Monday (13km)
I thought I'd feel really rested today, but my body felt tired. It was especially hot, which did not help. Nathan, Chris and I went out for 28 minutes and came back in less - total time was 55 minutes. We went on the Brescia trails. It bothered me that Chris and Nathan were both confrontational with a pair of dog owners, one who had her dog off the leash - I just said nothing.
Tuesday (off)
I was planning to run today but took it off instead so that I could go to a group meeting where I was not sweaty and underdressed. The day off also meant that I was full of energy for ultimate frisbee.
Wednesday (workout - 13km total)
Not a bad workout. Pretty low volume, but good quality, which is nice to have before my big race weekend. Did 3 sets of (2x300m), with 30 seconds between the first and second 300, and 4 minutes between sets. Finished up with 8x150m accelerations, which was some nice quality to finish. My 300s were all in 47.5, with the exception of the fifth, which was in 48.4. Nathan, Rob and Jamie were able to blast away from me on these, but I was happy just to hit my goal pace.
Thursday (14km)
I ran down to the Budget rent-a-car on York St., and ran back. I had to get my name on the insurance for the van for Shore-to-Shore this weekend. Pretty uneventful run. My legs were a bit sore from yesterday, so I took it easy. 61 minutes in total.
Friday (2 races, 23km running in total)
The Shore-to-Shore relay. I was second out of 12 in the rotation, meaning that I ran at 10:40am and 7:30pm on Friday, and 5:40am on Saturday. My first leg was the longest of the whole event, 14.3km. I got the handoff 1:45 down on the leaders, and quickly made up ground. I brought Greg into view by 6km, and by 11km was about 12 seconds back. I had worked hard to close the gap, though, and could not run the final hills (it was a hilly course overall) as strong as he could. Knowing that there were over 300km left in the race, I decided not to kill myself to bring the race level, and just did all I could to maintain the gap. I did not get an exact time, but I was a bit under 51 minutes.
For my second leg, Chris handed off to me with a large lead on the other team, and I increased it further. It was a 7.4km, flat run. I went out hard, had a stretch of about a half kilometre where I slowed, then picked it up again. I did not get an exact time on this one either, but it was around 26 minutes. Had a good dinner afterwards.
Saturday (1 race, 11km running total)
I had gotten about 10 minutes of sleep before this run at 5:40am. It was a 10.6km run. Chris Smith handed off to me with a big lead, and again I was able to extend it. I went out hard, and before I got to within 4km of the finish, I was feeling tired. I was quite slow for a few steps, but I had banked a large lead in the first half. I handed off in 36:14. I would not be surprised if it was less than 10.6k, but it felt like at least a 35 minute 10k effort. Our team won the leg, but lost the 333km race by about 7 minutes.
Sunday (off)
Traveled to QUBS in Eastern Ontario. My legs were pooched, and I was sleepy tired.
Total - 74km. A tough low-mileage week. The Shore-to-Shore was a blast. I enjoy testing my fitness in ways that many people never will.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Monday, May 19, 2008
May 19 - 25
Monday (workout - 14km total)
A pretty good workout out at Mother Teresa. Smaller group tonight - Nathan, Rob, and Jamie were with us for the whole thing, some of the high school guys fit in for a couple of repeats. We did 5x300m in 1500 pace (I was 47.5-49 for each) with 90 seconds rest, then 3x1k (3:11/3:12/3:09) with 90 seconds rest between. I did not help with any of the work into the wind on the 300s - it was into our face for the first 100m in the 300s, and again from 300-400 and 700-800 in the k's. The faster guys were bouncing around with the pace a fair bit because a woman was doing laps on the inside of lane 2. I was pleased with my k's. I helped keep the pace strong on the final kilometre, though by this point the hay was in the barn. Short warmup and cooldown. My calves felt really sore from three moderately hard days, but I worked through it.
Tuesday (13km)
50 minutes with Nathan and Rich. Chris did not show up on time, so we ran without him. This was a really slow pace. I am including some k's from the ultimate frisbee game I played afterwards. I need to be careful with frisbee - I injured my knee quite badly last year.
Wednesday (workout - 17km total)
A pretty good workout for me. It was cool (8C) and rainy for the whole workout. I had a 10 minute threshold-pace interval to start, then 6x a short hill, and a farlek pyramid of 1/2/3/2/1 minutes with 1 minute jog for recovery. Rob Watson and Chris Nagle looked great. They put a lot of distance on me in the longer fartlek intervals. The hills were good quality, and I was able to blast through the final minuter.
Thursday (12km)
Probably longer than 12k, but I will round down. Ran with Chris on the Brescia trails. It had rained a lot the day before, so the path was slippery. We came back on the roads, crossing paths with Mike McIntosh and Steve Weiler.
Friday (10km)
It took me about 15 minutes of running to convince my legs that they wanted to do this. I went for 45 minutes total, and I was hoping to get out for some more in the PM. I went down to Springbank.
Saturday (19km)
Steve had me down for a long run yesterday that I did not do. I made up for it with a fairly easy 19k (80 minutes) today. Joined Chris for about 35 minutes of this. It was a nice day. I sprinted in to finish, then did 4x~100m strides to get some more speed in. It has been a long while since I last went to the gym. My membership expired at Goodlife, so I am going to go to the UCC tomorrow. I do not want to do weights today - Saturday weights usually means a bad Sunday run.
Sunday (17km)
A pretty disappointing run with Ben. I did a 4k warmup with Ben. My legs felt good, but I sensed a little tightness in my shoulders. We hung around the cars for a bit - Nathan pointed out a large white bird to me that I (oddly) identified as a turkey at first, and later realized it was a peahen (female version of the peacock). Strange to see one out there. I ran 5k still feeling good, though I felt as though I was working really hard up the hills. I had to loosen up my shoulders a bit, and shortly after 6k, my shoulders were really tight. I had trouble pushing my legs forward because of the tightness. I quit at about 6.5k, turned around and had a long, slow jog back. This was my first bad workout in a couple of weeks. Was I due? I had a tough week the week before, but three full days to recover before this one. I was left concluding that my troubles were the result of the way I slept, and it was not anything to worry about.
I did some weights in the afternoon. My shoulders were already sore, why not go for broke? It was my first time in the UCC weightroom since 2001. It sucks. I'll use it for the rest of the week, then renew my membership at Goodlife after my field season ends.
Total - 102km. Finally broke into three digits! Aside from Sunday's run, this was a really good week. I am happy with how I handled four hard days out of 5 (from last Saturday through Wednesday). It might have caught up to me by Sunday, but I now have two more easy days before Wednesday, so I should be ready to go. Shore-to-Shore next weekend.
A pretty good workout out at Mother Teresa. Smaller group tonight - Nathan, Rob, and Jamie were with us for the whole thing, some of the high school guys fit in for a couple of repeats. We did 5x300m in 1500 pace (I was 47.5-49 for each) with 90 seconds rest, then 3x1k (3:11/3:12/3:09) with 90 seconds rest between. I did not help with any of the work into the wind on the 300s - it was into our face for the first 100m in the 300s, and again from 300-400 and 700-800 in the k's. The faster guys were bouncing around with the pace a fair bit because a woman was doing laps on the inside of lane 2. I was pleased with my k's. I helped keep the pace strong on the final kilometre, though by this point the hay was in the barn. Short warmup and cooldown. My calves felt really sore from three moderately hard days, but I worked through it.
Tuesday (13km)
50 minutes with Nathan and Rich. Chris did not show up on time, so we ran without him. This was a really slow pace. I am including some k's from the ultimate frisbee game I played afterwards. I need to be careful with frisbee - I injured my knee quite badly last year.
Wednesday (workout - 17km total)
A pretty good workout for me. It was cool (8C) and rainy for the whole workout. I had a 10 minute threshold-pace interval to start, then 6x a short hill, and a farlek pyramid of 1/2/3/2/1 minutes with 1 minute jog for recovery. Rob Watson and Chris Nagle looked great. They put a lot of distance on me in the longer fartlek intervals. The hills were good quality, and I was able to blast through the final minuter.
Thursday (12km)
Probably longer than 12k, but I will round down. Ran with Chris on the Brescia trails. It had rained a lot the day before, so the path was slippery. We came back on the roads, crossing paths with Mike McIntosh and Steve Weiler.
Friday (10km)
It took me about 15 minutes of running to convince my legs that they wanted to do this. I went for 45 minutes total, and I was hoping to get out for some more in the PM. I went down to Springbank.
Saturday (19km)
Steve had me down for a long run yesterday that I did not do. I made up for it with a fairly easy 19k (80 minutes) today. Joined Chris for about 35 minutes of this. It was a nice day. I sprinted in to finish, then did 4x~100m strides to get some more speed in. It has been a long while since I last went to the gym. My membership expired at Goodlife, so I am going to go to the UCC tomorrow. I do not want to do weights today - Saturday weights usually means a bad Sunday run.
Sunday (17km)
A pretty disappointing run with Ben. I did a 4k warmup with Ben. My legs felt good, but I sensed a little tightness in my shoulders. We hung around the cars for a bit - Nathan pointed out a large white bird to me that I (oddly) identified as a turkey at first, and later realized it was a peahen (female version of the peacock). Strange to see one out there. I ran 5k still feeling good, though I felt as though I was working really hard up the hills. I had to loosen up my shoulders a bit, and shortly after 6k, my shoulders were really tight. I had trouble pushing my legs forward because of the tightness. I quit at about 6.5k, turned around and had a long, slow jog back. This was my first bad workout in a couple of weeks. Was I due? I had a tough week the week before, but three full days to recover before this one. I was left concluding that my troubles were the result of the way I slept, and it was not anything to worry about.
I did some weights in the afternoon. My shoulders were already sore, why not go for broke? It was my first time in the UCC weightroom since 2001. It sucks. I'll use it for the rest of the week, then renew my membership at Goodlife after my field season ends.
Total - 102km. Finally broke into three digits! Aside from Sunday's run, this was a really good week. I am happy with how I handled four hard days out of 5 (from last Saturday through Wednesday). It might have caught up to me by Sunday, but I now have two more easy days before Wednesday, so I should be ready to go. Shore-to-Shore next weekend.
May 12 - 18
Monday (workout - 14km total)
A track workout at Mother Teresa school. The warmup and cooldown were a decent length. This felt great. Partway through the second repeat I thought to myself: "I love this; I missed the track." Running in a group of 5 guys hitting comfortably fast splits felt great. I did 400/600/800/600/400 at a little faster than 72s per lap, then followed it up with 6x200m in 29.6-32.5 with a minute rest. On the 200s we were aiming for 1500m pace, which is about 33s for me, but I got pulled along to faster times.
Tuesday (14km)
58 minutes with Chris. We went out on the Adelaide trails, turned around and came back. It really was not very fast.
Wednesday (workout - 16km total)
Up in Arva. I felt good for this workout - I led the first 2k (3:23/3:20), then led three-quarters of the second 2k before falling off a little and getting passed (3:18/3:24). I might have been trying too hard. I then had a long recovery before I did 8x1 minute on, 1 minute off. Nathan and Rob did these really well, but after five with them, I realized that I needed an easier recovery jog. I did the final three on my own. Still at a good pace, but I was more recovered when I started.
Thursday (13km)
55 minutes on my own. There was a meeting for the shore-to-shore team at Chancey Smith's downtown. I ran down, had a long break, and ran the 30 minutes of balance afterwards. These were definitely junk miles.
Friday (OFF)
I just could not fit it in. Too much going on after school, and I had slept too late to get it in before school in the morning.
Saturday (1500m race - 15km total)
AM - I did a 20 minute shakeout run in the morning. It was really slow, but it helped my legs feel like moving again after a day off.
PM - The OTFA 4x1500m relay championship. London Runner was the only team entered, so we won in a cakewalk. I am an Ontario champion! I ran the first leg of the relay, passing off to Rob. I was aiming for 68s, but it was quite hard on my own. I ran a 4:20, which is not fast, but not embarrassing. No one ran more than five seconds faster than me, and our anchor's PB is 24 seconds faster than mine.
Sunday (14km total)
Denfield run. It was wet and cool. It really was not a fun run. Steve had me down for 10km, but my 10k finished on Hyde Park Road, which is too busy for me to want to get into the car. I ran an extra kilometre-plus to get onto a less busy road. So, it was 11k at about 3:45s, and a short warmup beforehand. The rain was really bad for my legs. I have some bad chafing now. I hope that some Vaseline will make me comfortable enough for Monday's track workout.
Total - 86km. I need to make sure I get in my Friday runs, somehow.
A track workout at Mother Teresa school. The warmup and cooldown were a decent length. This felt great. Partway through the second repeat I thought to myself: "I love this; I missed the track." Running in a group of 5 guys hitting comfortably fast splits felt great. I did 400/600/800/600/400 at a little faster than 72s per lap, then followed it up with 6x200m in 29.6-32.5 with a minute rest. On the 200s we were aiming for 1500m pace, which is about 33s for me, but I got pulled along to faster times.
Tuesday (14km)
58 minutes with Chris. We went out on the Adelaide trails, turned around and came back. It really was not very fast.
Wednesday (workout - 16km total)
Up in Arva. I felt good for this workout - I led the first 2k (3:23/3:20), then led three-quarters of the second 2k before falling off a little and getting passed (3:18/3:24). I might have been trying too hard. I then had a long recovery before I did 8x1 minute on, 1 minute off. Nathan and Rob did these really well, but after five with them, I realized that I needed an easier recovery jog. I did the final three on my own. Still at a good pace, but I was more recovered when I started.
Thursday (13km)
55 minutes on my own. There was a meeting for the shore-to-shore team at Chancey Smith's downtown. I ran down, had a long break, and ran the 30 minutes of balance afterwards. These were definitely junk miles.
Friday (OFF)
I just could not fit it in. Too much going on after school, and I had slept too late to get it in before school in the morning.
Saturday (1500m race - 15km total)
AM - I did a 20 minute shakeout run in the morning. It was really slow, but it helped my legs feel like moving again after a day off.
PM - The OTFA 4x1500m relay championship. London Runner was the only team entered, so we won in a cakewalk. I am an Ontario champion! I ran the first leg of the relay, passing off to Rob. I was aiming for 68s, but it was quite hard on my own. I ran a 4:20, which is not fast, but not embarrassing. No one ran more than five seconds faster than me, and our anchor's PB is 24 seconds faster than mine.
Sunday (14km total)
Denfield run. It was wet and cool. It really was not a fun run. Steve had me down for 10km, but my 10k finished on Hyde Park Road, which is too busy for me to want to get into the car. I ran an extra kilometre-plus to get onto a less busy road. So, it was 11k at about 3:45s, and a short warmup beforehand. The rain was really bad for my legs. I have some bad chafing now. I hope that some Vaseline will make me comfortable enough for Monday's track workout.
Total - 86km. I need to make sure I get in my Friday runs, somehow.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
May 5 - 11
Monday (workout - 14km)
Fairly light workout at Springbank with Chris and Jamie. We did a good warmup before Chris started on 6x1k. My workout was modified so that it wouldn't tax me too much, so I was 1k, then 4x500m and 1km all on the bike path. We worked it out so that I did a relay with Jamie, tagging off halfway through Chris's workout. This meant I had a lot of recovery after every second 500. I tried not to lead Chris by too much, so as he tired, my times got slower. I was 3:09/1:31/1:35/1:36/1:36/3:12. Did a light cooldown at the end.
Tuesday (15km)
A morning run with Chris. It was nice to get it out of the way. We went on the Adelaide trails and came back on Windermere and the back route by the stream. The pace was not too fast, but we were not dogging it, either. Today I turned 27.
Wednesday (workout - 18km total)
A good workout with the group. I was not feeling motivated for this workout because of the rain and my body felt tired from little sleep last night, but I had a good one. We did 8 short hills, which I did well in spite of the slippery conditions, then I did 3 x 9 minutes with 3 minutes rest. Some guys did as much as ten minutes per interval, but many stopped at 8. Steve told me to do 9. With the last one, I could have done another minute, but I decided to stick to the plan. It was not a fast pace, but with the conditions the way they were, with wet ground and long grass in some places, this was a good workout.
Thursday (11km)
Just 50 minutes with Chris. Our legs were feeling tired, so this was a true recovery run.
Friday (OFF)
I got invited to Point Pelee and did not get a chance to run today. I did a lot of walking instead.
Saturday (OFF)
No running today, either. More walking. The highlight was seeing a mottled duck, which is the first time one has been recorded in Canada. Neat.
Sunday (15km)
A quick 60 minutes on my own. It was a wet day, otherwise I would have been keen to go out earlier and run.
Total - 73km. It is not easy to hit the goal mileage when you miss two days.
Fairly light workout at Springbank with Chris and Jamie. We did a good warmup before Chris started on 6x1k. My workout was modified so that it wouldn't tax me too much, so I was 1k, then 4x500m and 1km all on the bike path. We worked it out so that I did a relay with Jamie, tagging off halfway through Chris's workout. This meant I had a lot of recovery after every second 500. I tried not to lead Chris by too much, so as he tired, my times got slower. I was 3:09/1:31/1:35/1:36/1:36/3:12. Did a light cooldown at the end.
Tuesday (15km)
A morning run with Chris. It was nice to get it out of the way. We went on the Adelaide trails and came back on Windermere and the back route by the stream. The pace was not too fast, but we were not dogging it, either. Today I turned 27.
Wednesday (workout - 18km total)
A good workout with the group. I was not feeling motivated for this workout because of the rain and my body felt tired from little sleep last night, but I had a good one. We did 8 short hills, which I did well in spite of the slippery conditions, then I did 3 x 9 minutes with 3 minutes rest. Some guys did as much as ten minutes per interval, but many stopped at 8. Steve told me to do 9. With the last one, I could have done another minute, but I decided to stick to the plan. It was not a fast pace, but with the conditions the way they were, with wet ground and long grass in some places, this was a good workout.
Thursday (11km)
Just 50 minutes with Chris. Our legs were feeling tired, so this was a true recovery run.
Friday (OFF)
I got invited to Point Pelee and did not get a chance to run today. I did a lot of walking instead.
Saturday (OFF)
No running today, either. More walking. The highlight was seeing a mottled duck, which is the first time one has been recorded in Canada. Neat.
Sunday (15km)
A quick 60 minutes on my own. It was a wet day, otherwise I would have been keen to go out earlier and run.
Total - 73km. It is not easy to hit the goal mileage when you miss two days.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
April 29-May 4
Monday (elliptical)
I was left on my own for this one. By the time I left my office, it was cool and a bit wet, so I decided to go inside to use the elliptical and do some weights. I covered 4.27 units (whatever they are) in an hour, which might be a new PB. The weight and core work felt good afterwards. I had not done it in several weeks, so it was good to get back.
Tuesday (12km)
52 minutes with Chris on the Adelaide trails. My left calf is still feeling sore from Saturday's track workout. This was just a relaxed run.
Wednesday (workout - 17km total)
Decent workout at Weldon Park. Started with 8x a short hill. The first 7 were good quality, but I let up a bit on number 8. We then went over to the track and did 5x800m with 2 minutes rest (2:33, 2:32, 2:33, 2:36, 2:37 for me). I started too fast, and paid for it by the end. Realistically, I should have been aiming for 2:35-2:36 at this point in the season. Finished up with two sets of 400/200, with a 30s rest after the 400 and plenty of rest between sets. My first set was not very good (71/31), but my second set got better (69/30). I did not feel very recovered from the 800s when we started the first set. Satisfying workout, though, coming off an illness.
Thursday (14km)
AM - weights and core.
PM - 60 minutes with Chris. My calves were really sore from yesterday still. We went south along the bike path through Gibbons and out to the sewage treatment plant and turned around to come back. This was a pretty relaxed pace, but it was not easy because my legs were so sore.
Friday (13km)
I drove home to Brockville and did my run around the senior boys' 3000m race up at TISS. I ran up there (adding on a bit to get to 30 minutes), and came back with a more direct route to get an additional 22 minutes. It was a good race - Jacob Smith set an aggressive pace at the start, but got passed at 1700m, and Daryl Smith kicked home with a k to go. He won by 9 seconds - very impressive. My calves were still sore.
Saturday (10km)
My calves felt really rough today. I had to stop and walk in the second half of the run to relieve some tension. It was a bright, warm day. I went up to TISS to check out the 3k results, then turned around and came home.
Sunday (race - 14km total)
A bit cool, but quite windy. Kevin Beatty and Joe Turner showed up, so it was nice to have someone to talk to on the warmup and cooldown. Kevin set a quick early pace that I hung onto for only 900m before he opened it up. I hit the k in 3:08. The wind was in our face for the second half. I felt strong the whole way, but my time was severely affected. I ran only 16:58. Given my illness two weeks ago, I had low expectations, but I still thought a 16:40 was in the works. I got a massage afterwards and the masseuse suggested that I get more calcium to relieve my muscle cramps. They were still tight. I took a double-dose of calcium and will start doubling up for the next few weeks.
Total - 80km (plus an elliptical; about 15k of effort). Decent volume, but I am uneasy about my calves. I hope they do not become a problem throughout the season.
I was left on my own for this one. By the time I left my office, it was cool and a bit wet, so I decided to go inside to use the elliptical and do some weights. I covered 4.27 units (whatever they are) in an hour, which might be a new PB. The weight and core work felt good afterwards. I had not done it in several weeks, so it was good to get back.
Tuesday (12km)
52 minutes with Chris on the Adelaide trails. My left calf is still feeling sore from Saturday's track workout. This was just a relaxed run.
Wednesday (workout - 17km total)
Decent workout at Weldon Park. Started with 8x a short hill. The first 7 were good quality, but I let up a bit on number 8. We then went over to the track and did 5x800m with 2 minutes rest (2:33, 2:32, 2:33, 2:36, 2:37 for me). I started too fast, and paid for it by the end. Realistically, I should have been aiming for 2:35-2:36 at this point in the season. Finished up with two sets of 400/200, with a 30s rest after the 400 and plenty of rest between sets. My first set was not very good (71/31), but my second set got better (69/30). I did not feel very recovered from the 800s when we started the first set. Satisfying workout, though, coming off an illness.
Thursday (14km)
AM - weights and core.
PM - 60 minutes with Chris. My calves were really sore from yesterday still. We went south along the bike path through Gibbons and out to the sewage treatment plant and turned around to come back. This was a pretty relaxed pace, but it was not easy because my legs were so sore.
Friday (13km)
I drove home to Brockville and did my run around the senior boys' 3000m race up at TISS. I ran up there (adding on a bit to get to 30 minutes), and came back with a more direct route to get an additional 22 minutes. It was a good race - Jacob Smith set an aggressive pace at the start, but got passed at 1700m, and Daryl Smith kicked home with a k to go. He won by 9 seconds - very impressive. My calves were still sore.
Saturday (10km)
My calves felt really rough today. I had to stop and walk in the second half of the run to relieve some tension. It was a bright, warm day. I went up to TISS to check out the 3k results, then turned around and came home.
Sunday (race - 14km total)
A bit cool, but quite windy. Kevin Beatty and Joe Turner showed up, so it was nice to have someone to talk to on the warmup and cooldown. Kevin set a quick early pace that I hung onto for only 900m before he opened it up. I hit the k in 3:08. The wind was in our face for the second half. I felt strong the whole way, but my time was severely affected. I ran only 16:58. Given my illness two weeks ago, I had low expectations, but I still thought a 16:40 was in the works. I got a massage afterwards and the masseuse suggested that I get more calcium to relieve my muscle cramps. They were still tight. I took a double-dose of calcium and will start doubling up for the next few weeks.
Total - 80km (plus an elliptical; about 15k of effort). Decent volume, but I am uneasy about my calves. I hope they do not become a problem throughout the season.
April 21-27
This was not a great week for me. I was still getting over my illness (whatever it was). I had a couple of decent workouts, though, that showed that I'm on my way back. Wednesday I did 10 short hills at a fast pace, then went over to the track to do 3x 800, 800, 400. I think. It was okay. I stuck with the group. Saturday I did (400, 3x200), (2x400), and a 1200m fartlek. It was my first true track workout in a year, so my times were not impressive 62 for the first 400. Sunday I finished up with a 10k in 37:28 with the group (aiming for 3:45kms). I felt as though doing another 2k was possible, but would absolutely wipe me. Fortunately I was on the schedule for only 10.
Total - I cannot remember.
Total - I cannot remember.
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