Waterfront 10
Very busy lately and completely enjoying the journey. Getting married, moving into a new house, training and racing.
Last weekend Marie and I got married in Hamilton. We had a small ceremony of family and a some great meals. Seeing that Marie can’t drink right now and I’m pretty serious about training a simple wedding weekend suited us perfectly. The weekend went smoothly and because it was low-key I was able to run 33km Saturday morning and catch a nap before the ceremony began.
Bride, groom and baby with family in the background. Photo: Aaron Offord
Yesterday I raced the Waterfront 10k in Downtown Toronto. Once again Alan Brookes and his team at Canadian Running Series put on a top notch event and delivered on entertainment and organization.
The course starts with 1km down University and then goes out and back along Lakeshore. With a 7:30am start I figured we would dodge the heat. We definitely missed the killer heat but it was enough of a scorcher on Saturday that after a few km we were feeling the hot conditions.
Gillis and I led the first 5km (14:44) with many guys in tow. Sometimes I would try and tuck in but guys weren’t running the tangents so I would lead the shortest route. No point in running further than 10km when I’m shooting for a time. Once it was just Gillis and I in the second half of the race he was doing more leading. When I felt the pace slow I would pull up and that would usually get him going again.
We weren’t quite hitting the pace I initially wanted (2:54/km) but given the heat it felt hard enough. With just over 1km to go I kept pushing the pace and Eric kept responding. With about 400m to go he pulled ahead of me and beat me by two seconds. 29:23 to 29:25. Our training partner, Tristan Woodfine, made it a Speed River sweep finishing third in 29:54.
Photo: Michael Lin
My body felt better racing than it did one month ago in Ottawa where my injury was more present. Even though I could feel some discomfort yesterday it wasn’t too bad at all and some of the stuff I’m experiencing is my glute firing better than it was a couple of weeks ago so it’s getting sore. This is a good sign.
I was more tired racing Waterfront than Ottawa as I ran 200km last week and 190km this week (compared to 135km). Even though it would have been beneficial to back off my volume to be sharp for this 10km and appease my “competitive readiness” standard I didn’t want to take away from marathon training. I’m still holding strong to train properly for August 21st even though I haven’t officially achieved “competitive readiness.”
The Canadian Olympic team for Athletics will be announced on July 11th, the day after the Olympic Track and Field Trials in Edmonton. In order to stay sane and focus on my training without distractions I tell myself they will select me to the team. I believe this because despite my times being a tad slow due to heat I am racing well. I haven’t talked to Peter Ericsson since Waterfront 10 (I’ll wait until after the weekend) and perhaps this race does demonstrate “competitive readiness.”
I also have one more race lined up, The Boilermaker 15km, on July 10th. Although I haven’t been told one way or another if the 15km race will count towards “competitive readiness” (maybe they didn’t anticipate it would come down to this race) I’m going to go ahead and assume it is. It makes sense to me that a 15km is just as, if not more, relevant than a 10km when looking at marathon fitness.
This Thursday Marie and I will be moving into our house in Hamilton. Once were settled in our house I’m going to have much less on my plate heading into August. I’ll be busy enough with training.
Toronto Waterfront 10 Awards - Overall Male
Place Time Bib # Name Sex Age City
===== ========= ====== ============================= === === =========================
1 29:22.6 2 Gillis, Eric M 36 Guelph
2 29:24.4 1 Coolsaet, Reid M 36 Guelph
3 29:53.8 6 Woodfine, Tristan M 23 Guelph
4 30:20.7 19 Tola, Hajin M 33 Toronto
5 30:27.7 1462 Ejigu, Ebisa Merga M 27 Toronto
6 30:32.9 5 Toth, Thomas M 24 Plaistow
7 30:49.3 18 Assefa, Girma M 30 Toronto
8 30:56.5 3 Jibril, Sami M 26 Toronto
9 31:21.5 11 Cooper, Aaron M 30 Camlachie
10 31:24.9 24 Marcaccio, Seth M 21 London
Comments are closed.
FLOAT ON 
This whole competitive readiness is bullshit. We should be sending all the athletes we can in order to inspire the next generation of runners. Using Lanni Marchant as an example: What are we telling young runners when Canada’s fastest marathoner EVER might not be allowed to compete at the Olympics? What kind of message does that send? You work hard, you become the best in your country, but you still might not be able to compete at the Olympics.
That’s my mini-rant. Good luck, Reid. We’re rooting for you to represent us!
You ran 20 miles the morning of your wedding? Okay, I guess Marie understands what she’s getting into! // It’s amazing to me how close you and Gillis have been all these years. He’s on a roll right now, and you’re getting there too. Good race in Toronto. // Wouldn’t it make sense to taper just a teeny bit for Boilermaker, if that race is the day before they announce? What would your goal be there? sub-45? // Enjoy your new house, life, everything. It’s been fun reading your last few posts with all these changes. Of course, Rio is the icing on the cake that we’re all hoping for you get to eat in August.
Thanks Art. The week of Boilermaker will be a little lower as I typically follow a 3 week ‘up’, 1 week ‘down’ mileage progression. Sub 45 would be nice
Reid, I hope it all works out and you’re on your way to Rio! (But if for some reason it doesn’t, break the Canadian record in Berlin so we can all rub Ericsson’s nose in it. Maybe that will get them to re-think AC’s standards and selection process.)