Sun Runs

Spring is definitely here. The baseball season is in full swing, we've eaten the classic New Brunswick delicacy of fiddleheads the last couple of days, and I'm going to need to start my long runs earlier in the morning to avoid the heat. As Faith Ann knows only too well, I am a terrible procrastinator.

Today I ran 13.6 miles while the temperature was 25°C (77°F). While this is practically cold compared to what some people run in, I'm not used to it yet, and I seemed to struggle today. Check out the nice sweaty residue from my running cap.


One other (unrelated) note on the warmer weather: is it just my advancing age, or is the average skate-boarder older these days? Isn't a bicycle more efficient? Anyway ...

For the week I ran just over 36 miles/58 kilometers, with both a hill and tempo session. Next weekend it's a half marathon in Fredericton. I have also decided to sign up again this year for the half-marathon in the Miramichi in July, the Rock'n'Run. Also, staying in the " 'n " theme ...

After going to Tallahassee and Houston the last couple of years as quick winter running trips, Faith Ann and I decided to skip the trip in 2011. However, I found myself constantly looking at both scheduled marathons and airfares over the last month or two, and in a moment of weakness we ended up purchasing everything we need for yet another winter excursion in 2011. So, similar to last year, there will be thirteen weeks between my fall marathon and a winter marathon. The destination next January will be the Arizona Rock'n'Roll Marathon in Phoenix. From what I read, it's not the most scenic marathon, but it is flat, fast and warm. I promise not to complain about the training when the cold and darkness of November/December arrives later this year.

That's it for this week!

2010 Grande-Digue 15k

I ran in the Grande-Digue 15k race on Saturday (results here). The race director is Sylvio Bourque, a guy who runs more races than anyone in New Brunswick. Sylvio is known for his explosive starts at the beginning of races. I'm told that in deference to the host, the runners might have given him a couple of extra seconds at the start, so his lead was even more exaggerated than normal. Check out the picture below ...


The next picture shows me in my own classic starting position - hanging back in the crowd.


There was a nice feed of pasta after the race, some great draw prizes (none to me, unfortunately) and recognition of the various winners. All in all, a very good job by Sylvio. He did call out a need for additional volunteers for the race for next year, saying that he may not be able to hold the race if he doesn't recruit more help.

The race went through the pretty town, on what turned out to be a very nice day. The course wasn't as flat as I expected, but it was by no means hilly either - just a few gradual slopes, ending with a 1.5 km downhill, which felt great at the end of the race. My time was 1:15:27 (8:06 mins/mile, 5:02 mins/km pace), which I was fine with. Plugging this into the trusty McMillan Running calculator, it projects a 1:48 half marathon time. At my half-marathon in Fredericton in two weeks, I expect to do better than that, and definitely improve over my last half-marathon time of 1:49:15 from last July.

As for my last week in running, it totaled 35 miles. I cut back my normal long run on Sunday to just eight miles, taking a little break after the Saturday race. In addition to the race, my week included some hill work on Tuesday night.

Congratulations to Mike, who ran Big Sur on Sunday, finishing the tough course in 3:51, while taking in the sights along with photos and videos. Congratulations also go to Tina from Houston, who completed the same beautiful course.

A couple more pictures from Grande-Digue to wrap up this post ...

Me at the finish ...


Pre-race ...


The back of the crowd, at the start ...

The Beginning

I’ll start this entry with a recap of my week from a running perspective. I ran on five of the seven days, logging just over 37 miles or around 60 kilometres. That’s a decent total for me at this point. Although I haven’t yet hit the mileage levels of marathon training (that will start in about 6-8 weeks) my runs have included some quality sessions. My Tuesday run included 8 hill repeats of 90 seconds at 5k pace, and later in the week an 8 mile run that included 5 miles at half marathon pace. Even today, for my 12-mile “long run”, the last ten minutes were at a peppy pace. Peppy pace: a technical term, I’m sure, likely thrown around by guys like Daniels or Lydiard. Or perhaps not.

Next Saturday I’m running a 15k race at Grand-Digue. I’ll take a few pictures and post them along with a race recap. In the meantime, to close this post, a little historical summary of my running origin.

I started a running program in the spring of 2008, mostly because Faith Ann had also started it, and I felt guilted or shamed into doing it. It was nothing major at all, just struggling to get through the Couch to 5k running plan. I can recall how difficult I found it to jog for ten minutes, then only get a break for 3 minutes, before having to jog again for another ten minutes. After a month or two of doing this, I remember mentioning to my buddy Drew that I had started it. He tried to get me to go out running with his friend JB and him, but I didn’t think I could keep up with them, so I passed on it. (I remember Drew trying to convince me, saying "Come on, we can run shirtless! " – as if that was incentive!) I soon started doing lunchtime runs of around 4 miles with Drew. He kept me motivated to run, and it was fun. He then suggested we enter a 10k race later that summer in Woodstock. I wasn’t ready for that, but I did tell him I would do the Fall Classic 10k that September in Fredericton. We ran the route a couple of times for practice, and were all set to go. Unfortunately, Drew got sick and didn’t make the run, but Faith Ann and I did, and the running just continued from there. I ran a few more times with Drew after that, but it’s no longer a regular part of his routine. However, I’m hopeful we’ll get out together a few times this summer. I think it’s quite likely that if I hadn’t done those lunchtime runs with Drew, and had he not suggested the 10k race, my running may have gradually dried up and ended at some point that summer, as it did a couple of other times in years past when I started running. My thanks go out to Drew for the motivation has provided.

A picture of us with our boys (including Drew’s boy Max doing his best Keith Richards impersonation ) is below.

Lincoln 5k and photo gems

I ran the Lincoln 5k today, the first of my spring races. Last year in this 5k, I just wanted to finish under 25 minutes, and stumbled my way to a 24:57. This year, all I was asking for was 24 minutes. That seemed about right, given that I’m kinda slow to begin with, and my mileage lately (about 25 miles/40 kms per week) has been relatively low.

The picture above shows me at 23:57, but the official results have me at 24:01. I believe the chip time was only recorded at the end of the race, as the results didn’t distinguish between chip and gun time. Given that I started about halfway back in the crowd of a couple of hundred runners, I’m thinking my “chip” time had to be under twenty-four minutes. Oh wait ... am I really quibbling over 2 seconds, and the difference between a 24:01 vs. a 23:59 5k? Enough of that. I’m hopeful that when my training picks up, I’ll get a 23 minutes later this summer on an easier 5k course.

It was good to see Mike again at the race today. He’s rounding into fine form for Big Sur in a couple of weeks, putting in a very good result today. I’m looking forward to seeing his Big Sur pictures and hearing about the race. Mike mentioned that I haven’t posted much to the blog lately. I told him I would pick up the posting frequency once my marathon training picks up in June, to keep me accountable. However, I think perhaps that accountability should start kicking in sooner. I’ll go back to trying to post at least weekly, if only to put out a two-three liner summarizing the running for the week.

To wrap up this one, a picture of Cam after his kid’s run today. That’s followed by some of Cam’s own photography. The photos are good examples of what happens when you give a seven year-old boy your old 2-meg camera to have fun with.

For some reason I think this next photo of Cam's is pretty cool ...

A very "Canadian" game that Cam likes -

Another thing Cam likes - the landfill! A photo of some recyclables from there.


Photos of photos !

Finally, a picture of Cam's cute father -

Post-hibernation news

Spring is on the way, and I can't wait!

To start this entry, a brief recap since my last post of several weeks ago:

• I had my hernia surgery three days after my marathon. Faith Ann drove me home from the hospital after the surgery, and promptly got the van stuck in the newly fallen snow in the driveway. Of course, I couldn't lift any snow just two hours after my surgery, so I limped into the house while she spent a couple of hours digging herself out. It was kind of funny (for me at least). In total, I took 19 days off without a minute of running. My recovery went as well as could be expected, and I feel fine now.
  
  
• I ran three miles on the treadmill February 6th, and my body didn't feel too bad
  
  
• I watched a fine Super Bowl game, while losing a little money playing some friendly games of poker
  
  
• Ran four miles twice in the next three days
  
  
• Suffered through a terrible cold, which prevented me from running for another week
  
  
• Finally, I got back into a regular running routine, and had lots of fun watching many hours of Olympic coverage. The gold medal hockey game was great of course, but for some reason this year I was strangely interested in bobsledding (bobsleighing??). I especially liked how the sleighers (sledders? riders? drivers?) would get each other so psyched up in the seconds before the race, slapping each other, gritting their teeth ... then would stand frozen for two or three seconds before taking off like a shot down the track. Canada's first gold medal, won by Alexandre Bilodeau, was also especially sweet, given that he beat a smug ex-Canadian and spam generator.
  

So, to summarize from a running perspective, for the one month period from January 18th to February 17th, I ran three times for a total of eleven miles. However, I do seem to be on the road to improvement, and I have a few spring races lined up. I am following a half-marathon training plan from this book by Brad Hudson. My "goal race" as a result of this training plan isn't actually a half-marathon, it's one of the legs of the Cabot Trail Relay, which I'll be attending again this year with much of the same group from last year. We could still use 3-4 additional runners for the team, and it would be great if some veteran runners that I have reached out to (you know who you are!) decide to join us.

My weekly mileage until mid-June will be around 35-38 miles. Once I start a marathon training plan in June, that will pick up. While my mileage is lower than through most of 2009, the effort and speed sessions have increased. I don't expect to set any speed records this spring, but between my training plan and the races, my fitness level should be ok by the time the marathon training starts.

Here are those races that I have planned for the spring:

• Lincoln 5k, April 11th: This race is just outside Fredericton. When I ran this last year, I came extremely close to throwing up as I finished. Good times.
  
  
• Grand-Digue 15k, April 24th: I promise to set a new personal best time in this race. Of course, I've never raced a 15k either. Organized by New Brunswick running fiend Sylvio Bourque, I'm looking forward to this.
  
  
• Fredericton Marathon (half-marathon), May 9th: Perhaps someday I'll run my "hometown" marathon, but for now I'm sticking with the half.
  
  
• Cabot Trail Relay, May 29th/30th: It looks like I'm running leg four of the relay, up Cape Smokey! Looking forward to it!
  
  
• River Valley Rave Run (June 5th) or Cobscook Bay 10k: I'm not certain if I'll run either of these races, but my guess is that I'll run one or the other. I ran the Cobscook Bay 10k last year, meeting the great Andrew for the first time! I think it would be fun to head to Pembroke Maine and run it again, but I'm not sure if it's scheduled for that weekend. If not, I may run the River Valley Rave Run in Grand Bay, just a short drive from home.
  
  
• St. Andrews Father's Day Road Race, June 20th: Mike's race! I missed it last year, but I'll make sure to get there this year.
  

If I do those races, I think that will allow me to be listed in the "Run for the Cycle" for Run New Brunswick, for runners who complete races of 5k/8k/10k/half-marathon/marathon for the year.

Then the fun of marathon training starts! It looks like there are already about 500 people signed up for the Mount Desert Island marathon, on it's way to being sold out.

My next update will have a nice picture or two in it - get ready for it!

Houston Marathon Race Report - Part 2

Some final notes on the Houston Marathon. My picture is shown below in front of the marathon background, and Faith Ann is shown in front of the Half Marathon background (excuse the "too cheap to pay for the real thing" watermark).


I liked the stats they provided to go along with the marathon. Check out this cool page below. Based on the way I fell apart over the last 3 miles, I'm surprised something calculated that I passed over 200 runners over the last 7.5 miles, while being passed by 69. If those stats were over the last three miles, they would look a lot worse.


Here is the chart produced by my Garmin during the race. On the far right of the chart, those blue lines over the last three miles don't show that I failed a polygraph test; they do show how I combined running and walking to end the race. I didn't wear a heart rate monitor for the run, so no readings for that. The green line indicates elevation - not sure why it got wacky near the end. A few longer blue streaks along the chart indicate where I slowed down to get water. I don't think there were too many of these where I would have walked for more than thirty seconds.

Speaking of water stops, the marathon offered a service where you could be weighed before and after the marathon. My weight after the marathon was five pounds less than my weight before the marathon. Apparently this is on the high side, and I was a given a pamphlet on being careful about this. The only water stop I skipped during the marathon was the first one after the 20 mile mark, so I was surprised to see this. I do tend to sweat a bit, and I have thought for a while now that I need to have something in the marathons for sodium or electrolyte replenishment. Gatorade tends to bother my stomach during a long run, so I try to not drink it very much. Before my next marathon, I'm hoping I'll have a better handle on the whole hydration thing.

Other things ...

• While I do need to work on handling hydration during a marathon, I'm quite certain I won't be taking in any beer while running one. There was some being offered near the end in Houston, but I passed on it.
  
  
• George Bush Sr. (pres. #41) was cheering on runners around mile 19, after his church service that morning ended. If he was there when I went by, I didn't notice him.
  
  
• Speaking of church, a priest at one point along the course was throwing holy water on runners. Lots of it.
  
  
• For quite a while in the race, I was behind two guys who were wearing the same colour t-shirts. On the back of one of the shirts it read "I'm a Dad". The other shirt was worn by a guy just ahead or beside him, and written on the back of his shirt was "No Dad Left Behind". They crossed the finish line together a couple minutes ahead of me.
  
  
• Nova Scotia native Eric Gillis, who I mentioned in an earlier post, finished the race 8th overall in his first marathon, in just a little over 2 hours and 13 minutes. See his race report here.
  
  
• About 20 miles into the race, I came across a runner who literally looked like he was dying. He was flat on his back, passed out, with a handful of people over him, including one woman who was trying to resuscitate his heart. A guy to my right yelled "Hang in there buddy!" to him, and a minute later an ambulance was approaching from the opposite direction. It was a scary scene, but he turned out to be ok. For a video report on him, check out this link.
  
  
• As a final bit of excitement, there was a "disturbance" on our plane coming from Toronto to Fredericton that resulted in four Mounties boarding our flight to arrest somebody before we were allowed off.
  

To finish up our trip, Sunday night after the marathon we took in some great Texas barbeque at Goode Company Barbeque, and Monday we hung out at NASA for a while. I do look back on our trip with happy thoughts. However, I know if my training was "good", I could have put in a much better performance in Houston. I'll use that as motivation to train well for Mount Desert Island next fall. For the time being, I'm gingerly walking around the house so as not to bother the new incision I got in my mid-section last Wednesday!

Houston Marathon Race Report - Part 1

Look at this smug guy, the day before running the Houston Marathon. I think he's saying "Sure, I didn't train as hard as I could have, but it won't be a problem for a superstar like myself".



A little less than a day later, I struggled over the last 3 miles of the Houston Marathon, finishing it five minutes slower than my time in PEI in October. The weather was perfect, and the course was fast, so I had no excuses for the slower showing. This is me shortly after the end, sitting on the convention floor, eating the great post-race food. See if you can see the caked, salty sweat remnants on my face.



Faith Ann (who ran the half) and I hit the Expo Friday morning. It was fun to look at all the exhibits, spending a bit of money. I think we spent close to two hours there, between picking up the race kits and checking out the exhibits. We took it easy Friday night, took a quick trip to San Marcos/New Braunfels/San Antonio Saturday, did lots of hydrating and carbo-loading, and were up early for the marathon Sunday morning.

The runners congregated before and after the race at the George R. Brown convention center. The place is plenty large enough to hold the runners, allowing us to stay inside in the warmth, although I think it was in the forties (fahrenheit) when the race started, which wasn't too bad at all.

The half and the full runners started at different points, so I separated from Faith Ann and waited for the starting gun, to the side of Minute Maid Park, where the Astros play. Craig Biggio, the former longtime Astros second baseman (whose wife ran the half in 2:08 on Sunday) started the race. I was standing next to a guy whose bib showed that he was a 25-year veteran of the race. He looked extremely nervous, continuously blowing warm air into his hands. I told him this should be easy for him after all these years. His response: "it gets harder every year".

It took me about 1 minute, 45 seconds to cross the starting mat. The sea of people ahead of me resulted in a slow first kilometer, at a pace of 6:05 (9:47 per mile). That probably wasn't a bad thing, as it caused me to start slowly. I was hoping to maintain pace of about 5:35 per km (9 minutes per mile) for the race overall, which would have me finish around 3:55. I didn't try to pass anybody initially, just going with the crowd.

After about three kilometers, I was passed by the 3:50 pacer. I checked my pace, thinking I must be going too fast, but I was actually on pace for about a 4:05 finish. I think she stayed within site of me for the next few miles, but I checked at she actually finished at 3:50:09 - a negative split I'm guessing. I never did see a four hour pacer, but I wasn't really looking for him either.

The crowds for the race were great. Lots of cheering for the names on the bibs, many kids sticking their hands out looking for "high fives", and bands and entertainers along the course. Lots of private homes had people in front of them handing out things like oranges, bananas, tissues, vaseline, pretzels, water and peppermints!

The race was quite congested for the first nine miles, with the halfers running along with the full marathoners for much of that time. It made for some interesting pick-ups at the water stations. I kept my pace pretty good for the first half, with only short stops to pick up water or take gels. However, looking back at my splits it seems like my fairly consistent 5:30 per km (8:50 per mile) pace turned into about a 5:35 pace from kilometers 23 to 38. I seemed to cruise by the Galleria, and as we headed into the tough miles (20 through 22?) of Memorial Park, I was definitely tired, but thought I could hang on.

Shortly after hitting mile 23, for some reason, I just felt dead tired. I pushed on for a bit, but it felt like a very intense struggle that I couldn't imagine maintaining for three more miles. I had a fear of walking, remembering how difficult that was in PEI when I finished my marathon. However, there came a point where I just had to. From that point on, I mixed walking and running to finish the race. Even with that, when I hit the 25 mile marker, it still looked like I could creep in under four hours, and I pushed a good 5:17 kilometer in there, but that just seemed to get me tired again. I walked for a few seconds, then slowly jogged it into the finish, for a final time of 4:01:23. There's finish line video available on the Houston website - check it out here. I'm the guy on the right, with the worst running form imaginable, pulling up my shirt at the end to wipe some sweat off my face. Note that I finished just ahead of an Irish fellow, walking over the finish line holding a can of Guinness.

There are a couple of additional stories I'll describe in a later post, as this one is too long already. I should have time to do this over the next few days, as I'm scheduled to have hernia surgery tomorrow morning, and will probably be flat on my back recovering the next few days. I'm already looking forward to picking up the training again once I'm back on my feet!