Training recap #7

Sun 15 Feb - Gorgeous day today. Ran home from the girls skating lesson this morning (I took the long way). I concentrated yet again on maintaining my cadence throughout the run. I was going up a hill when a fellow runner came up from behind me and tapped me on the shoulder. We exchanged a few pleasantries and then he went ahead. About a kilometre up the road, at the crest of the hill, he stopped to stretch his quads. I motored by and waved. About a kilometre further a car passed me and I noticed the back wheels were locked. I waved to the driver to stop. She pulled over on a side street and waited for me to run up to her. I told her that her back wheels were locked and that she must have her hand brake on. She tried releasing the brake and we tested to see if the wheel disengaged but no luck. I checked to see if the other rear wheel was locked as well - it wasn't. I told her she shouldn't drive any more on it because it will be a matter of time before she got a flat. She called her husband to come get her. I then left and returned to my route. The fellow runner had passed again but he seemed to be going slower this time. I resumed my cadence and rapidly gained ground. I cut the 100m distance between us within a half kilometre - exchanged pleasantries yet again and headed back up another hill. I now am about halfway through the loop back to the arena. This week the roads were clear so I didn't wear my studded shoes. I felt much lighter on my feet and it was nice to be on clean pavement again.

About a half-hour later I ran by the arena and commenced my second lap of the loop. Funny thing about doing the same loop twice - you notice things you had seen the first time but didn't really pay much attention to. Funny thing about late winter is that as the snow melts, all sorts of "treasures" come to the surface of the snow. I must have seen about five beer bottles at various points on the route. There was also a particular can I had to avoid. The first time around I thought it was a Pepsi can and paid no mind to it. This time around, I could see the script was the same as Pepsi can but it wasn't written Pepsi. It was something else that had a "P" but I didn't stop to read what it was. This got me thinking about when I was a kid and we used to buy these stickers at the candy store that came in a package like baseball cards with that stick of gum inside. I may me dating myself here, but it wasn't a cellophane plastic wrap back then, but rather a type of waxed paper that was used to wrap the cards and gum (boy I loved that gum). Anyway these stickers were of all sorts of funny (and gross) products that were mockeries of regular around the house type goods - worms in cereal boxes, monster toothpaste, blood pudding, etc. Seeing this non-Pepsi can made me think of these cards and the smell and taste of that gum we loved so much. Anyway, I was now almost right back where that fellow runner had passed me and I started to wonder if that lady had her car towed. I crested the hill and there it was...The towing crew was there and so was another car, her husband's I am guessing. I had originally stopped to help her over an hour ago and she was still there - that sucks. Anyway, I had 5 km left to go and it was all downhill from here. As I turned onto my street, I did about 5 strides of 10 seconds each and turned into my driveway. I ran for two and a half hours and I felt great.

I originally wanted to do another run this afternoon, after the girls ski lesson, but my parents came out for a visit so it will be a one-run day (25 km).

Mon 16 Feb - Intervals today 6x800m. They went really well this week. Much better than last. Total 10k with warm up and cool down included.

Tue 17 Feb - Cross training today. Did 20 minutes rowing, 3 sets of chinups (7,6,6), core exercises and stretching. Felt invigorated afterward.

Wed 18 Feb - Race pace run today (7 miles) total 12 km. Average HR 142 bpm. Felt comfortable at this pace today.

Thu 19 Feb - Day off today. Worked through lunch to get home and have supper with my girls.

Fri 20 Feb - TT run (6 km) total 10 km with warm up and cool down.

Sat 21 Feb - Decided to not run today.  I will run on Sunday instead - no skating lessons.  Spent the day de-cluttering the basement after the renovations.

Total weekly mileage : 57 km

Free gym membership

Aérobie Spa gym has graciously offered a free one-year membership that will be drawn at random on March 16th. To enter, you simply have to make a donation to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada between February 15th and March 15th, 2009 using the link below. All donations greater that $10 will automatically receive a receipt for income tax purposes.

Here are the details of the draw:

$20 donation = 1 chance to win
$50 donation = 4 chances to win
$100 donation = 10 chances to win


The random draw will take place at Aérobie Spa Gym in the basement of complexe 2020 University, Montréal at 1 p.m.
The winner will be notified by e-mail and their name will be posted on this blog.

Here is the link to participate : http://my.e2rm.com/personalPage.aspx?registrationID=577892

The one year membership has no cash value. However, if you win, it can be given to somebody else before you join.

Good Luck! and thank you for your support!

Snowshoe runs

Here are a few pictures of my 1 Feb snowshoe run on the Whitlock golf course. While the snow was fresh and the temperature was mild, we can clearly see that snowshoes really permit the exploration of terrain not normally seen when running on the roads. I managed to ascend some rather steep hills and capture views of the Montérégie region from where I was, despite the grey skies. I will have to go back there on a clear day and see the difference.

Snowshoe running is a great workout. You really have to raise your knees to clear the deep snow. It sort of reminds me of those drills we used to do in soccer and volleyball practices - running on the spot as fast as we could by making sure our knees came up high enough to touch our hands while our elbows were bent 90 degrees. The coach would blow the whistle and we would go as fast as we could for what seemed like forever until the next whistle - it was probably really only about 10 seconds or so. Anyway, that is the type of work my legs were doing on this day in snowshoes...

Training recap #6

Sun 8 Feb - Long run today between skating and skiing lessons for the girls. 22 miles (35.5 km). I felt good - finished in about 3:50. Shouldn't have worn the studded shoes today, the rain overnight left the roads cleared of snow but there were a few icy patches. It was 0C and sunny, but there was a gusty westerly wind. I'm glad I had my sunglasses on. I tried to do the last 10km at race pace but couldn't seem to get faster than 8:20 per mile. I decided to do glides on the last 10 hills - each was about 200 metres and I would accelerate up the hill concentrating on my form and then glide back into a coasting speed until the next one. I enjoyed doing these; it made the run seem interesting. Another thing I did today was do my loop in the opposite direction. By mixing it up, I had many more downhills throughout the run, albeit gradual descents, and also kept the hills for the end. My left knee seemed to bother me a bit, I will ice it tonight.
Mon 9 Feb - First day of Interval pace training. The principal purpose is to try to do as much work at the aerobic threshold by putting short recovery times between intervals. I was running at 9.5 mph or 6:10 min/mile. This was a very fast pace for me to sustain for 800m intervals. I managed on the first and recovered by a light jog for 3 minutes before starting the next one. I had to concentrate on my cadence and my breathing on the second one and decided to recover at 700m. The next two were equally difficult but I stuck it out. I noticed that it wasn't the recovery time that was difficult but rather the perceived limit in my ability to maintain such a pace for the entire distance. For the second to last interval I recovered at 700m and forced myself to complete the entire distance on the last one by slowing down a notch between 600 and 700m and then speeding up again for the last 100m. After that I did a really easy jog for 2 miles and then stetched my calves and IT band. My glutes were tender at the start of my workout but were fine afterward. This was a tough workout. I sure hope it will pay off!
Tue 10 Feb - Day off today. I wanted to exercise my core muscles and do some stretching, but I had to work through lunch instead.
Wed 11 Feb - Fighting a cold (again). My sinuses are congested. I was supposed to do my Q2 run today but I'll do it tomorrow instead.

Thu 12 Feb - 10 km race pace. I think the rest was due. I had a spring in my step for most of the run. I had my iPod but forgot my headphones, so no music to run to. I took advantage to concentrate on breathing and cadence. I wasn't uncomfortable or out of breath but it was not an easy pace to run to - I could see how more runs at this pace will help build my confidence and comfort level. After the run I did some core exercises and stretches. I felt great except for a little tension in my shins. I will stretch some more tonight. Ave HR 145 bpm.

Fri 13 Feb - TT run today (4 miles) felt good and strong. I mentally have to break up my run into smaller milestones to keep going. I usually sip water every five minutes, this is always a useful goal because in that 5 minutes I cover nearly a mile. After that, toward the end of my run, I often do a countdown - half mile, 4 tenths, 3, 2, 1...done. This technique breaks up the monotony, takes my mind off of the work and is rewarding at each of the sub-goals toward the finish. Total workout 10 km with warm up, TT, easy run, and cool down.

Sat 14 Feb - Valentine's day. Had to run errands and clean up the basement for the renovations today and then it was dinner "en famille".

Total weekly mileage : 65.5 km

Training recap #5

Sun 1 Feb - Day off today. Skating and skiing lessons for the girls. We then went to the Hudson Shiver Fest on Pine Lake and played in the snow. It is great to see the girls enjoying playing outside - I know I love it! After supper and putting the girls to bed, I relaxed to a couple beers and some Buffalo wings (guilt free because of my long run the day before) while watching the second half of the Super Bowl. I don't watch football often but it sure was a nailbiter! It brought back memories of when I played in college.
Mon 2 Feb - TI 8x800m - this is my last week of threshold intervals. They really did get easier as the weeks went by. My legs were a little stiff at the start but after a warm up, I was ready to go. My breathing and my cadence were right on the mark. I find I prefer the 3-3 method of breathing (in for three steps, out for three steps). I tried the 2-2 but didn't find I was breathing in deeply enough.
Tue 3 Feb - 10 km easy. Felt tired in the legs. Need to do some stretching at night.
Wed 4 Feb - Took the day off today. Worked through lunch. Had a chiro appointment that helped get rid of some kinks and stiffness in my neck and lower back. He notices I need some more flexibility in my quads and hamstrings. Dr. Butz showed me some new stretches to incorporate.
Thu 5 Feb - Felt more rested today. Ready to take on my training. 3 miles TT for a total 10km. It's amazing how good I feel after the run (wish I could say the same about during the run). Felt a little twinge in my left knee but it is gone now. I did about 15 minutes of stretching - my hamstrings and glutes are really tight.

Fri 6 Feb - Bad day at work.  I decided to forego the 10km race pace lunch run and get out of dodge early.

Sat 7 Feb - Had to bring the girls to ballet today.  Decided not to run.  Removed the snow off the roof because  it was still light.  Forecast called for rain overnght so it will be too late afterward.

Total weekly mileage : 31 km

Running Studs

No, this is not about good looking guys in shorts and singlets....you have to find someone else's blog for that...This post is about winter running and an experiment I tried after reading an article in the January issue of RunnersWorld.

The article discussed how you can modify your regular training shoes to have better grip when running in winter conditions by installing plain old sheet metal screws. Traction has always been a problem of mine partly because my shoes of choice have a very low profile tread design, partly because of the location of my long runs (country roads that are not necessarily cleared and are hilly) and the fact that most of my marathon training takes place in the winter months, but also that I have hurt myself before and seem to have come close to more serious pulled muscles and ankle injuries.


Last Friday, I stopped by Canadian Tire and bought a pack of 1/2in. self tapping sheet metal screws. They are the ones that have a hex head with raised edges. I would have preferred 3/8in. but they were out of stock. There are 24 in a pack so I figured that was more than enough. When I got home, I pulled out my trusty cordless drill and a hex-head bit and brought it into the den along with my shoes and the screws. My wife looked at me strangely as I placed a screw under my shoe and proceeded to drive it in. "You're putting the pointy end in that way?", she inquired like I had no idea what I was doing. I pretended I did and showed her the picture from the article. I proceeded to strategically place the screws into the sole of my shoe (3 near the heel, a few at the midfoot, a few under the ball, and a couple toward the toe - see picture below). I realized I had put fourteen on one shoe which meant I only had 10 left for the other. I removed one and decided I would test which configuration worked better ; thirteen or eleven.

The next day, I set out on my run. The screws gripped very well in the snow and on the ice. I can't say which was better but I did notice I was missing some traction for an adequate toe-off in both feet. I also noticed that the studs didn't make me lose traction on clear pavement, but they did make a clippety-clop sound. I suppose they would wear out faster as well. It wasn't long before I found myself seeking out the shoulder of the road in order to run on the packed snow and ice with my newfound traction.

Week 2, I took a different route this week where there was much more snow. Traction was still very good. A couple of problems with this type of running, and confidence; you don't know how hard or how deep the snow is and there may be water inderneath. The first can be an opportunity for disaster or just get your feet wet. Seeking to run in the snow instead of the pavement, I once stepped on a hard ice chunk embedded in softer snow. This caused my ankle to roll outward. I felt some pain but ran through it and it subsided. A friend of mine once told me he severely fractured his foot this way a few years back. I have also started wearing gaiters over the tops of my shoes so that snow doesn't get in. This helped immensely to keep the snow from coming in the tops of my shoes. The second situation I encountered during my week 3 run; The temperature was at just about freezing, and it had rained overnight. The shoulder of the road was a mixture of snow, ice, and slush. It wasn't long before my footfalls sank through the snow and into the slush underneath. I felt the water infiltrate my toebox, but the traction was still fine.

After this last run, I decided to wash my shoes and inspect the studs. Aftrer three long runs, the rear studs toward the outside of my heals were almost completely worn down. I will have to use pliers to take them off. The rest of them look in pretty good shape. I also checked out my orthodics and found the the pointy ends of the screws had actually left indentations in my insoles under the balls of my feet even though I don't feel them protruding through the bottoms of the lasts. This means that the pressure from my weight while running actually compressed the outsoles of my shoes so much so, that the screws came through and into my shoe. I will have to switch these out for 3/8 in. screws if I don't want to ruin my insoles and orthodics.

So the experiment was a success, the studs actually do aid in increasing traction. But there are some considerations and adaptations that have to be made.

Keep on running.

Training recap #4

Sun 25 Jan - day off. Went to skating and ski lessons with the girls. Chloé went on the chairlift today! She was so excited. I am glad they like skiing, pretty soon we will be doing this as a family activity.
Mon 26 Jan - TI 8x800m. I felt good running these today. Total 11km.
Tue 27 Jan - Easy 5km run today. I put the incline to 1% since I was running on a treadmill. I read in Jack Daniels book that this makes treadmill running a little harder to simulate wind resistance running outside. There was a little difference, but not really noticeable. Afterward I did some stretching and core exercises.

Wed 28 Jan - TT run today. 3 miles. total 10k with warm up and cool down. I concentrated on keeping the same cadence the entire time regardless of the speed I was running. It was pretty tough to maintain 180 steps per minute at slower speeds - I felt burning in the front of my lower legs because the strides had to be so short. I'm sure I'll get used to it though.

Thu 29 Jan - day off from running today. Did 20 min. rowing plus stretching and core exercises.

Fri 30 Jan - I was suppposed to run 6 miles at race pace but only ran 4 because I had to get back to work. What a terrible thing to have work get in the way of running...I do find race pace still a little fast at this point even if I'm not out of breath or in the high HR zone. I think it is just a question of getting used to maintaining that pace.

Sat 31 Jan - 20 miles easy today. It was not that cold and I headed out the door at 7 a.m. The extra hour of sleep was necessary, I suppose. I tried to use my long run loop that takes me around Hudson and then around St-Lazare but my usual trail that takes me from Altsonvale to Harwood was not plowed and hadn't been used all winter judging from the amount of snow on the ground. I decided to take Mayfair into Hudson Valleys and then loop back via Harwood to connect back to my route. This leg of my circuit takes me through farms and ranches. For about 6 km, I had a biting cold headwind and concluded that my new gloves were not conceived for this kind of running. Up to this point, I was quite comfortable. My gloves are Black Diamond and are made of a very dense Polartec fleece. They are supposed to keep me warm and also block the wind but I think the fact that the fleece is so dense creates a wicking problem. My warm hands were actually sweaty at this point and the gloves were becoming quite wet. When I hit the headwind, the wet gloves actually started to freeze. I had to make fists to keep my fingers warm. Once they were sufficiently warmed up, I tried to put my fingers back in their spots but the glove tips actually froze solid. Within seconds, my fingers were cold again so I abandoned that idea and made fists again for most of the rest of the run. Although I wasn't running fast, I was feeling the fatigue of running in snow covered roads. I did not have any gels with me but I did have some raisins and Nerds (those little hard candies that are pretty much pure sugar). I had the raisins at about 8 km and now I was eating some Nerds. Not sure if it was psychological or not but I actually felt the energy boost within 5 minutes of eating them (and this is why I don't let my kids eat candy...). The next leg is pretty much uphill for about 5 km. At the crest, I veer left onto Ste-Angelique and head toward St-Lazare town centre. At this point I am over 20km into my run and decide to modify my route to head back toward Hudson via Cote St-Charles instead of looping St-Lazare. This way I would complete my run closer to home because the detour I had to do in Alstonvale added some distance to my planned loop. I am not fond of running on St-Charles because it is a main thoroughfare and usually quite busy (as far as country roads go). I am 8 km from home so I will have to do an extra little loop in my neighborhood to round out my total distance. I have some more Nerds and concentrate on maintaining my cadence as I head down the final stretch. By the time I cross Harwood again, I am anxious to finish, I look at my watch : 1.5 miles to go. I decide to finish my run by doing some strides (10 strides of ten seconds each). Given the road conditions, it is quite hard to build up speed but at least I manage to maintain some traction. Soon enough, my run is done. I head into the house and start removing the layers of clothing and gear. I am famished and feel a stiffness in my quads and calves. It seems the Easy run was not so easy...

Total weekly mileage : 66 km