17.1 K Run - My longest road distance

This morning we did a 17.1 km run. This was my longest distance on the road. I found my longest distance ever and it was 18.4 km in the trails and it took me 2.56.22 hours. (August 19, 2007) The 17.1 km this morning took me 1.51.45 hours. In other words - it took me an hour and 5 minutes longer to do an extra 1.3 km in the trails.

The group of people at the Running Room are awesome. Some of my IF training mates have joined and the combination of them with my new friends from the Running Room group make the running that much better. They are all so encouraging and motivating. There is one gentleman there that is training for a marathon on his 80th birthday! Incredible.

I am fairly new to road running - most of my jogs / runs have been in the trails. You will always be faster on the road than in the trails. The trails generally have a lot more hills so you're much slower than on the road. I am still pretty amazed at how much more difficult the trails are.

Anyhow - back to today's run. We did intervals of 10 minutes of running and 1 minute of walking. At first, I thought I would just run through the whole thing - but then I thought I should just stick with the program. For the first few intervals, it was a nice break. However, as time went on - I was so looking forward to that 1 minute walk! It seemed like the 1 minute kept getting faster as time went on. I'd look down and it was 'time to run again!?'

It's pretty amazing how aware you become of your body parts when you're running these distances. While I was running today - I noticed my left hamstring is tight - I need to stretch it out a bit. My pinkie toenail on my left foot is too long - it is rubbing on my shoe and annoying me a bit. Not something you notice on a regular basis - until you're running for almost 2 hours straight.

My iPod mix is coming along. Maroon 5 "Wake Up Call" seems to be exactly in tune with my cadence. Also - Nelly "Country Grammar" seems to have a good steady beat.

Lastly, I thought I would add some jogging / running 'jargon' here. There are usually words that are associated with every sport that are used on a regular basis by people participating. Today's word is 'cadence'. Cadence is "the rhythm of a person's walk". It's basically the musical equivalent of BPM or Beats per Minute. If you get into a nice rhythm / cadence when you're running - you get to know what your speed is going to be per km or 5 km, etc.

That's all for now - I need to stretch!
Apparently next Sunday is another 16 km...

10K...after an IF workout!

I train at Innovative Fitness on Monday, Wednesday and Friday's. The running club is Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday. (Long runs on Sunday.)

I thought I would do my regular workout today and then do the running club afterwards at 6:30 PM. Bad idea? Good idea? Not sure, really. All I know is that I had a pretty kick-ass workout for an hour and then ran 10K afterwards.

The route that we ran today and yesterday is new to me. I live in the area, but it still amazes me at all of the great trails and routes we have for walking, jogging, running, biking, etc. It was pretty much the same route as yesterday - just 2K longer on the way downhill and therefore 2K longer on the way uphill...

I think I am going to take the rest of the week off from running! I need to work my way up to 4 days a week.

A little 6.42K'er

I joined the Running Room Marathon Clinic today. It was at 6:30 PM at the Running Room at South Point (Surrey) by the Cactus Club.

Frankly, I was a bit tired from work today and I didn't really feel like going for a run. Then, as I was driving in the direction of the Running Room - I got to thinking... I've never run a Marathon.. I've never run a HALF Marathon!

It kind of hit me that if I want to enjoy this event - I won't be able to cram for it like in school when you could just study all night and take the test the next day. You really need to put in the effort.

So, I sucked it up and went to the Running Room - and I'm really glad I did! There was a great group of people there, including Isabelle and Greg from IF, and it was motivating to be running with a group. Although I think the crew from there is a little bit evil because the run was downhill for the first part and uphill all the way home... but that's the deal, right!?

The long runs start soon - these little runs are just the tip of the iceberg. This was a good little one and a start to many more. I felt good all the way through it.

Afterwards, I found this quote that I thought was fitting for my new group at the Running Room -

"Your training partners are key to your success, and friendships based on your runs together are strong.” Bill Rodgers

Running Group...

So I'm going to join the IF White Rock Running Group only I won't be at the LSD runs until September. I've got myself a bit booked up with training to do the West Coast Trail at the end of August, so Sundays will consist of long slow trail runs / hikes for the next 6 weeks. I'm not worried, though because I'll be putting in the time, just not on the road. Hopefully I'll see everybody at the other runs during the week!! I can't wait to start really focusing on New York though cuz it's gonna be fun!!!

A nice little 40 minute run..

I had my regular IF workout today and, as the 'real' start of my training for NYC, I went for a little run with Izzy.

First of all - what a great person to run with! Fun to talk with, motivating to run with, and she just sort of jogs around you pushing you through it. Thanks, Izzy.

We covered road, trails, uphill, downhill...even a peek into Kim & Paul's backyard - we were hoping they were swimming and we'd join them for a dip. A nice little taste of what's to come. It was 40 minutes or about 8K or so. (Yes, I will wear my heart rate / GPS, etc., next time..)

I can tell that if I keep this up - I'm going to be a skinny dude!

Training for NYC - My first run (I know..I'm starting a little late..)

I thought it would be fun to incorporate some events in my training for the NYC Marathon. (As opposed to simply hitting the road and running..)

The first event of my training was "Seek the Peak" - to raise funds for Breast Cancer - at Grouse Mountain in Vancouver, B.C.

There are 4 stages to this event 16km event -

Stage 1: Ambleside Beach (Main Concession) to end of Keith Road - 3.5km
Stage 2: Keith Road to Grouse Mountain via Capilano Pacific Trail system - 6km
Stage 3: Grouse Grind® to Peak Chalet - 3.5km (2,800' vertical gain)
Stage 4: Top of Grouse Grind® to The Peak of Grouse Mountain and back to plaza outside the Peak Chalet (FINISH) - 3km (400' vertical gain)

At first, I thought I would do the whole event on my own - but then I decided to involve my wife, my sister and my brother-in-law and do it as a relay. I'm glad we all did it together - it was a great day with my family and a lot of fun. My sister brought their two children for support, 7 and 5 years old - and they might do a leg or two in the next couple of years! We finished 17 out of 30 co-ed teams - a good baseline for next year..

It was also great to see my friends from Innovative Fitness there - many of whom are going to be running NYC with me.

I saw the article below in the paper on Sunday and I thought it was a great headline "Gruelling..." That's true - I 'only' did the 6km portion - but I have to admit that it's one of the only times that I have been on a run that is pretty much 99% uphill. Nonstop uphill. When there was a small downhill portion - it was tough knowing that I'll still have to go back up!

"Gruelling 16k race peaks at Grouse Mountain
Allison Cross, Vancouver SunPublished: Sunday, July 06, 2008
700 racers turned out Sunday to participate in a 16-kilometre cross-country trail run that finished on top of Grouse Mountain.
This year's Seek the Peak Relay, which departed from the Ambleside beach in West Vancouver, raised $35,000 for the fight against breast cancer.
Organizers said the number could top $40,000 as pledges continue to come in over the next week.
For the fifth year in a row, runners climbed to a height of 4,100 feet.
In the solo category, Eric Langhjelm finished first overall with a time of 1:31:50. Brett Snider came second with 1:34:26 and Christophe Simon third at 1:35:13. The top women competitor was Teresa Hovik who ran the race in 1:45:09.
The top relay team was the North Vancouver City fire fighters, with a time of 1:38:57.
across@png.canwest.com"


Here's a readout from my GPS watch that shows my 'vitals and stats' from the race. I'm glad that we are starting the progressive training next Monday after everyone gets back from the Seattle to Portland race. Looks like I've got a ways to go!



That's all for now!

Here's a pic of my sister and her husband (He rocked the Grind!) and my nephew in the background -

The Ipod Dilemma...or Opportunity?

During the Honolulu Marathon, I saved the big guns (that would be my ipod) for when I really needed it, so I didn't worry too much about how many hours were on it, though there were about 10. It was awesome to experience the atmosphere of the marathon without tunes, but, around mile 20, when I wanted to die, I put the earphones in and was instantly recharged. I will probably do the same for NYC, but I have an idea that I think our whole group should do.
I think we should email each other a song that reminds each of us of each other. So, I would choose a song that depicts Graham and he would do the same for me. Keeping in mind, of course, that the song should be motivating and upbeat...I'd be pretty deflated if everybody emailed ballads to me :).
A marathon is a very solitary thing, but having a playlist comprised, at least in part, of songs from friends would make it a little less lonely.

What do you guys think?

What to put on my iPod - and how long!?

Since this is my first marathon - I am not yet sure what my time will be.. Depending on how my training goes over the next few months and then what the actual course is going to be like for me.
So, trying to put together a Playlist for my iPod has been fun.. Is it going to be 5 hours, 6, hours...and then what if your Playlist is too short and you have to repeat it - then all you can think about is that you're running slower than you should have...
I'm sure there are bigger issues to worry about - it's just fun trying to put together some upbeat songs for 5 hours straight.