Monday, June 25, 2007

Playing Catch Up

Monday, June 25, what the Hell have you been up to since June 14, Vince?

Well, on Friday, June 15 I did 20K - hard.

On Saturday, June 16, I did 20K, easy.

On Sunday, June 17, I did 30K.

On Tuesday, June 19 I did a HARD 8K tempro run. It was hot.

On Wednesday, June 20 I did a semi-hard 11K. It was even hotter!

On Friday, June 22, I did a pretty easy 20K.

On Sunday, I ran the Scotia Bank Half Marathon - which runs from the University of British Columbia to downtown Vancouver and the edge of Stanley Park - in about 2:22, then turned around with my crazy compadres, Patrick, Justin, Laura and Rob and then we reversed course and ran back up to the half marathon start line at UBC.

The five of ran 42.2K in 4:59:11, so we broke the five hour marathon.... :)~

Nothing quite like collecting a medal for a 42K training run.

The run was a lark. Parts of it, at least.

The race started at 7:00am and I got up at 5:00am, because I was putting on the post-run brunch at my house, and i needed to do a little kitchen prep like boiling the potatoes for the home-fries...

The weather forecast called for rain, which really doesn't do justice to the precipitation that fell during the race. It was beyond mere rain. It was a deluge of near Biblical proportions. It rained so hard that dozens of race bibs got so wet that they simply fell off their pins! The course was actually littered with lost race bibs! I have never ever seen that before. A lost timing chip or two over the years, but never racing bibs scattered all over a course.

And it rained for nearly the entire race - or the two and a half hours for us. We crossed the Finish Line, got our medals, grabbed some bananas and bagels and the lucky ones got a cup of coffee and then we headed back - to the Start Line.

The sun broke out for the last half of the run, dried us out and we had to peel off all of our rain jackets.

After 42.2K, we piled into Patrick's car and headed to my house. Everyone chipped in, but special thanks to Justin for being a stand up Sous Chef - or, Mr. Crispy Bacon we like to call him - and Laura for slicing fruit for the Sangria and putting up with my Gordon Ramsay like behavior. "You call that a lemon slice!"

The five of us ate a dozen eggs, a loaf of bread, nearly twenty cups of coffee, a pound of bacon, a dozen turkey sausages, two pounds of garlic and onion home-fried potatoes, and... there was a little Sangria to wash it all down....

Here is Vince's secret Sangria recipe I promised to disclose - a giant pitcher of Sangria containing two lemons, two limes, two oranges (thinly sliced), a cup of blue berries, a cup of raspberries, a cup of sliced strawberries (all fresh fruit), three tablespoons of dark brown sugar, a cup of Captain Morgan's spiced Rum, a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon-Shiraz, a bottle of Merlot Rose and a bottle of Pinot Grigio.

Concensus - delicious (sp?).

For those who need to, you can cut it with a little Club Soda....

Oh yes, and at the end, there were some shots of high end tequila, followed by a short scotch tasting course...

I have the best running buddies in the world. They put up with - or at least tolerate - me and my crazy ideas.

They provide boon company at the best of times and at the worst of running conditions.

I love them like family.

They are family.

It is good to be blessed.

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Running Technique and Injury Prevention

An interesting article on running form and technique and its uses and possible modification to moderate and prevent running injuries. Jeez, I sounded like a doctor there...

Who, Me Take Running Class? - New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/14/fashion/14fitness.html?ref=othersports

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Mileage Matters

I did a hard 12 K last Friday, an easy 16 K on Saturday 9meant to do 20 but quit because of the amount of rain...) and 35 K on Sunday.

I found it tough to do a fast tempo run after last weekend, so tonight will be interesting. May go easy tonight and do a fast 10K on Wednesday.

This Friday I am supposed to for the Longest Day 5K.

Weight is 193.

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Getting Carried Away

As I am gearing up for the Stormy Ultramarathon Trail Race in August - all 50 miles and 80 kilometres of it - I have to make sure I don't get too carried away with my training.

Last Wednesday the temperature hit about 80 degrees and I ran nearly a hilly 12 K in around 55 Minutes. Felt a little fried around the edges after that.

I took Thursday off and on Friday did 20 K with 10 K of hill work.

I did an easy 20 K on Saturday.

On Sunday it was 76 degrees at 8:00 AM. Patrick, Justin, Laura and I slathered on the sun screen and after ten o'clock and about 18 K we tried to stay in the shade of the trees that remain in Stanley Park. So the last 12 K was in the shade, but it was all hills and in the end we nearly did 31K. By Noon it was well over eighty degrees...

OF COURSE I took Monday off to recover....

Last night was the first night of a fresh Marathon Clinic and even though the run was only an easy 6 or 7 K, I was anything but fresh. My legs were DEAD!

So I backed off and just loafed out the miles to circulate some oxygenated blood through my legs.

I am supposed to do another 10K tonight and will see how I feel. At least the temperature has dropped a little.

Weight is 194. Back on the Boston Diet. Kelowna and the Okanagan Marathon here I come. Hopefully at 175 pounds, lean and hungry as a wolf and fast as a greyhound...