My training really wasn't where it should have been. In the past I've executed a normal training week the week of the race and continued right through, doing little more than taking the day before off. This year I lightened up the week and only did maybe half the mileage I usually would hoping the taper would make up for the inadequacy in training. Didn't work.
Less than 10k in to this thing my left hamstring was getting very tight. This has been an ongoing problem for me this season on long runs where my left hamstring gets tired too early. I'm going to have to augment the running with some strengthening and see if that helps. It will also help to get the local HS track back into use as it's still buried in snow. The speed sessions will build up those muscles and hopefully that will alleviate the stiffness.
I didn't have a problem with breathing. That was pretty consistent and easy throughout the race, even when things were difficult. At 20k I started some short firm walks to help loosen the legs up. The right leg had to pick up the slack for the left and started it's own complaints late in the race. What I didn't do was walk any part of Valley Inn Road which is a long lofty hill that marks the beginning of the end. The hill felt good to run since it was all quads.
I don't like this race much anymore. It used to be fun when the Hamilton Convention Centre was the host location and finishers were granted a slice of pizza and a tall frosty brew. Running Room now fully organizes the race. At the finish you're given a white plastic bag that volunteers fill with the usual cold race fare, and you're hustled out of the area. The feeling is no longer friendly, it's just 'here's your medal, here's your food, see you next year". It was a party atmosphere and live band in the past, how it's just bland and rushed. I think this is the last year for me. Unless I get a good strong winter in and get the hankering to beat my 2:22 PR for this course, it will be off my list.
I'll consider Mississauga's half next. It's a great race, well done despite being only a few years old, on a great course. You can hammer the lengthy downhill of this and it's a blast to do the half. The full is a bit less flashy and somewhat ugly when you're doing the extension off the half, but worth running if you think you're close to BQ condition.
After that, I'll try to be back in the 33's for the 5 mile Nightcrawler in June. I've got my work cut out for me in that one. After gaining a minute a year for 4 years in a row, last year was a minute slower than previous. Don't suppose now being 48 has any impact on this, ya think?
Sunday, March 30, 2008
*yawn*
I'm eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, washing it down with tea.
The sun is just peeking over the horizon, I can see the glow on the buildings to the north. A clear and cold night, there's a beautiful half moon hanging in the sky out the back door.
It's race morning. An hour's drive to Hamilton awaits me next. Race starts at 9:30. Parking will become an affair of it's own so it's best to arrive at least an hour early and hang out in Copp's until the time comes. I'll take along the bare essentials in terms of ID, my driver's license and insurance card, a CC and whatever cash I'll need for parking.
The challenges this morning are purging (getting to the bathroom enough times) and fueling (getting to the cupboard enough times). Most of my fueling takes place over the last few days. This morning is just a top up to prevent my body from extracting the goodies that are stored, it contributes nothing to the race itself.
We dodge the rain bullet, which is much appreciated. Sun and a few clouds, light winds and right about the freezing mark. I'll likely wear two tee's (one s/s, one l/s) and my light jacket, regular running hat. I'll take the toque and dry clothes to change into once I'm done. If I'm lucky I'll find the crew from kick and ch there, but it won't be easy amongst 8000 people.
Sandwich is gone. One more potty stop and I'm out. My bib number this year is 1950. 10 more and I would have had my birth year.
The sun is just peeking over the horizon, I can see the glow on the buildings to the north. A clear and cold night, there's a beautiful half moon hanging in the sky out the back door.
It's race morning. An hour's drive to Hamilton awaits me next. Race starts at 9:30. Parking will become an affair of it's own so it's best to arrive at least an hour early and hang out in Copp's until the time comes. I'll take along the bare essentials in terms of ID, my driver's license and insurance card, a CC and whatever cash I'll need for parking.
The challenges this morning are purging (getting to the bathroom enough times) and fueling (getting to the cupboard enough times). Most of my fueling takes place over the last few days. This morning is just a top up to prevent my body from extracting the goodies that are stored, it contributes nothing to the race itself.
We dodge the rain bullet, which is much appreciated. Sun and a few clouds, light winds and right about the freezing mark. I'll likely wear two tee's (one s/s, one l/s) and my light jacket, regular running hat. I'll take the toque and dry clothes to change into once I'm done. If I'm lucky I'll find the crew from kick and ch there, but it won't be easy amongst 8000 people.
Sandwich is gone. One more potty stop and I'm out. My bib number this year is 1950. 10 more and I would have had my birth year.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Whether the weather will wither or not
Slushy messy light snow down yesterday, just enough to make a mess. Temps dropped overnight with dry cold air pushing through, evaporating most of what fell and firming what was left into patchy ice.
My venture to the end of the driveway and lack of suredness under my feet, and still some time until the sun poked it's way over the horizon, had me second guessing the run this morning. I salted the sidewalk and driveway and watched a morning runner navigating the bicycle lane down the street and figured I'll check if conditions on the mains were better than my sidestreet. Not bad, once I got down there, but my plan to warm up in the park and do my usual long hill routine was out. So it was 10 minutes out and 10 back to warm up, hit the toidy and head back out to run up and down Haldon Avenue a few times.
The hill itself was a bit tricky, but passable. The occasional car heading towards the park lot caused a brief pause as the remaining snow banks along with some parked cars meant we both couldn't occupy the lane together and one had to give. 1 ton of car beats 130 pounds of skinny runner. 5 passes on the hill in just over 4 minutes each was it. Can't overdo it as I'm 4 days way from the bay and that requires some semblence of taper.
An hour total, timing the return from the cooldown loop and meet precisely at my front door when the watch clicked over to 1:00:00. I know the routes so well now I can get within seconds of planned mark every run out. Somebody opted to spice up the visual scenery on O'Connor by placing an apple into the mouth of some raccoon roadkill and literally sticking a fork in the furry unfortunate's side. Nice. I was glad to only have passed it twice. I think a call to the city cleanup crew is in order.
Weather roulette is the game now. You don't win anything, you just have your expectations flutter up and down as the forecast adjusts each time. What's of consideration is the wind direction. The ATB runs around Hamilton's inner harbour at the most western point of the lake. East winds cross the lake in full and will dictate the conditions in Hamilton regardless of the forecast. Right now, it calls for 25 klik easterlies and temps just about freezing. That means wet snow in the face for the second 5k leg of the race and along the side for 9 k of waterfront. Two years ago I ran this race in shorts and a T. Whenever I attend this race I bring a bag full of clothes of all types, light and thick, water resistent and not, long and short, making the final call within minutes of the gun going off.
This race isn't what it was before. Running Room now pretty well runs it and that means the obligatory bag of cold food and you're ushered on your way once you're finished. It used to be, up to 2 years ago, beer and pizza and a big room to sit and chat afterwards. I guess the pizza folk got tired of staying up the night before making enough for 3-4 thousand runners. This year it's nearly 9000 in total, about 6000 of them doing the 30k.
Maybe I'll byob. Beer takes on it's own unique characterstic after 18.6 miles of racing.
My venture to the end of the driveway and lack of suredness under my feet, and still some time until the sun poked it's way over the horizon, had me second guessing the run this morning. I salted the sidewalk and driveway and watched a morning runner navigating the bicycle lane down the street and figured I'll check if conditions on the mains were better than my sidestreet. Not bad, once I got down there, but my plan to warm up in the park and do my usual long hill routine was out. So it was 10 minutes out and 10 back to warm up, hit the toidy and head back out to run up and down Haldon Avenue a few times.
The hill itself was a bit tricky, but passable. The occasional car heading towards the park lot caused a brief pause as the remaining snow banks along with some parked cars meant we both couldn't occupy the lane together and one had to give. 1 ton of car beats 130 pounds of skinny runner. 5 passes on the hill in just over 4 minutes each was it. Can't overdo it as I'm 4 days way from the bay and that requires some semblence of taper.
An hour total, timing the return from the cooldown loop and meet precisely at my front door when the watch clicked over to 1:00:00. I know the routes so well now I can get within seconds of planned mark every run out. Somebody opted to spice up the visual scenery on O'Connor by placing an apple into the mouth of some raccoon roadkill and literally sticking a fork in the furry unfortunate's side. Nice. I was glad to only have passed it twice. I think a call to the city cleanup crew is in order.
Weather roulette is the game now. You don't win anything, you just have your expectations flutter up and down as the forecast adjusts each time. What's of consideration is the wind direction. The ATB runs around Hamilton's inner harbour at the most western point of the lake. East winds cross the lake in full and will dictate the conditions in Hamilton regardless of the forecast. Right now, it calls for 25 klik easterlies and temps just about freezing. That means wet snow in the face for the second 5k leg of the race and along the side for 9 k of waterfront. Two years ago I ran this race in shorts and a T. Whenever I attend this race I bring a bag full of clothes of all types, light and thick, water resistent and not, long and short, making the final call within minutes of the gun going off.
This race isn't what it was before. Running Room now pretty well runs it and that means the obligatory bag of cold food and you're ushered on your way once you're finished. It used to be, up to 2 years ago, beer and pizza and a big room to sit and chat afterwards. I guess the pizza folk got tired of staying up the night before making enough for 3-4 thousand runners. This year it's nearly 9000 in total, about 6000 of them doing the 30k.
Maybe I'll byob. Beer takes on it's own unique characterstic after 18.6 miles of racing.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
I think it's time for
my yearly post.
A bit of the last while has me poking around sites like classmates and facebook finding names of those from years gone by. Given the nature of those sites, there's a lot of folk from schooldays in there, a few pictures, some new content. Over a 30 year gap there's a lot of changes that take place.
It's no doubt the nature of the sites themselves, biasing introduced by design, but I'm surprised at the number of people that retain contact with their school mates. Quite frankly, I haven't given a lot of them much thought, and I wasn't one of those 'central' figures in school. Some people would remember me, most wouldn't, no standout here. I had my friends and have kept some level of contact with a couple, but very few. Even when I go back to Sydney and visit I generally just stay with family and not socialize too much. I wouldn't know where anyone was anyway and I really wasn't (isn't) that type that makes the extra effort to retain those bonds.
Still, a part of me does look back and kind of wants some of those old friendships to be there in some form or another.
In this body I've gone day to day, bed at night and wake up in the morning, and the time just ticks on by with those tiny bits of erosion that cumulate to form the face that looks back at me from the mirror. I've spent my time with work and family and lately I've realized that I haven't made much time for my own relationships and contacts. Part of it is my personality, part of it is finding the time in the big city to really make those things happen. Places I've worked at in the past had quite a social atmosphere to them and made it easier to make that one night a week to just hang out and yakkity-yak. That hasn't been the case here and I've found it's quite wearing when you lack that outlet.
It's interesting to see how others have fared. There are a few from way back when that I'd really like to know where they've gone to and what they're doing.
I've got a 30k coming up this week. Weather's supposed to be wet snow. Blech!
A bit of the last while has me poking around sites like classmates and facebook finding names of those from years gone by. Given the nature of those sites, there's a lot of folk from schooldays in there, a few pictures, some new content. Over a 30 year gap there's a lot of changes that take place.
It's no doubt the nature of the sites themselves, biasing introduced by design, but I'm surprised at the number of people that retain contact with their school mates. Quite frankly, I haven't given a lot of them much thought, and I wasn't one of those 'central' figures in school. Some people would remember me, most wouldn't, no standout here. I had my friends and have kept some level of contact with a couple, but very few. Even when I go back to Sydney and visit I generally just stay with family and not socialize too much. I wouldn't know where anyone was anyway and I really wasn't (isn't) that type that makes the extra effort to retain those bonds.
Still, a part of me does look back and kind of wants some of those old friendships to be there in some form or another.
In this body I've gone day to day, bed at night and wake up in the morning, and the time just ticks on by with those tiny bits of erosion that cumulate to form the face that looks back at me from the mirror. I've spent my time with work and family and lately I've realized that I haven't made much time for my own relationships and contacts. Part of it is my personality, part of it is finding the time in the big city to really make those things happen. Places I've worked at in the past had quite a social atmosphere to them and made it easier to make that one night a week to just hang out and yakkity-yak. That hasn't been the case here and I've found it's quite wearing when you lack that outlet.
It's interesting to see how others have fared. There are a few from way back when that I'd really like to know where they've gone to and what they're doing.
I've got a 30k coming up this week. Weather's supposed to be wet snow. Blech!
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