Even Flow

Watching the World Cup Final is the perfect way to relax and recover after this morning’s Acura 10 Mile race in Toronto.  Unfortunately I had to miss the first mountain stage of Le Tour this morning but it was well worth it for a solid effort over parts of the Scotiabank Waterfront marathon course I’ll be running at the end of September.   With sunny skies and temperatures around 22C (much cooler than earlier this week, thank god) it was a beautiful morning for a race.

Given the calm weather my plan for the race was to squeak under 3:00/km pace for the 16.1km race.  The first km was passed in 3:00 with a small pack and then I got to 5km in 14:58 with Josephat and Chengere Dadi Tolassa in tow.  I didn’t recognize Chengere and asked him, in french, if he lived in Switzerland and knew the Stellingwerff’s.  Sure enough it was him, the same guy I suggested to Hilary that he run this race while he visits his brother in Toronto.  After 7km I tried to drop him a couple of times to no avail and thought that my email to Hilary may end up costing me $400 (difference between 1st and 2nd prize money).  A little after 9km I finally shook off the 28:00 10km runner and went through 10km in 30:03.  I started to pick up the pace ever so slightly and went through 15km in 45:00, right on 3:00/km pace.  My final time of 48:24 was 1 minute and 10 seconds ahead of second the place finisher and comes out to 3:00/km (4:50/mile) on this calculator http://runningmagazine.ca/calculators/ .  I was very pleased with the consistent pace as I’m pretty sure my km splits were all between 2:57 and 3:03 and I split 5 miles in 24:12, exactly even for the first and second 5 mile splits.

Putting my feet up and relaxing today is part of my recovery from a solid effort.  Proper recovery from hard workouts and races is instrumental in maximizing future performance and if not done at all you can risk burnout.  First off it’s important to replenish fluids and carbohydrates with some protein.  Right after my race that included water, an isotonic sports drink and a banana.  Following an easy 5km cool-down I had another banana, 2 apples and PowerBar recovery shake with peanut butter (the PB mixed up surprisingly well in my shake bottle).  After the race I put on some Zanagen Xccelerate  sports cream and then my CEP compression socks which I find are two ways to maximize recovery.  Once I got home I had a couple of fried eggs with guacamole on toast and frozen yogurt for dessert.  I typically take a cold bath but by the time I got home from the race it had been 3.5 hours since I finished so I didn’t bother filling up my backyard rubbermaid with water and ice.  Later this evening I’ll probably take a little walk and do some Active Isolated Stretching to get the blood flowing a bit.

There it is, Spain just won.  I had a feeling they would although I was cheering for the Netherlands.  Now it’s time to watch a video recap of this morning’s Tour… I’m pulling for Ryder Hesjedal and Andy Schleck.

Contador is probably much happier about today’s soccer match than he is of Schleck winning the stage.

My version of the Contador Fingerbang looks more like a Big L tribute.  Fail on that one.

Acura 10-Miler results and write-up

—– ——— —– ——— —- ————————————- —————— ——– ——– 
               Final     Pace  Real                                                                                                        5 Mile  5-10 Mile
Place Time      /km   Time        #  Name                                                City                               Split
—– ——— —– ——— —- ————————————- —————— ——– ——– 

    1   48:24.2  3:01   48:22.9    1        COOLSAET, REID                    GUELPH               24:12   24:13
    2   49:34.9  3:05   49:34.9 1777  DADI, TOLASSA                      TORONTO             24:12   25:23
    3   50:36.5  3:09   50:35.3    2       ONGERI, JOSEPHAT              BURLINGTON         24:30   26:07
    4   50:41.6  3:10   50:41.6    9        DEBELU, LEMMA                    KITCHENER             25:14   25:29
    5   51:42.6  3:13   51:42.6   12        GETNET, DAGIM                     TORONTO                   25:34   26:10
    6   53:01.2  3:18   53:01.2   13       KARANJA, FRED                     HAMILTON               26:04   26:58
    7   53:01.7  3:18   53:01.7 1150   NZINGA, JOSPHAT                 TORONTO                  26:01   27:02
    8   54:56.6  3:26   54:56.6   11       GATUNDU, VICTOR                HAMILTON              27:15   27:43
    9   55:08.5  3:26   55:08.5   15      MINICHIELLO, RICHARD    OTTAWA                    27:13   27:56
   10   55:51.1  3:29   55:51.1   19        COX, TROY                              HUNTSVILLE             27:42   28:10