X50m leaving on 55 for first 40 then on 50 last twenty, 30X100m leaving on 1:35, and in my opinion my toughest workout which was (1X200, 2X175, 3X150, 4X125, 5X100, 6X75, 7X50, 8X25)
4. 25,000 kcal burned - equivalent to 7.2 lbs of energy
5. And 9.5 hours of Core/Lifting

In other news, well there is no other news really, After I finish my training where a day usually consists of: waking up 6-6:15am grabbing some Advil, running the the pool for swim at 8am, then running back home dropping my bag in the door switching shoes, and right back out the door for 70 minutes or so running, back in, a quick glass of milk, then straight into basement for 45-55 minutes of core/lifting then lunch at 1:15 or so it's pretty much going into a coma like state for the next few hours of napping/browsing the web and training data. Hopefully I can keep this pace going and don't get burned out by the end of break. The last couple days I've been feeling ridiculously tight and sore in the mornings so I'll probably get a massage tommorow afternoon, unfortunately I'll have to pay this time unlike during the year where I can get massages Mon, Wed, Fri from the therapy crew for XC/track team for free.

With my second tempo run coming up on the 24th a 20 minuter I'm really hoping I can hit my goal pace. Last Wednesday despite my body feeling good in the pouring freezing rain and wind, I was unable to hit my goal time. But I don't feel that I was limited by my hip, more so that I hadn't done a tempo run since September and was therefore not used to the turnover the pace required. Pretty much I'm having to teach myself how to run fast again, trying to find the optimal balance between turnover, and stride length. But I think with time it will come. Also I felt I was probably somewhat limited psychologically because I'll admit I was a running scared throughout the entire tempo to really push my hip. I'll be looking for the 20 minutes to hold 3:30, and if not feeling great grind for 3:34 and under. If that goes well on the 31st I try for 3:20-3:24. This is all in an effort to whip myself into decent enough shape that I don't get too embarrassed on the track and run <2:53 for 3000m - 8:39 and under and I'll be content for Jan 31st. Until next time, happy training.

Won't back Down

Now that exams are over I can finally update my blog after a long lay off filled with lots of studying, training, and coffee. I mean lots and lots of coffee. Seriously, one day of last week, I had a double espresso in the morning, went to class where someone brought a couple trays of coffee, and because others in the group were light coffee drinkers, and I couldn't bear to let hot black coffee (even though it was tims which tastes disgusting relative to what I'm used to) go to waste, I had two large Tims cups of coffee, only about 30 minutes after my morning espresso. I then had my usual Starbucks coffee in the afternoon, and then a espresso when I had got back home from school. A little bit later, one of my roommates who had purchased an awesome new espresso machine that day, offered my one, and obviously I accepted. Suffice to say it was a really good night of studying. But really to tell you the truth I don't actually feel very much when I drink coffee, I feel immune to it. The only time I actually feel any effect is when I don't have it. I would never go a morning without coffee, it is essential, it is routine, and based on previous experience it would likely trigger a migraine that would last for a couple days -its happened before where I ran out of coffee or had to leave in a rush. But if I do miss a coffee around mid-afternoon which may happen from time to time (maybe once a month) if my schedule is crazy that day, then I certainly feel the effects. I don't get a headache, but just feel exhausted. Yesterday afternoon was one of those days, did my final exam, then core workout, then had a meeting with my coach, then went on a 70 minute run (ya you heard me - but more on that later), then went to a physiotherapy appointment, and by the time I got back it was 5 and I had to start packing stuff for home. About an hour later when I sat down in my chair I fell out cold asleep for about 30 minutes upright in my chair.

But anyways to the important stuff - training. Now that I have the next little while (3.5 weeks) off from school I am starting a really heavy training block. The leg has got a whole lot better in the last week, and I've been shaving 5-6-7 seconds off per kilometre on each successive run. Plus the mileage actually wasn't that pathetic. Last week was 85 kilometres, this week I'll probably hit 95. Although the leg was actually sore today on my way over to swim. Its about 2.5km each way (so 5k total to-and-from the pool), so I figured even though it was supposed to be an off day from running after 8 days in a row, 5k was no problem. Well it was pretty sore, not awful, but not like it was yesterday where I finally dropping 4:20s on my 16k run - ya it sounds pathetic considering I need to be rolling sub-3 minuters for races in 2015 - but it is a far far way from where I was about 2 weeks ago, or a month ago where I wasn't able to run at all. I don't actually think it was the running on the supposed-to-be day off as the cause of the discomfort because 2.5 either way is not enough to hurt it. I think it was just the brutal weather conditions, like seriously where the heck did this snow come from, holy smokes its still coming down. Yesterday I ran in shorts, today I was mid-shin deep in snow. I figure a combination of two factors contributed to the hip hurting today: 1) the height of the snow on the sidewalks meant that I had to drive my knee up a little more which made my hip a little annoyed, and 2) the slippiness of that snow (like my goodness it was like a skating rink) meant that my foot would land and slip back a little every stride which put a little stretch on the hip on made it a little angrier. Anyways, no worries, I'm sure I'll be fine for tomorrow's run. Unless that is I actually tired myself out too much with today's swim. Let me tell you it was a fast, long, and downright exhausting one. 2 hours of high intensity stuff, no pull bouy that entire time so lots and lots of kicking. The set was a nice easy 500m to warmup, then 250m all out with kick board and fins on, then around 400 m of drills. Then hit the main set which was, 500m at moderate-hard pace, then 5X50m sprints leaving on 50 seconds, 1X100m, then 5X50 leaving on 50, 100, and then repeated the set of (500, 5X50, 100, 5X50, 100) four times. So total the set is 4X500m, 40X50m, 8X100. Afterwards a cool down. Ran home, and hit a 45 minute core workout. Tiring, but a solid way to start the training block. Here a 50 from a couple weeks ago, a 37 sec 50 to start for that workout 30X50m, then 20X100.

Wow just saw how the video shows up on the blog site - terrible quality you can't see anything, whatever.

In terms of the schedule, assuming everything keeps progressing how it has been (other than today), me and my coach put together a game plan which is as follows: 

 - Hit my first workout next Wednesday - a 15 minute tempo run at 10k pace. 

- Run two doubles per week and aim for 95k this week, 100k next week, 110 the next, then 120 and sit at 120 for a while (not big mileage but you'll understand why when I explain a couple of the workouts that are planned on the indoor track Wednesday nights in January)

- 20 minute tempo on the 24th, then 25 min on the 31st, all at 10k pace (so roughly 3:10s) 

Her plan is to just stick to tempo runs in December for me to build back leg strength, to be able to handle the workouts in January. As she said for me, really track is just a bonus, since all the focus is really on the XC Canadian Championships next fall in Guelph. The schedule for races is:

- make my debut January 31st in the 3000 at the York Open

- Race another 3000 at the Windsor Team Challenge (one of the biggest meets of the year)

- And finish with a 1500 at the Hal Brown Last Chance Meet at UofT

- By finish that is hypothetically speaking that I'm not in the Top 3: teams can only enter 3 for the OUA Championships, and based on the fact that our team is super deep for track and that I had a really long lay off compared to everyone else building hard miles on miles throughout the XC season with fast races in between, I'm probably not going to be able to whip myself into top 3 speed in such a short time. Not to mention on the team there is a runner who won a silver medal at the Canadian Championships this summer in the 1500, another who is on the short-list for Team Canada in Rio for the triathlon. So ya it'd be tough to crack the top-3 regardless, but especially when considering my injury. But anyways after the track season we planned a likely early outdoor schedule to be: 

- 5k in Burlington on Mar 1 

- 5k in Hamilton Mar 29 (when she said, "So the Around the bay is on the 29, so you could do the 5k," I thought in my head, "What about the 30, I want my revenge," then out loud "Ya the 5k sounds good." 

- 5k in Grimsby Apr 4

Frustration continues to Build

Wow, I can't believe I'm saying this, but it's been 7 weeks since my injury on the Rail Trail on September 24. When the injury happened I knew it was bad. I was in a world of pain, a pain different than I've ever felt before. I knew it was bad, and yet I seriously didn't anticipate writing a blog post 7 weeks post injury, and still not even close to returning to running. I just did not believe that my body could be held down at the mercy of an injury for that long. Did I think I was indestructible, no of course not, I've had injuries in the past, many of them. But almost always I've been able to muster up the willpower and ignore the pain to either be able to run straight through the injury, or at least return to running before the injury had healed completely. For instance, after the Around the Bay this March, I finished the race in incredible pain, not able to put any weight on my leg, however, guess what I was back running in about 2 and half weeks. With this one, I really am confused and unable to run through the pain. I don't even know what the injury is at the point. I was told by two doctors that the injury was a strained rectus femuris muscle (hip flexor), and that I would be back running before I knew it. But I do believe I was wrongly diagnosed since here I am at 7 weeks still unable to run, yet able to bike, swim, and lift all the weights in the world with zero pain in the hip. I can clip in to bike pedals and do sufferfest workouts till I'm dripping in sweat and my heart rate is through the roof with zero pain. I can kick while swimming as hard and as fast as I want with zero pain in the hip. This is really the one that confuses me more than anything and makes me question the diagnosis, since the flutter kick uses almost entirely hip flexors yet there is no pain. And get this, after my 1 and 45 minute swim today, I water ran with you guessed it zero pain. However, tonight I started Day One of a friend of mine's physiotherapist and Dad in New Brunswick elite runners return to run program post-injury and yet on the run portions (it was 5 minutes speed walk, 10 minutes (1min run, 1 min walk), 5 minutes speed walk -- 5 minutes total of running) my hip was in a lot of pain. Honestly, I can't even describe the pain. To me the origin of the pain, the fact the hip flexion doesn't hurt, the fact that I can water run without pain, but only running with weight bearing is what hurts says that there is an inert injury in the area, meaning either an avulsion fracture of the illiosoas muscle of the lesser trochanter on the femur, a stress fracture at the neck of the femur, or a tear of the labrum in the hip. In either case here I am sitting after 7 weeks still unsure of my injury, still in pain, and starting the get the feeling of will I ever be able to run again and if so will I be able to run at a high enough level to accomplish my goals in the sport. I'm sick and tired of people asking me if I ran that race or that one, or asking me if I'm back running yet, or if I'm running track, or how the hip progressing. I'm tired of seeing emails from the coaches about the week's workout schedule. I want to be back, I want to get better. Between this injury and the suspected stress fracture in my right tibia, I haven't been healthy for something like 3.5 months. Why did the Sports Med. Dr. I saw not refer me for an MRI or some sort of imaging right when the injury happened. Now I need to go back to him and say, "SO, ya it's been 2 months since I got injured I would like an MRI on the hip because it's still not better." And the Dr will probably say, "Okay sure I could get you in maybe in 2015 sometime, hopefully before easter." Meanwhile, other athletes get super special treatment, hurt their leg and get an MRI the next day. What am I not good enough. All I know is next time I go in to see the Dr. I'm not going to be  Mr. nice guy Frank saying please and thank you for whatever. I'm going to go in and really say what I'm thinking, "Really I don't care what you think or not about the injury or have to say, just write me the referral for an MRI."All I found out from tonights Day one of the program is I could speed walk pretty quickly when I swing my hips like those pro-speed walkers. I was going low 6 min/km pace for the 5 minute warmup and cool down.

So what's the gameplan

So last time I spoke I was really down because the hip was regressing and based on the timing it meant the XC season was done. Well it still is done, and I've told the coaches that yes I'm shutting myself down for the season. For me this was a huge thing to do, and as weird as it sounds this was a big step in my career. Its the first time that I've been real with myself, and honest. In the past, with injuries I've spend weeks on end in denial, and bargaining with myself to keep running in some way. But I vow to you guys now so that it is out there "I will not start running until pain is completely gone." When I say completely, I don't mean when it's 90%, it needs to be 100% or I will not run. I'm changing my philosophy from a percentage of how I feel to a binary system, it's either 1, 100% healthy, or 0 which represents 1-99% and I don''t run. I have abandoned the therapy from the PTs in the Sports Med clinic, and the manual therapist that I had been seeing. Why? I realized something, I am a PT student. I have a huge advantage because not only do I know what needs to be done, but I also know my own body better than any PT or other therapist does. I know what I need, who cares about this ultrasound, laser therapy, and deep tissue work. All I need is strength training. Listen the fibres are were torn people, and its been more than 2.5 weeks since the injury. Inflammation is mostly over so you can stop focusing your treatment on it. Collagen has invaded the area and build a tie between the majority of the fibres. I'm in the sub-acute phase so their is no need to keep treating me as if I'm in the acute phase. It's time to do strength training to stress the area. The body reacts by quickly laying down wacks of collagen in a mesh-like formation. This makes the area weak and not functional. What needs to be done is work the muscle so that the collagen goes from being in a random formation to being in a stacked pattern parallel to the line of tension. So I've been hitting the gym hard, then harder, then even harder the last few days. I'm doing full hip flexion with a tense therabands.Sure the first time I did like it hit like a (insert phrase here), but afterward a little better, than yesterday a little better, than today 5 sets of 15 reps hip flexion and you guess it a little better. Now when I say better I don't mean I'm planning on running tomorrow or the day after, it's still far from better, and remember it's either 1 or 0, there is no in-between. But now that I'm taking over the course of this rehab, I feel recovery is possible. Why? Well its pretty simple, I'm the smartest therapist out there - just joking, but not really. I will get better, and who knows maybe with my new rehab maybe I'll run the final two road races of the Niagara-Hamilton Subaru Running Series - a 7k and 5 mile race so that I could double as the champion at the end of the season like last ear and get another sweet prize. The first race will be a long-shot, but anything is possible now that I'm in charge and hitting weights hard, plus the pushups o man the pushups- 250 today after a long and fast swim workout (1000m, 200, 200, 100, 200, 200, 100, 50, 50, 100, 50, 50, 100, 50, 50, 100, 50, 50, 100, 50, 50, 100, 200, 200, 100, 200, 200, 100, 1000m), and about three trillion ab exercises, the 8-pack is on its way.

Setbacks

So just a quick short post after a long core workout and a real long swim. It's looking more and more like the 2014 cross country season will never be. There are seven spots to be filled for the team to compete in the championship races - the OUAs (Ontario Championships) and the CIS (Canadian Champs), and one more race left in the non-championship season at Queens where the OUAs will be held to essentially prove yourself to the coaches that you deserve a spot in that top-7. After getting some seriously painful and deep to the bone manual therapy, bruising the muscle from the outside-in to try to stimulate some tissue healing, I felt like I would be able to start running on Monday and maybe get one good speed session before Queens. I was planning on then making the trip to Queens with essentially no training, and run like I had nothing to lose, which I don't. I would run up at the front with the fastest runners in the country from Guelph, and just try to hold on as long as I could. If I blew up then so be it, but in the process I would show the coaches that with two weeks of actual training before the OUAs I would be able to run with the top-guns in the sport. Monday came, and it's amazing how sometimes optimism can be such a dangerous thing. I woke up and my hip was actually the worst it had been in the last 3 days. Just tried a few quicker steps on my walk over to school, not a chance running was going to happen. The leg was bad, the limp was back. Maybe tomorrow I thought, maybe just an easy run. Woke up, nope. Not better. Limped over to campus, and was back in the water, for yet another swim, 16 days in a row of swimming, no kicking, no progress in the leg. It's looking more and more like the season is over, and the injury may be much worse than I anticipated. Maybe it will be another week, maybe another 4. Regardless, I'm 99.9% sure Queens is not happening, and therefore OUAs, and CIS in Newfoundland is not happening. Right now I really need something to put on the calendar. I need something to look ahead to, to give me a plan, or a purpose. Right now, I don't have any direction to training. Quite frankly, I don't know why I'm still training. What am I staying in shape for, why am I waking up at 6 to go to the pool and swim 200 lengths at a time. As much as I enjoy swimming, it's a constant reminder of the fact that I'm not running. I actually thought last night, maybe on December 20th I can run the Lookout Mountain 50 Mile race just to give me something to think and train towards, cause at the moment I'm stuck, spinning my tires in the present.

Core Workout without any hip flexors

Sorry for garbage quality was off the camera on my computer.

Picking up the Pieces

So I thought I'd update my status for those that don't already know. On tap last night was a speed workout prior to our race in Windsor this Saturday. I hadn't run in essentially 3 days, but my hip was feeling slightly better than it was the last couple days, not 100% but I wanted to atleast give the workout a go, what's the worse that could happen right the hip tightens up and I stop right? Well after the 20 minute warmup and about a mile into the tempo run, I was slightly dropping off our pack a bit and worked hard to get back up with the group. The hip felt very weird and uncomfortable but not terrible. At almost exactly the 2km marker within about a 5 second span that hip went from feeling mediocre to a 10 on the pain scale - meaning the worst pain you can imagine. I instantly had to pull up and stop dead in my tracks. I couldn't lift my left leg off the ground, and starting hobbling back to campus. After what felt like an eternity, I guess word traveled up through the different pace groups that I had really hurt myself, and one of the coaches circled back to get me to get me on his bike to make it back to campus. The coaches and my fellow teammates would come talk to me and ask how I was but I really didn't feel like talking. At that point I just wanted to be on my own. I've had my fair share of injuries, and I do know what a season ending injury feels like, and this was it. I'm not going to go completely into the details, but basically when I went to sleep that night, which ended up being the most painful and uncomfortable sleeps of my life, other than the night after Around the Bay, I was sure my hip flexor was the issue and probably a severe tear. When I woke up in  the morning now I couldn't actually put weight on the leg, and had to crawl to go to the bathroom. My hero of a Mom, offered to help and drove me to class and to the hospital to get checked. The doctor who I saw in the emergency room was dumb as a brick, and said its a muscle strain take some advil and rest. I said - in my head - you're a %$#@ idiot, I've had about 600,000 muscle strains in my life of being heavily involved in sports, and this seems slightly worse than those previous plus umm what muscle, you haven't done any manual muscle testing to tell me if its rectus femoris, illosoas, adductor longus, gracilis, sarotorius, pectineus, adductor brevis, adductor magnus, let me stop there and say quite frankly there a shit load of muscles in the thigh, which one did I strain and to what degree. You haven't palpated any of the muscles, haven't done extensibility testing, or contractibility testing, hell you the one who went to med school didn't even tell me once to ice the area. This is who they let into med school, my goodness I'm glad I'll be making a fifth of what someone as ignorant and dumb as a post makes. She actually said to me at one point well a strain means some of the muscle fibres have tears, ya I kind of know that, I'm the one who will actually be doing something for their patients not just referring them off to see someone else, I also know that depending how many of those muscle fibres tear is kind of important in terms of prognosis. If 5% have torn well heck I'll be up and running before the end of this post, but if 75% have torn, then I won't be running until atleast Remembrance day. Anyways so I wasn't exactly happy with the diagnosis, well because, there was none. So I had to ask her "can I have an ultrasound". She says back in a snarky way well what do you think an ultrasound is going to show. In my head now, "Frank play nice, don't give her that face, you know the one like what ever happened to natural selection, you know only the smart and strong survive." Now out loud, well Dr. the diagnostic ultrasound will allow us to non-invasively see the extend of the soft tissue injury which will allow us to organize a safe, effective, and realistic protocol for the patient, me. Plus its cheaper and faster to use than an MRI, and is still extremely sensitive for tendon tears, muscle tears, cartilage injuries, inflammation, nerve entrapment, whatever. So she referred me for an ultrasound. So glad that I'm in Canada with free access to healthcare. Now I can see why we offer it for free, just send people off to crawl around campus chewing advil, no testing, no imaging, no diagnosis. You realize if I was in the States, I would have had every diagnostic test even unnecessary ones done on me to figure out exactly what was wrong for insurance purposes. Hell it would cost a lot of money, but really if you don't value health than what do you value - Shit I just thought that will be my slogan for my clinic "If you don't value health than what do you value," or it could be my ad campaign running for office and say GO PRIVATE at the bottom. So my season may be over who knows, I could be out for a few weeks with a minor strain, could be out about 6-8 weeks with a moderate one, and could be 3,4,5,6 months if its a grade 3 tear. At this point I don't know, if there is bruising on the hip in the next couple days than it means I won't be running or maybe going pro cycling until 2015 since it means a complete tear. Basically at this point I'm in the ? zone, or in sporting terms I'm out indefinitely. Update you all later until the storm clears and I can hit the cross training block harder than ever. Until then I think I've said it before in another post but I will remind you again, happy running, and I mean it. You could waste you life working all day and living like a sloth at night or put those bright coloured shoes on go outside and feel the air rushing pass your face, your heart pumping good clean blood to every corner of your body, get lost in the challenge, and just run.

Update

So you remember my last blog post finishing with a somewhat optimistic sounding Frank. I had crushed the tempo run last Friday, then a great long run, and another good workout on Monday. Well at the end of Monday's run I twinged my left hip flexor a little, got some therapy on it afterwards, and thought that was the end of that. Then Tuesday morning came and an early run with a group of guys on a gorgeous trail on the north shore (around the coots paradise marsh). Hard not to enjoy the beautiful early morning sun rising over the bay and the scenic views right? Well if your hip feels like a rope then I could see how it may not be enjoyable. But after about 5k felt alright for the rest of the run. Doubled on Wednesday, and on the second run my whole body was feeling run down. Decided to take Thursday off from running, and then was back on the trails on Friday. Sure the tibia was still hurting bad, but now I was actually noticeably limping around campus because of my hip flexor, and having a real tough time just getting up and out of chairs. Literally every time I tried to move it felt like a knife was being jammed and twisted into my hip. The hour and a bit of physiotherapy I got on Thursday obviously didn't help very much even though I had two people working on me at the same time, one doing ultrasound on my "could be" stress fracture, the other doing some soft tissue work on my hip. The physio there seems to think the contralateral hip pain is a stemming from compensating because of my other leg's injury, and now it has progressed into a pretty significant muscle tear. Saturday we were in Western, where our men's team won with record 44 points. I tempo-ed the course prior to the women's race and struggled my way through, but grinded for still a pretty decent time especially considering the incredibly difficult course they had set up - wow it was super hilly. Afterwards my hip though was in shambles, so much so that it managed to actually distract me from the pain in my tibia - I guess our brain can only fully comprehend one pain signal at a time. Sunday morning we had a long run scheduled despite thunderstorms going through the area. Getting ready was a struggle. I'm not even joking or exaggerating, I could not actually lift my leg off the ground to put my leg into my running shorts and had to lay down to pull the shorts on. Decided to go over to the high performance centre prior to the run to try and warmup my hip on the bike before the run. Ran the first little bit with the team but was it way to much pain and had to turn back and go back to the gym after only 30 minutes. It was a demoralizing and embarrassing feeling having to stop a run and turn around, after all the long run is supposed to be my thing. Ran back in the now pouring rain, and limped in from the run broken once again for the umpteenth time. Climbed onto the bike and pushed myself through a hard hour and 15 minutes on the bike, then did some core, and then jumped into the pool for half an hour. As I swam I thought, sure this doesn't hurt and yet I can't complete one stride without unbearable pain. I'll be taking the next couple days off then run on Wednesday and based on that decide if I'm okay to run on Saturday in Windsor. Also I'll be getting some blood work done this week to see if there is actually something physiologically wrong with my body. To tell you loyal readers the truth, it is getting very difficult to keep trying and hoping to get better when I actually can't remember what it feels like to run without pain. It makes me think maybe this isn't for me, I've put so much into my running physically and emotionally, and I can't tell you how frustrating and disheartening it is to be sidelined time and time again. I was injured at the end of November last year and since then between another injury at Around the Bay in March, the possible stress fracture in August, and now this hip flexor injury on top of it, I calculate that I've been healthy for less than 8 weeks out of the last 11 months approximately, and that was in Park City, and then the next couple weeks afterwards for the summer races. Maybe all my problems stem from my flat feet, maybe I have early osteoartritis from not letting injuries heal properly or completely in the past, I don't know. What I do know is based on Wednesday's run I'm very very close to just saying enough is enough and stopping running all together. Yes it's a big decision, but running in pain is no fun, and why should I waste 25 hours a week not having any fun. It may seem drastic but when you look at my history and see that I've had more than 5 stress fractures in the past four years, countless bouts of severe achilles tendinopathies (like last September around this weekend), prior bouts of hip problems like in my first year of running when I did see a Sports Med doc who said I had partially torn my hip flexor, hamstring injuries like at the 2012 STWM, IT band syndrome the following February, back issues on and off for the past year, and a whole bunch of other twinges and tears, it really isn't that drastic or sudden. Maybe I can put my hard work to some other endeavour, maybe just get on the bike and ride 600k a week with the triathletes here, become an absolute monster on the bike and go for competitive cycling, plus I already got the Mark Cavendish sunglasses for it. I obviously beat the hell out of my body going for the marathon too early at such a young age, not letting myself properly develop to be able to handle it, and now I'm paying the price for it. Sorry for such a downer of a post, I hope that on Wednesday I can actually post good news for once.

September Studs make November Duds

Hi all. My bad on not keep my promise to update the situation after last-last Friday's time trial for the cross country team, things have been rather busy lately. So first off even though it seems weird talking about it well after the fact, Friday night went pretty well. My leg was hurting badly through the warmup and I was very nervous for those opening few strides when I would be forced to put full weight on the leg, and drive off of it. The horn sounded and we were off. The hyped up pace said to be 2:40/km pace did not happen. The big group of guys were running a pretty modest 3:05/km pace for the first few hundred meters, and I thought to myself let's take advantage of the pain killing adrenaline now while it lasts, and I took over the race pulling well into the lead bringing it down to 2:40/km pace and hovering just around 2:48-2:53 until passing the first kilometre in 2:59. Eased off a bit after that and hit the second k in 3:08 and tucked in behind now the pack of leaders (me and 3 other guys). I won't describe the entire race but basically I stayed this way until about 5 k when we got strung out a bit, probably thanks to the +40 degree heat and finished the 6.2 kilometres course around churchill park (course was a bit long) in 19:30. So I made the team and was onto the long run on Saturday. The whole team met up at 8:30 at the track, and then we went off. After about 4 k of running as a whole team we split off into our different groups based on how long everyone was going for. I went in the longest group with 6 other guys and we went for about 2.5 hours through super hilly and awfully slick set of trails after the Friday night storms. All in all a pretty great run. After a decent run on Sunday, trouble struck on Monday. My leg was in extreme pain once again. After a 60k bike ride Tuesday Morning in place of running, went to see the Sports Medicine Doctor here at Mac. He referred me for a bone scan, and said that based on my previous history, and the fact it was a similar spot to where it had heard before, during, and after Around the Bay in March, it was most likely another stress fracture. Fortunately, he also said that since there was also considerable pain on the tibialis posterior muscle which follows the length of the tibia on the medial side, that tibialis posterior tendonopathy was also a possibility. But I decided to keep on running, because well, that's what I do. After all, if it's a stress fracture and took off 4-6 weeks I wouldn't be available for the team until the Canadian Championships at the beginning of November, and I highly doubt that after 4-6 of not running at all, I would be in any sort of race shape to be in the Top 7 on the team chosen to represent McMaster in Newfoundland. So basically, I'll keep on running on it, if it completely breaks (compound fracture) I'll be out a little longer, but either way whether it's a stress fracture or progresses to complete fracture (like the Kevin Ware injury last year when he innocently went to a three-pointer and on the landing snapped is leg is half - and yes he did have a stress fracture leading into that game) I'm out for the season. Wednesday came along and our first speed workout was on tap, and I was feeling pretty good considering the strength and conditioning session the night before called Get Jacked. I won't delve into the details of the workout because I don't think the coaches would appreciate if I released details to other possible competitors about how we work here at Mac. But I'll just say I was an interval style workout at 10k pace - 3:10/km. Thursday me and my fellow runner roommates headed out for a 75 minute run at recovery pace, and up a technical portion of trails called ankle breaker, and after some physiotherapy in the afternoon with some ultrasound, and another strength and conditioning session in the evening + core, the leg was actually feeling okay, not nearly 100%, but better than Monday. On Friday, did more strength work in the morning, and then smoked a tempo run with the team in the evening. Was supposed to be running in a group with 4 others, but felt so good left them and ripped it up the trail. That was the first time in a while I thought recovery was close. Saturday, we went on our team long run doing another 2.5 hours on a seemingly endless set of hilly trails, then had a well deserved team pancake breakfast at one of the girl team member's houses. On Sunday, the leg was not great on my run on my own, and was feeling frustrated once again. But this Monday, absolutely destroyed our toughest interval workout yet. Leg still hurt during the workout, but having a team around me kind of helps to distract myself from the penetrating waves of pain and unstable feeling landing on that bone gives me. The coach called me on the weekend and essentially told me that even though I wanted to, he wanted to give my leg one more week before competing. I gave in because after a good talk, I understand that these early meets are not critical, and that he needs me to be ready come championship season at OUAs and then at CIS. I need to believe in the process, put my faith in our coaching staff and understand that all they want is for me to succeed. They have expressed numerous times to me that they are amazed at how I have been able to accomplish everything that I have with no coach and no team around me. But now, I believe that these coaches can really take me to an even higher level. They really are a great groups of coaches, and with phenomenal running backgrounds themselves from the college level, to one of them competing in the 1992, and 1996 Olympic Games. So 12 of our runners (about half) will be competing at Western on Saturday, and myself and others will still be travelling with the team. Me and two other guys are planning on tempo-ing the course before the races start. Then next Saturday I will debuting in Windsor. From there we will see if I also race in Waterloo the following weekend, but definitely in Kingston on the Thanksgiving weekend. Here is our Men's Team Picture:

A New Chapter Begins with some familiar feelings

What a whirlwind ride of a summer filled with many ups and some unexpected but always inevitable downs. As you know the summer began with my trip to Park City, Utah to train a live like a professional runner, with nothing on the daily schedule expect to run, run, and maybe run again. Also as you know at the tail-end of that trip I received the news that I was in fact accepted into the MSc PT program at McMaster university. From Park City I was back home in Thornhill, ready to take on the competition at a slew of races in the coming months, as well as graduate Summa from York University. In those few weeks I won 5 out of 7 races setting a new PB in each distance the 5k, 10k, and half marathon. Also in the final race of the season I met a few runners from McMaster's cross country/track team. One of whom, Gabriel, invited me to come live with he and a few other athletes at McMaster in the fall. After that race training had a new focus, a new rhythm to it. Instead of building to 240 kilometers and running the marathon in fall where I was hoping to run in the 2:26 range, it was all about cross country. I did 160-170 kilometer for 3 or 4 straight weeks with no problems. Lots of speed work on the track to regain and ingrain that fast leg turnover into my legs necessary for competing with the best in the country. Then after one track workout on a rainy day encompassing a tried and true workout - mile repeats - a little niggle that I had in my right tibia a couple days earlier became an o so serious and too familiar problem. The exact same pain I felt in my leg before Around the bay in March. The next morning I had trouble putting full weight on my leg, and decided instead of just running through it as I did in March I would take the time off now. I took 5 days off completely from running, and then eased back into it with very short runs. The leg was still a uncomfortable. But I figured with cross country season closing in, I couldn't wait another week or two, so I kept running. In my second week back things started progressing quickly. I could feel my leg getting better and even did a tempo run without much issue. In my third week back progress slowed and I could feel regression. The leg was now not getting really any better from day to day, infact after a harder run midweek it felt much worse and I had no pop no explosion off the ground from that leg. Then off to McMaster. Boy the trails hear go forever with beautiful views throughout, and it frustrates me even more why in the world I keep getting injured. I thought my progression was perfect and training methods were even better. I was running in shoes with more cushion, and a couple runs a week running on soft surfaces. Makes me wonder how your muscles and heart, both literally and figuratively, can be so strong and your bones be so weak. With so much motivating factors surrounding me now such as great trails, and great fellow runners, I am constantly reminded of how I'm not able to train how I want and need in order to be competitive. But I've bounced back from injury before and I will once again, this time however, I need to  do so very quickly. Today is the 6km Time Trial to make the team. Boy o boy are there some scary fast runners here, and if I wasn't injured i would be so excited to test my speed against them. Word is most are planning to do the opening kilometer in 2:40. When I'm limping to campus day after day it seems that a 2:40 kilometer may be too rich for my blood. So the plan may be to be content being in the second pack for now and hope to just make the team running maybe 19:20ish for the 6km. So say a prayer for me at 6:30 tonight that I can run and make the team, hopefully without completely breaking my leg in the process. I'll update you all on Saturday.

Eaton 10k Dash and Summer Shoe Review

A couple Thursday nights ago was the finale, for a few weeks at least, of my post-Park City racing season, and boy did it end on a high note. Going into this race I knew that the competiton would be steep for a couple of reasons: the race doubling at the OMA Championships, and the fact that it was in Burlington, where races tend to get a good turn-out of fast runners, ranging from cross country runners from Mac, Guelph, and a couple from Queens, as well as a few Kenyans to keep things interesting. Me and my Dad arrived in great time to register, and to go on a few kilometer warmup run, followed by about 20 minutes of drills. I had ran and worked out earlier in the day, so my legs were already pretty nice and loose, so I was feeling pretty good. My only concern heading in was that after my track workout of Tuesday night, my left hamstring was acting up a bit. Just prior to the race, I noticed there were a large amount of McMaster Mauraders Cross Country Squad at the race. Went over to talk to one of them- Gabiel - who told me he was aiming for 31:30. This was after I had told him that next year I was planning to be on the team, and I instantly got a little more nervous (I am always very nervous before races already going back to elementary school) since I felt that this was now essentially a tryout. I had to impress Gab, and told myself not to get dropped, no matter how much pain I'm in. There were a few others on the team in the 10k, and a bunch in the 5k which started 10 minutes earlier. So at 7:30 we were off and underway. After being very focused on the Mauraders in the race, me and the rest of the field were quickly reminded that Fred Karanja was also in the race, a very fast runner from Kenya and living in Burlington now (who you remember from Dundas 10k last year and then getting my revenge in the marathon), when he took off about 150 meters into the race like the rest of us were standing still. I have never seen someone run that quickly, since Gab, Gatundu, and I were all running at around 2:40/km and he literally left us in the dust. But me and Gab quickly reacted and worked our way back up to him, and within the first 400m it was a three man race, Gab and Fred shoulder to shoulder and me just chillin, sheltered in behind them from the wind. That was definitely was of the most relaxed 2:55 opening kilometers I have ran. At about 1.4 kilometers after not really looking at my watch for a while because I was just looking at the back of their singlets, I could feel the pace dropping significantly since we were now heading back into the wind, and I guess Gab and Fred were feeling the effects of it. I figured I could probably stay behind them until 9.5k then surge, but based on that first surge by Fred at the start, and knowing the speed that Gab possesses, I figured the marathon runner may get smoked in a sprint to the finish. So I wanted to push them now to stay at a high pace, but at the same time I wanted to stay in a pack (to push each other along) so I didn't surge crazy hard, just enough to get the group's pace back on target. I passed Fred on the left and took the pace over (almost like in the time trials in the tour de france when the lead cyclist is spent the next guy comes in to take over the pacing). I brought us back from doing the first half of that kilometer at 3:21 pace to doing the kilometer in 3:13. From there on the about 6k nothing really happened we just got into a really nice rhythm knocking off 3:13, 3:11, 3:13, 3:13. Amazing how we were running this fast while having to make at some points very quick footed moves around the 5k runners especially on the turns where they were staying in the inside lane. Turning back north at about 7k me and Gab dropped Fred, and now it was a two man race. At 8k Gab surged really hard to try to drop me but I reacted and stayed right there. Now this was my only mistake of the race. When he surged and I caught him I should of right then and there pushed with my own surge because after his little sprint he was really tired and I should have capitalized. At 8.5k or so he gained 2 or 3 steps on me after a turn and sometimes its amazing that over a 10k race all it takes to gap your opponent is a couple steps. He instantly put down the hammer and dropped me. But the race was definetly not over. At 9k, I went really hard going 2:50 something for a bit and managed to close the gap back again to 5 meters or so. Gab looked back saw me, and surged again. Turning back south to the finish I sprinted hard as I could and if the race lasted 100 meters or so more I had him, because I closed the gap back again and lost by 3 seconds. But I was very happy with two 3:07 splits the last 2 kilometers, and shattering by PB from a few weeks ago with 31:57 in the 10k. Gab was extremely impressed and clearly pushed really hard (he was exhausted at the finish), plus the Mauraders coach was at the race, and basically I think I'm on the team. Me and the coach chatted afterwards for a bit, then myself and 6 or 7 other guys from the team and Queens cross country team went for a 30 minute cooldown. Overall a great night.

Shoe Guide

If you don't already know I own quite an extensive shoe collection. Pick any colour, I have multiples of it. Pick any distance, I have a shoe for it. I currently have 9 pairs (around 31 pairs overall) that I rotate throughout any given week - adios boost, adios 2.0, lunaracer, streak lt2, mirage3, pegasus 31, pearl izumi n2 (won these), soloman s-lab ultra, and skechers GoMeb Speed 2 (won these too) . I love talking about new shoes and their new features, here is a list of shoes that I have composed of shoes to try out for your summer training and a couple to try possibly for fall racing.

Training Shoes  

Nike Pegasus 31

In the past I had always avoided the pegasus because former versions of the shoe had a marshmallow feel, and I prefer a firmer midsole that is more responsive. The new pegasus answered my calls, and they firmed up the midsole a bit. It still offers a tonne of cushioning over the long miles, and you can certainly feel the zoom pocket in the shoe which rebounds when you strike the ground to add to the responsiveness. Yes the shoe does have a 10 mm heel-to-toe offset which would normally eliminate it from my rotation of shoes because I prefer a shoe to be at least under 6-7 mm. Oddly the heel drop doesn't feel as high as it actually is possibly because of the full-ground contact outsole,and the contoured forefoot which makes for a quick toe-off. So I have found that midfoot striking is not compromised in the shoe. Besides the responsiveness of the shoe that I love, Nike is head over heels ahead of there competition for their upper design. The shoe fits to your foot like a glove, and the narrow feel makes it feel fast despite the weight being around 10 ounces for a men's size 9 (I am an 8 so its in the 9 ounce range). My only criticism on this perfect training shoe for I would say every runner from the newbie to elites like Mo Farah (he was a critical part of the design) is that based on a run in it on wet roads the outsole rubber is not very grippy (it does slip a bit when trying to push the pace on wet surfaces). Overall though, the Pegasus 31 is an amazing shoe perfect for many different paces. In fact my first run in it was a 23 kilometer fartlek doing 10 times 1 min on/off, then 10 times 2 min on/off, then 5 times 3 mins 2 minutes off, so the pace was going from fast to slow, and back and the shoe performed well at every pace.

Saucony Cortana 3/4

In my gear guide last year I introduced this shoe to you guys, and now after putting 850 kilometers in a

pair of them I can give you a true and detailed description of how this beast performs. First off I will say that if you go out and buy the 3s, keep in mind that they may be going on sale soon since the 4s are due to come out in the US in August, which probably means they will be here in Canada sometime in 2016 (no just joking expect them to be stocked in running room a few weeks after there release in the US). Also, know that Saucony hasn't changed the 3 completely so getting the 3 over the 4 isn't that big of a deal. The only difference with the 4 is deeper grooves in the outsole to improve your transition slightly through the gait cycle and improved the fit of the shoe around the heel - although I never had any issues with the fit of the 3. So basically the 3 captured the essence of what I believe the perfect shoe is. It is well cushioned for logging big miles in them - I logged two 200+ kilometer weeks in them, and the month of november of last year, where a chunk of those 850 kilometers were logged, was my fastest month of running I ever had. Mostly the 4mm heel-drop and the light weight is to thank for the extremely fast feel of this trainer, but also the midsole has incredible responsiveness, in addition to it being extremely durable. The upper fits very well, and unlike the pegasus it has a wide toe-box. But that is not a negative. I beleive every shoe has a different character and it is up to the company to essentially put different components of a shoe together that work well together. Just like a car or a road bike, the components must work together well. And in this case the wide toe box works well for this shoe, as it allow for a whole lot of toe splay which is necessary for a shoe with such a low heel drop. I loved these shoes from start to finish. But you may ask, why am I in Pegasus now, the price tag of this shoe was too much to come to terms with. At running room it runs for 179 plus tax, so in the 200 dollar range Just too much to spend on a pair of shoes especially when I run through them so quickly.

Adidas Tempo 6

With 815 kilometers in these babies through the heat waves of last year, me and these infared shoes have a special bond. We battled through tough conditions, and many long grueling runs of 40+ kilometers, and two a days totaling over 44 kilometers some days. First off if you want a shoe that you will definitely stand out in and look fast go with these. The colour-way is called infrared (a really bright orangy-pink) with navy blue accents. I remember my first ever run in them, looking down and almost getting blinded by how bright they were. The shoes are crazy light for a trainer - less than 8 ounces, and actually have some very mild support. I'll stress very mild once again, don't get these shoes thinking that they are a stability shoe because they are absolutely not that. I would say they are geared to quick runners who are used to wearing firm racing flats, and basically the very small plastic piece on the medial side of the arch is more for a psychological confidence boost (thinking "oo I can rip through these miles, my feet are supported" - But not really). Mostly the extremely firm and ridiculously snappy ride (they really pop off the road) means that your foot isn't even on the ground long enough to pronate. They have a 9mm drop which is typical of most adidas shoes, and the outsole provides unparalleled traction on any surface, not to mention the fact that is is incredibly durable. Really the only issue I had with this shoe was the upper. The overlays on the medial side were just so that they could cause some irration on the medial side of your foot. Overall the shoe performs really well, and the 110 dollar price tag from running warehouse who does deliver adidas to Canada is great. Plus they have one colour-way going for 79 bucks right now.

Racing Shoes 

Nike Zoom Streak LT2

Let me just start this review before I run out of adjectives. This shoe is crazy fast. By fast, I mean you

will never know how fast you are actually capable of running until you've ran in these once. From the upper, to the midsole, to the outsole this shoe is perfect in every way. I have zero issues with it. Ican't offer one single criticism or advice for how I think the future iterations can be improved. And heck I pray Nike doesn't do something stupid like true to make any future versions. A discussion I was having with my Dad the other day was basically that nowadays it is almost impossible to fall in love with a particular pair of shoes and say okay that's my racing/training shoe for the next decade. Sometimes the new innovations are groundbreaking, but most of the time, shoe companies and any company for that matter, is always looking to improve. Yes I want that out of a company, but also I wish companies sometimes knew when to say, this shoe or product is perfect and there is no need to change. Basically, this is my long way of saying please Nike do not change this shoe. So the shoe itself hovers just over 5 ounces and thanks to the extremely narrow and snug upper, you sometimes forget that you're actually wearing shoes at all. The shoe is super responsive, it leaps off the road. The waffle outsole is designed in a way that suits the shoe to any surface: road, rubber (track), grass (cross country), gravel, and dirt. If you want a fast shoe that based on my own experience can hold up to atleast a half marathon - after a 71 minute half my legs were fine. Although it's my go to shoe for anything up to half, most will find it suitable as a 5-10k racing flat (I would only use it for a half if your very light footed and efficient).

Adidas Hagio 2

I would say this shoe is a first cousin of the lt2. It is fast, and excels for the 5-10k range, and up to the half for those efficient runners. It is like minded to the lt2, but there are definitely some noticeable differences in the feel, fit, and ride. Again a very light shoe at 6.5 ounces - so about an ounce heavier than the lt2). That weight could be attributed to a more substantial upper material than the lt2. The shoe has a very low-profile much lower than the lt2. The lt2's heel-to-toe drop is 22mm-18mm, whereas the hagio is 17-12. So it is sitting a whole 5-6 mmm lower than the lt2. This is evidenced in the ride of the hagio. It is much snappier thanks to a very firm midsole as you can expect in most adidas shoes, and has some more pop off the ground than the lt2. And like usual, this adidas offering has amazing traction. In addition, I managed to get 450 kilometers out of these flats thanks to a very durable midsole and outsole. I would say much more durable than the LT2, which after 100 kilometers of hard racing in them are looking pretty worn in some areas of the forefoot. So more pop off the ground than the LT2, and more durable, plus a similar price tage 75-90$. So why do I prefer the LT2? Quite simply the upper is far superior for the LT2. I love adidas shoes don't get me wrong, I raced in them for 8 years. But adidas seems to have a knack for making shoes that while offering amazing traction and responsiveness, they just feel separate from your foot. If only I could put flywire's and a flynit upper on a pair of adios or hagio.

Nike Lunaracer 3

Amazing how a shoe can possibly have so much cushioning suited to the marathon but be less weight

than most 5-10k racing flats, at 6.2 ounces. Firstly, let me just say I really like this racing flat. However, it is a bit of an oddity. I don't really know how to describe the ride of the shoe. For instance, when I think of the hagio I instantly think snappy. When I think of the Lunaracer, a word doesn't instantly come to mind. Maybe a phrase, "Ridicuolously lightweight cushioning." The lunarlon midsole they use is very light, but soft. Normally, I prefer the firmness in the adidas for example, but for some reason this soft light foam really works. Although it is light enough for 5-10k, it's bread and butter would be the marathon, thanks to this cushioned fast ride. The flywire on the upper really hugs the foot nicely, and that combined with the low heel drop for a marathon flat, really give the lunaracer a fast feel. I only have two complaints with the shoe. Firstly, like previous versions of the shoe, the toe box has a very low height, so low that your toes touch the top. I can see this possibly being an issue late in a marathon. Second, the outsole pattern is not particularly well designed with lots of exposed foam in key areas which leads to poor durability of the outsole. Despite having 300 kilometers of workouts in these shoes, the midsole is going to far outlast the outsole. The feel of the shoe is still perfect, and feels like it can go for atleast a few 100 kilometers more thanks to the cushioning in the shoe, but unfortunately the base of the shoe will be torn to shreds much sooner I suspect. Notwithstanding, I think it is a great racing option for the longer distances, and even the shorter ones thanks to the weight. One last observation/advice, this goes to Nike, why would you have the option of putting in a Nike plus shoe pod into this shoe. I highly doubt any fast runners (for whom racing flats are geared towards) actually use a foot pod.

Adidas Adizero Adios Boost 

Adios Boost

For years now the adios has been the choice of some of the world's best marathoners. It seems you look on the feet of the leaders in any given international marathon and you see either nike zoom streak's or the adios. The only caveat is that while this version does carry some of the same genes as previous versions, the 2.0 and the beloved original, it is a very different shoe. As you can tell in the name, the adiprene midsole that the adios was built on and crowned world's fastest shoe changed to the boost midsole. This is essentially hundreds of small pieces of foam that have been fused together with heat, for what adidas claims it offers more bouncy cushioning, and more durability. This really did change the feel of the shoe entirely, it just doesn't do it for me. It lost that adidas responsiveness and snappiness that I had come to crave. Now it seems no matter how hard you push the shoe, it is still just bouncing around in the same manner. I haven't used these for a marathon, but based on their weight, that is the only place I would see suitable for this shoe. The boost midsole increased the weight of the shoe even more than it already was. Previous versions were already heavier than most racing flats in the low-mid 7 ounce range but the incredibly firm midsole made up for it. The boost is now 8 ounces, and the new adios boost 2.0 that just came out is even heavier. Adidas could remedy this issue if they removed some of plastic overlays that just weigh the shoe down. Otherwise the shoe is literally heavier than many of today's training shoes like the kinvara, tempo 6, asics 33 series, and others. How can this be a racing flat if it weighs more than your daily trainer. In fact, I have on occasion now just taken this shoe out using it in exactly that way, as a daily trainer. So from a racing point of view, I am not a fan of this shoe, and feel adidas has ruined a great racing flat. It seems that they are lost, and can't seem to agree upon a direction for the pedigreed shoe to go in. They aren't sure if it's a racing flat, or a trainer for up-tempo days, is it designated for the elite, or with all this structure and marshmellow cushioning is it designed to make faster shoes more available to the average runner. Durability, I am all for that in my trainers, but in racing flat they need to last for a couple A races per year, that's it. The adios 2.0 already lasted me about 500 kilometers, I don't need it

Takumi Sen 2

to last 700. Really all I cared was that it lasted 42.195. What I do know, is that if you still crave that old school feel of the powerhouse that once was the adidas adios, purchase the Adidas Takumi Sen 2. It looks like a slightly bigger brother to the hagio, with a 22-17 drop and 6.3 ounces, compared to the hagio which is 17-12.

3 times 5k

Canada Day 5k - Belleville

A quick turnaround after my win in Barrie on Saturday with a 5k race on Canada Day. Since every year we go to Trenton to visit my grandparents, I figured while I'm already going out that direction may as well run one of the Canada Day races in Belleville close-by - plus my grandparents would get to see me run and maybe win. After the 10k in Barrie on Saturday, on Sunday I had run just 20k at a easy pace. On Monday I wanted to get my mileage back up to usual levels so I went on a 26k run in very high heat and humidity. Afterwards my legs still felt pretty solid so I went down into the shop downstairs (my gym in the basement with everything you could possibly need from my bike trainer, to a boxing heavy bag + speedbag, a bench, swiss balls, medicine balls, resistance tubes, weights, etc.) to do a real solid workout hitting the core hard. Then onto the race. Arrived in Belleville in good time, perfect for a nice 4k warmup, and about 20 minutes of drills. Off to the start line to begin sizing up any competition. One athlete stood out from the rest, and I went over to him for a chat to find out he was from Queens Cross Country Team, and he was aiming for around 16 and a bit. Even though it's not a world class time, I had never ran a 5k race before, and this was this guy's specialty, so I figured he probably knew pretty well how to work his pace and may still be a tough competitor. At the start, the course was explained to us, anytime a course needs extensive explanation, I just pray that they have a lead bike so I don't make a mistake - they did. Gun sounded, well not really, the gun didn't really work, but we were off. The race started in a position similar to that which you would see in the 3000m in high school - just before a wide curve taking you the other way. So that's exactly what I thought about and jumped into the inside "lane" to power through the curve and accelerate out of it like a formula one race-car. Quickly realized I was moving very quickly at 2:30 pace (25 km/hr) and was very quickly up out on my own. Went through one kilometer at 2:51 (holy smokes that's fast). At about 1.3k turned south into an extremely strong wind off the lake and ran a 3:09 second kilometer. Going into the third kilometer I got a slight burning sensation for about 15 seconds or so, just some lactate build-up after I most likely surpassed my pace at lactate threshold (what pace you can hold just before you start making lactate faster than you can clear it) but my body quickly cleared it as if it was never there and the legs were back to normal. Definitely a new feeling since I never hit that pace in a marathon, or a half. Although as I have found throughout my training over the year's even if I reduce the rest time between intervals to 15 or 30 seconds my body is still more than capable of clearing the lactate. I kept thinking as my pace slowed slightly Queens back there would come up right beside me and pass me, but then took my one and only look back as I made a turn and Queens was no where to be seen. 3:13, 3:14 splits on three and four - number four should've been a lot quicker although I really slowed down substantially on a confusing part of the course where there was a turnaround. When your not really sure where you're going you always subconsciously slow down. Came back storming on the fifth and final kilometer but as I was getting ready to unleash my finishing kick at the end the race ended unexpectedly at about 4.86 kilometers. So the time was a great win in 15:16, but if I extend my average pace for that last kilometer out for the full thing even though I would have been sprinting that last hundred would have been 15:40 give or take a couple second faster or slower.

Post Race 

After the race and a quick cooldown, it was pretty much right into a post race workout inspired by Alberto Salazar. After shorter races like the mile, or 3000 his athletes like Mary Cain or Galen Rupp do post-race workouts which his athletes reap huge benefits from. Mostly because the legs are a little tired already so you are pushing your limit a little, and also if the race was a mile or in this case a 5km if the workout is at 10k pace for instance it will feel like walking pace compared to the race, while on other days it may be a strain. So the workout was 12 km with just under 6 km of pace work. After a little warmup did a broken 3000 where I did a 1000, 800, 600, 400, 200 (all adds to 3000m), followed by a broken 1500 (600, 400, 300, 200, 100), then a few 400s. All the intervals were around half marathon pace (which felt really easy despite being 3:20/km). I think most of the benefit comes from that 600 at the start of the broken 1500 because by that point despite the pace feeling easy compared to the 5k race pace, the miles at a fast pace start accumulating and the legs are getting very tired. So a solid workout, and quickly into recovery doing just 20-22k runs for the next couple days with bunches of strength work to re-build.

Skechers 5k 

After thinking for the entire week that the 5k in Hamilton on Saturday was in the morning, I found out the night before that it was actually at 7pm. This kind of through off my plan for the day, but decided to just flip the day. So I went on an easy 10k run in the morning, followed by a half-hour of core stuff in the shop, then relaxed while watching the quarter final games, and had a nice nap through the most boring first half of football I've seen in my life in the Netherlands vs. Costa Rica game. Then off to Hamilton to try to win a free pair of shoes and get a solid workout done in the process. Did an easy 3k warmup and some drills through Bayfront Park on the waterfront, where the race was being held. Wow, such a beautiful spot for an evening race, with the sun shining over the water, beaches, people rowing dragonboats, cycling, fishing, etc. I'll keep this spot in mind when going to Hamilton in the fall. The course was a certified 5k, and a very simple out-and-back, doing a turnaround at 2.5k. The path was nice and wide so I wouldn't really have to struggle weaving around people, but the wind was hollowing, and the course was a little more challenging than the Belleville 5k, with some steady inclines. Off the start I darted once again into the lead at 2:22/km pace for a little bit, and established my lead. My plans for these races is quite simple, bolt out at the start and demoralize any challengers from wanting to follow. I enjoy running with the lead, because that feeling of someone chasing me down pushes me along, even though as of recently nobody has got within 1 minute of me in the last few races. After realizing about 30 seconds into the race that the director selected a lead biker who was obviously new to this and poor at judging my pace based on the fact that I was getting pretty close at times to his back tire, I had some fun with him and pushed as hard as I could to stick on his back tire, he was clearly struggling, and I actually passed him twice. Not to sound cocky or anything but some people don't realize how fast I'm actually moving until you get right beside me - think about it for most of the first kilometer I'm going faster than 20 km/hr and maxed at 25.2 km/h - that's pretty quick for a mountain bike. A good second 3:07 kilometer, and a challenging third kilometer really pushed me being into the wind for the first half. Got a stitch on my right side - probably just too shallow of breathing while I started pushing really hard on that third split, that hurt like hell but just tried to go into kenyan trance mode until the end and finish real strong with back to back 3:11 ks and 15:41 overall. Here is the finish (My Dad in the background nicely clearing a couple toddlers from the finish area). On the ground wheezing hard afterwards but got some water and downed a couple bottles and that settled the cramp. Very happy with the performance, and I think I have learned the key the 5k and how I can improve. Basically here is how it is: Normally the half-marathoner and marathoner in me wants to go hard in first couple kilometers to get into the lead pack, and then settle nicely into my rhythm. However, in the 5k there really isn't any time to settle, and if I ease off and coast then I can't keep sub 3min pace. Essentially, I just have to keep pushing harder and harder from start to finish which is very different then a marathon where it is run fast then settle down and maintain a comfortably hard pace for 2 and half hours. In the 5 there is no comfortable, one bad kilometer and the time is gone. The thought processes are very different, for the marathon the running conversation in my head is: This is so easy just ripping right now -- Okay come down sparky they don't hand out the medal at 5k -- Wow got to the halfway in wicked time, o wait that was only half, yikes -- Okay still feeling good, 30k Nice -- When is the next water station I'm dying here -- Then the brain goes silent for a while -- 41k: how does it go again right-left-left no no that's not it -- 42.2: Man that's tough but damn fast, okay how much do you think I can eat from now until nighttime. For the 5 is much simpler: Woo fast start -- go harder -- your slowing, I said faster -- faster - come legs turn over faster I command you. Anyways a fun and fast race, free shoes, an amazing black bean veggie burger afterwards from the You Gotta Eat Here made famous diner Jack and Lois, great night.

Beamsville Bench 5k

The last rep of the 5k series was today out in Beamsville. This one was very different than the other races since this time around I was not going for a spectacular time or anything because the 5k route has been called one of the toughest 5k in Ontario. The race took place at the Mike Weir winery nestled in the vineyards, and started (I said started) on a hill, the longest of the course, 1k long. After this hill, the route had more gentle rolling hill, one steep downhill (about 100m long), and one steep uphill (another 100 meters or so) right before the long hill. Best part this had to be done twice as it was 2 times around the 2.5k loop. I ran the course to warmup and to scout out where all the hills were and set my plan of attack. Essentially after running it I decided to attack the pace hard from 1.25k-1.8 on the first lap and the same section 3.75-4.3 on the next lap. The idea was that at 1.2ish k there was the steep downhill mentioned earlier, and what I would do was essentially let it all loose on that downhill and carry that speed into the following half a kilometer or so which was on the only flat section of the course. After my drills, the race started. Unfortunately the kenyans who were at the Peachbud 10k a few weeks ago didn't show, which was dissapointing since I wanted to test myself against them again, especially now being in even better shape, fresh off a monstrous workout on tuesday. So it looked like I would once again need to do all the work on my own with no one to really push me along. So off the start got to just under 3 minute pace around 2:53-4, then got to the 1k mark already way out on my own at 3:02. The second kilometer was one of my best ever since it really didn't feel super hard. The plan worked perfectly and at 1.24 hit 2:18 per kilometer which is 26 kilometers per hour and maintained 2:35 pace for a few hundred meters and hitting 2:22 per kilometers again at around 1.7k, all to run a 2:55 second kilometer. 2:18 though is most likely the fastest I've ran in a race - did the math and that is a 13.7 second 100m dash. So that was awesome feeling, and then the 3k kilometer came with the entirety of that 1k long hill, and it slowed my pace to a crawling 3:25 km split. But once again on that second lap the gameplan came in nice and handy and ran a 3:03 kilometer and then a 3:18 to finish (got the first half of the hill going into the finishing chute). Overall really happy with the time (15:57 - course was 5.05 according to the watch) since I was hoping for 16 minutes on the tough little course, but really was anticipating around 16:20ish. Once again would have loved it if a few kenyans had come out to push me maybe a little harder even though it's not like I was holding anything back really. However, you could imagine when looking back at 1 mile and not seeing a soul could subconsciously work to slow you down slightly since you know the win is already in the bag - went on to win  by 2 minutes and 10 seconds, a blowout win in any race but especially for a 5k. This is precisely the reason I believe that cross country next year will really do wonders for my running career since I will be training with some really really fast 5-8k runners on daily basis on the team, and then against others at meets. With this race I do believe that a sub 15 5k would be more than possible for me on a flat course with good competition, and I do think I do have some talent in the distance.  However, I still feel most comfortable with the half marathon distance in particular. What I do know is that these shorter races have helped me immensely to recapture and activate some of the raw leg speed that I carry. If anyone had ever seen me play ball hockey, or basketball when I was a kid in elementary, or soccer, etc. you know there is definitely some speed present in my legs. The marathon sapped some of that out which is why I think cross country will be amazing for me. If I can get my legs comfortable at sub 3 minute pace then 3:08 for 42.2 kilometers will be possible, which is what I need to run for the ultimate goal - Olympics.

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.