Life on the Run

It's about time to get focused. I cant believe it took me this long.
In the aftermath of the debaucle of my Vancouver Marathon experience in trying to qualify for the 2020 Boston Marathon, I have realized I needed to let someone else take the reigns and give a run-specific training program.

It was a long process to get to this point. I felt like for the past 10-15 years I have made it okay with my own collection of training ideas and programs. My self-coached program was mostly tied to busy-life accessability. Maybe a speedwork session at lunch if I had 45 minutes, or maybe a hill repeat session in the evening after I put the kids to bed. Maybe I would occasionally skip the weekend long run to go for a fun bike ride and beers instead. I worked my training schedule around my social/family/work life. And, this mostly works except when it doesn't.

In the past four years I haven't really had a pure top-performance that I can say I was actually completely at my capacity. I would like to feel that again: the sensation that everything is clicking, the internal gauge is parallel with how I'm actually functioning.

I've gone with a serious thoughts on either just giving up the longer distances completely so there is less chance of total destruction. Or, the alternative, is to challenge my norm and give the coaching reigns up to someone else and completely do the work so I don't have any more excuses of why I don't feel at my potiental. Insead of alway wondering what I could accomplish. I want to actually make a solid effort and in good or bad, at least I made the attempt to push it (and hopefully accomplish it). Also, I need something to work towards bigger than my current work/life balance and build some motivation and momentum.

Started in December 2019, I have employed Jim Finlayson to guide me to the Boston Marathon for some more serious success at racing. It has just started to get tough but I feel the changes happening, more on this later.

Early 2019 Training and Racing

This year so far I have had more on the run-focus training program. Though, to be honest, I still always keep up with biking and strength training for injury prevention and variation to keeps things fresh.

Comox Valley 1/2 Marathon Recap
I went into this race with the idea of some marathon pace specific training before the Vancouver Marathon. I was going to run just faster than my marathon pace (3:45/km approx) then, if all felt good, going to push the last 3-5km. It was a perfect day with a good group of fast runners showed up for the day. I ran out to the turn-around point with a youngster to pace with plans to catch the top two guys in the last few km. I did not feel great at 18km so I cruised it in for a 1:16. The 18 year old I ran with, Anton, was a local who set a 6 min PR in the race and finished strong!  I was actually quite happy with my results but was wondering where my legs were later in the race. I had done more road miles than in a long time but it did not seem to translate to road race speed (this should have been an early warning signs for the marathon).

Vancouver Marathon
 In an amazing stroke of luck, I was selected as an "elite athlete" for the race and was able to meet the other elites and professional athletes at the meeting and dinner before the race. I really enjoyed this evening and was able to feel myself and have good conversations with top athletes. Everything in preparation went as plans; nutrition, hydration, and sleep was good compared to previous experiences. Getting to the race and my warm-up was normal and better than usual. Though, my performance leaves more to be desired. I was aiming for a 2:45 finish time (3:48/km pace) till 30km and then see how I felt and try to push it. I turns out, I got to 30km on pace.... and then rapidly blew up. Most muscles in my lower extremity took turns cramping, usually both legs AND at the same time. First hamstrings, then groin, then quads and followed by calves. I had to alternate between altered side-stepping gait and stopping to stretch out the spasm. I could run in 500m portions before muscular lock-down would occur. I finished in 2:59:11, I got my Boston Marathon Qualifier but not the way I wanted it.

At 25km & still smiling. Photo W. Crowe

I still don't really know what happened but it mostly has to do with my training leading up to this and not doing much intensity with volume. I would do long runs of 30km+ multiple times but not with any intensity and I would also do speed workouts with only 8-10km of actual "work". Possibly some dehydration or overheating was at play with this but I cant really say it was really that bad.

I'd like to redeem this in the future. Possibly the Victoria Marathon in October or something similar. I will keep the training moving forward with some more volume and intensity.

Cumby Trail Race

What a day! Perfect weather and awesome conditions for just an amazing day on the trails. I had an epiphany that I really enjoy running on trails and I feel I'm fairly good at it. I would like to explore the longer distances in the near future and test out a few 50km Ultramarathons. I'm not sure what will be first on the plan but a trip to cool places for these races might be in order.

It was hot and hilly but I didn't run into any cramping issues, even though it was only a week after the Vancouver Marathon where I exploded fantastically and dragged myself to the finish line. I will explore this further in the near future.

Moving into Summer months I would like to still do some triathlons to keep connected and hit some destination races in Whistler and Portland.

Run Specific Training

I'm back after a summer hiatus from focused training and racing. There were some big family things and professional projects that needed my attention. I still ran, biked, and swam most weeks but not in a training program designed to peak for a specific race.

I realize now that I feel more fulfilled when I'm focused on executing a training plan. Not only physically or mentally but within my business or personal life I like to be challenged and work through the steps to get to the goal. Is this goal-oriented? Possibly. I'd like to think that I just like to be productive. I really enjoy the journey to get to my best.

I've gone back to basics with my running training. It took some time to get the motivation going for the longer runs increased intensity. My body has been sore! I forgot how it felt. Most days, I'm very sore and stuff. I'm constantly working on flexibility and muscle release. I also have to train my brain to handle pushing through the discomfort for longer than my brain wants too!

I recently ran on the track (WHAT!?) for mile repeats. It was only four of them, after all, but I felt like I ripped myself new calfs, hammy's and glutes. For more than 2 days also!!  Hopefully, this is adaptation and next time it will be easier. It already has.

I did my first running race in five months last weekend. The Fernie half-marathon & 10k (formerly the Fernie Run-around). It was hard. It was cold and snowy, -1C actually, and I wore thermal long-johns to not freeze. Turns out that was a bit overkill when in a race. I took the win and I was fun to run in my hometown, the trails of my childhood. It was slow though, 1:19:22. I felt like I was running fast, but it was only 3:44 min/km splits, I should be around 3:30-3:35 min/km.

My goal is to run a sub 2:30 marathon. Some day before I get to that age of diminishing returns. Is that 40? is that 38? or is that even 42? All of these ages are just around the corner. So, I feel the time is now to accomplish these lifetime goals. Since I'm on goals the other one is a sub 1:10 half marathon. I feel this is significantly harder to accomplish but the half marathon is my favorite race and better suited for a busy family life & managing a business. I just can't get the volume of training for longer races at this point in time.

Rough Plan:

Dec. 3rd: Sacramento Marathon
Jan. 13th - Pioneer 8km North Saanich
Feb 10th: First Half Marathon Vancouver
March 24th - CV half marathon

Cobble Hill 10km

"It got ugly out there" An old friend used to say after a race that involved a lot of grunt work. And, today was one of those races. I found it involved a bit of extra effort mentally to keep pushing myself to the finish line. Meanwhile, I was flailing all over the place and grinding everything out of it.
 What is it about the late stage of the race where you want to drop the pace and just walk it in for the last few km. Is there something wrong with my race strategy? Maybe I'm going out too hard? Maybe I don't have the fitness level that I think I have? Maybe I enjoy beer too much?  The questions will eventually need to be answered.

Well, today was a great race in chilly conditions up the road near Cowichan Bay.  It was put on by the Ceevacs road runners club. It is relatively flat but undulating with small inclines and descents all thought the race.  I found it hard to lock-on to a pace and I felt like someone who drives like my Grampa: with two feel, one on the brake one on the gas, constantly accelerating and slowing.
In the future I hope to improve on my speed (and pacing) and over the next few weeks leading into the longer races I can hammer the finish.
Next week is the Cedar 12km....and a few weeks later is the Courtenay 1/2 marathon!

www.drvinge.com

Winter Wonderland

The only city in Canada today that it did not snow at some time was..... Victoria, BC. This is where I live. It make it a good place for training for road-running.  It has been getting the same precipitation as Whistler or Banff, but it is all  in the wet, grey and muddy form.  The past two weeks of training has been saturated and sopping wet to some degree or another. I think it would be fine to layer up a few extra items to hit the snowy outdoors. The best part of snow is that you don't get wet, just brush off the snow! As you can tell I'm itching to get away from the wet coast and find my way to the mountains.I feel that a change in seasons is a good variety in life; I want some snow! I recently had a snowy trip to the Kootenays for a mountain adventure and it was a perfect time to test out my new winter kicks. 

My winter cross-country runners are the new NB 1010's the minimalist version of the grippy trail shoe. In a recent wintery visit to Fernie I got a great run on the fresh trails with lots of traction.

I'm ready to get out in the snow and use something other than a pair of shoes to plod my way around.... Time for cross country skiing. More on this soon!

Yes, you are right! It turns out most of my predictions were incorrect. But, that is what the top level competition is; always exciting never expected. Congratulations to all the competitors. Even just making it into the B or C final is a good position for further advancement next year.   Now, it is time to go back to the training programs and look how to change it for next year. The most important thing is to take a break from  one-sport one-action and do some cross-training outside of your indoor erg work.

Snowshoeing 

CrossFit! 

XC skiing

Mtn Biking

Yoga

Sailing

Running 

A Good Read

I always try to use a good book to occupy my mind while I go through life.  I try to have two books on the go at all times; a fiction or historical adventure along with a self-improvement book.   Sometimes it is nice to get lost in a story or adventure from a time past. I sometimes think I was born 100+ years too late and all the remote locations on earth have already been explored.  With the self improvement book, I like to keep learning from the life experiences of others and what they have described to build a personal success system.

On the side of the historical adventure I have recently been captivated by naval exploration stories. First, the stories of Ernest Shackleton, the early 20th century polar explorer.  I just finished his first hand account of the story of The Endurance, the ship that was locked in sea-ice before it was crushed and the 28 men survived for almost 900 days in the Antarctic to tell the tale.  The second book is the previously un-published history of Sir Francis Drake and his treasure-seeking secret voyage to the west coast of North America - even around Vancouver Island!

Another great adventure book more current and with recent research and developments in the athletics world is Born to Run. It tells a story of a secret tribe of  natives living in the central Mexican scrub-land and surviving by running down their food and also for fun, all while going barefoot! Chris McDougall goes through the science behind why barefoot runners have dramatically reduced injury rates compared to modern stability-controlled engineered $200 shoes.  It is not only educational with comparative examples it is captivating. I couldn't put the book down!  It may be biased toward the barefoot camp in the current running world's argument discussion over barefoot vs. support shoes, but I enjoyed the ride.

On the self-improvement side, I like to think of it as a guideline of how to pursue and fulfill the goals that I have in life. I haven't lived or experience a full lifetime yet so why don't I read about what others have gone through, learn from them, and build a success system that works for me.  I often can only read these books for a few pages or a chapter at most in one sitting. But, I keep them marked and folded pages to the good points that I will revisit at a future time.

  The first book is In Pursuit of Excellence by Terry Orlick, a classic straight-forward guide for living successfully. Defining what makes someone successful is all in the perspective of each individual but in every case it involves hard work and determination to get there.  This book may be fairly common sense but it has excellent real-life examples from many of the top athletes from many different sports.

The second is a little known book by the personal chiropractor of Lance Armstrong during his seven consecutive Tour de France wins.  Dr. Jeff Spencer is now a "life coach to the stars" and public speaker but is a bit cocky about it all. He has put together a book about how to perform at your highest level all in an easy, concise and readable way. I was able to see him during a talk he did in Portland and was impressed how simple he explains to create a winning plan. Mostly straight forward step by step goal setting ideas he gives many useful tips on how to clear out clutter in everyday life while saving time and removing yourself from toxins.   

The third book is a classic first written in 1937 by Dale Carnegie. It is every bit as effective today as it was almost 80 years ago. In my mind, it should be read by everyone and has very common conversational tips to keep people interested in effective communication and not loosing interest.  To me, it means more about influencing people but everyone can take away different things with it. For example,   the simple way of remembering someones name and birthday may be the biggest things you can do to brighten someones day.