Sunday, April 15, 2012
An outside type of weekend
When the weather gets good I feel obligated to get outside and chase the sunshine.
This weekend was filled with numerous outdoor pursuits all geared towards chasing the sun and feeling good. I started the weekend off with a nice 10k trail run in my local playground. It was only my second run in the two weeks since my big win in the Seymour 10k trail race. I have been nursing a strained calf muscle back to health. The run felt good and my calf is 80% healthy.
Saturday was one the most gorgeous blue-bird sky days that only Vancouver can get. After my run I went downtown and picked up my race package for the Sun Run on Sunday (today) and then met a friend and proceeded to go hiking and sun chasing for 5 hours in the rainforest.
Then we walked along the West Vancouver seawall and caught the sunset and watched people fish for crab. Amazing!
Today was the real test of how my calf muscle was doing. I ran the Sun Run today. This is a massive 60,000 person event held in Vancouver. This would be my second year running it. I planned to run slow to make sure my calf could handle the strain. I also hate running on cement and this is my only road race of the year.
As soon as the gun sounded, I hauled ass out of the start to gain space and but soon I quickly settled down in a nice relaxed pace. I figured I would finish in 45:00 and that it wold be leisurely but I looked at my watch for the first time at 3km and I realized I was going faster than I planned. I said fuck it and decided to maintain that pace and make this race my own. After 10 gruelling kilometres of pounding pavement I crossed the line in 40:34 which is fast for an ultra marathon man such as myself. My fastest time is 39:37, so I was not quite there. But not bad for being dehydrated, overdressed and having already ran 10k to the race that morning.
The race was fun and it was good running it with my buddy Travis. He also put up a blistering time after shooting out of the starting gates super fast.
So, my weekend was filled with time spent outdoors and that to me is a perfect weekend. But now I have to get to work and begin marking my students tests.
This weekend was filled with numerous outdoor pursuits all geared towards chasing the sun and feeling good. I started the weekend off with a nice 10k trail run in my local playground. It was only my second run in the two weeks since my big win in the Seymour 10k trail race. I have been nursing a strained calf muscle back to health. The run felt good and my calf is 80% healthy.
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| The lake at the top of our hike. Not my picture though, I forgot my camera. |
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| Capilano River. Where I spent my Saturday. |
Then we walked along the West Vancouver seawall and caught the sunset and watched people fish for crab. Amazing!
Today was the real test of how my calf muscle was doing. I ran the Sun Run today. This is a massive 60,000 person event held in Vancouver. This would be my second year running it. I planned to run slow to make sure my calf could handle the strain. I also hate running on cement and this is my only road race of the year.
As soon as the gun sounded, I hauled ass out of the start to gain space and but soon I quickly settled down in a nice relaxed pace. I figured I would finish in 45:00 and that it wold be leisurely but I looked at my watch for the first time at 3km and I realized I was going faster than I planned. I said fuck it and decided to maintain that pace and make this race my own. After 10 gruelling kilometres of pounding pavement I crossed the line in 40:34 which is fast for an ultra marathon man such as myself. My fastest time is 39:37, so I was not quite there. But not bad for being dehydrated, overdressed and having already ran 10k to the race that morning.
The race was fun and it was good running it with my buddy Travis. He also put up a blistering time after shooting out of the starting gates super fast.
So, my weekend was filled with time spent outdoors and that to me is a perfect weekend. But now I have to get to work and begin marking my students tests.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Race Day
I'm going to work so that it's a pure guts race at the end, and if it is, I am the only one who can win it.
- Steve Prefontaine
My entire strategy for the race was to go out fast and not stop until I fell down. I did just that.
Luckily, I fell down after the finish line. This race was a guts race and came down to who had it on the final big climb. Luckily I gutted it out and managed to pull out a win.
It was my first trail race of the season and it was a pretty good one. I managed to take first place overall in the 10k event. Not bad for someone who is used to running 50k races and is nursing a calf strain. The race was a series of gravel trails, bridges, skipper rocks, stairs and a punishing climb at the end. Every a good trail race should be. It had been raining for the past week and the puddles were everywhere. We all got muddy and I had way to much fun jumping in as many puddles as I could find.
Right off the gun, I jumped to the front and for the first 200 metres got into a nice fast pace that I knew I could hold. Suddenly, this runner blows by me and set an unmanageable pace. I did not play into his game and I kept up my pace. I was soon joined by another runner and we both kept a steady pace while keeping the front runner in our sights. I knew that if I tried to join the front runner I would die very quickly. By the 3.5km mark we managed to overtake the front runner and at the same time the three of us separated from the rest of the pack. It was going to be a three man race for the finish.
At 4k we laboured up the hill rising from Lynn Valley and crossed the finish line in 20 minutes, not bad for the first 5km. I knew that the race would come down to whoever was going to be the strongest on the final climb of the day. I led for the majority of the second lap and my strategy was to continuously increase my speed on the flats and rolling hills to try and wear my opponents down. I felt great and knew I had lots in the gas tank to fly up that final hill. When we hit the final hill with 1k to go and there were two of us out front. I blew by my bearded opponent on the climb and managed to increase my speed in the final kilometre for the win.
I crossed the finish line and immediatley felt like passing out. Which is a good feeling. It was a guts race and the fastest trail race I have ever done. My right calf felt numb which was bothersome but other than that I felt much better than expected.
A massage and some food afterwords made my leg and mind feel much better. This race was a good way to start off the season and will help with my speed work during 50k events. I do not know if i will do many more 10k races. The speed is exhausting and I don't really get to enjoy the experience before it is finished.
Now I can take a week to recover before stepping up my training for my May 12 race in Oregon.
- Steve Prefontaine
My entire strategy for the race was to go out fast and not stop until I fell down. I did just that.
Luckily, I fell down after the finish line. This race was a guts race and came down to who had it on the final big climb. Luckily I gutted it out and managed to pull out a win.
It was my first trail race of the season and it was a pretty good one. I managed to take first place overall in the 10k event. Not bad for someone who is used to running 50k races and is nursing a calf strain. The race was a series of gravel trails, bridges, skipper rocks, stairs and a punishing climb at the end. Every a good trail race should be. It had been raining for the past week and the puddles were everywhere. We all got muddy and I had way to much fun jumping in as many puddles as I could find.
 |
| My race number today. |
At 4k we laboured up the hill rising from Lynn Valley and crossed the finish line in 20 minutes, not bad for the first 5km. I knew that the race would come down to whoever was going to be the strongest on the final climb of the day. I led for the majority of the second lap and my strategy was to continuously increase my speed on the flats and rolling hills to try and wear my opponents down. I felt great and knew I had lots in the gas tank to fly up that final hill. When we hit the final hill with 1k to go and there were two of us out front. I blew by my bearded opponent on the climb and managed to increase my speed in the final kilometre for the win.
I crossed the finish line and immediatley felt like passing out. Which is a good feeling. It was a guts race and the fastest trail race I have ever done. My right calf felt numb which was bothersome but other than that I felt much better than expected.
A massage and some food afterwords made my leg and mind feel much better. This race was a good way to start off the season and will help with my speed work during 50k events. I do not know if i will do many more 10k races. The speed is exhausting and I don't really get to enjoy the experience before it is finished.
Now I can take a week to recover before stepping up my training for my May 12 race in Oregon.
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