Toronto Goodlife Marathon

I have had huge gains this training cycle as I have actually been... training.

In January I ran my first 100km week and from there progressed to running between 115-130km weeks. This is a huge increase in mileage considering I was only running between 60-75km a week before this.

Unfortunately about 2.5 weeks ago I started getting  really bad pain in my left knee and had to shut the training down and switch over to cross training. I immediately made a backup plan to switch to the Ottawa marathon incase my knee didn't get sorted out in time for Goodlife.

It wasn't until the Monday before Goodlife that I finally went and got my knee treated. Let me tell you treatment works and it is worth every penny! I won't get into the details but I pretty much have the weakest glutes ever and every other muscle in my leg is over compensating and since everything is connected to either the knee or the hip ( right?) the stress was finally taking it's toll.

Luckily we were able to loosen some muscles up and I was taught some great exercises to added into my routine to help prevent this issue from happening in the future.

On race day I had a good warmup and my knee didn't give me any trouble. I know that Goodlife isn't a super competitive race but I was hoping to have someone to run with for at least the first half. Unfortunately I only had someone to run with for the first 2km and the other 40.2 I was only own. I kept pushing myself to race pace but would drift off and then push myself back to race pace and drift off.  The race felt like the longest tempo run of my life.  During ATB I ran most of it alone but there was always someone in sight to chase down and  I knew that there were people that would reel me in if I ever let up on my pace.

When I crossed the line I didn't feel particularly exhausted, my legs didn't feel shredded or overly beat. I felt like I wasn't able to push myself to my full potential and that I didn't squeeze out 100%  of my effort.  I know I had a faster time in me I just didn't have anyone to help me chase it down. In that sense I felt like this was a waste of a marathon. I regret not signing up for a more competitive marathon so that I could've actually raced 42.2km vs just run 42.2km as fast as I can only own.

The loneliest 42.2km = 2:33:38

Satisfied no... Happy yes. I am happy with the gains I have made this season. I chopped off time in every distance from 3000m to the Marathon. I was hoping to be a little faster than 2:33:00 and I find a little peace in mind knowing that I can do better.  

It was great to see so many familiar faces cheering throughout the course and to see people support their teammates.

This season has been exciting and fun and a little bit stressful. My choose your own adventure training plan has  worked for me but making all of your own decisions is hard. I must admit there were times this season I wish I had a coach who was familiar with my training and my fitness. It was hard to guess what times and paces I should be aiming for as I have never had this level of fitness before.  Moving forward I am definitely going to look into getting a proper training program and a coach to make the most out of my efforts.  

Thank you to everyone that has pushed me this season to be better and thank you #RunTO for your enthusiasm and support.  

Congratulations to everyone that raced this weekend!

- ebang

Harry's Spring Run Off

As much as I dread this race I love racing in Toronto because we have such an awesome running community!

After struggling on the hills last week at ATB I was a little anxious about how this race would go.  I didn't have a goal time that I wanted to run as I figured it would be considerably slower than Robbie Burns due the difficulty of the course. For this race I just wanted to put in a good strong effort without feeling like I am dying. The start of the race was FAST. There were two lead groups and then myself and a few others trailing behind.  I slowly managed to reel in the second lead pack by the time we got to our first up hill climb. I powered up the hill and by the time we got to the top the pack had thinned out. 

I ran the rest of the race with Garrett De Jong . We were sitting in 7th & 8th  and it wasn't until the final hill that 6th place, Victor Gatundu came into our sights. I was trailing behind Garrett and had a moment where I thought whether I catch him or not I have run a good race and that's enough for me ... Not the thoughts I should be having 150m from the fnish.  Someone on the sideline shouted out  " He's 2ft in front of you go after it!" and snapped me back into competitive mode. Garrett kicked and flew by  Victor and I kicked and came up beside Victor. It was another exciting finish with 1 second between each of us.  I finished in a time of 26:28. only 9 seconds slower than Robbie Burns  and almost 2 minutes faster than my time on this course last year. 

I am happy with my result and the fitness I demonstrated  however I am a little disapointed in myself for not mentally pushing myself harder. I don't want to be an athlete that settles and tells themselves I've done good enough ... before the race is even over. This video will will serve as a remind of that.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=422823107879883

Jumping back to St. Patricks Day I raced the Achilles 5km in Toronto and finally nipped under 16 minutes ands set a new PB of 15:59. Based off the 3k's I had raced on the track I was sure I could break 16 minutes in the 5km. I was actually expecting a faster time than what I ran but strong head winds made it a challenging race.  It wasn't until the slight up hill on Spadina that I was able to move into 3rd  and start kicking home. Seeing the clock count the seconds away and having Adam Cole right on my heels I had to drive hard all the way through the finish line. 

It's been a great spring racing season so far and I look forward to keeping up the momentum. 

-ebang 

Around The Bay 2015

Well that was hard! 

I have only done ATB once before and my fitness has really improved since then so I wasn't sure what to expect to run today. A lot of guys were aiming for the 1:45:00 mark  and I figured I would be able to do that too. I held a 3:24/km at the Chilly 1/2 so I figured that a 3:30/km pace would be a strong and comfortable pace for today.  It was a strong pace but not comfortable at all. I really had to work and stay engaged every kilometre to make sure I was on pace. Unfortunately once I hit the later half of the course with the rolling hills ( we can call them hills right?) I wasn't strong enough to hold my pace and it dropped.... significantly.  

Larry Abbot et Moi, We went to McMaster together. He was an outstanding xc runner and I had no work ethic....

Slowly guys started to catch and over take me. It wasn't until we got back to nice even flat at the last 4km that I was able to pull myself together and get back to an aggressive pace. I managed to catch most of the people that had passed me and found myself going stride for stride to the finish line with Jeff Conron from the Toronto Black Lungs whom I have been doing long runs with over the winter.  Jeff ended up beating me by a hair ( it was an epic sprint).

I finished in 1:45:59.9  with an average pace of 3:33/km - almost an 8 min PB. However if I am honest I was expecting / hoping to go faster.  Like most races that don't go as planned this one was a great learning experience. This race really pointed out my strengths and weaknesses, I know what I need to work so back to the grind it is!

I'll wrap this post up by thanking everyone that came out to cheer! It was great to see so many people from Toronto on the course and to have their support! and congratulations to  everyone that set new PB's! After a hard block of winter training you have all earned your PB's! 

- ebang 

Chilly 1/2 Marathon

I think that everyone can agree with me when I say that we had an awful February. That being said I managed to continue to build up my milage and get some good quality speed workouts in.

I was a bit hesitant to sign up for the Chilly 1/2 Marathon because I wasn't sure what the weather would be like and I really didn't want to race in -15 and wind.  Luckily for everyone running March 1st brought some warmer weather for us and there wasn't much wind.

Unfortunately this week my hamstrings started revolting against me. I took most of the week off from running and it was even painful to walk at some points. I spent a fair amount of time icing my hamstrings and doing activation / dynamic stretches ( I actually have the ice on my hamstrings now as I type this) . Despite my hamstrings protest I told myself I would race as I normally would but wouldn't push it if I started to feel a charlie horse coming on. I wanted to run at least a 1:13 but thought that my hamstrings may hold me back to a 1:16 -1:17. This was a race where I really needed to listen to my body even if it meant compromising my goals. 

The race started and within the first few kilometres I found myself in 8th place holding a steady pace in no mans land. I ran almost the entire first half of the race alone staying around a 3:30 ish pace with 7th place a good 200m a head of me.  Thankfully just before the turnaround point Ryan Tice over took me and brought our pace down to 3:25. It wasn't long before we reeled in 7th and once we did the pace started to go between 3:20-3:25. Knowing that my hamstrings were on the fritz I didn't want to push the pace at all and was hoping that they would wait until the final km before they picked it up. Luckily they waited until the last 500m to do their kick. A HUGE part of me wanted to kick as hard as I could and go with them but the more sensible part of me reasoned that 10 seconds and 2 spots at the cost of further injuring myself wasn't worth it and to just be happy that I was able to race a well as I  did. 

I finished 9th over all in a time of 1:11:58 . A huge PB.  

I am not going to lie, I am disappointed that I wasn't able to run to the best of my ability today and leave it all out there. That being said I am thrilled with my time and I am happy to know that I have more speed to leave out there... next time.

( My Bib was 112 and I ran 2 seconds off of a 1:12 flat.... conspiracy!) 

*  A huge thank you to everyone in the running community that cheered me on and shouted encouragement during the race. It truly is uplifting and makes my heart beat a little stronger

- ebang 

End of 2014 Recap

As my first race of 2015 fast approaches I thought I should take the time to quickly recap the end of my 2014 season.

XC.... Highs and Lows

A lot of the top runners in the OCAA graduated this past year and Fansahw who has dominated the OCAA for the last 7 years lost several of their top runners. Despite the turnover of their athletes Fanshaw did not make it any easier to beat them and made us work for every place. For me this season was for the most part frustrating. I was having great workouts but it wasn't showing in my results.  I consistently finished 6th-8th and my times for the most part didn't get any faster. * As a road racer you really put emphasis on your time, however for xc it is much more about place than time since the difficulty level of each course varies.

Probably the most disappointing race of the whole season for me was Provincials. My personal goal for the season was to come in the top 7 at Provincials so that I could make the Ontario team which also races at Nationals or at the very least Place in the top 14 so that I could get Second All Ontario status.  After having come at least 8th all season  I felt that I had a really good chance  at achieving my goals. Unfortunately I bombed Provincials and wound up in 18th.  Even worse after winning every race as a team all season it was a little disappointing to slip back to second.

We had about 2 weeks between Provincials and Nationals to regroup. Going into Nationals I wanted   to be one of the top 7 finisher from Ontario and prove to myself that I could have made Team Ontario. The course was a 2 km loop and we had to do it 4 times. I ran a well paced race and it turned out to be the best race of my season. I ended up coming 18th over all and finished 8th out of the  Ontario runners. Humber took home gold! It was the first time ever that Humber's Men's XC team has taken home National Gold.It was a great way to end the season and a great last race as a Humber Hawk.

Tannenbaum 10km

After my xc season wrapped up I took it easy for a bit. I continued to get some runs in and maintain my fitness but I wasn't doing hard interval workouts or speed work. I wanted to set a new 10 km PB and was aiming to run a 34:30. It was a pretty competitive field so I knew it would be a fast race and that I just needed to focus on running my own race.  Just before the half way point I broke away from the pack I was running with and caught up with the pack ahead of me.  In that moment I thought  " what the heck are you doing". I felt strong and relaxed so at about 7 km I broke away from the pack again. From there on I was on my own.  I turned on my burners and hopped I wouldn't run out of gas. I felt like I could just keep pushing myself harder and harder and that's what I did. I finished 4th over with a time of 33:36. My first 5km split was 16:59 and my second split was 16:37! After a hard xc season of running difficult courses it was so nice to run fast again.

Plans for 2015

^ Milage

^ Speed

Run more and run faster.