2 x 2k, 1 x 1k

Just a quick update on the workout before heading to the new living room for some movie watching in our new setup!

The workout went quite well. Unlike my VFAC counterparts who were likely tempoing today, I had intervals. I decided to go to Beacon Hill Park to complete the workout as there is a mile loop with which I am quite familiar. I had my trusty Garmin 405 to let me know the distances and Sonja on the bike as my pacer. WIthout the group it is tougher to run hard, but it helped having someone yell "Pick it up! You're slowing down!" on the last interval of the workout.

Coach John had set out times for me, similar to what I had run in my last workout before leaving Vancouver. The workout looked like this....

2 x 2k, 1 x 1k with 5 minutes rest, 6:05-6:10 for the 2k, 2:53 for the 1k, 5 seconds slower if I was running alone.

Technically, I was RUNNING alone, but then I wasn't all alone for my pacer/yeller on the bike, so I figure I will take a reduction of three seconds.

Turns out I pretty much hit the times anyway. I went counter-clockwise for the first loop and split 3:03 and 3:04 for 6:07. The second loop was clockwise and I went 3:04 and 3:09 for 6:13. Not bad considering the Beacon Hill loop is much hillier than the Beaver Lake loop in Stanley Park (which is not to say Beacon Hill is hilly, but rather that Beaver Lake is very flat).

The last one was going to be tough, but with Sonja berating me (not really, it actually helped!) I was able to sneak in a 2:55 for the last 1k. Considering that 2:54 was my PR at Beaver Lake, I will take the 2:55 and be happy with that.

With this workout in the bank, I will take a shot at the Black Press 5k on Friday evening. I am not sure what to expect as I have never run 5k on a track before, but hopefully I will be able to break 16:00 and feel good (or as good as one can feel going all out for 5k).

Settling In

It has been 10 days since the move. It seems like a long ten days, but we have been getting a lot done, with the help of some amazing friends. Sonja and I have met the neighbours (who are great on both sides) and we have visited the local coffee shop, appropriately named Koffi. I have yet to try their hot chocolate, but their food is amazing and the atmosphere is prefect - I could see many a walk to get something warm to drink.

In kitten news, we have finally come up with a name. Thank you to those who gave suggestions and answered the poll, but we went with something completely different. Liev. It is a russian boys name which is also the russian word for lion. The proper spelling is Lev and is russian for Leo, but we have gone with Liev so that, in writing, people will understand the pronounciation a little easier (Lee-Ev). He is a little rascal, loves loves loves people and being held, and is currently laying in the sun, rolling around, and trying desperately to learn how to open a door. I am not a cat person by any stretch of the imagination, but Liev is a pretty hilarious cat.

Running has been getting back on track. After the workout with Mike, I have gotten out for a few longer, exploratory runs. I ran up towards Reynolds (hopefully, my school this fall) and meandered around through the side streets that I have never been on before. Yesterday was a shorter one and I realized that I am a mere 12 minute jaunt from Hicham's house! I am pleased to be so central! I know that Lauren and Adam are looking at houses in Victoria, and I really do hope that they are able to find something in this area. We could start to build a running group like they have in Guelph! The Fernwood Fastees - or something equally ironic and lame.

Got my next two weeks from Coach John last night. Fast fast stuff. Today is 2 x 2k, 1 x 1k all on 5 minutes rest, at FAST pace. I am still trying to figure out the best place in town to do these kind of repeats. I am thinking Lochside trail would work well, except that it is a tad long of a warm up to get there, being about 7k from my house - I think. If it was 5k, that would be perfect, but I will consult google for the answers - it always has all the answers! Following that is prep for the 5k on Friday. I will see how today goes before committing to the race on the track, as I am not sure what my little break has done to my edge. I am feeling good on the runs so far, but the workout today will give me an indication of where I am, especially since I essentially did this workout the day before I left the mainland.

Other than that, the house is almost done. I think that we have about 5 boxes and one futon left to unpack/put together. We have the spare bedroom all set for guests and the media area is up and running. Liev is now allowed in the basement, so we hope to make the upstairs living room a little more human and less cat. The garage is now clean and organized and the kitchen is put away. Man, I don't know how people move in the middle of work! I am glad that we chose to do this in the summer (well, we didn't have much choice, but I would choose to do so again). The one sad thing is that I missing my great friends in Waterloo as they are competing in the ENDURrun this week. As much as I wanted to be there, it wasn't in the cards this year. Jeff is doing great in keeping tight with Bob and I am excited to Joanne and Jackie battle it out for the gold jersey! Although I think the Boultbees have something up their collective sleeves - they are the Schleck's of the ENDURrun! I will be following the race closely....

Lots going on, but not running

Wow. I can't imagine what it would be like to have purchased a home that needed a lot of work. I would like to take this moment to thank everyone we spoke to and encouraged us to get a house that was already reno'd, rather than doing it ourselves. Even with very little to do, we have painted and replaced a hot water heater, cleaned a tonne, and have been putting together the house in general. This has taken A LOT more time than I thought it might. As such, with moving days and unpacking and cleaning up water from busted water heaters, I have only made it out for one run.

I was fortunate that Mike put out a call to me for a track workout. It was a great "haven't run in a while" run. The workout called for 6-8 x 800m on 2:40 with 2:00 rest. Due to an abbreviated warm up as I was out at new home triumvirate of RONA, Home Depot, Canadian Tire, and the new kitten store Petsmart, the first interval was a bit tight. Things loosened up as I got to know the dirt track that is Vic High (although Mike was telling me that there are plans for a new rubberized track) and we began to hit solid times. We completed seven intervals and then ran back towards Mike's place. I dropped him off at the top of Cedar Hill Golf Course and turned home.

It was great to be out and running with a good friend. I am looking forward to helping Mike and other friends with key workouts, as best I can. I think that is what will get me through the fall, reacquainting myself with Victoria and helping friends achieve their goals while I continue to build my base.

O Victoria!

It has been very much a hurry up and wait kind of last couple of weeks. The waiting was hard. It always is. Sometimes, it can be a sweet anticipation, but not this time. It was a series of daily tortures. Originally, when we put an offer together for our new house, we had a JUly 20th closing date. This worked well because it gave us time to pack and get ready after school finished while allowing time for Sonja to finish her thesis. The counter included an August 1st close, which we agreed to because we did have some flexibility. However, those 11 days between closing dates were hard. We (read: Sonja) were essentially done packing by July 21st, so it was doing little bits of finishing things off each day - necessary but not enough to fill the day. But with the heat wave (sorry ontario!), going outside really wasn't an enticing option as any movement caused me to sweat. The final week was difficult because of the heat, the lack of things to do and I had lost motivation to run (1. because of the heat and 2. because of the frustrating race performances). I guess it is way better to have too much time to pack than too little, and the result was that we were well organized in boxes. So it was with great anticipation that we awoke early yesterday morning to a break in the heat and a day full of moving.

I'll spare you the details of the move save that our friends our incredible. Damien and Leanne on the mainland side were at our house early and let me tell you, I would never want to play Damien in Tetris after seeing the way he was able to get all our stuff into the truck. There was room left for maybe one more golf club and that was it! And on the island side, David and Cindy not only met us with a balloon on the door and fresh squeezed orange juice, they were heroes in unloading the truck (Dave is half man, half ox, half horse - yes, I know, three halves, but you should have seen him). To top it off, they then had us over for an incredible dinner! Truly an amazing send off from our old home and a welcome to our new home! I cannot express how amazing they were and how it really made the trip successful.

So, I back on the island and feeling ready to run. My last VFAC workout was great as the most of the boys were out (Driver?) and we ran well in the heat. It was 1k, 2k, 2k, 1k at Beaver Lake and, after a four day heat/motivation break, I cam back and ran that workout faster than I have before, ending with a final 1k of 2:54 (a PB for that loop). It felt good but what felt better was being doused in cold water at the Stanley Park kiddie water park! That was amazing after a good workout! I will miss the weekly meet up with the boys, but I am going to continue with Coach John for the next three months via email and see how that works out. I am also excited to meet up with Liam and Hicham and Kelly and the whole island running crew and get reacquainted with Beacon Hill and Thetis and Mt. Doug and a much less intimidating Mt. Finlayson.

In the end, we made it home. And now the race is on to see how long it will take to get out of the boxes!

I found what you were looking for!

If you weren't aware, I am a transplanted Ontario boy. Born in London (birthplace of Jim Finlayson) and growing up in Pickering (hometown of Sean Avery, yeah, not proud of that one), I still self-identify as Ontarion (yes, that's right, that's what I am calling people who live in Ontario). Growing up playing soccer, I spent many a summer afternoon baking in the sun of a weekend-long tournament. This is all to say that I am used to the "it's not the heat, it's the humidity" of Ontario summers.

Speaking with friends and loved ones still in Ontario, there has been much whining about how wet and cool this summer has been. With lower temperatures and lots of rain, the Ontarions have been wondering where there summer has gone!

This post is to let all the people in Ontario know that I have found it!

It, like a smart Ontarion, has moved out west. Yes, that is right, Toronto's summer is in Vancouver. And man, have I weakened while living on the left coast. It is HOT here! I am sure that if I had just moved out from Ontario this year, I would not bat an eye at this weather, but having been out here for almost 10 years (YIKES! Almost ten years!), I have weakened and now find anything over 25 degrees hot.

Running has been fun, and a little wet at the end of the run. This afternoon was a light run with drills and strides as I prepare for the Summerfast 10k tomorrow morning. I am hoping to run well, and although it will be warm in the morning it shouldn't be too bad as the race starts at 8:00am. Jay will be riding lead bike so that is incentive to run hard so that I can have my own personal cheerleader but the race has been won in low 33/high 32 for the past few years, and with some money on the line, people come out of the woodwork, so I don't expect to be at the front. Maybe Jay can just let the leader know where to go and then he can come back and hang out with me!

If you are still an Ontarion, I hope that summer finds it way back to you, and if you are in Van or Vic, make sure to drink water and wear sunscreen!

Super Hilly University

That's what SFU should be renamed. No longer SFU, but SHU.

For a change of pace, and because I have been living here for almost two years and still haven't really explored the trails at SFU, I decided to go out and run around Caprica City (ok, blatant Battlestar Galactica reference, but if you don't know, go watch it). I drove to the base of Burnaby Mountain and parked in front of a home being reno'd. I almost decided to forego my run and see if I could get a job helping on the site, but I didn't think that my running attire would put me in good stead with the foreman. So, with dreams of becoming the next Mike Holmes put on hold, I ascended the mountain as my warm up.

I have always felt that SFU had a connection to McMaster, but running the trails here I was really reminded of Cootes Paradise, the trails which line the back of Mac. I spent many hours running in there many years ago and I was transported back there as I ran the North Road Trail. Windy and soft with lots of little (and I do mean little for this was at the base, after the initial ascent and subsequent descent from the peak) hills, twists and turns and some mountain bike trials to run over. To finish the run, it was another 20 minute ascent to the school before the fun run back down to the car.

The day was much warmer than I had expected and I was thankful that I had brought along my handheld water bottle as the circumnavigation of the SHU trails took about 80 minutes, much longer than I had accounted for at the beginning of the run. But being on the trails and with good podcasts and in the heat made the run seem much shorter than the time and it was fun, which is the goal of the summer.

Packing is coming along well with Sonja doing most of it, but I trust her spatial skills more than mine. We are fortunate that we don't have THAT much stuff and all our furniture is apartment sized. We will be done what we can pack at this time by the end of today and I don't think that there will be much more to do until the final week.

Oh yeah - saw the midnight screening of Harry Potter. Good, but not bedazzling. The difficulty in the translation to the screen is the amount of backstory that can be fit into 2 hours and 30 minutes. I am looking forward to the double movie for the 7th book. Good times!

Summertime

The time of naps, and runs, and HGTV.

I think that many people, including myself, underestimate the absolute volume of emotional energy spent during the school year. I am sure this is the case in many professions, especially those which centre around helping others. I find that the first month of school is about getting back into school shape, much like the first week of the Tour de France is about getting into "Tour" shape. In what seems to be the most counter-intuitive proclamation ever made (yes, EVER!), the riders in Le Tour proclaim that they are feeling best and most fit in the closing stages of the three week race. Yes, after thousands of kilometers of riding, they feel better than they did in the first few hundred. I feel school is similar in this respect. By the end of the year, while tired (and no doubt the riders are fatigued), I am better equipped to deal with the fatigue and the rhythm of the weeks. But once it all ends, once hte kids are gone and I have decompressed for a week, the fatigue hits. Naps left, right, and center. On the couch, on the floor, and sometimes, if I am going for a long one, in bed. The recovery process has begun.

After the Scotiabank result, I ran for fun. Sonja and I ended up in Calgary for the Stampede (and may I say, it was much different than I thought it would be - I have never been at a more patriotic event in my life). I took the time to enjoy the company and hospitality of Sonja's extended family and to run around the city a little. Upon returning to Vancouver, I have gone to two workouts (both went very well, the last being 12 x400 on 100m rest averaging 68 seconds - low of 71 and high of 66 - for the 400m). Other than those workouts I have been running and listening to podcasts, enjoying the freedom to go when and where I want. I even completed my first double run in about two years, starting with an easy 10k in the morning and going to VFAC for workout in the evening. I have decided to race the Summerfast 10k this weekend to see how it goes. I may stop fighting distance.

Yesterday was the one year anniversary of breaking my foot at Knee Knacker. Since then I have recovered well only to re-injure it in December to recover again. In the grand scheme of life, this is minor, but in the hyperbolic world of running, it is a huge setback. While I have regained speed, and I am running workout times faster than I ever have, the translation to longer distance running is not forthcoming. My two half-marathons this year have been my slowest in years and I have not felt strong. The injuries have kept me from building a strong base which has made my house of speed a little wobbly as the foundation upon which it is built is precarious (yes, too much Mike Holmes). I am flirting with the idea of abandoning everything beyond 10k racing for the rest of the year and focussing on really building speed this summer, using the winter to rebuild my base and then approach the new year with a one-two punch. I think this weekend may go a little ways to determining whether or not I follow through with that plan. Either way, the summer has been good to me so far.

I will see how this weekend goes and then nap on a decision.