Hills

I’ve had some chats with my buddies Alex and Nick about varsity running. They both have loads of experience – and had loads of success on the Canadian university scene in their times. There are lots of OUA, AUS, and CIS medals between them – Alex with Windsor and Nick with Dal – so they’re an invaluable resource for me… as well as great folks to run with and hang out with.

I’ve been asking them what it’s like to run varsity. Turns out, it’s not for the faint of heart. For example, three workouts a week is standard – or two workouts and a race. That sounds like an awful lot of intense work to me… I can feel my legs cringe at the thought of it. But if that’s what it takes, well, then, that’s what it takes.

My plan is to introduce the three-workout week into my routine – Tuesday, Thursday, and then Saturday or Sunday (depending on the state of my legs and my responsibilities to family and friends). But I need to do it in a way that I don’t break apart in week one. So I’m going to try reducing my overall weekly mileage and reducing the volume of workouts until I feel comfortable with the new 3-a-week schedule. I’ll build mileage and volume as I adapt (hopefully!).

Oh boy! Up we go!

I’m not sure what mix of workouts I’ll do each week, but I know hills are going to be important – especially because the traditional Dal route through Point Pleasant Park has lots of gut busters. So I’m thinking I’ll fold a hill workout into the mix most weeks. And that’s what I did today: 6 repeats of a hill route in Shubie that’s about 700-800m long. It’s not all hill – it’s got a sharp up, then a wee down, then a bit of flat, then three ups to the finish. The ever-changing terrain is great on my heart. It’s a tough workout, but I know it’s going to pay dividends.

With each interval, I try to remember what Alex taught me about hill running: RELAX. Everything from the waist up has to be absolutely relaxed – shoulders down, arms moving lightly, oxygen moving freely. And you lean into the work, not from the waist but from the ankles, and the pelvis stays forward. The knees need to come up nice and high too. As he puts it, you just lean and lift your knees and keep your breathing steady and up you go.

It works. I’m running hills way better than I used to. I’m still slow on them, and I still hurt and struggle. But it’s easier when I just relax and lean into it… it’s amazing what better form will do!

I’m Back – with a New Running Goal

It’s been over a year since I’ve posted. Lots has happened. Through it all I’ve still been running. I haven’t raced much, but I’ve been running. I can’t imagine life without running – don’t want to. I’d like to think that, while I can still run, I’ll always find time to run. Hopefully.

So. Last summer, I did the old career gut check: can I see myself doing what I’m doing 5 years down the road? There I was watching the London Olympics, feeling like the career side of my life was in a rut. I’d been here before, but for some reason, this time I actually decided to do something about it – to really sit my butt down and think – well, what is it that you want to spend your days doing? The answer finally came in the wee hours of a sleepless July night – an answer I should’ve seen or had the guts to acknowledge years ago – I wanted to be a physiotherapist.

As a runner, I’ve undergone my fair share of physio – I’ve received so much great treatment, good advice, and honest encouragement from physios. But the possibilities of the job go well beyond fixing up recreational athletes – anyone with mobility issues benefits from physio attention… from people recovering from surgery to stroke survivors and others with neurological damage. I finally realized that keeping bodies moving as much as possible is work that I find significant. It’s something I could see myself doing 5, 10, 20 years down the road.

So I decided to do a bit of a 90-degree life turn.

I went back to school in September to do the prerequisite science courses (my background is firmly in the humanities) required to apply to the MSc in Physiotherapy program. I felt pretty darn old amongst first-year students – but it didn’t matter – I knew exactly what I was there for and exactly what I wanted. The courses went great, then the interview to get into Physio went great, and in May I was accepted to the program at Dalhousie University. I start this September.

The last year has been busy but really amazing. And through the stress of it, running kept my head above water.

With this return to school, though, comes a new running opportunity – and my new running goal: I’m going to try to make the Dalhousie Cross Country team.

Perhaps I’m crazy. I’m 37. I started running just to lose weight and get in shape. The guys on the team will be almost two decade younger than me. They’ve probably never been overweight (like I was 10 years ago) – probably never smoked half a pack of cigarettes a day (like I did 10 years ago). Is there any way I can run with them? Maybe not. But I’d sure like to try. I want a taste of varsity training. I want to take a shot at running for the school.

So this is where I am right now with running – I’m trying to get as fit as a 20 year old. I’m trying to bring my 10k time down as much as possible. I have no idea where this goal will lead, but I’m going to work my butt off trying to get as fast as possible.

Only time will tell how this narrative will unfold.

Toronto Marathon Race Report

There are two stories to tell about Toronto: the real one and the electronic one.

According to the electronic story – the one told by the live splits being communicated to the internet by my bib chip and the green mats placed at 21k, 35k, and the finish line – I was fast at 21k, a little slower at 35k but still close to goal pace, and then I dropped off the face of the earth somewhere between 35k and the finish.

My wife said that all the folks tracking me in real time were nearly frantic with worry when no time came up for me and my name kept getting pushed further and further down the list as other people finished. Everyone speculated that I had to have sustained a brutal injury not to at least walk it across the line.  And they were right – it would’ve taken a brutal injury to keep me from walking it across the line, especially after 35k.

But I did not fall off the face of the earth, and I did not sustain a brutal injury – in fact, I crossed the finish line in 2:49:36, a huge PB for me. The problem is that my bib chip failed to communicate with the timing equipment, so my finish time never came up.

So now I’m in a strange position: the “official” electronic story and the real story are at odds. I have no official finish time yet, although I have contacted the timing company to try to get this resolved.

Other than this electronic glitch, the day was awesome. The weather was cool and sunny. My body was feeling good. Everything was working fine. My only mistake was going a little bit too fast over the first half of the race. I knew I was slightly faster than goal pace, but it felt so good that I thought for sure that I could hold it, that my training would make me tough over the second half of the course.

But as I should know by now, the marathon does not work this way. You cannot transcend your training! I passed the halfway point on pace for a 2:43 or a little better – and that was enough to throw off the last 10k of the race. As usual, I suffered from 32k onward. But I didn’t suffer as badly as in past marathons – I was still able to drag myself to a 2:49 finish, and I am absolutely happy with that result. I wanted that sub-2:50 badly, and I got it.

Alex ran with me from 25-41k, and having him there (like in training runs) was awesome, even though I wasn’t much for conversation, especially in the last 6k! It would’ve been nice to do the whole thing together, but having him there for part of it felt right. His encouragement down the stretch was crucial.

I learned one valuable lesson about post-race recovery – do not sit down! I sat after wandering around looking for water in the finish-line area (that’s another story – there was no freakin’ water at the finish line!), and almost immediately my calf and shin muscles seized up completely. It was incredibly painful – and it only went away when Alex finally hauled me up off the ground and put me back on my feet. In the future, I’m going to keep walking until I am sure my muscles are no longer on the edge of total seizure.

After months and months of training, I feel like I did okay. I’m happy and proud. I do hope I can get my time “officialised,” but in the end, the time is really only meaningful to me and a small circle of folks – oh, and maybe the Boston people... but I’ll worry about that another day.