FLOAT ON

6 weeks to go until STWM

Sept 4th race: Dodge Virginia Beach half marathon
Time: 1:03:16
Place: 5th

This weekend was one of my big tests before the marathon and it came in the form of a half marathon in Virginia Beach, VA.  The purpose of this race was to break up training, be competitive, push a little harder than marathon pace and gain confidence.

Right from the gun one Kenyan went out really hard while another Kenyan broke from the pack 800m into the race.  There was a decent pack of us through 2 miles but it quickly dwindled down to 6 of us with the two front running Kenyans pretty far ahead.  From 3 miles until almost 7 miles Samuel Ndereba led Ryan Hall, Gillis and myself with a Kenyan and a Japanese runner in tow.  Ryan Hall made a push and spread it out and then I pressed the pace quite a bit from 7 miles to 10 miles. Throughout the race Ryan Hall got many cheers and luckily I had some family, who lives in Virginia, come out and cheer for me too.

Early on in the race.

GIllis and I were side by side at 10 miles and when I saw the split, 48:12, I said to him that we’re running better than we did at Acura 10 miler.  After that Ndereba pushed the pace some more and Gillis was a little back. And then I made a stupid move.  Because the outside traffic lane was more slanted I moved into the inside of the road for a flatter running surface and I lost a little bit of ground on Ndereba and Hall.  This little break became a couple of seconds and then we went up a hill and the gap stretched a little further.  After the descent there were two 90 degree turns where I fell off some more.  Gillis later told me that he was gaining during that section.  Once I got onto the final straight I was 10 seconds back of Ndereba and Hall and that gap pretty much stayed the same, although they kicked the final 200m and added a few more seconds.  Lesson learned, stay with the runners to keep up with them, seems pretty obvious.

When I saw the 20km split of 59:59 I was determined to keep my pace under 3:00/km so I kept the effort solid all the while feeling that I hadn’t beat myself up too much. Other than not running with the pack during the late stages of the race I got what I wanted out of the race.  It was 21C and 93% humidity so even though I wanted that sub 63 I’m happy with my time under the conditions.  It gives me the confidence to know I can slow that pace down quite a bit for STWM when I’ll have to double the distance.

I had a solid mileage day today and recovery is going well.  A couple more easy mileage days before the next session.

On the flight home (Charlotte, NC to Buffalo, NY) we encountered some incredible turbulence.  For a a little bit it was just regular turbulence with the captain saying return to your seats and buckle up.  And then all of a sudden, whooomp!, the plane drops, drinks and snacks go flying and the stewardess goes down, hard.  I was lifted off my seat and tight against my seatbelt, it felt like a rollercoaster.  Shortly after we passed the storm the attendants had to wipe down the ceiling, every drink went up in the air.  Luckily we were sitting in the second half of the plane where drinks hadn’t been served yet.  Deplaning the plane looked like an after party with ice cubes everywhere.

Recovering after the race in my CEP socks in the Cavalier Hotel, classy place.

7 weeks to go until STWM

I’m certainly glad that the 1/2 marathon in Virginia Beach is next Sunday considering Irene ripped through there this weekend.  It’s also a good thing this 1/2 is coming up soon because my tired legs are in need of a “down” week.  This “down” week will still likely be around 180km with Thursday’s workout being shorter than usual since we’ll be running for over an hour hard on Sunday.  I’m really looking forward to this 1/2 marathon because I think the race, as well as a couple key workouts to come, will give me a good idea about what pace I want at STWM.

On Wednesday and Friday my legs were very tired for my morning runs.  This is par for coming off my biggest mileage week and still logging over 210km this week.  On top of that, I had good quality workouts on Monday and Thursday.  Thursday we did mile repeats on the road around exhibition park, the same venue as last year.  This was my best set of mile repeats in a marathon build-up to date and it bodes well for the 1/2 coming up.  The only thing I was afraid of during the workout was not being able to match my splits the next time I do this workout, haha.

Yesterday Gillis and Watson came to Hamilton to join Karanja and myself for a long run on the Sulpher Spring trails.  I love these trails and I talk about them all the time so I’m glad these guys got the grand tour and an appreciation for the hills. 4:25/km is not the same as 4:25/km on normal trails.

Worlds Worlds Worlds!  What can I say, they’re off to a great start already, great races and plenty of drama in the men’s 100m. In fact that’s why I’m writing a blog tonight, I’m at my computer waiting to see Alex Genest (repping Speed River) and Matt Hughes run the steeplechase (9:40pm EST).  Exciting races in the 10 000’s and Women’s marathon, although it’s been frustrating to watch some of the coverage because they’ll pan into random audiences or dissect a mediocre long jump during a distance final.  The announcers were also frustrated about the video feed they were getting during the men’s 10 000m today.  I tried streaming Eurosport coverage but they get the same feed as CBC.  I’m not sure who is directing the shots but I’m certain their head is somewhere in their anus.

8 weeks to go until STWM.

Before my build-up I thought I was going to peak my weekly mileage at 240km (149 miles), well that’s not going to happen. I got over 230km and I’ll have to settle with that as I’m not planning on going any higher in the next 8 weeks.  Running 45km on Friday didn’t hurt in setting my highest weekly total ever.  That long-run went well, Gillis and I were able to nail our tempo portion dead-on pace.  The only side-effect I had was a tight plantar, probably from trying to protect my toe joint.  My foot was still tight today and I think that put a little extra strain on my calf when we we’re doing our fartlek.  A couple easy days, massage, CEP socks, icing, Zanagen and maybe some non-impact should help it get back to normal.

Last week Paul Gains wrote an article on myself for the upcoming STWM and I think a Bairu article might be coming up this week.  Rob Watson and Gillis articles are in the works too.

World Track and Field Championships in Daegu, South Korea start on Saturday and once again there will be a lot of content on cbc.ca/sports.  As the WC marathon approaches I’ll likely wish I was racing there but I’m sure once the race is on and I see the conditions (hot and humid) I’ll be more than happy with my choice to race STWM.  Alex Genest is representing Speed River in Daegu in the Steeplechase, the heats are on Aug 29 and the final Sept 1st.

Here’s a video after the Acura 10 miler last week

9 weeks to go until STWM.

Sunday August 14th Acura 10 miler: 1st place, 48:34

race beards in full effect

I was pleased with the 10 miler yesterday at the Distillery District in Toronto, which was my third race in the Canadian Running Series this year.  As happy as I am with my performance I can’t help but compare my time to last year when I ran 9 seconds faster.

I think there are four reasons that contributed to not running faster.

It was more humid this year than last year which was weird because before the race I believed the conditions were better because it didn’t feel too hot with cloud cover.  But once we got going it was quite muggy.

Last year I set out to run 3:00/km and with limited competition I was able to keep my pace even, in fact my 5 mile splits were 24:12/24:13.  This year the guys were racing the first 7km and our pace dipped down to 2:57/km at times.  My two 5 mile splits were 24:06/24:28 yesterday, ugly.

somewhere around 4-5km

This reason is weak but, I have been running more mileage so far in my build-up so I may not have been quite as sharp.  Going into Acura I did the same workout as last year on the Thursday but my overall weekly mileage was 30km more this year.  I also wasn’t sick three weeks out like I was this year.

The main reason I didn’t run faster than last year is that I simply didn’t push after 13km (13km split 39:02).  I let myself back-off a little bit and my pace slowed down ~4 seconds/km, which adds up quickly!

Overall it was fun to race and good to break the training routine where I try to, ever so slightly, push down my threshold pace and feel comfortable at marathon effort.  This week is going to be a big mileage week with a long run towards the end of the week.

It also felt really good to shave last night!

RESULTS

I like how they have the 5 mile split.  Seems as though fading was the trend amongst the top 10.

    1   48:33.8  3:02    COOLSAET, Reid        Hamilton       24:05.5   24:28.4   
    2   49:01.0  3:03    GILLIS, Eric          Guelph         24:06.0   24:55.0   
    3   49:26.5  3:05    LOISELLE, Matt        Toronto        24:05.4   25:21.1
    4   50:22.4  3:08    MACHARIA, Giitah      Oakville       24:31.6   25:50.9
    5   50:24.1  3:08    KARANJA, David        Hamilton       24:32.4   25:51.7
    6   51:09.6  3:11    CHIASSON, Rejean      Toronto        25:17.4   25:52.3
    7   52:27.2  3:16    ONGERI, Josephat      Hamilton       24:58.8   27:28.5
    8   52:29.5  3:16    CAMPANELLI, Joe       Etobicoke      25:55.2   26:34.4
    9   52:33.6  3:16    THORSON, Cleve        Guelph         25:50.9   26:42.7   
   10   53:18.1  3:19    MASON, John           Drumbo         25:38.8   27:39.4

Big road trip this weekend… 4 days, 1400 km (driving), 2 countries, 1 bachelor party, 105 km (running), 1 wedding.

A few hours before I set off on the road trip I did my second workout of the week which consisted of almost 20km of tempo in a 30km run.  Once again I was pleased with the workout and surprised that I bounced back as quickly as I did.  I was prepared for a mediocre week after two crappy ones but I skipped the mediocrity and hit the paces I would have wanted with uninterrupted training.

The road trip started in Guelph with Chris Moulton, then we picked up Greg Hutchinson in Mississauga and headed to Lake Placid.  In LP we stayed in a cabin outside of town with Taylor Murphy (groom to be), his three brothers and a couple more friends.  Taylor and I had a great run on the Jackrabbit trail in LP on Friday morning.  Taylor and I have put in many many miles together so it was good to get in a solid 17km with him.  That afternoon I took a nap while the rest of the guys drank beer and played croquet.  When I went on my second run Moulton and Blake were game even though they were a couple of beers in and kept me company for most of the 8km run.  I front-end loaded the week, (105km in 3 days) so I could go a little lighter while travelling, (105km in four days).

Can you believe a town of 3400 hosted the Olympics 31 years ago? Chris Moulton can’t.

Croquet outside the cabin

After a late night on Friday I was up early for a 30km run Saturday morning.  This run ended up being the hilliest run of my life.  5km into the run I saw a trail up Baxter mountain and decided to take a break from the road.  This trail got steep in a hurry and after 1.4 km I was climbing up boulders but since I had it in my head I was getting to the top I stopped the watch and hiked. It was worth it for the view alone.  Once I got back on the road I ended up going downhill for the next 4km and knew I was in for one hell of a climb.  The ensuing ascent ended rose almost 1000 feet over 4.5km.  After that sweet run, a hot tub and a meal the three of us departed the cabin for Kyle Desormeaux’s wedding in Ottawa.

On the way to Ottawa we stopped for gas in upstate NY where this girl had a table with promotional shwag (t-shirts, frisbee, mugs) set-up outside the store.  I wasn’t sure what product she was promoting until she asked us if we would like to sample a free cigarette.  Seriously.

Kyle and Bridget had a great wedding that was really fun however, by this point we were all pretty wiped out.  On Sunday morning I had one of the flattest runs ever up and down the Rideau Canal before heading back to Hamilton.

This morning in Guelph Rob, Gillis, John Mason and I had a speedier workout to change things up a bit.  It was a mix of intervals from 400m to 2000m on the XC course and I was able to keep it under control and feel fast enough to get what I wanted out of the session.

We’ll do two more workouts this week before Sunday’s Acura 10 miler, although Friday’s session is going to be very small.  It will be fun to break out of workout mode and get after it a little more in a race.  Sure, it would be nicer to have had a few solid weeks of workouts before a race but I’ll take what I can get knowing the big prize is still 10 weeks down the road.

This is always a fun game… can you spot the differences between the two photos?

The ad is going to be re-run in the Globe and Mail sometime soon with the two NB logos back where they belong.  I didn’t care too much about the Contador finger-gun since it came out looking like an “L” anyways.

I thought I was going to be back in the swing of things last week however, I came down with a cold. I’m blaming it on the antibiotics that took away my antibodies to fight of common viruses.  Damn antibiotics! On Thursday I knew if I pushed myself hard that I’d put myself further into the hole so after the warm-up I made a compromise: I’d do the workout but at an easier pace.  I got all my volume in last week but once again I wasn’t happy with any of the workouts. The good news is that I started to come around the last few days.

Last week when I was doing a workout alone the rest of the guys thought it would be a grand idea to grow beards for the Acura 10 miler.  Not a huge fan of beards in the scorching summer but I like the idea of team building so I haven’t shaved since I got the email.  So if you see pics of Acura you’ll know why we’re looking like a bunch of lumberjacks.  I know Nathaly from New Balance isn’t going to be happy with this but I’m sure Matt Loiselle will approve.

Today I had the first workout I was happy with since July 14th.  Before the workout I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel and I wasn’t confident at all that I was going to have a good one.  S once I was done and had completed the whole thing at a decent pace I was very happy.  The plan right from the beginning was to not concern myself with pace through July and just get used to the volume of workouts and the overall mileage.  And then once Aug 1st hits to get after it.  Even though my workouts the last two weeks were crappier than planned and I’m glad I feel I’m still ready to accomplish my goals in October.

Last night I had one of the funniest/most awkward conversations ever.  I was at a party with a lot of runners and this one guy started to ask me some questions…

“What are you training for?”

Me: “I’m training for the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon.  It’s going to be a good one this year.”

“It is, but I don’t think the record is going to be broken”

Me: “Oh really?”

“I don’t see Bairu doing it, he hasn’t finished a marathon. Well maybe Wykes.  If it does get broken Wykes will be the one to do it.  And I think Reid will run 2:13.”

Me: “Why do you think I’m going to run two minutes slower?”

“uhhhh?” Utter look of confusion followed by an ‘oh shit’ face.

long pause

long pause

“uhhhh, just kidding!”

Me: “Reid Coolsaet, nice to meet you.”

That week didn’t go as planned…  The antibiotics created more havoc than I anticipated, it was hot as hell and my shin flared up.

A week ago I was a little off my workout and thought it could have been the antibiotics, on Thursday it was confirmed when I was wayyy off.  We were doing 1600m, 1200m and 800m repeats on the XC course on the hottest day ever (35C broke records for July 21).  The first 1600m repeat was a little struggle but not uncommon for the first interval.  And then my repeats just got way too slow for the effort I was putting forth.  After doing a 1200m at a slower pace than my slow-ass mile I decided to stop the madness and just run easy.  Turns out that antibiotics drastically slow the renal system (liquid waste) which makes hydration a real challenge.

Friday was my first day sans antibiotics and I was excited to get back on track.  Halfway through my morning run (20km) my shin started to get sore in the same spot as last year in my 1/2 marathon (two days off to clear it up).  I played it smart and took the rest of the day off and decided not to run Saturday morning after prodding it and feeling pain.  Whenever I mention this shin injury people assume it’s shin splints.  I’ve had shin splints before but this is a tendon injury just above my ankle, probably from too much dorsi flexion upon heel strike. I missed the long-run with the guys and plunked myself on the stationary bike and watched the time trial at Le Tour.  On Sunday I managed to get in a solid run and today I did my workout alone in the afternoon.  I wanted to run easy and test it out this morning instead of getting out there with the guys and realizing far into the workout that it wasn’t ready.

No marathon build-up comes without walls and I just have to deal with them.  The first week was good, the second not so much but having still run over 100 miles and one workout it wasn’t all that bad.  I just can’t have many more like that if I want to accomplish my goals this fall, which is really to be competitive at STWM. There are still 12 weeks to go with many more kilometres and workouts on the horizon.

Lots of punches in the news this past week and they came from skinny distance athletes.  I read that Baala and Mekhissi will not receive their appearance money from the meet.  That seems fair enough but it is kind of ironic that one of the reasons athletes get appearance fees is to create awareness for the event, and the only highlights from the meet I saw on TSN were of the fight.  I guess it might be argued that they gave bad press to the meet.

Mekhissi: “Hey Baala, nice speedsuit you pansy!”

And Contador gave it to a spectator who was all up in his grill, that doctor had it coming.