Grimsby Peachbud 10km Run

Grimsby Peachbud 10km Run

This was to be my first timed 10km run, and I didn’t know what to expect.  My plan of attack was very uncertain as my experience thus far has largely revolved around half-marathon distances and above, which is typically a slow pace.  Something that my legs and cardiovascular system have become accustomed to.

Grimsby is a long drive from my work in Pickering, but I requested to leave early to avoid the rush hour traffic of Toronto.  The start of the race is late in the day at 7:30pm; yet another new factor in the equation.  However, I was blessed once again, as the weather forecasters called for low humidity and a high of 20 for the day.

I arrived early at the town hall, right at the start line, which hosts the best parking spots.  So early in fact that I manage to squeeze in a good nap, as I am a bit worn out from the long drive.  I wake up from at 5pm to a hungry stomach, and with no other food in hand, I am scratching my head as to what I should do.  Should I eat now?  Should I wait till after to eat?  I have only 2.5 hours till the run begins.  They say that you should avoid eating roughage and fibre before exercise, as it may lead to digestion issues.  Ignoring those sweeping assumptions, I drive to a nearby Subway and fill my tummy with a healthy sandwich.  I think I should have enough time to be ready for the race.

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The other 5km run was to start at 7:00pm, so I had the opportunity to rev myself up by watching both the start and finish of that race.  As this was a smaller race with lax rules, I was tickled to see that the start of the line was littered with some elite runners mixed in with pint-sized children.  Just by judging the participants at the start line, I could tell who was going to win.  Surely enough, my stereotyping assumptions were correct.  The winner of the 5km came in just under 16:00.  With plenty of time to spare until the start of the 10km, I presumed that he might also be joining in on the 10km as well. 

It was nearing the start of the 10km run, and I kept using the washroom to make sure that I would be good to go.  I quickly downed a regular GU gel about 15 mins before the start, to allow it time to kick in.  I did a few warm up jogs here and there beforehand, and I was pumped.  I snaked to the front of the pack (just a 9 second difference between my chip time and clock time, I later learned), and we were off!

I felt confident that I could go at a good pace.  Different race distances are wrought with different mental hurdles to overcome.  The found that the 10km halfway mark was just as difficult to reach as the half marathon halfway. 

The 1km mark felt like it took longer than usual to reach.  Why?  I think it was because I was trying to push myself at a higher than used-to intensity, so my body was struggling more than normal.  My brain was telling me, “Are you sure that you can keep up this pace for 9 more kms??”.  I responded, “I hope so!!!”

2km came around and then the 3rd.  My legs were feeling sluggishly heavy up until this point.  Many of the elite runners do a fair bit of warm-up jogs, including sprints, right before the start of the actual race.  There must be something to that. 

 My legs started to loosen up after 3km, or perhaps it was the gel kicking in?  All I had to do was reach the halfway point, then my mind would be at ease.  I found that my breathing was consistently laboured throughout the whole race.  Again, due to the high intensity.  I started the belly-breathing technique, which I found helped, as I sucked in more oxygen, particularly for the uphills.  This course had a good number of hills, both up and down.

I think that I must also train myself to do better at water stations.  Breathing so heavily made it much more difficult to ingest fluids without interrupting the flow.  I found that my first two attempts were feeble and I managed only a small sip each time.  I must remind myself that it is silly to assume that I will lose copious amounts of running time if I slow down.  It is more important to hydrate oneself, than to save a few seconds by not slowing down. 

I make it to the halfway mark and the official clock shows 21:50.  This is a bit slower than I had hoped for, but now that I look back, I have not adequately trained for anything faster than this. 

We get to 6km, and you can easily see that there is a very long road ahead.  This fares better for us actually, I believe, as it is entirely flat for this stretch.  I slow to a walk for subsequent water stations.  I’m actually feeling much better now than before, as my legs are feeling lighter.  Perhaps the gel is really kicking in. 

8km!  I’m starting to push myself as fast as possible, and I’m feeling really good.  My running group is also sensing the end of the run, and I can feel the collective increase in speed.  I was passed by this older guy in particular, and for some reason, I wasn’t able to catch him.  His technique was a bit errant as his feet didn’t go very high off the ground, but the one thing I noticed was that his cadence was much faster than mine.  Shorter strides, faster cadence, is what they say.  I try to mimic his quick cadence momentarily, but was still unable to match his speed without gasing out.

9km!  I felt awesome.  I didn’t have my GPS watch on me, but I was estimating distances in my head.  9.1……9.2…..  the finish line was so close.  This was certainly a different feeling than the final km of the half or full marathon.  I actually had energy stores to burn!  I pass a handful of people at the end, and hear that glorious beep at the finish line.  The official clock shows my time to be just above 44:03.0 (chip time 43:54.3), and all things considered, I am happy with this time.  It certainly wasn’t for lack of trying, and now I’ll have a time to beat in Montreal.  

Things to remember for next time:

• We need to do more speed training!  Slow running will train us to do well at slow running.
• How you start your race will dictate how you finish. 
• Find out how best to increase cadence.  Perhaps my fast twitch muscles need more help.
• Hydrating at the water stations is more important than saving a couple of seconds.
• I’m glad I wore my hat.  The sun was blinding us for a good part of the run at 8pm.
• Stop getting M-sized t-shirts.  It’s safer to go with L; sizing is not always equal.
• To run a sub 40:00.0 10km run is going to be harder than I thought.  Baby steps…

Final LSD in June 2010

JASON:

It was feeling like another hot summer day, but the need to squeeze in an LSD outweighed the less than ideal weather conditions for our run.  I posed a route that ended up downtown, for a myriad of reasons: to check out water backpack’s at MEC, to pick up some food in Chinatown, and to lay witness to the downtown hoopla.  We managed to get going by 3pm, as we had just realized that MEC was to close at 5pm, and this would be really pushing the envelope.

We left our respective homes at 3:15pm to meet at our usual designated Yonge  & Sheppard meetup point. However, this time of day left us vulnerable to the ill effects of the sun and heat.  Even the short 2km warmup to our meetup spot left us both dreading whether or not we would even make it downtown.  Oh yes, it was hot.  Donald was armed with his waterpack and I with my waist bottle and an extra handheld disposable in tow; we began hoofing it across Sheppard to Bathurst.  From Bathurst we would head directly south, leaving North York behind in our wake.

We had to keep reminding each other that this was an LSD to “slow down!”, but unfortunately in the back of my mind, our destination had an expiry time.  Donald listed this distance at about 14km so we’d be able to make it with some time to spare.

The frequent red lights along the small side streets commanded us to slow down and stop, but we blasted through them knowing that there probably isn’t a cop for miles due to the G20.  We needed to make good time.  Donald was cursing his headband for insufficiently soaking up his sweat, while I was lucky that my hat was doing a fairly good job.  My sunscreen was visibly painted along my arms.

We passed Wilson, and then we tackled Lawrence.  “Slow down!”, we kept telling each other.  Eglinton was coming up soon enough.  The road to Eglinton gave us a challenge with some rolling hills, so till this point we kept trotting at a moderate pace.  It wasn’t until the long steep downhill after St. Clair that we really sensed the urgency to boot it.

With each passing kilometer, the running gods smiled upon us as the clouds paid us a long visit, and the temperature decided to retract its claws.

Donald alerted me with the time.  “Holy crap!”, I said.  It was already 4:15pm.  Right after Donald answered the call of nature at the bottom of the hill, we had settled comfortably into a good pace and there was no stopping us from there.  I was very much in doubt that we’d make it by 5pm, but Donald said that we would.  We pushed on.

We banked east onto Harbord to head down Spadina, and we really turned on the jets.  By now, it was 4:40pm and with no chance of having enough time to actually shop around, we made it our goal to simply make it to the door at the projected time.  It’s fun to have a goal.  Donald says that his calf is starting to act up.  He troopers on knowing that we’re so close.

College!  We shoot past the circle at U of T.  A bunch of bike cops ride their peloton past us.

Dundas!  There are so many pedestrians.  I decide to remain on the road for the rest of the way.  I don’t care that I’m technically on the wrong side.  We’re almost there!

Queen!  Donald drops back and tells me to finish up.  He doesn’t want to risk injury.  5 mins to go!  There’s a red light directly ahead of me with more than 8 cops standing around!  My legs carry me to the other side and my brain shoved its proverbial ostrich head into the sand hoping that cops wouldn’t see……whew….they didn’t care!

King!  I swing around the corner and reach MEC with 2 minutes to spare.

A sign reads: We are closed for Saturday and Sunday.

*plop*

Mission Accomplished.  The route turned out to be 18.1km and with a finishing time of approx 1:45.00, we are elated to suck back on some vitasoy box drinks and Chinatown delights.

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DONALD:

After being rained out the day before, and a late night at the casino, I get a message from Jason “Joiners for LSD down to mec before dinner? Wanna check out camelbaks, pickup bun mi, and smash some windows… ;P” (g20 riots were on just the day before). I already had a week off from my long runs, so I finished up my cooking and cleaning, then planned out a route. Down Bathurst all the way down… Apparently down to the lake was only 14k, so I add a few more km by doubling back at the end. I fill up my water resevoir, grab a headband, pack my flip flops, a change of clothes and a reusable grocery bag and head out the door.

Whoomp! One step outside and it hits me right away, the heat and humidity are so intense it feels like I’m in a sauna! I hope we haven’t made a mistake running so late in the day (3:30pm) as I make my way to Yonge and Sheppard I run at a very slow pace, even at that I find myself gasping for air, oh man… I hope it cools down fast. I arrive at our rendevous point, almost instantly the sweat pours out of my pores. I’m so glad that I remembered to wear a sweatband. Off in the distance I see a guy in a red shirt and black hat, that kinda looks like Jason, but he’s just standing around… Why is he just standing around? He turns around and I recognize Jay’s water belt, he’s getting out his phone. I get his attention and he walks over, apparently he was looking on the other side of the street for me.

Off we go, we both complain about the heat and humidity. Jay tells me how he tries to avoid lunch time runs because of the heat. Clip clip clip… “Did you bring any gels? I forgot to bring mine” Jay say. I did, but I suggest that since this is potentially only a 14k run, we probably don’t need it. Jay agrees, but says we should probably go super slow or do 10 and 1’s.

We approach the bridge on Sheppard between Yonge and Bathurst. By this point the head and humidity are really getting to me, each breath I take is super heavy, the hill feels like hell. As we crest the hill a girl runs by, Jay speeds up..WTF!? “Gotta make it looks good” he says… Yah yah… I’m still trying to catch my breath at this point. I try taking extra deep breaths, hoping that they’ll some how expand my lungs, and each breath won’t feel like there’s a ton of bricks on my chest. Soon we get to Bathurst and Sheppard. “Let’s use this intersection as our 1 in our 10 and 1s!” I say, praying for a break in this hellish run. Ok! Jay says, and we take our time getting to the opposite corner before starting again.

Bathurst! We have arrived, the longest and hopefully the easiest (mostly downhill to downtown) leg of our journey. Clip clip clip… Where’s my wind?!? How come each breath still feels excruciating? At this point my back behind my lungs start to feel tight and sore too. I try my deep breaths technique, hopefully this’ll help a little. Nope! I turn to Jay, “dude! We’re not even at the 401 yet! I don’t even know if I hit my stride yet, my lungs still feel super heavy! F’ing humidity!” He tells me something about training in less than ideal conditions, so your body can work even better when conditions are ideal.

After some more running, and pointing out that almost everyone we came across being philipino (probably the maids of all the Jews downtown, I joke). We see it 401! Yay! Jay says this is the place where Cat changed her pants our last run. We pass under the 401 and it hits us, BREEZE! THANK GOD! Almost instantly I feel the energy kick in! Could it be? Is it my wind? Or is it just the lack of humidity? Whatever it is, it feels like heaven compared to the heavy tight lungs I was running with before.

Down Bathurst we go, at this point we definately had hit our strides, as we constantly kept speeding up and had to keep telling outselves to slow down. Within a blink of an eye there’s Lawrence, and so begin the rolling hills. I tell Jay that I had run this little stretch before too, except at the end of a 14km run, not at the beginning. I get to the hill I hated last time… Hmm not so bad, I guess its different when you’re going at it with fresh legs, as opposed to at the end of you long run. There’s Eglinton! We dash across the street once the light changes to beat the advance green light. Clip clip clip, then it comes, the result of over hydration before the run. I gotta pee! Well we’re over half way done, maybe I can hold it. We pass St.Clair… Nope, now I really gotta go. I tell Jay, he laughs. He suggests we stop by somewhere, nah, we’re guys, I’ll just find a corner. I hate going into places, all sweaty and stinky to just ask to use the washroom. I see a little side street with some bushes, “hold on, I think I found a spot” nope, there’s a crowd of people there, just hanging out outside of their house. Crap! No worries, just a bit later there’s a little forest with a path 🙂

Clip clip clip, I check my watch, 4:30! Are we gonna make it to MEC before it closes? Well we’re over half way done, we shooould be ok, but its cutting it close. We pass Dupont, we’re getting close, more landmarks = feels like we’re covering more gound faster. Bloor! We’re almost there… 4:45 uh oh, its getting tight! We also gotta get back east to Spadina, I tell Jay. Let’s pick a street that isn’t too crowded. 4:50.. Oh man! I take a quick short cut though a high school lot, and we’re now on Harbord travelling east. 4:52…. At this point, both of us definately start picking it up, 8 mins! Can we make it? We hit Spadina, and the pace picks up yet again.

We pass College, then it hits, a pang of cramp runs up my right calf, oh no! Not on the home stretch! 😦 we get to Dundas, the pace picks up yet again. Another pang, on no! “Jay you may need to go on without me, if you wanna make the 5:00 deadline” he tells me to fight though the pain, pain is only temporary he tells me… The cramps start to come more and more frequently now, crap! I must drink more water along the way! We pass Queen, 4:55 at this point my leg is fully cramping. 4:58 Just go! I tell Jay, and he takes off to King, I turn left on Adelaide instead, and drop my pace significantly, still a light jog though. I turn on Peter to King. I get a text from Jay, MEC is closed, he’s going to Europe Bound instead. Man… Did we miss the 5:00 deadline?

I turn the corner, King is totally deserted except for Jay and maybe 2 other people. Apparently Mec was closed because of g20, thank God! Europe bound is closing too, they have 2 conflicting signs, one that says 5:00 and the other that says 5:30. Bah! We walk over to King and Spadina and stretch out, great run! Insane pace.

After a nice stretch, I change out of my soaked clothes, and shoes, into the change I brought and a set of flip flops. I take off my headband, and wring it out to show Jay how much water I probably lost. don’t know how Jay is walking around in his gross sweaty clothes. The only thing I couldn’t change was my underwear that was equally as soaked as the rest of me, its very uncomfortable. We head over to Chinatown, Jay buys an aloe drink and downs it asap. I buy some yu choy, and a 6 pack of malt vitasoy, soy milk. 7 g of protien per carton, excellent recovery food! We make our way to Eaton center which thankfully isn’t on lockdown anymore, and I finally change my underwear.

We make it back up town, and its very apparent that it was raining, heavily. Also as soon as I get home, it start pouring. I message Jay, good timing eh? He asks if its about the riot. Apparently there’s another G20 riot taking place as Spadina and Queen! We were just there! Wow, we JUST missed all the action! What a wicked run!

Hot Weather Running is Just Uncool…

My decision to do outdoor lunchtime workouts now needs to be carefully scrutinized based on the weather condition at the time.  The 12pm heat typically does not bode well for runners.  Yesterday was no different.

I thought it would’ve been different though.  In the morning, it was extremely gloomy with heavy rain.  However, by lunch hour it really cleared up and was looking nice.  Just before I get changed to run outside, I normally stick my head out for a few seconds to prepare myself for what’s coming, but that area is well shaded so it can be deceiving.  

It turned out to be sunny, hot, humid, and……HOT.  After 3km of a brisk pace, I was exhausted.  Thanks goodness I had my water bottle.   I almost felt like stopping every km up until my finish of 8km cause the heat was unbearable.  The heat from the weather compounded with the body overheating from the running was just too much.  A headband would’ve been nice to drench up the sweat.  No more lunchtime runs at that temperature!  I’ve heard of elite marathon runners with bags of ice strapped to their chest before a marathon so that they don’t overheat.

An addendum: I biked to Oakville later that day, and although the distance was much greater, the heat wasn’t so bad as there was a constant breeze cooling you off at those speeds.  I passed by many good restaurants that I think Donald has probably already blogged about.  Apache burger, Thai restaurants, Bombay Bhel…and to my surprise, I saw another Pho Dau Bo on Dundas.

How to Train Like Lance Armstrong

Very interesting article, also promotes high intensity training… I think this should be the way to go if we’re going to go for Boston, we can still get our long runs in just to get our endurance up, but I think speed training is the way to go if we’re going to get up to that point. My Dragonboat trainer also says its better to train your fast twitch muscles as well. I also like their bit about active rest, its counter intuitive but it does help the body recover faster as, while you’re moving, you’re also promoting blood flow and quicker recovery.

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You might want to train for a 100-mile ride. Or perhaps explore a few local trails. Maybe you’re looking to just save money on your commute, burn a few extra calories, or strengthen your heart. Whatever the motivation, now’s the time to start pedaling. We’ve got the expert training tips to get you started. Few know more about cycling than Lance Armstrong’s coach Chris Carmichael. We asked the man behind Lance’s seven Tour de France wins for his tips to help you pedal better.

HARDER — Goal: Incinerate fat
“Forget those slow, low-intensity ‘fat-burning’ workouts,” Carmichael says. “Unless you’re single and unemployed, you don’t have enough time for that.” Instead, train like the athlete you aspire to be, and your body will adjust. “Increase your workout intensity—go faster or do sprints or intervals. You’ll burn more calories, getting faster and stronger while you get leaner.”

BETTER — Goal: Ride more
“A light 30-minute spin around the neighborhood the day after a killer workout or epic ride will get you back to full-throttle training sessions more quickly than sitting on the couch,” Carmichael says. By boosting circulation to fatigued muscles and raising your core temperature, this kind of active recovery can significantly reduce your down time, which also increases the number of high-quality training days you can get in each month.”

FASTER — Goal: Gain speed
“Don’t be intimidated by intervals. At their simplest, all it means is that you’re alternating between ‘harder than you can sustain long term’ and ‘easy.'” Intervals are also the key to riding faster. Try riding as hard as you can for two minutes, then spin easy for two minutes, and repeat a few times. “The key is that you’re performing work at a pace and intensity above what you can sustain. It is the time spent at these intensities that will force your body to adapt and make you faster.”

STRONGER — Goal: Build endurance
“Training is a cumulative venture. You make progress by stressing your body, allowing it to recover and adapt, and then stressing it again.” But you have to be consistent. “If you leave more than a week between training sessions, your body views each session as an isolated effort instead of part of a progression.” Aim for a couple of rides per week.

ref->http://www.mensfitness.com/sports_and_recreation/athletes/237

5km Winner – Company Race – Female!

Much like my company race, the participants were few and far between, so you’d expect the field of fast runners to be in short supply.  It was a mish-mash of several companies combined into one race, raising money for a charitable event.  Peky’s cousin, Yan, was to participate in her first ever 5 km run.

The place was Hamilton, the time was 6pm, and the weather was really hot & humid; far from ideal running weather.

The run was already underway when we arrived, so we decided to wait about 300m from the finish line so that we could run alongside Yan for the final stretch.  (Wok with Yan…haha)

When the lead cyclist finally came into view, what came sprinting down the road blew me away.  It was a girl galloping down the park path alongside two male runners.  It wasn’t apparent at first, but the guys were her pacesetters and she was the lone leader, as they slowly dropped off as she quickly sprinted across the finish line.  Her pace seemed really fast, but I didn’t know what her finishing time was yet.  We were focused on getting Yan across the finish line.

When Yan came swooping around the bend, we dished out our best lines of encouragement, and ran with her to the finish.  The sun was heavy and the air was thick with humidity.  It’s no wonder that Yan felt like she was going to collapse at the end.  Thankfully, she didn’t.  She crossed the finish line at a very respectable sub 29:00.

We later learned that the 1st place finisher ran the 5km in 17:17.  Yikes…wake up call!  Not only that, but there was another female finisher also sub 18:00.  The first male finisher was about 6 seconds behind the overall leader.

Yan and her fellow colleagues sat in the shade and regaled each other with stories, as we hungrily looked on in envy at the level camaraderie that such events bring out.  In the distance, I could see the 1st place finisher munching away at post-run snacks with her entourage, and you could see by all of their slender body types that they were all fast runners.  Not only that, but they all donned MacMaster track running uniforms, and donned them proudly.  Whether or not she was a ringer was besides the point.

When it came time to the final speeches and awards ceremony, the race announcer admitted that this course was not a Boston qualifier (jokingly), and also admitted that the course was 200m shy of a full 5km.  Even so, a 17:17 time for 4.8km is astoundingly fast and will take more than a few speed training sessions and tempo runs to reach.

The only way to train your body to become a sub 18:00 5km runner, is to be like a sub 18:00 5km runner.  This is going to take a *@#%load of work…

The V02 Max Test

THE V02 MAX TEST

VO2 max refers to the maximum amount of oxygen that an individual can utilize during intense or maximal exercise.

This measurement is generally considered the best indicator of an athlete’s cardiovascular fitness and aerobic endurance.

I am fortunate that I was given the opportunity to do this test, as not many people have the chance to scientifically measure their V02 max in a controlled environment.  This particular test was done on a treadmill using different inclines and speeds as difficulty factors.

Initially I was taken aback by this test.   As I was waiting  for my turn, another participant that was currently undergoing the treadmill test came crashing out of the room in an absolute fit of frenzy.  He appeared to be in state of extreme exhaustion as he keeled over with his hands on his knees, sweat dripping down his shirt, just gasping for air.  He looked to be in good shape too, but as we know, judging one’s aerobic capacity is not as easy as seeing how strong one is by the size of their biceps.  The tester inquired with the panting participant about his condition and he assured her that he would try to continue.  All of the other participants looked at each other in a bit of shock.  We were next.

There was no doubt in the back of my mind that I probably had an advantage in this area.  However, this thought placed additional pressure on me to do well.

The testers (We each had 3) started me off with no incline at a brisk walking pace to go over the instructions.   The test would start with an incline of 4.0 at 4.0 mph, for approximately one minute of running, with 20 additional seconds wearing the breathing apparatus.  It is during that time they measure your oxygen / carbon dioxide output, obviously.  In addition, I was to wear a nose plug, which makes it a little more challenging.  C’est la vie, as I don’t normally breathe through my nose anyways at fast paces.

We’re allowed one break, which can be taken anytime after a certain point, but she says that I can signal to continue on, and take my break when I need to.

So it begins:

4.0 incline, 4.0mph

4.0 incline, 5.0mph

4.0 incline, 6.0mph – I remind myself that proper running form will help.

4.0 incline, 8.0mph – Still not too bad.  Breathing is becoming laboured.

6.0 incline, 8.0mph – I’m so glad that I’ve been training.  She asks me if I want to take my one break now.  I shake my head.

8.0 incline, 8.0mph – Geebus, this is where the guy must’ve collapsed. This incline isn’t easy. I take my break after my measurements are taken.

I quickly step off to the sides and to regain my composure.  It feels so good to stop.  It’s their job to push you to the absolute limit so that they can get your max max MAX.

10.0 incline, 8.0mph – I’m feeling good after my break, but the incline is really getting to me.  It was fairly obvious that I’m practically going full tilt; I would never go this hard at my gym.  The testers were all cheering me to go on and they were really supportive, so I decide to go for one more.  My breathing is heavier than ever.

12.0 incline, 8.0mph – This is the last round I can give.  However, at this incline, they allowed me to run with one hand gripping the top of the treadmill which makes it easier.  When they ask me to stick the breathing apparatus in my mouth, I must let go and run properly for 20 seconds.  When they called, “time!”, I quickly stepped off to the sides and gasped deeply for air.

I might’ve foolishly tried for a 14.0 incline, but the testers later told me that my results were beginning to plateau anyways, so it probably wouldn’t have been any use.

I had been on the treadmill for what felt like a good long while now, and my shirt was soaked.  The other participants spoke of their test being a total of 35 mins….I had no idea how long it was for me.  I just hoped that I did well.  My LSD the day before, and my hill training the day before that, and my fartlek training the day before that probably didn’t help!

In the end, I was measured with a 53.7 ml/kg/min V02 max, which I am fairly happy with.   I was hoping for higher, but then I’d have to pinch myself to wake up.

In a nutshell, to have a high V02 max is to have good endurance, which is what we’ll all need to qualify for the Boston.  A deep set of lungs and a strong set of legs.  We have many months to train our bodies to reach that level.  Looking forward to it!

Famous Athletes and their V02 maxes:

Any elite marathoner – 80.0+ ml/kg/min
Lance Armstrong – 83.5 ml/kg/min
Greg LeMond – 92.5 ml/kg/min

A big mistake…

Of wise decisions I could make, running another 10k the day after running 15k was probably not the best idea (http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3807635) …  but I had promised my sister that I would help her run her 10k lsd this week, and I couldn’t let her down. Besides, I’m a little more athletic than her, and I have experience under my belt…. Big mistake, what I didn’t take into account was the youngest (super athlete) joining us on our run. All the sudden our slow casual run had become a game of keep up with the youngest sister. Right off the bat I felt the effects of the run just a day before, my legs ached with each step, and my calves burned and felt like they were ready to cramp up. No matter, I just needed to get the blood flowing, hit my stride then it’ll be ok, that how us old people work right? no… 4km it was only worse, in my mind I was ready to give up, but there’s no way I’d let my sisters beat me! jog jog jog… as we pass some store fronts, I notices that my gait has become slow and sluggish, it looks as if each step I take is done so with excruciating pain (I now know how Cat felt the day before). As we hit lights, Megan (youngest one) is bouncy waiting for the light to change so she can get going, Nicole is lightly jogging to keep he cardio up, and I “look like I wanna die, silently cursing to my sisters for making me do this run” At around 6k Megan hits her stride, and takes off on us, Nicole starts to slow down a little, which is a much welcome rest after the past 7km of pain. The rest helps a ton, and I hit my second wind, I see Megan not too far in the distance, and think to myself, hmmm I think I can catch her. So I start to speed up a little, but then also notice that Nicole is starting to fade back… Since this run was for me to help her on her LSD’s I kybosh the catch up attempt and keep a slow and steady pace to keep Nicky up with me…. She says to me…”How the heck is Megan going so fast!?!” I laugh…. we finally hit Yonge again, and the home stretch, Nicky looks like she’s dying, she’s happy that at this point she’s run her 10k and accomplished her goal… at this point Megan is a tiny speck in the distance, I can see she’s doing extra distance just to tire herself out…. all while Nicky and I are suffering like crazy.

We finally arrive home, with our mom yelling out the window at us to get in and eat dinner, cause she’s starved! So are we = )

Large Pho, Large Pho we’re running to our Pho…

… And for a side of large spring rolls. Large Pho, Large Pho….

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3802714

Our first run together after the Sauga half. Same run, 3 perspectives… 1 common goal. Pho Linh

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CAT:

8:30 AM. I woke up Saturday morning, hopeful that the rain I heard while I was asleep had cleared and made way for a glorious day of sunshine and beach volleyball. No such luck.  I turned over and decided it might still be a good idea to make good use of my early start and I began to get up. Ow. The multiple glasses of Lagavulin from last night have left its distinctive calling card on my head. A few more minutes of sleep are in order.

9:30 AM: An hour or so later, the cloudiness in my head is starting to lift, but unfortunately that’s not the case outside.  It was definitely too moist to play beach volleyball, but I was still itching to do something physical. I looked at the ground outside. It still looked dry. I remember someone suggested running on Saturday. I message Donald. It sounds like everyone wants to run. Crap! I actually don’t really feel like running. I momentarily fall back asleep.

11:00 AM. I wake up with a start and somehow within that I hour, we manage to all organize ourselves to meet at Yonge & Sheppard at 12:00 PM.

12:05 PM: I arrive last and the short jog from my house to our appointed meeting corner has already taken it out of me. This is starting to feel like a bad idea. Maybe I haven’t gotten my running legs under me yet.

12:10 PM: We start running west on Sheppard and while I feel like it must have been a moderate pace, I’m feeling a little bit faint. Jason, starts updating us on our progress. “400m”. 400m??? Oh-em-gee. This does not bode well. I tell Jason to keep it to himself. I’m in pain. It’s obvious my 4 week hiatus from the running world has taken it out of me.  I start wondering whether I had one too many glasses of scotch last night, but I start to recall more clearly that I didn’t really.

12: 15. I feel too hot. I misunderstood a message Donald had sent me earlier than morning and I somehow think it’s going to be only +1 outside so I am wearing running tights, running shorts, and two layers of shirts in 17 degree weather. We stop twice during the first 3k so that I can take off all my extra clothing, and multiple times so I can take a drink out of Donald’s camelback. I’m starting to feel like Donald is my St. Bernard. Carrying my clothes and water. Thank goodness for Donald.

4k. It suddenly hits me. My vegetarian diet. I had been trying out vegetarian diet since June started, however I didn’t particularly have a very specific approach to how I was going to get all my protein. In fact, it wasn’t really something I was monitoring closely enough and I suddenly connect the dots on my extreme fatigue and lack of energy.  This is likely as a result of my lack of protein.

5k. This is the longest freakin’ run in the world. Where the hell are we?

6k. Donald stops for a pee behind a sign. It’s not really hidden all too well from the main street, but I don’t complain since it gives me a must needed rest from the pace we’re running. Long slow distance my ass. This is a long-freakin’ fast distance.

7k. We approach Yorkdale mall. I’m ready to bail and go inside. We pass by Katz’ Deli and Donald mentions that we should go there to eat. I happily agree. He means another day. I grumble silently to myself and keep scrambling along behind them.

8k. I see buses along our route. I wonder how bad it would be if I suddenly jumped on a bus and met Donald and Jason at Pho Linh?

9k. I announce loudly that I am giving up vegetarianism. It feels like a weight being lifted off my shoulders. I really enjoyed my vegetarian diet, but I definitely do not want to feel like this again. I need to rethink how I get my protein if I choose to continue I tell myself. Thoughts of a tasty bun bo hue starts to permeate my brain and immediately lift my sprits. I momentarily feel a burst of energy. Donald and Jason probably do not notice as they are probably about 200m ahead of me. I hear them laughing jovially, still full of energy in their limbs. Bastards! They don’t look tired at all.

10k. Jason announces that we’ve finished 10k in 57 minutes – faster than my half-marathon time. Those tricksters. How is this a long SLOW distance? I’ve been fooled.

11-12 k .We start to run through some rolling hills. This is brutal. You get to take it easy as you go downhill and then you have to trudge back up hill. I grumble a little bit more loudly than before and let out a cathartic “ARRRGAHAHAHAHHAA”. I feel mildly better but startle a few pedestrians on the street.

13k. Where the f@#$ is Bloor? How come I’m only seeing Davenport ahead? How much loooonger? I start grumbling even louder. Donald and Jason hear me and try to pacify me with encouraging words. If they really wanted to be nice they would stop running at Boston pace. I continue to grumble to myself.

14k. I’m spent. I’m soooooo exhausted. Donald and Jason tell me we’re less than 2k away but I had been pushing myself since we got to 400m. I need to take a walk break. Donald and Jason continue to push on ahead. A few minutes later, a guilt trip must have hit them because I see them coming back! They’re coming back to support me! I take back what I was muttering in my heads about them when they took off on me a few minutes earlier.  I love these guys!

15k – We’re so close! And I’m super hungry! I can taste the pho in my mouth! : ) I don’t know where this comes from, but we suddenly start singing. We’re so delirious from hunger!

15.7 k – We’re here!! And there’s a line out the door!! It’s freakin’ 2:00 PM already. Why are people still eating?  Surely none of them have worked this hard to get here. Donald goes inside to assess the situation. I’m ready to beat my way into the door when Donald comes out and says we’re the next table of 4. I calm down and start stretching.

2:00 PM. We finally get a table and I wolf down my large bun bo hue in seconds. I look over at Donald and Jason’s bowl. Still half full. I’m a MONSTER!!! I slurp happily at my Vietnamese ice coffee and nibble on a spring roll. This is so good. I slowly feel the energy coming back, but the demon within hasn’t been satiated yet. I suggest we order another bowl of pho! : ) This ought to do it.

3:30 PM. One pho ga later, I’m still hungry! But thankfully we’re off to another eaterie! We stop in Little Italy for Gelato! I share a mint chocolate chip gelato with Amit. Mmmmmm.  Finally the monster starts to calm down.

4:00 PM. We’re head to the opposite side of town to little India and the eating bonanza continues. We stop in a few Indian grocery stores to pick up supplies for Donald’s chana and we end up at Lahore Tikka house for some homemade kulfi! Delicious!

What a day. I’m struck by how far this 15k run has taken us! It brought us to the most spectacular pho in the city and then lead us through quite the culinary adventure. As our long distances start to increase over the next several months, I can only imagine how much further it will take us. I can’t wait to see where it will take us next.

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Jason:

It was a rainy day. I had stepped out earlier to run some errands and the cold rain hit my skin with an unpleasant sting. Would this be good for running? I can never tell when I’m in caught my daily-routine state-of-mind.

There was talk of doing an LSD together, and surely enough the IMs started to fly Saturday morning. “Run?”, Donald wrote. I replied with, “rain too cold. let’s wait a bit”. I thought that would buy me some more time to check off some of my weekend errands.

It was just half and hour later when the phone rang with Donald on the other end, “The rain has stopped! Wanna go?”. Geez. Knowing full well that I had a fitness test the next day, I was very hesitant to agree, but I suppose that a true LSD couldn’t hurt. Donald told me that Cat had gone mia, but he managed to get a hold of her soon after. Double drat! Sometimes, I’m so lazy. haha. Donald sent me the proposed route, but all that mattered was that there was food at the end of the rainbow. It was lunchtime, and damnit I was hungry!

We agreed to meet at Yonge & Sheppard at 12pm. I managed to save some of my legs by walking down the entire way, and still making it there before Cat. Geez! Donald was there on time, but it looked like he had an unfortunate accident. Jokes! He jumped on the water backpack bandwagon……I gotta get on that soon too.

So Cat finally made it out and we were on our merry way. Across Sheppard we went, and to ensure that we kept it to a true LSD, we struck up light conversation to make sure that we weren’t running too quickly.

Across to Dufferin! Cat was starting to show signs of fatigue for some reason. We had not gone far, but she was saying that she wasn’t feeling well. Oh crap. This isn’t good. Perhaps it had to do with the lack of meat & protein in her body, she said. I can believe that. We continued on past Yorkdale mall, and we trucked on. Donald & I constantly reminded each other to “slow up” to maintain an LSD pace, and Cat managed the will to keep up with us.

We were treated with a refreshing rain shower every now and then, and the rolling hills were quite the challenge on the legs. Whenever we approached a diminishing green light, we both slowed down to allow the light to turn red, which allowed Cat to pace up with us. Each time this happened, we checked to make sure that her lights were still on upstairs. Thankfully, they were. 😉 We decided to stick together the entire way instead of splitting up. I was kinda worried about Cat’s condition.

We had gone a solid distance before we reduced our paces to mere cool-down walks. I was actually quite grateful for that. I didn’t want to boot it anymore than we had to.

Our final destination was not far off, and to pay tribute to our watering appetites, Donald deliriously broke off into song.

Once we reached the restaurant, even though we were forced to wait for a table, we were actually handed a great opportunity for a post-run stretch. (I’ll have to admit that I was disappointed that the restaurant was so full…at first) But as they said, it’s a good sign if there’s a lineup to get in.

Spicy!!!….was first my thought when the spoonful of soup hit my lips. I had some serious afterburn the night after. Next time, I’ll definitely stick to the special. And a next time there will be! 🙂

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Donald:

Its around 9am. Last night ended around 2am and included a lot of boozing. It had been raining all night, so beach volleyball is out of the question, its over cast, but its not really raining, more just spitting. I get to my computer and Cat messages me “Are we running?” Hmm.. good question, what time do you want to go? No reply…. Jason comes online… Hey Jay you want to run? Sure! Cat?… still no reply… dang it, guess she’s back asleep. Ok, Jay maybe we’ll run later. I decide that I could probably fit in a climb before the run… all the sudden “Hello!” its Cat! She must of woken up. “Are we doing this run?” Hmm… its stopped raining, ok maybe this is possible, and I can try my new pack. I call Jason up, and we’re off. We’re meeting at the starting point at 12:00pm. I start packing my stuff, I fill my new water pack and notice that the cap won’t go on all the way so its leaking… hm… what’s doing on? I tighten as tight as possible, warp in a bag and towel and hope for the best… By the time I reached the meeting point my entire back was soaked, the back of my pants all the way down were soaked. Jay and I unpacked everything, Jay has a look at the water pack, and notices that there’s 2 rings on the opening and I could lower the first one. Shoot! We lower both and the water no longer leaks! Excellent! Cat arrives, and we’re (me still soggy) on our way. We ran a very relaxed pace so that Cat could keep up, which was good for me too, because it was really humid and I could hardly breath. The water pack worked very well, and now that I know how to tighten it, I will definitely use it again. But the last 13 km, my legs were pretty burnt out, first run in a while…. We finally arrive at our final destination. Pho Linh, and it was worth every step.

Run addendum
We’re off, our first LSD since Suaga. Right off the bat Jason start calling out the distance “400 meters!” Haha only 15km to go. We hear Cat grumble something behind us. After a bit of discussion we agree that its a bad idea to keep calling out our distances as we go along. I really don’t care, at this point I’m more concerned about the water soaking my entire back and just hoping that it’ll dry off soon, otherwise there’s gonna be some epic chafe-age. As we approach Bathurst, Sheppard drops down to cross over a ravine, which means MASSIVE HILL! I’m so glad that we get these out of the way early, instead of how I did it last year, when I ran similar routes, stating from the other end. I try and cross the street in preparation for making the left onto Bathurst later, Jay says that he prefers to stay on the right hand side because cars look your way when they’re making a turn, which means less of a chance of getting hit.

Putt putt putt we head along Sheppard. At this point Cat really looks like she’s hurting, so we slow down and make sure she’s ok. Apparently she forgot the 7 when I told her earlier on that it was going to be +17, I guess telling her to bring a toque threw her off, my reasoning was just in case it rained, it would be good to have something on your head. She takes off her warm up jacket, and takes a sip of my water. We ask her if she also wants to take off her tights, yes, but only when we find a washroom to do so in. We continue on our way and at Bathurst and Wilson we see it, a Starbucks. “Do you want to stop here?” We yell to Cat off in the distance, “yes!” So we make a stop, and rest a little while Cat changes her pants… All the sudden I feel it, a trickle. 😮 oh no! Rain! Just as my back just started to dry a little bit, its gonna rain? Cat gets out, and we continue on our way across Wilson, we come across a light, and I have the sudden urge to pee! The attempt to catch up on hydration cause of the night before has caught up to me. I could hold it for a bit, but when I go over the remainder of our route, there’s no where that I could hide away and go, and it just so happens that there’s a construction site with some boards up that obstructs the main traffic.

We continue on our way, and soon we reach Dufferin and the longest leg of our journey. As we turn the corner I notice a Guanese, Chinese buffet, interesting! I kinda want to give it a try, but run and more importantly Pho Linh have priority so I just take note and continue along. Later on we also see Katz deli, we all say we should try it out…. For the next run.

We pass Lawrence, Eglinton, approach St.clair… Then in the distance we hear it, horns honking, drums beating, and the general sound of people cheering, the closer we got the louder it gets, soon we see seas of blue and white, what flag is that? Is it Greece? Portugal? I’m tempted to ditch the run and join the party, but I’m sure my stinkiness would not bode well.

After St.Clair we get to the hardest part of our run, a series of 5 or 6 rolling hills. “Look! Its heartbreak hill!” I exclaim, in reference to the 7 progressively larger hills, culminating to 1 giant 1km uphill to finish the Boston marathon, but I don’t think either of them get it. At this point Jason starts to speed it, “its easier to go with the hill, than fight it and try and slow down” he says. I just smile and nod and hope that we didn’t leave Cat too far behind. Once we pass the hills, there it is Bloor.st. We’re approaching the home stretch! We let Cat catch up a bit, we see she’s not lookin too good. “Come on Cat! We’re almost there!” She curses something at us and tells us she’s about ready to start walking. We give her a few word of encouragement, we’re almost there, come on, you can do it! And we head on, Cat drops back super quick. Jay and I decide to try running at Boston pace for the last little bit. Big mistake! At this point my legs were already burnt out, and the humidity didn’t help much either, we make it about 700m and I give up. How the heck are we supposed to do this for 42.2km?!? We turn around to make sure that we haven’t  left Cat too far in the dust… Uh oh, we can’t even see her anymore! We lightly jog back to get her… We see a speck in the distance and… She’s walking?! AND on the phone?!? Whaaa!? As we get her she tells us that she’s phoning Amit to come get her, and he should be driving by any min. I snicker a little.

After walking with her a bit, she decides that she’s ready and we’re gonna run the last km or so. I tell her a few Pho jokes to get her mind off the pain. “This pho is going to be.. Pho-nominal!”… “Wasn’t this run Pho-un?”… “Why are you laughing? Don’t you think my jokes are Pho-nny?” To which she replies “No, they’re Pho-king horrible!” I get the idea and instead start singing “large pho, large pho…. ” To the tune of hi ho hi ho, to make fun of the fact that our pace at this point is almost a march. Jason over hears and joins in as well, Cat also joins in, even adding a verse of her own “and for our side, we’ll have spring rolls, large pho, large pho…”

Then we see it College! We have arrived! We turn the corner and what do we see? Line! Dang it! And we’re starved! I go inside to scope out what kinda time we’re looking at, they tell me there’s only 1 other table of 8 before us. I report, and we agree that we’re gonna wait, and start to stretch. Cat runs off the change behind a bush. A short while later we’re called in. 3 large bun bo hues, 3 spring rolls, 2 viet coffees and a shake, we don’t even have to look at the menu. Within seconds the food arrives, thank God! We’re starved! Cat scarfs her’s down, omg! Did she even stop to breath? Lol. Jay and I try to do the same, but are impeded by spiciness. I go through several napkins as I sweat up a storm. Half way though, I realize this probably won’t be enough, and Jay and Amit haven’t tried the Pho here, so we decide to split a small portion. Unfortunately we ordered the Pho Ga by accident, but no worries its equally as delicious!

after the meal we debate ordering a second viet coffee, but instead decide that we’re going for ice cream again. So we head to little Italy to pick up some delicious gelato from Dolce… But wait its not over yet. We then head to little India to pick up some ingredients for my Chana, AND get some delicious Kulfi! 😀 I love it! As my friend pointed out on a woman’s shirt last year during the Scotia marathon last year “iRun so I can eat” soooo true! 🙂 the best part about running is that after burning hundreds of calories, your body screams at you to refill them, and you can eat almost anything you want, guilt free! Can’t wait till the next LSD 😀

Hill Training – The 4 Hills off Yonge

Never having done any hill training prior to my halfs or marathons, I decided that I should give it the ol’ college try.  Situated near my home, I could think of no better location than the four hills that spout from the chasm at Yonge & York Mills.

One word sums up hill training:  Intense.

I slow jogged it to the bottom of the hills where, armed with my GPS, decided to attack each hill one at a time, tempo speed, running hard only on the elevations.

Hill #1 – On York Mills, East towards Bayview – This is the steepest, yet shortest of the 4.  Approx 400m.

Hill #2 – On Wilson, West towards Bathurst – Arguably the longest, and most constant slope.  Approx 600m.

Hill #3 – On Yonge, South towards Lawrence – The hill actually goes from Mill st. to the lights at the top – Approx 600m

Hill #4 – On Yonge, North towards Sheppard – two distances.  200m, then 500m to the 401.

Needless to say, I could not sustain tempo speed for the full distance of any of the hills, but it felt exhilarating to push my heart into maximum heart rate limits.

I will try to incorporate this training methodology once every two weeks.  They say that “intensity cannot replace mileage”, so I suppose that hill training is secondary to LSD’s and tempo runs.

Taking it to the next level…

Last year was my first half, and first full marathon. This year I ran a half with little to no training and still fared pretty well, (still sub 2 hours) but the eventual goal this year is to qualify for Boston.

Something else that I’ve done this year is join a dragonboat team which is much more competitive than my old one. I knew from the get go that this was going to be tough. Training started during a particularly cold December when most wouldn’t even think about getting in a boat. A few of us made it to the sport center at York University, where we preformed a fit test. Our trainer takes our weights, we do some bench press, lumberjacks,  sit ups, push ups, throw a ball, pull ups… (all proper form of course)… then we’re given homework. In intervals of 30, 45, 60, 30 then 30 seconds with 4 minutes rest in between do as many push ups, half burpees, jump squats and sit ups we can, one after another, write it down and send it to him.

That was just the beginning,  soon we were each given customized workouts, and not the hard painful kind. He had taken the data and benchmarked where you were, then built workouts to CHANGE your body, and change ain’t easy. Especially when you’re used to doing one thing, and all the sudden you’re using muscles you’ve never even heard of!

Then in April we finally hit the water, then the real pain began. I thought that only having one practice a week vs 2 would be easier… big mistake, all I can say is each practice is timed down to the second, we do 2 minute pieces and 2 minutes rest, no more no less, also if you’re paddling for only 30 seconds, then you’re only going to get 30 seconds “rest” why quotes, cause “rest” is also known as active paddling, aka not really rest at all, our coach pushes us to the limit every week, for days after  it feels like my insides have been torn apart.

So, I have to shave 41 minutes off my time last year to qualify… and if being on this more competitive dragonboat team has taught me anything,  this is not going to be a pleasant experience… *shudder*