A recovery week, a small victory

This week was an easy one to get the legs feeling good after ATB. I was pretty good in following a plan to run easy, take some time to do dynamic exercises and stretching to get back on track timely. The first run was what I might have expected for the first 10 min or so, a little stiff and stubborn feeling from the legs, but to my pleasan surprise things fell into place quickly. Every run this week was enjoyable and motivating for the coming weeks of increasingly hard work.

Now that the race is behind me and I have been able to process the good and bad point s of the race I will consider it a small victory. A few months ago I had predicted certain milestones to have been reached by this point and when first the foot, then the knee, then the ankle all came into the fold progress seemed slow, if not stopped. A broken month and then a full month of disruptions and limited speed work definitely interfered with building up. So that said, I was pleased that I was able to get to the start line of Hamilton feeling good albeit under prepared. Pacing, conservatism, and confidence to stay on target were the keys to the race going well. Fluid management, cramping at the end, and jointly endurance at race pace were what got in the way of a perfect race. This will be the focus for 7 weeks to come.

Week summary Mar 26 - Apr 1

Mon- off
Tues- 6.5k Legs weren't too bad. First couple of k were very slow but things picked up and recovered and settled into ~4:30 throughout most of the back end. Nice to feel things are too slammed from a race with very lackluster preparation.
Wed- off
Thurs- 7.5k Started the Garmin and then ignored it and went by feel. Turned out to be a fartlek run and legs, thankfully, feel very good. Look forward to a 'free' weekend to run offroad before I buckle down until the marathon and shoot for a 2:50 or less. Bring it.
Fri- 5k This was to get out and enjoy the weather. Just cool enough to be March but sunny and very spring like. I have missed doing the Vibram runs so am going to resume the 3 x 20 min/week.
It felt awesome and the legs were snappy and loving it. Could feel the missed adaptation afterwards with some mild soleus tenderness. Maybe I'll sue them, haha.
Sat- off, took it easy as the family schedule was hectic and getting the run in was gonna be rushed.
Sun- 14k Snappy, fun trail run on an early Sunday morning. Was able to just go with a pace that felt good and not worry. The wildlife was out and ultra light snow flakes fell. It was definitely a run that help charge the motivation battery for training to come after the marathon. So much better than the road.

Around the Bay- the race that almost wasn't

Yesterday's event was a blast. Love the race, the funny traditions and the insane course. It shows no mercy at the very end and is very rewarding to finish.
Race executed almost 100% especially given that last Monday my calf was so sore I couldn't even run. I had a bad month altogether in prep so with that fact I am pleased
My goal was to break 2- that was all I wanted to do.
The plan was to follow the 2 hour bunny but I knew from last year the guy doesn't run 4:00/k the whole but rather builds a buffer to allow for the damage in the hills to not be an issue. So I ran with him until about 15k at 3:45-3:55. Had I stayed at this pace I was on target to PB my half time on a 30k course. So I was in front of him (he slowed at a station) and I started to monitor my pace around 3:56-3:59. I was feeling awesome, legs were all good and was managing some twitchy and cramped inklings in my legs with gels and salt caps fairly well.
 All of this stayed the same until 25k although as expected the hills took 5, 10 seconds here and there in the pace. But I was on target and if I maintained same pace after the monster hill would finish in 1:57.xx. I was ecstatic with that posibility but no sooner than I enjoyed that thought did my right hamstring start to go. There was some serious slowing and damage controlled because this was a race breaking pull. I got over the hill and hope it would clear. Popped a salt cap and prayed it would help. The 27-28 cost me a lost 35 sec. I pulled up and stopped and it was seizing up and I knew I had to push it or quit. I pulled it together and finished the last 2 k at 3:58 and 3:56. I knew I could still make in under 2 even if it wasn't by a larger margin. I yelled very loud in excitement when I crossed and hopefully didn't make too big a spectacle of myself cause it'll be on the video coverage they'll release soon enough.
Mike crossed a mere 23 seconds over the 2 hour mark and beat his previous PB by 18 MINUTES!
 
So in summary- everything went according to reaching the goal but the ugly final 4k got in the way of a day that would have been above and beyond given the injury bad luck of Feb-Mar.

Training week Mar 12-Mar 18

So I fall off the blogger earth for a long time. Why? Couldn't honestly say. Maybe it has been an issue of finding a moment to get thoughts on screen. I debated changing the format to make it more a training journal for now as opposed to a place to brain dump different things. With the race season upon me I think for now I will write up each week's activities and see how it grows from there.
After a dispappointing injury setback that saw me doing a lot of indoor trainer session in lieu of a run and then a very slow progressive rehab for the strained knee. It required much patience, discipline and faith in the outcome but was able to get back to 90 minutes of running after about 2.5 weeks of setbacks. The knee is about 90% I would guess and with ATB a week Saturday I am hopeful to keep things where they are or better.
Workout this week:
Monday- 45 ride, 20 minutes drills, core, Physio exercises- thought this would be better than a run after the 90 minutes from the day before
Tuesday- 45 min run, knee felt good and had ART and some ultrasound with Michael Michaud. Medial quad was full of adhesion and pes anserine stuck from all over the thigh. Good session and positive improvements
Wednesday- rest day, lots of stretching
Thursday- 61 min run, speed work with 6 x 2,2,2 working between recovery and 10k pacing. Knee behaved but was stiff at the end
Friday- 51 min run, stiff in both knees but hope just because speed has been out of the equation for a few weeks and body is bouncing back
Saturday- 67 min run, very easy pace and somewhat perplexed to feel a stiff knee and a sore soleus on the other leg. Gonna have to be smart tomorrow during the long run intervals.
Sunday-

Great weekend to cap off the year and start structured training

Heading out Ridge Road just before the blizzard started. Gorgeous day!

2011 was a year of ups and downs with running. On the plus side there was a ton of running done, trail enthusiasm was properly nurtured and grown into an addiction.
Highlights was a top 6 (I was 6th) overall at my first trail race, a 13 mile race that was seconds off my PR (despite 3 months of dismal sleeping with my wonderful but nighthawk new infant son), and some monster cycling in the summer in the Gats with friends, and Prince Edward County. Low-lights was months of preparation for my first Boston marathon to end with a walk/run second half to the race due to exhaustion. I knew it was possible it was going to turn out like that but it came as a disappointment. I took the experience very positively nonetheless as I had written about in my race report on Packed Apps.
http://www.teampackedapps.ca/race-reports/boston-confessional
The only other disappointment was not getting back into triathlon but on the other hand I am very focused on running and am enjoying it so much that its all good.

This last weekend of 2011 was about the pure enjoyment of the change to winter, the camaraderie of training with friends, and trying new things. Got out for the Winterman with Mike and Steve- a 20k run in a blizzard of fat flake snow. Hard to see, it was piled up thick on my eyelids and eyebrows which made it all the more fun. 350m elevation gain and pushing through 4-5 cm of new snow.

Pre-run chat with Steve and other attendees

The next day was getting out on the snowshoes. a 45 min. run that was slow, a crazy hip workout and fun being alone in the woods listening to the crunch of the snow and clack of the shoes. Wanted to go longer but for the first day out took it easy.

Lots of days off, lots of snow, lots of running

The more I post the more I wish I had some pictures to capture some of these great times I had running. The spectacular few days after Christmas where the abundance of snow really did make Ottawa feel like a winter wonderland were incredibly fun for running. The best was that less than 10% of my accumulated distances was on actual road. I was able to do around 45k total on snow trails with the highlight being first tracks after 7cm on new fallen snow in the Quarry trails. Granted the deer did have me beat and I stop to speak with a few of them. They look very impressive right now as they carry some thick and shaggy coats and beards. The deer were simply more details in the already beautiful natural backdrop. Thick layers of snow wrapped every tree branch or thicket of pine needles like coats of white fur. They gave me somewhat of a humorous look to be honest- sort of a "what's this guy think he is? A snow leopard or something? Move along clumsy human."

Blue skies, snowy trails, Christmas Eve

I wish I had taken a camera today. It was a phenomenal run. Not only that my foot did well and I feel like progress is being made but this is the type of experience I seek when I run that inspires me to run again. Beautiful weather, and one of those cold days that sharpens the senses. You can feel exactly where you are warm and where you are not. Vapor escapes into the air as you breath and you can lose yourself in the rhythm of the noise of this and that of your feet crunching and squeaking along the snow. What a sensational day for a run. Blue skies, very cold and snow covered trails. It was awesome. Went a little longer than planned but it was all on soft trails so think it helped alot. First run back since Monday and took it tentatively but things felt good. The discomfort was there on and off mildly but overall not too bad. Pretty sure it's a ligament strain and so will recover it well and ride tomorrow but wait until Monday for another run.

Patience, discipline and sensibility- new traits

So it goes. I was very prudent and gradual after my surgery to come back to running, driven to not rush anything and risk delaying getting back to normal. So I worked up 10 minutes per run each time I went out and as hoped had no issues to mention. I gave myself a good pat on the back for not being brash and taking anything for granted. I have been known to do things that in hindsight were very head-shakingly silly. Despite this I had my great Vibram run on Saturday in the very cold. It was, quite frankly, a great run and I felt there were no problems aside from my feet being very cold in the beginning. It was quicker than I needed to be running but I felt good and just went with the flow of things. The following day my foot was a little sore. Nothing big and so I went for a 13k run in the MR10s and all was good too. I had a small twinge of discomfort in the mets but thought nothing of it. But alas, later that day my foot was sore. Huh? Out of the blue I had what felt like the initial symptoms of a stress fracture. I assessed it as sensibly and carefully as I would a patient and signs were pointing to either a ligament(s) strain or damaged bone. The next day it was still there but I had a bit of denial (read the head shaking comment above again) and decided to go and run at lunch. I ran trails off the parkway for 30 minutes and by the time I got back it was very sore and I was very sure I was on the verge of a more serious injury. So this is where I have had to instill these traits this week. Everything we suggest to a patient I have had to follow- I recognize why many don't comply (hard to not want to break these rules.)I have been listening to my body since Monday and resting, massaging and supporting it comfortably but no running.