#125

3 Weeks in a row, this blog may just be back. Or I may get a job and become a functioning member of society again. Only time will tell.

Last week I ragged on the Canadian Marathoning scene. I pointed out flaws, but did not offer any suggestions to make it better.

Honestly, I don’t know exactly what will make it better. There are many different scenarios it which athletes excel. Every athlete is on their own unique path in their quest for greatness. There is no set way on how to do it to guarantee success.

I believe that when the record finally goes it will simply come down to a special athlete working with a talented coach. He will have kick ass training partners and a good contract. Jobs kill recovery. The record will be broken by a dude who naps every damn day.

I’ll go back to the Guelph model. Reid + DST + the SpeedRiver crew. That is as close to ideal as it gets in Canada. They have been so damn close.

If I had to make a prediction I’d say that Mo Ahmed will be the one to break the record. He has an ideal set up with Nike down in Portland, and Coach Schumacher has really upped his marathon game.  Mo is hard as nails and has the proper mindset. He also just happens to be the most talented runner Canada has ever produced.  He has all the tools to do it.

Of course many thought the same of Simon Bairu. That’s one of the great things about the marathon- it is such a unique event and you never know what will happen until you toe the line and give it a go. My one reservation about Mo crushing the record is that his stride is VERY similar to that of Mo Farah, they are both beautiful runners, but over 42.2km they are not the most economical- We all saw what happened to Farah over the last 10km of his Marathon debut. If Mo Ahmed can find that efficient marathon shuffle then I believe he is the best shot we currently have.

While were are talking about the marathon let me take a minute to chat about Dubai and the sub 2:00hr marathon.

Dubai was pretty standard Dubai. It’s like a Japanese race with more talented runners. A bunch of dudes toe the line and just friggen hammer from the gun, and eventually a guy we have never heard of blows up the least to win in 2:04-2:05. I love the Dubai marathon, always carnage out there.

There has been a tonne of talk about the sub 2:00hr marathon over the past little while. I am firmly in the camp that we are a long, long way off. First off, I am quite skeptical of many of the 2:02, 2:03 & 2:04 performances we have seen over the past few years. I do believe that there are athletes out there capable of these times, but I also think that for every legit 2:05 there are two dirty ones. My point is that the talent pool is not a deep as we think.

Also, they are still SO far off, they need 3minutes, 3minutes! The winner would have to be more that a km ahead of where Kimetto was when he broke the record in 2014. I was in that race in Berlin in 2014. The weather that day was as perfect as I’ve ever experienced in a marathon. Temperature was perfect, no wind and a pancake flat course. I have hard time imagining a course or a day that would give athletes much more of an advantage.

I gotta add though, I was also in the London Marathon last year where Kipchoge ran 2:03:05. That effort in London would have been 2:02:30 on that Berlin course in 2014.

It’s also not like these guys are not already training their asses off. It’s not like we are suddenly going to come across a training breakthrough that will make them too much faster.

Throw as much money and science as you like at this sub 2:00 attempt. Shit ain’t happening soon.

Ok, I Gotta go.

Have a great week.

-rob-

 

 

 

#124

I asked a question last week regarding Gilly and Reid and who was Canada’s all time #2 marathoner. I wanted to know what you guys thought because I have a hard time giving one guy the edge over the other. I think we simply have to appreciate just how incredible both these athletes are. It is annoying that every time either of these guys runs a marathon all anyone wants to talk about is the Canadian Record. Bloody hell, I wish Reid didn’t have to stop for that poop back in 2011, or that Dylan didn’t have his issues in Biwa in 2012 (Dylan is definitely in my Top 5 all-time as well) as I think both athletes were capable of snagging the record on those days. Then instead of that stupid record we could better appreciate the fact that over the past 8years we have been fortunate enough to witness Reid and Eric constantly roll tremendous races. The consistency in which they race strong marathons blows my mind.

In the late 2000’s there was positive momentum for the marathon in Canada. Dylan was just getting going in the event and rolled a 2:15 debut, we had a couple other dudes running in the 2:16-2:18 range and Brooks threw a boatload of cash at the “Brooks Distance Project” in Toronto.

In 2009 Reider debuted with a 2:17 on a less than ideal build up and in 2010 Gillis got going in the marathon game with a very impressive 2:13 debut in Houston. It appeared as though we were on the verge of a marathon resurgence in Canada. Fast forward 7 years and it’s still Reid and Gillis carrying the torch.

A lot happened between 2009-2016: Dylan crushed some amazing races, including a 2:10 in Rotterdam and a 20th place showing at the 2012 Olympics. One of Canada’s greatest talents, and then 10,000m national record holder, Simon Bairu gave the distance a good go, but was unfortunately never able to find his legs in the event and could not mimic the success he had on the xc course or track.

I was constantly 4th in the pecking order, but never managed to break through to a truly elite level topping out with a couple 2:13’s. Kip also rolled some good ones, but like myself never really crushed one.

And sadly, despite best intentions, the Brooks group never really made much of an impact.

While all this was going on Reid and Eric kept steadily improving and setting the bar for the rest of us. Now as we roll into 2017 they are the two left standing and they continue to set the bar.

What am I getting at? Two things, firstly we have to appreciate what special athletes Eric and Reid are, and secondly, something is wrong with men’s marathoning in Canada.

Year after year Canadian men only manage a handful of sub 2:20 performances. Our depth in the event is terrible. Why is this and what can we do to fix it? I have a couple thoughts on this matter. One is that we lack proper development in bringing athletes through as marathoners. I feel as though we have many capable athletes who are attacking the distance rather blindly, there is a lack of organization and structure in their pursuit to conquer the marathon.

I am quite optimistic with what is going on in Guelph. Reid and Eric are there as the old guard, and hopefully they can mentor Esselink and Hoffbauer and teach them the way of the marathoner. I also believe that DST is a fantastic marathon coach. I was happy when I heard Hoffbauer was moving to Guelph, and I am also happy to hear that he is not rushing into the marathon. I fully believe that an athlete should max out their track speed before tackling the marathon.

If you take a look at the guys whom have had success in the marathon over the past 10years you will notice that they were all very accomplished on the track; Reider 13:21 5000m, 27:56 10,000. Gillis 13:36, 28:07. Dylan 13:43, 28:12.

I think that people are too quick to move up, they have to max out at 5000m & 10000m first. I believe that you can run 2:18 off talent, tonnes of miles and hard work, but to run 2:12 you have to have the chops at shorter distances. Fast track times do not guarantee fast marathon times, but it is certainly an indicator.

Another aspect that is hindering our development is obviously support. To train properly for an elite marathon you have to have lots of time, both on a micro and macro level. You have to be willing to commit years to the process, and you also have to have many hours each day to set aside for training AND recovery.

Being a “pro” runner in Canada is a joke, especially for those on the fringes hoping for a breakthrough. Contracts are pretty much just gear, and any financial incentives tend to be very underwhelming. I’m not saying that athletes necessarily deserve a tonne of cash, just pointing out that the financial struggle is a big deterrent to overall success. I have often heard people brush this off by saying something along the lines of ‘suck it up and get a job’. Sure some people have had success working 40hr weeks but those are exceptions and not the norm.

We have athletes that want to succeed and have the potential to be great, but man it can be such a friggen grind. I speak from experience here, there will be very lean times (I lined up for Boston 2013 with maybe $400 dollars in my bank account). To chase distance running dreams it essentially means you accept living below the poverty line. I think we lose a tonne of potentially great runners because they simply cannot afford to/want to live that lifestyle.

I’m not trying to bitch and say athletes deserve more, just pointing out some serious issues that can deter success. I believe that the marathon is suffering from this more than some other events because the amount of time it takes to fully reach your potential in the event.

Anyways, maybe I’ll write more about this later and present some solutions rather than just be an old grump and point out flaws. but for now I’m tired of rambling and I assume most of you stopped reading a little while ago.

I’m gonna run the BMO Vancouver Marathon in May, that should be fun. I hope I win.

Cheers folks!

-rob-

#123

Holy crap, the blog is still live on the web! Bloody hell, feeling nostalgic as hell right now. I sure did love doing this blog.

Should I do it? Should I get back at the blog? I’m thinking yes, yes I should. Why? Because I want to, shut up.

Should I start by writing a post recapping what I have been up to over the last 2years? Nah, I reckon that is unnecessary. Between my podcast, twitter, instagram and all that other stuff anyone who cares probably knows what’s up. But in case you are not, here’s the gist: Still in Vancouver, Failed to make the Olympics…again, got engaged & currently sitting on my couch bored on a Thursday afternoon. I am supposed to be looking for part-time jobs, but that is boring and annoying.

Anyways, this is a running blog, so let’s talk running.

What is up in the running world? Houston Marathon is this weekend. I love the Houston Marathon. It was Houston 2011 when I ran my first ever marathon. That was 6years ago, but I remember it like it was yesterday. Man, I was fit as balls for that race, unfortunately I was also a newb to the event. If I could take the fitness from that race, and combine it with the experience I have now I’m certain I would run 2:12. But alas, I had no experience and thus at around 32km into that race I learned what it was to suffer. Good god did I ever suffer.

On that day in Houston I went through the half in 65:24ish, it was weird, because it didn’t hurt very much and I thought I was good, but less than 30min later I wanted to murder myself. Marathons suck like that. I finished in 2:16:17 at the time I was super bummed, but looking back now I am quite proud of that effort.

pro-tip when you run a marathon be patient. It is going to be easy early on, don’t get horny and do something stupid. Just make sure you get yourself to 32km with some fight in your legs. Those last 10km are going to suck no matter how well you are running, make sure you still have fight in ya.

Shout out to Kevin Coffey whom is running Houston this year, give it hell buddy!

What else is going on? Came out today that Gilly & Hannah are running Boston. That is amazing, such a good choice. Boston is in my opinion the best marathon in the world. I have run in some big races, and while there are many fantastic events I would put Boston as my #1.

I ran Boston 2013. Probably the 2nd fittest I have ever been. It was the best experience I ever had on the race course. That was the same day as the bombs. What an effed up day that was. That Walberg movie about the bombs is coming out soon, I’ll totally check that out.

Back to Eric and Hannah doing Boston. I’m keen to see what they can do out there.

I have a question for you guys. Who in your opinion is Canada’s 2nd best male marathoner ever? Drayton is clear #1. But for #2 it is a close race between Gilly and Reider. Reider has the better times, but Gilly was 10th in the Olympics. It’s close.

I’ll leave you to think that over.

See ya next week when I’ll discuss my running plans and we’ll break down the ManUtd v. LPool game- so nervous for that!

Regards.

-rob-

#122

Hey everybody, let’s talk about running. Where shall we begin? Oh I know. How about that Eric Spence eh? Some of you may not know who Eric Spence is, so let me introduce him; Spence is pretty much my best bud. Okay, so that covers that. Why is Eric so special? Well Eric ran his 1^st ever road race this past weekend at the Toronto Yonge St. 10km, and he was quite brilliant.

Spence and I started doing a running PodCast this past year and as part of it Eric agreed to train for a 10km road race. Eric has never been much of a runner. He is more of a drinker/floor hockey type. Under the guidance of Dylan Wykes, and his Mile2Marathon training program Eric started chipping away at this running thing. He managed to make it through the truly horrible Toronto winter as his fitness slowly but surely began to take form. This past weekend was the big test; Eric had his big debut race- He friggen smashed it! Dude ran 43:20! In his first race ever! Needless to say I was fairly shocked, and super pumped. I am very proud of my buddy, that run really made my week.

As for myself, I’m just stuck into this training camp pretty good. I ran me a 10,000m race on the track this past weekend. Pete and I figured it’d be good to get in a solid race effort to see how the fitness is coming around. I laced up the ole’ NB’s and gave it a go at the UVA Challenege (brilliant meet by the way- Justyn Knight, don’t even get me started on that guy, calling it now- We’ll see him in Rio) . I was pretty nervous before the race, I hadn’t run a track race since 2010 and I really didn’t know how the legs would feel after hitting 150miles the previous week. It was a beautiful night, there was a great group of guys to run with, and it ended up going pretty well as I rolled 29:27. Not amazing, but I can definitely live with that.

5weeks until the Ottawa Marathon and it is all good folks! I am in substantially better shape than I was last year at this time and the body is really coming around. Next up is the BMO Vancouver ½ marathon on may 3^rd. Ok, let’s get to the training log;

Last two weeks;

April 6-12

Mon- 11miles w/ 2miles straights/curves, 9:50 (4:51, 4:59) ran too hard that first mile and kinda blew up. Who blows up in a 2mile workout!?  Stride feeling good though, legs are coming around.

Pm. Easy hour. 9miles.

Tues- Workout; 10mile on the road, cutting down to a bit under 6:00min/mile pace. Right onto the track for a 6mile tempo; 30:41(5:10, 5:09, 5:09, 5:09, 5:03, 5:01). 10min jog then 3xmile (800m jog) 4:44, 4:45, 4:43. 3mile cool down. Pretty good session! A lot of good work done here. Tempo felt controlled, but that 3xmile on the end was gnarly- Legs were pretty fried by that point. Nice having the UVA kids for the tempo & Sean was great to follow on the miles. 23miles total.

Wed- 10.5miles easy on the treadmill. Doing a thing where after a hard session I’ll just jump on the treadmill for my next run-less pounding and also flat (Charlottesville is hilly as balls!). Hoping that saves the legs a bit.

Pm. 10.5 easy with the dudes down at riverview park.

Thurs- 8miles chill

Pm 13miles nice and relaxed, legs feel pretty good.

Fri- 14miles w/ 12x100m strides. w/UVA.

Pm. 8miles nice and chill-got caught in a big ass rainstorm!

Sat-Workout; 3mile warm-up, 3xmile (800m jog) 4:32, 4:31, 4:30/ 12x500m (100m jog) avg 86-87, had to take a longer rest after #7 to avoid blowing up. Great session, legs felt really good on the miles, 500’s stung pretty good. w/UVA. 15mile total.

Pm. 7miles on treadmill

Sun- easy 8 before watching ManUtd destroy City!

Pm. Nice 13 to celebrate ManUtd destroying city!

Week; 150miles. Awesome week, got in some really good work. Solid volume and also some good quality sessions. Nice.

April 13-19

Mon- Workout; steady 16miles @ Keene (nice rolling 7mile loop, fairly challenging) 2miles chill to get into it and then started progressing, down to 5:20/mile by mile 7 and held I there for rest of run. 1:29:50 for 16, last 10 in 53ish. Good run, legs were pretty heavy from the start but was able to find good rhythm.

Pm, 7 easy on the treadmill.

Tues. am. Gentle 8mile run- my legs are tired.

Pm. 12miles, again, tired legs. Gonna take a few chill days before this race. I don’t wanna suck.

Wed. Just one run today-73min for 11miles. Felt better.

Thurs. 13miles w/8x200m thrown in. 200’s in 31-32 (200m jog rest) felt quite good, nice and relaxed.

Fri. easy 8miles

Pm. 6chill. Ok, feeling lazy, time to get back at it.

Sat. am easy 5miles shakeout

Race! 10,000m @ UVA Challenge, 29:27 (5^th) 14:39/14:48. Felt decent, 2:56km felt super chill, but had no gears or any sort of pop in the legs, just settled in and rolled. Tried to roll the last km but as soon as I tried to pick up the pace I blew up! That last km was lame. 20min jog then 2xmile (400m jog rest) 4:46, 4:45- Felt pretty good. 17 miles on the evening.

Sun. am. 8miles on the treadmill. Felt fine.

Pm. 13miles-eff this run! Legs were sore as balls and it poured rain the entire time, least favourite run in a while.

Week; 124miles. Another good week. Needed to take a few chill days in the middle because I was starting to redline the training a bit. Helped quite a bit and was able to give it a solid effort for the race. This time last year I only managed a 30:30 10km, so fitness is obviously much better! Onward!

#121

This post is essentially just going to be a training update. I wrote an actual post with original content and such last week, buuut I am really dumb and I managed to erase it. I was pretty enraged over this. I said a bunch of swear words and spent a good 30min pouting about. It was pathetic.

I’ve been in Virginia for four weeks now and things really couldn’t be going much better. Pete and Kristen have been amazing (as always), the dogs have been manageable, and I have myself a great group of guys to run with- My man Sean K. is a pretty gnarly training partner, dude is a 13:38 5000m guy and he just recently ran a 62:50 in his half marathon debut. He is getting ready to drop a sick 10,000m here soon, thus I have no shame in getting hammered by him out there on the trails. There is also a great group of Uni kids kicking about, shout out to Zach H. for dropping a very nice 29:08 10,000 at Stanford- I’ve been chasing him around a whole lot as well, dude is quite fit he’ll go 28:40 next time out.

I have gotten my off track situation sorted pretty well as well. Pete managed to score me a free membership to the student rec center (eyes down Watson, those girls are only 20yrs old!) and I am back on my stretch therapy routine with Robin at TruPilates. I love the stretch therapy, it’s so good for my hips and hammies. I’ve also enlisted the help of this dude named Getty to help me work through the little aches and pains that are bound to pop up during this cycle. Getty is trained in Airrosti- a tremendously uncomfortable, yet very effective form of treatment. Between him and Robin the body is feeling pretty good. Getty is also a big Manchester United fan which is a plus, I don’t think I could let a Liverpool supporter work on me, can’t trust em!

My initial goal when I got here was to simply survive the first 3week block. Upon my arrival I was not very fit at all, we kinda just adopted a “Throw Caution to the Wind” training approach and gave’r hell from the get go. Not gonna lie, that first 3weeks was a grind! I spent, most my time chasing the crew around whilst trying to force some fitness to come about. At first I was fairly useless- I blew up in literally every workout! I would start with the crew and try to get stuck in, eventually I would crumble, but not before getting in some quality work and experiencing a good amount of suffering- I gotta re-learn the fine art of the suffer, the ability to suffer is one of a marathoners most important skills.

Finally though as the end of that 1^st block approached I started to feel my legs waking up and I started feeling like a real runner again. I am not killing it on the stop watch yet, but I can feel the fitness developing and this excites me greatly.  I am friggen stoked to get into the meat of this marathon build-up. Onward to Ottawa! (did I mention that I am doing the Ottawa Marathon on May 24th? Well yeah, that’s the plan!)

Last 3weeks Training;

March 16-22

Monday; am easy 6mile shakout

Pm: Fartlek; 7miles of 3min on, 1 off. Felt good through 3miles, decent through 5, then struggled last 2miles. 37:15 for the loop. Decent session, 13miles total @ Keene.

Tuesday; am easy 7miles followed by 1hr of stretch therapy

Pm 12miles in 1hr18, felt alright. 20min plank routine after.

Wednesday; am easy 6mile jog, 40:00.

Pm; 11miles w/ 2miles of straight/curves in the middle. 2mile in 10:20 (5:10, 5:10) kinda stung!

Thursday; 17miler, was supposed to be a progression, managed to progress a bit, but man I felt kinda shitty today. Ran at PineyRiver, it’s hard to run fast out here (soft) did 13.5 before getting dropped by the group, backed off and reloaded, ran another mile hard…and then blew up for good! 1:45total, got in about 6miles @ 5:30ish.

Friday; am; 9miles on treadmill, legs were kinda achy so hit the ole’ mill. Trying to get the volume up- I’m gonna use the treadmill to help in that process, it’s so soft and relaxing!

Pm; 65min, nice gentle 10miler. Legs felt better!

Saturday; am hour easy, nice 9 nothing much to report here.

Pm; 11miles, again, fairly uneventful.

Sunday; 1hr38, just one run today. 15around town and some drills/strides at the track.

Week; Solid week. Not a whole lot of quality, focusing on getting the volume up to a proper marathon training level and getting the legs accustomed to all that pounding. Managed to hit 125, which is a good start. Next week we get sexy again!

March 23-29

Monday; Big sexy track session. 3xmile (200m jog rest)/2mile jog/ 10x500m (100m jog rest)/1mile jog/ 2x1000m (400m jog rest); 4:39 (61) 4:38 (64) 4:41 (ouch!)/ avg 88-89 and 28-30 for rest/ 2:57 (2:02) 2:57. Good hard session! Was redlining pretty hard, tipped on mile 3 & after 500 #5 (took 400m jog). 1000’s were good- legs were jello! 18mile session after all was said and done.

Tuesday; am easy 8miles at riverview, legs were pretty blah.

Pm; 10miles, 1:06 legs felt better.

Wednesday; am 14miles at keene, 2 looper, start chill then workdown a bit. 5:50 by end of loop one, 5:30 avg for loop 2. 1:23 total time. Felt pretty good!

Pm; easy 7mile treadmill roll. 45min

Thursday; nice little 7mile morning jog, felt good.

Pm; 13miles 1:26. Last two miles I was dragging ass

Friday; 12miles w/2miles straights/curves; 9:56-458, 4:58. That is a tricky little 10min, gets quite uncomfortable.

Pm; 9miles on treadmill, 60min

Saturday; am 92min around Washington DC, such a cool city! Love this place, so much history. 14miles.

Sunday; Long run w/ Progression, 11miles chill then 6mile cutdown on the track; 5:21. 5:19, 5:13, 5:10, 5:05, 4:52. 3mile cooldown. That was awesome! Very happy with how that went, smooth and controlled on the track, last 800m got kinda hard. So much better than 3wks ago. Progress! Survived the first block! Pretty knackered now though. Looking forward to a few chill days coming up.

Week; Great week to finish up the 1^st block, some solid workouts and good volume-132miles. Good stuff, body is coming around and mind is happy.

 

March 30- April 5

Monday; 8miles, 54min. That’s it, that’s all for today. Couple easy days here to let the work settle in the legs.

Tuesday; 67min, nice little 10mile jaunt.

Wednesday; 11miles w/10x30sec strides worked in. 72min

Thursday; 72min, 11miles. Well those 4easy days were very nice. Back to work tomorrow!

Friday; 6mile tempo+ 4xMile, @ riverview park. 6miler-30:00 (10min rest) 4xMile (800m jog rest) 4:41, 4:41, 4:41, 4:44. Good session. 6miler was harder than I woulda liked, but was happy with how the miles went, although my life did come crashing down the last 800m of mile 4, ouch! Good effort today. Rolled w/Sean, Trevor and Thomas. 16miles total

Pm 4m; 46min treadmill shakeout

Saturday; 8miles, 53min. Legs were tired

Pm; 12miles 1hr19, legs were tired.

Sunday; Early 8miler before watching the soccer game. ManUtd won again, they are playing great right now. Top4 is looking very possible.

Pm; 12miler, went exploring up to ragged mountain reservoir, very good run, quite hilly though.

Week; Started with 4nice relaxing days and then hammered a really good session. Good week-Block 2 has begun! 103miles.

Blog #120

Hey, long time eh? I figured that it’d be sad for the blog to die, so I’m gonna write some stuff. I currently lack any sort of creative spark and my life is fairly boring, so I’m just gonna fill you in on the goings on of my training. God I hope this blog doesn’t disintegrate into bland, generic running drivel…

I am down here in Charlottesville Va. w/ Coach Pete and Sister Kristen. Been here 2 weeks now and it’s coming along. These two take pretty good care of this 31yr old child. The basic goal of this camp is to get fit and stop sucking. Last year I sucked, and then I got hurt and also became unfit. Unfit and sucky is generally a terrible state for any runner to find them self in, especially one trying to make the damn Olympics. Gotta rectify that situation asap!

My first week here I was still just getting my legs back under me after a 6wk hiatus due to some achilles tendon issues. My entire Jan-Feb were basically write-offs. I did manage to get a few weeks of jogging in back in Vancouver before I came here. Oh yeah! Big shout out to Dylan and Francine for letting me crash on their couch for a whole friggen month whilst I was dealing with my achilles thing. You see folks. Initially I was supposed to arrive in Charlottesville in mid Jan- then I got hurt and had to stick around Vancouver for all my treatment and such. But, in anticipation of this camp I had sub-let my apartment for Feb and March. So when Feb rolled around and I was still stuck in Vancouver I found myself homeless. It was dark days my friends. Thankfully I have some amazing friends in Dylan and Francine and they took me in for the month. I love those guys! Oh also shout out to their amazing little baby Sasha, I love that kid.

 

Where were we? Oh yeah, I arrived in CVille march 3rd ready to get stuck into some work. Sadly though the first thing to happened upon my arrival in CVille was that this place received a solid dumping of snow. I really hate snow. My first four runs in town looked a little something like this; Run1- Easy run, started snowing & by the end I was slipping and sliding all over the damn place. Run2-Loops around the corridors of the basketball arena. Runs 3 &4-Treadmill. Sweet camp!

Since then though things have really turned around- the weather has gotten much better and my legs are coming back. Fortunately there is also a really solid group of guys here that are gonna pull me along and whip me into shape. The uni kids here are legit, and Sean is no longer fat and slow. I’m pretty optimistic about this whole thing.

Let’s talk some actual training now shall we? My 1st workout back was a longer run with a bit of progression on the end. Ran 10miles nice and chill and then jumped on the track for some progression. I went 5:20, 5:17, 5:14 and 5:12 on the track before my legs called it a day. The crew kept rolling and progressed down to sub 5:00’s, very impressive but way too rich for my blood, these university kids are good! After shutting down the fast stuff I jogged another 2miles for 16 total on the day. Nothing to write home about, but it was my longest run since December and it felt good to get some quality in there. That run right there was the start folks, can only go up from there.

For the rest of last week I basically just threw myself into the fire. I ran a lot, struggled through a couple more workouts and established my training camp routine. Training camp routine is actually super sweet, it basically consists of Running, gym sessions, coffee breaks, naps and netflix. I friggen love it.

Ok, so this post is done, just getting warmed up here, hopefully I can keep at it for a little while. Below is a quick recap of last weeks training;

Monday- am; 10miles easy/ pm; 7miles + Strength work. 17day

Tues- am; 14miles w/9miles at about 5:30pace, 1:21 total/ pm: 5miles easy + gym. 19day

Wed-am; 52min, 8miles, sore legs!/ pm; 10miles + core work. 18day

Thurs- am; really easy 9, 60min/ pm; 6miles + strides&drills. 15day

Friday- am; Interval workout 6xmile (100m jog rest) 4:49, 4:47, 4:47, 4:49, 4:52 4:52 (rest avg= 67sec) Bloody hell that was hard! Slow, but good effort, can live with that. pm; easy 6 shakeout. 18day

Saturday- 46min chill. pm; 65min easy, 10miles. Nice relaxing day, 15day.

Sunday- am; a very windy 11! pm; 6miles+ Gym. 17day

week=120, pitter patter let’s get at’er!

Respect your parents.

-rob-

#119

Well, what an interesting week it has been in the business of track and field. Seriously, what the hell is going on? If it isn’t a huge doping scandal (I’m looking at you Russia and Kenya) then it is more reports of corruption and greed coming from the highest levels (looking at you USATF and IAAF). Then as though this wasn’t enough, we have to deal with just plain stupid bullshit (looking at you IOC, don’t you dare touch the 10,000). Folks, our sport is kinda effed right now.

I could rage on this all damn day, I really could. I could state my opinions on Lamine Diack and his entire corrupt and inept organization. I could accuse Stephanie Hightower and her USATF cronies of being scheming, unethical tyrants. Hell, I could even rant about the IOC and how they have transformed into little more than a soulless corporation, more concerned with lining their own pockets than supporting the excellence and beauty of sport in which they were originally formed.

I can’t help but be mad, get frustrated. But ya know what? For every idiot in a suit, we have thousands in sneakers. We cannot let a few cancerous bureaucrats corrupt our sport. Despite all this BS, running is still a beautiful thing. We have an amazing sport, we will keep it pure, it won’t change.

Whenever I feel the cynicism build I like to think back on my early days in this sport. Why did I fall in love with running in the first place? I fell in love with the beauty of running, the freedom of running and the joy of just pushing yourself to new heights. It is a very personal thing, they can’t corrupt that.

I also fell in love with the scene that us road runners have. There is such a positive vibe within this community. One of my favourite things to do is run a road race. Special things happen on those roads.

One of my favourite things in the world can happen during a road race. There isn’t a name for it, it is something you have to experience to understand. This would happen every so often when I was younger, I’d be running a 10km race, at km 7 things would start to hurt. I’d be grinding hard and eventually roll up on someone, or maybe they’d roll up on me. Either way, we’d begin to battle each other. We’d push and we’d fight, neither letting the other get away. After about a kilometer of this something would happen. Through some sort of unspoken agreement we would stop fighting, we would lock into stride and we would become a team. We would support each other, we would push each other. Very few words were spoken, but we both knew that we were going to keep hammering together to get to that finish line. Eventually we would cross that line, exhausted yet euphoric we’d share a fist bump and a smile. I was just a punk kid, and they were, well hell, they could have been anyone. It didn’t matter. For those 3km we were just two runners working together as one to reach our goals.

Experiences like those are special, they are genuine and pure. Experiences like that are exactly why I love this sport . There is going to be bureaucracy and politics that will corrupt the outer surface of the sport. It is up to the rest of us to lace up our sneakers and make sure its soul stays intact.

Cheers folks.

-rob-

 

#118

Tuesday was a big day folks, for the 1st time in 6wks I attempted to do some fast running. The last time I ran fast was at about km 22 of the Toronto Marathon. Needless to say I was a little apprehensive as I jumped into a fartlek workout with Dylan Wykes.

I usually don’t get anxious before workouts, but man I was stressing before this one. I was scared that my hamstrings would fail me, and I was nervous that my fitness would be non-existent. Essentially I was just really scared of sucking. I am lacking running confidence right now, I really wanna stop being slow and get fast again. I haven’t had this much pre-run anxiety for a long time. I almost took a dive and chickened out last minute.

We met out in Richmond and jumped on the dyke. The dyke is flat and soft, not a bad place to ease back into things. We did an easy 5km warm-up jog, to be honest the pace felt a little quick, but I was committed at this point. The goal was simple, just get 20min worth of hard running in the legs. No sucking out allowed. I used to be a pretty tough bastard, easily an 8 out of 10 in my ability to suffer and grind. Last year that dropped to a 5 at best. I am currently a fairly large wimp and I have become accustomed to sucking out, it’s embarrassing.

We started the 1st interval, a 6min pickup. I really had no idea what to expect, I was just hoping to keep Dylan close and not to blow up. I was pleasantly surprised when I was able to fall into stride with DW, and just let the running flow. We finished up that 6minuter with minimal damage done.

We jogged a little rest and then got into a 2minuter followed by a 1minuter, the pace was a bit quicker, but my stride felt alright. The 1st set was complete and I was feeling pretty happy.

Set 2 started with a 5minuter. Dylan got off the line a bit quicker on this one, and by the 2nd minute things were getting burny. Pride was quickly swallowed as the 2:10man ran away. I just focused on relaxing and letting my stride flow. That 5minuter hurt, not gonna lie. Couple minute jog, 2minuter and a 1minuter. 2nd set complete, damage had been done. I was drooling a bit.

I was still breathing hard and in some discomfort as we started the 3rd set. 4minuter, my last interval. I tried to get stuck in and finish it up strong. I looked at my watch when it first started to hurt…54sec. Oh man. I definitely ran harder than I should have for a simple farlek run. I finished up that 4min with hands on knees and a foggy head.

21min should not be that hard, but Eff it man, gotta start somewhere. My hamstrings felt fine, my stride felt smooth and I had fun out there.

There we go my friends, the comeback has begun. We’ll build on that 21minutes, nowhere to go but up. 2014 was a disaster. 2015 is gonna be fun. I can’t wait.

Quick shout out to all those whom busted balls at Natties XC last weekend. Props to Chris Winter for a brilliant run for the win, Great job buddy.

Be good folks.

-rob-

#117

Hey, welcome to the new place. Why has LeBlog moved to a new place? Well the old place up and died, just stopped working. I’m not 100% sure what happen to LeBlogDuRob.com. All I know is that it died a tragic and unexpected death.

Why did LeBlogDuRob die? To be honest I don’t really know, but here is what I figure happened; LeBlog was initially set up by a 3rd party. They signed up for the domain, they designed the site and then they gave me free reign. This third party was planning on making money from advertising and stuff from the blog. However, the business plan based on trying to make money off modestly visited, niche blogs didn’t really pan out, and these 3rd party folk quickly lost interest and moved on to some other venture…

Eventually it came time to renew the domain address, but the third party had all the technical stuff and probably got all the correspondence from the site host. Obviously it was never renewed, and eventually leBlog went into default and everything got erased.

That’s my theory anyways. There is a good chance that I am completely wrong and some other internet phenomenon caused the demise of my beloved blog.

 RIP LeBlogDuRob, I’m really gonna miss that place, also pretty bummed that 116 blog posts are gone! Now I know how Romans felt after the burning of the Library of Alexandria. Oh well, so that brings us to now, and that brings us to the new home; LeBlogDuRob2. Sequels are rarely as good as the original, but maybe we’ll get lucky and have our own Godfather2 here.

That’s that. Let’s get going.

Quick update on my goings on. Slowly but surly I’m getting back into the running grind. My hamstrings are still fairly useless. I am taking it fairly easy and easing into things. My volume is pretty decent, but I am being cautious when it comes to quality work. I’m gonna be posting my training here at LeBlog2, just click the link up there at the top to see what I have been up to. I reckon it will be quite uninteresting until the new year. Come 2015 it’ll be time to get sexy again, all systems go as the attack the Olympic qualifying begins.

Something that I am kinda stoked about is a new PodCast thing that one of my oldest buddies and I started. You can check it out here; PodCast

This PodCast came to be after a bunch of beer and mutual boredom. Eric is really good at the radio and media stuff, and I am kinda a specialist in this running game. We basically just combined forces and created this fun little DIY PodCast. If ya have 30min or so. Give it a listen and let me know what you think.

Ok, so that there is a little update. I’ll get after a proper blog next week.

Thanks Dudes.

-rob-

Blog#116; STWM 3- Rob 1.

“Congratulations Rob, you continued your incredibly consistent performance of dropping out of the Toronto Marathon.” – Tim Hutchings, post race…That cheeky Brit.

So what happened? As you may already know I have had a history of Hamstring issues. These friggen things are the bane of my running existence. They have been acting up pretty good the last few weeks, lefty was causing some serious worry heading into the race…

Warming up; “Gah, left hammy is still pretty achy, hope it loosens up…”

100m into race; “Gah, left hammy, why you gotta be like that? You better loosen up…”

10km into race; “Left hammy…eff you, you friggen jerk. Well, hope we can get through this…”

16km; “Okay, the ache is not getting much worse, we can deal with this! Sweet!”

22km “Oh god, I think I just got stabbed in the leg, WFT! Stabby, is that you, you little bastard!?”

24km “Okay, your hammy is effed dude, what do you wanna do?…”umm…let’s try to pick up the pace and see what happens…” 200m later…”welp, that’s all for me today…sonofabitch.”

26km; Walking down the road in defeat, nice young women turns to me and is holding a sign that declares “Rob is our Champ.”…FML:(

So yeah, another STWM another DNF. Man, I have had such a shitty year! Sorry guys.

Don’t really have a whole lot to talk about here, so a few quick words before I head out; Congrats Eric Gillis, the most consistent runner I have ever met, what a friggen champ!

Congrats Jason Faber, my buddy from Ottawa rolled a 2:59 out there. Huge PB and a BQ, congrats dude!

Thanks STWM, another amazing race. The Canadian Running Series is top notch, Alan Brooks and his team know how to throw a party.

Huge thanks to everyone for the kind words and constant support that y’all have shown me. I have struggled, there is no doubt about that. I don’t wanna suck, and I promise that I will unsuckify myself soon. Gotta tweek a few things here and there. I’ll be back and rolling soon enough.

I guess the only good thing about being as inconsistent as I am is that I can deal with the disappointment of crappy races. Gonna brush it off and move forward. In the immortal words of one of the greatest one hit wonders of all time; Chumbawumba…

Okay, let’s never talk about this again. Onwards to better times!

 

-rob-