It's funny how things work out sometimes...last season I ran myself into the ground throughout the XC season, in an attempt to grab an All-Canadian (top 14) spot at the CIS Champs and came up just 3 spots short, in 17th. This season, I had a 3 week forced vacation in the middle of the season and arrived at CIS feeling lucky to be able to run at all....and then somehow ended up finishing 13th. Wild!
I must admit, I was as shocked as you are. I was in good spirits before the race as I was truly just happy to be there. I was going to help the team out as best as I could and call it a day. The course was hilly and muddy, and the only way to run this race was to run it smart: slow from the start and pick off people as they come back to me. So that's what I did, and off the gun I found myself miles back from the lead pack - must have been 90th or higher. From there I just cruised...short, fast strides up hills and then letting myself just roll down the otherside, moving forward from pack to pack, keeping myself engaged with the fans (much love for those who came out to cheer us on!) with an eye on the guys ahead of me. It was a 4 lap course, and while I don't know each lap-time, I must have sped up each time around. I think that many people underestimated the difficulty of this course and took it out too hard. By running smart and easing into the race, I made up for what I lacked in fitness - while everyone else was backpedalling in the latter stages, I was still feeling fresh, hungry and confident enough to chase them down. It should be noted that this race plan has been a constant for my entire XC career, it just always seems to escape me when the gun goes off...finally I managed to give it a try!
My performance was matched by several great performances from the rest of the team....good enough to finish 5th (our best performance in 3 years) and only about 20 points from a bronze medal. I certainly was proud to have shared a box (on the starting line) and slogged through the mud with those boys that day. As there are only two of us from this team leaving this year...I think there are good things to come for these boys, maybe some more AC spots.
Anyway, to finish off: big thanks to family and friends who came out to support us, to the athletic therapy team and trainers that helped with my rehab, to Kev for his patience until I finally followed the race plan, and to the Queen's men's and women's teams for a sick weekend!
Run Happy. Be Easy.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Friday, November 12, 2010
CIS X-Country 2010
Two items on the menu tonight: 1) My trip out to Victoria and 2) the 2010 CIS (Canadian Interuniversity Sport) XC Championships.
1) Victoria - As of my last post, Kev and I were on our way to Victoria to attend a middle distance symposium hosted by Athletics Canada and the National Athletics Centre. As we were paying our own way out there, we were a little worried about value for money, however, it ended up being quite worthwhile. The symposium was about injury prevention and involved a morning session of "movement preparation" and an afternoon session learning a Functional Movement Screen. The Movement Prep consisted of a series of movements and techniques that an athlete would do before a workout to ensure that the body is ready to work hard. It involved stretches and drills to improve mobility and stability, especially in the core region (the area from shoulders to hips. Core stability is essential for efficiency, power generation, and decreasing injury potential. It just so happens that this is exactly what I have to work on to fix my knee, so it came at just the right time.
In the afternoon we learnt how to do a Functional Movement Screen (FMS). This is a sort of test that allows coaches, trainers. physios etc to determine how where weaknesses and imbalances may be present in an athlete. It consists of 7 fundamental movements that can reflect the underlying potential for injury in athletes from almost any sport. As the athlete performs each movement the assessor looks for certain criteria that indicate if the athlete is able to do the movement properly or even at all. The movement is scored on a scale of 0-3, with 0 being unable to do it at all, and 3 being a flawless execution. I somehow ended up being volunteered to be the test dummy for the symposium, so I went through the screen while the other participants learnt how to assess properly and pointed out my flaws in the process. I ended up with a score of 2 for each movement, for a total of 14 out of 21 possible points. As it turns out, 14 puts me at a fairly high risk of injury. I guess I could have told them that having just been carrying an injury for the past 3 weeks!
What the FMS does for us though, is allow Kevin to assess me on a regular basis to see what areas I need to work on. Having learnt the Movement Prep in the morning, as well as corrective techniques shown to us in the afternoon session, we have a fairly good idea of how to progess from here.
The next day involved an outline of the middle distance program for the next year. It pretty much involves everyone going down to Pheonix Arizona for the winter and spring before racing in Europe in the summer. I'll explain more about it on another post.
One of the best parts about the trip, however, was getting to know the other runners who were there. On the men's side of things, there was quite a good showing from some of the best middle distance runners in Canada. I was mixing in with Commonwealth medalists and Olympians, and seeing how they were living and training as well as other up-and-comers like myself and saw how they were making plans for their futures in running. A great group of guys all-round and hopefully training partners and team-mates in days to come.
2) 2010 CIS X-Country Championships - I'm currently in a swanky hotel in Sherbrooke, Quebec, just over 16 hours out from running my first steps in anger in almost 4 weeks. With much help, I have rehabbed this knee fairly successfully and believe that I will be able to put in a decent effort in tomorrow. While I won't be at my best, I think I will certainly be able to help the team out.
We checked out the course today and it's going to be a doozy to say the least....its a golf course, but to say its hilly and muddy would be an understatement. It may be the most difficult XC course I have seen. Bring it on baby! .....stay close to your computer for race results. If you would like to view some pre-race prognostications, check out slandersandspeculations.blogspot.com/.
Anyway, that's all for now folks. Off to bed....big day tomorrow!
Run Happy. Be Easy.
1) Victoria - As of my last post, Kev and I were on our way to Victoria to attend a middle distance symposium hosted by Athletics Canada and the National Athletics Centre. As we were paying our own way out there, we were a little worried about value for money, however, it ended up being quite worthwhile. The symposium was about injury prevention and involved a morning session of "movement preparation" and an afternoon session learning a Functional Movement Screen. The Movement Prep consisted of a series of movements and techniques that an athlete would do before a workout to ensure that the body is ready to work hard. It involved stretches and drills to improve mobility and stability, especially in the core region (the area from shoulders to hips. Core stability is essential for efficiency, power generation, and decreasing injury potential. It just so happens that this is exactly what I have to work on to fix my knee, so it came at just the right time.
In the afternoon we learnt how to do a Functional Movement Screen (FMS). This is a sort of test that allows coaches, trainers. physios etc to determine how where weaknesses and imbalances may be present in an athlete. It consists of 7 fundamental movements that can reflect the underlying potential for injury in athletes from almost any sport. As the athlete performs each movement the assessor looks for certain criteria that indicate if the athlete is able to do the movement properly or even at all. The movement is scored on a scale of 0-3, with 0 being unable to do it at all, and 3 being a flawless execution. I somehow ended up being volunteered to be the test dummy for the symposium, so I went through the screen while the other participants learnt how to assess properly and pointed out my flaws in the process. I ended up with a score of 2 for each movement, for a total of 14 out of 21 possible points. As it turns out, 14 puts me at a fairly high risk of injury. I guess I could have told them that having just been carrying an injury for the past 3 weeks!
What the FMS does for us though, is allow Kevin to assess me on a regular basis to see what areas I need to work on. Having learnt the Movement Prep in the morning, as well as corrective techniques shown to us in the afternoon session, we have a fairly good idea of how to progess from here.
The next day involved an outline of the middle distance program for the next year. It pretty much involves everyone going down to Pheonix Arizona for the winter and spring before racing in Europe in the summer. I'll explain more about it on another post.
One of the best parts about the trip, however, was getting to know the other runners who were there. On the men's side of things, there was quite a good showing from some of the best middle distance runners in Canada. I was mixing in with Commonwealth medalists and Olympians, and seeing how they were living and training as well as other up-and-comers like myself and saw how they were making plans for their futures in running. A great group of guys all-round and hopefully training partners and team-mates in days to come.
2) 2010 CIS X-Country Championships - I'm currently in a swanky hotel in Sherbrooke, Quebec, just over 16 hours out from running my first steps in anger in almost 4 weeks. With much help, I have rehabbed this knee fairly successfully and believe that I will be able to put in a decent effort in tomorrow. While I won't be at my best, I think I will certainly be able to help the team out.
We checked out the course today and it's going to be a doozy to say the least....its a golf course, but to say its hilly and muddy would be an understatement. It may be the most difficult XC course I have seen. Bring it on baby! .....stay close to your computer for race results. If you would like to view some pre-race prognostications, check out slandersandspeculations.blogspot.com/.
Anyway, that's all for now folks. Off to bed....big day tomorrow!
Run Happy. Be Easy.
Friday, November 5, 2010
BC Bound!
Quick update: heading to Victoria, BC today for the weekend to attend a symposium at the National Athletics Centre as well as meet and greet some of the Athletics Canada middle distance coaches. Kevin and I were invited in order to discuss my future as an athlete at the national and international level. Someone up top seems to think I have some potential down the line and are interested in developing a relationship between myself, Kevin and the National Athletics Centre. Quite excited and will keep you posted!
Sorry for the delayed notice, I have known for a couple of weeks, but just didn't think to blog about it!
As an additonal update: I ran for 14 minutes last night with ZERO pain and I stopped only as a precaution. Big thumbs up to all of the physios and trainers who have worked with me....we seem to be doing something right! Let's hope this recovery curve is indeed exponential and that I'll be ready to race at CIS next weekend!
Run Happy. Be Easy.
Sorry for the delayed notice, I have known for a couple of weeks, but just didn't think to blog about it!
As an additonal update: I ran for 14 minutes last night with ZERO pain and I stopped only as a precaution. Big thumbs up to all of the physios and trainers who have worked with me....we seem to be doing something right! Let's hope this recovery curve is indeed exponential and that I'll be ready to race at CIS next weekend!
Run Happy. Be Easy.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
7 Minutes in heaven is better than 3 minutes in heaven...
On Saturday I headed out to the track on campus to test out my knee. I was able to run for 7 minutes pain-free, after which I managed 3 more minutes during which a little tightness became a sharp pain at which point I stopped.
But boy oh boy! You should have seen me for those first 7 minutes! I had smile on me like a fox in a hen-house! That 7 minutes was more than double what I had been able to do only a few days before, so it was a good indication that the physio and I were doing the right stuff, rehab wise. It was by far the best 7 minutes of my week!
Fast forward to 10 minutes ago. I was looking in the mirror and contemplating what a tough go I have had, and how I might end up not racing again this season. I imagined myself giving my sister a pep talk before her race at CIS in a few weekends' time. I will say something along the lines of: "We're not getting paid for this, so no matter what happens out there or how you finish, make sure that you are having fun."
Then I flashed back (sorry for all of the time-traveling!) to about 4 weeks ago (before Queen's Open) I was stressed out with my workload and the effort I was putting into my running seemed to be detracting from the effort I was able to put into my academics and the rest of my life. I no longer appreciated it and I was certainly wasn't having fun doing it.
Boom! All of a sudden I made the connection. I dropped my feeling of "woe is me" like high school french and I'm now a new man! This injury made those 7 minutes of heaven possible and has allowed me to remember why it is that I run. Because I flippin love to! I'm not sure why it has taken an injury to make me remember, but now I have a new sense of urgency to fix myself up. I trust that this new-found sense of optimism and general good-will towards mankind will, perhaps, speed up the recovery process. And if not, the pitter-patter of lightly treading feet will sound ever so much the more melodic when I do finally get back to running!
Run happy. Be easy.
But boy oh boy! You should have seen me for those first 7 minutes! I had smile on me like a fox in a hen-house! That 7 minutes was more than double what I had been able to do only a few days before, so it was a good indication that the physio and I were doing the right stuff, rehab wise. It was by far the best 7 minutes of my week!
Fast forward to 10 minutes ago. I was looking in the mirror and contemplating what a tough go I have had, and how I might end up not racing again this season. I imagined myself giving my sister a pep talk before her race at CIS in a few weekends' time. I will say something along the lines of: "We're not getting paid for this, so no matter what happens out there or how you finish, make sure that you are having fun."
Then I flashed back (sorry for all of the time-traveling!) to about 4 weeks ago (before Queen's Open) I was stressed out with my workload and the effort I was putting into my running seemed to be detracting from the effort I was able to put into my academics and the rest of my life. I no longer appreciated it and I was certainly wasn't having fun doing it.
Boom! All of a sudden I made the connection. I dropped my feeling of "woe is me" like high school french and I'm now a new man! This injury made those 7 minutes of heaven possible and has allowed me to remember why it is that I run. Because I flippin love to! I'm not sure why it has taken an injury to make me remember, but now I have a new sense of urgency to fix myself up. I trust that this new-found sense of optimism and general good-will towards mankind will, perhaps, speed up the recovery process. And if not, the pitter-patter of lightly treading feet will sound ever so much the more melodic when I do finally get back to running!
Run happy. Be easy.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
So what have I learned?
Ok ok, I'm injured and I haven't run in about 10 days. There. I said it. And I'm not running OUA's either.
This post has been a long time in coming, but I have held back for a few reasons. First, school has been flipping hectic and I really couldn't justify a half hour of blogging when I could use that time for studying. And second, to put the words "I'm injured" into print really seems to make them more of a reality.
So what happened? We'll I guess my rumble with the Rwandan took a bigger toll on me than I thought. The day after the race I went out for an easy 10miler and with about 2 miles left, my right knee started bugging me. A sharp pain on the inside of my knee cap which made me stop every half mile and walk for a bit. The next day I couldn't run at all, and that's how its been since then. Turns out that I have patella femoral syndrome, which essentially means that my knee cap is not sliding correctly in its groove when I flex and extend my knee. Something is pulling out of place and it is grinding on my femor. So what is the cause and why did it seemingly spring out of nowhere?
We don't know and we don't know. The physio can't see any glaring issues with my posture, flexibility, range of motion at certain joints: it may just be the accumulation of several small factors. And the race may just have been a little too much of a strain that pushed everything over the edge.
So this past week and a half, I have been rehabbing as much as I can: stretching, core strength work, cycling, and 2 different physios. I haven't felt any improvements yet, but as I keep being told, the process make take some time - there are no magic bullets!
So what have I learned? 1) Patience (self explanatory) 2) That I really miss running! 3) That the body is a delicate system in which the smallest inbalance can have drastic effects. 4) The importance of complete body care: including the aspects of strength and conditioning that runners tend to neglect. 5) Perhaps I'm not ready to take on the Africans (yet).
Anyway, I'm going to keep up with the rehab and will hopefully be back soon. I'm going to have to miss OUAs but will try to get back for CIS and nationals. I guess the injury game is all part of the running; you pound around for long enough and something eventually gives. All you can do it head back to the drawing board!
That's all for now folks. Will keep you updated as my progress improves. I can't guarantee the regularity of my posts, but there will be definately be one when I can finally run again so watch out!
Be Easy.
This post has been a long time in coming, but I have held back for a few reasons. First, school has been flipping hectic and I really couldn't justify a half hour of blogging when I could use that time for studying. And second, to put the words "I'm injured" into print really seems to make them more of a reality.
So what happened? We'll I guess my rumble with the Rwandan took a bigger toll on me than I thought. The day after the race I went out for an easy 10miler and with about 2 miles left, my right knee started bugging me. A sharp pain on the inside of my knee cap which made me stop every half mile and walk for a bit. The next day I couldn't run at all, and that's how its been since then. Turns out that I have patella femoral syndrome, which essentially means that my knee cap is not sliding correctly in its groove when I flex and extend my knee. Something is pulling out of place and it is grinding on my femor. So what is the cause and why did it seemingly spring out of nowhere?
We don't know and we don't know. The physio can't see any glaring issues with my posture, flexibility, range of motion at certain joints: it may just be the accumulation of several small factors. And the race may just have been a little too much of a strain that pushed everything over the edge.
So this past week and a half, I have been rehabbing as much as I can: stretching, core strength work, cycling, and 2 different physios. I haven't felt any improvements yet, but as I keep being told, the process make take some time - there are no magic bullets!
So what have I learned? 1) Patience (self explanatory) 2) That I really miss running! 3) That the body is a delicate system in which the smallest inbalance can have drastic effects. 4) The importance of complete body care: including the aspects of strength and conditioning that runners tend to neglect. 5) Perhaps I'm not ready to take on the Africans (yet).
Anyway, I'm going to keep up with the rehab and will hopefully be back soon. I'm going to have to miss OUAs but will try to get back for CIS and nationals. I guess the injury game is all part of the running; you pound around for long enough and something eventually gives. All you can do it head back to the drawing board!
That's all for now folks. Will keep you updated as my progress improves. I can't guarantee the regularity of my posts, but there will be definately be one when I can finally run again so watch out!
Be Easy.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Chris Solinsky, Watch Out!
....there is another fat white guy making moves in the 10k!
For those who may not know, Chris Solinsky is an American runner who is the US national record holder in the 10k and this year became the 1st white guy to break 27mins for 10k. At 6'3" and 165lbs, he is pretty big for a runner - especially as he is true distance guy.
While it may come as a surprise to my non-running friends, I myself have been noted as a rather hefty guy on the running circuit. My broad chest, fat thighs and cankles (hybrid calf and ankle) make me stick out on the starting line. And so, given my performane yesterday at the Queen's Open, the title of "Fastest Fattest White Guy" might be up for grabs. I ran a sizzling 29:39 for the 4 laps of the Fort Henry XC course. Despite this blistering time, which reduced my previous personal best time by 2 minutes and 38 seconds, I only managed to come 2nd, behind a young fellow from Rwanda. The conditions were perfect, sunny with a some blustery winds, and surface that was firm yet spongey from the previous day's rain.
Given that there isn't going to be any championship races on this course this year, the field was not as large or deep as it has been in the past, so right from the gun I found myself out at the front with two African dudes. We ran as a trio for about a lap, until one dropped back and it was just the two of us. I was pretty comfy at the halfway point and was really thinking that I might be able to grab the "W". Then the third lap came and the death grimace crept onto my face as my companion began to stretch me out and pull away from me. I was able to maintain the 5-yard gap between us but by the 4th lap it was too much for me and he eventually put 19 seconds on my by the finish. Results can be found at www.runningbydesign.ca/quxc2010.html.
Also worthy of note is my sister Steph....who also placed 2nd in the women's race with quite an impressive run. She has made a big turn-around since last year and is now running to her potential. It'll be exciting to see what she can do in a few weeks time at OUA's and CIS!
Anyway, that's about it for me. Did an easy 10miles this afternoon.....and I mean really easy. The loop that took me 55mins last time, took about 70mins this time. It was the longest and most borning run of my life, but probably very necessary to give my legs a chance to recover.
And one more thing...I should probably confess: the course this year at Queen's Open was 100-150m short per loop. So you can probably add on between 1:30-1:45 to my time. Still not a bad effort though, and would still have been a new PB over 10k. But I guess Solinsky can keep his crown....for now.
Be Easy!
For those who may not know, Chris Solinsky is an American runner who is the US national record holder in the 10k and this year became the 1st white guy to break 27mins for 10k. At 6'3" and 165lbs, he is pretty big for a runner - especially as he is true distance guy.
While it may come as a surprise to my non-running friends, I myself have been noted as a rather hefty guy on the running circuit. My broad chest, fat thighs and cankles (hybrid calf and ankle) make me stick out on the starting line. And so, given my performane yesterday at the Queen's Open, the title of "Fastest Fattest White Guy" might be up for grabs. I ran a sizzling 29:39 for the 4 laps of the Fort Henry XC course. Despite this blistering time, which reduced my previous personal best time by 2 minutes and 38 seconds, I only managed to come 2nd, behind a young fellow from Rwanda. The conditions were perfect, sunny with a some blustery winds, and surface that was firm yet spongey from the previous day's rain.
Given that there isn't going to be any championship races on this course this year, the field was not as large or deep as it has been in the past, so right from the gun I found myself out at the front with two African dudes. We ran as a trio for about a lap, until one dropped back and it was just the two of us. I was pretty comfy at the halfway point and was really thinking that I might be able to grab the "W". Then the third lap came and the death grimace crept onto my face as my companion began to stretch me out and pull away from me. I was able to maintain the 5-yard gap between us but by the 4th lap it was too much for me and he eventually put 19 seconds on my by the finish. Results can be found at www.runningbydesign.ca/quxc2010.html.
Also worthy of note is my sister Steph....who also placed 2nd in the women's race with quite an impressive run. She has made a big turn-around since last year and is now running to her potential. It'll be exciting to see what she can do in a few weeks time at OUA's and CIS!
Anyway, that's about it for me. Did an easy 10miles this afternoon.....and I mean really easy. The loop that took me 55mins last time, took about 70mins this time. It was the longest and most borning run of my life, but probably very necessary to give my legs a chance to recover.
And one more thing...I should probably confess: the course this year at Queen's Open was 100-150m short per loop. So you can probably add on between 1:30-1:45 to my time. Still not a bad effort though, and would still have been a new PB over 10k. But I guess Solinsky can keep his crown....for now.
Be Easy!
Friday, October 15, 2010
Gavin Cosgrove for Catholic Trustee! Election Day is Mon, Oct 25th!
A good friend of mine, Gavin Cosgrove is running in the upcoming Kingston municipal elections for the position of Catholic Trustee. Gavin is a native Kingstonian and attended Holy Cross high school, before attending Manhatten College (on a running scholarship) in the NY and then law school in New Brunswick. He is now working in Kingston as a lawyer.
How do I know him and how does this fit in with my running blog? Well, when I was in Gr 10 at Holy Cross, he was in town and came out to train with me through the XC and track seasons. He was a big factor in my success that year. Since then he has been incredibly supportive of my running and in helping me generate community support for my various training and racing endeavours. I have been helping out a little with his campaign and decided that a shameless plug on my blog would not go amiss!
Check him out at http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Gavin-Cosgrove-for-Catholic-Trustee/153319284708397. He's an upstanding character and will do very well for the community. Voting starts this weekend and information can be found at http://www.kingstonelectors.ca/index.php.
Cheers!
How do I know him and how does this fit in with my running blog? Well, when I was in Gr 10 at Holy Cross, he was in town and came out to train with me through the XC and track seasons. He was a big factor in my success that year. Since then he has been incredibly supportive of my running and in helping me generate community support for my various training and racing endeavours. I have been helping out a little with his campaign and decided that a shameless plug on my blog would not go amiss!
Check him out at http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Gavin-Cosgrove-for-Catholic-Trustee/153319284708397. He's an upstanding character and will do very well for the community. Voting starts this weekend and information can be found at http://www.kingstonelectors.ca/index.php.
Cheers!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)