FLOAT ON

My mini-break was good.  I got plenty of rest and ate enough treats to fatten me up.  This week is all about running in the trails and feeling fresh, no workouts, no extra stuff.  The real grind starts Monday morning with our first workout, 14 weeks out from race day on October 16th.  This year it seems as though the hype is much bigger than it was at this time last year.  Having 6+ guys chase the Olympic standard from Canada will do that, especially since we proved last year that we can actually hit the standard.  And of course, once again, there is speculation on breaking Jerome Drayton’s long standing (1975) record of 2:10:08.

I’ve been glued to the TV, watching Le Tour every morning (and no, I didn’t plan for my first marathon workout to be on a rest day, just a nice coincidence).  One of the commercials that I’ve seen a lot is for HTC phones and they use the same song (Lovely Allen by Holy F) that I used when screwing around with some running footage from Kenya a couple months back.  Seeing the commercial inspired me to publish the clip.  I can’t take credit for discovering the song though, I first saw it in my friend’s skate video (Flatspot promo) a couple of years back (the song later got removed for not being authorized).

Here’s my next pick for a song to be used in a commercial. Eyes be Closed by Washed Out (released two days ago on iTunes).

Wow,  a lot has happened since my last bog post…

First off was the Canmore training camp leading into Nationals.  Canmore is a sweet place for training and just hanging out in general, if you haven’t been there check it out on your way to Banff.  Amazing views, nice trails, tons of coffee shops and restaurants, and a few of my friends live there too.  The track in Canmore is 300m and crushed gravel but it did the trick for me (we drove to Calgary for one track workout during our stay), I was able to find some speed that ended up helping me later on in the 5000m at Nationals.

My first race on the track was the 10 000m on Wednesday (22nd) night.  Due to the low numbers they combined the men’s and women’s race together, which was a good decision.  The fields were the weakest they’ve ever been.  And that’s not a knock against the people who ran, without us there wouldn’t be anyone, that’s a knock for all those who didn’t run.  But I don’t blame anyone for not wanting to run a 10 000m in Calgary at 3400 feet.  Why pay to fly across the country to race a slow time?  I’m pretty sure the rest of the men’s field all live in Alberta and just drove to the race.  Hoepfully we can host the 10 000m somewhere else next year and increase the participation.

In the 10 my goal was to be the first Canadian and conserve as much as possible for the 5000m.  I didn’t need to run as hard as I did but I didn’t feel as though I was running hard enough to hurt the 5000m.  After running with Kip Kangogo for the first 24 laps I thought I may as well try and win the race outright.  I picked up the pace with 400m to go and Kip surged by me shortly after.  I gave chase for a few seconds then decided to conserve for the 5.  Which was a good plan seeing as though I could have kicked much faster but probably would have still been second anyways.

Here is a pic from the 10 000m.

The 5000m was much more important to me because I was up against a couple of guys who have been running really well lately.  I took the lead with 7 laps to go and kept throwing in surges to tire the others out.  At the bell lap Kelly Wiebe drastically picked up the pace with 400m to go.  I trailed him and thought this was going to be very tough but then with 300m to go the pace settled ever so slightly and I thought “ok, this is fine, just stay and here and crush the last 200m.” And then Ben Hubers flew around us with 250m to go and I thought “alright, this is the real move, go go go!”  With 150m to go I went around Ben and thought I was going to pinch him off with a lapped runner but he was able to go inside while I was out in lane two.  I had a step on him and I just put my head down and drilled home for my 5th 5000m title.  Some people said my last lap was in 56 seconds but I think more like 58.  Either way that’s the fastest 400m for me in the last four years.

There were some awesome races at Nationals this year.  Exciting men’s and women’s 1500m where it came down to the last 100m. Matt Hughes’ balls in the steeple and Alex’s finish were inspiring.  But once again even though the races were tremendous the meet is so friggin’ boring!  Women’s 800 was great, then you wait 5 minutes.  Men’s 800, also cool, but then 5 minutes of waiting, in silence.  Can you imagine going to a hockey game and in between plays just silence, no music?  No wonder people aren’t flocking to watch our sport,  5 minutes between events!?  At least introduce the competitors in detail during that time.

A couple of pics from pre-nats below. 1)  Getting ready for a trail run in Banff and 2) the view from our balcony in Canmore.

Nationals this year (June 22-25) are in Calgary, AB which sits at an altitude of 3400 feet.  That altitude isn’t all that high but it will likely still make distance races a little harder (slower).  In order to prepare for the elevation a bunch of us from Speed River are heading to Canmore, which is about an hour’s drive from Calgary.  Canmore is at 4400 feet which is very similar to Sedona, AZ where I’ve done many runs while training in Flagstaff.  On a typical run you won’t even notice any altitude but when you try and run fast on the track it’s just a little slower.  It’s not like 7000+ feet when you’re gasping for air between intervals. I’m looking forward to the trip because I’ve never been to Banff and have heard great things.

The 10 000m at Nationals in recent years has not been deep and for good reason.  Not many people want to travel ($) and invest in 25 laps without getting a good time because of hot weather, tactical races, or in this year’s case, altitude.  There are only 6 guys on the start list this year.  When I first saw the start list there were only three so I decided to run the 5000m as well, partly because I thought they might can the 10.  I’m gunning for both of them so the plan in the 10 is to be the first Canadian (one Kenyan in the field) and save as much as I can for the 5000m two days later.  The 5000m is also visibly weaker than a few years ago but it will suit me fine and be tough to win.  One of the guys without a seed time on the start list actually ran 13:43 last week at the NCAA champs.

I guarantee that if the  National 10 000m was run the night before the Harry Jerome meet in Vancouver or at the Victoria Track Classic that the fields would be decent.  Canada used to run the 10 at a separate meet attracting international athletes by offering prize money and good weather.  The result was that Canadians took advantage of the opportunity to chase fast times on Canadian soil.  I remember watching races won in the low 28 minute range where athletes running 30 flat were in the ‘B’ section running with 20+ other athletes.  Wow, I’m sounding like an old guy.

Last night I got another little glimpse of former track fitness at the end of my workout.  I did a 6′ pick-up and then went to the track for a 2400m and then 5 X 1000m with 2 min rest.  The plan was to start off at 1/2 marathon pace and then ramp up the last 3-4 km repeats.  My last 4 were 2:46, 2:42, 2:44, 2:40 which were tough but I felt very much in control.  Young Andrew Nixon did most of the workout with me and looks good heading into the 5000 at Nats.

Another race this week (2000m) and once again I missed my target.  I’m not worried though and I’m still excited about my “speed” training.

Click here for Runner’s Space HD coverage of race 

Going into the 2000m my goal was to run 62 seconds per lap, so anything under 5:15:00 would have been satisfactory and 5:10 would have been peachy keen.  I finished up with a 5:15:39 which is really close to my goal but by not breaking 5:15 means I averaged 63 seconds/lap which doesn’t sound nearly as good as 62’s. [splits: 62, 2:05, 3:09, 4:13]  I feel the same way after this race as I did in London… too much in control when I should be more aggressive.  It’s as if I’m stuck in marathon mode and I’m afraid of blowing up with 10km to go, which is impossible in races much shorter than 10km!  This 2000m will help set-up my 5000m this weekend in Nashville where I hope to break the marathon mould and get after it.

The 2000m was exciting up front as Taylor Milne broke the Canadian record by two seconds running 5:01.57.  I was happy to have some company in Ross Proudfoot which produced a nice young vs, old experienced match-up.  On the backstretch Rob Jackson yelled “C’mon Ross, he’s a marathoner!” Which I think fired me up more than Ross and helped me pull away in the last 200m to grab second by less than a second.

A mixed bag of feelings about last night’s 5000m in London, ON…  Race Video.

The temperature was perfect for a 5000m but the wind was a little unfavourable along the backstretch.  Gillis’ plan was to pace me through 2500m, splitting 6 laps (2400m) in 6:33.  Gillis did a great job and we split 6:35 and 100m later he left the track.  At that point I was all alone and with the wind at my back I felt good about keeping the pace.  Once I hit the backstretch I knew the pace was going to slow down but even if I hit 67 second laps I would come out under 13:50 (which is my stadium record from back in ’06).  In my head I had 6:33 as my 2400m split and when I saw 7:43 on the clock I freaked out thinking that I just ran a 70 second lap and it felt tough! In reality it was more like a 68 but I didn’t find that out until after the race and the damage was done.  I kept thinking I was running slow as 69 (second lap) after 69 kept adding up.  At 4km I knew I was going to get caught and instead of trying to maintain a gap I let them catch me with the plan of kicking in the last 200m.  Weibe and Loiselle caught up to me with 600m to go and Weibe took the lead for a lap before I kicked it in with 150m to go for the win.  And it’s a good thing Weibe was there to push me because otherwise it could have been much uglier.

Going into the race I really wanted to run 13:40-13:45.  With the wind I would have settled for a sub 13:50, so I’m not happy about 13:55.  When Gillis was pacing I felt as though running 13:45 was in the cards and when I got caught it wasn’t tough to pick up the pace.  I’m just simply not that good at running alone.  It was also my first track race in a long time and it usually takes me a race to get back into the swing of things.  Back in ’05 I ran 13:52 alone and then came back one week later to run 13:23 with competition.  I know I’m not going to run under 13:30 in the next week but there is more in there than I showed last night.

Where do I go from here?  I decided not to run in the Pre Classic.  When I asked to get into the race I thought it was going to be a 27:45-28:00 race but once the start list came out it was evident I was in over my head.  After not enjoying my 5 solo laps last night I’m not about to go and run a 25 lapper where most of it will be solo.  The pace is set for 13:18 for the leaders so even if I were to run 13:45 for the first 5000m I’m would still be alone.  I’ve never raced in Eugene and I was really looking forward to it but it just doesn’t make sense.

And to prove to myself that I’m not delusional about the shape I’m in I’m going to find another race.  10 000m races are hard to come by so I’ll likely run another 5000m which is a little frustrating because I’m in much better 10 000m shape than 5000m.  This weekend I’ll still race the 2000m at the Guelph Inferno because, god knows, I need a good dose of speed.  After that it will either be a 5 in Nashville June 4th or in Portland June 11th.  Depends on which one looks like a better field.

The foot felt pretty good in the race and was good today.  On my runs today I actually felt really good considering I raced last night, which also tells me I was a pansy in the race.  As much as it sounds as though I’m pissed about the race I’m actually fine with it, as long as I run faster really soon, haha.

Here’s a cool gif from www.busylivin.com 

Tired of hearing about my foot yet? Well I”m sick of writing about it.  After getting a little worse at the end of last week this week has been really good.  Probably because I’m getting Graston, ART, acupuncture, laser, ultrasound, icing, applying Zanagen and using new metatarsal pads.  Appointments everyday to keep this foot in the game which meant missing most stages of Giro D’Italia on TV this week.

On Wednesday I had tough track session that went quite well and gave me some confidence for my upcoming track races.  I’d elaborate more about the workout but it was filmed and might go on Runnerspace.com so I’ll just post it if/when it airs.

Last week I had 6 X 1200 (on 3.5 min rest) and I couldn’t help comparing it to 2007 when I did 5 X 1200 (on 4 min rest).  I averaged 8 seconds slower per 1200m this time around (3:08 vs 3:16).  Back in 2007 (after running 13:21) I was paced in this particular workout by Taylor Milne and Eric Gillis, where one would take the first 600m and the other the last 400m.  This year I did it solo on a windy day.  I also ran 125km that week compared to 178km last week.  Once I put everything in context I wasn’t so worried about the dramatically slower paces especially since Wednesday’s workout went even better than last week.  I also kind of forgot how little mileage I used to run at the end of track season, marathon training has completely changed my perception of a training week.  I don’t think 180km is high but that was about my max in 2007 whereas now it seems like a lower week.

Big Saturday night of racing for Speed River with the first stage of the 401 Series in Windsor and a group out in LA for the Occidental race being covered on Flotrack.  After that a bunch of us will be racing London on Tuesday night.  As long as I recover well from the 5000 in London I’ll run the 2000m in Guelph the following Saturday, the last stop in the 401 Series.  That will help set-up the Pre 10 000m where I’ll need all the speed I can manage to find in these legs… just to keep contact!