The End of the Year

So 2008 is drawing to a close and tomorrow it will be 2009. As I look back on the past year, I look back on a year that was filled with success. I have continued improving on various fronts, as I have for each year that I have run. Hopefully this will continue in 2009, although as I get older I am sure that one year the improvements will disappear. As it is though, I still feel good and adding different goals other than PB's seems to help keep the interest at a peak. Another thing that keeps the interest going is the potential to travel. Each year I look at races all over, mostly in the US, and this list of places I want to race/visit seems to get longer.
2008 saw me eclipse the 3 hour marathon mark for the first time in Indianapolis, so that will always be a memorable race, but it was a great event regardless of how I did. I also ran 4 marathons this year, another first. Throw into that mix 4 50k ultras (Including the insane Jay Marathon), and my first 50 mile race (JFK)I would say it has been a very successful year. In total I have run 3220 km's and run for 261.5 hours. More distance than I have ever done in one year. I think I have gotten by rather well with only a few minor injuries etc. so hopefully that will continue.
So what does 2009 hold for me? A lot of uncertainty. I have toyed with the idea of doing a hundred miler, although I'm not sure I'm ready for that. I hope to try at least another 50 miler this year, more trail runs/races, more travelling, more marathons, maybe more PB's. It would be nice to do another race like Jay again, that was a blast. Maybe Dances with Dirt.
Anyway, hope anyone who might read this has a great and happy new year. Happy trails!

Another "Winter" Run

At least it is actually winter now. so that we can legitimately complain about what a crappy winter we are having. This weekend was another round of lousy running conditions. Fridays snow saw us get sent home from work early. That hasn't happened to me since the early 80's. So I went home thinking that running was out of the question and began to clear out the drive way. By the time I was done the sun was trying to come out, so I'm thinking maybe I could get out for a run, although the conditions wouldn't be ideal. I got changed and just before heading out the door Kevin mentioned Roger called to say he wouldn't be there. So as he would be the only one (other than me) to be foolish enough to go out in this, I decided not to go. As it turned out Theo and Hellaina both showed up.
Saturday the Sun was out and I took advantage of it and ran 20k, it wasn't the best, but it would turn out to be better than Sunday. That night Victoria arrived home from England for the holidays, after a long, long series of flights, delays etc.
Sunday I ran from home, met everyone at the RR and then ran home. The roads were slippery, snow covered, it was cold and windy. Just plain terrible. Although on the way home the sun came out and it actually got to warm. More snow today, more snow forecast for tomorrow and the day after... And it's not even January yet. This is going to be a long hard winter.

In or Out

I had a decision to make last night, run in the cold or wimp out and bore myself to death on the treadmill. Luckily I decided on the outside run, as it wasn't that bad. At least the roads were dry, it was cold, but manageable. Overall a decent run. 16.55k.

Cool Weekend of Running

Well I had a decent run on Saturday of 19k and then got out Sunday morning for another 29k. So a reasonably successful weekend, although I have been rather sore today, knees unusually.At least it was a little warmer than it has been, although that came to a crashing halt this afternoon as the temperature dropped and the wind howled. Here is a couple of pictures from our run Sunday:

Five Weeks To Go

While sit here and wait for winter to end before it has even begun, I am trying to figure how to get the resolve to do the long runs needed to properly train for the Ghost Town 38.5 race in January. Although it hasn't been long since JFK I still need to get the distance in and the weather hasn't been co-operating. Hopefully this weekend I can get in the double long runs in I want to. 19k+ on Saturday and 30k+ on Sunday.

Weekend of Easy Running

After last Wednesday's run I was a little concerned as both knees were showing signs of fatigue and I was afraid that I might do some damage. Friday nights run with Roger and Theo was good, but still a little pain the right knee, otherwise felt good. So going into Saturday's run I was a little apprehensive. I decided to run out Ardagh to Hwy 27, to 90 then up to Edgehill and then up the Ferndale Hill by the dump. I have to start getting some hill work in, so no time like the present. As it turned out I felt great, it was a bit breezy so I dressed warmer than I should have as once I ran with the wind at my back I got too warm. The Ferndale hill was no problem and after that it was just a matter of how far will I go. Once I came down the hill at Sunnidale I decided that it was time to head back, the knees were starting to feel it. Ended up with 19k and finished feeling good. After refueling, I went to Costco and bought a 32inch TV for the living room and spent the next couple of hours setting up . Saturday night was the Costco Xmas party and wouldn't you know it, we won a 32inch Samsung TV. So Sunday I spent unhooking the one I bought and took it back.

JFK Race Report

My first impressions of JFK are of a low tech, but well run race. It seems to attract runners of all abilities, ages and from far a field. In my previous post I had discussed the issue of temperature and weather to wear shorts or not. Up to half an hour prior to the race, I was still debating. I eventually decided to leave the tights on, boy was I glad of that. Kevin and myself got to Boonsboro and the high school gym a little late. The pre race briefing had already started, that was when I realized that I had left my sunglasses in the car. So I ran to get them and came back as everyone was filing out of the school and towards the start in downtown Boonsboro. When I foudn Kev still in the school he was talking to Dave Champion from Kitchener, who we had come across in the Ontario Ultra Series. He was looking for a similar time to us, around 8 hours, but he had to go to the porta john prior to the race so we left him, hopefully to see him later. It was about half a kilometer walk to the start, but that gave us time to get accustomed to the cool air, and after a while that felt OK.
The gun went off right on time and we slowly started the climb up to Mt. Washington just as the sun was coming up.
The first 9k are more or less straight up, a few dips here and there, but mostly up. We took it farily easy, but still found ourselves passing lots of people as we climbed, once we passed the first aid station we found ourselves on paved trail and climbed more and we walked a lot of the up hills here. To the top of the mountain we felt good, but had to keep reminding each other we had a long way to go. Once the paved trail ended we found ourselves on single track which over time got more technical as we went, to the point where you really had to watch your footing. On this part of the course I got talking to a young guy from Knoxville, TN called CJ, he was only 18. Finally after about 25k we emerged to an aid station which signalled the start of the 26.3 miles of tow path along the old C & O canal. A this point we crossed the rail tracks which have stopped runners in the past, as well as today. We heard trains before we got there and later. We also saw a train go by not long after being on the trail.
The Tow Path was easily the hardest part of the race as far as I was concerned, not for the difficulty of the terrrain or anything, but mentally it was tough get through this part, you get a couple of hours into a race and still know that you have 30k or more before you get a change of scenery. Through out this part of the race we were continually passing or being passed by the same people, most of them seemed to be veterans. Our strategy (if you could call it that) was to run for as long as possible, then walk for a short while, then run again. Along the tow path I thought it might warm up some, but no. The wind was still in our face and it was still cold, glad I left the tights on. This was the first time in a race that I tried hot (actually warm) soup, and it was great. Easy to digest and warmed the insides a bit. Also started to drink Coke at the aid stations. (Probably the most Coke I have ever drank in day since I was a kid).
When we got to the 2nd last aid station on the tow path, there seemed to be a back log of runners. So I didn't linger long and soon we found ourselves alone, I started to second guess whether or not we were on the right trail, but there were no other options. So on we went and gradually we caught up to more runners. We hit the last aid station on the path and turned up a long climb to the "rolling hills", 8 miles to go. At first I found this part hard, Kevin would run ahead and wait at each aid station (which were getting closer together at this point). Now hot chocolate and potatoes were offered, Kevin was getting into the M&M's big time. As we hit the last 3 - 4 miles I seemed to get a spurt of energy and pushed hard and now Kevin started to have issues. Anyway we beat the rolling hills and turned the last corner and pushed it for the last 1/2k into the finish. Finishing at 8:39, 97th & 98th place out 1000 runners. We ran into Dave again and he had finished in 8:08, his better training regime had paid off for him. It's Tuesday now and as I sit here, the stiffness is subsiding and I'm feeling rather good. I didn't feel any worse than if I'd run a marathon, and feel that it I could do that again easily. As I've heard from others, these Ultras are mostly mental and I found that out from about 30k in to about 70k, after that it was toughing it out to finish, which we did.

Preparing for JFK - the night before

We made to Hagerstown at about 1pm today and checked out where the start of the race is, got checked in, went to the race registration all without any problems. Now we have to figure out what to wear tomorrow. It is supposed to be about -6c in the morning. I was planning on shorts, but that may not be an option. Otherwise it is supposed to get up to 3c, but so was today and it was frigid. We shall see in the a.m.

Week of Preparation for JFK

Well I got 2 runs in this week after missing my "long" run on Sunday. Monday's run felt awkward and although I was in a good rythym, I felt sore everywhere. Last nights run was a little better, although the conditions weren't that great. A light layer of snow made things a little slick. Tuesday we went down to Ikea and bought too much stuff and have spent much of the time since putting together new furniture. Finished it all up last night. The new TV stand and Sideboard look good, what a difference a little rearranging can do to a room.
Tonight the adventure begins, it looks we've already had to change our planned route as an Alberta Clipper is blowing in from the north west, bringing copious amounts of snow to the lee of the lakes including the Erie, PA area. Which is where we planned on stopping tonight. They are forecast to get upto 18 inches. So we are going to go through corning instead and stay away from the lakes. We still have to go through the mountains. Anyway JFK here we come!

The Great White North

After a good run on Friday with relatively little soreness, I was looking forward to today's (Sunday) run, but I guess that wasn't to be as we got walloped with the first big one of the year. And so I spent most of last night and today at work helping restore power all over our merrry local communities. So no run today and the weather forcast isn't very good for the rest of the week. Well I'm not missing much as this would be a taper week anyway, rest is as good as it gets. One good point about being in at work most of the night is it is liek training for a over night race to see what is like to stay up all night. Maybe not quite the same, but close.
6 days to JFK.

Marathon Maniacs

I thought this was rather humerous, but then I realized I was answering yes to a lot of the questions.

If you can answer yes to more than one of these questions you may need to visit the Marathon Maniacs website:


Are you addicted to running marathons?

Do your thoughts switch to the next scheduled race immediately after finishing a marathon?

Are you signed up for more than one race right now?

Do you know specifics about many of the marathons? Dates, courses, years run, etc.?

Do you know the story of how the marathon got started? Also why the course is 26.2 miles?

Do you read books on marathons like Marathon and Beyond?

Is www.marathonguide.com book marked on your computer? Do you look at the race schedule more than once a week?

Do you start to feel down when you haven't run a marathon in a while?

Are your closets and dressers filled with marathon t-shirts?

Do you have so many marathon medals that you've run out of room on the hook they hang from?


When asked about your racing from none running people, do you find yourself talking with great passion to the point that the person that asked the question regrets ever asking?

Have you run marathons on back to back weekends? Or better yet back to back days?

Have you run a marathon as a training run? Or just to pace a friend?

When asked by loved ones what your plans are for the weekend, you feel guilty telling them your running another marathon so you tell them "it's only a half this weekend"?

Do you plan all your vacations around a marathon race?

Well if you answered yes to any of these questions, you just may be a Marathon Maniac!!!

Things Don't Look Promising

Well I finally got out for a run last night (Wednesday) and it started out alright, but gradually the right ham started to tighten up and the whole leg began to feel tight. I only ran 11k and not that hard. Time to hit the drugs and stretch. Also checking the weather forecast for next week, ouch! Snow here and the temperature hoverign around freezing and not much warmer in Boonsboro. They're also calling for snow when we come home on the 23rd. Hopefully I'll get the snows on before we go.

Tough Run

Its funny how one week you can feel so good and the next the opposite. Well last weekends long run (45k) went really well, today? Not so good. The plan was to go out for about 5hours or 50k and I had a route all made out. Run down to the RR and meet Kevin and who ever else shows up, do the 40k and run home. I should have known it was going to be one of those days when I grabbed my camelback and it was wet. I thought it was just water coming out of the nozzle, but half way down the road I realized it was more than that as water dripping down my leg and my back was getting wet. It seems the bladder has a leak. So I ran back home to drop it off and pick up my hand held fill it up and on my way, again. It was cool this morning, bu tI didn't notice the wind as it was at my back. So then I ran a little harder than I should, because was now late. Got down to the RR and found we had Roger, Nancy, Jamie, Theo, Hellaina and Kevin all there. So off we go and soon found that the wind was going to be a problem when turned into it. That's when I noticed how cold my hands felt, whether it was the cold or the fact that my gloves were a little wet from the camelback fiasco... Anyway Roger soon lent me his little gloves which helped. Nancy, Hellaina and Jamie cut off at Ferndale & Edgehill about 11k (for them) in. Roger and Theo cu toff at the end of Tiffin so that would give tehm about 28k when done, we trudged on. It was on Big Bay Point Road where I started to come unglued. Right leg from my hip down to my knee was tightening up , by the time I got to Little & Bayview (38k?) it gone down into my foot as well. This wasn't good and I told Kevin to go on as I was going to have to head home rather than risk injury. I started to walk and tried running a bit, but would end up walking again. By the time I got down to Tiffin the tightness seemed to ease up, so I finished fairly well at 43k and almost 4 hours. Since then I have been tired and sore. Slept for about an hour earlier and have been thinking about why the run was so difficlut this week. 1) too much mileage this week, the most I have ever done in one week (110k), 2) ran quicker than we meant too, probably because we were running with others that were not doing our training. 3) it was my turn to feel like crap. Kevin felt great today. Anyway I think I'll be taking it easy for the next couple of days.

Nice "easy" Satuday

I slept in this morning, if you call 8:30 sleeping in.After another 19.k run last night, I think I deserved it. That's 68k already this week with tomorrows' long, long run still to do. So I went out and took all the beer bottles back, that have been sitting in the garage since August. And then went about painting the hallway. I got most of it finished except 2 doors, but I ran out of paint, unless Joan has some stashed away somewhere. Well it will ahve to wait now. Weather has taken a turn to miserable. Cool, windy, damp looking. Only supposed to be just above 0C tomorrow morning, I still think shorts are in order though.

Thursdays run

Well it took some going to get out the door last night, but got out I did. This past few weeks have been good for running, with Joan working mostly in the evening and now Kevin working or going out, I've had a lot of evenings to myself so what else would I do but go for a run. While trying to maintain more distance, I've been trying to shake up the routes a bit and do something different. Last night I ran via Morrow Rd to Essa, under the 400 and up Fairview to Little and across to Huronia around the lake, through downtown and back around Edgehill and Ferndale for a total of 17k. It wasn't as far as I was planning, but generally I didn't feel good. It wasn't until I got to about 12-13k that I got into a groove and just felt like I could go forever. It was promising to have that feeling as you run, where your legs are just moving and you don't want to stop them, even though the rest of you feels tired. Tonight (alone again) I will run down to the Running Room and run with whoever shows up. Probably another 20k.

What's New

Tuesday Joan and I went to the Movies (Cheap Tuesday) and saw RocknRolla. We went to Boston Pizza for dinner first and enjoyed a good meal. The movie was great, another in the vain of Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Violent, funny and great music.

Last night went for the usual Wednesday night run. A good run with Roger, Tim, Terry, Theo (first time sinc ethe spring), Hellaina & Nataliya. Started nice and easy, but quickly picked up the pace and finished the 10.4k in 48:05 (4:37 avg/km).
Hockey afterwards was better than it has been for the past few weeks, less bodies therefore a little slower.

Wow it's Dark

Yeah, that time of year again. I'm going to have to get used to running in the dark in the evening. Good run tonight, although it seemed to last forever. Final tally was 20.5k, 1:39. Hopefully this idea of running less days/more distance will help for JFK. We shall see.

Mind doesn't matter

This morning I did my longest training run ever, 45k. And typically it was one of those runs where your mind is telling you to STOP!, but you have other idea's. Which tends to cause some confusion in the brain, at least in mine anyway.
I started at 7:30 this morning, it was rather cool (1C), but I'm not going to give in yet, I'm still wearing shorts. Ran down to the Running Room where I met up with the other nutbar Kevin. We had already decided to run out the Rail Trail for 1.5 hours and then turn around. So we set off, it took a while to get into a groove, but after a while it was ok. At the 3rd line of Oro the Barrie Police have a car set up to talk to people regarding the lost teen Brandon Crisp. We gave them our particulars and when I told the officer talking to me where I lived and that is where we ran from, he gave me a look of " holy shit". I told him we had a while to go before we even turn around.
So we continued on, it was still very cool as we had the wind in a face and the sun was having difficulty get up over the tree line. At the turn around I checked my Garmin... 21.3k in 1:54 minutes. I think we maybe going a little too fast training for the 50 miler. Some poeple would give anything run a half marathon in that time.
On our way back we waved at the police sitting in their warm cruiser, with smiles on their faces, obviously finding what we were doing amusing. By the time we got back into Barrie I was feeling really good and picked up the pace a bit, probably shouldn't have, and Kevin dropped off the pace a bit. Got to the Running Room and decided I'd take the long way back to stretch it out to 45k. So went via Edgehill and Ferndale. The last couple of k were a struggle, but I finished and tonight I think I'll have a couple of beers.

Past few days

Had a good run on Wednesday night. Ran with Roger, Terry, Tim & Hellaina. Felt good, although when Tim pushed the pace, I had a hard time keeping up. Last night after work I ran down to the Running Room to meet Roger and then we did the same loop we did on Wednesday except in reverse. It was a nice night out, although coming back and running home was into the wind and it had cooled off. Finished with 20.2k. I'll take tonight off (Halloween). Supposed to run 4 hours with KevO tomorrow morning.

Week So Far

I got out for a good run on Monday. Went to the Chiropractor after work and once I got home I got ready and went out. First attempt at running with my camelback, not an issue. Although something with pockets on the front would be better. Anyway after I started running through the trails off Ardagh, I realized with the diminishing light that I hadn't brought a light with me, which wasn't a problem at this point as it was still light enough. Running along Mapleview I was getting a little apprehensive about trying to run the trails behind Home Depot etc. with out a light. As it turned out it wasn't that difficult. The run behind the VR was a little harder, following the shadows at the edge of the trail. This is where you really get to notice light pollution. When I emerged from the bush, actually long before, I was almost blinded by the amount of light.
Finished 19.5k and felt good.

Weekend

Well I didn't quite do what I had originally planned this past weekend, but maybe that was a good thing. After running a lot at the end of the week, I took Saturday off and only ran 19k this morning. I'll run Monday and probably make up for it. To day's run was good, nice and easy and a beautiful morning. It wasn't as cold as I expected and it didn't rain. Actually the sun was out for a while.
Got the news earlier that Kevin ran 2:54 in Niagara. Man he's just a machine.
Took a some pictures of the medal from Indy, so here it is.

Recovery week? Yeah right.

Again I am not doing what the experts recommend. Rest and recovery after a marathon. I guess it the thought that in 4 weeks I'll be running the JFK 50 mile run, about 30k further than I have ever run before.
Ok, so I didn't run Monday or Tuesday. Wednesday I ran with the usual crew and some new faces. A nice "easy" 11k, then I played hockey (first time this year). The first couple of shifts were tough, but after a while it got easier and then my back started to hurt a bit.
Last night for some reason I decided I needed to get out and do a bit of distance. So I put on my trail shoes and ran a mix of trails and road and finished in the dark doing 17.5k. Right hamstring was fairly tight at the end, but is ok today. Lower back is still fairly stiff. Tonight I will go out to the Running Room, I was thinking of running down there, you know to save the environment and get in MORE miles. We'll see.

Sub 3 Marathon - Indy report

Well Indianapolis is a beautiful city and hosts a very nice race through the suburb of Lawrence. This scenic race starts & finishes in Historic Fort Harrison and on Saturday October 18th myself and Brendan Kavanagh lined up to take part with 5600 others competing in the various events, including the half and relay. After a total of 9 hours driving over 2 days we arrived safely and went to the expo, probably the most dissapointing part of the weekend. Not very big at all, but still a few freebies. That night Brendan found his Garmin not working and all attempts to find a remedy failed. So Brendan was to rely on a regular watch and a pace band, how old school! Luckliy I still had my Garmin. So between us we both planned to run sub 3 hour marathons. In the morning we grabbed our Starbucks coffee and headed to the start, set up my Garmin virtual partner to run 3 hours and we were ready. It was a cool and partly sunny morning, perfect for a marathon.Shortly after 8:30am we were off and running, maintaining a "comfortable" 4:10/km pace through the first 8 miles or so through some nice subdivisions and other parts of Fort Harrison, we then entered Fort Harrison State Park and some nice paved tree lined bike paths. This is where my Garmin crapped out, a "memory full" alert came up and I had to delete everything including my virtual partner. This left me with only my pace and Brendan for support. A few hills through the park slowed the pace a bit, but we got back up to speed before leaving the halfers as they cut off to the finish. We headed on to the out and back through more parks and tree lined streets. Still the pace was good a couple of gut checks and some support from each other and we were good. The turn around was at 19 miles and we turned into an unsuspected head wind. From here it was going to be where we would either fail or go on to new heights. Brendan let me know at 19 miles we were about 40 seconds back of 2:58 pace, still doing well. We maintained that through 21 miles, but at 22 we had dropped to 1:00 minute off pace, but still under 3 hours. At 23 miles I asked Brendan what our time was, 2:37. We would have to maintain at least 4:30/km to come in under 3, so I picked it up a bit. I didn't realize it at the time, but Brendan had stopped to water the bushes. Eventually I noticed his presence no longer there, but I did not dare look around. At 25 miles we came up to the last hill and that slowed myself down, but I got to the top and tried to put the hammer down (at least as much as possible at that point). Couple of turns and back towards the finish area, I knew it was going to be close!.
A few weeks ago I had a dream of finishing this race in 3:00:01 and was hoping that wasn't a premonition. I turned the last corner to see the time as 2:59:30 with about 100m to go, although I ran as fast as possible at that point I cam across the line at 3:00:04
What would my chip time be? At last I looked around. No Brendan yet, he came around the corner in a couple of minutes and finished in 3:02:24.
Surprisingly we both felt good, Brendan's wife Marie joked about us feeling so good we should drive to Columbus and the marathon there on Sunday. Not a chance. Later that evening we finally got the chip times and I had finished in 2:59:59.5, unbelievably .5 seconds under 3 hours. Brendan came second in his age group and I came 5th. Although Brendan set a Pb by 1 minute, missing the sub 3 goal left a bit of a bitter taste. We both know that there was more in us.After re checking the results it seems we came 28th & 32nd, but even more impressive was that we moved up from 39th & 40th at the half. Otherwise a great day at a great race, and I would recommend this to anyone who is interested. Indianapolis Marathon link

Last Week

Well there is only 6 days till the Indianapolis Marathon and so far so good. Friday night I did a good tempo run although I wasn't really planning that, it just happened. This morning we did a 16.5 k race pace run. Even though it ended up being a little slower than race pace (4:18/k as opposed to 4:12/k) it felt good. I was a little worried going into it, but now that it is over with I feel better. Nice morning for a run, about 10C and sunny. This week I'll run a short easy run on Tuesday night and on Wednesday Brendan and I will do a bit of short intervals (100m) to finish off the training. Thursday off to Indy.

Wednesday to Friday

Wednesday's run was a fairly good "easy" run with Brendan and Terry. Terry is running really well and was running great on Wednesday considering he ran a PB in the PEC Marathon on Sunday. The run ended up a little quicker than planned, surprise? No. Still it felt fairly good except for a bit of a twinge in the left groin.
Last night I took it easy and watched the Leafs beat Detroit, alright, great start. Lets start planning the Stanley Cup Parade. LOL.
Tonight I'm going to run down to the Running Room and if no one is there I'll run home again. I'll probably make it a tempo or fartlek run. See if I have any trouble with a quicker pace 1 week from Indy. Sunday is suppoed to be a 16k marathon pace run, we shall see.

Recovery Run

I've been a little stiff and sore since Saturdays race, so the thinking was I needed a run to loosen the legs up a little. It was a little tough at first and not the best of runs, but I'm sure it was well worth it. Only did just over 9k (9.2k, 43:33 for a 4:44 average km). Nice cool night though.

Run for the Toad

On a perfect day for running, cool and cloudy, my race wasn't quite what I was hoping for, but finishing healthy this close to an important race (Indy in 2 weeks) is probably more important. Probably went a little too quickly again, but as usual it felt good. The first 2 laps (25k) went well, 1:03 & 1:04, but by the end of the 3rd lap (1:10) I knew it was going to be a struggle. So after Brendan caught up with me we walked/ran the rest of the last lap in 1:36 for a final time of 4:54, 25th overall. In hindsite it was a good move to back off for the last lap. Also finishing the 50k were Kevin in 4:24, Roger in 5:30 and Sylvie 5:50. Joan, Esther & Sue completed the 25k walk as well.

What Does the Future Hold?

Well I got an e-mail from Kevin on Tuesday with a link to one persons experience at the Haliburton 100 mile race (http://ouser.org/results/08/hf08_ds.pdf). A good read, but unfortunately it gets me thinking about the possibility of running a 100 mile race, most likely the Haliburton race. Anyway I guess it will all depend on the JFK 50 Mile race in November and how it goes. I have to start thinking with the mentallity that slower is better when it comes to ultras. Maybe not so much with the 50k's, but definitely anything longer.

In Preparaiton for the Toad

Other than Saturday this will be a down week and it started off with a 11k tempo run on Tuesday. I had bought new shoes on Monday night and I mean new, they are the Nike Air Zoom Elites and wow do they full good. I came out of the driveway like I was on springs. I was probably a little slower than the past weeks runs, but I still averaged 4:23/km and felt good. Wednesday night was supposed to be a nice easy run, but as usual we ran fairly quickly (4:33/km), but it felt good again. So now it is rest time until Saturday.

Sunday Long Run

Good run today with Roger, Brendan and Jamie. 25k in just over 2 hours. felt good, although left achilles was a little sore coming down Ferndale. After that I pciked up the pace and finished strong. Nice morning, warmer than I thought it was going to be (16C to start), but a little foggy and misty. Sun came out about 3/4 the way through.

Friday September 26th, 2008

Instead of Driving down to the Running Room today, I ran down. Last minute decision, but might as well. Good run, met Roger, Jamie, Nancy and Natalya for the run and we ran up to Sunnidale park for a run through the trails. In total about 15.5k. So a good run and I will take today (Saturday off for rest). Only 1 week 'till the Toad 50k. There is quite a group going down do the various distances, and we may all stay over in Cambridge to celebrate Sue's 50th.

Thursday run

Got back earlier than expected from the airport, actually had to be there a lot earlier than I thought. So I was able to get a run in tonight. It was a nice easy run, but averaged abouit 4:33 per km. I guess the speed and tempo runs are paying off. Lets hope.

Wednesday Speed Work

Had to do my speed work on Wednesday this week and it was rather warm. Maybe that's why it felt harder, although I thought it would have been easier. 10 x400m averaging about 1:26, not bad. Still don't like the track at School down the road.

Monday nights run

Against probably better judgement I went out and did a tempo run last night. As it will be tough to get in my runs this week I thought I better take advantage of a free evening last night to do my tempo run, and will get in my speed work on Wednesday before going to the Airport to pick up my step father, Jim.
Anyway it was a good run, as usual I did the same loop as normal over to Morrow Rd., up to Ardagh, then more hills to the top of Cummin. From there in a round about way to Mapleton and Ardagh back home. 14.2k in just over 1 hour (4:17/k). A little quicker than any other tempo run surprisingly considering the race on Sunday. Although I did walk about 1/4 of the Cummin hill.

Espanola Duathlon

Well my first attempt at a Duathlon will probably be my last, I didn't enjoy the bike ride, rough roads and a strong headwind coming back on the last 10k didn't help. It was a good event, small (there was onlt about 23 in the sprint). I came 6th, I think. I was 4th after the first 2.5k run (9:53), then had 2 pass me on the bike, including my friend Ken. He just kept pulling away from me. I guess it helps to put in some mileage on the bike. Unfortunately I find that I don't want to do anything else but run. The bike took about 42 minutes and the final 5k about 22 minutes. I finished the 5k strong so that was good. Anyway back to running and training for the Toad (5ok) and the Indianapolis Marathon.

First Post

Well this is my first post on this blog, so I'm not going to say too much. I'm going up to Espanola later today to do the Espanola Duathlon (a first for me) on Sunday. As such this will be a down week in the training, at least distance wise. I will keep adding details to the blog as I get time.