Moving beyond NYC

So it's been a bit more than a month since I ran the NYC Marathon. I've had time to reflect, regroup and repair...now it's time to refocus and begin the next phase of my running career.

My NYC result was both disappointing and satisfying....I was no where near my goal time, but given my hamstring issues over the months leading up to the race and the difficulties encountered during the race, I was happy to have finished.

In hindsight, I made to key mistakes - one before the race and one during. The combination of both resulted in disaster.

First, my buddy Glen and I must have walked about 15k sightseeing throughout NYC the day before the race. Second, I got caught up in the energy of the crowd and went out too fast the first half of the race, especially the first 15k or so. As a result my quads and calves started crapping at about the 25k mark. From there to the finish it was no fun.

So lesson learned....I won't do that again!

My plan over the next few months is to address the issues that led to my hamstring problems through strength training and to increase my speed over the 5 and 10k distances. Meaning I won't likely run a marathon in 2012, but plan to run a number of shorter-distanced races and focus on speed work.

I may even try a duathlon or two, as I've taken to cycling and I feel that activity will help improve my leg strength, take some stress off my body normally created by running and contribute to an overall improvement in my running results.

Stay tuned!

Hectic week

Well this week has been interesting to say the least. Monday my throat was so sore I could barely talk and it hurt like crazy to eat or drink anything. Tuesday I was off to Newfoundland for work again and I'm still here. My throat is better, but still not 100% and I feel a cold coming on...can it get any worse for training?

Despite all the physical aliments and travel, I did manage an 8k run Tuesday evening on the treadmill in my hotel. Average pace of 4:56 per kilometre for a total of 39 minutes and 33 seconds. The entire run was done at a 1% incline.

And although I had to force myself to run, I felt a bit better afterward. However, yesterday I was supposed to do a speed workout, but just couldn't do it. I had a terrible night's sleep on Tuesday and had no energy, plus my throat was still killing me.

Despite a poor night's sleep again last night I forced myself to get the speed workout in after my work today.

After 1.2k at a 5:30 minutes per kilometre pace, I ran 2 x 400m at a 3:53/k pace, with a 30 second rest between each interval. That was followed by 2 x 800m at a 3:53/k pace with 45 seconds between each set. Then I ran 1k followed by 1.2k, both at 3:58/k with 1.5 minutes rest after the first interval and 2.5 minutes rest after the second one. The session finished with 1.6k at the original 3:53/k pace.

I was surprised at how easy the session was and how good I felt afterward given I feel as though I'm getting a head cold. There really are a lot of viruses going around and I seem to get a lot of them!

My buddy Steve says he never gets sick. He thinks I should gain weight, stop running and get out of shape..as he says, it works for him! :)

Fifth day in-a-row!

Because Anne and I had things on tonight, neither of us could make it to the indoor track for the group run with Ian. So I was up at 5am and in the gym by 6am to get my run done on the treadmill.

This week's speed session was comprised of 3 intervals of 600m at 5k race pace (3:53 minutes per km for me) followed by 1200m also at 5k race pace, with a 1.5 minute rest after each 600m and 3 minutes after each 1200m. And then there was an additional 600m tacked on at the end for kicks!

It was a great run and I was surprised at how easy the 3:53 pace felt even over the 1200m distances. In fact I felt strong enough to run the final 600m at a 3:47/km pace. I'm definitely getting faster and stronger, especially considering today was the fifth day in-a-row of running for me, including a tough 15k run on Sunday.

 Now I just have three more days to get through until a rest day on Sunday.  

In a rut!

This week has been a challenge for training...lots of things going at work and with the kids, plus I just haven't been feeling it!

I did my track workout on the treadmill before work on Wednesday morning. It was great! Broken 1ks - 200m at a 3:47 minutes/km pace, followed by 30 seconds rest, then 800m at a 3:53 minutes/km pace, with a 3-minute jog at about a 6:20 minutes/km pace. In addition I had a 1k warm up and a 1k cool down, for a total distance of 11.5k.

My legs were tired and I was sweating profusely, but it felt awesome!

Thursday I was supposed to run 10k, but Ryan's hockey team played an exhibition game at Scotia Bank Place prior to the Ottawa Senators game against the Florida Panthers Wednesday night. After their exhibition game, the team and parents had dinner and stayed to watch the NHL contest. I'm not a Sens fan, in fact I despise the team, but it was a good game, considering both teams are bad.

Anyway, we got home late and Thursday I was really tired. Add to that a busy work day with deadlines to meet and I didn't get a chance to run at lunch. I had intentions of running after work Thursday night, but was too tired and blew it off. Friday was a rest day, so I could have squeezed it in then, but as I said, I just wasn't into running.

So I've decided to move on and start fresh today. I'm running a fast 8k on the treadmill in about an hour and tomorrow I'll do my 15k long run outside. I'm looking forward to running outside for the first time since my half marathon on January 15th.

I think that was part of the problem this week - I'm sick and tired of running on the treadmill and can't wait for the winter to end!

Back on track

This week has been great for training now that I'm home and back into my routine.

Tuesday night I ran 7k at an average pace of 5:00 minutes per kilometre. Wednesday it was 8k at an average pace of 4:47 and yesterday I ran 9k all at 5 minutes per km.

Today I had a great speed run at lunch. It started with 3k at a 5:00 minute per km pace, then it was time to go fast! Four repeats of 100m at a 3:30 pace, followed by 400m at a 4:30 pace. I was surprised at how the short sprints impacted me. After the last repeat I ran 3k at a 5:00 pace, but it took me a good 1.5k to get my heart rate and breathing under control and I could feel the effects of the sprints in my legs.

I'm really getting bored with treadmill running and can't wait for spring. It's still too slippery to run consistently at speed outside and the temperature has not been to my liking for doing my long runs.

The way I see it, there's another 6 or 7 weeks remaining of winter in Ottawa and then I'll be back outside running on a consistent basis. Until then the treadmill will have to do.  

Home Sweet Home

Well I'm back in Ottawa and even though it's minus 27C with the wind chill, it's good to be home. I've missed Anne and the kids, plus my training schedule is FUBAR!

I was trying to play catch-up for my missed run last Thursday due to my delayed flight and sore hamstrings. I never made it. In the end I was able to get in 4 of my 5 scheduled runs, ultimately missing my 9k long run on Sunday. I did get in two good runs while I was away - a 7k on Saturday and an 8k Sunday. Both felt good and helped get rid of the stiffness I had in my hamstrings and gluts.

I'll run 7k tonight and then get back to my lunch-hour training tomorrow. I only have 12 days until my next race, a 5k here in town on the 20th. I've run this particular race a couple of times and it has always snowed on race day, making it difficult to get good footing. My goal is to run the race in under 20 minutes no matter what the conditions.

This week's training includes a speed session on Friday and then I'm back on the track next Wednesday (Anne and I alternate weeks for the track sessions because someone has to be home with the kids). I should be ready to rock on the 20th.

A write-off

I woke up at 5am today, completely congested...day 5 for the cold from hell! Will it ever end?

I haven't run since last Sunday and I don't think I'll be running my scheduled 8k run today. I can't breathe through my nose at all, I'm coughing and generally feel like shit!

Perhaps my body is telling me it's run down from the training I did for the half marathon earlier in the month. Sometimes a break is good. I must admit the usual aches and pains in my legs, hips, knees and feet have just about disappeared.

So I think I'll listen to my body for once, get completely over this cold, write this week of training off and start fresh Monday.

Ian has a solid week planned for me with 6 consecutive days of running, including a speed session and an 11k run next Sunday for a total of 48k.

I'll be ready to go!

Confidence builder

Last night (Wednesday) I was scheduled to meet my coach Ian, his spouse Michelle and a few others at an indoor track just east of Ottawa at 8pm for a speed workout. However, the Canadian junior hockey team was playing the Russian junior team in the gold-medal game of the World Junior Hockey Championship starting at 7:30pm.

I was conflicted! I wanted to run, but this was going to be a great game and in my opinion a sure win for Canada.

PVring the hockey game was not an option as we eliminated that from our cable package a few months ago. And the thought of going out into the frigid night was not appealing in the slightest. Have I mentioned how much I hate winter?

I sheepishly called Ian and explained my dilemma. I don't think he was moved by my predicament, but did agree that converting the track session to a speed workout on the treadmill another day this week would be just as beneficial.

So I bailed on the track. As it turns out, I shouldn't have.

Canada blew a 3-0 lead in the third period and lost 5-3 in what is likely the biggest collapse by any Canadian hockey team ever! It was shocking and I'm sure the entire country was reeling this morning. I'm still stunned.

Anyway, I did the speed workout today at lunch. I warmed up at a 5:15 minutes per km pace for 1.5k. Then I did four repeats of 600m each at a 3:50 minutes per km pace, with 2-minute jogs at a 6:00 minutes per km pace between each repeat. That was followed by 4 repeats of 400m each at a 3:40 minutes per km pace, with 3-minute jogs at a 6:00 minutes per km pace. The session finished with five repeats of 200m each at a blistering 3:26 minutes per km pace, with 3.5-minute jogs at a 6:00 minutes per km pace.

And while my legs are a bit tired now, the session felt great and was not nearly as difficult as I thought it would be. In fact it wasn't tough at all. I felt great through each repeat and was easily able to hold the pace for the required distance.

This run indicates to me that I'm faster and stronger than I was when I started working with Ian and I'm feeling more confident than I was when he revealed my goal time for the race next Saturday.

I have to admit, the last few days I've been worried about that goal time of 1:28:30. As I mentioned in an earlier post, that's a full six minutes faster than any other half marathon I've ever run.

However, today I'm almost convinced....I just hope I don't finish the race the way the Canadian junior team finished their hockey game last night!

Another strong run

Yesterday afternoon I had a great 10k run which included some speed work. It felt awesome and makes me more confident that I can achieve my goal of a 1 hour and 30 minute or less half marathon result in a couple of weeks.

I started out with 2k at a 5:10 per km pace and then did three repeats of 1k at a 3:55 per km pace, followed by 1k at a 4:55 per km pace. Surprisingly, the 3:55 pace felt comfortable, like I could run that pace for a good distance, signalling to me that I'm getting faster and peaking at the right time.

Overall the run was 47 minutes at an average pace of 4:42 per km. Later today I'm running 22k outside at a relatively pedestrian average pace of just under 5 minutes per km.

I'm looking forward to getting outside and to what Ian has in store for me over the next 12 days leading up to the race.