Running on Empty

Recently I came across an article on the Running Times Nutrition website about one of Meb Keflezighi's (Olympic Marathoner - Team USA) training tactics. He calls in running on empty. Basically, when your body is completely glycogen depleted and then perform a high intensity session research (Keith Baar Ph.D study which can be found in the European Journal of Sports Science) has shown improvements in your body's ability to burn fat thereby sparing glycogen stores. It also can help you mentally since it can get you accustomed to running with very little energy (which will happen regardless of your training methods at the end of a marathon). I just came back from a depleted double, where I skipped CHO throughout the day then played 60 minutes of floor hockey (lots of sprints and quick burst, plus I didn't take any shifts off), then right after skipped refueling (I did rehydrate - just with water), and then went on a 20k tempo run (1:11:30 - was just ripping up the road thanks to my achilles feeling somewhat better probably 75%). Anyways, I feel like a zombie right now but we'll see in Mississauga if this workout today pays off.

Post-Race

As you know this weekend I competed in the Run for Retina Half Marathon. If you read my last post you would have seen I was fearing the unknown due to a few injuries - especially my achilles tendonitis  - that had crept up earlier in the week. In fact, between Wednesday morning's run and the 9:15am race start on the Sunday I had not run due to the injury. Although I was doing other things like biking and swimming to keep myself somewhat relaxed and to keep my muscles from turning into sludge, three whole days off running. That is the longest break from running I have had since June 1st of last year when I take about 9 days off running due to a flare up of my reoccurring shin problems (stress fracture). Going into this race I had thought there were not going to be many fast runners however a few runners from the University of Western Cross Country Team showed up. I asked one before the race what time they were aiming for and the guy said that a few weeks ago in the Chilly Half in Burlington he ran 1:10 - gulp!

Getting ready to go and feeling very nervous.

The gun suddenly went and we were off. The adrenaline seemed to help some of the pain - but I'm not going to say I was pain free as I was clearly favoring that leg and running with a bit of a limp. Surprisingly at about 0.5k I was in the lead for about 2 minutes when the two guys from Western passed me. I tried to stay with them for as long as I could but I knew that the pace was too ambitious for myself so I settled down and let them go - however I did manage to keep them in sight. It wasn't advertised this way but the course was actually very hilly and after the first big one I lost sight of the two leaders. Felt odd during the race since there was about a 1:30 gap between me and the two leaders who were working together (teammates at western) and a 1:30 gap between me and the rest of the runners. So I was largely running on my own for the entire race. Some might say that it is never a good thing to be on your own during a race, but I don't mind it since that's how I do all my training and I am more than capable of pushing myself. At around 14 kilometers the leader dropped out (he went too fast at the start) - and I'm not going to lie, it inspired me to push harder. I closed the gap between myself and the leader to where he was about 40 seconds or so ago but unfortunately I just couldn't find that next gear to catch him. Still, I crushed my previous record for the half and ran a 1:13:56 for second overall. I was shocked that I was able to run that speed in a fair amount of pain - luckily afterwards the prize money and complementary massage made my leg feel a little better. 

Btw to clarify the lady there is in the 10k - so shes not beating me

So onto the mississauga half marathon in 2 and half weeks (May 5) hopefully I can beat this achilles injury before then, and manage to get a couple quality speed sessions along with a few LSD runs. If I manage to do that I don't see why on the largely flat course of Mississauga I can't go sub 1:13 or faster. If my training keeps progressing at this pace I think it may be time to start thinking about taking it to the next level finding a coach, and seeing what I am really capable of accomplishing in the half. 

Pre Race Report

Thought I would take a quick break from studying for a few minutes to write a quick post. This weekend I am competing in the Run for Retina Half Marathon. Due to flooding in the area the race start was moved from Harris Park to Storybook Park. I am really hoping that the new half marathon course is certified 21.1 not 21.8 or something like that. I remember last year at the Oakville Half Marathon where the course was a whole 650 meters long. For some people this may not be a big deal but to those of us racing against our own time and not necessarily our competitors (like myself) it is a huge problem. I means about 2 minutes added onto your time. When looking back on the race it appears as though my time from the Mississauga Half in the spring last year and the oakville in september got worse. This may not seem like an issue now because I know the course was longer so it doesn't mean anything, but that's the point: that it doesn't mean anything and takes away from all the hard work you put into training and prepared for the race. When I step up to the starting line, after paying my 60 or 70 or sometimes over 125 dollars for a race I expect the race to be 100% accurate, in addition to a number of other components which make a race enjoyable and worth the price.
Just to rant for a minute or so, I feel the registration fees for road races, and triathlons is getting out of control. Just last month, I was looking for a local 5k race to tune my skills before going to the Around the Bay. I came across a race called the Achilles St. Patrick's Day 5k which was held downtown Toronto, but I chose not to sign up because it would have cost me near 60 dollars to register, plus parking and other fees. Do the math, if I was to run a 16 minute or so 5k (not really sure what my time would be since I've never ran a 5k race)  I am paying over 4$ per minute to run. Being a kine student, I am always being taught the benefits of physical activity, and about the obesity epidemic spreading across North America with more than 68% of the population being inactive and considered overweight. With childhood obesity rates skyrocketing, and the baby-boom cohort which is largely inactive one can only wonder what are we doing wrong as a society to promote physical activity. O, let me take a quick guess, maybe its because of greedy race coordinators, gym owners, and community fitness centres charging an arm and a leg to participate. One other example just this week I went to the Dufferin Clarke Commuity Centre website to see what it would cost me to have year-round access to the pool. For 50 visits it would cost a person my age 200 dollars and 300 dollars for the year (not to mention the fact that length swim is unavailable on weekends? and only available 3 days a week for 8-9:30). If we want people to get up a move for a change, how about we making physical activity a little more accessible to the  public. If I was a parent on a strict budget it would seem like a no brainer -"For 300 dollars my kid can either swim a couple times a week for a year or so, or for that same 300 dollars I could buy him (just hypothetically) a ps3 with 3 games and multiple controllers to invite his friends over a play for the next 5-10years." Wow that's a tough one.
Just to report on my pre race status a few weeks ago I was looking foward to this race to set a new PR in the half. Unfortunately, I think a PR would be a long shot as my training has hit a bit of a set back. On Sunday evening after my hockey game, I went for a easy 27k run, but over the last couple kilometers (which is all uphill) I started to feel a minor ache in my left achilles tendon. Monday morning i got up and was experiencing an excruciating pain in the tendon, and hobbled around the house. Pretty sure it nothing too serious just a resurfacing of achilles tendonitis which I got last year 2 weeks out from my STW Marathon in October. To make matters a bit worse favoring my right leg on my runs on Tues and Wed has now caused some pain in my right tibia to come back (a injury I've been dealing with on and off for the last 18 months since the 2011 STW Marathon). But to keep things positive, I know from last year's marathon that I am more than capable of running through pain (some may say I am an expert in it) and come Sunday I will line up at the starting line ready to go (and hoping the race is the right distance). If I spend the next couple of days worrying about the pain, odds are it will surface come race-day. Think positively, and as Bob Marley says, "Don'y Worry about a thing, cause every little thing is going to be alright."

Post-Race and Looking Foward

So almost one week has gone since the Around the Bay. All in all, the race went better than expected and for the first time in my racing career I finished stronger than I started. I usually get very anxious and excited standing on the starting line and during my warm-up before a race. My catecholamine levels are through the roof. My heart is pounding, palms are getting sweaty, and my focus narrows - almost like tunnel vision. When the gun goes off the adrenaline surges and I take off like I'm being chased by a dog off its leash - not hard to imagine for us runners who are frequently barked at and chased by crazy dogs, always got to watch for the little ones especially the yorkies (Ya they are cute and tiny but trust me they will expend every ounce of energy in their tiny bodies to latch on to your ankles)

 In this race however, I was able to hold back the intense urge to take off and stayed calm and in the moment. I was able to hold a 3:27 avg for the first 5k or so, and was in a great rhythm. I caught up with 2 other guys at about 8k and we ran thru the 15k split together. I was sneakingly using one of the taller ones as a shield as we ran across the bridge into Burlington. At 15k I saw 54:20 as my split - perfect pace for what I was aiming for, which was sub 1:50 for the 30k adventure.

At 18k the race turned into a battle - i wish there were cameras to capture it. One of the three in our group bolted and left me and the other guy together to battle the rolling hills of Burlington. On every hill, he would leave me in the dust on every downhill, and then i would catch right back up on every uphill. Short strides, power, and a low centre of mass gives me an enormous advantage on the uphills - repeated stress fractures and a fear of the harsh pounding on my legs gives me a huge disadvantage on the downhills. This pattern continued until about 26k where me and my competitor caught back up to the other guy who had left us at 18k. Together the three of us approached the dreaded hill at 25.5k which continued to 27km. About 200m into the hill I dug deep and remembered all the leg presses, calf raises, hip flexes, and hill repeats I had done and passed both of my competitors as if they we standing still. At the top of the hill I took one look back and couldn't see either one of them. To finish at 28k I could see down to copps collesium and one other competitor about 400m ahead. At 29k i closed the gap to about 150m and at 29.7 passed him with ease. My last two kilometers were done in 3:24 and 3:17 respectively.

Overall Time: 1:49:20 - 21st place overall.
Splits: 10k - 36:00, 15k - 54:20, 20k - 1:12:35

After a race, especially a big one like this one with 9000 competitors, a substantial distance, and a race with as much history as this one (the oldest race in North america - older than Boston) three thoughts often go through my head. First, relief from all that worry and stress leading up to the race. Second, for a few days you feel a little down. Many articles have wrote about this phenomena calling it the post-race blues. You see, for months and months (i signed up for this race in October) your training and focus is centered on March 24. So when March 25 comes along, you kind of feel like, "Well, now what." You have trained for 6 months for this race then suddenly you have to shift into everyday life again. Third, to combat number 2 I look ahead to what is next in 2013. I signed up for the Run for Retina Half Marathon April 14 - the day after having exams 11,12,13, and then the Mississauga Half Marathon on May 5. So the third thought or feeling is excitement and finding a new focus for my training. The last 6 months was all about strength for the hills of Burlington, now it's all about becoming a speed demon for the fast course of Mississauga. My goal: run sub 1:12:30 for the half in May.

In my next post, I will give an update on what measures I am taking to increase speed. This week so far has basically been just about getting back to regular training, although that is not to say I haven't been training hard - by Sunday I will have accumulated 16+ hours of training for the week.

Around the Bay Road Race

G - glute, GN gastroc, V - vastus: look at the incredible
activation of the vastus muscle group. 

So I'm almost 2 weeks now into my training for the Around the Bay road race (30Km) on March 24. I find the best way to keep me motivated to train, is to do highly race specific training. By that I mean, if the course is flat and fast I will do a lot of track work - mile repeats, 800s, pyramids, etc. For the around the bay, the course is notorious for its fast downhill start and brutally difficult final 4km uphill. I hear that after the last hill runners are greeted by individuals in grim reaper costumes. To perform optimally on this course, my training has taken a new course - STRENGTH. Almost every workout I do now has a strength component to it, and I am finishing mostly every run with a 30-60 minute high intensity strength session. In my next post I'll have a quick video of the session. Basically, I've been stressing the quad muscles, gastrocnemius (calf), and the glutes. Here's a graph from a great study I've read on horizontal versus uphill running, notice the * indicates significance.

So here's the workout: I'm doing this now atleast three times a week - over reading week I did it three days in a row.

1. 17 - 19k run - hill based run - I've found a 2k hill loop near my house that I'll repeat 6 or 7 times - each time around is about a 35 m gain in elevation so X7 gives about 245 meters or around 700ft of climbing.
Tip: When going uphill focus on high cadence, keeping your shoulders back, elbows back, leaning from ankle not hips. Shalane Flanagan (American Distance Runner legend who holds a number of American records in track and now has branched into the marathon where in her debut she ran a 2:28 in NYC, and PR of 2:25) compares uphill running to feeling like your legs are firing like pistons in an engine.

2. Get home, grab some water and get downstairs to the weight room. For all the exercises try to move from one to another without any break. Start with 1 set of 20 squat jumps with weights. Move to the leg extensions for 1 set of 25. Back to squat jumps, repeat the circuit 4-5 times. By this point your legs should be burning.

3. Move into one legged calf raises, 4X5 sets of 20 per leg.

4. 3 sets of lunges with weights, and try to finish each lunge with a twist - to engage those obliques.

5. Get a resistance band do glute extensions (basically standing donkey kicks) 3 sets. Next go onto the floor and perform 3 sets per side of side leg raises.

6. Finish with bench press, hammer curls, and tricep dips. For these use light weight because let`s face your a endurance athlete- the upper body is not exactly bulging with huge muscles.

6. From here, you could hop on the bike trainer for a cooldown, or do what I do and finish with a 15-20 minute core workout - I`ll post my favorite 20 minute core workout in the next post.

7.  Stretch, hop in the shower, grab some milk or whatever your favorite post-workout recover drink is, and melt away into the couch to watch some Food Network. Hopefully you`ve finished before 4pm so you can see chopped and diners, drive-ins, and dives. Later that night try to have a high protein meal - my go to is an Energy Omelette here it is:

3 Large Omega 3 Eggs
0.25 c. of baby spinach
0.25 c. of red or black quinoa
0.5 red bell pepper
0.5 white onion
1 tsp. flaxseed (putting the omega 3 content thru the roof)
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. Extra Old Low-fat (blue menu) cheddar cheese

Nutrition Facts: 532 kcal, 32 g total fat (6g sat.), 150 mg of sodium (from the cheese), 34 g CHO (6g fibre, 1g sugar), 28 g of high quality protein (quinoa is a complete protein source)

2013 Winterman Half Marathon Post-Race Report

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So here's a quick post number 2,

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

So here it is:

Before being baked.

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

After.

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

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