Edmonton half marathon race review 2013

On August 25th I ran in the Edmonton Half Marathon, a year after having a re-occurrence of my Achilles issues. I ran pretty well, but not as well as I would've liked. I guess part of that is because I know I can run faster, and have run faster in the past. But those times were run preinjury and to tell you the truth I haven't really run that well since.

A year has gone by since the last time I updated this blog and lot has changed in that time. Most of it for the better, but some of the changes lead to a period of time I wasn't interested in training/racing and generally felt sorry for myself and kind’ve withdrew from everything. But we don't need to go back there and the only person that can change the things you don't like in your life is you!!

In April according to my GPS I started training again. Slowly building up mileage on the bike and running as well as swimming when I had the chance, all with the idea of qualifying for the ITU World Cup Finale that will be here in Edmonton about a year from now.

I made the team for 2014 but only just (last spot in age group), which is what I was aiming for as it was the only triathlon I was going to do this year. But it also made me realize how far behind I was in my training. Could probably count on one hand the number of times I swam between February and the race. I also ran in the Canada 15K and while I started out running pretty good, the engine room just wasn't producing the power needed to run well. So I made the decision to slow down and just take it easy. Since July 1^st I started to run more during the course of the week and so I entered the half marathon knowing I would only have about six weeks of pure running completed. The week ending Sunday before the race I completed my biggest week of running in a long time.

During the week leading up to the race I felt pretty good, not super just good. I did my last workout on the Thursday; a progression run which went well, from then it was just easy running until race day. As I said the race went pretty well, I just wasn't as fast as I had envisioned I would be. I was with a small group (Simon S, Greg M and AJ) in the beginning and we went through the first Kilometer in 3:30, but then the group started to split up. I slowed a little to around 3:39 per K which meant that I was running most of the race on my own. I slowed own bit more as I averaged 3:45 per K for the race. I was able to use the people from the other races as a goal to catch them, pick them off one at a time or in a group. This worked for me until about 3K to go when I could hear someone coming up behind me. My pursuer caught me with about a 2K to go and in my head I said to let him go but he wasn't going away from me so we ran together until made the last turn, I was starting to feel like I was done even said well done to him. But I guess I wasn't done yet as I was able pick it up and finish fast.

In the days since I've come to realize that I haven’t had the training needed to run as well as I know I can and as well as I want to be able to run. One of the things I am happy about is the fact that my Achilles is good.

Things can only get better from here on out, I now know where I am with my fitness compared to where I was. All I have to do now is train hard and most importantly SMART to get to where I want to be. I have a couple of races planned that would bring me up to the end of October. No marathons for the time being.

injury update....August 21

Does having Achilles Tendinitis once at some point in your running career make you more likely to have it a second or third time? This is something I think I'll look into.

So I went to River Valley Health last night and they noticed that my calves are really tight. So they worked on them and then when I got home I worked on them a little bit more with the foam roller and a tennis ball.

What I've been noticing is with myself is that when the right combination of tight calves, sore feet and dehydration come together my Achilles starts to get painful. Which made me think about what led to this weeks soreness in that tendon.

I mean my calves are pretty tight all the time so that is nothing new. My feet have been sore for almost as long as my calves have been tight. So that leaves me to believe that its dehydration that is the cause this time, which when you think about it sounds right as its been very hot lately and to be honest I sweat quite a bit all the time in this heat and most of the time I can only get out to run at the hottest part of the day. I don't weigh myself before or after running in order to determine how how weight I've lost due to sweating, but maybe its something that I should start doing.

That and bunch of other things such as yoga classes and or massage more often. I'm thinking that I should do more of both every month, but its incorporating them into my schedule that will be a problem. But not one I'm going to worry about for a week or two as I'm taking the next week or so off running and training as we are heading to the Centre of the universe (if your from Toronto) for a few days to visit friends and a family wedding.

All's good in the land of Niall (for the moment)

Injured...again!!!

And so it ends…. Tragically, after the results I had gotten in my last four races…. I think my season is done!! I managed a whopping four races this summer and always in the back of my mind is the issue with my left Achilles. For most of the summer it was good, I felt a couple of niggles here and there but a quick visit to the chiro and I was good to go. Yesterday my Achilles was hurting all day two weeks into a fall running plan. I didn't have any marathons planned but I wanted to get in a couple of races before we went in to winter slow down.

The thing is I wasn’t increasing my running totals (time or distance wise) by that much nor was I running any more intervals per week than I have since my marathon on January. I have been running in a pair or two of older shoes which may have made the problem worse.  I wanted to get in a good solid run base throughout the fall and winter as I believe it has been the training I did for the marathon in January that really helped me in the summer.

There are two major areas that I always seem to be hurting from and they are my right Hip and left Achilles, Now I'm not sure if they are connected but when it comes to the body what happens in one area tends to have a knock on effect in another area either further up or down on the kinetic chain. The problem with my hip is mostly due to working in a job that requires a lot of sitting, which as an athlete you'd think that sitting most of the day is better than standing all day... and it is but at the same time it isn't.

I think I may have to start concentrating on riding my bike swimming and core work until the injury is resolved. I’ll be heading to River Valley health tonight to see if they can help me out. 

Why I train alone a lot of the time

Today I overheard people at the office here saying that they can't run outside as it’s going to be too windy. These are the same people who have an excuse for all weather conditions like not to going in the in winter it’s too cold or in the summer as its too hot, even though you can dress for all seasons and whatever mother nature, old man winter are going to throw at you. If you are athlete it can never be too windy/sunny/hot/cold/wet or grey - Because as hard as you are training, there is always someone training harder.

Living in Canada in general and more specifically Alberta means you have to develop a thick skin as you never know what the weather is going to do. Sure there a couple of givens such as those parts of the year when the thermometer goes way north of zero (not enough of them for my liking) and on the flip side there are times when it goes way south of zero (you guessed - it too many of those days). But as a runner or an athlete you have to think of the US Marine Corp motto "Improvise, Modify, Adapt and Overcome" anything that the weather throws at you. Once you realize that if you want to get ahead in any sport then you have to go out and work at it  regardless of what is going on outside. No one has made it to the Olympics lying on the couch four - six months of every year waiting for the perfect day to come along. It makes getting out there a lot easier.

Which brings me to why I train alone a lot of the time - First of training for me is a great way to get outside see what’s going on with the land/environment around me. In the fall I get to see the leaves change colour and then ‘fall’, in the winter I see the land covered in snow and see how it sparkles when the sun is reflected off of it, in the summer I get to feel the warm air on my skin, get a bit of a colour and get to see all of the hard work that I did in the winter start to pay off.

Secondly I never have to wait for anyone - I go when I can, want, there is no waiting around, no time wasted wondering who is going to show up and then trying to figure out a route or what sort of intervals we are going to do. I can recall waiting outside of coffee and bike shops for almost an hour to see if anyone is going to turn up so I'd have someone to train with, that doesn't happen anymore. Nor do I have to re arrange my training schedule to fit a workout in or around someone else. I know how hard I can push myself and sometimes it’s too hard and sometimes it’s not hard enough.

Thirdly - once you have a family they sort of tell you when you can go training. Such as when a baby goes down for a nap or when they go to sleep at night or if your kids are in organised sport you can sneak in a workout while they are doing theirs. On the weekend I run or bike when our youngest one goes down for a nap. We're not at a point yet where we can leave our eldest by himself and I'm not sure that I want too as this is usually the time of the week that I get to spend any quality time with him. This can make it hard to organise with friends training sessions, its a lot easier if you are training with the same goals in mind. It also makes for a lot of either late nights or early mornings, as my mother would tell me "You can't burn the candle at both ends!!" meaning you can't train late one night and then expect to train early the next morning.

Yes training alone can be monotonous and get boring after awhile but then again training over a long period of time is in itself an inherently monotonous task. You train hard week in week out over a number of months or years with a goal in mind only to come up with a new goal once the first one is completed and you start over again. That is why I believe that you should change up what you are doing every so often, rather than the same type and number of workouts per week every week not only is it mentally refreshing but it confuses the body because on race day you don't know what’s going to happen every minute of the race. 

Some of the success of East African athletes can be partially attributed to training as a group, I bet if you are in Eldorat, Kenya you'll rarely if ever see Kenyans running by themselves. There is a group mentality when it comes to training, helped by the fact that there are lots of people at the same level and going after the same goals.

Training with a group in some ways would be nice, but I have yet to find a group of people (and I define a group as being more than three people - relax guys :)) that has the same goals as you and is at or near the same level of fitness as you. I love training with my friends when I can and for awhile there we would meet every Saturday morning and do our long runs together or the hardest workout of the week together as we had a common goal. But now that we have different goals in mind for most of the season it makes it harder to catch up. I know that once they have reached their spring goals and they start to think about the rest of the year training together will get easier.

Training can be Frustating

Arrgh the frustation of it all - not sure if its because my training isn't going well or it is going well and I'm frustrated that I don't think I'm doing enough of it nor do I feel like I'm getting any faster!!! I can't seem to get beyond the 10 to 12 workouts a week that I've been doing for the past couple of weeks. I was hoping to move up to 15 workouts a week but it hasn't happened yet. Why? because I'm usually knackered, toast, done by the time Sunday rolls around. I know, I know 12 - 15 workouts a week what the hell!!! most people would be happy with 3 or 4. I guess I have to start living more like a parent of two than a guy with no family responsiblities and a full time job that seems to be taking up more and more of my time. I guess part of my problem hence the frustation is I don't like entering races which I've hardly prepared for. I think it might be that runners mentality of not wanting to comprise on training as that leads to comprismising elsewhere in life. But I have too (at least a little bit) I don't make a living from running or sport so it should be lower on the my list of priorites than it is.


Training for races is supposed to be enjoyable, its supposed to be fun, that's why we took up these sports to begin with, its not supposed to be something you start to hate. Yes some workouts are tough and you dread doing them, but when they are done you think that was good - and the body tells you that it was good or not. 


With that in mind I have decided that I'm going to spent one day on the weekend being a father and not do any training or think about sport unless its on the TV. Rather than take a rest day/night during the week I'm going to take either a Saturday or a Sunday as the rest day and then an easier long run or bike day before or after. My thinking behind this is if you take a week day as a rest day you don't rest as mch as you should. Why because during the week you are at work and lets just say sometimes work can be tiring (to say the least). It's also easier for me to train at lunchtime during the week than it is on the weekends. I have also given up on the idea of training 3 times a day every day - realistically its not doable just due to the times that I would have to start the first training session (around 6:00am and then 8:00 - 8:30pm when I start the third session). Twice a day is enough, if I can't get enough training in with two sessions then I can't get it done and I'll continue with that, depending on my work schedule it's possible that the times of the sessions will change.


As an Athlete you have to remember that recovery is as important as the workout - Too many workouts and not enough recovery lead to injury and illness. After all what is the point of all that training if yo don't get to the start line of the race in one piece?

Advice - What do you do with it?

Over the last couple of weeks I have been seeking asking different people for advice on how they train for triathlons and each of them had a slightly different answer. Two of the best triathletes in Ireland who happen to be on the ITU circuit answered all three sports a day everyday or four workouts a day if you're not working. If doing three workouts a day you'd give one a higher priority than the other two,so on Monday you might choose the swim as your A workout of the day and on Tuesday the bike then on Wednesday the run and so on.


While the Age Group world champion at the 70.3 and a sub 9 hour at the Hawaiian Ironman suggested that one workout a day would be enough if you train for qaulity rather than quantity. Also since I have a full time job and a family I don't have the time to be training three or four times a day without it effecting either or both of the things that should be my top priorities. But a couple of things he mentioned I had to pass on as I wanted to keep my running at least five days a week and do running races.


Up until last week I was managing to fit in two workouts a day with an eye to doing three a couple of days a week (commuting to work by bike). So this is how I saw in my mind training would go. I broke it down into clumps of two weeks. I can always train when the little ones are gone to sleep, but come summer time I have to be done either before they start their sports or after.


When not on call
Monday - Run in the morning (easy)/Swim at Lunch/Bike (tempo)
Tuesday - Run at lunch (hard)/Ride my bike (easy)
Wednesday - Run in the morning (easy)/Swim at Lunch/Bike (repeats)
Thursday - Run at lunch (hard)/Bike (easy)
Friday - Run in the morning (easy)/Swim at Lunch
Saturday - Run or Cycle (long easy)
Sunday - Cycle or Run (long easy)


Saturday and Sunday are interchangeable days as I'm not sure what my weekend schedule looks like right now.


When on Call
Monday - Bike(easy)/Swim at Lunch/Run (easy)
Tuesday - Run at lunch (hard)/Bike
Wednesday - Bike(easy)/Swim at Lunch/Run 
Thursday - Run at lunch (hard)/Bike
Friday - Bike(easy)/Swim at Lunch
Saturday - Run or Cycle
Sunday - Cycle or Run


All of this training depend on how tired I am. Lately I've been feeling very worn out. I'm not sure if that is due to work and trying to train or not. But I never seem to be able to get enough sleep, so much so that on the weekends I've been getting between 10 and 12 hours of sleep per night only to wake up feeling more tired than when I went to sleep.


Maybe what I'm trying to do is a too ambitious with all of the other things that are going on with outside of training.

In a training funk

What is it about February? This month always seems to bring on the training funk or ennui. January not so much, maybe because its a new year with new possibilities, new challenges to meet. But February for all of the promise of January is like the hour or two after you've drank a can of coke - a bit of a let down once the sugar rush is gone.Winter is still here and never looks like it is going away, at least in Edmonton. Can a city bring on ennui or do people that are living in warm parts of the world have these feelings. I think not - think about how happy people are in summer - the sun is shining and its warm (there is a lot of sunshine in Edmonton... its not always warm though).

It must be something to do with the fact that winter is not over yet, even though the days are starting to get longer its still dark when I get up and its dark when I head home from work. There's always a part of me that just can't be bothered in February thinking that I have until May/June to get a good level of Fitness so there is no point in pushing it now, but there's also the part that of that says that fitness gained now will come in handy further down the road.

Part of what brings on the funk is constantly training alone I guess, Running, Cycling and Triathlon are individual sports but there is a social aspect that you don't get when you train by yourself, when with a group its easier to push yourself in each interval/set that you can let slide when doing everything solo. Part of it is the fact that I can't stand (for too long) training in the basement.The monotony, the boredom, the same DVD's that you've watched over the course of the winter.

But whats funny is that once March rolls in the funk is gone and its full on training regardless of being with a group or not.

en·nui

   [ahn-wee, ahn-wee; Fr. ahn-nwee]  Show IPA

noun

a feeling of utter weariness and discontent resulting from satietyor lack of interest; boredom: The endless lecture produced anunbearable ennui.

Going forward in 2012

Hi There,

As you may know by now I've run my first race of 2012 and came out of it in two mindsets. First was I wasn't very happy with myself as I didn't do as well as I would've liked and swore that I was done with marathons for good. The second was within a couple of hours of finishing I knew that wasn't the case anymore, I just need to correct a couple of things in training and I know that I'll start running the times I know I'm capable of. 

It’s not about proving anything to anyone. It’s about running the best race that I have in me, which I don't believe I have done yet and definitely didn't happen in Phoenix. I've gotten close a few times - Dublin 2009 was the first race I felt I was in control of the entire distance, Calgary 2010 was the second race where I had this feeling only it was better than Dublin and then the half marathon at the Edmonton marathon weekend in 2010 was the last time where I felt I was finally running around what I'm capable of.

When I go to a race I plan on finishing no matter how badly it goes. No one likes either a DNS or DNF beside their name. Finishing in one piece is one of the lowest expectation I have of myself when I'm on the start line, the lowest is finishing injured. The other thing I have in my mind that would make a race finish acceptable to me is finishing better than my last race. These goals were achieved in Phoenix. The best outcome is that I finish with a new PB.

I do however have to be smart in how I train from now on. I can't just run mile after mile because A) I have family to spent time with and B) my history of injuries are forcing me to think of ways to supplement my lack of running mileage with other ways to train. I'm still going to run as much as I can but I won't a high mileage guy, I believe that my best training comes in around 100 - 115K per week. Anything after that and I tend to break down if it’s sustained over a period of time, such as in a build up to a marathon and C) I do have a job that I love and sometimes requires me to work late or on weekends.

So how do you supplement running mileage? For me it’s going to be adding more time on the bike commuting to work and back and spending time in the pool. Of course more running is really the only thing that will give you the running fitness required to run fast times. But for me that is not going to work. If I cut back on my car usage I could easily rack up 200K a week on the bike by just commuting and then add a day or two in the pool for recovery and I should still be able to maintain 100K a week running. That is why I've signed up for a half Ironman.

I’m going to try this approach this season and see how it works out. If I find that I’m breaking down I’ll cut back on cycling and swimming.

So what happened?

So what happened? How come you didn't run as well as you wanted at the marathon? To answer that I could go in one or two directions, with either a super technical BS reason or a super simple reason that would cut right through the BS and give you the bottom line. If you know me you’ll know that I'm not much of a bull shitter and so by keeping it simple and direct is most often the best way. What happened was I wasn't fit enough to run at the speed that I wanted - that's the bottom line!! I wanted to run a sub a 2:40 marathon but truth be told I never got into that kind of pace. I think at most I was around 2:43 - 245 pace which I would've been happy with but it didn't happen.

Yes I could blame the weather on the day as it was probably 20'C hotter than the weather I was training in but other people from Alberta ran faster than me and they also trained in the same conditions I did so that's not an excuse.

Yes I could say that I hit the wall around the 20 mile mark but then everyone hits the wall around that time, only what separates those that have prepared properly for the race and the rest of us are the degrees to which they slow down. For example I was trailing a runner (no names...Marc) by between 10  - 30 seconds until approx. mile 21 and then all hell broke loose (for me) I started to slowly get slower and slower. The 5k Split from 35K to 40K was the slowest split in the race by a good two minutes. The last 2K was pretty much a sloggfest for me as could hardly put my feet on the ground due to the pain I was experiencing in my left foot.

Yes I could blame the hydration stations for giving out water/Gatorade that tasted like they just got the water from swimming pools but that was the case for everyone. But that was the worst drinking water I’ve ever had.

Yes I could blame the gels I took on board but I won’t as I had used them previously.

Yes I could blame the fact that the start was delayed 30 minutes and so by the time we got going I was cold, but I won’t as it was the same for everyone.

I want to say I hit the wall but I don’t think that is what happened entirely. I most likely hit the wall somewhere in the last 4 – 5 miles and then I gave up mentally and allowed the pain that I was feeling creep into my head and subconsciously sabotaged my race. Yes my left foot hurt really bad, so bad in fact that it was painful to put weight on it. At the end of the race I had a blister going from the base of my toes all the way back to the ball of my foot and about a finger width across. The worst part about this is the blister was causing me to change my gait a little bit with each stride and that was enough to start my Achilles hurting. In the last mile I got a side stitch...a mile to go and I’ve got a stitch!! Funnily enough my Plantar Fasciitis didn’t really bother me that much in the race or in the days after.

Why I don’t think it was the wall that got me entirely. Within an hour of finishing I was feeling pretty normal again. I’ve hit the wall before and each time it resulted in eating everything I could put my hands on. That didn’t happen this time. My legs didn’t have that beat up feeling that I’ve come to expect after a hard race. In 2008 I ran Boston and my legs felt like they had gone through a meat grinder, I could hardly walk properly for days afterward there was none of that in Phoenix. Now that may be due to spending time in the pool afterwards. But the next day I was walking properly, a little slower than normal but properly.

Why I believe it was fitness or the lack of that was my undoing – I remember certain sections of the race pretty clearly, at a turn around the 19 mile marker the road dripped slightly down hill – I didn’t make any time on Marc. I did pass one or two guys but I also got passed. Somewhere around the 23 mile marker there was a couple of hills, one down and then one up. The up section felt like I was going up the side of a mountain. With about a mile or two to go there was an on ramp just before the bridge that take you back into Tempe this felt like the side of Everest, it took me all I had not to start walking there.

Once you understand what went wrong you can correct it for the next race. It’s taken me just over a week to get it right in my head as to what actually happened. But I believe that it was a combination of not doing enough long runs (35K+) and not enough time spent at the paces I needed to be hitting. I don’t have any marathons planned for the moment as it’s a little too soon to commit to another one.

Week Ending December 18th 2011 (Week 8 of 12)

This past week was a mixed bag with regard to training. Started out slowly but then as the went on it got better and better until Saturday when I thought this is more like it. Only for something in my bad leg to get sore. After having Achilles tendinitis you tend to be a bit of a wuss and watch for the first signs of trouble.

Monday - 55 minutes easy running. Very easy after Sunday's mega run
Tuesday - 55 minute run with 11x1 minute on and 1 minute off. These are hard but enjoyable workouts.
Wednesday - 50 minute easy running as tomorrow is big run and a visit to the physio in the afternoon.
Thursday - 100 minutes 1:45 or 23K including 10x800 with 2:30 recovery. Since I don't have a track and don't like running at the Y on their T'mills (been asked to get off in the middle of a workout is not the greatest) I did these on my normal route home which included hills, slippy roads, traffic lights etc, etc. So these were more like 10x 3minutes felt good afterwards. Amazed at how much bringing drink with me changed the run from a week before.
Friday - Took the day off. As we had some important things to do.
Saturday - 85 minutes or 1:25 or 18.77K - This was the first progression type run of the build up 15-20K Tempo starting at normal running speed and then finishing at faster than race pace, well we blow the barn doors off that run!! Yeah Baby that's what I'm talking about!! I was hitting (according to the Garmin) sub3:20 per K pace at times with the last five K's at 10K pace. Felt great, until had to go to work and then I felt something around my left Achilles complain. It didn't seem to swell and its not sore so I'll be icing it over and cutting out both the speed and long runs for a couple of days to see if anything changes.
Sunday - Leg was feeling good still no swelling or soreness so I took it easy and ran on the Treadmill for about an hour. maximum speed was a whooping 7:5 minute miles.


Two more weeks of building up and then two weeks of sharpening/peaking and I'm done. Looking forward to it. now if my legs will hold up for a couple more weeks.

Week ending December 11th 2011 (Week 7 of 12)

This past week was not a good week for training. For the first couple of nights my son had a temperature, so was up a couple of times throughout those nights making sure that he was alright. Then Saturday night/Sunday morning he woke 3 or 4 time screaming and crying only to not remember it  later on Sunday.

Monday - 55 minutes easy running, which was interrupted a couple of times by people waving me down and asking directions. Did a 2 minute abs thing is it a workout when its that short? 2 minute ABS
Tuesday - 60 minute core routine followed by what was supposed to be a medium length run home. But ended up being a long run, not in terms of distance so much but more to do with how long it took me. According to my Garmin I was out there for a lot longer than this run has taken in the past. Maybe I was abducted by aliens as I seemed experience lost time.
Wednesday - Took the day off as I spent the morning in the Dentists office.  Three hours in the chair and then the rest of the day sucking coffee through a straw or breaking sandwich's done into bit sized chunks do I could eat them. Having your teeth crowned is not pleasant experience.
Thursday - 55 minutes easy running, as I was still feeling a little beat up after the dentist.
Friday - Took the day off. Woke up this morning feeling more tired than when I went to bed last night and then I let work catch up on me and so decided to take it easy.
Saturday - Today was supposed to be the workout I put off on Friday. Well it was a sufferfest right from the beginning. I ran on my treadmill for the first T'mill workout (non easy run) of this build up. 15 minute warm up and then it was supposed to be 3x2miles with 4 minutes recovery. Well I did the first repeat and realized that it wasn't happening halfway through the second repeat so I modified the workout and then did 3x15-18 minutes increasing the speed by.5 mph every minute until I got to the fastest speed I could handle for the last 4/5 minutes and finished the workout with a 15 minute cool down. I cracked doing this one and not even the Ironman coverage could do anything for me.
Sunday - Ran my longest run for some time with a couple of buddies. 36K through the river valley at the crack O dawn, wasn't feeling great for most of the run and kind've drifted off the pace on a few of the early hills. But the run was pretty good overall, it wasn't that cold (only -5) but the wind was blowing which made it feel colder than it was. My GU Chews froze in my jacket which made eating them a bit of a chore, not sure if I'd use them again. Gel's have never frozen on a run before. So this week is over and so I have to move onto thinking about next weeks training.

Week ending December 4th 2011

This past week was a pretty good week training wise. Monday was forced off day due to work commitments, but the rest of the week looked like this.

Monday - No Running or training of any kind
Tuesday - 2K swim at lunch time followed by a 23K run home. The run broke down to 30 minutes warm up and then 10K at tempo pace followed by 30 minutes cool down. The Tempo portion wasn't run at a pace that I normally run a tempo in but that was due more to the roads being covered with really slippery snow and the route I chose not being the flattest around. Aside from the speed I could see afterwards that I was working hard as my pulse was around what it is when running a marathon.
Wednesday - 55 minutes easy running, felt very good on this run and so may have gone a little faster than I was supposed but it was still around my easy run pace.
Thursday - 55 minutes with 10 times 1 minute on and 1 minute off. These Fartlek workouts always feel good. I was a little tired starting this one so I didn't have any speed expectations. Just ran as hard as I could for 1 minute 10 times.
Friday - 55 minutes easy running, felt tired for this one and thought that it was due to my being out a little later than normal the night before. The wind helped keep my pace under control as it made it feel colder than it actually was.
Saturday - Long run with fast finish. I was hoping to run the last 10K at marathon pace but that didn't happen. Someone ordered snow over night, not a huge snowfall but enough to cover the trails again making footing a little trickier as now those slick roads/trails had a fresh loose layer on top. My training partner and I ran about 14K before turned on the pace, we were working hard for the 10K and at one point I noticed that the heart rate was hovering around where it would be when running at 10K pace not marathon pace. So I decided after about 4K so slow it done a little, plus I was suffering pretty badly. I dropped down from my 10K pace to marathon pace and finished the segment in about the same time as I did on Tuesday. Pace per K didn't really reflect how hard the segment was but pulse rates where bang on. Total for the day was 27K.
Sunday - Will be my usual 55 minute run on the treadmill, I take my son swimming in the morning and Sunday's are my morning to lie in (as much as a 3yr old and a 6month old will allow you) so runs are usually when the little guys go down for a nap.

Twitter & an idea for a future blog post.

If anyone reads this they'll know I use Twitter a lot (far more than here anyway) and so I'll most likely post my daily training via Twitter and a weekly sum up here.


If you haven't seen them - the Training day video's that are posted on competitor.com are really interesting (if you ever wonder how the top Triathletes spend their days).I would love to do a training day with Niall type video - just have to convince someone to come out and shoot some footage while I'm training.......

December 2nd

Hey There,
I can't believe that its December already, time goes by fast without letting you know!!! I also can't believe that I haven't updated this thing since July when I ran the Canada Day race here in Edmonton. Is there any reason that I haven't been updating this thing? other than my own laziness? - No. Have I been injured  - No......no new injuries anyway. (I'll get back to that)


So what has happened between July and today? I hate to say it, but its either not very much or its so much that I couldn't fit it in one blog post without going on and on and on. So it's probably best if I summarize it into one or two paragraph's.


After the Canada race my training went pretty well, I ran the 10K event of the Edmonton marathon weekend and finished in a time that prior to having Achilles Tendinitis I would've looked at as a bad time, but I placed in the top ten overall and managed to get third in my age group so all in all it wasn't that bad. The finish time showed me that I was on my way back to the fitness I had previously.


A couple of weeks later I entered the Rotary for Life 10K looking to improve as this was the race that I had set as my goal race. Its amazing what three weeks of training and a cooler temperature can produce. It also reminded me that you shouldn't get caught up too much in races/workouts that don't go as well as you'd like while in the middle of training. Its the end result of that training block that counts.


I thought about doing some Cross Country through the fall but I could never quite make it to workouts and the first one that tried to get to didn't really inspire a lot of confidence in the group that I was hoping to run with. Nothing worse than rearranging your schedule and then have no one turn up. I kept training although at an easier pace to keep myself fit but the Plantar Fasciitis that has been bothering me for over two years (on and off) got a little worse than normal. So that put a stop to any race plans I had for the fall as I wanted to get that treated before my next race. It is now at a point where its just there, no worse no better. when I get treatment on it, its really good for a couple of days and then it starts to slide back to its normal condition.


So I took it easy from about mid September until the end of October when I decided that I would enter a marathon down in Phoenix in January. I'm six weeks into the training program which is one that I had gotten from McMillan Running for a marathon that I ran my fastest time back in the spring of 2010. I'll update the blog with entries for the next six weeks.


I also decided to take the plunge and go back to doing a couple of  Tri's in 2012!!!!! I've been thinking about this for some time now and seeing a couple of friends qualify for races like Xterra and 70.3 world Championships really helped seal the deal as it were. So I've entered the 70.3 scheduled for July 29th in Calgary. I start training for that race in February however all of my training has to be done at lunchtime or via commuting to work or if needed once the little ones are safely tucked into bed, but it also means that there are no six hour bike rides on the weekend and I have to do the race with whatever equipment I already have. The training for this race will also be run based meaning that I'm going to try and  run almost as much as I do now as I want to do a few running races such as the Timex series here in Alberta as well as a couple of half marathons before the triathlon.

Canada Day Race review

Well it’s a belated Happy Canada Day!!! Friday was Canada Day and I guess the best comparison is St. Patrick's Day in Ireland. Every City, Town, village has the Canadian colors out there are parades and all sorts of family festivities all of which ends with Fireworks.

Canada Day (when running a race) is always an early start for me I was woken at 4:00am as the police helicopter was doing the rounds overhead, plus the fact that I had some sort of coughing fit in the middle of the night. This was loud enough to wake the baby. I went back to sleep on the couch until 6:00am and then got ready to go to the race start. It didn't take long to get there, it’s just that I was thinking of riding the bike there as part of the warm up....well that didn't happen as I saw that it was raining out, but by the time the race started the sun was out and it was starting to warm up. I did my usually warm up down by the Kinsmen and then jogged over to the start line.

This was to be my first race since getting injured back in October 2010 with Achilles Tendinitis so I didn't really expect it to be a lightning fast race. My plan was to run at an even pace of 3:50 per K or 18:XX per 5K, the other (I guess more realistic) goals I had ranged from simply finishing to going under the hour for the distance.....That was the plan anyway but that is not what happened. I came down the hill from the start/finish in a good place nowhere near the front of the race and then proceeded to go backwards for about the next 5or 6K. I ended up going through the first 5k almost on the pace that I was thinking I was capable of but slowed down over the next 10K.

I was on my own by the time we got to Hawrelak Park and was getting encouragement from the walkers that started out 30 minutes before us, it’s not their fault I was running badly so I said thank you to anyone that shouted a word of encouragement. Going up Emily Murphy hill is never easy even when you're going well this is one of those hills that always seems steep and people just seemed to go away from me, but the encouragement at the top made up  for the lack of speed.

Once the race wound its way back to Saskatchewan Drive (try saying that 6 times in row with a few pints on you) I could see how far the leaders where in front of me and from my spot it had all the looks of a good race. I ended up going through 10K in 39 flat (which isn't great even for me). Two years ago on this course I went through 10K in 36 something; it’s amazing how much an injury can screw you up. The thing is by this point I had resigned myself to just finishing so I offered encouragement to the guys in front of that I know that I would normally be running with. The rest of the race went by in a blur of trying to keep the pace that I was at going until the dreaded hill up to the finish. Again this is a hill like Emily Murphy in that it’s steep and it always feels hard. I really slowed down on this hill and had no idea how I was doing until I saw the clock at the finish line and realized that I could break the hour for the run.

I ended up crossing the line in 59:58, so both of my realistic goals were reached (finishing and going under the hour) after finishing the run I spoke to Mia Clarke for a few minutes and could feel that the injured leg was tightening up, I think it was the hills as it felt tight on both of the hills during the race. My fear was that the AT would start hurting again, but luckily it didn't and the leg didn't get any worse over the course of the next couple of days.

It was the longest /hardest run since the New York Marathon in November, according to my Polar I ran it at approx. 92% of maximum heart rate with HR getting up to a max of 95%. My Achilles hasn't hurt in the time since, so that is looking good. So while it wasn't a great race it wasn't bad and it has shown me that I have a lot of work to do to get back to the form that I had last year when I went sub 2:40 for the marathon and 1:16 for the half marathon. 

From now until the beginning of September I'll be focusing more on running a faster 10K as I haven't done one in a long time and my current 10K PB is pretty bad (I think it’s 36:XX).

Loonie about Lunar.....

This season I'm using Nike shoes as my shoes of choice. The only thing is it can get pretty confusing with all of the models that are out there and what they do/don't do. If you look at the Lunar line of Nike shoes there must be at least ten different models. So far I have tried the Lunar Glide, the Lunar Swift, the Lunar Racer 2, the Lunar Elite 2 and the Lunar Racer.


I really liked the Lunar Glide, as I never had any problems with it as some people had and they still look good after using them for two seasons. I like that the stability part only kicks on when you need it as I need it towards the end of my long runs.


The Lunar Swift, is a good shoe although it takes a little while to get used too as it is very stiff when its new. This stiffness in the sole makes for a weird feel when you first run in them. These also have a stability component on them like the Glides but I'm not sure it works as well.


The Lunar Racer 2, is a shoe that I didn't like, for some reason it didn't work for me. I found the feel to be very springy which was great at first as it encourages leg turnover I also got blisters in places that I never got blisters before such as the outside edge of my foot or in middle of my arch. But what I found was there is next to no stability in it and as the shoe breaks down this became very problematic for me, the other thing I noticed is as the shoe breaks down it began to feel like I was running on a soft surface, so just after the foot strike  when my heel landed it felt like the shoe was compressing even more. I tried to use a soft ortho in the shoe but it gave me a feeling of constantly running on the outer edge of my feet, the other thing I noticed when using the insert was that it made the foot strike really loud, I think I could use it as a bear deterrent if I ran in the mountains with them.


The Lunar Elite 2, At first I was skeptical about trying them as they feel very much like the Swift in that they are Stiff initially but as I use them more and  I've really began to like them. As the season goes on I'll add more to how they are working out.


The Lunar Racer 2011, I read some really good reviews about these shoes before I took them out of the box and they are supposed to be more stable than the LR2, they are on a slightly different last than the LR2 in that it is more curved than the 2010 model. So far I have done one run on them so I can't say yet how they'll workout. But like the Lunar Elite 2 this will be an ongoing review.


It seems to me that Nike is really pushing the Lunar line and appears to be doing less with the Zoom line of shoes, now I don't know if that is a good thing or not as I like the shoes that I've tried so far from the Zoom line such as the Elite4 and the Marathoner.

Did he or Didn't he act on team orders?

This got Harry Wiltshire disqualified from the European Championships on the weekend. The bigger question is whether or not it was under team orders? The Brownlee's don't need to put someone up to these tricks as they have been on a winning streak this year, so why would they get a teammate to do this.

I know from experience that the swim in Triathlon is crazy and sometimes you get bumped, kicked and grabbed but never have I seen someone deliberately impede another competitor. As you can see from the video  he is aware of who is next to him as Wiltshire looks at Gomez a couple of times during the swim and then again when they are trying to climb out of the water.

Wiltshire and Gomez incident Euro's 2011

I'm still here

It’s been a while since I posted anything to this blog...and there are a couple of good reasons why that is. I was still injured and didn't really get do anything during those months of any note, I still tried to train (not really much running) but on the bike and swimming. In May we welcomed a new addition to our family, a little baby girl to annoy our son when he’s a little older. Other times I have thought of something that I'd like to say but then my own laziness would stop me from doing it. So what else is new I hear you say.

Training Update: - I've been running pretty constantly since the beginning of April, been doing about 6 days a week running and one day (at least) of cycling and swimming. The cycling has been hit or miss so far as I thought I would have more done by this time of the year. The swimming has been going really well and I'm almost back to the same kind of times I was doing while training for Ironman - although to look at me you'd never think that..... Since I got injured I've really taken to swimming, I'm enjoying it considering that it was the thing that I really found hard to get back into for Triathlon training. Prior to the winter just gone the last time I did any swimming on a consistent basis was when I trained for Ironman Canada 2004.

Running - My running is coming along, although there are days when I feel like something the cat barfed up. But that is to be expected, you just have to keep chugging away at it and then it'll start to click. This year since it has taken me so long to get going again I've decided that I I'm going to slowly increase the distance of the races I do.....however my first race is going to be the Canada day 15K and then the rest of the races until September are going to be 10K's after that I'm still up in the air about what distances I'm going to run. I got a spot in the Chicago marathon in early October but I'm 99% sure that I won't be running as I don't think I'll have the training done to do it justice. 

Thanks for reading

Yuki Kawauchi - Tokyo 2011

January 2011 - The update

Its January 2011, and the year hasn't gotten off to the greatest start. In fact it is going about as well as 2010 ended, with me being injured, frustrated and wondering where do I go next, Do I think about stopping running and if so what do I do instead? Ever since the end of October I have been going to either Physio, Chiro, Acupuncture or Massage at least once a week. I've had so many treatments in the last couple of months that I should start up my own clinic. 


Sorry before you read any more, I feel I have to warn you that this one may go on for awhile :-)


Part of this frustrating thing about having Achilles problems is that there doesn't seem to be one treatment option that works and I think is due to the Achilles not really having a good blood supply, the only treatments that I haven't tried in the last couple of months are Plasma Rich Platelet Therapy (PRPT) where they inject the problem area with a dose of super concentrated White blood cells and platelets. This treatment is supposed to be really effective on the parts of your body that don't have a lot of blood going to them normally such as tendons and ligaments. The other treatment is Electro Shock Wave therapy and this one is exactly what you you think it is. The person being treated gets an electrical shock localized on the area that hurts and this is then supposed to help reduce pain and help healing. The other part of getting frustrated with it is that it not knowing if you can get back to the level you where at prior to being injured, no one can give me a firm date, no one can say that in 3 weeks you'll be back to your normal running routine. Which is what all athletes want to hear, we don't want to go week in week out for treatment with no end in sight. 


At my last Physio appointment I was cleared to start XC Skiing, so I did that and within two days I could feel a tightness in the Achilles. So this leads me to believe that whatever is causing it is not fixed.


This week I spoke to a family friend who happens to work with one of the NHL hockey teams to see if he would have any other ideas, he suggested everything that I've done up until this point so that was kind of good to hear but also disappointing as it meant that I will still be stuck for the next X amount of weeks. While farting around on the internet I came across a guy called Dr. Abelson down in Calgary that uses Active Release Techniques (ART) to help athletes over come Achilles injuries. So I watched a couple of his YouTube videos and then looked to see if someone in Edmonton also does this. Which landed me at the door step of River Valley Health, after explaining what was happening (my ongoing hip and lower back issues) as well as the tendinitis I got an adjustment that was very uncomfortable, since pretty much every muscle was tight from my back down to my feet. I believe and they also think that the Achilles tendinitis is caused by something going wacky further up on the kinetic chain...Meaning that its possible that my sore hip and lower back problems caused the lower leg injury due to it having to overcompensate. They also told me that they see this all the time and could have me back to my normal volume of running within six weeks.......When I heard this I was thinking, Awesome, but I'm not going to get too carried away just yet as who knows what will happen between now and then.


Next up is an appointment to see how good or bad my Gait is, I'm hoping that I can post the test as that would be cool. I think with this test its going to show that my gait is bad....since I'm injured and everything is out of place. what would be cool is if further video analysis over a period of time shows that the gait is getting better due to adding core stability workouts and having the problems go away without the use of Orthotics.