First race of the season

The last three weeks leading up to today's race have been unbearable because I've had my eyes focused squarely on April 30 and Grande-Digue. I've felt my training has me light years ahead of where I was this time last year but I had no way to prove it. Driving to Bouctouche on Saturday morning, I kept flip-flopping on my race strategy. I ran a hard 7K tempo on Friday that came in at an average 3:59 min/kilometre pace and that got me thinking that during a race perhaps I could hold a 4:00 min/k pace. Seconds later, the other side of my brain would remind its crazy counterpart that its strategy would likely land me in the hospital around 13K. But there I was driving with this inner war raging in my head, while my wife, daughter and dog were all sound asleep. I wish I could say I came to a conclusion, but as I warmed up this morning I still had no idea what I was going to do when the gun fired.

The race was supposed to start at 10:15 this morning, which is about two hours later than my latest normal morning run, so I was trying to hold off eating breakfast long enough that I wouldn't need to eat twice. My right knee was bothering me when I got up, likely from running with the dog in the backyard of my in-laws. As I arrived in Grande-Digue, I had to find the registration centre and they had us parked so closely together that I didn't have time or the ability to sign up and then go and drive the course. So I was running blind. But the website bragged about a flat course (foreshadowing alert), so I figured what the heck and I started some light easy jogging, hoping to get that bothersome right knee to loosen up.

As I looked around I knew it was going to be a tough race because all of New Brunswick 's fastest distance runners were stretching on cars or nonchalantly discussing their recent Boston experience (not that I was eavesdropping or anything!) And what else did I notice, but the stunning array of Garmins. It was out of this world how many people had Forerunners strapped to their forearms.

So now the race, considering this is a race report. The race started a few minutes late but no big deal. Once the gun fired, I had tried to keep myself restrained. I had decided on running 4:05s for the first 10K and then we would see how that was feeling. Keeping myself from blasting forward was so hard, I just wanted to bolt with the frontrunners as I normally do, but I knew that would cause premature pain. I did my best to keep calm and I finished my first kilometre in 4:00, a bit fast but not bad under the circumstances. It was here that the crowd started to spread out and I noticed the wind. Of course, the wind would come, it is my natural nemesis. The wind was gusting head on for longer than I care to remember and there was no way to avoid it. I just lowered my head and tried to keep my pace strong. The scenery was breathtaking when I had a chance to notice. My sole goal was to try and keep my pace on target, which was not easy with those gusty conditions. I never really had a chance to get locked into my pace and it was all over the map.

So remember how I thought it was flat? The website said there was some inclines but never really called them hills. Well from 7.4K to 9.5K there was a brutal hill that never, ever stopped, or so I thought. It should be noted that this isn't Heartbreak Hill and I can't imagine it is anything that the Around The Bay runners experienced but it was tough, especially as I have skipped hill training so far to focus mainly on speed. But that wasn't even the cruel part. After a much needed decline, another hill started and this one was from 11K to almost 14.5K. This is when I really wanted to die. At 12K was the final of the three water stops and I was so thirsty that I grabbed the first cup I saw, gulped it all and then took another cup. Well behind me I heard a loud expletive that cannot be printed here. I didn't realize the guy behind me had his sights on that cup as well, turns out he got another but we both felt bad, me for taking the cup and he for his, um, outburst.

I should mention right about here that for the first running of this race the volunteers were awesome and the locals who cheered us on where great. Too bad I was too tired to thank them all properly. Now back to the hill…

Although my splits were bouncing from 4:01 to 4:11, they spiked at 9K (4:18) and 13K (4:46, this might be a GPS error because the previous split is 3:57), which were right smack dab in the middle of the two biggest hills.

Thankfully, the final hill ended. I had been passed by three runners however I was on the heels of one of them as we raced for the finish line. This guy must have been in his 50s maybe 60s. A wonderful French guy, who kept talking to me en francais and I kept trying to respond in my own broken French, but it is hard enough to concentrate in English let alone a second language after 14K. But he was the happiest guy ever. As we barrelled to the finish line, he kept yelling at me to push. And about 300 metres behind me I could see another shirt gaining on me.

Perhaps I should take a quick step back right now to illustrate my pain. After those two monster hills, my lungs honestly wanted to explode and they almost did, my average HR for the last 2K were 191 and 194 respectively. My quads were screaming at me for skipping hill repeats for tempo runs and intervals. And the sun was beating down on me and I could tell I was dehydrating quickly. But I could see the church as we rounded for home so I couldn't slow down now, plus I had my crazy buddy on my right egging me on. So there I am plummeting down this hill with him screaming or I think he was screaming, it was all a blur. The only thing louder than my French friend was my heart wanting to leap out of my chest and my legs literally ready to come flying off. Inside my underused brain, I kept repeating, "Faster …. Faster … vite… vite… wait, you can only push yourself in one language… but I really want to slow down… are we there yet … faster, faster" My arms were pumping, my darn HRM strap was falling around my stomach and my face was contorting itself into ways that I just pray there were no cameras around to capture. At this point, the PA announcer was saying something that I could not hear and the crowds were cheering us on. I had no idea where my buddy was or the person that was stalking me. All I know is I crossed the line and thought I was about to crash. But I did it and that's what counts. It was a great race.

They have not posted the official results but my Garmin tells me I finished in 1:02:08, about 53 seconds off my goal pace but a PB … considering this is my first ever 15K race. My average HR was: 185 and average pace was 4:08.

My splits were: 4:00, 4:08, 4:09, 4:01, 4:10, 4:10, 4:10, 4:11, 4:18, 4:06, 4:08, 3:57, 4:46, 4:09, 3:39.

First race of the season

Finished Grande Digue 15k. Don't have final results yet. My Garmin tells me I finished in about 1:02:00. Tough run. Lots of wind and hills. Will post full report later.

Friday Night Tempo

The past five days have been one of the toughest weeks of my career in terms of absolute chaos. I was yearning for a run all day and I almost missed it. We are heading to visit the inlaws tomorrow so I can run my first race on Sunday, so I had to make an evening Wal-Mart run for diapers, wipes, summer baby PJs et al. By the time I got back home, it was well past 8 p.m. and getting dark. I immediately ditched all my stuff and jumped into my running gear. I was supposed to do a 13K tempo, but considering it was so late and Sunday I'm racing 15K, I thought I could get away with less. So I went for a 7K tempo, but I made sure I kept a strong clip. My goal was to run at 4:00 min/K pace and that is exactly what I did. I paid much closer attention to my real-time pace than normal and that helped me slow down when I wanted to pick it up early on and it kept me strong as the run drew to a close.
With my first run of the season less than 36 hours away, I didn't want to go all out so I made sure I brought it in on pace. I finished my 7K in 27:56 or 3:59 min/K. My splits were 4:01, 4:00, 4:00, 3:57, 4:02, 3:56, 3:57.
I'm feeling good now. Just watching the Habs-Hurricanes game and about to read an article in the new Running Times.

Wednesday night speed session

I had a really odd day at work. Yet another alleged privacy breach meaning my relatively normal day turned into chaos ... don't even ask about Tanker and Frank Branch. Argh. Anyway, I didn't finish until about 8 p.m. or so and then took the dog for a 3K warm up run at 5:25 min/k pace. (She is far more consistent than I am, so she keeps me from going too fast during warm ups.) I dropped off Belle and did my speed session. It was 4x800m tonight. And of course I had an absolutely brutal head wind for the first 50m and last 150m of each lap. My splits were: 2:46, 2:42, 2:48, 2:50. The last time I did 800s, I have a few splits faster than tonight but a few slower than my slowest splits. So I'm happy with the run.

Building the confidence

Monday night turned into a very good running night for me. Derrick gave, what I thought was, a very informative shoe lecture at our clinic. I've bought a gazillion pairs of shoes but I always learn something new at these clinics. We went out for a 3k recovery run and everyone looked really strong. I can see the confidence levels of all the runners rising, perfect timing for May 14.
I had a great 9k run home after the clinic. I finished in 36:41. The best part of the run was how strong I felt from beginning to end. The pace was strong but I only really pushed for the last 600m or so. Adding another kilometre at that pace would have brought me under my 2005 PB. Who knows what would happen in a race but I feel so far my training is getting me to where I want to be for the start of race season. My first race is Sunday in Grande-Digue ... The nerves are building.

Sunny Sunday

I admit when I walked out the door this morning to drive to the Running Room I was questioning my decision to weat shorts and a t-shirt. Undaunted I made the trek without a wardrobe change. This week was our first 11K and I think some were nervous. As we ran, the nerves dissipated. The pace was slow to start and eventually picked up. We went out toward Marysville and turned right at the soccer fields. We were all impressed by the countless birds and different things to look at. Running on the trail is a daydreamer's paradise. We ended up finishing around 1:12 or so (don't have Garmin with me).

Saturday

Supposed to do 16k today but had a tough 3x1 mile yesterday and an even tougher 7k tempo run on Thursday. Legs are sore. My tempo was in 28:33, it was a tough run in the wind. Also had a side stitch near the end that slowed me a lot. My speed session was fairly consistent: 5:55, 5:54 and 6:06. A bit slower than last time but more even.
Heading for 11k tomorrow with my RR group. This will be the longest distance yet. Very exciting.

Tips

I've been a bad blogger of late but a sick kid and a busy work schedule have really cramped my free time this week. Anyway, I just saw this posted on Runningmania.com and I thought it was interesting. I will be updating the clinic running schedule this weekend. Sorry for the delay.

 

 

Warm Up & Cool Down

Benefits Of A Warm-Up

The role of the warm-up is to prepare your body to run at higher intensities. When you accelerate to race pace after the starting pistol sounds, the physiological and psychological demands on your body increase suddenly and dramatically.
Muscle stiffness is directly related to muscle injury and therefore the warm-up should be aimed at reducing muscle stiffness before workouts, as well as races. Performance may be improved, as an appropriate warm-up will: 1) increase speed of contraction and relaxation of warmed muscles 2) improve economy of movement because of lowered viscous resistance within warmed muscles 3) increased blood flow through active tissues as local vascular beds dilate, increasing metabolism and muscles temperatures 3) facilitated oxygen utilization by warmed muscles because hemoglobin releases oxygen more readily at higher muscle temperatures and 4) utilize the warm-up as a time to mentally prepare for the task at hand.

Warm-Up Tips

1 Run for 5 to 20 minutes, beginning slowly and gradually increasing the pace so you run the last one to two minutes at close to your perceived race pace. The shorter the race, the longer this warm-up run should be.
2 Stretch and attend to other needs. Stretching will help prepare your muscles for the longer stride length you use when running fast. This is also an opportunity to take a washroom break and change into your competition attire.
3 Run for another five minutes, followed by a few of 50 to 100 metre sprints at race pace.
4 You should time your warm-up so that you are prepared to race about 5 minutes before the start. Keep moving during those last few minutes, and if the weather is cold try to keep warm clothes on, up until the start of the race. Give yourself enough time to warm up completely but avoid the common error of warming up too early.
5 Your entire warm-up should take 20 to 35 minutes.

What About Longer Races?

Before a marathon, the need to warm up is counterbalanced by the need to conserve your carbohydrate reserves, which are a limiting factor in marathon performance. Fortunately, your warm-up only needs to prepare you to run at marathon pace, and that can be accomplished by running easily for about 5 minutes, gradually increasing your speed up to marathon pace, followed by some gentle stretching. Finish by performing 1 to 3 sprints at race pace.

The Cool-Down

Before starting your cool-down, you should have a drink containing carbohydrates. Hard running and carbohydrate depletion have both been shown to depress your immune system. By taking in a carbohydrate drink soon after your workout or race, you will maintain your blood sugar level and may help reduce this temporary immune system suppression.
Your cool-down should start with easy running for 10 to 20 minute (if you're too tired to run, then walk for an equivalent amount of time). The optimal clearance of lactate, adrenaline, etc. occurs if you start your cool-down run at 60 to 70% of your maximum heart rate and slow down to a slow jog or walk for the last 5 minutes.

Benefits Of A Cool-Down

1 When you run, the contraction of your muscles pumps blood back up to your heart, which prevents blood pooling in your legs. When you finish a race or a hard workout and just stand around, blood pools in your legs so less blood is able to return to your heart. This can lead to reduced blood pressure and dizziness. Cooling down by running slowly or walking activates the "muscle pump" to keep blood circulating back to your heart.
2 An important role of the cool-down is to remove the lactate that has accumulated in your muscles and blood. Let's say that at the end of a workout your blood lactate increased to 11 mmol. After 20 minutes of cooling down by easy running, your blood lactate would likely be back down to about 3 mmol, whereas if he just sat around for 20 minutes his blood lactate would still be about 7 mmol. Blood lactate decreases much more quickly when you do a cool-down run because blood flow is maintained at a higher level, which increases both movement of lactate out of your muscles and the rate at which your muscles utilize lactate.
3 Adrenaline and noradrenaline are hormones released by your adrenal glands that increase the rate and force at which your heart contracts, increase blood pressure, increase your rate and depth of breathing, increase the rate at which your muscles break down glycogen, etc. Adrenaline and noradrenaline levels in your blood increase rapidly when you run at greater than 85% of your maximum heart rate. The harder you run, the more of these hormones that gets dumped into your bloodstream. Adrenaline levels typically decrease to resting levels in less than an hour, but noradrenaline levels can take several hours to return to resting levels. An active cool-down helps get these hormones out of your system, which helps your body recover more quickly.
 

Re: Course record?

He did it by one second!

Course record?

Cheruiyot is on pace for a course record! That guy is blazing. That is $25k for the record and $100k for the win.
The record is 2:07:15.

Rita Jeptoo wins!

What a race...
Trying to get a time...

Women

The women are about to finish. What a race! A half a block to go...

Just look at the faces

In between calls, I've had a chance to sneek a peak at the TV. Check out the face of the men's leader, Ben Maiyo. He is absolutely flying, yet he appears as if he's out for a Sunday LSD. Meb is about 10 or 20 metres behind him and you can see the strain of the pace written all over his face.
Oh and just to be clear, if I ever attempted to run that pace I'd be in full cardiac arrest right now! They are on pace for 2:05:45.

Packs starting to thin

Meb and two others are starting to put some distance between them and the rest of the pack.
Meb just gave the camera a thumbs up.
On related news, the bostonmarathon.org website is finally working again. I can track live those who I know. Very cool feature.

Men!

The top guys are on pace for 2:08. They just cranked out a 4:38 mile. That is a killer fast pace for Boston.

Women

The elite women just passed 10 miles. They are on pace for 2:24. Wow.

Meb and Culpepper

Two Americans are in the lead pack. The last mile was done in 4:42. Holy moley! The lead male runner is supposed to be a pace bunny for a couple Kenyans, that is a heck of a pace.

Seven minutes

More than one mile done and the elite men are flying. How do they maintain that pace for 26.2 miles!?

Marathon Monday

I'm not running the Boston Marathon today ... maybe 2008 (fingers crossed). But channel 15 and OLN have live coverage, as well the Boston Marathon website has it live.
Will try and live blog the marathon, In between calls. :-)

New running partner

We had a major milestone in our family this week. Elle started walking. I'm talking about real walking and not just a step here and there. She is consistently putting 10 or more steps together. I'm one proud papa. Perhaps I may have a new running partner soon!
Now onto some current running thoughts.
I had some terrible timing with my medical insurance provider. After running pain-free for a few months, I've noticed a small tug in my hamstring, similar to the feeling that eventually led to my pre-RVM injury. But I just got a bill from Dennis's office and apparently the BNI HR person didn't understand my policy and advised me that increasing my monthly payment would mean my physio would be totally covered. Turns out I need to fork out $175 and I've reached my annual cap for that therapist. I can only hope that upon seeing my original referral from a orthopedic surgeon that they will waive the fee. Grrrr. I'm not impressed.
Anyway, I just got back from a speed session. I did 3x1 mile. Sadly I was terribly inconsistent. This is the first time I've ever done such a session, I've done mile repeats before but it was on a road with hills, this was on a flat trail. My first repeat was 5:53. I totally slacked off on my second mile, which registered in 6:10. My final split came in at 5:32, I was adament I wasn't going to make the same mistake as the previous mile.
What always bugs me about speed sessions is in the middle of the repeat I can't push any harder and within a few seconds on my recovery lap, I'm feeling like a slacker.

Notes from Hill Training session

Why do hills?

Strength training

House analogy, 35 per cent

Acquired skill, takes practice

Builds confidence

Benefits running on flat surfaces because of added leg strength

Strengthens muscles in knees

                Watch for injuries, especially in Achilles tendon, before commencing hill training

Hill training can be as effective in building aerobic power as speed intervals

Strengthens: hamstrings, calves, glutes, hip flexors and Achilles tendons

Avoids injury: lessens impact of foot fall.  Impact force is major contributor to injury

 

How to do hills

The perfect hill

                250 metres to 600 metres

                Incline of eight to 10 per cent

 

Always warm up for 10 minutes

Run to hop of hill first, jog down and then start repeats

Try and maintain the same stride frequency as you would on flat ground and shorten it as you adjust to the grade.
Use your arms, when your leg turnover starts to slow near the top, pump your arms a little faster and your legs will be sure to follow.
Keep your posture erect, rather than leaning too far forward. Try and look parallel to the surface of the hill. In doing this the hill appears to flatten and is not visually as tough as if you looked up with your eyes while keeping your head down.
Concentrate on good form and increase the rhythm of your arms slightly as you near the crest of the hill. Push over the crest.
Keep your chest up and out. Keep your breathing relaxed.
Pay attention to any signs of stiffening up, keep jaw, shoulders, arms, fists relaxed

Maintain the same effort as you go up the hill. Your speed will slow slightly and increase again as you reach the crest of the hill. Keep the same effort at the crest and run past the top before turning around.
Never stop once you have reached the top. Continue a slow jog or a walk. This hill training is pretty intense. By continuing to keep moving, you will enhance your recovery and be ready sooner for your next repeat.
For those using their target heart rate, intensity is 70-80% of maximum heart rate. Always rest for at least as long as it takes to run up the hill or until your heart rate is below 120 BPM. Rest is part of your training.
Remember, hill training is not a race but a quality individual workout. Run to the hill and do the warm-up with the group, but the hill is yours alone to conquer and at your own speed.
Hills build your confidence level and increase your self esteem as well as prepare you mentally to be a better athlete.

 

Problems and possible causes

Uphill

Breathing too rapidly: Overstriding

Tight leg muscles: Overstriding

Tight lower back: Leaning too far forward

Shoulders/arms tired: Too much arm swing

 

Downhill

Tight hamstrings: Overstriding, "too much air"

Arms flailing/loss of rhythm: Going too fast

Sore lower back: Leaning too far forward

Sore quads: Overstriding

 

Running rats

I had this fascinating article forwarded over to me. I'll post the entire article for now and then snip it and post the link a few days so not to clutter up the blog too much. I knew I was getting smarter as I ran with a group and now I have a scientific journal to act as proof!

 

 

Running Alone May Offer Diminished Rewards

Many runners contend that jogging alone offers the opportunity to enjoy nature or appreciate an urban landscape, while giving the brain and the body a beneficial workout.

But new research with rats suggests that running solo might not offer the perceived benefits and, in fact, may actually be bad for runners when combined with social isolation.

The scientists behind the study report that mice forced to live and run by themselves have less brain cell growth than those that get to run with other rats.

The implications for humans aren't clear.

But the study does show "that the social environment plays an important role in determining how a basic function like physical activity affects the brain and body," said Bruce S. McEwen, a professor of neuroendocrinology at The Rockefeller University in New York City, who's familiar with the study findings.

The study researchers launched their project because they wanted to understand how a stressful activity -- running -- turns out to be beneficial from a health perspective.

"Stress hormones go up in runners and yet, under certain circumstances, these hormones don't affect the brain in a negative way," said study co-author Elizabeth Gould, a professor of psychology at Princeton University.

Gould and her colleagues studied the effects of stress by housing rats either in solitary confinement or in groups. They also made the rats run on running wheels, either alone or with other rats, and studied how the exercise affected "neurogenesis" -- the creation of new neurons in the brain.

The rats who ran in groups did a better job of generating new neurons than those that ran in isolation. The researchers also found that the isolated rats had higher levels of corticosterone, a hormone related to stress.

The findings appear in the March 12 online edition of the journal Nature Neuroscience.

Why would social isolation matter?

"For most species, social interaction is very natural," Gould said. "This makes a lot of sense for species which thrive with cooperative activities, like sharing food and cooperative breeding. The stressful component of isolation may be adaptive because it seems to be aversive -- if given a chance, most rats would seek out social situations, especially positive ones -- and so animals are unlikely to stay in an isolated setting if given a chance."

In other words, social isolation may be stressful because it's a sign to rats that they should find company.

Does this mean anything for humans who live alone? It's hard to say it does, Gould said.

For one thing, "rats are highly motivated to run. If you give them access to a running wheel, they will run without fail. This is a universally motivating behavior. This is not true for humans -- many humans are not motivated to exercise."

And second, the rats in solitary confinement weren't exposed to any other rats at all. "Humans living alone typically have lots of other social contact -- at work, shopping, on the phone, social outings," Gould said.

Still, the findings do provide more evidence that social interaction can be healthy and "buffer the negative effects of stress," she said.