Weeks 11 & 12 - Compassion and the practice of...

That can pretty much sum up the past two weeks of my training and hey...it's all about the carbo-loading right?

But asides from all the shenanigans, I did manage to gut out some speedy runs and long slow distances and these training sessions I would have to dedicate to my running group at City Park Runners (CPR) as time and again, running with all types of people can show you truly what humanity is all about. Which makes me think there is hope for us humans. (Because when the zombie apocalypse comes, you're going to need to outrun them walking dead...just saying)

City Park Runners 2014 Marathon and Half Marathon running clinic

Week 11 CPR - Yasso 800s

April 15, 2014

You can predict your marathon time based on how long it takes you to run 800 meters. Don't believe it? The secret lies in Yasso 800s. - RunnersWorld

The theory behind Yasso 800s is that your time in minutes and seconds for a workout of 10 times 800 meters (two laps of the track) with equal recovery time is the same as the hours and minutes of your marathon time. For example, if you can run 10 times 800 meters in three minutes and 20 seconds with three minutes and 20 seconds recovery, then this predicts that you can run three hours and 20 minutes for your marathon. Run 2:40 for the 800s and you can run 2:40 for the marathon.
My experience, though, is that Yasso 800s predicts about five minutes too fast for most marathoners. Using the example above, my experience has been that 10 times 800 meters in 3:20 with 3:20 recovery yields closer to a 3:25 marathon for most competitive runners. Because this workout is easy to do, I try to include it two or three times in a marathon training cycle. It not only provides a good predictor of marathon pace but allows you to chart your increasing fitness - a big confidence builder. - McMillan Running

The way we did this workout was to do the repeats in 45mins. as you're technically supposed to build up to 10 repeats but with the time limit I got in 7 repeats which was pretty good. As you can tell from my splits I kept it in the 3:30 min/km range which I'm very happy about. I realistically don't think I have a 3:30 marathon time in me. As a marathon distance is truly a crazy distance (for now).

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	49:43.0	7.88	6:18
1	3:25.8	0.82	4:12
2	1:35.0	0.11	14:02
3	3:31.8	0.82	4:19
4	1:54.0	0.12	15:45
5	3:29.3	0.83	4:13
6	1:46.5	0.12	15:18
7	3:34.7	0.82	4:21
8	1:59.4	0.12	17:09
9	3:29.7	0.81	4:18
10	2:02.3	0.12	16:44
11	3:31.6	0.81	4:20
12	1:51.4	0.12	16:02
13	3:27.3	0.82	4:14
14	7:43.7	1.00	7:44
15	3:32.8	0.46	7:44

But the best part for me was the last repeat. I was resting with Erick, Tracey and Haidee; and Erick suggested we get ready and just give it everything we got...to leave it all out on the track (Formal Gardens at Assiniboine Park). So the four of us lined up together and gunned it. I didn't even bother trying to keep up with Sadie as she took off, and Erick, Tracey and I were neck and neck and neck until the second turn when Erick picked it up a gear. As we were down the last 400m, I was left with Tracey but a little behind and I was saving what little I had in the tank to blow by her at the turn and just go for it....aaaaannnnd that didn't work out as planned. As Tracey too had another gear and beat me to the final turn and then she kicked it up another notch and there was no way my legs were going to catch her. I was so utterly in awe of her pace and the will to pick up and go for it. I was very happy for her. 

The thing here was, every time you completed your repeat EVERYONE was cheering the other runners to finish strong. If for one thing in marathon training, speedwork is one of the most essential pieces of the training cycle. Erick, Dan and Osty have told me that if you want running longer with better endurance, speedwork really helps make the long runs easier.

Week 11 CPR Tempo

 April 17, 2014

Felt great going into this run. The weather wasn't cold and it definitely wasn't warm. As I looked at my splits, we started off nice and even with the CPR Thursday run group but as we got onto Grant, the split started to happen. I was running with Osty down Grant but around the 5k mark he suddenly stopped and told me he had he pulled a muscle. I kept going and found myself running alone with the lead pack about 50m ahead of me. They completely pulled away when we got to the formal gardens. I gave it one last surge at the 1km mark and managed to run it at a 4:42 min/km pace. So far my best 5km at 24:38 and 10km at 51:40.

I checked up on Osty after the run, he told me he had to cut it short as he had a stitch on his side. Poor guy didn't hydrate enough before the run.

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	51:40.0	10.00	5:10
1	5:51.8	1.00	5:52
2	5:21.9	1.00	5:22
3	5:21.3	1.00	5:21
4	5:23.3	1.00	5:23
5	4:57.6	1.00	4:58
6	4:53.2	1.00	4:53
7	4:55.5	1.00	4:55
8	5:09.1	1.00	5:09
9	5:00.1	1.00	5:00
10	4:41.5	1.00	4:42
11	:03.3	0.01	4:36

Week 11 CPR LSD

April 19, 2014

So...this was supposed to be THE big long distance run before the marathon taper cycle the dreaded 20 miler! And for these LSD's you should get a good night's sleep and really carb up and rest. 

Let me tell you...I got the carbo loading part done....but the resting? Well...my brother-in-law was in from LA and whenever he's in town we have this thing...where my sister and cousins and friends all get together at Saffron's restaurant/bar and Karaoke and we end up closing the place down. And this year it was no different. My running buddy Ags was all for it as she belted out sweet solos and crazy duets with my bro-in-law and one with me...and I love singing Hey Jude and getting everyone in the bar doing the outro and before you know it...it's 2 AM and by the time I drove my sister and bro-in-law back to their place it was 3:30 AM and it literally was that feeling of closing my eyes and immediately opening them up and getting my ass ready to meet up with Osty and Tyler for 6:45 so we can split the distances. 

Ran on 3 hours of sleep and I was feeling it from the first km onward. I fought through the brain fog but my muscles were just tightening up and we're refusing to move forward at the pace I ideally wanted to. A little short of the distance (25km - 15 mi) but I was out and ran. Kids...don't follow the foibles of an old fool...ie: me.

This is where compassion played a huge part of my weekend...as I was sloughing back to CPR, I was met with a lot of the running group and they would stop and look at me and genuinely ask if I was ok...I could see it in their eyes and wondered if I really looked sick as I was feeling. It was nice of them to stop and ask and as I was literally just walking my sorry ass back into the park, Lori, Dr. Phil's wife came running up behind me and asked if I was ok. I told her I was and then she encouraged me to keep going and asked me to run with her and Ted the last kilometer. While we were running we were talking about her trip to Europe and her daughters, it was a really nice conversation and took my mind off of a lot of the pain and brain fog that I was feeling.

We all went out for breakfast, with a table of 20 from the group and Josh and Roberto (a couple of the gazelles) ended up buying me beer...my favorite beer...yep Heineken (thank you Amsterdam!) and out of all the people who ordered and didn't get their food? Yeah...that was me....it was one of those WTF moments. I asked the server about it and it still took her 15 minutes before she finally brought it out to me, but everyone was already finished eating and there was no need to be upset with the server but I did ask her to take it back without giving her a hard time about it. She apologized and I accepted. I could tell everyone around me was watching me...looking for a reaction. But I told the people around me, I'm not going to give the server hell as it was an honest mistake and there are many others in the world that don't eat enough...me missing one is not going to kill me. I did profusely thanked Joshua and Roberto for buying me the beer and drove my ass home to get my girls and take them out for lunch which they got to see their dad devour his.

Week 12

I missed the speed work clinic on Tuesday as I went to watch my youngest in her spring play. It was so great to see her perform. I keep telling her she should look at going into broadcasting as she seems to have the aptitude for it.

Buuut....I did get in a quick 10km tempo run that evening. One of my fellow CPR runners, Anita ran the Pure Lifestyle 10km race the past Sunday and she personal best (PB) with a time of 48 mins. When I did my tempo, I was gunning for that time but fell very short of it and really made me appreciate her talent and the mileage she put in this past winter to get that time.

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	52:52.0	10.01	5:17
1	5:30.1	1.00	5:30
2	5:17.1	1.00	5:17
3	5:17.9	1.00	5:18
4	5:25.2	1.00	5:25
5	5:22.6	1.00	5:23
6	5:19.1	1.00	5:19
7	5:12.7	1.00	5:13
8	5:16.9	1.00	5:17
9	5:02.8	1.00	5:03
10	5:03.8	1.00	5:04
11	:02.0	0.01	3:50

I also didn't bother doing the Thursday tempo run...

Yeah it snowed again...and I was just....oh god...compassion...right...practice.

The nice thing was Osty, Tyler, Barry and myself got an email from coach Dan to check up on us as the three of us missed most of the week.

Week 12 CPR LSD

April 26, 2014

This is it...one of the final long runs and then I taper and start resting my legs for the Fargo marathon. 

This run surprised me, as I ran with Osty and Kathryn (who just got back from THE Boston marathon!) to Misercordia hospital and I was feeling really good. I mean...I normally feel pretty good except when I run on 3 hours of sleep, but I wasn't stressing and I wasn't too concerned about distance as more to just run and have a good time (like really?). 

The original plan was to run to The Forks and back for a 20km but I ended up running with Anita through Middle Gate and then ran back with Dr. Phil, Doug, Paul, Geoff and crazy Ron to Osbourne and back for a 16km (10miler) and I felt good. Osty wasn't feeling it today as he didn't run at all this past week and that's understandable as he's been having the same emotional issues I've been having with the long cold winter. He turned back at the hospital, I think he did the most stabbing to that snowman...and Tyler is just a walking redhead of hurt and took it nice and easy up to the hospital and back himself. Ags proudly ran without stopping to the hospital and back.

Distance:	16.42 km
Time:	1:34:35
Avg Pace:	5:46 min/km
Elevation Gain:	24 m
Calories:	1,205 C

After all was said and done I couldn't believe my average pace. I was running back with Dr. Phil and we were having a great discourse on family and life in general. He ends up telling me that I've greatly improved in my running, and that was a great compliment to hear. I mean, I hear it from Osty and Tyler, coach Dan and Erick and I'm always thankful to them as they have greatly improved my strength in running. But hearing it from one of the running 'regulars' is a nice pat on the back.

I didn't join the group for breakfast as I my buddy Ags picked me up this morning and she and Tyler ended up going to Star Grill, so I did the 3rd wheelie thing and destroyed any romantic intentions they had. And the crazy thing of it all? Tyler graciously picked up the bill...I truly am a lucky dude.