Peterborough Half Marathon Report or a Brief Moment of Insanity

Peterborough Race Report
Have you ever heard the saying that the definition of insanity is to continue to do the same thing over and over again but expect different results? Well sometimes that's me with racing. Every once in a while, maybe 1 race in 10, I find myself living out this definition. I guess its my body reminding me to smarten up, you would think that extreme pain would ingrain lessons learned deeply but with me not so much. I'm the kid that shouldn't leave the house without a hockey helmet. Read On.

Prerace
Kim and I were both looking forward to this race. I hadn't run a half marathon in quite awhile so I expected to PB. Fellow Longboat Gregoire Bonhomme was kind enough to pick us up and give us a drive to the race. In return I own him beer, now that's a sweet deal right there. On top of that the race start was 12:30 so we didn't have to leave for the race until 9:30 am. It so nice not to have to be up at 5 to race.

I had been worried about the weather all week with a big storm coming in on Friday and Saturday but by the time Sunday arrived the Chicken Littles at the Weather Network had been proven to be premature with their "the sky is falling", apocalyptic weather forecasts. Thank goodness I though I might actually have to wear a hat.

We got up to the race in plenty of time and met up with a bunch of other club members, picked up our race kits and got changed. The racing conditions were fantastic, sunny and 3 degrees. I decided to run in shorts, no hat, no jacket... sweet.

I should also mention that this was a really well put on race. Great facilities (YMCA), great volunteers. These guys know how to run a race right. I was so glad to have picked this winter half over the Chilly in Burlington especially given the problems I have had with VRpro races and the Chilly last year.

Race goals were simple, top goal to run under 1:37, middle goal sub 1:40, low end goal to PB. I knew my proper pacing, had my strategy, what could go wrong. Yeah right, where have you heard that before.

Race
I started out well or so I thought at the time. On reflection I started out well if I was a much, much faster runner then I actually am otherwise I started out way,way,way (add some more ways in your head and just keep going)fast.

I had planned to put in 4:40kms to start and then pick it up a bit later in the race. Man what the heck happened to that plan. First to KMs were in the 4:15 range, oopps. I reined in back in a bit and at 3KM was running at 4:30, which is still too fast this early on but hey I felt good. Sure my heart rate was already right at threshold pace but I could just pull back some if it started to creep up, besides I was feeling good. I could hear the tiny voice in my head telling me to easy up and stick with the plan but I just pushed it deep down inside where it couldn't bother me anymore. Sometimes, like today, that voice sounds just like Peter Griffin and who the hells going to listen to that guy anyway.

The course itself is an out and back, very flat, very fast. I hit 6KM in great shape hitting all my readjusted on the fly splits that were for a much faster runner then me. I looked at my garmin.... oh oh, HR was above threshold and now steadily climbing and by the time I hit 8KM I knew I was in for a difficult ride. What was I thinking. I mean its not my first ever race and we all know that the longer distance races are all about pacing properly. What a butt head. I could hear Peter Griffin laughing and I imagined him saying "told ya" over and over again. I had a good time going but was now having problems maintaining pace, legs felt great, lungs were on fire and only 13 KM left to go. Yikes!

The rest of this race became an exercise in pain. As I slowed down from lack of oxygen I could see my time bleeding away. Somehow I was able to maintain at least some sort of pace. At 18KM I tried to speed up some but soon was coming up with new and ingenious ways to combine every curse word that I know. I come from the East Coast so I know a lot of them.

We passed the 20KM marker and then turned onto the final straight away which was somewhere around 800 meters from the finish. I could see the finish but man was it a long way away. I ran and ran but it didn't seem to be getting much closer. I checked my HR which had long ago pushed into 400 meter track work out range (98% of max). As I pushed I remembered how Roger told me about how he had passed out just before the finish line at the Bread and Honey and woke up in an ambulance. I contemplated this to help keep my thought off of my lungs which were no longer burning cause they had become scorched to a crisp. Legs felt great tho.

Then I was at the finish. I somehow managed to surge at the end passing two people just in front of me.

Post Race
Ended up PBing by 4:40 minutes but if I had run this race properly I would have been quicker. I figure I lost about a minute off my time by being foolish. Good lesson that comes at a great time with a month to go until ATB. I am sure I will remember this lesson forever (HAAAAHAAA as if).

This is a really great race. I will do it again for sure and highly recommend it. They know how to put on a great race that's for sure.

Also a big congratulations to all the Longboaters at this race. Lots of PBs and top finishes in individual age categories including Roger Moss (5th overall) and Rob Campbell (7th overall and a new club record for the 50 -55 age category). To check out how everyone did as well as what Roger had to say about me in particular be sure to go to his coaching blog. Its worth the trip.

Final Results
Time 1:38:45
Place 101/513
Age group 14/39
Pace 4:42

Toronto 2 Marathon problem "solved" seriously who gives a crap

VERSUS



So I guess its time to weigh in on this two marathon in one city nonsense.
As most of you in and around Toronto know there are two fall marathon in this city. For those readers outside of Toronto yes its true we have 2 marathons the Scotia Waterfront Marathon and the Toronto Marathon. Not only are these marathons both in the fall but they are only three weeks apart.

Well this situation is now “solved” by the morons that run this fine city. Yes I said it MORONS. The solution was to threaten to kill one of the marathons if one of them didn't move to the fall. In the end the Toronto Marathon agreed to move. Really they didn't have much of a choice.

Now before I continue I should say this. I have no problem having one marathon in the spring and one in the fall. It makes sense and will allow anyone that wants to to run both to do so, that is good (I guess). That's not what really pisses me off about this whole “discussion”. Both races are well run and decent races. I have run the full SWM and the Toronto HM and I don't really have anything negative to say about either race. I liked both.

However to the city of Toronto (those that run socialist city hall) I have a great deal to say about this because this whole thing as been a steaming pile of crap. It has been political opportunism at its absolute worst in the guise of making the city better. Something that these jackasses have become very good at.

So what precipitated the city forcing one of the races to move. Well a couple of things. Lets take a look at them shall we (insert my cynical sarcastic voice here).

The city claims that because of the marathons being so close together they received may angry calls about all the street closures from motorists. This is unacceptable so they had to do something. Hmmmm ...... I would be laughing out loud right now if not for the urge to scream.

If this is the case and the city is so concerned about road closures and traffic complaints then I am sure that I will at least see some of the following things take place.

An end to the labour day parade. I mean it closes down main streets, brings in no money and the only ones watching are people waiting to cross the street.

An end to Taste of the Danforth. I mean come on the once great event has become nothing more then a corporate sell fest. Not only that it closes down the busiest street in Toronto and it lasts 3 days.

While were at it lets get rid of the Molson Indy. What an inconvenience closing down the Lakeshore for 3 days just so race cars can go around and around.


Funny this is the same bunch of dolts at City Hall that were not concerned at all about motorist complaints (or residents for that matter) when they decided to tear up St. Clair Ave in order to create a dedicated streetcar lane. This 30 million 1.5 year project that once complete would save riders an entire 90 seconds on the 8 km trip soon became a 90 million 5 year project that cost many St. Clair merchants their businesses. Add to that the creation of speed bumps on any residential street that isn't a dirt road and you can see just how important keeping motorist happy is.

The reality is that they manufactured this issue to make it look like they were doing something. It helps take the focus of all the real problems of the city which are massive and it gets easy votes. Since there is little to no support of the running community in Toronto there will be little backlash and the city can claim that its working with and listening to the citizens of the city. Talk about a farce.

The second thing I keep hearing is that this will create a more recognizable International Event. This is the same argument that was being used to call for only one marathon. In fact this morning I heard Mayor Miller claim that this would begin to elevate SWM to the level of New York and Chicago. What utter nonsense. I mean are you serious?

New York and Chicago (also London, Boston, Berlin etc.) have something Toronto doesn't have and never will have. Its called fan, spectator and city support. In these cities marathons are seen as all encompassing events. In Toronto they are a traffic hassles. In fact the only news reports you hear in the days leading up to the marathons are about road closures. NICE! Last year the actual race was hardly even mentioned in major papers including the sports sections. Who won... who cares!! For either marathon to grow to NYC proportions it would have to be loved like the Toronto Maple Leafs and that aint going to happen.

This is not going to change. I mean really lets say you are going to run a fall marathon. You live in the mid west and are going to travel to the race. Will it be Chicago, Philadelphia, New York or Toronto. Can you say one of these things is not like the other. I think you can. But hey I am sure that Toronto will become a huge destination race. Maybe we can bus the 20 spectators to different parts of the course to cheer.

By the way last fall I had to do a local race as I had run Paris in the spring and I chose .... wait for it.... neither. I ran Hamilton instead.

I am glad that both races survive and are now in different seasons but I also feel bad for the Toronto Marathon as it will have to compete with Ottawa and Mississauga. Good luck with that.

And what Toronto fall marathon will I be running this year (before the switch)? Well again this year it will be neither as the plan right now is to do Chicago.

worst week ever / best week ever .. training update

The last two weeks have been a tale of two training extremes where I had one of my worst training weeks that I can remember followed by one of my best.

February 1-7
After a good start to the week (which followed a very good previous week)it soon all came to a crashing end. On Sunday night I awoke in the middle of the night to the sound of my spouse pouring glasses of water into the toilet. Half asleep I thought how strange until I realized that wasn't glasses of water.. oh ooh.

Monday
10km recovery run. All is well. Kim home with the flu.

Tuesday
13.5km easy run on hills. Kim feeling better. I began to think I might escape the flu

Wednesday
No run as I was way to busy puking. Kim is feeling much better. Miss my club run as my running "friends" use this private time to plot an elaborate prank against me after all what are friends for (I will cover the prank in my next blog). On a more upbeat note Kim feeling much better.

Thursday
Able to move from the bathroom floor to the couch. Hurray? No run

Friday
Think I am feeling a bit better. Go into work. Bad decision. No run.

Saturday
Feel almost normal. Run 13km easy.

Sunday
Feel okay so head out on my long run. First 10km go fine. At 11km my heart rate begins to climb. I am running easy pace but my heart rate is at threshold. Tough it out until 22km then decide to be smart and cut my long run short. This is only the 3rd time in 2 years where I have cut a run short. The other 2 involved heatwave conditions. I am so not impressed but know its the best call.

Week total
36.4 miles (58.5 km) total for the week which is pretty much a write off at this point in my training. You might say it was in the toliet. Oh well better luck next week.

I officially designate the first week of February "The Week of Barf"

Feb 8 to 14th
Monday
10km recovery run. I feel normal. HR is fine.

Tuesday
14.5km easy run on hills. Feel good. Hulk smash kind of good.

Wednesday
19km partial tempo run with the club. 6km easy, 6km tempo, 7km easy. Its freaking cold and windy. I run the tempo portion maybe a bit too hard but its hard to tell with the wind. The puking feeling I have at the tempo part of the run has nothing to do with the flu.

Thursday
12.6km easy run. Feel really good. No lingering effects from Wednesday but I still run slow per coach Rogers orders.

Friday
14.3km Hill workout. 5km warm up, hill circuit, 5km cool down. Hill circuit consists of doing 200 - 300 meters of bounding up the steep portion of Central hill in high park then continue running to the top. Then a small recovery loop at the top of the hill and then back down the hill at top speed. This is followed at the bottom of the hill with a set of 5 strides at 5k pace. Then repeat. When Roger went over the workout I though it looks way too easy, maybe I should add in a third set. Man was I wrong. This work out was deceptively hard. My legs were jello during my cool down run home with my legs hurting in all new strange and wondrous places.

Saturday
12.6km easy run with hills. Legs were still toast from Fridays run so went slow.

Sunday
34km long run. Ran with other club members. It went very well. I was nervous because of my meltdown the week before. Maybe I forgot how to run long. No problems and my HR stayed where it should. Was planning on inserting some race pace miles in but instead did the entire run a little bit faster then normal. Thanks to Lynn, Kelly and Coby for pushing the pace.

Week total
117km or 72.8 miles
This is the most mileage I have ever put in for a training week. Legs tired but feel good and healthy. Next race is the Peterbrough HM in 2 weeks.

goodbye base training hello hills... last months training stats.

Base training is done and seems too have gone pretty well. I dropped my mileage down quite a bit in November and early December. I have now built it back up to 65+ miles a week and have no nagging injuries at this point in time.

Last week was the start of the hill training phase. When I got my program from Roger it set me back on my heels on first glance. First off it moves me to training 7 days a week which is a first for me but more then that I am seeing never ending hills. The next 6 weeks look like this.

Monday - recovery run
Tuesday - hills (easy)
Wednesday - tempo
Thursday - easy run
Friday - hills (hard)
Saturday - hills (easy)
Sunday - long run (on very hilly route)

After the initial shock however I realized that its really not much different then what I was doing last summer. I ran trails that were very hilly every Tuesday and Saturday but since they were on the trails instead of the road I never really thought of them as hills. Yeah I know that sounds strange but there it is.

First week of hills went well but I have lost 2 days of training this week with a bad case of the stomach flu. Also as the pictures attest to it has gotten kind of cold again.

Last Months Training Stats.

Here are my January Training Stats
Days run: 27
Days off: 4
20 mile runs: 2
Races: 1 - 8k

Total Miles 249

Robbie Burns Race Report

Sunday Jan 24th was the 30th running of the Robbie Burns 8k in Burlington. I have been looking forward to this race for quite a while now. Partially this is because I love this course, its very flat, pretty fast and the race is super well organized. I was also looking forward to this race because Robbie Burns was the first timed race that I ever ran in (2 years ago). Back then 8k still seemed like a very long way to run.

I was looking forward to running fast, it seems like I haven't run in a faster, shorter race or any race at all in months. To be honest I really didn't know what to expect with this one. I was sure I would PB but only because I haven't run an 8k in a year not because I was feeling particularly ready to run hard. I have been hard at work base training since November and that's going well but lots of longer but slower easy running doesn't tend to fill you with much confidence when it comes to speed. I did get in a few tempo intervals in the last few weeks but not at the pace I would be running here. I was wondering how much pain I would be able to handle.



Prerace
This year there were more then 30 members of Longboat running in this race. With so many people the club decided to rent a bus in order to transport our running horde from Toronto to Burlington. Special thanks to Kim for suggesting it and Sabrina and Bob for setting it up. Being able to all travel together was really awesome. We met up with the bus and arrived at the race well ahead of time. The race is held out of a school in Burlington so lots of washrooms and plenty of room for kit pickup etc. Got changed and then had lots of time to warm up.

The weather was nearly perfect, sunny, just above zero and winds around 15km. What a difference from last year when we hid in the school as long as possible before heading out to run in -35 degree weather. After a good solid warm up I grouped myself at the start line with a bunch of other club members that were going to be running around the same time as me.

I had a couple of goals. My time goals were A)34:30 (not very likely), B)sub 35 (realistic but going to be tough) C) PB (sub 38:33). I also wanted to try and finish ahead of fellow club member Rob Hanks who I ran track with all last summer. This would be a challenge as he is a bit faster then me on the track so I figure if I could beat him I would have run a really good race. Rob told me before the race that he wasn't going to be very fast as he was not training that consistently right now. I didn't buy into that line at all. I call that the Steve Blackburn lull you to sleep race strategy. I would still be running hard.

The Race
It seems that once the gun went off I kind of forgot about my idea of staying with the group of Longboaters that were running my pace. In shorter distance races I always run a little bit faster than the pace I plan to race at usually for the first KM or so before I settle into race pace. Since I was really unsure about what my race pace would be I started out a bit faster but still held back some. I spent the first km weaving in and out of the pack and as we pasted the 1km mark I started to get some room. At this point I settled into a steady 4:17 pace.

Things went well and I was running pretty good at this point, hard but still controlled. I could see a few club members ahead of me but felt good about my pace so didn't try to catch up to them. As I pasted the 2km marker I saw Longboater Francesco G passing me on my right. He was running just slightly faster then I was and I know from running with him that he is around the same pace as I am so I sped up slightly to stay with him. This actually worked out really well for me as Francesco runs a pretty consistent pace also I was pretty sure he would not want me to finish ahead of him. Sure enough anytime I sped up a little so did he. I of course did the same thing not letting him create any kind of gap of more than a couple of strides. He kept me honest for the next 6km.

At 3km we turned back south and picked up the pace just a little bit as this is the fastest part of the course. I hit the 4km mark still feeling pretty good and then passed the 5km mark in 21:24 which is 10 seconds slower then my 5km PB. I knew at this point that if I could hang on to Francesco I was going to put up a really good time.

Just after 5km we turned back west along the Lakeshore and into the grinding part of the course. I could feel fatigue beginning to set in here as I started to labour a bit. My pace slowed slightly here (4:22 from 4:18). I slowed a bit more in the 6-7KM stretch which includes the only hill on the course which was not that big but seemed like a mountain at this point. I turned the corner and headed back north into the last KM right on Francesco's heels.

I had really hoped to have more left in the last KM and did speed up slightly but I was redlining big time. I began to try to focus on just staying right behind Francesco with the intention of trying to take him in the last hundred meters.

We turned the corner and heading into the last 200 meters. I was fading and thinking about where to attempt to turn it on all at the same time when suddenly I heard shouted from the crowd “come on Hanks you can catch Chris!!” What? My brain tried to process this information and then I saw Rob out of the corner of my eye. My focus went from Francesco to Rob and I got confused for a moment and lost focus. I had figured Rob was well behind me while in reality he was right behind me. ARGGG! For a couple of seconds I was frozen in my decision making process and he was by me. I pressed hard but couldn't get him and end up finishing 1 second behind both of them.

Post race
I was pretty happy with my time, hit my second goal of breaking 35 minutes and set a PB taking 3:45 seconds off my time with a finishing time of 34:50. Kim also ran really well and took 4 minutes off her 8km time.

Longboaters grabbed up a bunch of hardware at the race with Rob Campbell winning the grandmasters category and 10 other club members placing in their respective age catagories. Also a big thank you to Bob Nagle for bringing post run/bus refreshments. Thanks Bob.

As always the Burlington running club did a great job putting on the race. If you haven't done this race before I would call it a must do but register early as it sells out every year.

Running the Boston Special .. Last Weeks Training

Here is a run down of last weeks training which overall went well as I added some faster running and a new long run into the mix.

Monday
Rest - I love Mondays! I have a feeling I am going to enjoy Mondays even more as I move into the meat of my training schedule.

Tuesday
12.5km easy run - I ran my normal 7-8 mile route. Conditions were not very good. It was slippery with fresh snow making it impossible to get good traction. The easiness of this run is debatable. At least I didn't fall down.

Wednesday
16 km intervals - The first intervals of this training cycle and just what I needed. My program called for easy runs only up to this point and with the Robbie Burns 8k on the horizon I really needed to get some faster running in (but not too fast). Incorporated 4 x 6 minute intervals into the run. I ran with the club and was suppose to stay relatively slowish at around 4:55km pace but ended up picking it up a bit more then that with each one getting a bit faster than the last until the final one was at a 4:30 pace. Opps.

Thursday
13km easy run - Nothing to see move along. Run was pretty uneventful.

Friday
12km intervals - The first night of the new longboat speed (or hills) training sessions in High Park. Its always nice to be able to run with a small group going the same pace as you until you feel like slowing down. We ran 4 x mile repeats in balmy -18 weather. I still cant believe I was the one complaining that I wanted to start running hard and fast again. After the run Coach Roger supplied us with hot cider and rum. I felt much better after that.

Saturday
13k easy run - Saturday morning run with the club. This was suppose to be a progressive run but kept within my easy pace, it didnt work out that way. Started out slow for about 5 minutes then the progressiveness became a high end of the easy range for the rest of the run. I am not happy with myself on this one and really have to make more of an effort to reign it in. I think probably the -25 degree weather didnt help much.

Sunday
30 km long run - This was the first week of the new group long runs with other longboaters. We met at the westend YMCA and then started out to run the (in)famous Boston Special.

Boston Special = Boston Painful
The Boston Special is a long run route that was devised a number of years ago by Longboat member Tony Fletcher when he was training for Boston. Clearly Tony went out to the west-end of Toronto and found every single large hill then figured out a way to include all of them within a single run and when I say hills I mean big nasty heart pounding hills. I am not sure if Tony is a madman or a genius (evil genius of course). You can check it out here.

I hadn't run this course before but had heard lots about it. It really never dawned on me to make my long run as hilly as humanly possible.



It all started out well but only 4km in I was running too fast as I wanted to try and keep the fast kids in view for as long as possible. The others running my pace were going shorter distances so I knew I would end up on my own soon enough. I slowed it down some as we headed into the hills but still too fast for the course. I keep other club members in sight for the first 10km but as the group separated into those going 20km and those going 30km I was soon running on my own. The only other guys going the full route were Roger M. and Rob C. both sub 3hr marathoners so there was no way I was keeping up with them. Instead I settled into my normal pace and worked my way through the hills. Unfortunately I got lost once on part of the route I didn't know but still got my full distance in. Kim ran the 20km route.



I was honestly really wrecked after this run. I haven't felt this tired after a long run since the first time I trained for a marathon and ran 20 miles. I am told this will make me super strong for the spring season and Around the Bay. I have no doubt about that.

Totals for the week
# of runs 6
longest run 30km (18.5 miles)
total distance 95.6km (59.4 miles)

2009 in review just the facts ... Upcoming 2010 goals

2009 was a very good year of running for me. Here are just the facts / stats. Watch for my 5 best and 5 worst running experiences blog coming early next week (where I get to complain in commentary form).

2009 Recap
I had 5 main (realistic) goals going into this year and managed to reach them all.
1. Stay serious injury free - did this but we are going to chalk that up to the running gods. Had lots of minor problems as pain just keeps moving from one spot on my body to the other.

2. Build a deeper mileage base - this was relatively easy as I started running 6 days a week.

3. Break 23 minutes in a 5k - Struggled with getting fast in 2008 but lots of track work last summer has me running at 5k at just over 21 minutes.

4. Break the 4 hr marathon barrier - Failed at my attempt in Paris, France but crushed it in the fall no problem.

5. Run my first Ultra - Ran my first 50k and liked it so much that I followed it up with a 50 miler.

Totals

longest training run - 23 miles
longest run (race) - 50 miles
most mileage run in a week - 75 miles
lowest mileage run in a week - 0 miles
most mileage in a month - 279 miles
lowest mileage in a month = 115 miles
Number of races in 2008 - 21

TOTAL MILEAGE FOR 2009
2449 Miles
or
3945 km

Set PBs in 5k, 6k, 8k, 10k, 10 miles, Half Marathon, Marathon, 50k and 50 miler.

2010 Goals
1. Break 20 minutes in a 5k
2. Run my first 100 miler
3. Stay injury free
4. Hit my Boston Qualifier
5. Up my base mileage, shoot for 5000km year.

Now lets just see how that ends up going.