Tag Archive: hill training

Racing from the golf course

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Mon. November 8, 2010

You know, looking back on this race, there really isn’t much to report. Usually there’s a lot to mention in terms of places where I was experiencing a bit of emotional turmoil, or moments where my body seemed to not want to cooperate. No, I’d say this time around everything was rather average. I suppose in terms of storytelling that’s not all that interesting, but in terms of racing that’s pretty much what I wanted. I suppose the marathon training regime really helped out with how I was feeling all throughout the half. Sure, it wasn’t enough to allow me to churn out an overall personal best, but I did manage to chop off about 11 minutes from the last time I did this course. And this was despite the fact that I haven’t been training properly since the second marathon. Good news overall if you ask me.

So the weather on Sunday morning was rather cold. I figured it was colder than in previous years when I had done the race, so in lieu of shorts I decided to go for long pants, and opted for the long sleeve tee instead of the shorter sleeve options. I kept the gloves. I was debating whether to do the toque instead of the baseball cap, and ultimately decided to go with the former because all of the photographs from other races have me with a cap on. So that was my getup. Right off I told myself to just stick to my game plan: ten minutes running followed by one minute walk breaks. No matter what, even if I was feeling awesome, I wanted to keep that pattern. Everything was set.

So, from all of the times I’ve mentioned this race, you probably know that this course is a hilly one. Certainly, I felt like I was attacking each one with a nice and steady pace. Last year, I was aiming for a 6:45/km pace but fell short. This year, I was actually able to hold that with little difficulty. I was able to hustle faster than I expected. No word of a lie, this was probably one of the most consistent races I’ve ever run in spite of the hilliness of the course. It makes me feel good. So what if it didn’t turn out to be a personal best? I came out of that thing feeling like I must be doing something right, you know?

I guess there are two final thoughts I want to share about this event. First, the post-race buffet continued to impress me. I think I tried a little bit of everything that was in the spread: chicken salad, tuna salad, potato salad, egg salad, macaroni salad, roast beef, ham, baguette, fruit, cookies. Needless to say, I got the slightest bit carried away. I was seated on the floor next to the chain separating the food line from everyone. The chain was hung between a couple of potted trees. At one point an excited toddler ran around, and leaned on the chain. That caused a potted tree to actually fall on me, drawing a small amount of blood. I was a little bit shocked, but hey, he was just a kid–he didn’t know better.

So yes, that was my experience. Perhaps on a nicer course and with a fair amount of proper training behind me I can set a new record. We’ll see by March. That’s when my next race is scheduled. It’ll be great!

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Jason vs. stabbing pain

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Wed. January 13, 2010

I had just gotten off the streetcar and was on my way down to track level to get to the subway. I had hill training planned and needed to get home early enough to make it up north to join my group. I had full intentions of getting in a short nap on the subway to get some rest in before my planned vigorous activities. As I walked down the stairs though, I must have misstepped or something because all of a sudden my right knee was attacked with this stabbing pain right below my right knee cap. My walk turned into a limp. The seats on the subway aren’t known for being roomy, so when I sat down my legs were put in some weird position that I could extricate myself easily from without kicking some old woman in the ribs. So I sat like that, and eventually the pain kind of faded. However, when my stop came and I got up it all came rushing back. Walking home from the station was difficult. When I got home, I just had to sit down and think. What now?

I’ve had this type of knee pain before in the past. Usually it clears pretty quickly. Sometimes I’m actually able to run on it on the same day. So, I decided to give myself half an hour to decide what to do. I started getting ready and even tried dashing around my condo just to see if I could handle the load. In the end, knowing how tough a workout hill training is, I decided to not go. I emailed my group leaders and emailed the store manager to inform them all of my situation. I wanted to ensure that my group was covered. In the end, I got wind that they were all fine.

It really gets me down whenever things like this happen. I mean, I really want to be there for my people. The manager made sure to remind me though that if I’m injured, I’m injured. It’s not like I’m shirking my responsibilities, right? Once again, the best thing I can do now is to rest well so that by the time Sunday comes around I’ll be ready to make the week’s long run.

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Just another hat I wear

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Wed. December 16, 2009

Today was that Markham RR charity event that we had in store. Many toys were collected, and I’m sure they will go to some wonderful people in need in the community. There were a lot of post run treats there donated by a lot of people. I decided to join in by donating cookies. Yes, those glazed lemon shortbread cookies I made the other day were for this event. In addition to those, I made a maple cinnamon version of the cookie last night while doing that bit of work I offered to do last night. When I woke up I made the maple cinnamon glaze. I didn’t have enough icing sugar, so I made a half batch. For these cookies, I dipped the tops in and really made sure to drain any excess back into the bowl. I needed to make it last. Anyway, after it was all dry I put all the cookies back into the fridge to make them all harden. To me, both types of cookies were great, but I wasn’t sure how they’d be received.

I brought them in in a small grey basket that came from that gift basket I won earlier in the month. There were arranged kind of nicely to separate the flavours. After the ride over though they kind of got jumbled up. So, they joined the big table of treats that were there. There sure was a lot of food. Maaaaan. Of course, we weren’t allowed to go near it until our respective runs were done. For my group, we had a night of hill training to contend with. With four hill repeats on the schedule, I knew that it wouldn’t take that long, and that we’d all be pretty hungry when we got back. The actual running wasn’t so bad. I was in a great mood so I paid more attention to the people that were having a rough go at it. All I could do was give encouragement, and unless I was imagining it the encouragement was working well. The roads were covered with a thin layer of snow with icy patches here and there. It was a little bit harder than usual, and I really felt it in my quads. The snow caused my footing to shift by small amounts, but that was enough to really make my muscles work harder to stabilize things. So, long story short, everything went well. By the time we were done, everyone had a smile on their face knowing that they had completed a tough workout. Plus, the thought of all of the treats back in store made us rush back.

So, really, when I made it inside, as much as I wanted to try the things that other people brought, I wanted to get reactions for what I made. The simple truth is that I had nothing to worry about. The reviews were amazingly positive. I had apparently hit the right level of sweetness without it becoming cloying. I’m sure the lemon and maple cinnamon flavouring in both the cookie and glaze created this double impact effect that was maybe unexpected. So yes, I’m really pleased.

I couple of people there were pretty surprised that I had made the cookies myself. The common reaction was “What?! You made these yourself?” Is a guy that cooks/bakes that rare? It shouldn’t be. A couple of people joked that I should be a baker in another life. I can see that. To be honest, if time and money wasn’t an issue I’d probably be doing this more regularly. At this point it’s just not in the cards. Maybe I could start something on the side. Heh. I don’t know. Anyway, the positive reviews are giving me drive to hone my skills more and more. Nothing wrong with gaining more renown, right? This whole food thing is just another hat I wear. Got to keep working at it.

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It had its ups and downs

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Sun. November 1, 2009

Man…I’m already into the evening hours and I’m still feeling worn out. My legs certainly got a good workout in today’s event. I will preface this entry saying that I’m pleased with the results. In fact, I might even say that I’m ecstatic about them. Interesting thing is that it wasn’t even a personal best. Ah, but more on that later. My apologies if this race report turns out a little bit sloppy. It’s long…and I’m tired. So there. Race details after the jump! Read the rest of this entry »

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Running log: 2009/01/21

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Wed. January 21, 2009

Well, unlike yesterday I actually made it to the running club today. We were scheduled to do 8 repetitions down and up the 400 m hill. The hill is about 2.5 km away from the store. As I went there I could feel my legs seizing up. Actually seizing up is such a strong word, but, things felt leaden and I felt forced to go slower. Seems to be an ongoing theme doesn’t it? Hmm. Well, the roads weren’t entirely clear. The way down was covered with snow, but it was all very packed down so it was pretty solid, although uneven. The way up was a little clearer, but with every car going down the hill I had to step over into the snowy parts, making each step difficult.

I kept a steady pace through all repetitions without taking any breaks at the top. Sure, I was happy that I did the whole thing, but, I was also quite frustrated with the fact that I know I’m capable of doing much better. Hill training is usually a strong point for me. I usually put in a strong showing. Today, I felt like I had the motor running, but the parking brake was engaged. Does that metaphor make sense?

After the eighth time up the hill, we went straight back to the store. That was an odd experience. I was fatigued–and why wouldn’t I be? However, I felt like I had enough energy to make it back without any issues. Thing is, I couldn’t get any speed. I could not understand what was wrong with me at all.

Well, after the run I hung out with a friend and had sushi. Nice. Back at home, as I walked up the stairs I noticed that my legs were still heavy. I had to climb the stairs slowly because it felt like my muscles were being constricted. I meditated on the idea of “constriction” for maybe a moment or two, then came up with a hypothesis as to why I have the energy but my legs won’t give me the output I need. See, with all of this cold weather I’ve been layering up to keep warm. On my lower half I’ve been wearing running tights under track pants. Those things certainly do keep me in place, but perhaps it’s too much? Last time I ran hills I wasn’t wearing my tights, and that run was so much better. I have an 18K run this Sunday. Depending on the weather, I will leave the tights at home to test the theory out. As much as running slow is good for me (it builds endurance) it’s also humbling–and frankly I’ve had enough of that. We’ll see how it goes.

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Feeling the fatigue

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Wed. December 10, 2008

I’ve just been really tired over the past two days. Ever since that night that I had to be online to do some work at 2 a.m. my internal clock has been slightly out of whack. I don’t normally rely on coffee to give me a boost, but I’ve resorted to doing that just as a matter of survival. Oh sure, that’s a bit of hyperbole, but I honestly felt worn out.

Yesterday morning I woke up a little bit later than I wanted to. I was determined to leave the house early so that I could legitimately leave work on time to make my run in the evening. Instead, I woke up late and didn’t feel the urge to rush despite kind of wanting to be in such a panic state to light a fire underneath me. I guess the knowledge that I had 3 hours worth of wiggle room had that effect.

On the streetcar, I got off a stop or two earlier to make a quick stop at Tim Hortons. I got an XL-size coffee with one cream and two sugars. Part of me says that the average human should not have a need to consume that much coffee. Lucky for me that I’m superhuman. *snerk* Well, when I left the store the weather warmed up enough to turn the falling snow into falling rain. So, I had my bag in one hand and a coffee in the other. I had an umbrella in my bag, but when I weighed my options deciding what was more important to me at the time, the coffee won out. I arrived at work feeling like a pet that was caught out in the rain, but it didn’t matter because I had my hot drink. Priorities!

I did make it to my run after work. We were scheduled to do hill training. Thing is, the way to the hill was just plain horrible. All of the sidewalks were caked in ice with icy puddles dotting the landscape. In the summer, the 2.5K jaunt to the hill is really quick. That day though, the ordeal to make it there was insane. When we got to the hill, the roads were just slippery making it hard to really get some speed without fearing wiping out horribly. I don’t mind hill training; in fact, I actually enjoy it. However, the weather just made yesterday difficult. I was expending a lot of effort on something that I had no troubles with just months ago. Having such a workout surely contributed to my current state of fatigue.

So this morning I packed my running gear before heading to work. As I sat in traffic, I started to think about how I was completely in no mood to run tonight. I was still exhausted, and several weather reports were stating that the wind chill would push temperatures down to -20°C. Thing is, I was feeling guilty for even considering missing tonight’s run. That was my dilemma this morning. I figured that it would probably be healthier to take a break, but another part of my brain was chiding me for not wanting to do my quick run. I was asking around for opinions. It wasn’t until I got this piece of advice that I made a final decision: “You won’t get better by just chillin’.” Well said.

I think my push to attend as much as I can is based on the fact that I want to do better on my next half-marathon. It hasn’t yet clicked for me completely, but I recognize that I’m actually in a period of training right now. As much as running is a fun activity, having the goal to train harder easily indicates that I really should be getting out there when I can. I can’t let a little thing like a bit of fatigue interrupt my training, right? Well, today’s run was tough as well. It’s only a short 5K run but man, I was really feeling every step. The weather was cooler than yesterday so all of the ice puddles that I mentioned were totally frozen over. Running on the sidewalk was entirely a stop-and-go affair. There were just way too many obstacles to get a good pace and maintain it.

And now, after all that, I’m exhausted. I’m really hoping that the next two days are quiet, and that I won’t be asked to expend a lot of energy. I seriously wish that the weekend could come sooner–I really need a break.

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Changes in physiology

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Wed. August 13, 2008

I think…an interesting thing is starting to happen with my physiology with all of this half marathon training. I don’t completely understand it, but it doesn’t matter because I do know that what’s going on can only be a good thing.

Well, no, I don’t think I’m getting terribly faster. My pace is still pretty relaxed and I’m still pretty used to taking my usual position at the back of the pack. Thing is, I’m suddenly finding my runs to be a lot easier than they have been in the past. What do I mean, exactly? Well, just a few months ago when I ran my heart rate would really head up to the high end of the 80% – 90% range. At that point, I would get tired really easily, making for many tough runs. On Sunday long slow distance runs, we’re always encouraged to go slower than we’re normally go in order to build stamina. I’ve finally gotten to the point with this group where I can say “screw it, I’m running at my own leisurely pace.” See, the theory is that running slow helps to build the endurance. I’ve been doing that. As a result, over the past few runs, I’ve been absolutely shocked that my heart rate numbers are actually a good bit lower than what I’ve gotten used it. I’m actually averaging out now at the low 80%. To be honest, I’m sure that’s still high compared to where most people are, but it doesn’t matter. I know that this decrease in heart rate is a really good sign. It shows me a couple of things:

  1. My body is now starting to do this whole running thing a little bit more efficiently.
  2. I’m getting healthier: my heart doesn’t have to work as hard to keep the blood going as I move.

Both of these points are just awesome in my mind because really it’s taken such a long time to finally see these internal changes. I’ve got a ways to go, but I know I’m on the right track.

Another change I’ve noticed is that I am becoming more and more capable of handling all of the training. I still remember back to when I did my first 17K before I started training for the half. Man, that run was brutal. I still remember it: I wasn’t sure I’d be able to make it back to the store. Just this past Sunday though, I did a good 17.8K, and I finished it feeling all right. Sure, the killer fatigue set in at 16K, but even at the end, I didn’t actually feel like I’d been chewed up and spit out. I was able to actually go about my day afterwards without needing a 3 hour nap like before. To me, that’s also just amazing. I think I’m getting all of the important know how in terms of being able to go farther than I ever would have imagined. Nowadays I’m really fuelling up well before the run just so that I don’t bonk out too early. I’m pacing myself sensibly, knowing that even if I take a long time, the most important thing is just to complete the distance. I’m hydrating well enough to make it through. All of this is making my life a whole lot easier.

Today, we had to do 7 hill repeats. I found my stride and was able to do them without much fuss. By the end, I still had enough gas in the tank to do more if I needed to. I was hot and sweaty, but not feeling gross at all. I was really pleased with myself.

Even with all of these improvements, I’m not in a position to just rest on my achievements. Knowing that I’m making advances, I know that I just have to keep on working hard to keep improving.

I know it’s possible.
I know I’m strong.
I know I’m capable.
I will continue to give it my all:

…one…step…at…a…time…

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    Running log: 2008/08/06

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    Wed. August 6, 2008

    For this half-marathon training program, I’m currently in the strength building phase. Every Wednesday we go out to a big hill nearby and we do several repetitions. It’s about 400 metres long. We basically take it easy going down, then run back up. By the time we get to the top we’re supposed to be kind of spent. It’s tough, man. We started at 3 reps and each week we add one more. This week we’re at 6–we’ll eventually go to 9 reps.

    I was feeling all right for the first 3 reps. The fourth and fifth were a bit tougher. I had to slow down a bit as approached the crest of the hill because my legs started feeling kind of leaden. For the last one I started going uphill a little slow, but about halfway through I started pushing myself. I really wanted to finish strong. At the three-quarter mark I really tried to increase my output. I took some hard steps, but then all of a sudden…*snap*.

    Eh, actually I’m not sure “snap” is the right onomatopoeia. I mean, there wasn’t a strong sharp sound or anything. It just felt like I’d pulled a muscle. There was a sudden ache at my outside upper left thigh. I stopped running and said “ooh, that doesn’t feel right.” A couple of other runners around me asked “are you OK, Jason?” Yeah. I wasn’t feeling my greatest at that point. I finished off the hill, but slowly. When I got to the top I told one of the coaches about what happened and she suggested that it might be an IT band pain. She gave me a few stretches to do, but none of them were working. I mean, without a wall, I just couldn’t do any serious stretching.

    Anyway, I decided to do the 2.5K back to the store at an easy pace. The coach kept asking me if I was OK and suggested that I should walk if I wanted to walk. I just told her that if I wanted to walk, I’d walk. The easy pace was mildly uncomfortable, but manageable. A group leader suggested that with the increase in distance I’d be more prone to any aches and pains. That may be true. We did 15.5K on Sunday, and hill training is starting to become much longer. All of that could factor into it.

    When we got back to store, I did some of those stretches, and yup–they were right on target in terms of where I was hurting. Anyway, right now I’m feeling a bit better. I think I need a little bit of rest over the next few days, and I’m sure I’ll need to ice the area at some point. I should be good to go though for this Sunday’s run.

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