Today intended on running further than I did. But I think I pushed a little too hard while doing hills.
I had planned on running anywhere from 45-60 km today. I suppose I should have chosen to do mostly flat running for distance like that. Parked my car by the Greenway and started down the trail. The first two km were along the greenway on gravel/dirt and were flat. Because I wanted to run a long distance I was trying to maintain a slower than normal pace (6:00 min/km at most) but I'm not so good at this and ended up doing 5:00 min/km.
After that I hit the road and started my uphill climb. 12 km up paved rd. There were a couple spots were it flattened out for 200 metres at the most. Overall elevation change of 550 metres over the 12 km. I wanted to try and maintain a nice slow pace of a minimum of 7:20 min/km. But instead I ran this section at an average of 6:13 min/km.
I wanted to run up to the trestles, but the forest service road that led to them had far too much ice and snow on it to be comfortable to run uphill on. I made it a km before giving up and heading back down. Came back down a 6 km stretch of the road I had just ran up in 36 minutes (dropped 300 metres elevation). I only dropped my pace by 13 seconds / km coming back down. So strange. My calf muscles started to feel it here.
Rather than doing the smart thing and continuing down the road and heading back to my car the easy way when I could tell my calves were starting to feel it, I decided to do some more uphills. 3 km uphill along a road (18 min, 200 metres elevation change) and I was at Scenic Canyon Regional Park.
Scenic Canyon Regional Park is so nice. The last section (which is where I usually start) has hills up and down for 5 km. I started out still feeling okay here. It had snowed two days ago, and rained the day after that so the trails were rather muddy. And going up the hills on mud was no good, so I started walking up the hills. And then my calves started to scream at me. Did the 7 km section of the Park in 45 minutes. Stopped for awhile at the parking lot to stretch. And I just couldn't get going again.
I walked for 2 km, then ran for 2 more, then walked the last km to my car. 34 km total today. I think I found out how many hills I can comfortably run at that pace. I don't know how to slow down. For the last 5 years of running my goals have all been directed at going faster and faster. Now, I'm training for an ultra marathon and the death race and I want to slow it down. If I were to run the death race at the pace I ran today I would finish in 12 hours. Which is just incredibly impossible. So I really find myself unsure of where to slow down. Everywhere? Or just while going up hills?
Lesson learned today: I need to slow down going up hills if I want to be able to comfortably run 50 k + runs.
"The God’s will not do for man, what a man must do for himself."
Keep on running.
Nazzer
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Monday, February 22, 2010
Pictures! Yay!
I biked up Knox Mountain today and I thought I would take my camera and post pictures, figured I'd take a pre-emptive strike against anyone reading the blog and not knowing what places I'm talking about. I realized after the fact that I didn't really take any pictures of the Mountain itself, but instead of the view of Kelowna from the Mountain. And I intended on going to another high point in the city except I got a flat tire. So not impressed with that, but oh well.
That is the view from the top of Knox Mountain while standing underneath the gazebo. The trail to the right leads down the mountain and is super fun to run down. Across Okanagan Lake is Bear Creek Park.
That pic is standing at the same spot, except facing West rather than North. (I think).
That's a shot of downtown Kelowna, with WRB Bennet Bridge in the background. Last week I ran across the bridge and then ran to past West Kelowna and back, it was a rough and hilly 46 km run.
I live approximately between the tree in the foreground of the photo and the apartment building to the right of the tree. Living in the valley is nice and all, but it means I need to run at least 5 km to get to any hills. The snow capped hills at the top of the photo; the Kettle Valley Railbed is in there, I think it's part of the Trans Canada Trail. I can't wait for that snow to melt!!! Ran that to Penticton once in the summer, and biked to Penticton and back on that trail in the summer once too. I think next week I'll park closer to there and do a 50 k run up the hills into that area, perhaps if I take my camera and stop every 15 minutes to take a picture it'll force me to slow down my pace for my LSD's.
Not much of shot here, in fact it wasn't the best day for photos with the clouds. You can't see it very well at all, but hidden behind the tree on the right of the rockface on the left is Myra Canyon. It's a pretty nice run, and I guess that's where I hope to end up on Saturday. There's 18 trestles that have been rebuilt from the old railway. The hardest part about planning a long run like that for the weekend is staying hydrated when I plan on running somewhere that has absolutely no bathrooms or running water. I suppose in late February I'll probably be running in snow, and there should be plenty of running water to refill my bottles so it should be easier to stay hydrated than a summer run.
I love these videos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgCZksn1nPw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bU8dWfi0l9M
Hidden deep within the recesses of our body's evolutionary past is a runner - free your natural spirit by running.
Keep on Running
Nazzer
That is the view from the top of Knox Mountain while standing underneath the gazebo. The trail to the right leads down the mountain and is super fun to run down. Across Okanagan Lake is Bear Creek Park.
That pic is standing at the same spot, except facing West rather than North. (I think).
That's a shot of downtown Kelowna, with WRB Bennet Bridge in the background. Last week I ran across the bridge and then ran to past West Kelowna and back, it was a rough and hilly 46 km run.
I live approximately between the tree in the foreground of the photo and the apartment building to the right of the tree. Living in the valley is nice and all, but it means I need to run at least 5 km to get to any hills. The snow capped hills at the top of the photo; the Kettle Valley Railbed is in there, I think it's part of the Trans Canada Trail. I can't wait for that snow to melt!!! Ran that to Penticton once in the summer, and biked to Penticton and back on that trail in the summer once too. I think next week I'll park closer to there and do a 50 k run up the hills into that area, perhaps if I take my camera and stop every 15 minutes to take a picture it'll force me to slow down my pace for my LSD's.
Not much of shot here, in fact it wasn't the best day for photos with the clouds. You can't see it very well at all, but hidden behind the tree on the right of the rockface on the left is Myra Canyon. It's a pretty nice run, and I guess that's where I hope to end up on Saturday. There's 18 trestles that have been rebuilt from the old railway. The hardest part about planning a long run like that for the weekend is staying hydrated when I plan on running somewhere that has absolutely no bathrooms or running water. I suppose in late February I'll probably be running in snow, and there should be plenty of running water to refill my bottles so it should be easier to stay hydrated than a summer run.
I love these videos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgCZksn1nPw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bU8dWfi0l9M
Hidden deep within the recesses of our body's evolutionary past is a runner - free your natural spirit by running.
Keep on Running
Nazzer
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Running too far? Whoops...
Today I should have done A LOT of homework because I did a fair amount of procrastination all week. So I went to the library at school and made the mistake of sitting at a computer that had a view of outside. I was only able to fight the urge to go for a run for 4 hours, then I had to leave and go running. It was just too nice out to not run.
I got home and within half an hour I had jammed a PB & J sandwich down my throat, slammed a litre of water, taped my toes, changed and packed my backpack with water and gatorade.
I only intended to go for a short 20 k run, but somehow at the 13 k point I had managed to not do anything close to turning back towards home. And those first 13 were all uphill from downtown up KLO Rd and Up McCullock road to Scenic canyon regional park. And then of course the next 3 km in the park were some nice hills. I really should have limited my run to a max of 20 k or so, my pace heading out was far too fast to comfortably run more than 20.
A few km into the parl there was some constructioon happening on the trail which was nice because they were putting in a series of steps into the really steep sections. I'm glad it was still light out for that section though, because there was some rebar posts sticking out of the ground. That would not have been fun to run over in the dark, even with my headlamp. Right at the bottom of the canyon near Mission Creek I heard some violent coyote sounds. It sounded as though a pack of coyotes were fighting each other or were attacking some other animal. Scared the crap out of me, and the sun had just set and I was left hoping whatever animals I had heard were on the other side of the creek; although that would be little comfort as that section of the creek is shallow enough for any animal to run through. But I made it to the parking lot on East Kelowna Rd without seeing any animals. Whew!
I specifically plan mu runs to go by bathrooms near the parks so I can refill my bottles. But when I got there some security guard had just locked up the bathroom, and I had never seen it locked before. But he was easily convinced into unlocking it to let me fill up. What a pleasantly surprising man! He was rather amused by my headlamp, it made me chuckle. And then he sort of mocked me for running while EVERYONE else was inside their homes watching the Canada/USA hockey game.
Running the Mission Creek Greenway is SO nice at night with a headlamp. You really do lose track of time and distance while night running, which is a good thing. So I'd run 30 km by the time I finished on the Greenway (passing by all the portapottys on the trail) and was into residential area before realizing I desperately needed to relieve myself. When nature calls, any bush will do. Chose a tree at the front of somoenes yard, and I'm pretty sure their living room light was turned on while I was taking care of business; hope they enjoyed the view!
By the times I had hit 38 km I was really feeling it in my calves. Started to get the feeling that I should actually plan and properly prepare for longer runs by eating better the day before. Whoops. And perhaps I should do a better job working in some walking time considering my goal is adding distance to my runs, and not to run faster.
I'm fairly satisfied with my toe taping which I started againi last week. I only got one very small blister on my second toe today. Which will be gone tomorrow.
"Running long and hard is an ideal antidepressant, since it's hard to run and feel sorry for yourself at the same time. Also, there are those hours of clearheadedness that follow a long run."
-Monte Davis
Keep on Running
Nazzer
I got home and within half an hour I had jammed a PB & J sandwich down my throat, slammed a litre of water, taped my toes, changed and packed my backpack with water and gatorade.
I only intended to go for a short 20 k run, but somehow at the 13 k point I had managed to not do anything close to turning back towards home. And those first 13 were all uphill from downtown up KLO Rd and Up McCullock road to Scenic canyon regional park. And then of course the next 3 km in the park were some nice hills. I really should have limited my run to a max of 20 k or so, my pace heading out was far too fast to comfortably run more than 20.
A few km into the parl there was some constructioon happening on the trail which was nice because they were putting in a series of steps into the really steep sections. I'm glad it was still light out for that section though, because there was some rebar posts sticking out of the ground. That would not have been fun to run over in the dark, even with my headlamp. Right at the bottom of the canyon near Mission Creek I heard some violent coyote sounds. It sounded as though a pack of coyotes were fighting each other or were attacking some other animal. Scared the crap out of me, and the sun had just set and I was left hoping whatever animals I had heard were on the other side of the creek; although that would be little comfort as that section of the creek is shallow enough for any animal to run through. But I made it to the parking lot on East Kelowna Rd without seeing any animals. Whew!
I specifically plan mu runs to go by bathrooms near the parks so I can refill my bottles. But when I got there some security guard had just locked up the bathroom, and I had never seen it locked before. But he was easily convinced into unlocking it to let me fill up. What a pleasantly surprising man! He was rather amused by my headlamp, it made me chuckle. And then he sort of mocked me for running while EVERYONE else was inside their homes watching the Canada/USA hockey game.
Running the Mission Creek Greenway is SO nice at night with a headlamp. You really do lose track of time and distance while night running, which is a good thing. So I'd run 30 km by the time I finished on the Greenway (passing by all the portapottys on the trail) and was into residential area before realizing I desperately needed to relieve myself. When nature calls, any bush will do. Chose a tree at the front of somoenes yard, and I'm pretty sure their living room light was turned on while I was taking care of business; hope they enjoyed the view!
By the times I had hit 38 km I was really feeling it in my calves. Started to get the feeling that I should actually plan and properly prepare for longer runs by eating better the day before. Whoops. And perhaps I should do a better job working in some walking time considering my goal is adding distance to my runs, and not to run faster.
I'm fairly satisfied with my toe taping which I started againi last week. I only got one very small blister on my second toe today. Which will be gone tomorrow.
"Running long and hard is an ideal antidepressant, since it's hard to run and feel sorry for yourself at the same time. Also, there are those hours of clearheadedness that follow a long run."
-Monte Davis
Keep on Running
Nazzer
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Barefoot Running
Today I went barefoot running at a soccer field. It was pretty awesome. It was a little cold out (2 degrees celsius) so my feet got a little cold.
It felt so amazing to have my toes be able to hit the ground unencumbered by an annoying shoe, feeling the grass in between them at every step. The skin under the heels of my feet got a little frozen near the end.
When I put my shoes back on to run home from the park it felt rather strange. Perhaps the strangeness was from the numb feeling from my heels. But I felt like I wanted to rip off the shoes and just run barefoot again. If only I could have ran home on a trail rather than needing to run on pavement.
Nazzer
It felt so amazing to have my toes be able to hit the ground unencumbered by an annoying shoe, feeling the grass in between them at every step. The skin under the heels of my feet got a little frozen near the end.
When I put my shoes back on to run home from the park it felt rather strange. Perhaps the strangeness was from the numb feeling from my heels. But I felt like I wanted to rip off the shoes and just run barefoot again. If only I could have ran home on a trail rather than needing to run on pavement.
Nazzer
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Mmm, Hills.
Today I ran from Kelowna to a little ways before Peachland along Highway 97. I went to the bottom of Drought Hill and then came back. 46 km in total. Four hours and 35 minutes. The last three km were rather ugly, I was able to power through all the hills withouy stopping, but the bridge on the way back in to town did me in. I guess I just didn't have the juice to do that last climb.
The first 4 km were flat from my house to the bridge. Then I had the bridge, which has a short stepp climb. Followed by another short (probably 500 meters) steep climb up bridge hill. Then a good 4 km of medium incline. Gentle flatish areas for awhile leading up to Westbank, and then a 1 km climb up near the Glenrosa exit. Down Drought hill, turned around and cam back drought hill. That was about 4 km of steep climb. Then came back.
Kept fairly well hydrated throughout. Stopped at three gas stations and an A&W to fill up my water bottles. Stopped to stretch out my legs a couple times. Overall, only walked for about 1 km total out of 46 km. It was exhilerating.
Nazzer
The first 4 km were flat from my house to the bridge. Then I had the bridge, which has a short stepp climb. Followed by another short (probably 500 meters) steep climb up bridge hill. Then a good 4 km of medium incline. Gentle flatish areas for awhile leading up to Westbank, and then a 1 km climb up near the Glenrosa exit. Down Drought hill, turned around and cam back drought hill. That was about 4 km of steep climb. Then came back.
Kept fairly well hydrated throughout. Stopped at three gas stations and an A&W to fill up my water bottles. Stopped to stretch out my legs a couple times. Overall, only walked for about 1 km total out of 46 km. It was exhilerating.
Nazzer
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Sometimes people are so pleasantly surprising.
Today I went running and decided to do some hills. So I hit Knox Mountain. Knox has a paved road going up it that is 3.8 km long, as well as a series of trails running up and down the mountain sides. I think the elevation change on the road is around 900 ft.
Usually I just run up the paved road once, and then come down a trail, and then back up half way on a trail and home for a 10 k run. It makes for a nice short hour long easy run.
Today it was raining. And I just LOVE running in the rain, it cools you down so nice. Keeps the body heat down and it feels like I don't need to carry as much water with me when I run. All day when I was at school all I could do was stare out the window and the beautiful rain clouds forming.
So when I finally started running it was wonderful. When I was running up the road around the second turn some random guy that was walking down the road yells out to me "YOU RULE!". It just made my day. I ran up and down the mountain twice today without stopping once, felt so good. Thank you random dude for making my day and giving me encouragement.
Usually I just run up the paved road once, and then come down a trail, and then back up half way on a trail and home for a 10 k run. It makes for a nice short hour long easy run.
Today it was raining. And I just LOVE running in the rain, it cools you down so nice. Keeps the body heat down and it feels like I don't need to carry as much water with me when I run. All day when I was at school all I could do was stare out the window and the beautiful rain clouds forming.
So when I finally started running it was wonderful. When I was running up the road around the second turn some random guy that was walking down the road yells out to me "YOU RULE!". It just made my day. I ran up and down the mountain twice today without stopping once, felt so good. Thank you random dude for making my day and giving me encouragement.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Running; a self analysis.
Today I intended to run a short 10 km run. But I ended up running 21 km, mostly through trails that ran along a decent sized creek. It was too tranquil to stop running. I beat the shit out of my legs running up and down hills, and it was awesome. After some solid uphills I got to glide down 5 km of downhill on roads on the way back to my car... which I subsequently couldn't find and ran around for a kilometre trying to figure out where it was. Such a beautiful night for a run. Reading break is coming up soon. I think I might do a massive run that week, and it will kick ass.
When I run I forget where I am, I forget the troubles of the day, I forget about the person that I no longer want to be; I leave the person I am ashamed of in my shadow as I run. Every moment I run is a new moment of Zen like enlightenment, pure quality.
My muscles ache, screaming at me that they’re not willing to go on, so I run further. My toenails fall off or turn black, but I don’t notice. My muscles cramp after hours of running, but I push through it and it goes away. I see the mountain, it may get the best of me the first time perhaps even the second or third time, but I kick that mountains ass eventually; I make it my bitch. I feel the pain through my body as I run further than I should, I ignore it, and then I conquer it and I glide. And then I push further, and harder; one peak turns into the next. And I overcome. Zen.
I see my breathe in the cold night’s air, and I see me. The hair on my arms stands up as I get goose bumps, and I feel me. My breathing makes a steady beat as I run, and I hear me. The sweat pours down my face, and I taste me. When I run through the mountain trails, I smell the world as it’s meant to be. As I run past the deer in the mountains at night they see me, and they don’t run from what they see. And I get to know my body. Zen.
As I run, I fly. When I push my body past the point of comfort, I fall back into the rhythm of what feels natural and I push harder. With less effort I kick harder, my feet feel the force of the unnatural pavement even less as they spend more time in the air. Free from the constraints of what I am forced to be on a daily basis, I fly. As I spend more time running, I become more able to fly, spending less time on the ground. Less and less restricted from the processes of itself, my body savours the moment. My normalized body tells me that I cannot run this far, that I should not do this; but I will not listen. I choose to fight the normalization. And I reconnect with my body. Zen.
When I run, I can run on anything. Running through mud, I feel it and my muscles know. My gait adjusts to whatever I require; be it gravel, pavement, rocky mountain slopes, puddles, sand. I can run on anything and my body will carry me through it without flinching. And I know my body will take me wherever I make it go. Zen.
As I run, I reconnect with my senses. I recollect The Form of Neil that I forgot. My body reminds me that there are no limits, that there are no bounds, normalization is not natural. And I remind myself as I run. When I am weary, I run and show myself that weariness is nothing more than an external standard placed upon me; and that my body will not accept weariness. When I think I am incapable, my body will show me that yes, I am. When I think that a distance not doable, my body will take me there. When I think there is no reason to smile, I am reminded that I am aware of myself and I smile. My body opens the door to connecting with my Form. Zen.
Drivers try and run me down when I run, and they wave at me and tell me I’m number one. And I know I am loved. Zen.
I’ve met my hero. And he is me. So I smile.
Zen.
When I run I forget where I am, I forget the troubles of the day, I forget about the person that I no longer want to be; I leave the person I am ashamed of in my shadow as I run. Every moment I run is a new moment of Zen like enlightenment, pure quality.
My muscles ache, screaming at me that they’re not willing to go on, so I run further. My toenails fall off or turn black, but I don’t notice. My muscles cramp after hours of running, but I push through it and it goes away. I see the mountain, it may get the best of me the first time perhaps even the second or third time, but I kick that mountains ass eventually; I make it my bitch. I feel the pain through my body as I run further than I should, I ignore it, and then I conquer it and I glide. And then I push further, and harder; one peak turns into the next. And I overcome. Zen.
I see my breathe in the cold night’s air, and I see me. The hair on my arms stands up as I get goose bumps, and I feel me. My breathing makes a steady beat as I run, and I hear me. The sweat pours down my face, and I taste me. When I run through the mountain trails, I smell the world as it’s meant to be. As I run past the deer in the mountains at night they see me, and they don’t run from what they see. And I get to know my body. Zen.
As I run, I fly. When I push my body past the point of comfort, I fall back into the rhythm of what feels natural and I push harder. With less effort I kick harder, my feet feel the force of the unnatural pavement even less as they spend more time in the air. Free from the constraints of what I am forced to be on a daily basis, I fly. As I spend more time running, I become more able to fly, spending less time on the ground. Less and less restricted from the processes of itself, my body savours the moment. My normalized body tells me that I cannot run this far, that I should not do this; but I will not listen. I choose to fight the normalization. And I reconnect with my body. Zen.
When I run, I can run on anything. Running through mud, I feel it and my muscles know. My gait adjusts to whatever I require; be it gravel, pavement, rocky mountain slopes, puddles, sand. I can run on anything and my body will carry me through it without flinching. And I know my body will take me wherever I make it go. Zen.
As I run, I reconnect with my senses. I recollect The Form of Neil that I forgot. My body reminds me that there are no limits, that there are no bounds, normalization is not natural. And I remind myself as I run. When I am weary, I run and show myself that weariness is nothing more than an external standard placed upon me; and that my body will not accept weariness. When I think I am incapable, my body will show me that yes, I am. When I think that a distance not doable, my body will take me there. When I think there is no reason to smile, I am reminded that I am aware of myself and I smile. My body opens the door to connecting with my Form. Zen.
Drivers try and run me down when I run, and they wave at me and tell me I’m number one. And I know I am loved. Zen.
I’ve met my hero. And he is me. So I smile.
Zen.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Puzzles
It would seem as though understanding yourself is like putting together a puzzle. Some people have a more difficult time than others, so for them their puzzle is a 10,000 piece puzzle with very few distinguishable pieces; and for others who find it easier to understand yourself their puzzle is like those 10 piece Disney puzzles you play with as a two year old.
There is a very satisfactory feeling when you finish putting together a puzzle, especially if you found that puzzle a challenging one. You get to take a step back and look at what you figured out, to marvel at yourself for putting it all together.
Other times you can’t figure out how to force the pieces of the puzzle to take the shape of the picture their supposed to. No matter how hard you try, it doesn’t work. Sometimes people give up on the puzzle in this situation, perhaps they take what they put together apart and store the pieces away and come back to put them all back together later.
But most frustrating when putting together a puzzle is when you think you put it all together only to find there are pieces missing. You spend so much time looking back and forth between the picture on the box and the pieces in your hand as you put them together to match the image you want to make of them. You applaud yourself for finishing the puzzle in anticipation of the coming cathartic feeling when you put that final piece in. Only to be left wondering: Did someone take some pieces of my puzzle? Did I give my pieces away? How did I lose the pieces to my puzzle without even realizing it? Have I lost the pieces completely and the puzzle is a lost cause? Or perhaps can I get the pieces back?
Today I went to the gym instead of running outside. Not a fan. If going to the gym is an ice cream cone then running outside is like a banana split with all the fixins on it, just so much better. I ran on the treadmill for 3 miles before doing some weights. It's amazing how much easier I find the treadmill now than I did a year ago. Perhaps its my efforts at maintaining a more positive outlook, or perhaps it's just the fact that I've been far more consistant in my running than last year; but I now feel like I'm going slow when I run on a treadmill at 9 miles per hour, whereas before I felt like I could barely handle going 7 miles per hour.
Nazzer
There is a very satisfactory feeling when you finish putting together a puzzle, especially if you found that puzzle a challenging one. You get to take a step back and look at what you figured out, to marvel at yourself for putting it all together.
Other times you can’t figure out how to force the pieces of the puzzle to take the shape of the picture their supposed to. No matter how hard you try, it doesn’t work. Sometimes people give up on the puzzle in this situation, perhaps they take what they put together apart and store the pieces away and come back to put them all back together later.
But most frustrating when putting together a puzzle is when you think you put it all together only to find there are pieces missing. You spend so much time looking back and forth between the picture on the box and the pieces in your hand as you put them together to match the image you want to make of them. You applaud yourself for finishing the puzzle in anticipation of the coming cathartic feeling when you put that final piece in. Only to be left wondering: Did someone take some pieces of my puzzle? Did I give my pieces away? How did I lose the pieces to my puzzle without even realizing it? Have I lost the pieces completely and the puzzle is a lost cause? Or perhaps can I get the pieces back?
Today I went to the gym instead of running outside. Not a fan. If going to the gym is an ice cream cone then running outside is like a banana split with all the fixins on it, just so much better. I ran on the treadmill for 3 miles before doing some weights. It's amazing how much easier I find the treadmill now than I did a year ago. Perhaps its my efforts at maintaining a more positive outlook, or perhaps it's just the fact that I've been far more consistant in my running than last year; but I now feel like I'm going slow when I run on a treadmill at 9 miles per hour, whereas before I felt like I could barely handle going 7 miles per hour.
Nazzer
Monday, February 1, 2010
Deer Scare Me!
I like to run, been running semi consistantly for 6 years now. I wasn't very good with maintaining my running through the winters or 07/08 and 08/09, but this winter I've been doing good and haven't added forty pounds of weight like the last two winters. In the last six years I slowly built up my distance and reduced my pace, only to lose much of that progress when I was too lazy to keep running through the winter semesters of school. Throughout all this I've managed to do a bunch of half marathons, a couple marathons and done a whole bunch of running on my own. But this year, after running real hard throughout the summer and continuing through the winter I've decided to pursue some rather extensive running goals for the coming summer.
My schedule for the coming year is tentatively like this. March: Campus to Campus Half Marathon, April: Peachland Half Marathon, May: Vancouver Marathon and Penticton Half Maraton, June: SCORCHED SOLE 50 MILE ULTRA!!!!, August: 125 km CANADIAN DEATH RACE!!!, September: Kamloops Walk in the Park (54 km), October: Kelowna Marathon.
Main goal is the Canadian Death Race. It will be EPIC! 125 km of trails up and down mountains in the rockies in Grande Cache, Alberta. To get ready the plain is to run, run, run , run, do lots of stairs, so lots of trail running, run more, run longer, run trails at night, and repeat. The training plan I'm going to follow will have me slowly building up my running base up to about at least 75 miles run per week. I don't know about the taper concept though, I'll have to figure that out later.
One of the things I need to get used to that I've never done before is learning to run with the equipment that the Death Race requires you to have. Things such as a headlamp for the inevitable night time run and poles. I bought a headlamp, and the closest thing I can for mountain like trails until the KVR trails melt in March/April is the trails on Knox Mountain. The trails on Knox are still a bit like loose mud, but it's still fun.
I don't know which is prefereable; running with a headlamp and being able to see the ground and have good footing or running without a headlamp and feeling like you are a part of nature. With a headlamp you can see all the deer and any other possible animals that are out there, and the deer's eyes look so weird with the LED light shining into them. And when you see the eyes of a wild animal in the dark you have that half second of hesitation when you try and figure out what animal it is; is it a deer? Or perhaps a bear? Or a coyote? If I were running without a headlamp I would just run right into the animal, and I would run like a scared little pre-schooler no matter what it was. But with headlamp, I get to know if I see a bear about to kill me. I think I would rather not know. And those deer sure sleep in funny places, they all seem to like to sleep resting on the steepest slopes of the mountainside, it's very strange.
Last week one of my runs was a 22 km run. Well actually I ran until 21.1 km and then walked the rest of the way home. I ran my fastest 5 k, and 10 k times I can remember timing. (24 minutes and 48:30) and I ran my fastest half marathon time in the last three years (1:49:30). So stoked! I probably won't try and run faster than that for awhile, instead just focusing on slowly increasing the distance that I can run comfortably, and you know... lots of stairs and hill climbs.
Nazzer
My schedule for the coming year is tentatively like this. March: Campus to Campus Half Marathon, April: Peachland Half Marathon, May: Vancouver Marathon and Penticton Half Maraton, June: SCORCHED SOLE 50 MILE ULTRA!!!!, August: 125 km CANADIAN DEATH RACE!!!, September: Kamloops Walk in the Park (54 km), October: Kelowna Marathon.
Main goal is the Canadian Death Race. It will be EPIC! 125 km of trails up and down mountains in the rockies in Grande Cache, Alberta. To get ready the plain is to run, run, run , run, do lots of stairs, so lots of trail running, run more, run longer, run trails at night, and repeat. The training plan I'm going to follow will have me slowly building up my running base up to about at least 75 miles run per week. I don't know about the taper concept though, I'll have to figure that out later.
One of the things I need to get used to that I've never done before is learning to run with the equipment that the Death Race requires you to have. Things such as a headlamp for the inevitable night time run and poles. I bought a headlamp, and the closest thing I can for mountain like trails until the KVR trails melt in March/April is the trails on Knox Mountain. The trails on Knox are still a bit like loose mud, but it's still fun.
I don't know which is prefereable; running with a headlamp and being able to see the ground and have good footing or running without a headlamp and feeling like you are a part of nature. With a headlamp you can see all the deer and any other possible animals that are out there, and the deer's eyes look so weird with the LED light shining into them. And when you see the eyes of a wild animal in the dark you have that half second of hesitation when you try and figure out what animal it is; is it a deer? Or perhaps a bear? Or a coyote? If I were running without a headlamp I would just run right into the animal, and I would run like a scared little pre-schooler no matter what it was. But with headlamp, I get to know if I see a bear about to kill me. I think I would rather not know. And those deer sure sleep in funny places, they all seem to like to sleep resting on the steepest slopes of the mountainside, it's very strange.
Last week one of my runs was a 22 km run. Well actually I ran until 21.1 km and then walked the rest of the way home. I ran my fastest 5 k, and 10 k times I can remember timing. (24 minutes and 48:30) and I ran my fastest half marathon time in the last three years (1:49:30). So stoked! I probably won't try and run faster than that for awhile, instead just focusing on slowly increasing the distance that I can run comfortably, and you know... lots of stairs and hill climbs.
Nazzer
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