I'm Back Baby!

Ok ok ok! I'm sorry! Once again, I find myself apologizing for my complete disappearance from the blogosphere. The reason for my absence is that I was giving everyone a chance to follow the Canadian elections...I knew that my riveting posts would distract everyone from the circus that is Canadian politics. Know that voting day has come, and that you have all completed your civic duty, you can get back to more interesting things...my blog!

I jest, my lack of posting was actually due to a hectic last few weeks of school and exam period. With 5 years of collegiate knowledge under my belt, one would think that I would have the organization capacity to figure my life out and coast through my final weeks at school. Not so! As it was in the beginning, so shall it be in the end: a mad scramble. However, I have survived to tell the tale and hopefully pick my diploma too! (just kidding Mum)

But onto my running...my academics once again failed to detract significantly from my athletics and my training has given me the form to win 2 rather prestigious races: the 3rd annual Highway 2 McDonald's Challenge in late March (2.5mi run from Queen's campus to McDonald's, eat a Big Mac, large coke and large fries and run home - my splits were 12:13, 13:41 (order and eat), 12:51) and then the Kingston Race Weekend 5k roadrace (15:21) just yesterday. Following my last post, I took a week off running and then put in 3 weeks of lower mileage easy running. I was also seeking treatment for my hamstring, which was continuing to give me some problems. I sought the help of an osteopath who treats the body in a system-function perspective, that is, the source of the pain may not be the actual site of the injury and that fixing the problem requires that all parts of the body, including skeletal, neural, visceral (organs) and muscular components, are able to express their natural capacity to move. A few treatments later along with the weeks of easy running and I'm back to feeling like the man I used to be...who/what was that man, you ask?.....hard to describe, but in a few words: I'm running well and enjoying myself again.

The last 2 weeks have seen an increase in mileage and a couple workouts. Having picked up a book by Peter Coe (Seb Coe's father and coach) I was happy to see that Kev's coaching philosophy was reaffirmed by a directive to "never stray far from one's speed", and so even in these early weeks of my base training, Kev and I have been mixing the fast with the slow. In the weeks ahead, my current occupation as a full-time runner gives me the opportunity to commit myself to training both morning and night while a even an intensive schedule of reading and blogging will allow for full rest in between. My mileage will continue to inch up and my coaching consultant, Shane, has devised a rather torturous strength program for me, so I'm also going to have that beach bod that I been yearning for all these years!

To wrap it up, with a little government assistance, continued support from Runner's Choice of Kingston and Mizuno, as well as the never ending support from my main sponsors (Mum and Dad) I have the luxury to be able to dedicate my summer to running. I'm going to keep my mind active with some stimulating literature (Hemingway & co.), my backyard garden (tomatoes and peppers- we're looking at you to actually deliver the goods this year!), and local volunteering (to be determined), but I will be sure to take full advantage of this opportunity to train and compete. I'm now officially living the dream baby!

Anyway, I must be off for now. I have a nap penciled in at 4:30....catch y'all later.
Be Easy.

5 More Reasons...

Well, I'm not sure how to start this....CIS was quite disappointing to be sure, although perhaps in light of what kind of season I had leading up to it, maybe not. The 4x800 was a debacle. Similar to last year's attempt, I'm quite sure that every man put in their best effort, unfortunately we came up short...quite short. I can only really speak to my own leg: seeing the deficit, I knew that we were out of any sort of medal hopes, but there was still a race in front of me. I stormed out of the gates and made good ground on the teams ahead of me. I slipped past 2 teams along the rail (very very sneaky!) and with Guelph in my sights I thought I was ready for a barn-burner. That's when the fat man jumped on my back and it all went pear-shaped. I must have misjudged my pace significantly because my legs became leaden and I waded through peanut butter for the final 350m to an ignominious finish.

Alas, the boys were shattered but what could we do? I had to shake it off for the 1500m the next day? This race went out much more comfortably. First of all, I got off the line without a hitch (minor personal victory) and then settled into 4th place. Boorsma got a jump on the rest of the pack right from the gun, but we were hitting 30sec laps nicely so I assumed he would come back to us. Well, Boorsma slowed down, but so did we in the chase pack, and I was trying to keep a good position as the pack mixed around me. And then we came to 1200m (myself in about 3:04-5) and I realized that my legs were stuck in the steady state they had been for the past 6 laps. I just didn't have that jump, that pop, that usually manifests itself in the final stages and takes me away from my competitors. I ended up 6th in 3:51.5. Boorsma won in 3:47. Now, it must be said that I ran alright; my time isn't all that bad. I was 2nd in 2008 and 2010 with times that were only 0.5-1.0 seconds faster than this time. But the competition had upped the ante and when the medals were up for grabs, I wasn't able to make my claim.

Disappointing to be sure, but when I consider that 3 weeks prior, I was contemplating packing in the season as I had been unable to train with any sort of intensity or consistency, I can't be all that upset. I got in the mix (in the 1500 anyway) and came away without doing any damage. What's more, I now have 5 more reasons to work a little harder, a little longer and a little smarter in training.

As we speak, I'm taking a week off completely from running to let my mind and body settle. Then I'll ease myself into running: building up the miles slowly and gradually adding new elements to my training. I'm not sure about the race schedule just yet, but I'm sure that once I'm fully fit and raring to go, Kevin will have something up his sleeve.

Be Easy.

Chillin at the Holiday Inn. (aka the Motel La Marquaise)

T-minus 4.5hours until race time and we're hanging out in our 70's styled motel room on the backwood buroughs of Sherbrooke jammin to "Childish Bambimo" (courtesy of M. Nish). So far the trip has been pretty good...the team is in good spirits and everyone is feeling ready to go.
We got into Sherbrooke on Wednesday night, after struggling through viscous Montreal traffic and hit the track. I threw down a couple of 200s, faster than I would have liked but the legs just wouldn't slow down for me. A good sign I hope! Yesterday Nish raced in the 600m....didn't go as well as he would have liked and he didn't process to the finals but it helped to shake the rust off and he's primed for tonight. Today, the 4x200 boys squeaked through to the final with a tough race. They finished last in their heat after some jostling on the corners but they were sufficiently hopped up on testosterone and adrenaline to still keep their noses in front of the other 6 teams.
Tonight we have Gordo in the 300m and Leah in the 3000m before we roll in the 4x800. Errbody will be sufficiently rested to throw down some fast times and we"re going in ranked 5th - we're right in the mix.
In other news of note, we built a snowman on the roof of a minivan and it survived two 15min trips from the track to the motel and back.
Will update afterwards.
Be Champions.

Sherbrooke Bound (again)

Just a quick note as I'm soon to bed, but the end of the indoor season is nigh as I'm off to Sherbrooke tomorrow as they are once again the hosts of the CIS National Champs. Queen's is sending up a small (but mighty) team of about 10 athletes, with 4 individual racers and 3 relay teams. Races start on Thursday but I race on Friday night in the 4x800m and then on Saturday in the 1500m. I'll use the preceeding days to reach a zen like state where I am able to focus all my energy on forward locomotion from a completely stable standing start!
Anyway, legs are feeling good and my pre-race beard is growing in nicely. Time for bed.
Be Easy.

I guess it's time for a post-OUA update...I've being dragging my feet with this one because I don't really have the best of news to tell. Such is life, though, that everything cannot be roses, so here goes:
1000m - I was initially not going to run this one in order to be fresh for the 4x800 and the 1500, so I indicated to the Queen's coaches to scratch me from the start list. However, this message was not received in time, so as of the day of the race I was still in the race. Rules dictate that you cannot scratch from a race the day on the day, so I had 3 options available to me: false start intentionally and get disqualified, start the race and then drop out, or run the race. Deciding that its not like me to shy away from a race and hating the idea of dropping out of anything, I took the third option and raced. And what a race it was! About 8 guys all running the same speed trying to squeeze themselves into the same lane. It wasn't an exceedingly fast race, but the pack dynamics made it very difficult. Myself, not having the race sharpness to dictate the race on my own terms, and seemingly having forgotten what it's like to be in the mix again, had a very frustrating outing. I was unable to settle in and find my stride; I was bumped around, made too many unnecessary moves, and ran too much of the race in lane 2 and 3. Thus it was not really surprising when I finished 6th in 2:27:67, about 2 seconds off the winner and .2 off what I race very comfortably last week.
4x800 - This was a much better race, I ran the anchor leg behind my teammates Clay, Nish and Bentley, who set me up right in the mix with the chase pack behind 1st place Windsor. I was better able to find a groove and I soon settled into 2nd place. 1st place Windsor was too far ahead for me to make a serious move on them, and though I may have gained some ground, it was more a case of just doing of holding onto the position. Not that it was that easy, the legs were tired from the 1000 and I had a couple guys on my tail-guys who I knew would have an absolute field day if they beat me. Not this time! I ran 1:54.7 to bring us home in 7:43....not bad times, but I know both myself and the team can do better.
1500 - This will be a quick segment, because this was my quickest race. The gun went and I was done. Actually, 2 guns went, the second one to let me know I had false started: disqualified for the 1st time in my life. I mean, who gets a DQ in a distance event? Honestly? For some reason I couldn't get myself steady on the line and I lifted my back foot and put it back down. There was no forward motion over the line nor did I trick any of the other runners into thinking it was time to go. By the letter of the law, I did false start, but its a ridiculous law when it is applied to distance events. All the same, its not that bad: I was absolutely furious afterwards, but I had already got two decent races out of me, the hamstring felt fine, and now I'm even more ready to go for CIS next weekend.

Oh yes, I'm still going to CIS. And you better believe I'm psyched up. I have already qualified for the 1500m (from my only other attempt this year in NYC) and the 4x8 team is going too, so I've got a nice little combo to keep me happy. Training has been going well this week, and while there is some lingering hamstring pain, its not preventing me from running. Plus, I got a couple nice pairs of shoes and a pair of spikes from Mizuno... more about them later.

But now I'm off to a massage, to keep those hamstrings in order. See you cats on the flip flop.
Be Easy.

I come to race.

Gentlemen, please try always to remember: the track is a tempestuous mistress. Some might go further and dub her a saucy minx; she will pluck at your heart(ham)strings and drive you to despair, yet under the spell of a euphoric daze she will entice you with riches of gold and record-boards.
Such has been my plight over the past week. I had been easing myself back into more serious track workouts in an attempt to prepare for OUAs when my hamstring seemed to be acting up again. Frustrated, I began considering the prospect of canning the season in order to let the hamstrings completely rest so as not to jeopardize my summer season. With only a week before OUAs and 3 before CIS, I figured that it might be better to cut my losses now than try to limp on for the rest of the season and watch despairingly as races slip from my grasp. My coaches and advisers, urged against rash decisions and advocated a return to the basics: simplicity in training and racing. I heeded their words, yet opted to abstain from the weekend's track meet at McGill in order to preserve myself for OUA's the next weekend. A chance email informed me that I had no choice but to race at McGill, as I needed to have run twice during the season to compete in the championship events.
And so with slight foreboding I went to McGill and raced a 1000m. And won in 2:27.4. Without any inkling of hamstring trouble. In fact, it felt better after the race than it did beforehand.
Now I struggle to decide which races to run at OUAs. The 1500 is a given, but which of the 1000m or 4x800m do I compete in? Is it greedy of me to want to race them all, given that I was considering staying home as of 5 days ago? Alas, how the fickle heart can be swayed.

Regardless, for all of my rather melodramatic prose, I am glad to be back running and racing. I can still feel something in my hamstring, but it doesn't seem to limit my running. Any workouts that I am doing now take place on hills, in order to ensure proper muscle recruitment and running form, and I am maintaining my glute and core strengthening exercises.
When I toe the line at OUA's it will be a stress-free and enjoyable experience: I cannot change what has happened in the last few weeks, whether my hamstring injury was a figment of my fevered imagination I will never know, but I come to race. I come to race.

Be Easy.

I guess someone has to carry the flag!

In other news, my sister Steph just broke 10mins in the 3000m down in Boston. She ran 9:58.58, which is not only a new indoor pb (personal best), but equals her outdoor pb too, which is often difficult to do as the tighter turns on the indoor track slow things down. Not to mention the fact that she won her heat by a whopping 11 seconds, pretty much running the whole race alone.
Look out for more from this girl in the weeks to come!
Be Easy.