FLOAT ON

The Ottawa 10km was just what the doctor ordered.  I wasn’t sure if jumping into a race for my second running workout since March 19th was a good idea but it ended up working out really well.  Many people, including me, had doubts that I was going to stay in control and run 3:10/km instead of being more aggressive.  Before the race I committed to pacing Josh Roundell  who, by chance, also wanted to run 31:40 which made me somewhat accountable to not actually race hard.  Josh ended up going out fast and I was behind him for the first km in 3:00 and was very tempted to race the second pack which was only a few seconds ahead.  But I didn’t.  After 2km we dropped into 3:10 pace for most of the rest of the way and I finished with 31:44. Mission accomplished.

It’s typical to let doubts creep into your mind when layed up with an injury and I’ve recently been lacking any sort of confidence.  It’s crazy that as quickly as 1km into the 10km race I started to gain some confidence and by the end of the race I had a good feeling about a fall marathon.  I guess a 10km should feel easy for anyone running 4 minutes slower than their PB but I was still very surprised how easy the pace felt. 

I never had immediate results as a runner and I contribute any success that I’ve had in running to consistency and training hard.  In the past three years I’ve lost some of that running consistency and during each injury I seem to doubt my ability as a runner more each time.  Especially since I haven’t posted a time I’ve been thrilled with since 2007.

During March I was running good workouts and believed that a 10 000m personal best was in the cards this spring.  It seems like things can fall off so quickly and then when I get back into running things come back pretty quickly too. Must remember that.  Having 31:44 feel as easy as it did was encouraging and I think I might as well run another 10km road race in June.  I think I’ll do the Ancaster Old Mill 10km and maybe push it a bit more, but still keep it under control. 

The weekend itself was pretty fun.  I stayed with Desy in O-town and a bunch of us went out Saturday after the 10km and got some food, some drinks and then more food.  Gillis capped off a good spring road racing campaign and along with the Newfies celebrated with some great poutine. 

Once June 21st hits it will be time to step it up and get serious.  Until then I’ll get the junk food and Saturday nights out of my system.  A few weeks in the 150km range with some easy workouts and cross-training will hopefully leave me feeling fit and fresh going into marathon build-up.  This Saturday night I’ll be hitting up the 401 Distance Series in Guelph (Sub 4 mile?) and the accompanying post-race party.

I drove Josephat to Ottawa and had some interesting conversations about Kenya for about an hour before he fell asleep for the next four hours.  The day before the race I introduced him to the rabbit who was pacing 66 minutes through halfway and said “don’t pass this guy”.  We also discussed taking in Gatorade.  Needless to say Josephat went out in 64:30 and only drank water.  After the race I asked him why he didn’t go with the 2:12 pacer and he said he didn’t see him… well if you go out with the leaders you’re not going to see him behind you, haha.   He ended up running 2:16:41 for ninth, his best time and place at the Ottawa marathon.  In the next year or two he’ll hopefully be able to claim some Canadian only prize money.

I was about to use “Save it for Later” as my blog title and realised that I already have, so I just added the next line…

I officially graduated from cross-trainer to runner last week on the basis that I spent more time running than I did on the bike and pool combined.  I also started to run on trails (the previous weeks were all around Churchill park).  And last but not least, I did my first set of strides. 

The most important thing is that lately my tendon has felt 100% when I’m running.  There is still a slight amount of swelling and my tendon is bumpy.  I explain the bumps as having ‘Old man tendon’. Maybe more Graston will smooth it back down?

***

Have you ever yelled ‘meat’ when a dear jumps out of the trees?  Well that’s what I heard today when I was running with Josephat and Karanja on the trails when a dear flew across our path 20 feet ahead of us.  I had to make sure I wasn’t hearing things and asked “Did you just yell ‘meat'”?  And, of course, the answer was “Yes”? 

***

This weekend I’m heading to Ottawa and I’m going to tempo the MDS 10km.  The challenge will be to NOT get carried away and stay with my planned 31:40, not any faster.  As good as my leg feels right now I have the luxury of not having to push things right now and concentrate on getting/staying healthy.  Therefor the plan is to ‘train to train’ for the next three weeks.   That means my training will be focused on setting up my marathon training ,which begins mid-June.  Back when I ski raced my coach would make me do tons of ski drills early season before I practised going  through the gates.  He would say, “you have to train to train before you can train to race”. 

Meat!

Adios track season.  Hello fall marathon.

Since the beginning of May I’ve been contemplating if I should continue to concentrate on this track season and I eventually came to the conclusion that it’s no longer in my best interest.  At this point in my running career I’m not interested in doing anything half-ass and if I were to focus on track this summer I would be rushing my preparation. I’m only going to fully concentrate on track if I think I can run a PB over the five and dime.  Running under 13:20 in the next 10 weeks after taking 8 weeks off just doesn’t seem realistic.  I know what it took to run 13:21 and it involved solid training throughout the spring. The bike, elliptical and pool have kept me somewhat fit but not specific enough to link twelve and a half 63 second quarters together.  The National track and field championships  are still on the schedule, it’s just now they will come in the middle of marathon training instead of a peak.

I want to have 16 weeks of solid running heading into a marathon with 12 of those weeks being specific marathon work.  Looking at the calendar this is very realistic given the rate at which my injury seems to be healing.  Last week I ran about 25% of full volume and this week I’m hoping to get in about 35-40%.  Once I have some solid running under my belt I’ll figure out what marathon I’ll run this fall. 

I’ve seen a few more doctors about my injury and I have a few more ideas but in general no one is really sure exactly why it’s so bad.  Now that the inflammation has settled I’ve added some new therapy.  My therapy includes ART, acupuncture, massage, ultra-sound, laser, Interx and Graston.  I basically have one appointment everyday, Monday to Friday.

Serious training for me started in 1998 and for 10 straight years I had no injuries to speak of.  And then came three very significant injuries in the past three years (pinched nerve, broken foot, inflamed tendons).  I went from being a very consistent runner to being the guy people ask cross-training advice from.   Being injured sucks and I’ve learned to deal with the lows.  Trying to focus on an upcoming goal can be frustrating but at the same time it gives me  something to focus on to provide motivation while pool running or when on the elliptical or spin bike.  So I have to be careful in determining what my next goal will be.

My 2008 injury was stressful because I didn’t know exactly when I would heal and I was trying to qualify for the olympics.  When I broke my foot at the end of 2008 it was aggrevating that I couldn’t do much but I knew my timeline early enough to be realistic with upcoming races.  This injury once again has been frustrating in terms of prognosis but I’ve learned not to add pressure by trying to qualify for the Commonwealth games.  For a bit it’s hard to let go of a goal but overall it’s better to be able to move on to something else.  Having a fall marathon as my focus is fueling the fire without  adding any timeline pressure. 

With all the lows that come along with injuries it’s important to get out, have fun and have a laugh…

My motivation to run pain-free has trumped the drive to be ready for an early season 10 000m.  Therefor I have decided to take a little time off and completely heal my tendons.  

I actually started running last week.  I started with a 2km run on Friday, then 6km on Saturday and 10km on Sunday.  Each run was easy and felt pretty good.  I figured that if I was going to race on May 1st I was going to have to push the running and if it didn’t take… then I would take some time off.  I never really got excited about my first few days of running but then Monday’s run felt really good and I pushed the pace for 4km.  Of course later that night and the next morning my tendons flared up.  It wasn’t nearly as bad as before and my shin felt pretty good by Wednesday but it was bad enough to know that I’m not ready to push it.

After a month of x-training it’s going to take considerable time to be ready to race again so I might as well take the time and heal completely.  The two main reasons why I’m frustrated about this injury are that: 1) I was in good shape (*see w/o below) and; 2)  there are limited 10 000m races that go under 28 min anywhere in the world (yes, I mention this every blog).  I’m still looking forward to having some good races on the track later in the summer.  I also have this pipe dream that a good opportunity to run fast over 10 00om will magically appear.

I decided that I’ll take a few days off completely and see where that gets me.  Seeing that today was 23C and sunny I couldn’t sit around so I went for a bike ride.  The ride had a mission, get to Dee’s for a couple of buttertarts and then ride back.  The whole trip was 75km which took me a little less than 2.5hours.  The next few days are supposed to be wet and/or chilly so it will be easier to sit on my ass.

*workout:
400m, 800m, 800m,
800m, 400m, 800m,
2000m
1200m,800m
800m, 800m, 400m
I did the first two sets with the group and the last three on my own.  I had one minute between intervals and two minutes between sets.  I averaged 67 seconds for the entire 10 000m workout. 

This injury is lingering much longer than I anticipated.   It’s been 19 days since I’ve been injured and 15 days since my last run.  And therein lies part of the problem.  When I first got injured I should have taken time off right away instead of denying that I was really injured.  For four days I still ran when I should have rested my leg.  

My tendons got injured in the first place by overuse in the form of too many miles, (although there may have been a contributing factor of alignment).  I don’t regret training as much as I did because I know I need to be pushing the envelope to hit my goals.  Minor setbacks are part of the game, I just need to manage them properly.  I do regret trying to run through the injury even though I thought by running 60-70% of my normal mileage that I was being ‘smart’ about it.  There are a few reasons why I didn’t manage this properly.  First off, I was dead set on racing the following week and I didn’t want to compromise my build-up.  Also, I have trained through similar pain in the past, admittedly not as severe.  And finally, I was in denial that I was really injured, probably because I didn’t want to go down that road again.

For the first week the pain was dissipating and I felt I was well on the road to recovery. But then, for a few days, I did not see much, if any, improvement and I started to get really worried.  And then after 10 days I saw progress again for a few days.  Now that it doesn’t hurt anymore, except if I try to run, the progress is less noticeable but I still see some gains each day.  The redness disappearing,  the thickness of the tendon slimming slightly, dorsi flexion getting easier and more ease while walking are some of the signs of recovery.

Cross-training is going as well as can be expected and I feel my basic fitness is still there.  In order for me to run a decent race I figure I need 19 days of solid running.  That gives me two weeks of good running followed by 5 days of lighter training before the race.  On April 4th I passed my cut-off date for the Brutus Hamilton race and on Monday I’ll know if Stanford (May 1st race) is a possibility.  Like I said before, I’m not too worried about racing well later in the season but there aren’t many quality 10 000m races available after May 1st.

Other than putting time on the elliptical and spin bike I got outside for a ride on the weekend.  It was a welcome change to see moving scenery.  I rode my bike from High Park in Toronto to Hamilton in 1 hour and 50 minutes.  Because I was riding a fixed gear bike my legs were moving the whole time, no coasting, which makes for a good workout.  On the ride I was able to average 34km/hr on Lakeshore.  I would stop my GPS when I was stopped at lights but the slowing down and speeding up at each light definitely adds up.

This weekend I’m off to Kingston to take part in the Endurance Summit on Saturday and then watch the World University XC champs on Sunday.  Half of the Canadian team is composed of Gryphons which makes it pretty cool to watch since I train with much of them. 

This past week I found out how fast I need to run in order to get carded (funded) for next year.   I need to run 27:52 in the 10 000m or 13:16 in the 5000m.  Much faster than in past years.  What’s even crazier?   Now I need to run 27:39 or 13:14 in order to receive Quest for Gold (QFG) funding.  The reason QFG is so steep is that they base it off of Personal Bests and then add a certain number of IAAF scoring points to come up with an individual standard.  I basically have to break Canadian records to receive provincial funding. 

Training partner Chris Winter started a blog four days ago and has already amassed four posts.  I’m not sure how long this frequency of posting will continue but it’s entertaining so far. 

It has been one week since my last run due to my shin injury.  It seems the tendons running from my foot to my leg have become inflamed. The sheath around the tendon is what is most likely causing the pain which is known as tenosynovitis.  The swelling has come down and I don’t have any sharp pain anymore.  I still get a dull ache when I dorsi flex and the affected area is quite red.  At first I thought the redness was from the constant icing but even when I don’t ice for some time the redness is still there. 

It’s hard to say when I’ll resume running because although its feeling somewhat better I’m afraid of making it worse, again.  Last week when I was running I really didn’t think it was that bad until it hurt to walk a couple of hours after my last run.  Because it was feeling better each day I felt it was ‘on its way out’ and didn’t realize how bad it could get.  Even walking last Thursday and Friday was painful.

In the meantime I have taken to the spin bike and recently I’ve upgraded to the elliptical.  When I cross train I get a little worried about losing fitness so I tend to do more volume (in minutes) than I would normally run in a day.  Yesterday, for instance, I did 70 minutes on the spin bike in the morning and then 70 minutes on the elliptical in the afternoon.  A typical run day would be 70 minutes and then 45 minutes in the PM.

The Commonwealth games are the focus for the year and I feel that I have plenty of time to get ready for them, seeing as they’re in October (Oct. 6th-14th).  The end of the qualifying period is July 31st, much earlier than the games (don’t get me started).  On top of that, the opportunities to run a quality 10 000m pretty much dry up after May.  So although it seems that the CWG are not too close the opportunity to qualify in the 10 000m are just around the corner.  Hope this tenosynovitis clears up quickly.

It looks as if my 2010 outdoor track debut has been postponed.  I was scheduled to race on Friday at Stanford in the 10 000m but my tibialis anterior is telling me ‘no’. 

My tib started to get a little tight late last week and I buggered it up doing a track workout.  I get a tight tib every once in a while and I usually run through it but this time it’s worse than normal and quite inflamed. I spent a couple of days cross-training and then I resumed running but it didn’t heal as fast as I was hoping.  Today’s run was much better than Monday’s but it’s not at the point where I’m confident to put it through 10km on the track.   Flexing my foot up or down as far as I can is still painful.

The 10 000m race this weekend was to set-up the Brutus Hamilton 10 000m on April 24th.  At this point I don’t need to make this injury into something big.  Having dropped out of my last race I’d be worried that if I went out there to race and it was feeling bad I would be too stubborn to drop out.  When my tib is sore I tend to run on my toes more to skip some dorsi-flexion in my stride and that ends up straining my calf.  I feel that the potential downside to racing on Friday is bigger than the possible gains.

The plan, as it stands, is to spend a couple of days cross-training to get healthy and then look for another race (road or track) to bust the rust before The Brutus Hamilton.  If I need a second 10 000m to hit my goals then I’ll have to look for another one later on, which may be harder than it sounds.

Around the Bay road race is this weekend and now I’ll be around to help out with New Balance at the Expo.  Here’s a pic I took a couple months back of the Bay with the bridge way in the background.