48 Hours and Counting

After another good night sleep and now carbohydrate rich breakfast I'm feeling eager to hammer out 42.195km, and smash my PB. The only problem during the week was at one point (tues) I seemed to  lose some confidence in my purple adios 2.0. On one of my runs this week I wore them to just get used to their feel since my training shoes have a 4mm offset heel-to-toe and the adios have a 9mm. I went out for a short 39:30 min 10k recovery run with the goal to just chill and enjoy the final few runs. I felt really weird stopping after 10k since my heart rate was barely up and wasn't really sweating. But more importantly I was concerned that my shoes felt a little clanky. If you ever wore a stiff pair of racing flats you know what I mean, if not its a kind of hard sound/feeling to explain. I spent the next morning wondering if I should buy the highly acclaimed NB 1400v2 which Reid Coolsaet, Rob Watson, Eric Gillis, etc are wearing for their fall marathons and races like the Zoo Run.

But then came Wednesday's track session. Instead of doing the pyramid workout I intended which has a total of about 5k faster than race pace, I changed to doing 6 x 1 k at half marathon pace (15k overall) mostly because I got to the York Track at around 11:20 am and my athletic injury class was at 12:30. So I had less than an hour and about 10 min to change before the run, warmup, hammer out 15k, cooldown, stretch, and change. I figured the pyramid wouldn't give me enough time to do that, and don't worry I made it to class on time with time to spare (sure I was a little sweaty, but luckily it wasn't a full class so I could space myself out put my legs up and learn all about the knee - I think God must have designed it on the Monday of that week so he wasn't really thinking clearly). But anyways throughout the workout I didn't even think about my shoes. And afterwards I realized something, I never thought about them in St. Catharines, or during last year's marathon, why because they are only meant to go fast. So it will serve as further motivation for myself knowing if I drop to a slow pace like 3:50 on Sunday the shoes will feel stiff and clanky, faster you go the better they feel. More on the shoes, you may think isn't that strange for a racing shoe to have a 9mm offset. Well actually the majority of marathon flats have comparable offsets. The reason, I have researched this quite a bit, and there is no real answer. But it is something most people misunderstand since most think the name racing "flat" means there is a zero mm offset. And that is not true. What I think they mean with the name, it that the shoes are similar in style and design to a track racing spikes but without the spikes on the sole and hence a "flat" sole. In term's of why I think the racers have 9-10mm offset is a marathon specific feature. If you look most 3-10k shoes like the Hagio, wave universe, RC5000, LunarSpider R3, Piranha, etc they have anywhere from a 2-5mm offset. Why? Well during a 10k glycogen depletion and hence quick sand feet are not an issue. So although lactate levels are high your form isn't breaking down much so you are most likely still running at the end of the race with a smooth midfoot transition and therefore not needing much of a heel. Conversely, in a marathon at around 38 km most people will experience something I call quick sand feet. Basically, it is the strangest thing I have ever felt in my life. You feel like your running in quick sand. You continue to tell your legs to continue forwards but it is as if the message is not reaching them. It is an out of body experience where time slows down (literally you look at the your watch and it has only been like 3 sec since you checked it last), the miles seem longer, and your legs aren't really moving with any authority. I don't know what it feels like to go under general anesthetic but I imagine this is what it would feel like. Anyways, at this point your form isn't great. The nice smooth transition you keep for the last 38 km is gone. At this point to survive the last few kilometers I think it is critical to have some heel cushioning hence the 9-10mm drop. Now even though I don't think that will happen to me on Sunday because I have gone on 6 40+ km runs and one 42.2 kilometer one during that epic 230km week, I now what to expect of my legs near the end, here's a look at some of the best available marathon racing shoes. Sure you may not want to buy a brand new pair before the Oct 20 marathon but if you are racing in the  Niagara Falls International Marathon on the 27th or the Hamilton Road to Hope Marathon on Nov 3 here are some options and comparison between what is out there:

The Nike Flynit Racer has a 10mm drop. It features an incredibly lightweight upper (when I picked it up in the store it was essentially a sock-like material on the upper). Now it is on the narrow side of the spectrum especially at the arch. So if you have wider feet the medial side of your foot may get a little irritated. Size 9 in men's is a crazy light 6.2 ounces. It has full-ground contact on the sole, and the foam is definitely softer than the adios. Whether you want that or not is up to personal racing preference. For me I like the propulsion the adios give because of there stiffness.

The Asics DS Racer 9 is very similar to the speedstar which I raced my first marathon in. It also has a 10mm drop. The only real difference btw the speedstar and racer is the medial post in the Racer. It definitely is a racing shoe with the low profile and 7.9 ounce weight, but for those who need a little support to correct overpronation. It fits slightly large in heel, so I would try it on before buying.




Now here are the awesome ones. The brand new NB 1400v2 in sulphur yellow. The other color options are pretty awesome too. These are 0.8 ounces lighter than the original 1400 at 6.3 ounces. How are they so damn light. The Revlite midsole is 30% lighter than other foams featured in racing flats.  A 9mm drop and a sweet outsole pattern that has some blown rubber meaning it will give some nice grip on the road. The seamless upper is extremely light, although some runners who ran in the orignial 1400 have said this upper doesn't give them the same lock-down and close-to-foot fit. Still looks awesome, I will definitely be buying a pair for races next year or maybe for racing in november (if I decide to continue to race season after Sunday but we'll talk about that later).

So there it is. Obviously there are alot more options like the saucony fastwitch, wave ronin, lunaracer, ST5 etc, but don't have the time or information to review them all. So 48 hours left packing in the carbohydrates, and 1 and a half more sleeps to go (If you know what I mean) and it's game time.

7 Days Left

Around this time (8:45) 7 days from now the STWM will begin. Already I feel some nerves and definitely the incidence of nighttime dreams about the marathon have increased. I already had one really weird dream where I started with my favorite bright-green adidas adios, which I have worn for 5 races this year (4 half marathons and one 30k), and countless tempo runs/ intervals on the track - only God knows how many miles are on those shoes because I stopped counting after the first few 4 months. It was destiny that we met, hidden underneath a table in the clearance section, only one left and it happened to be a size 8.5. And despite the fact that the outsole near the toes is completely worn down (my toes are practically touching the ground), I love everything about these shoes. In fact, that tempo run I had planned on Friday night with my Dad (who may have to start charging me for all the pace work, and hydration delivery he has done during my build) was done in my green shoes. We kept marathon pace - 3:38-3:39 for 14k and it felt pretty comfortable even though it was night at night and I always run a little slower at night. Anyways so in the dream, I ran the first half in my green shoes probably because I thought they could only last the the halfway, and then met my Dad who quickly gave me the new purple adios 2.0. Unfortunately, for some reason I was having a hard time putting the shoes on and tying the laces, and with people beginning to pass me as I was frantically trying to get the shoes tied, I was getting extremely frustrated. Can't entirely remember what happened after that, and I'm not a psychologist or anything, even though I have taken a bunch of sports psychology courses, but maybe it is a sign that I should do everything in my power to search the depths of the world wide web for some store somewhere that carries the original adios (and yes I even have looked on japanese websites - used the google translate function to try and find these iconic shoes).

But purple shoes or barefoot I am ready for STWM. I have never been this excited for a race before. In the past, I have laid my head down at night in the week leading up to the race and thought, "Have I done everything that I need to do to be successful." This time around I feel not only have I done what I needed, but I have done more. My body is absorbing the training really well this time around as well. My philosophy this year was basically to push my body to the brink of destruction and then pull myself back, recover, and race hard. The workouts now are so exhilarating because of the slight cutback in mileage. Sure after today's run, which I'm going on in a few minutes, it will be 150km on the week which it still alot, but considering I was running more than 200 for 2 months straight with a 230kilometer in there, it is a big cutback. You see during the majority of the build, you are physically and mentally exhausted. It is now, during your final few workouts that you can really see all the hard work paying off. So I'm ready, one more week to go, probably one workout left to do on wednesday (a pyramid to deplete my liver/muscle glycogen), and another 100k or so (maybe 100 including the marathon, I will finalize my plan today for the weekly quota). Good luck in your final week to all, fuel right (carb load properly - it is a 7 day process not a 24 hour), and stay hydrated.

10 Day Countdown

With school work heating up, and midterms and presentations on the agenda, I haven't had much time to sit down and update my blog in a while. To sum up how the last couple weeks went, Sunday Sep 22 I raced as in St. Catharines. I was unsure how my inflamed/swollen and weakened achilles would survive and unsure about what time/pace I would run. The race got off quickly, I wasn't actually even ready for the starting gun - no countdown, nothing. I spoke to one other competitors before the race Ryan Tice - a cross country/track runner from McMaster. He told me that he would be aiming to roll out 3:30s the whole way, sounded like a good plan to me. He just became my pacer as I would be content holding that pace since even though it wouldn't be as fast as Mississauga it would still serve as a good workout to get ready for scotiabank. At STWM I will be looking to average 3:39/km for my 2:34 time. So we were off, I thought the plan was 3:30s but I guess not - first km 3:12 - but after that quick surge seperated me and Ryan from the rest of the pack, we settled into a really smooth pace - knocking 3:24, 21, 25, 26, 24, 24, 21, etc. for the next 20k. Now by no means were we taking in easy on each other, and just enjoying the scenery. Throughout the race, since neither one of us were entirely aware of the others' capabilities we were constantly testing each other out. One of us would surge ahead then the other, back and fourth. At about the 15k mark I thought I broke him. As the forecast predicted there was one hell of a North wind, and at 14.5k we turned N right into it. I could tell Ryan was starting to struggle a little, and I tried to loose him. I made a decent (probably 15m) gap between us by averaging 3:13 for 50 seconds (based on my garmin data). But at 18k Ryan was back up with me, and again we were neck and neck. At 19.5k there was one monster hill (according to my strava data a 8% gradient at one point) and Ryan put on heck of a surge on. I tried to stay but could not switch into the right gear to power myself up that hill and stay with him. Ryan ended up winning with 1:12:40 and I finished second in 1:12:58 (I managed to finish strong still with a 3:19km to finish with Ryan only about 80m ahead). I was very happy with my time and result, and more than that I was happy with my effort and mental focus throughout the race. I really took each kilometer one at a time, and thankfully my achilles held up. Sure afterwards the bursae one my right was the size of a quail egg (yea I said quail egg - classy).

So now the countdown begins. This week has been crazy busy with an 1.5 hour long presentation to prepare for for my sport nutritional aids class, and a midterm on the same day in my Molecular Basis of Cancer course. As the professor said as he was handing out the exam, "don't worry about showing me your IDs, cause I doubt that you have any friends you would be willing to write this exam for you," - Just fills you with confidence doesn't it. But anyways I rocked both, and was able to fit my training in perfectly. On Sunday, I did my last long run - a 37 and a bit kilometers with the last half hour at or close to race pace. On Monday hill repeats (found a new hill about 5k from house - just awesome); Tuesday a 15k Cutdown where the goal is to beat your last split for 15 consecutive 1km splits. This was such a great workout: started nice and easy at 4min/km pace then cutdown to 3:55, 3:53, 3:49, all the way to finishing at 3:27 for the 15 splits. Even though you might say well for me 3:27 is slighty slower than half marathon pace the workout is harder then it sounds. Personally, I find it easier to just go out on a tempo run and hammer 3:25 for 14k or whatever because you get locked into that pace and the body becomes accustomed to it. It is what Jack Daniels (the marathon coach not the No.7 whiskey) calls you T zone - or a cruise interval. Basically you are working "comfortably hard" which equates to an elite runners half marathon pace. Basically you are running at a pace that you could keep for 60 minutes. So for your untrained runner a 60 minute effort may equate to 10k pace (6min pace). The reason I find the cutdown workout a little harder is because you have no time to really get use to the specific pace (since the whole workout is accelerating) and after running at a "slower" pace it makes it a little more difficult to kick it up when needed- basically what I'm saying is that those last few splits feel really fast because compared to the first few they are around 30 seconds faster. As you could imagine this workout has alot of benefits first and foremost being to teach your mind and body to get fast as the race progresses (run a negative split). I should mention in order to do this workout you should invest in a good GPS watch - preferably Garmin since it is designed for hardcore workouts and because it gives you a number of features necessary for completing workouts like these like giving you what the avg lap pace in addition to current pace whereas watches like the Nike GPS only give current. For this workout you need the avg pace for that split. Also just to go off on the Garmin tangent a little more, on the garmin you can design advanced workouts like warmup followed by however many intervals based on distance or time, what rest to have in between each and cooldown. Here's an example (at the bottom of post) of one workout that I've done probably 5 or 6 times throughout the last 5 months. As you're running the watch will countdown to each telling you when to start/stop, how many left, paces, heart rate, etc.

 So that was Tues, Wednesday did hour and a half in the morning. Today hammered out 8 mile repeats at 10k pace 3:10/km (5:08/mile). Basically, the goal of these workout isn't to gain fitness or increase VO2 max, lactate threshold, etc. Quite frankly, in the last couple weeks you aren't going to improve your fitness at all. The hope is that during the however many months training for the marathon you have got in all of the key marathon specific workout you need to be ready for the race. This would include your long tempo runs 12-13 mile range, your T zone intervals: workout like 4 by 3 miles at half marathon pace, your long runs, pure speed workouts like 400 repeats or 200s, your golden Yasso 800s for lactate threshold and clearance training, and the list goes on and on. Essentially the last two weeks is just about maintaining that high level of fitness (a perfect mix between speed and endurance) that you have worked so hard to achieve. You may ask, "Well if your not going to gain any fitness why do the mile repeats or the cutdown or the tempo run (tomorrow night with my Dad on the bike pacing me, after a steady run in morning)." The answer is that is has to do with muscle memory and arriving to the start line with some pop in the legs. If you were to just chill during the last two weeks cutting your mileage and various workouts out of the mix, just running easy, your going to a: get to the start line feeling sluggish, b: that race pace that you dreamed about holding is going to feel damn hard from the start. You have to keep the intensity up, in fact in the last couple weeks you actually want to do higher intensity workouts more frequently. The idea is that you learn to really feel that pace and maintain the fast leg turnover - you are programming your legs to lock into that marathon pace.

Workout Type: RunningCyclingOther

1. Warm Up 2 km                                None
2. Repeat 10 Times

   1. Interval 0.4 km None
   2. Rest 0:35 min:sec None
3. Recovery 2 km None
4. Repeat 10 Times

   1. Interval 0.4 km None
   2. Rest 0:35 min:sec None
5. Recovery 2 km None
6. Repeat 5 Times

   1. Interval 0.4 km None
   2. Rest 0:35 min:sec None
7. Recovery 1 km None
8. Cool Down 2 km                                None

Bruised and battered but not Broken

Forgot to update you folks on the achilles situation and the plan for Sunday - To race or not to race. After spending an hour and a half getting therapy on both my achilles mainly my left since the right is more irritated than injured, the therapist told me that there were no signs on a tear - he put me through a bunch of diagnostic tests and a grueling soft tissue massage which although it was painful as hell at the time did wonders for my recovery. We also did some myofacial release on the extra-firm foam roller mixed with actively dorsi/plantar flexing my foot with the goal of increasing my range-of-motion. This followed by a slush bath and huge improvement in the amount of swelling and pain. Still though after trying to do some calf raises my achilles was still in pain so I was still unsure about Sunday. But then came Thursday. I woke up looked at my left foot and my God I could actually see some definition in the tendon. Another ice session and more foam rolling and I was off to school. I focused nicely, took solid notes, and yes was confident about my chances of racing on Sunday. One professor who is an athletic therapist told me to get an achilles compression brace to help vascularize the area and promote healing, as well as prevent the tendon from rupturing. Both the professor and the therapist from Wed. said running on Sunday at race pace will be putting alot of stress on the tendons and since they are weak and fragile at the moment and therefore I would be taking a risk - risking a bigger more substantial injury. However, I asked the therapist, "Basically I know it's risky but will it be possible to run." His answer, "Warm it up really good before the race and if you feel your calf starting to tense up immediately stop running to prevent the tendon from tearing." Good, so then it's settled. After a run in with my brace and new adios 2.0 my legs were feeling solid, by the end of the run both tendons (especially the right since unfortunately no running store in Canada had two of the braces so I could only buy one) were in some pain but nothing that was going to stop me from toeing the line on Sunday.

So the race plan is as follows: I'm not going to check the confirmation list this time because it is unreliable and many people register late for halfs. I don't want to go into the race thinking this is an easy win or easy top 5, or whatever. I want to go in with the mindset of I'm just going to put my head down (figuratively of course since I need to look ahead) and just run a good race. Sure, because this week I haven't exactly prepared for this race as I would have liked too since I haven't done any workouts since Monday morning so not really feeling in PB form, however, I am depending on all the hard workouts I did throughout the season especially in the last 5-6 weeks of training to carry me to a successful race. Apparently the course is rather hilly to start (which quite Frankly I'm not looking forward to since uphills are what aggravate the achilles tendon the most) and then flattens out when we run through the roads surrounding the vineyards - supposed to be a quite pretty course especially now around the fall time. The weather looks good supposed to be 12 degrees and sunny although there is supposed to be a rather stiff 25km/h NW wind. In terms of the run plan I want to run a negative split. I'm not going to say I'm going to run a 34min 10k then a 33:45 and finish sub 1:12 because as a said before alot of my pacing for this race due to my achilles situation will just be playing it by feel - so I'm not going to set my sight on a specific pace to keep or time to get. The only real time goal I will say is I'll be happy with anything under 1:15 and content with sub 1:16 but still knowing that going to STWM I will need to run two back to back 1:17s to achieve my goal  2:34 time. Honestly, before the achilles issue I was thinking 1:10 but in this sport you just have to roll with the punches. Until, Sunday afternoon happy running and my tip of the day, Every time you are struggling to get out the door or out on a tough run think to yourself what would you rather be doing, would you rather be icing your legs on the couch and feeling like a sloth, cherish your runs, and embrace the feeling of your heart racing and legs screaming to stop because there is nothing better. 

One Step forwards, Two steps backwards

After by far the best training block of my still young running career, the injury bug has reared its ugly head yet again. Five consecutive weeks of over 200 kilometers per week, and one 230 kilometer week my body was tired, sure, but feeling strong and fast. On the 230km week, I had one workout where I did 4 times 3 miles at 3:15/km pace and it felt easy. I was starting to think in this weekend's half marathon in St Catharines I would break 1:10 easily. The  times on the Mile repeats, 800s, 400s, and 25-35 minute threshold runs were significantly lowering. Long Runs of 40+ kilometers, 3 41km ones and one 42.2km long run strangely felt quite easy. The 42.2km (Marathon distance) was done during that 230km week and was done at what then felt like conversational pace - although it was still 2:45:37. After that I actually felt like I could kept going, and that for the first time since I set my goal time months and months ago I actually truly believed that I would run 2:34 on Oct 20 without too much trouble. Well then came the Sept 9 week. On Monday (the day after that 42k long run) I felt pretty good. On Wed despite the brutal humidity I battled for a 2 hour easy run, and then took to the track that evening for some mile repeats. After the second repeat I actually lowered to the ground because my heart was pounding - my HR felt way too high and it was not recovering to normal after the interval. I just didn't feel right, but grinded out 6 more mile repeats at a sub-par pace. The next day I thought I would make up for the somewhat wasted workout the day before and hammer 12 800m repeats. Well that didn't go as planned and again my times were sub-par (still pretty fast but not nearly as quick as the weeks prior). Friday was a day off from school so in the morning I pulled out a pair of Kinvaras that I used in Feb-Mar and went on a 32k run on trails. I felt great. For the first time all week I felt I was getting my mojo back. I thought maybe the extreme fatigue and lack of pace was just residing fatigue from Sunday's long run (even though I had felt fine right after it). That evening I went on a medium effort run and that also went well. Saturday I got up in good time, pulled out those shoes from yesterday since they felt so good and went for another 32k trail run - even faster than the day before. 

Then came Sunday, a 40km long run was on the table. I looked at my Adizero Tempo which now had 650km on them, and looked at the kinvaras which I used the previous two days. I thought since those kinvaras already had 650k on them and I just added 64km (and at the end of the last run in them they were started to feel pretty dead) maybe I'll just try another pair of kinvaras from Apr-May for this run since obviously in those months I was prematurely switching shoes. Well, as they say hindsight is 20-20 because I can clearly see how stupid of a decision that was. Why on earth would you try something new (and by new I mean old) with 7 days to go until a key race in my progression to STWM on Oct 20. At 15k some achilles pain in my left leg started to creep up. At the time although it started to hurt pretty badly, us endurance athletes have trained ourselves to block out signals from our body during the course of a run and just keep going. The big hills in woodland acres (25k) were brutal. My achilles was in agony but still I thought to myself (actually I think it may have been out loud) "power-through." Eight k to go and I thought well despite some pain this distance feels quite easy as my legs still feel great, my hamys are happy, and then suddenly my right achilles goes. I've had achilles tendinitis before but never to this extent and never in both achilles. This time it felt a little different (much more sudden and stabbing pain). But like a stupid trooper I kept going. I said to myself it's just to shoes, tomorrow when you where your adidas it will be back to normal. Finished the run and maybe because I had football on to watch for the next 9 hours and I was pretty happy with how short 40km actually felt I didn't think much of the injuries.

Monday: I had a run planned pre-class (a 25k w/ a 25min threshold run). The uphills hurt like hell the rest was okay. That evening: a solid 14k planned - I changed my route so that it was all flat but now flat, uphill, downhill all of it hurt. Tuesday: 10 minutes late for class because I could barely walk across campus. Couldn't focus for 6 straight hours of lectures because all I could think about was what have I done and what is next. How long will this last. Will I run Sunday, will I even be able to run Oct 20. Finally, after class I needed to get some answers so today I have an appointment at the Athletic Therapy clinic. Hopefully, they can look at both and tell me if there is any possibility of the tendon rupturing if I choose to run on Sunday. Basically, I want to know is this just a bad case of tendonitis and if so I could just push through the excruciating pain on Sunday but run nonetheless, or is this something more like a partial tear on the tendon which could rupture if I choose to run on Sunday. If I run will I change this from a 2-3 week long injury into a 6-12 month long injury. If I don't run what does that mean. The problem is, if I choose not to run on Sunday will I be able to run next week. If I were to let's say be running again on Tuesday I will feel guilty and feel like maybe I could of toed the line on Sunday. Then comes the issue well if I choose not to run on Sunday and don't run the next week to facilitate the recovery process how will that effect Oct 20. I've never heard of someone taking multiple weeks off a month before a marathon to recover from an injury. Three weeks before is when your supposed to be in peak physical shape ready to PR, and starting to taper to 80%, then 70%, then possible 50% of your mileage the week of the race. Going to sound weird when I say this but instead of the injury just being tendinitis somewhere deep inside of me I actually wish I was something like a tear because than at least there is a more concrete time frame to the recovery process. Tendinitis is more of a let's play it by ear kind of thing where every morning I will wake up and try to do a calf raise or passive stretch without pain. Honestly I am still kind of in the I can't believe this is happening stage (even though I know why it happened - because I'm obsessive and stubborn) but I don't have to much time to dwell on it. I need to quickly assemble a plan of action. Hopefully my meeting with the therapist will help me lay out the blueprint to this plan. As a future physiotherapist I do know that I need to set small attainable goals for recovery. Goal #1 get this swelling/inflammation down. Last night I suffered through two 15 minute ice (ya bags of ice) baths, and a cocktail of tropic NSAID (voltaren emulgel) and oral NSAID (extra strength ibuprofen). Once the swelling is down I will reassess the situation and set Goal #2, the ultimate goal obviously being to return to running as soon as possible hopefully pain free and determined. I will update tonight on the situation after my appointment. O just one more thing, to make matters a little worse literally as I wrote this post a new pair of purple adidas adios racing flat show up at my door. If that's not a sign from God that I should run Sunday I don't know what is. 

6 Seconds from Glory

If you're are wondering what is with the new look of the webpage, it's because "THIS MEANS WAR." Today's race has added not just a little fuel to the fire, no no, it has dumped a barrel of gasoline on that fire. Here are the only results that matter from the 10k in Dundas, ON Today:

1	Fred Karanja	Kenya	917		1 Top Fin	32:39.9	32:40.0
2	Frank Sorbara	Thornhill	890	M	1/5 20-24	32:45.0	32:45.0

One dream that I have had since I started distance running was to beat the best at the sport. Quite simply no country in the world has ever dominated any discipline like the Kenyans have dominated distance running. So many factors play a role in this dominance, but whatever the reason for it may be, I still want to beat them using the skills I have - my main weapon being my absolute desire to be the best. I really wish there were someone video taping this race because damn was it entertaining. According to my Dad who took me along, it was a very dramatic race from a spectators point of view. Got to the race around 7:40 - didn't have the greatest warm-up that I would have liked to have had not because there wasn't time but because I spent most of my time trying to learn from the race organizer what was quite a complex little course. The course starts with 2 laps around the Dundas Driving Park (on the road) then a 3-4k loop out of the park into town, then back into the park for another lap around the park, back to the 3-4k loop around town, then finishing coming into the park for one more lap. Basically, "Hold on, say that again," Frank says with some concern to the race director. So as confused as I was, and a bit concerned of what my time may be like considering I didn't realize we were running in the foothills of the niagara escarpment - literally getting in to the park almost made my throw up going up and down and around - I thought JUST RUN and the time will be what it is in the end. 

I'd say I look pretty serious. Man those are nice shoes.

Gun sounded, and I was in the lead as expected. Almost half of the first lap in I thought - don't really hear anyone behind me, nice, should be a solid win. Then all of a sudden some guy passes me like I was even moving (while I was running at 3:11/km pace) and practically gave me a heart attack because I was not expecting any real challenge. Turns out this guy must have signed up last night, or in the morning, and is a ringer from Kenya. Well, okay now the race is back on. I caught back up to him and took back my lead. He was obviously a smart and experienced racer because as I led he ran so close behind me could practically feel him breathing down my neck. If I learned anything from this race it was how important positioning is - just foreshadowing what is too come. 

On my tail like a bear on honey.

Back to the race Fred and I were flying throught the course - the surprisingly huge crowd of spectators were really getting into the race and you could tell by the announcer's voice she was very excited to see what was shaping up to be such a competitive and entertaining race. Me and Fred ran neck and neck from about 3-4k but I retook the lead with a formula one like turn around the pylon at the turnaround back to the park. I took such a good turn (maybe because of my wide reciever days during recess back in grade 6 - lol) I made a 15 meter gap or so between me and Fred. At this point I thought briefly to myself ya this guy probably just some kid trying to sprint the first few kilometers to look good in front of the crowds - oo never mind hes back on my tail, crap run faster. We had slowed to 3:18/k on the 2k uphill, and really slowed to 3:20/km on the 5th split back into the park as you must go up a steep incline. Here's where the race takes a bit of a turn - Fred grabs the lead and starts to build a gap. My legs just weren't feeling as great as I hoped, and at this point I was getting pretty down on myself, and thinking maybe just wasn't my day. Fred's lead grew a little more to maybe 100m. At this point we are on the 6-7th split on the uphill again and I am started to think second is okay let's just run our own race now. But wait -- Fred looks like he may be feeling a little of the effects from that hill -- Frank this is your only chance close this gap. Run, Run, Run. 75, 60, 50, 40, 30, 25, 15, 10, 5, and we've passed him. SOB we got him, now put the pedal to the metal and run like you've never ran before. A 3:04 split. Now here's the plan at 8.5 kilometers I am going to shake Fred off my tail with an almost all out 250m sprint. Here we go, spprrriiinnntttt. "Did we get him?" - Nope still on my tail as if nothing ever happened. Still in my shadow. On the way back into the park I think Fred has got this race and relay this message to my Dad standing on the side by just shaking my head. I knew it because I had just given everything I had there and could not shake him. But hold on, holy smokes I'm still leading and there is less then 1k to go. 800, 700, 600, 500, 400. Get ready going to kick it pretty soon. He is running so close behind my back I can't see what he is doing, when he is going to try to sprint for the line. 250 meters left: let's rip it, start my almost all out sprint. But still can't see Fred and there we were finish line just 50 or so meters left and Fred bolts past me. Before my brain can process it it's too late and I didn't make too much of an effort to come back because it was just too late, too sudden, too absolutely demoralizing (especially since I have never been passed in the final 100m of a race - sprinting is one of my fortes). I crossed the line in a PB (well it's my first 10k ever so ya PB i guess) in 32:45. 

Lots of lessons to be taken from this defeat, about positioning, finishing kick timing, attacking the lead, defending the lead, and so on, but one thing I definitely accomplished from this race is that it was the most fun I've had in years. 

Next up: Run for the Grapes Half Marathon in St. Catherines.   

Pre-Race Report

This Sunday - August 18 - I will be taking part in the Stryker Dundas Cactus 10k run just outside of Hamilton. I decided to run this race for a few reasons:
 First, I will use it to test my current level of speed and to sharpen my race skills. During the spring I learned that there is little substitute for experience. Basically, you can train and train all you want, but what is really going to help you improve for racing is to do more races. Not only does it help you learn more about tactics, being able to surge ahead of the pack without depleting your energy, perhaps holding on to and run with the lead, but it will also help to find your optimal level of arousal. In other words, learning how to control or act on your emotions. Before any race, whether it is on the track in high school, a half marathon, or a full marathon my heart is pounding out of my chest. And I can admit that during my 2nd and 3rd full marathons (both the Toronto Waterfront) this frenzy-like level of physiological arousal thwarted my chances of accomplishing something great. During both races I started like I was trying to win a 100m dash. Unfortunately, there was 42.095 kilometers to go after that first 100. I remember saying to myself during last year's STWM at around 31k that there was nothing really left in my legs and I just had to hold on and get to the finish before something bad happens. So, basically racing regularly helps you learn how to be calm and cool before the race. But having said that in tomorrow's 10k I'm not going to have to worry too much about started to fast.

Second, I will use the race to break up my training a bit. If you are training for a marathon - and training at a high level (high mileage, two-a-days, lots of speed work, over-mileage long runs), it is important to split your build-up into training blocks also known as periodization. Basically this is organizing your training into macro, meso, and microcycles in order to peak at the right times. The macro cycle last about a year, and is essentially your year at a glance. The meso cycles are the approx. 16 week long cycle that break up the year. These include base building phases, buiding phases, pre-competition phases, tapering and transition phases. Finally, and what is relevant to what I'm talking about, are the micro cycles. These are 1-4 week training blocks where you are going to put a lot of stress on the body and where the subsequent recovery time will allow the body to adapt and be stronger/faster for the next cycle. Leading into this race I have been average around 200 kilometers per week with 3 track workouts a week, and long runs ranging up to 39.5kilometers. This week the 10k race will lower my mileage down to just over 160 kilometers on the week (since there will be no long run) and therefore will allow my body to adapt to the last 3-4 weeks of hard training and get ready for the next cycle -- Next week I have a 41 kilometer long run planned.

Lastly, I am doing this race for fun. I have never ran a 10k road race before and I think it will be a lot of fun to just run as fast as I can without having to stress/worry about going out too fast. Also looking at the competition and last year's winning times I have a solid chance of winning the race. Leading into the next block of training, it would be nice to have a win to boost my confidence and drive to carry me through the long hard training.

Just to end the post my goal for tomorrow is obviously to win, and more importantly to achieve a good time. I am hoping or sub 32:30ish which would per averaging 3:10-3:12 per km. I am also so excited to run in my new adizero hagio's which are by far the fastest shoes I have ever ran in, in my life. Leading into the race I did a 6k tempo run in them in 18:45, so ya I like them quite a bit. I'll review them in the next post.