The Countdown Begins
The Countdown Begins!
Persistent rumours of my demise are greatly exaggerated, gentle readers, although I must confess it is nice to be missed. Aside from the many,’Where the hell is your Blog, Hemingson’, and ‘Have you died or something?’ and ‘Get with it you lazy Bastard!’, I also heard from a few people saying that they wanted less data and more “Vince”, whatever the hell that is, but I take it to mean fewer charts and graphs and more of the vintage whinging and moaning and bellyaching of old.
So here is my whinge. It is six days until the Vancouver International Marathon. My legs are tired, my ankles are stiff and my back is sore. Honestly? I just want the whole f**king thing to be over with. This will be my ninth marathon and my twelvth race of marathon or greater distance. I have never faced a race at this juncture in my life with greater trepidation. It reminds me of my youth where I used to get so nervous before athletic events that I would be nauseous, occasionally to the point of losing my breakfast, or lunch, or the meal of your choice. As a mature runner, you know, that lifestyle thingy, the races have been more like training runs with more hoopla and an excuse to drink and eat and revel when it was all over (as if I needed excuses). Now, with the Boston qualifying time hanging over the entire proceedings, it is an entirely different ball game.
This marathon clinic, my sixth, has been the best one yet by far. It is a combination of the people, my ‘Boston or Bust’ goal and the focus that I have been able to maintain for the full four months. I missed only two days of training, because of illness, when I had to take antibiotics for a bad case of bronchitis. Granted I did take a few extra days off for recovery, but that was after two long runs of 45K (27 miles) and 50K (30 miles) which was just two weeks ago, and after I ran a 1:44 in the Gibson’s Half Marathon three weeks ago. On the flip side, I did stretch out a few of my long runs for extra mileage and I did squeeze in a few extra speed workouts, so I consider this marathon’s training cycle an unqualified success. That being said, I have never entered a taper so in need of recovery as this one. I managed to average more miles of running per week than I ever have before, as many as 60-65 miles per week (over 90K) for almost two months. In short, I am beat up. Very close to used up.
I had great people to run with over the past four months, some old friends and some new faces that have become good friends. I'll cherish this coming marathon for that reason alone. My hill work was not particularly notable this session, but I noticed a vast improvement in my tempo runs and in my speed work. I ran the first 10K of the Gibson’s race with Rachel in 44:14. I ran a six-pack of 10Ks in the past two months in training between 45:00-47:00. My speed improved enough over the course of this training cycle for me to revise my goal to run a 3:45 to attempt to run a 3:30:59. And even if I fail, the exercise will prove useful in preparing me for the pace that I will have to run in Kelowna in October. A 3:30 is a 3:30 is a 3:30. I might as well get used to it now!
Still, my legs are weary, I can’t last much past 10:00pm in the evening without wanting to crawl into bed and after many months of being relatively pain-free, my back pain has returned with a vengeance. I noted in previously Blogs that I have been a real curmudgeon of late, cranky and quarrelsome. For me, that is a classic symptom of my back pain encroaching into the rest of my life. More troublesome perhaps, has been the reoccurring stiffness in my ankles, particularly the left ankle that I broke last spring. I was helping a friend paint a house last week and the ladder rung I was standing on broke beneath me, dumping me unceremoniously on the ground. As I landed I rolled over my ankle and crumpled to the ground. It was twenty minutes before I could weight-bear and the pain lingered for several more days. MY GAWD!, I’M GETTING CROTCHETY!
So the question I have to keep asking myself is a simple one. Am I in good enough shape and quick enough to qualify for Boston in six days time? The scales keep tipping back and forth. I am close, but I suspect I am not quite there yet. And the reasons why are all within my control. It is exasperating but true. If I fail to run quicker than 3:30:59 it will probably be because of factors over which I ultimately have control but which I have failed to address. I am speaking about my weight of course. I will be running the marathon at around 198-200 pounds according to a medical balance scale I have switched to using. I should be around 185. The fact that I am not is a case of a lack of discipline on my part and because I focused more on other aspects of the training and somewhat naively hoped that if I ignored my weight it would go away. Having taken full responsibility for my grand rotundness, I am still pissed off that sixty freaking miles per week has not caused a few pounds to drop off in my slipstream along the way!
People keep telling me I look like I have lost a lot of weight and that I have leaned out, but the scales tell a different story. I shaved off my moustache and goatee this week in the hopes that becoming more aerodynamic would 'shave' another few seconds of my time.... :) Well, that and the job interview (no, I am emphatically NOT moving to Toronto!).
In the final analysis, I am fast enough to run a 3:30, so I have the speed. I have no doubts about my ability to handle the distance, so I have the endurance. The great question is this; do I have the strength and conditioning necessary to carry my weight, at speed, for the entire distance? Do I have the stamina? I wish I were running at Sunday at 180 pound instead of 200 pounds. There is at least a fifteen minute differential there in my estimation…
I have nine bets going, more than any other race to date, but still short of a case of wine. I hope to lure in a few more adventuresome souls before race day. I mean, who wouldn’t want to bet against an aging, battered and bruised old fat man? It would be like taking candy from a baby… It's just a little bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon... C'mon, you know you want to do it...
As interested as I am in how I fare, I am just as excited about how all my little running bunnies are going to do in the marathon, especially the first-timers. We had some wonderfully talented athletes enroll in this clinic and I am expecting most of them to reach their time goals. There are a number of returning marathoners who should easily make personal bests. It will be very exciting in the after party at the Pub afterwards.
Persistent rumours of my demise are greatly exaggerated, gentle readers, although I must confess it is nice to be missed. Aside from the many,’Where the hell is your Blog, Hemingson’, and ‘Have you died or something?’ and ‘Get with it you lazy Bastard!’, I also heard from a few people saying that they wanted less data and more “Vince”, whatever the hell that is, but I take it to mean fewer charts and graphs and more of the vintage whinging and moaning and bellyaching of old.
So here is my whinge. It is six days until the Vancouver International Marathon. My legs are tired, my ankles are stiff and my back is sore. Honestly? I just want the whole f**king thing to be over with. This will be my ninth marathon and my twelvth race of marathon or greater distance. I have never faced a race at this juncture in my life with greater trepidation. It reminds me of my youth where I used to get so nervous before athletic events that I would be nauseous, occasionally to the point of losing my breakfast, or lunch, or the meal of your choice. As a mature runner, you know, that lifestyle thingy, the races have been more like training runs with more hoopla and an excuse to drink and eat and revel when it was all over (as if I needed excuses). Now, with the Boston qualifying time hanging over the entire proceedings, it is an entirely different ball game.
This marathon clinic, my sixth, has been the best one yet by far. It is a combination of the people, my ‘Boston or Bust’ goal and the focus that I have been able to maintain for the full four months. I missed only two days of training, because of illness, when I had to take antibiotics for a bad case of bronchitis. Granted I did take a few extra days off for recovery, but that was after two long runs of 45K (27 miles) and 50K (30 miles) which was just two weeks ago, and after I ran a 1:44 in the Gibson’s Half Marathon three weeks ago. On the flip side, I did stretch out a few of my long runs for extra mileage and I did squeeze in a few extra speed workouts, so I consider this marathon’s training cycle an unqualified success. That being said, I have never entered a taper so in need of recovery as this one. I managed to average more miles of running per week than I ever have before, as many as 60-65 miles per week (over 90K) for almost two months. In short, I am beat up. Very close to used up.
I had great people to run with over the past four months, some old friends and some new faces that have become good friends. I'll cherish this coming marathon for that reason alone. My hill work was not particularly notable this session, but I noticed a vast improvement in my tempo runs and in my speed work. I ran the first 10K of the Gibson’s race with Rachel in 44:14. I ran a six-pack of 10Ks in the past two months in training between 45:00-47:00. My speed improved enough over the course of this training cycle for me to revise my goal to run a 3:45 to attempt to run a 3:30:59. And even if I fail, the exercise will prove useful in preparing me for the pace that I will have to run in Kelowna in October. A 3:30 is a 3:30 is a 3:30. I might as well get used to it now!
Still, my legs are weary, I can’t last much past 10:00pm in the evening without wanting to crawl into bed and after many months of being relatively pain-free, my back pain has returned with a vengeance. I noted in previously Blogs that I have been a real curmudgeon of late, cranky and quarrelsome. For me, that is a classic symptom of my back pain encroaching into the rest of my life. More troublesome perhaps, has been the reoccurring stiffness in my ankles, particularly the left ankle that I broke last spring. I was helping a friend paint a house last week and the ladder rung I was standing on broke beneath me, dumping me unceremoniously on the ground. As I landed I rolled over my ankle and crumpled to the ground. It was twenty minutes before I could weight-bear and the pain lingered for several more days. MY GAWD!, I’M GETTING CROTCHETY!
So the question I have to keep asking myself is a simple one. Am I in good enough shape and quick enough to qualify for Boston in six days time? The scales keep tipping back and forth. I am close, but I suspect I am not quite there yet. And the reasons why are all within my control. It is exasperating but true. If I fail to run quicker than 3:30:59 it will probably be because of factors over which I ultimately have control but which I have failed to address. I am speaking about my weight of course. I will be running the marathon at around 198-200 pounds according to a medical balance scale I have switched to using. I should be around 185. The fact that I am not is a case of a lack of discipline on my part and because I focused more on other aspects of the training and somewhat naively hoped that if I ignored my weight it would go away. Having taken full responsibility for my grand rotundness, I am still pissed off that sixty freaking miles per week has not caused a few pounds to drop off in my slipstream along the way!
People keep telling me I look like I have lost a lot of weight and that I have leaned out, but the scales tell a different story. I shaved off my moustache and goatee this week in the hopes that becoming more aerodynamic would 'shave' another few seconds of my time.... :) Well, that and the job interview (no, I am emphatically NOT moving to Toronto!).
In the final analysis, I am fast enough to run a 3:30, so I have the speed. I have no doubts about my ability to handle the distance, so I have the endurance. The great question is this; do I have the strength and conditioning necessary to carry my weight, at speed, for the entire distance? Do I have the stamina? I wish I were running at Sunday at 180 pound instead of 200 pounds. There is at least a fifteen minute differential there in my estimation…
I have nine bets going, more than any other race to date, but still short of a case of wine. I hope to lure in a few more adventuresome souls before race day. I mean, who wouldn’t want to bet against an aging, battered and bruised old fat man? It would be like taking candy from a baby… It's just a little bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon... C'mon, you know you want to do it...
As interested as I am in how I fare, I am just as excited about how all my little running bunnies are going to do in the marathon, especially the first-timers. We had some wonderfully talented athletes enroll in this clinic and I am expecting most of them to reach their time goals. There are a number of returning marathoners who should easily make personal bests. It will be very exciting in the after party at the Pub afterwards.
posted by Vince Hemingson at 11:45 AM
7 Comments:
Have you planned out your pre-race breakfast? I recommend the Breakfast of Champions - Wheaties (you do have them in Canada, don't you) topped with a liberal splash of bourbon. If on the other hand, a sour stomach and vomiting isn't really what you desire, then fruit nad cereal (no milk) is a good choice.
Good luck on Sun.
PS - You certainly met the whining standard.
Just like our motto says - 'We aim to please...'
No whine before it's time!
Would you like a little cheese to go with that whine?
A bingeing of whingeing!
OK Vince, a cultural question - You (a Canuck - OK for me to use that term?) say "whingeing" while I (a Yank) say "whining," is this one of those cultural things? Are they pronounced the same (i.e. is the "g" silent)?
Scooter,
You can call me, 'Johnny Canuck', 'Captain Canuck' or even, 'The Great CanuckleHead'. We Canadians are Canucks through and through and proud of it.
Regarding whining and whingeing. Whinge ryhmes with hinge and binge and cringe, so the 'g' is not silent.
And I picked up it's useage from my many English friends who interchange it freely with whining and to whine.
So I guess you could say it's a cultural thing after all!
Vince
Thanks! and is that normal usage "acroos the pond?" Any idea?
As a matter of fact, yes. Most Brits I know use the whinge and whingeing terminology.
Enough about me. How are YOU feeling these days?
Cheers, Vince
Right knee's a bit balky and only days 'til the marathon, so I'm training every other day and pretty easy. I'm in shape for a 3:20 but will prob be conservative and aim for a 3:25ish. The race is on Long Island. Should be cool with gusty winds (which I can't let taint my head), but if the knee holds, I should punch the Boston ticket on Sun. My best to you.
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