Last year I only ran more than 100 km a paltry 6 times in the year. This year (7 weeks in) I've run more than 100 km's 3 times already. This week I ran 102 km in under ten hours, plus a sixth day of exercise playing basketball (and that was hard work, 90 minutes 4 on 4 full court where I"m expected to carry the load in terms of running because the guys know I'm a runner). Plus another week where I hit 92 km in the week while also playing basketball one day and hockey another day.
Something about consistency, I guess.
This morning slept in, didn't go out running until 1 pm. Felt sluggish, so I put on my road flats and hit the roads. Just starting jogging easy. Wasn't killing it at all, when I looked at my watch and saw that I was at 14 km in around an hour I thought I might be able to pick it up a bit and beat my pr for half marathon time. I ended up not quite doing it, missing out by 4 minutes. But how does one track it on a training run? Do you subtract the 5 minutes spent standing at traffic lights? And do you adjust for lost speed for having to accelerate again at every time you stopped at an intersection? Even so, feels good after running 72 km's and playing basketball in the first 6 days of the week to go out and almost beat my best half marathon time not really pushing full throttle.
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Sick day thoughts.
Every year I gain awesomeness in physical capability I forget about physical limitations that don't seem to go away. For example; every spring since living in the interior (26 years) I get sick. Why? Something to do with the changes in the air and my asthma and then my body goes to shit. Well taking a trip down to a spring like place beckons the yearly gift.
And then every year I feel better a week or two later, go on to enjoy the summer, fall, and winter doing fun running and forget that spring is coming and neglect asthma drugs and it happens again.
Sitting here can't sleep, finished reading the book I'm on. Wasting time thinking about trivial things. Scrolling through the junk on my computer reflecting on the past.
This is a chart of my half marathon times from October 2006 to March 2012. It would be neat to have tracked my weight for every day of my life during that time, the high point on that chart would be just a few months before the slowest marathon. I weighed 60 pounds more than I did now. Seems as though my half marathon graph would match a weight graph and a happiness graph. As there is less happiness, there is more fat added, and the running takes longer. I've run the same half marathon in Kelowna in March every year since 2007, six years at the same race. My 100 mile race is March 29. The half marathon is April 7; only 8 days later. I don't think I'll be ready to run it.
When I look at the graph, I picture the space underneath it in terms of volume. Volume of my body in terms of fat, volume of my unhappiness, volume of mistakes made, volume of fear that is held too close. Not that running faster makes me happier, rather as I get happier and learn to live healthier and make better decisions my running times get faster as reflection of the other things in life being better.
Someone recently told me that it was inspiring that I maintained running through times of being not so fit, and being out of shape, keeping at it (paraphrasing). I disagree, I look at it in reverse a bit. Rather uninspiring that I allowed myself to wander down the path that took me to those places. I find it more inspiring when I look to the possible future, (maybe the two things are just different ways of saying the same thing) the space left under the graph to the right as it gets closer to the x axis. I still cling to some fears, and hopefully the amount of useless fear I cling to will disappear. I don't regret the mistakes I made that took me to the unhappy places I've been, as there was truly happy moments within those years. And I still have plenty of old habits that I'm still working my way out of.
Looking at the graph the moments of mental paradigm shifts are quite obvious. Sudden dip or increase in time seems to correlate with life choices that indicate change of thought patterns. Half marathon time goes up after I get back together with an old girlfriend whom I shared many years of previous mistakes with. Break up with her and end 8 years of stupidity and the half marathon time instantly drops. Then plateaus. Stop doing drugs and the time drops again and plateaus, hit my first AA meeting and the time drops again. The thing is there is so much more life paradigm shifts I feel I need to make. I'm very much probably currently plateauing. Who knows; but that is what I look forward to. Knowing that there is more of an untold story. Running results/growth seem to reflect self growth. And knowing that excites me for the future, and knowing that even though I feel like I'm on a plateau right now, not making any major changes, but just consistently maintaining the better version than the past version. But paradigms shifts will come, and the unknown excites, because I have much room to grow, and exciting thought from that is as much room as I have to grow myself, then I''m just getting started in terms of improving in running. The journey has just begun? I hope.
Also interesting are pictures.
Oct 2006.
Feb 2008.
Mar 2008
Oct 2008
Mar 2009
Oct 2009
Mar 2010
Oct 2010
Mar 2011
Mar 2012
And just for fun here are some comparative pictures.
Finish line photo from 10 km road race. Feb 2009 and Feb 2011. 57 minutes and 43 minutes.
Finish line photo from 5 km road race. Mar 2009 and Mar 2011. 27 minutes and 20 minutes.
If a picture says a thousand words...?
Running long distances is not something I see as a physical challenge, it's a mental challenge, and my success / failure at races is a reflection of other things. The reward in the finish line isn't necessarily all the physicality needed to get there, but the mental things that had to change to get there.
And then every year I feel better a week or two later, go on to enjoy the summer, fall, and winter doing fun running and forget that spring is coming and neglect asthma drugs and it happens again.
Sitting here can't sleep, finished reading the book I'm on. Wasting time thinking about trivial things. Scrolling through the junk on my computer reflecting on the past.
This is a chart of my half marathon times from October 2006 to March 2012. It would be neat to have tracked my weight for every day of my life during that time, the high point on that chart would be just a few months before the slowest marathon. I weighed 60 pounds more than I did now. Seems as though my half marathon graph would match a weight graph and a happiness graph. As there is less happiness, there is more fat added, and the running takes longer. I've run the same half marathon in Kelowna in March every year since 2007, six years at the same race. My 100 mile race is March 29. The half marathon is April 7; only 8 days later. I don't think I'll be ready to run it.
When I look at the graph, I picture the space underneath it in terms of volume. Volume of my body in terms of fat, volume of my unhappiness, volume of mistakes made, volume of fear that is held too close. Not that running faster makes me happier, rather as I get happier and learn to live healthier and make better decisions my running times get faster as reflection of the other things in life being better.
Someone recently told me that it was inspiring that I maintained running through times of being not so fit, and being out of shape, keeping at it (paraphrasing). I disagree, I look at it in reverse a bit. Rather uninspiring that I allowed myself to wander down the path that took me to those places. I find it more inspiring when I look to the possible future, (maybe the two things are just different ways of saying the same thing) the space left under the graph to the right as it gets closer to the x axis. I still cling to some fears, and hopefully the amount of useless fear I cling to will disappear. I don't regret the mistakes I made that took me to the unhappy places I've been, as there was truly happy moments within those years. And I still have plenty of old habits that I'm still working my way out of.
Looking at the graph the moments of mental paradigm shifts are quite obvious. Sudden dip or increase in time seems to correlate with life choices that indicate change of thought patterns. Half marathon time goes up after I get back together with an old girlfriend whom I shared many years of previous mistakes with. Break up with her and end 8 years of stupidity and the half marathon time instantly drops. Then plateaus. Stop doing drugs and the time drops again and plateaus, hit my first AA meeting and the time drops again. The thing is there is so much more life paradigm shifts I feel I need to make. I'm very much probably currently plateauing. Who knows; but that is what I look forward to. Knowing that there is more of an untold story. Running results/growth seem to reflect self growth. And knowing that excites me for the future, and knowing that even though I feel like I'm on a plateau right now, not making any major changes, but just consistently maintaining the better version than the past version. But paradigms shifts will come, and the unknown excites, because I have much room to grow, and exciting thought from that is as much room as I have to grow myself, then I''m just getting started in terms of improving in running. The journey has just begun? I hope.
Also interesting are pictures.
Oct 2006.
And just for fun here are some comparative pictures.
Running long distances is not something I see as a physical challenge, it's a mental challenge, and my success / failure at races is a reflection of other things. The reward in the finish line isn't necessarily all the physicality needed to get there, but the mental things that had to change to get there.
Monday, February 4, 2013
Quotes from plato; brief connection to running.
Some quote from "the republic"
- "then he must take the longer way around, and must work as hard at his intellectual training as at his physical; otherwise, as we've just said, he will never finally reach the highest form of knowledge, which should be peculiarly his own"
- "and you know of course that most ordinary people think that pleasure is the good, while the more sophisticated think it is knowledge"
- "the good, then, is the end of all endeavour, the object on which every heart is set, whose existence it divines, though it finds it difficult to grasp just what it isl and because it can't handle it with the same assurance as other things it misses any value those other things have"
- "tell about the child and you can owe us your account of the parent"
- "the sun is not sight itself, it is the cause of sight, and us seen by the sight it causes"
- "when the mind's eye is fixed on on objects illuminated by truth and reality, it understand and knows them, and its possession of intelligence is evident; but when it is fixed on the twilight world of change and decay, it can only form opinions, its vision is confused and its opinions shifting, and it seems to lack intelligence"
- "what gives the objects of knowledge their truth and the knower's mind the power of knowing is the for of the good. it is the cause of knowledge and truth"
- "just as it was right to think of light ad sight as being like the sun, it is right to think of knowledge and truth as being like the good, but still wrong to think of them as being 'the good', whose position must be ranked higher still"
- "the good therefore may be said to be the source not only of intelligibility of the objects knowledge, but also of their bing and reality; yet it is not itself that reality, but is beyond it, and superior to it in dignity and power"
- "there are four states of mind; the top being intelligence, the second reason, the third belief, and the fourth illusion. And you may arrange them in a scale, and assume they have degrees of clarity corresponding to the degree of truth possessed by their subject matter"
- "if he went back to sit in his old seat in the cave, his eyes would be blinded by darkness, because he had come in suddenly out of the sunlight"
- "the realm revealed by sight corresponds to the prison, and the light of the fire in the prison to the power of the sun"
The simile of the sun states that the light of the sun gives light to our world in the same way that 'the good' gives light to our knowledge. (very rather simplistic paraphrasing). Plato often speaks about a necessity to maintain a balance of body, mind, and soul. I feel like doing this leads you closer to an understanding of the good. When you run a race, it feels like the crux upon which you are able to stand which makes understanding the power of the good more possible. I like that feeling, of being such that I have an understanding of 'the good' no matter how fleeting that moment may be.
- "then he must take the longer way around, and must work as hard at his intellectual training as at his physical; otherwise, as we've just said, he will never finally reach the highest form of knowledge, which should be peculiarly his own"
- "and you know of course that most ordinary people think that pleasure is the good, while the more sophisticated think it is knowledge"
- "the good, then, is the end of all endeavour, the object on which every heart is set, whose existence it divines, though it finds it difficult to grasp just what it isl and because it can't handle it with the same assurance as other things it misses any value those other things have"
- "tell about the child and you can owe us your account of the parent"
- "the sun is not sight itself, it is the cause of sight, and us seen by the sight it causes"
- "when the mind's eye is fixed on on objects illuminated by truth and reality, it understand and knows them, and its possession of intelligence is evident; but when it is fixed on the twilight world of change and decay, it can only form opinions, its vision is confused and its opinions shifting, and it seems to lack intelligence"
- "what gives the objects of knowledge their truth and the knower's mind the power of knowing is the for of the good. it is the cause of knowledge and truth"
- "just as it was right to think of light ad sight as being like the sun, it is right to think of knowledge and truth as being like the good, but still wrong to think of them as being 'the good', whose position must be ranked higher still"
- "the good therefore may be said to be the source not only of intelligibility of the objects knowledge, but also of their bing and reality; yet it is not itself that reality, but is beyond it, and superior to it in dignity and power"
- "there are four states of mind; the top being intelligence, the second reason, the third belief, and the fourth illusion. And you may arrange them in a scale, and assume they have degrees of clarity corresponding to the degree of truth possessed by their subject matter"
- "if he went back to sit in his old seat in the cave, his eyes would be blinded by darkness, because he had come in suddenly out of the sunlight"
- "the realm revealed by sight corresponds to the prison, and the light of the fire in the prison to the power of the sun"
The simile of the sun states that the light of the sun gives light to our world in the same way that 'the good' gives light to our knowledge. (very rather simplistic paraphrasing). Plato often speaks about a necessity to maintain a balance of body, mind, and soul. I feel like doing this leads you closer to an understanding of the good. When you run a race, it feels like the crux upon which you are able to stand which makes understanding the power of the good more possible. I like that feeling, of being such that I have an understanding of 'the good' no matter how fleeting that moment may be.
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Scattered race thoughts; Orcas
Saturday Feb 2nd: Orcas Island 50 km trail race. Moran State Park, orcas Island, Wa.
The cold hard facts can be seen on strava
Orcas Strava data
I didn't originally plan to do this race, but a runner wasn't planned on going, and the opportunity came up to have the entry transferred, and going on the trip with someone else made for a cheap tune up race. As much as I may have talked myself up with the possibility of pushing hard during the race, it was always going to be a test of preparation and gauge of current fitness for the upcoming badger mountain race. I ran 100 km the week prior to the race, 3 temp runs and a 43 km and 25 km run on the weekend. And then race week I ran Monday through Wednesday, definitely was not tapered, and purposely came in tired. I wanted to try and mimic what I might feel like part way through a much longer race.
The race was fantastic, the scenery was beautiful, the trip was wonderful. On orcas island at the top many spots we could see Mt baker on the mainland, so nice. During the first climb, even though I was feeling good and maintaining a steady pace, I could feel that I was very much coming in tired from not tapering. So I settled back into an easy pace and just went out for a nice comfortable day. It was so hard to not push. There were so many uphills, and so steep, so naturally it left equally many awesome downhills to tear up.... which I didnt tear up at all. I held back, looking to finish the race with a feeling that I could comfortably go back and run a similar race again, and I feel like I did that. But it was sooooooo hard to not chase other runners on the downhills, I love tearing the shit out of the downhills, but I kept it at a casual jog instead.
It was so very hot. Coming from seemingly ever present winter, and I think just two weeks ago I ran in -20 temps for most of the week, it felt like spring. I totally overdressed. I felt like I was overheating with a long sleeve base layer and a shirt over top. the second last aid station I tossed the shirt sleeve, and the last aid station (atop Mt constitution with the most amazingest view) I dropped the base layer, leaving me shirtless for the last 5 miles descent to the finish, it felt so great.
Onto some random thoughts that I wrote down after my post race shower
- avg pace: 7:06 min/km
- elev gain 8400 ft for 50 km (160.8 feet gain / km)
- badger mountain elev gain approx (112.5 feet gain / km)
- perhaps try and maintain for badger average pace of 7:30 - 8:00 min /km
- start out slower
- eat more solids
- more salt, regular gatorade. fuck whatever the race has, bring gatorade mixed the way I want it
- pb/j sandwich before race stayed in stomach good, do it again
- re-affirmed today that not tapering is not helpful (BAD) for a race (shock)
- I forgot that I typically get bothered by asthma issues during spring time, so GET ASTHMA MEDICATION before the badger race
- music o.k. for 2nd half of race, but maybe only use it if absolutely in dumps, felt good to not have it
- didn't look at watch once during race, went by feel whole way, I liked that, do it again
That is all I wrote down before we went on to other things. Maybe I will think of more, but I feel good about the race, I got what I was looking for. Need to tweek a few things for badger, but I'm happy with how my training is going towards my goal race. Also, I need to get new running shorts. The ones I wear hold sweat and get wet and cold.
Quote of the day from the race as shouted from some random dude on the side of the road near the end of the first major climb.
"Today is the perfect day for this, tomorrow definitely would be a worse day for it"
The cold hard facts can be seen on strava
Orcas Strava data
I didn't originally plan to do this race, but a runner wasn't planned on going, and the opportunity came up to have the entry transferred, and going on the trip with someone else made for a cheap tune up race. As much as I may have talked myself up with the possibility of pushing hard during the race, it was always going to be a test of preparation and gauge of current fitness for the upcoming badger mountain race. I ran 100 km the week prior to the race, 3 temp runs and a 43 km and 25 km run on the weekend. And then race week I ran Monday through Wednesday, definitely was not tapered, and purposely came in tired. I wanted to try and mimic what I might feel like part way through a much longer race.
The race was fantastic, the scenery was beautiful, the trip was wonderful. On orcas island at the top many spots we could see Mt baker on the mainland, so nice. During the first climb, even though I was feeling good and maintaining a steady pace, I could feel that I was very much coming in tired from not tapering. So I settled back into an easy pace and just went out for a nice comfortable day. It was so hard to not push. There were so many uphills, and so steep, so naturally it left equally many awesome downhills to tear up.... which I didnt tear up at all. I held back, looking to finish the race with a feeling that I could comfortably go back and run a similar race again, and I feel like I did that. But it was sooooooo hard to not chase other runners on the downhills, I love tearing the shit out of the downhills, but I kept it at a casual jog instead.
It was so very hot. Coming from seemingly ever present winter, and I think just two weeks ago I ran in -20 temps for most of the week, it felt like spring. I totally overdressed. I felt like I was overheating with a long sleeve base layer and a shirt over top. the second last aid station I tossed the shirt sleeve, and the last aid station (atop Mt constitution with the most amazingest view) I dropped the base layer, leaving me shirtless for the last 5 miles descent to the finish, it felt so great.
Onto some random thoughts that I wrote down after my post race shower
- avg pace: 7:06 min/km
- elev gain 8400 ft for 50 km (160.8 feet gain / km)
- badger mountain elev gain approx (112.5 feet gain / km)
- perhaps try and maintain for badger average pace of 7:30 - 8:00 min /km
- start out slower
- eat more solids
- more salt, regular gatorade. fuck whatever the race has, bring gatorade mixed the way I want it
- pb/j sandwich before race stayed in stomach good, do it again
- re-affirmed today that not tapering is not helpful (BAD) for a race (shock)
- I forgot that I typically get bothered by asthma issues during spring time, so GET ASTHMA MEDICATION before the badger race
- music o.k. for 2nd half of race, but maybe only use it if absolutely in dumps, felt good to not have it
- didn't look at watch once during race, went by feel whole way, I liked that, do it again
That is all I wrote down before we went on to other things. Maybe I will think of more, but I feel good about the race, I got what I was looking for. Need to tweek a few things for badger, but I'm happy with how my training is going towards my goal race. Also, I need to get new running shorts. The ones I wear hold sweat and get wet and cold.
Quote of the day from the race as shouted from some random dude on the side of the road near the end of the first major climb.
"Today is the perfect day for this, tomorrow definitely would be a worse day for it"
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Finding more time in the day.
I feel like the amount of time I spend training doesn't leave me enough time to do other things. Maybe it's the whole new job feeling still hanging around. So I thought how can I find more time in my day?
Today I boxed up my xbox 360 and shoved it under my bed. That should clear up a few extra hours in my day.
January I ran over 400 km (longest distance in a month ever), over 45 hrs running (most time on feet running in a month ever), and over 12 km elevation gain (40,618 feet). With the sports I've played this was my second most exercise in a month.
I feel as though I'm slowly getting back into shape, building up nicely. For the first time, I feel like I'm being truly consistent. Short term I think this bodes well for the 100 miler on the horizon, and long term I think if I keep cycling through with volume like this it should do well for continual growth.
Have you seen the new tim hortons commercial? they're selling a grilled cheese panini sandwich for $3.99!!! Holy crap. Second sign of the apocalypse coming upon us. And the best part is that people are going to buy this. Stupid Canadians.
Today I boxed up my xbox 360 and shoved it under my bed. That should clear up a few extra hours in my day.
January I ran over 400 km (longest distance in a month ever), over 45 hrs running (most time on feet running in a month ever), and over 12 km elevation gain (40,618 feet). With the sports I've played this was my second most exercise in a month.
I feel as though I'm slowly getting back into shape, building up nicely. For the first time, I feel like I'm being truly consistent. Short term I think this bodes well for the 100 miler on the horizon, and long term I think if I keep cycling through with volume like this it should do well for continual growth.
Have you seen the new tim hortons commercial? they're selling a grilled cheese panini sandwich for $3.99!!! Holy crap. Second sign of the apocalypse coming upon us. And the best part is that people are going to buy this. Stupid Canadians.
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Committing
quote
""Motivation is temporary. Achievement results from sacrifice & grinding out hard work when you would rather do something else.""
I read this quote on a blog, don't know who wrote it, but it reminds me of the sort of thing lots of folks say. The comments you see out there on facebook memes trying to inspire you and all that. And it makes me think several thoughts.
- Why are you doing the training if you would rather be doing something else?
- The quote and the way people say similar things seems to imply that doing that which is needed to be done to be successful in a super kick ass physical undertaking is something that isn't to be enjoyed, but it's enjoyment is secondary to the enjoyment of the training process.
- I kinda really like training, and feel I like it even more every day. Yes, I feel like I can do more, and I am still adjusting to other things in life to figure out how to maximise my time, to get me more time to be able to train. The little things of adjusting to new work, like actually having to cook dinner and lunch becuase I don't work at a restaurant anymore, cuts into my traiining time. Slowing cutting down the amount of time I play the video games; an old habit I'm trying to kick. Why I can't just put it in the box and/or just get rid of it I don't know. But every month I play it less. So thats good.
- So far this month I"m at 295 km. If I run the schedule I"m planning I should break 400 for January, that will be my most distance in a month ever, and will probably end up getting in my most elevation gain for a month ever too. I'm running a slower average pace this january than last january, that's a little on purpose because I'm trying to run more slow and steady with the 100 mile race in mind. But also, kamloops has had more snowfall than usual (or so I heard on the radio one morning), and last year in january I was running a lot more on roads, and at the gym at school compared to this year mostly all trails, rough trails. I want to be doing more, I'm trying to do more. But I'm also trying to be cautious in my increasing of the volume. Sometimes knowing that I am doing more than before is a nice reminder that I am getting stronger, and not to over do it and out run my current overall capabilities, but at the same time.... push push push!
- Commitment: What level of commitment is required to achieve the goals one puts in front of them? To directly speak on the question of sacrifices and the quote I brought up at the beginning. The goal of running a 100 mile trail race, I feel that's kind of a big deal. The fact that I've attempted it twice last year and failed both times reminds of this. It takes a whole lot of work to get yourself ready for this. And a lot of time. A plan was set in place, and this plan doesn't really leave much other time. Sometimes other things come up that you would like to do. For example, ice hockey. Super fun, I love it, I grew up playing it. Just sitting taping up the stick getting ready, the smell of the rink and the dressing rooms, the sight of the zamboni laying down a fresh sheet of ice brings up wonderful feelings, almost romantic nostalgia. Getting together with the guys, getting on the ice, just givin er hard, tearing it up the ice, breakaways, goals, deking out the goalie and scoring. So fun. But the time required to do it?! How do you fit it into your planned week? Last week I wanted to get in about 13-14 hours running. But with hockey on friday and basketball on monday that took 3 hours of exercise; do you run less? Do you purposely change your runs. Sometimes you have to change your runs because running on saturday morning after a hard game of hockey isn't quite as easy as it should be. So what? I run less because I play hockey, but I know that I to be successful in my long term major goal I shouldn't be doing other things. Hockey: risk of injury, cuts into running time, reduced rest days, altered schedule not able to get in the type/variety of runs per week. So what? Stop activities that aren't to do with running because it impacts the overall goal. I think so. I enjoy the shit out of the running anyway, I have major goals.
- Having said all this. My plan of running easier in the summer is still going to be in full effect. Yes I super enjoy the training, and I will still be training per say in the summer. But there will be more adventure put into the run, weekends will be spent traveling - sleeping in the van to run in the mountains in various provincial parks. And it will be good.
""Motivation is temporary. Achievement results from sacrifice & grinding out hard work when you would rather do something else.""
I read this quote on a blog, don't know who wrote it, but it reminds me of the sort of thing lots of folks say. The comments you see out there on facebook memes trying to inspire you and all that. And it makes me think several thoughts.
- Why are you doing the training if you would rather be doing something else?
- The quote and the way people say similar things seems to imply that doing that which is needed to be done to be successful in a super kick ass physical undertaking is something that isn't to be enjoyed, but it's enjoyment is secondary to the enjoyment of the training process.
- I kinda really like training, and feel I like it even more every day. Yes, I feel like I can do more, and I am still adjusting to other things in life to figure out how to maximise my time, to get me more time to be able to train. The little things of adjusting to new work, like actually having to cook dinner and lunch becuase I don't work at a restaurant anymore, cuts into my traiining time. Slowing cutting down the amount of time I play the video games; an old habit I'm trying to kick. Why I can't just put it in the box and/or just get rid of it I don't know. But every month I play it less. So thats good.
- So far this month I"m at 295 km. If I run the schedule I"m planning I should break 400 for January, that will be my most distance in a month ever, and will probably end up getting in my most elevation gain for a month ever too. I'm running a slower average pace this january than last january, that's a little on purpose because I'm trying to run more slow and steady with the 100 mile race in mind. But also, kamloops has had more snowfall than usual (or so I heard on the radio one morning), and last year in january I was running a lot more on roads, and at the gym at school compared to this year mostly all trails, rough trails. I want to be doing more, I'm trying to do more. But I'm also trying to be cautious in my increasing of the volume. Sometimes knowing that I am doing more than before is a nice reminder that I am getting stronger, and not to over do it and out run my current overall capabilities, but at the same time.... push push push!
- Commitment: What level of commitment is required to achieve the goals one puts in front of them? To directly speak on the question of sacrifices and the quote I brought up at the beginning. The goal of running a 100 mile trail race, I feel that's kind of a big deal. The fact that I've attempted it twice last year and failed both times reminds of this. It takes a whole lot of work to get yourself ready for this. And a lot of time. A plan was set in place, and this plan doesn't really leave much other time. Sometimes other things come up that you would like to do. For example, ice hockey. Super fun, I love it, I grew up playing it. Just sitting taping up the stick getting ready, the smell of the rink and the dressing rooms, the sight of the zamboni laying down a fresh sheet of ice brings up wonderful feelings, almost romantic nostalgia. Getting together with the guys, getting on the ice, just givin er hard, tearing it up the ice, breakaways, goals, deking out the goalie and scoring. So fun. But the time required to do it?! How do you fit it into your planned week? Last week I wanted to get in about 13-14 hours running. But with hockey on friday and basketball on monday that took 3 hours of exercise; do you run less? Do you purposely change your runs. Sometimes you have to change your runs because running on saturday morning after a hard game of hockey isn't quite as easy as it should be. So what? I run less because I play hockey, but I know that I to be successful in my long term major goal I shouldn't be doing other things. Hockey: risk of injury, cuts into running time, reduced rest days, altered schedule not able to get in the type/variety of runs per week. So what? Stop activities that aren't to do with running because it impacts the overall goal. I think so. I enjoy the shit out of the running anyway, I have major goals.
- Having said all this. My plan of running easier in the summer is still going to be in full effect. Yes I super enjoy the training, and I will still be training per say in the summer. But there will be more adventure put into the run, weekends will be spent traveling - sleeping in the van to run in the mountains in various provincial parks. And it will be good.
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Overthinking
I read an article by a runner once that seemed to suggest during a long race to chronicle your 'feelings' at set times throughout the race to track your progress and use that for training purposes later. It seemed like a decent idea, so I was thinking about that and thought what if you took it further, and made it almost a facebook-like treatment of your training related feelings. What if every hour, every day for months say you wrote down your feelings about running, even if its just one word.
Would you be able to learn something useful about how you're feeling during your training? Or would you instead be participating in a self biased experiment and would just become how you think you want to feel? Or even worse would you just end up overthinking everything?
Would you be able to learn something useful about how you're feeling during your training? Or would you instead be participating in a self biased experiment and would just become how you think you want to feel? Or even worse would you just end up overthinking everything?
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Friday long runs
My trial of running friday long runs after work seems like a big failure. Maybe if I want to get in extra miles just go for an easy 1-2 hour run friday after work and then run on the weekend a nice double.
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Whatev?
The last two weeks I've run right around 13 hours each week. These are the longest training weeks I've ever done in terms of time on my feet running. Also, this week in my runs I amassed 3,578 metre elev gain (11,739 feet). This is the most elevation gain in a training week ever for me. Yeah I feel tired by the end of the week, and definitely won't have trouble getting to sleep, but I feel like by tuesday last week I felt recovered to go again, as though I've worked into the times appropriately.
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Night time running / december thoughts
This week I only ran four days what with that whole christmas thing. Having to travel further for christmas visiting made me feel much less inclined to spend time running instead of visiting. But with four runs, I still managed to get 13 hours of running in. Thursday I had a nice easy run after work, nice clear sky with an almost full moon shining off the snow that fell earlier in the day; it left me wanting to run again at night and the weather forecast had predicted similar weather for friday night. So friday after work, and a quick dinner, I headed out for a long run. I ran 4.5 hours starting at 6:30 pm. Except the weather was not as I'd hoped. 4.5 hours of heavy wet snow fall, with totally not clear skies. And I had run to a park that was close to the city, so it wasn't exactly the feeling of wilderness at night I had envisioned. The heavy light from the truck scales, other highway lights, oil tanker flood lights, pulp mill flood lights, and lights from the prison were constabtly present. It actually felt brighter running at night with all the lights, than it does running in the day, a weird red haze hung over the night. There was some trails in the park that were nicely packed, so of course I strayed from those rather quickly and spent the bulk of the run breaking fresh tracks in about a foot of snow most of the way, and hitting some steep climbs. By halfway through the run, I was beat, such a tough run. So glad I did it, I think I'll make friday night after work exhausted long runs a little more of a habit; except maybe I'll be more selective of my scenery and not run in my least favourite park just because of wanting to stick to familiar trails.
Saturday, I ran an easy two hours. And then sunday ran 5.25 hours in Kal park. this time in kal park we explored more of the high rim trail. It was super fun, yeah there was heavy snow, but the trail as enough tree cover in most spots that it was manageable. I felt real tough around hour four, think the speed of our descent of the downhills and banging out 4:30 min km's in the snow prob led to that, but I'm happy that after 13 hours in 4 days, I feel good at the end of it.
In december I ran the second most hours in a month for the year, and the most elevation gain per month in the year. And I took a whole week off. I feel like I'm doing good sticking to my training plan. If I end up registering for the planned race in march, I think I'm doing good to set myself up for success there.
Saturday, I ran an easy two hours. And then sunday ran 5.25 hours in Kal park. this time in kal park we explored more of the high rim trail. It was super fun, yeah there was heavy snow, but the trail as enough tree cover in most spots that it was manageable. I felt real tough around hour four, think the speed of our descent of the downhills and banging out 4:30 min km's in the snow prob led to that, but I'm happy that after 13 hours in 4 days, I feel good at the end of it.
| Month | Run Km | Run hrs | elevgain (km) |
| Jan | 322.00 | 32.84 | 9.42 |
| Feb | 342.74 | 35.68 | 7.23 |
| Mar | 261.67 | 29.25 | 6.73 |
| Apr | 394.06 | 43.35 | 8.58 |
| May | 240.14 | 30.38 | 6.92 |
| Jun | 326.94 | 39.50 | 11.28 |
| Jul | 310.25 | 42.63 | 10.82 |
| Aug | 174.20 | 35.60 | 7.45 |
| Sep | 140.09 | 15.50 | 4.07 |
| Oct | 192.94 | 19.75 | 6.07 |
| Nov | 285.29 | 31.37 | 8.46 |
| Dec | 336.65 | 42.88 | 11.42 |
In december I ran the second most hours in a month for the year, and the most elevation gain per month in the year. And I took a whole week off. I feel like I'm doing good sticking to my training plan. If I end up registering for the planned race in march, I think I'm doing good to set myself up for success there.
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Dec 18: thoughts on running and the soul
Last week I only ran four times, was supposed to run 5 (of course I was, that's the plan every week) but helping out a friend one day and an evening of wings, beer, and strippers cut me down a bit.
I still managed to get in just under 12 hours of 'running' 2,608 metres elev gain. On saturday I joined a friend for a run in Kal Park in Vernon. There was lots of snow, thick stuff, my ice grips kept falling off so it was tough. About three hours into the run I felt a little rough, but it passed. We made it to the High Rim trail head, which is nice because running that trail end to end is a dream run for next year to fit in. We finished our run at about 48 km, so just because we did a couple km of roads as well to hit 50 on the day. We ended up running 50 km in super tough conditions in just under 6 hours. This was a tougher run than the 54 km ultra I did in September, which I ran injured. I had some rough moments in the middle, but it's super good to feel like I"m finally getting to feeling recovered from my Fat Dog issues. Only took four months to get there, feels good to feel like I"m getting there, and only serves to make me want to push harder to finish a 100 mile race.
I was also thinking, I might stop racing with a watch/gps or anything like that. I'm fully confident that I will never be in trouble with finishing times as long as I continue to train consistently. If the goal of the race is to run by the feel of my heart and to run so hard I need to dig into my soul to go as hard as I feel I'm capable, I don't feel those are metrics that a watch can help me with.... and yet I shall continue to train with a gps and record my distance/elev gain/heart rate/time.
Plato discusses in "the republic' his idea of a tripartite soul. He states that the three parts are the appetitive, rational, and spirited.
Appetitive: "The appetitive aspect of soul is the one that is responsible for the base desires within people. It is responsible for the simple cravings needed to stay alive, such as thirst and hunger, and also for unnecessary cravings such as sexual excess or the desire to over-consume at meal time. The desires for necessary things (such as food and drink) should be restricted by the other parts of the soul, while unlawful desires should be restricted completely by the other aspects of soul"
Rational: "he rational soul (mind or intellect) is the thinking portion within each of us (Logiston, from Logos), which discerns what is real and not merely apparent, judges what is true and what is false, and wisely makes the rational decisions in accordance with which human life is most properly lived."
Spirited: "The spirited, or thumetic, soul (thymos) is the source of the desires that love honor and victory. In the just soul, spirit acts as the enforcer of the rational soul, ensuring that the dictates of reason are followed. Emotions such as anger and indignation are the result of the frustration of the spirit."
Would a runner be better served in their 100 miler training program if the program also asks them to read material such that they learn about their soul? At some point during your 100 mile run you will surely be faced with soul searching moments; would reading about ideas of the soul help you be ready for this?
I still managed to get in just under 12 hours of 'running' 2,608 metres elev gain. On saturday I joined a friend for a run in Kal Park in Vernon. There was lots of snow, thick stuff, my ice grips kept falling off so it was tough. About three hours into the run I felt a little rough, but it passed. We made it to the High Rim trail head, which is nice because running that trail end to end is a dream run for next year to fit in. We finished our run at about 48 km, so just because we did a couple km of roads as well to hit 50 on the day. We ended up running 50 km in super tough conditions in just under 6 hours. This was a tougher run than the 54 km ultra I did in September, which I ran injured. I had some rough moments in the middle, but it's super good to feel like I"m finally getting to feeling recovered from my Fat Dog issues. Only took four months to get there, feels good to feel like I"m getting there, and only serves to make me want to push harder to finish a 100 mile race.
I was also thinking, I might stop racing with a watch/gps or anything like that. I'm fully confident that I will never be in trouble with finishing times as long as I continue to train consistently. If the goal of the race is to run by the feel of my heart and to run so hard I need to dig into my soul to go as hard as I feel I'm capable, I don't feel those are metrics that a watch can help me with.... and yet I shall continue to train with a gps and record my distance/elev gain/heart rate/time.
Plato discusses in "the republic' his idea of a tripartite soul. He states that the three parts are the appetitive, rational, and spirited.
Appetitive: "The appetitive aspect of soul is the one that is responsible for the base desires within people. It is responsible for the simple cravings needed to stay alive, such as thirst and hunger, and also for unnecessary cravings such as sexual excess or the desire to over-consume at meal time. The desires for necessary things (such as food and drink) should be restricted by the other parts of the soul, while unlawful desires should be restricted completely by the other aspects of soul"
Rational: "he rational soul (mind or intellect) is the thinking portion within each of us (Logiston, from Logos), which discerns what is real and not merely apparent, judges what is true and what is false, and wisely makes the rational decisions in accordance with which human life is most properly lived."
Spirited: "The spirited, or thumetic, soul (thymos) is the source of the desires that love honor and victory. In the just soul, spirit acts as the enforcer of the rational soul, ensuring that the dictates of reason are followed. Emotions such as anger and indignation are the result of the frustration of the spirit."
Would a runner be better served in their 100 miler training program if the program also asks them to read material such that they learn about their soul? At some point during your 100 mile run you will surely be faced with soul searching moments; would reading about ideas of the soul help you be ready for this?
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Paradigm shifting
When I started running back in 2006 it was nothing more than a way to distract myself between doing schoolwork or classes at university. At some point I decided to track the distance of my runs. The reasons for doing so have varied from motivating myself, to tracking my progress, to just simply recording my data knowing that I would be able to use it some time later in a retro analysis of my training, to keeping myself on track with my training plan.
In 2006 I logged a total of 603 km's. I was so excited to surpass 500 kilometres, and it felt so important that I wanted to brag about it. 2007 and 2008 saw me not even hit 500 kilometres, but I hit 500 again in 2009 and that felt pretty cool and I thought I was sooooooo awesome. In 2010 I committed to running the death race and for the year I ran over 2000 kilometres, well holy crap I thought I was so cool, all worrying about the numbers and all that. 2011 was the same total distance as the year before, but felt much different as there was other more important things happening, but still I focused on the numbers. Right now for the year I've run 3149 km (1957 miles) (I know this because I have a super fun spreadsheet that automatically adds each days numbers up). I find it so amusing how little I want to celebrate reaching this milestone of 2000 miles. Previously I would have been wanting to tell anyone I could that I've done this many miles in the year. But somewhere along the line during the year, as I've worked to make running 4-6 times a week a strong habit, the numbers lost meaning. I have a plan laid out on my tracking spreadsheet, but it's not in distance, it's in minutes. Just getting out there, good enough, whatever you do is whatever you do. And whatever happens during those runs is whatever happens.
Also... here's a silly chart, because I like charts.
In 2006 I logged a total of 603 km's. I was so excited to surpass 500 kilometres, and it felt so important that I wanted to brag about it. 2007 and 2008 saw me not even hit 500 kilometres, but I hit 500 again in 2009 and that felt pretty cool and I thought I was sooooooo awesome. In 2010 I committed to running the death race and for the year I ran over 2000 kilometres, well holy crap I thought I was so cool, all worrying about the numbers and all that. 2011 was the same total distance as the year before, but felt much different as there was other more important things happening, but still I focused on the numbers. Right now for the year I've run 3149 km (1957 miles) (I know this because I have a super fun spreadsheet that automatically adds each days numbers up). I find it so amusing how little I want to celebrate reaching this milestone of 2000 miles. Previously I would have been wanting to tell anyone I could that I've done this many miles in the year. But somewhere along the line during the year, as I've worked to make running 4-6 times a week a strong habit, the numbers lost meaning. I have a plan laid out on my tracking spreadsheet, but it's not in distance, it's in minutes. Just getting out there, good enough, whatever you do is whatever you do. And whatever happens during those runs is whatever happens.
Also... here's a silly chart, because I like charts.
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Weeks ending Dec 9
Nov 26 - Dec 9
Nov 26 - Dec 2
Ran 68.2 km in 8 hrs 26 minutes with 2600 metre elev gain. Only ran four days, felt sick one day so I didn't run that day. My long run was nice exploring tonnes of local areas. And sunday a friend showed me more trails and more shortcuts to connect other trails and such. Ran into a cattle farmer as we were running on his property, chatted with him, and he was okay about us running there, so that was cool. Lesson learned; barbwire fences are meant to be climbed over and no trespassing signs are just there to cover legalities.
^^^^ That was my run on the Saturday. Shaky camerawork and all.
Long run was four hours.
Dec 3 - Dec 9
Ran 81.8 km in 9 hrs 25 minutes with 2913 metre elev gain. Ran five days, monday was a rest day, tuesday I ran 7 km with 90 minutes of basketball sandwiched in the middle, my rest day on friday was actually 90 minutes of ice hockey late at night which made my 5.25 hour run sunday a little harder. Saturday I couldn't find the park I was looking for, drove 30 km on some snow covered dirt road. Ended up just parking at the highway and ran 18 km up a snow covered forestry road to a beautiful summit. Total exercise time was 12.5 hours. Tired.
Nov 26 - Dec 2
Ran 68.2 km in 8 hrs 26 minutes with 2600 metre elev gain. Only ran four days, felt sick one day so I didn't run that day. My long run was nice exploring tonnes of local areas. And sunday a friend showed me more trails and more shortcuts to connect other trails and such. Ran into a cattle farmer as we were running on his property, chatted with him, and he was okay about us running there, so that was cool. Lesson learned; barbwire fences are meant to be climbed over and no trespassing signs are just there to cover legalities.
^^^^ That was my run on the Saturday. Shaky camerawork and all.
Long run was four hours.
Dec 3 - Dec 9
Ran 81.8 km in 9 hrs 25 minutes with 2913 metre elev gain. Ran five days, monday was a rest day, tuesday I ran 7 km with 90 minutes of basketball sandwiched in the middle, my rest day on friday was actually 90 minutes of ice hockey late at night which made my 5.25 hour run sunday a little harder. Saturday I couldn't find the park I was looking for, drove 30 km on some snow covered dirt road. Ended up just parking at the highway and ran 18 km up a snow covered forestry road to a beautiful summit. Total exercise time was 12.5 hours. Tired.
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Thoughts on 2012; Goals for 2013
It seems to be the time of year where I should be looking back and analyzing. Have to do it now as the world's going to end on December 21st and all that. And considering I'm already 6 weeks in on my 23 week plan leading up to my next race it seems like a good time to make some goals for next year. Well, it would be better to say that I am cementing in print my plans for next year as I feel these goals were made upon my inability to attain goals in 2012.
Here''s to looking at 2012:
My race results:
March 10: Dirty Duo 50 km; 5:08:43
April 1: Okanagan College half marathon (road); 1:28:52
May 12: Elk/Beaver 100 km; DNF at 50 km; 4:29:16
June 23: Scorched Sole 50 mile; 9:48:50
July 7: Sinister 7 148 km; DNF at 87 km; 13:30:00
July 15: Midsummer 8 km (road); 32:05
July 28: White River 50 mile; 9:31:37
August 18: Fat Dog 120 mile; DNF at 75 miles; 25:25:00
September 2: Walk in the Park 54 km; 6:37:00
September 23: Dirty Feet Trail 21 km; 1:59:30
September 30: Kenna quarter XC 10.6 km; 53:02
October 21: Larrry Nicholas XC 9 km; 39:55
October 30: Kal Park XC 9.5 km; 44:08
13 races, and only one that I feel like I am able to say I ran my best on that day, the road half marathon. Look at it simply I should be rather disapointed, I fancy myself a trail runner, an ultra runner and I don't have one ultra race from 2012 that I feel represents my athletic potential. However, even though at the end of 2011 I expressed certain goals and probably other times since I probably expressed time-specific goals for races, that really wasn't the main goal. Running was very much secondary to mental pursuits for the year. As you can read here and here and I think I came to understanding on what sort of races I need here In 2011 I wasn't able to run as much during the summer while working, this year I fixed that and learned how to make running a habit even while busy. Realistically, I failed in finishing my big races because my mental goals were to learn to relax (very much simplifying) which is contradictory to the mental processes required to fight through a tough race and my main focus was often elsewhere, and as well I was often to busy doing silly running things having fun that negatively impacted my ability to run my best race.
OC half marathon: Why did I do good? Unlike the rest of the year I didn't jam too much into the build up of that race. And the fact that I had a friendly bet with a couple friends on who would finish first amongst us. I finished 15th, and they finished 12th and 13th. We all dropped at least 8 minutes from our previous best times at that distance, it was a rousing super fun success.
Elk/beaver: wrote about it here Was bored out of my mind during the race, didn't feel like doing it. Although leading up to the race I was doing some fantastic running at home.
Scorched sole: wrote about it here Ran the race intending it to be a good final long run before sinister 7. In retrospect I think this was a bad idea. I feel like this race was good in the sense that I feel good that I could run a sub 10 hour 50 mile trail run, without feeling like I pushed too hard which is neat, but I feel like having said that I definitely can't say this represents what I was fully capable on that day as I was holding back, and to top all that off I feel like it affected my race at sinister. But still, it was a super fun day with great folks and I'm glad I did it.
Sinister 7: wrote about it here and here It was hot and hard. The trails weren't as enjoyable as I'd hoped, and when it came down to it even though I feel I could have finished within the cutoff time, but didn't feel like putting myself through the pain and hurt that would be needed to get there. Perhaps I wasn't trained well enough, perhaps I didn't train in such a way to build my mental fortitude, or perhaps I just wasn't in the state of mind needed to finish. Again, don't feel like this race result showed my athletic potential.
midsummer 8 km race: it was amusing. I was 5 seconds off my pre race arbitrary goal of running 4 min/km pace the whole race. Finished 15th after encouraging a young kid to kick my ass the last 1/2 km. this race was only a week after sinister, so again, even though I felt pleased with the race, I don't feel like it represents me athletically.
white river: the week before white river I did 10 hours of running and 6 hour of biking. The running included summiting two local mountains, two speed work sessions, and the bike was all at tempo. Wrote about the race here during the race I had trouble mentally with pushing through, just looked at it as a fun run out for the day. Again, don't feel as though it represented my athletic ability.
fat dog: wrote about it here How did I mess this race up? The time between white river and fat dog was spent travelling through the usa living on a bus while doing it. Didn't run once between the two races. I think that's taking tapering too far, and I think it may have helped lead to the injury I got during the race itself. Deciding while staring out at the grand canyon that you want to change your plans, isn't enough to make it a workable plan. Again, don't think this represents my athletic ability.
walk in the park: wrote about it here What went wrong? Well I was injured during the race and I shouldn't have run it. I lived off painkillers during the race, and I wonder if the passing of a family member the day before affected my mindframe. Again, definitely not wanting this to be considered a representation of my athletic potential.
the rest: slowly recover my fitness.
Goals for 2012 as written here
1. Finish degree.
2. Kick as much ass as possible in the running races I have planned, and the ones I register in.
3. Never drink so much that I get drunk. (This one may or may not get changed to something along the lines of 'only drink to the point of drunkeness on nights before days off work, that are also rest days from runs and limited to once a month) we shall see.
4. Volunteer at some races.
5. Have another year that is drug free.
6. Buy a piano.
7. Be more diligant in my 'daily practise'
8. Do some other stuff.
9. ________________________
10. ________________________
Hmm: Let's see
1. Check. Done! And I got a job that uses my degree too, started October 1st. Had to move to a new town, and I think it's going good.
2. Ha. Not so much. This seems to be one of the goals that wasn't properly fleshed out, because other things in life took precedence.
3. This didn't happen, but I'm okay with that. I was probably drunk a handful of times (that takes only two drinks haha), and other than that maybe had less than a handful of drinks. I wasn't rude while drunk, didn't get into trouble, and never drank out of anger.
4. Yep. And I crewed for friends at an ultra for the first time, that was good.
5. Yup. Not once, win.
6. Ha, no. And I definitely won't any time soon. Student loans will be the death of my financial leasure.
7. This goal probably only made it on their after reading this which seemed like a good idea. Yes, I read books like my AA books and my school books regularly, but not daily. Yes, I pray, but not daily. And yes I make an effort to be a good person, but I am not as diligent as I intended with that goal.
8. I guess so. I quit my crappy job cooking and went on my first holiday in years. Probably didn't make the best financial choices with that as being unemployed for 3 months hit hard financially. And I made the decision to use my degree look for a job, which wasn't a simple life decision as I truly was pondering being an unemployed wandering nomad. So I feel like making that mental shift was no small feat. "Why bother?" has always been a question that haunts. I still don't have the answer, but I've decided to try and be a productive member of society, just because. And when I figure out why, I'll be in a much better positiont to do something about it than if I hadn't tried up to that point. And I might as well run in the mean time.
How about some running stats?
2010:
Ran 2.045 km and biked 1,243 km
2011:
Ran 2,043 km and biked 488 km
2012: (estimating Dec totals based on training plan)
Ran 3,300 and biked 860 km.
At the beginning of the year I started running in a group clinic. This clinic was twice a week, and the reason I signed up was because the previous year I had lots of struggles running through the summer while working full time. I needed to engage myself with others and be forced to plan my run to try and make a habit of running even while busy. If I wasn't sick or injured or on holidays I never ran less than four times per week. Through this group I met some wonderful people, made some great friends, and learned to be way more consistent in my running. This was very good.
Was I mentally in the right place to attempt to run the long races? I'm not sure, I made a distinct effort to be less aggressive and more passive, perhaps taking this too far. I feel this affected my races. And my goal was just to have fun, which when it comes down to it when the going gets tough it makes it easier to drop in a race, which I did.
Was I fit enough to run in the long races I attempted? I think so. I think maybe I really haven't been doing this running thing long enough to attempt these sorts of races. October 2008 I ran my first road marathon. I weight 180 pounds, and was horribly unhappy in a crappy relationship. I finished that race in five hours and 15 minutes (5:14:49). When I was a youth I was never any sort of elite athlete. Yeah I played hockey as a kid, never played on the rep team as my parents said it was to expensive if I made the team, I was a house league goon and past the age of 13 it was only ever about messing around with friends. Sure I played baseball for awhile, even made a few select teams. But my angst ridden years from 13 - (two years ago) where more interested in destroying my body than with athletics. I've only being doing good running since 2009. That's only four years, maybe my excitement for enjoying this sport has got the best of my realistic analysis of my abilities. Having said that, goals for 2013 will still be big.
Overall it was a pretty fantastic year. I may not have had a great year of races, but I had a great year of running. I have become much more consistent in my training. I am a much stronger and faster runner than before. And outside of running it wasn't so bad either.
Race goals for 2013:
- Finish a 100 mile race. This is the main focus, and the big goal. No time goal, although if I'm successful in finishing, I'll probably end up with a decent time.
- Run so hard in my one planned 50 mile race that I feel completely destroyed after, like I've dug down into the recesses of my mind and used every mental resource possible and left my soul empty as a result. Just giving it absolutely everything.
Specific race plan:
- 100 mile trail race in late march in southeast washington state (although I won't register until mid January as I want to be sure I'm able to get in proper training during the winter months) and if I don't end up registering for this I may alter this to be an April/May/June race instead. But I want to do this race
- 50 mile scorched sole trail race in Kelowna, late July. The race is back at Little White mountain for 2013, it's going to be awesome.
- 100 mile trail race in early September. I have my eye on dong a race in Lethbridge. Won't register until May as I've been told that the 100 miler doesn't fill up.
How am I going to be successful in 2013 as opposed to 2012? Well, I feel like I've transitioned from having an attitude of carefree goals in running that are loosely defined to having fun and being more consistent to having a drive to finish a task that baffled me last year, and to do all that is required to get that. Also, one more year of good running under my belt will surely help. Specifically, I have made a plan leading up to the first race that I think is good. I will train smarter. Run slower during my long runs, having more variety during the rest of my weekly runs, doing my best to train on trails that resemble the race conditions of the next race. I will only race in three races in 2013. Everything will build to these races, and I will do nothing that varies excessively from the training plan. I want to have races that I can say "this is my best, this was as good as I could do, I put my entire soul and body into that day". If I need to get a fix of mingling with other ultra folk beyond that, I shall volunteer at other local events. I will train harder, so that I may build my mental strength. I will run longer weekly long runs so that I may endeavour to have more possibilities during training to come into hard mental spots, so that I may have more opportunities to prepare for the dark spots that may (will) come during a long race. I will do a better job doing pre-race mental prep for my races.
I have prepared a plan for the remainder of the year, and for the time building up to the next race. The focus is not on distance (although surely I'll end up running a long way) but on duration and effort.
2012 Log and Plan
2013 Log and Plan
Goals in list form:
1. Finish a 100 mile trail race;
1b. Finish in a time under 24 hours.
2. Kick ass at the 50 mile scorched sole race.
2b. Knowing the approximate route, kick ass is hoping for under 8.5 hours.
3. Volunteer at other ultras.
4. Crew for a friend at an ultra at least once.
5. Volunteer at other local races.
6. Stay at my job, be a diligent Monday to Friday automoton worker. Play the game of being a 'productive member of society"
7. Don't do drugs ever.
8. Drinking: if I drink, I shall never drink while angry. And if I drink, I shall never do anything illegal or say anything reprehensible. And I shall never get drunk more than 10 times in the year (very realistic), and I shall never put myself in an environment where I am not fully comfortable with the alcohol level.
9. Figure out something or somewhere to fit some sort of volunteering that doesn't revolve around running into my time.
10. Pray, be thankful, and always remember that if I am to hope for others to treat me well, I must always treat others well, and that if I have any hope that people will do right by me I must always unquestioningly do well of others no matter the situation. Being positive is the only way to try and live, and I shall try do so, for no other reason that I don't know why I've managed to make it to this point without self destructing, so I might as well try and be better. There must be a reason I'm still here.
Here''s to looking at 2012:
My race results:
March 10: Dirty Duo 50 km; 5:08:43
April 1: Okanagan College half marathon (road); 1:28:52
May 12: Elk/Beaver 100 km; DNF at 50 km; 4:29:16
June 23: Scorched Sole 50 mile; 9:48:50
July 7: Sinister 7 148 km; DNF at 87 km; 13:30:00
July 15: Midsummer 8 km (road); 32:05
July 28: White River 50 mile; 9:31:37
August 18: Fat Dog 120 mile; DNF at 75 miles; 25:25:00
September 2: Walk in the Park 54 km; 6:37:00
September 23: Dirty Feet Trail 21 km; 1:59:30
September 30: Kenna quarter XC 10.6 km; 53:02
October 21: Larrry Nicholas XC 9 km; 39:55
October 30: Kal Park XC 9.5 km; 44:08
13 races, and only one that I feel like I am able to say I ran my best on that day, the road half marathon. Look at it simply I should be rather disapointed, I fancy myself a trail runner, an ultra runner and I don't have one ultra race from 2012 that I feel represents my athletic potential. However, even though at the end of 2011 I expressed certain goals and probably other times since I probably expressed time-specific goals for races, that really wasn't the main goal. Running was very much secondary to mental pursuits for the year. As you can read here and here and I think I came to understanding on what sort of races I need here In 2011 I wasn't able to run as much during the summer while working, this year I fixed that and learned how to make running a habit even while busy. Realistically, I failed in finishing my big races because my mental goals were to learn to relax (very much simplifying) which is contradictory to the mental processes required to fight through a tough race and my main focus was often elsewhere, and as well I was often to busy doing silly running things having fun that negatively impacted my ability to run my best race.
OC half marathon: Why did I do good? Unlike the rest of the year I didn't jam too much into the build up of that race. And the fact that I had a friendly bet with a couple friends on who would finish first amongst us. I finished 15th, and they finished 12th and 13th. We all dropped at least 8 minutes from our previous best times at that distance, it was a rousing super fun success.
Elk/beaver: wrote about it here Was bored out of my mind during the race, didn't feel like doing it. Although leading up to the race I was doing some fantastic running at home.
Scorched sole: wrote about it here Ran the race intending it to be a good final long run before sinister 7. In retrospect I think this was a bad idea. I feel like this race was good in the sense that I feel good that I could run a sub 10 hour 50 mile trail run, without feeling like I pushed too hard which is neat, but I feel like having said that I definitely can't say this represents what I was fully capable on that day as I was holding back, and to top all that off I feel like it affected my race at sinister. But still, it was a super fun day with great folks and I'm glad I did it.
Sinister 7: wrote about it here and here It was hot and hard. The trails weren't as enjoyable as I'd hoped, and when it came down to it even though I feel I could have finished within the cutoff time, but didn't feel like putting myself through the pain and hurt that would be needed to get there. Perhaps I wasn't trained well enough, perhaps I didn't train in such a way to build my mental fortitude, or perhaps I just wasn't in the state of mind needed to finish. Again, don't feel like this race result showed my athletic potential.
midsummer 8 km race: it was amusing. I was 5 seconds off my pre race arbitrary goal of running 4 min/km pace the whole race. Finished 15th after encouraging a young kid to kick my ass the last 1/2 km. this race was only a week after sinister, so again, even though I felt pleased with the race, I don't feel like it represents me athletically.
white river: the week before white river I did 10 hours of running and 6 hour of biking. The running included summiting two local mountains, two speed work sessions, and the bike was all at tempo. Wrote about the race here during the race I had trouble mentally with pushing through, just looked at it as a fun run out for the day. Again, don't feel as though it represented my athletic ability.
fat dog: wrote about it here How did I mess this race up? The time between white river and fat dog was spent travelling through the usa living on a bus while doing it. Didn't run once between the two races. I think that's taking tapering too far, and I think it may have helped lead to the injury I got during the race itself. Deciding while staring out at the grand canyon that you want to change your plans, isn't enough to make it a workable plan. Again, don't think this represents my athletic ability.
walk in the park: wrote about it here What went wrong? Well I was injured during the race and I shouldn't have run it. I lived off painkillers during the race, and I wonder if the passing of a family member the day before affected my mindframe. Again, definitely not wanting this to be considered a representation of my athletic potential.
the rest: slowly recover my fitness.
Goals for 2012 as written here
1. Finish degree.
2. Kick as much ass as possible in the running races I have planned, and the ones I register in.
3. Never drink so much that I get drunk. (This one may or may not get changed to something along the lines of 'only drink to the point of drunkeness on nights before days off work, that are also rest days from runs and limited to once a month) we shall see.
4. Volunteer at some races.
5. Have another year that is drug free.
6. Buy a piano.
7. Be more diligant in my 'daily practise'
8. Do some other stuff.
9. ________________________
10. ________________________
Hmm: Let's see
1. Check. Done! And I got a job that uses my degree too, started October 1st. Had to move to a new town, and I think it's going good.
2. Ha. Not so much. This seems to be one of the goals that wasn't properly fleshed out, because other things in life took precedence.
3. This didn't happen, but I'm okay with that. I was probably drunk a handful of times (that takes only two drinks haha), and other than that maybe had less than a handful of drinks. I wasn't rude while drunk, didn't get into trouble, and never drank out of anger.
4. Yep. And I crewed for friends at an ultra for the first time, that was good.
5. Yup. Not once, win.
6. Ha, no. And I definitely won't any time soon. Student loans will be the death of my financial leasure.
7. This goal probably only made it on their after reading this which seemed like a good idea. Yes, I read books like my AA books and my school books regularly, but not daily. Yes, I pray, but not daily. And yes I make an effort to be a good person, but I am not as diligent as I intended with that goal.
8. I guess so. I quit my crappy job cooking and went on my first holiday in years. Probably didn't make the best financial choices with that as being unemployed for 3 months hit hard financially. And I made the decision to use my degree look for a job, which wasn't a simple life decision as I truly was pondering being an unemployed wandering nomad. So I feel like making that mental shift was no small feat. "Why bother?" has always been a question that haunts. I still don't have the answer, but I've decided to try and be a productive member of society, just because. And when I figure out why, I'll be in a much better positiont to do something about it than if I hadn't tried up to that point. And I might as well run in the mean time.
How about some running stats?
2010:
Ran 2.045 km and biked 1,243 km
2011:
Ran 2,043 km and biked 488 km
2012: (estimating Dec totals based on training plan)
Ran 3,300 and biked 860 km.
At the beginning of the year I started running in a group clinic. This clinic was twice a week, and the reason I signed up was because the previous year I had lots of struggles running through the summer while working full time. I needed to engage myself with others and be forced to plan my run to try and make a habit of running even while busy. If I wasn't sick or injured or on holidays I never ran less than four times per week. Through this group I met some wonderful people, made some great friends, and learned to be way more consistent in my running. This was very good.
Was I mentally in the right place to attempt to run the long races? I'm not sure, I made a distinct effort to be less aggressive and more passive, perhaps taking this too far. I feel this affected my races. And my goal was just to have fun, which when it comes down to it when the going gets tough it makes it easier to drop in a race, which I did.
Was I fit enough to run in the long races I attempted? I think so. I think maybe I really haven't been doing this running thing long enough to attempt these sorts of races. October 2008 I ran my first road marathon. I weight 180 pounds, and was horribly unhappy in a crappy relationship. I finished that race in five hours and 15 minutes (5:14:49). When I was a youth I was never any sort of elite athlete. Yeah I played hockey as a kid, never played on the rep team as my parents said it was to expensive if I made the team, I was a house league goon and past the age of 13 it was only ever about messing around with friends. Sure I played baseball for awhile, even made a few select teams. But my angst ridden years from 13 - (two years ago) where more interested in destroying my body than with athletics. I've only being doing good running since 2009. That's only four years, maybe my excitement for enjoying this sport has got the best of my realistic analysis of my abilities. Having said that, goals for 2013 will still be big.
Overall it was a pretty fantastic year. I may not have had a great year of races, but I had a great year of running. I have become much more consistent in my training. I am a much stronger and faster runner than before. And outside of running it wasn't so bad either.
Race goals for 2013:
- Finish a 100 mile race. This is the main focus, and the big goal. No time goal, although if I'm successful in finishing, I'll probably end up with a decent time.
- Run so hard in my one planned 50 mile race that I feel completely destroyed after, like I've dug down into the recesses of my mind and used every mental resource possible and left my soul empty as a result. Just giving it absolutely everything.
Specific race plan:
- 100 mile trail race in late march in southeast washington state (although I won't register until mid January as I want to be sure I'm able to get in proper training during the winter months) and if I don't end up registering for this I may alter this to be an April/May/June race instead. But I want to do this race
- 50 mile scorched sole trail race in Kelowna, late July. The race is back at Little White mountain for 2013, it's going to be awesome.
- 100 mile trail race in early September. I have my eye on dong a race in Lethbridge. Won't register until May as I've been told that the 100 miler doesn't fill up.
How am I going to be successful in 2013 as opposed to 2012? Well, I feel like I've transitioned from having an attitude of carefree goals in running that are loosely defined to having fun and being more consistent to having a drive to finish a task that baffled me last year, and to do all that is required to get that. Also, one more year of good running under my belt will surely help. Specifically, I have made a plan leading up to the first race that I think is good. I will train smarter. Run slower during my long runs, having more variety during the rest of my weekly runs, doing my best to train on trails that resemble the race conditions of the next race. I will only race in three races in 2013. Everything will build to these races, and I will do nothing that varies excessively from the training plan. I want to have races that I can say "this is my best, this was as good as I could do, I put my entire soul and body into that day". If I need to get a fix of mingling with other ultra folk beyond that, I shall volunteer at other local events. I will train harder, so that I may build my mental strength. I will run longer weekly long runs so that I may endeavour to have more possibilities during training to come into hard mental spots, so that I may have more opportunities to prepare for the dark spots that may (will) come during a long race. I will do a better job doing pre-race mental prep for my races.
I have prepared a plan for the remainder of the year, and for the time building up to the next race. The focus is not on distance (although surely I'll end up running a long way) but on duration and effort.
2012 Log and Plan
2013 Log and Plan
Goals in list form:
1. Finish a 100 mile trail race;
1b. Finish in a time under 24 hours.
2. Kick ass at the 50 mile scorched sole race.
2b. Knowing the approximate route, kick ass is hoping for under 8.5 hours.
3. Volunteer at other ultras.
4. Crew for a friend at an ultra at least once.
5. Volunteer at other local races.
6. Stay at my job, be a diligent Monday to Friday automoton worker. Play the game of being a 'productive member of society"
7. Don't do drugs ever.
8. Drinking: if I drink, I shall never drink while angry. And if I drink, I shall never do anything illegal or say anything reprehensible. And I shall never get drunk more than 10 times in the year (very realistic), and I shall never put myself in an environment where I am not fully comfortable with the alcohol level.
9. Figure out something or somewhere to fit some sort of volunteering that doesn't revolve around running into my time.
10. Pray, be thankful, and always remember that if I am to hope for others to treat me well, I must always treat others well, and that if I have any hope that people will do right by me I must always unquestioningly do well of others no matter the situation. Being positive is the only way to try and live, and I shall try do so, for no other reason that I don't know why I've managed to make it to this point without self destructing, so I might as well try and be better. There must be a reason I'm still here.
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