Trophy Hunting

During a recent outing, a very long time friend and I were discussing life, the universe and everything.  A bit of a preface... I feel it has taken me 40+ years to just begin figuring out what life is about, so by no means am I an expert.  But I said, for me, life is all about doing things that you've never done before... seeking out new experiences and getting everything you can from it.

He said I sounded like a trophy hunter.  Trophies, for you non-PlayStation 3 gamers are "achievements" you receive for doing certain things while playing.  Yes, they are virtual trophies, so they aren't tangible nor do they have any inherent value.  Also, the tasks are not along the critical path to completing the game, but more of a fun aside. In summary, they are little pieces of nothing.  So when my trusted old friend accused me of being a trophy hunter, I thought it made me seem a little superficial.

Well for me, my big pursuit is obvious.

In 2009, Boston sold out in late January, at the time it surprised many how quickly.  For 2010, it sold out in November 2009.  And now for 2011, it sold out in 8 hours.  My confidence of running a 3:30 is pretty high, as long as I can stay healthy, but with the accelerating pace of the sellouts, it seems that I may have to do better.

I bumped into a couple of running buddies last week and we had a quick discussion about it.  Beverly thought they should charge more rather than raising the bar.  I don't agree with that.  At $135, it is on par with the a major marathon, but 1/2 the cost of NY.  But I believe that Boston should be "good" runners and not just OK runners with money.

If Boston raises the qualifying times, I don't know whether my best will be good enough.  I do know that come May 1 (VIM) I'll be prepared to give it my all.  I also know, when I'm done, and nothing is left on the table, I'll be proud of what I've done, where I came from, and what I went through.  Sure, it might not be enough, but in the end, I'll be delighted knowing how much I've gained, and the only thing I've lost??? Well,  just a trophy.

When One Door Closes, Another is Opened...

It's been an interesting last few days....

Monday, I went down to watch a few friends race the Turkey Trot.  The cool dry weather made me wish I had run it too, but alas I had a coffee in hand stood on the sidelines.  My running buddy, Sue, had a killer run and came in 3rd overall for women and 2nd in her age group with a time of 42 minutes!

After a brief running/training hiatus, she's been back with a vengeance.  I marvel at the fact that I once ran beside her doing speed work...

On Wednesday, Sharon, my coveted neighbour, told me she's tired of running.  I'm a little disheartened to hear her say that.  She's been really pushing the pace the last month or so, and she's started to show signs of wear.  I suggested she take a break from running for a week.  Fitness wise, it won't change much for her December 6 marathon, but it might allow her to recharge her batteries.  I think she could learn a lot from what Sue did.


So for me, I am a big fan of John Hill.  He transformed me from a mediocre runner to... well, something a little faster than mediocre.

The clinic restarted in September, but I was injured and decided against rejoining, and with my Victoria dreams gone, I wanted to commit to taking a couple months off "hard" running.

Wednesday evening, I planned for my first workout with Forerunners.  I was very nervous going in.  It's hard to explain why, but it feels like when you're back in school... and whether you made the cut to be on the "good" team.  With much trepidation, I ventured forth.

I arrived and quickly scanned the store.  About 50 people, pretty fit/young crowd.  I paid my $5 and was given a brief summary of what to expect.  Thankfully, there was a wide range of pace groups making me feel I'd be comfortable in my group.  As the groups were broken down by 10k race pace, I selected the "50 minute" group as I didn't want to push it on my first speed work in a month.

There were 6 or 7 in our group and we headed out for a quick warm-up and some light stretching.  I am not a big believer in pre-workout stretching, but I followed along... "when in Rome..."  But you just can't look cool doing horsey kicks!

The run was a pyramid, running for a short time, to a longer time, back to a short time, with equal breaks in between.  Pretty straight forward.  I didn't want to kill myself so I took it down a notch.

At the end, I said "hi/bye" to a few people and went home.  A nice change from hanging out in the wet/cold for 30+ minutes at JH.

I'm happy that I went and I'm already planning to be a regular.

The Joy of Running

I like to run.

Running is just me versus myself.  No stupid games, no drama, no hidden agendas.  If only life were that simple.

This is an especially nice time for me.  I'm not in serious training mode, so I can explore more.  Tuesday morning I trained with my daughters' XC team and then went for a jaunt through the endowment lands with some of the moms.  After the main run, I proposed an interval run of 1 mile to a splinter group.  The top finisher seemed very happy with herself and why not?  She hadn't run that fast since her college days... (she was actually 2 minutes faster then!)  The following day, CM and I were supposed to do some speed work, but instead we did a 6 miler at a "no man's land" pace[1].  But it felt great.

When the weight of goal oriented training is lifted, albeit temporarily, it's like a breath of fresh air.

I still don't believe in doing anything half-assed.  If I'm doing anything, I'm all in.  It's just now, I'm all into the relaxing/casual running.  It's kinda nice.

But in the back of my mind, I know that this ride is going to end.  And when it does, I'll be ready to jump in with both feet.

"The achievement of your goal is assured the moment you commit yourself to it.” M Douglas

[1] The pace between a long slow distance and tempo has marginal benefits for training.

Sarah Palin

Pardon this quasi-dyslexic post... that's just how my mind is working right now

One of Sarah's[1] many contributions...  I'm not retreating, I'm reloading.

I've decided I will not be running the Victoria Marathon.

It was a difficult decision.  Weighing my running ability versus my injury versus my age versus my desire to get a BQ versus eating tofurkey for Thanksgiving... well, maybe not the last one.

It's disappointing.

I'm not entirely sure what I'll be doing now.  I know I want to take some time away from "hard" training... but I also realize that I can't slack too much.  I want to hit the ground running in January, literally.

I might do a race... maybe the Fall Classic or something...  not sure at this moment.

Hindsight:
I wanted that little boost of speed that I was hoping to get it through the racing flats... and I have no doubt, that had I been able to adapt to them, I would have killed the marathon... instead, I got killed by them.

In a way, it I feel like Icarus... got a little too close to the sun.

[1] To be clear, I despise Sarah Palin.  She is everything that is wrong with western culture... but that's for another blog.

Busted Coveting My Neighbour's Wife

That's an attention getting title.

Coveting:

No, I don't covet her in the 10 Commandments way, but I certainly would want her running prowess.

A few weeks ago, we switched over to running flats and hence a modified gait.  I've struggled getting it down and I find myself still unable to naturally run landing on the mid-sole.  After the run on Wednesday, my calves were sore, again.  Not as sore as the first time, but sore nonetheless.  We did 12 x 400m and even with the short interval time, I found myself slipping in and out of the mid-sole vs heel strike.  I had to consciously think "oh no, I'm heel striking" and then correct myself to mid-sole, only to repeat the pattern many times.

Sharon on the other hand is running great.  She bought the Nike flats and has taken to them like a fish to water.  She naturally is running landing on her mid-soles, has no soreness afterwards and is steadily getting faster.

Busted:

I can't run.

Today's long run with Grace and Sue ended at 15.5mi of the 22 I had planned.

I had some shooting pains during the first 6 miles but stretched it out.  Then along the Spanish Banks beach run, the pain started coming back.  The hill up to UBC killed me off.  It was pouring rain and I was busted.  I asked G&S to go on without me.  They went to pick up my vehicle as I walked on.  I made it to an ATM and took refuge.  Along the freezing cold walk, I thought, of all the days to be lame, why one with pouring rain.

After a lot of suffering, we made it back to Starbucks and had a great story to share... or so I think ;)

Humility

I think I'm pretty humble.  Or by saying that, am I bragging?!?

I've ran with some pretty fast people and there's certainly 2 different paths you can take here.

I ran with sub-3 hour marathoners that can run beside you and just enjoy the company (occasionally, I can be viewed as socially tolerable on some long runs, but only if I want to be).  They don't try to push the pace.  Take Grace's fiancée, he is very modest.  He runs with her (she's my pace for LSD) and has never mentioned anything about his impressive racing accomplishments to me unless asked... even then he seems genuinely embarrassed to talk about them.

I was at Forerunners recently, buying my racing flats.  I was chatting about running with the gentlemen helping me.  He mentioned he has run a few marathons, but nothing more.  Just an all round nice guy.  Later, I'm chatting with John Hill, the guy turns out to be Art Boileau... Canadian Olympic marathoner, won the LA Marathon twice and came in 2nd for the Boston, PR of 2:13!!!!  BTW, I ended up buying the same pair he races in :D

And then I've run with others that have said, "this pace isn't natural, I'll need to run faster".  On another occasion, I've overheard one guy, to paraphrase, "finisher medals are for losers, you need to at least place in your age group".

I hope I'll never have the arrogance to make a proclamation that insulting.  Hell, I'm just happy I can finish some races.  I don't care if you walk the whole marathon, you're out there.  That's all that counts.

I know everyone runs for different reasons.  Some like to get more fit, others like the social aspect, some may even like the introspection running solo provides, whatever the reason, running can and does welcome you.  It's not about being gifted, or comparing effort, or any comparisons for that matter.  When someone in our group has run a BQ, we're all happy, there's not an ounce of jealousy.

"It is always the secure who are humble." - Gilbert Keith Chesterton

The Pain of Racing Flats

At the urging of John, we all showed up in on Wednesday's clinic with racing flats.  Amanda, Walter, and I actually had the same pair of Mizunos.

We ran 2x2mi.  I found myself slipping in and out of landing on my heels vs balls of my feet.  When I remembered, I danced across the seawall, other times, I felt myself plodding along as normal.  It felt a bit awkward but I was running great and hit my target pace of 7 min/mile.  First time in nearly 2 months.

But afterwards, driving home, both my calves seized up, anyone watching me making the short walk from the car to my home must have thought I was twice my age.

Friday came and my calves were even more sore.  I was supposed to go for my tempo, but knew that I'd be upset if I didn't meet the pace target and would probably use my calves as the excuse.  Saturday, they were still sore, bearable but sore.  I elected to give myself one more day off.

Sunday, I ran my tempo.  11 miles at 8 min/mile.  Happy I hit it and I'm once again feeling more positive about Victoria.  I'd like to get my tempo pace down to 7:45/mile... that'd make me feel I have a fighting chance of BQing.

I won't be running for a week, but thankfully I'll still be having a very good cardio workout while I backpack the West Coast Trails.