The Run is Done !

OK, so I lost track of time and missed about 6 weeks worth of updates but now I can report that the run is done and I made it.

Race started promptly at 07:00, rain started at about 06:58 and continued through the race until about 11:00 after which it turned into a relatively nice day.

Race went well with a 1:24 to the 1/2 way point up into Stanley Park, Prospect Point (the highest point inthe race) came in at the 13 km mark and then it was a long 2.5. to 3.0 km downhill into Second Beach and English Bay and then flat as a rail past that.

Feeling my most optimistic a 2:45 overall was possible but as you can see from the attached time it was a lot closer to 2:57 that I finished in.

The race went reasonably well but I was disappointed that at about 19 km my hip started acting up and I ended up walking the last two km's but running the last 100m. Need to look good at the end for sure.

Official Results are:

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Rank 6006

Placed 238th out of 249 in the Male 50-54 Division

Overall Time: 2:56:44

Pace of 13:29 minutes / mile or 8:05 minutes / km

My thanks to my brother Robert for his hours of dedication, motivation and support through the past 4 months of training and the race. His race suffered a ton working and pacing me and I so much appreciate his time and care.

My First 10K

This past Sunday marked my first 10k run / walk. With a rotating cycle of 10 minutes run, 1 minute walk I finished my first 10K in about 80 minutes. Thanks to Brent for the continuous push particularly at that &^%^%^&*(*()_ hill at the 5k mark and that last K back in, both of which are not fun.

Still 10 weeks to go to Vancouver so I think that maybe that 2 1/2 hour target time for the 1/2 marathon will be achievable.

This week was a mix of 5k on Tuesday, 3k on Wednesday, a miss on Thursday for me, 4k on Friday to make up for Thursday, 3k on Saturday and the big 10k on Sunday. The grand total for this week was 25k. Wow, this is more that the total distance.

The upcoming week is not a lot different than this week other than Wednesday which starts off the hill training. First week it is 3 times up and down the hills. Need to wait and see what this is all about.

Not my Best Week

Still carrying some of the lingering effects of a chest cold started the week out on Tuesday with a 4k tempo run, and then a miss on Wednesday due to work responsibilities and then on Thursday a 3K steady run which I stretched out to a 4K.

On Friday no running but a workout with Chad (turns out that it was the first one since mid November) and I was in for a treat. I do hate it when Chad gets new toys but today it was a new Kettle Bell.

Trying to remember what this one was all about, first we (I) did some lateral movements, touching the bell on either side of the body and swinging the bell between, followed by vertical swings (up motion with kettle bell, followed by standing tricep curls, something called Turkish stand up / sit downs or something similar (laying on the ground with kettle bell in hand, bend the same leg as the hand holding the kettle bell, other arm out to the side; using the free arm as leverage push yourself to a sitting position, bridge up and bring straight leg underneath and then stand, follow this by ? and ? and repeat too many times.

Felt OK after this but the next day my neck hurt like hell. Didn,t think much was happening here but boy was I wrong.

Saturday was supposed to be a run day but I missed this one as well.

Sunday was a planned 9k. Didnt quite get there but got close. My intention was to get up in the AM, drive out to Glenmore landing and join the running room for a job but I was late so I drove out, ran 3k west to the turn around and then back to glenmore landing, from here I went North to Heritage park and back so I think about 7.5 k in all.

Total for the week was 15.5. Got to do better.

Next week looks like 25 total so here we go. This will be the last week for steady runs and tempos, after this we start the hills on Wednesday. Not looking forward to this at all.

Lovin Runnin !!

Week 4 - Starting to Get Real Now

So this was the first week after the warm up month so it is time to start getting into it. Unfortunately, I came down with a bit of a chest cold with sore throat. It slowed me down but didn't stop me completely.

This week started with a 3k tempo run on Tuesday, followed by 4 on Wednesday. Thursday was supposed to be a running day as well but I begged off this one as it turns out it was my worst day for the chest cold.

I made up for Thursday with a 3k run on Friday followed by about 50 minutes at the gym. The work out was seated chest presses (this machine gives a bit of a upward movement when pressing out instead of just straight out so a bit more of a workout) followed by lat pull downs, then upper abs on a ball, then lateral delts and finally anterior delts. Repeat reps of 20 times 4 sets.

Second go at the gym was pec flys, upper abs, bicep curls, tricep extensions followed by lower abs leg raises (with a ball between the legs). As before repeat for 4 sets times 20 reps per set.

Last missing little bit at the gym was leg curls, followed by leg extensions and one more go at lower abs. Chad called to let me know that one of the appointments for the day had cancelled and invited me to take their place. I declined given the above.

Saturday was my second rotten day for the week so instead of a run took a brisk walk (about 4k) in and about the glenmore reservoir.

Sunday was my first big run with a schedule 9km Run/Walk which is my longest distance yet. Turns out we are going to log 9.5k for todays go but as usual the first two km were hard, I think that this is just going to be the way with me. It seems like the first two km I have to convince myself that I really want to be here and get warmed up. What now is the middle 5 km went pretty well and while the calves were sore I felt quite good. The last two km were the toughest but I guess that makes sense as the objective here is to increase the distance so I would expect the last couple of km's to be the worst.

But guess what ? I made it through the run and am still here to talk about it. Total distance for this week was 19.5 km. Looking forward to another week in paradise.

Week 2 - If I could run the race over 4 days I would be ready to go Now.

I am going to call this week 2 because it is week 2 of the schedule. I missed week 1 because Sherry and I were in Las Vegas attending the consumer electronics show. Take a look at www.yourcalgaryitsource.com for updates on the show.

This was a starting week for training and for me it looked like: Wednesday; 6 1/2k, Friday: 4k, Saturday 4k, and Sunday 6k for a weekly total of 20.5k. The week was OK except for Sunday where it looked more like a walk with a bit of a run rather than the other way around.

It was cold on Sunday morning (about -14) and I don't think I have ever run when it was that cold so I am thinking that maybe it was the cold. I was unable to keep my breath and could only run short periods of time before I had to stop and catch my breath.

Much worse running this Sunday than any other day I can remember.

Looking forward to this week. A few tempo days and a few steady run days coming up this week.

More Running

Missed a couple of days of updates.

Last week Friday got nearly another hour in, from the house headed West to Nose Hill Park and got on the bike path, followed the bike path North to the Sun building and then across Deerfoot trail and then on the bike path again south past the deerfoot side of Fox Hollow Golf course, across the train tracks and then North again to the Fox Hollow Club House at 32nd Ave. and then back. Wasn't really feeling all that great but managed to do 10R, 1W, 10R, 1W, 5R, 5W, 10R, 1W, 5R, 5W, 10R (R=Run, W=Walk) to finish up back at the house. No idea about distance but heart rate was manageable. The trip out was not too bad all downhill but the trip back of course in all uphill. Arrrghhh.

On Sunday met with Chad again for a work out. I am really loving the new gym and the new work outs. Keeps Chad on his toes coming up with new ways to beat the *(&(*^ V out of me without machines and keeping the heart rate up as well. The travelling planks were a bitch but the variety and pace are exciting. Funny that I arrived early and Chad arrived on time, saw the car but couldn't find me as I decided to spare a few minutes and get warmed up by running West from the gym to about 22nd or 24th street and back, about 10 minutes and 1 K.

Last night was very late before I got out (around 7:30PM which is late for me) and although the run felt good I just wasn't into it that late at night. Managed two trips around the neighborhood (again, I have no idea of distance but I will drive it tonight and report) in about 35 minutes. Felt really good on the run and managed 10R, 1W, 10R, 1W, 13R to finish off.

In Training

Time to get back at the blog. I have set a couple of new goals for myself for the new year. With my brother Brent I plan on running the 1/2 BMO Vancouver Marathon on the Sunday May 2, 2010 followed by the Vulcan Tinman Triathlon on the 6th of June 2010.

Training starts in earnest first thing in the new year following one or more of the training programs set out by the Running Room and the conditioning experts associated with the BMO Vancouver. For now, my guides want me out running a couple of times each week.

The program for right now is 1 hour of training with 10/1 intervals. 10 minutes of running and 1 of resting (to clear out the lactic acid etc. etc. ???). I have been able to get three runs in over the last couple of weeks with the latest yesterday.

Yesterday I followed a path West from the house over to Deerfoot trail and got onto the bike / running path heading North which was a bit of a mess but anyways I ended up at McKnight Blvd which I then followed East to Barlow trail and then South to nearly 16th Ave and then cut over back to the house. No idea of how far this is but it took just a few minutes short of an hour.

I am finding that the first two intervals are troublesome (maybe not warmed up, maybe not in the groove, who knows), followed by the middle two intervals which don't feel all that bad and then the last two which seem to continue to be very hard work.

I find that my heart rates climbs a bit each interval to the point where the last two or three intervals are little more than a brisk walk to keep the heart rate down. It seems like each time I go out it is a wee bit easier which I guess is what it is all about.

The run was OK but there were too many cars and too many intersections. I think from our place heading West to the bike path and then straight south to the zoo will be a whole lot easier.

Till next time.