The brightest lights sometimes shine for the shortest times

If you don't follow the world of professional running then this story may not mean much of anything to you ... but I was shocked to hear of the sudden and tragic passing of Kelvin Kiptum.

He was magic on his feet, and the world was his for the taking.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-68274984

 

 photo credit:  Katie Chan

The brightest lights sometimes shine for the shortest times

Of blood and carbon

Well, it's just about time for my annual blog entry ...! 

This past weekend I managed to accomplish something which I'd never done before - I gave blood!

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There have been a number of friends of mine who have been regular donors and it's something that I've thought about from time to time but never managed to pull the trigger on actually doing it.  Any number of excuses come to mind, but none of them really outweighing the significant impact it could have on someone else's life (which may or may not actually depend on that available blood supply).  I'm proud to say that I overcame whatever reservations I might have had to actually book this appointment, and the team at Canadian Blood Services were incredibly helpful, courteous and considerate.  It was very straightforward and pretty much discomfort-free!

 

That all being said - did I plan this out smartly ..?

 

I'm set to serve as a full-marathon pacer again at The County Marathon in just less than three weeks' time, and it wasn't until after my donation that I paid attention to it's potential impact on training and performance.  My radar was immediately alerted when the phlebotomist told me to make sure not to exert myself for 6-8 hours, and that made me wonder about my planned workout for the next morning.  I then dove in my Google researching and found several helpful articles (check out this one, this one and this one) that shared a consensus opinion that the likely time required to full recovery aerobic recovery is about three weeks. 

 

How long is it again until I have to pace ...?

 

Yep.

 

Perhaps I have not totally set myself up for failure (as last year's DNF as a pacer - due to back spasms - was not pleasant at all) as the race sits right at the boundary marker for the prescribed post-donation recovery period.  I've also decided to drink the proverbial kool-aid and purchased a pair of Saucony Endorphin Pro 3 carbon-plated 'supershoes' specifically for race day.  If I do happen to benefit from the supposed 2-4% improvement in running economy then perhaps that will help to off-set any residual deficit from my reduced red blood cell count.

 

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Only really affordable thanks to a Running Room gift card from a friend ...!

That's how things stand as of right now - and since I've set the stage for this upcoming race I suppose that I'll have to write-up a post-event report to close the loop on how everything worked out.  Here's hoping that after October 1st I will have managed to both help save lives and help runners hit their time goals!

Of blood and carbon

burn baby burn: a newbie takes on fat-loading

i've carbo-loaded before.  a three-day focus on building up my carbohydrates stores in advance of marathons has worked well for me - and truth be told i like gobbling down all of those muffins, breads, pastas and sports drinks.  it's kind of a treat.

but this is a first.

i'm fat-loading.

after having read several articles about this recently highlighted approach to distance event competition preparation (some in favour - like here, here and here - and some not so much - like here and here), i decided to give it a go in advance of the waterloo marathon on apr. 26.  given that i'm a hack at everything i do, i thought that it would be best to consult somebody who is (a) experienced in fat-loading, (b) a high-level athlete and (c) well-studied in sport sciences.  so without a second thought i reached out to my friend stan ong for advice.

gracious as ever, stan was quick to say that he was glad that i'd asked, and then probed just a bit to find out how to best craft a fat-loading plan that would meet my specific needs (including finding out what a typical meal would look like for me, my current weight and foods that i won't/can't eat).  factoring in all of this info, stan came back with an outline of a daily menu that i could riff off of and use to map out the week's grocery store trip.

if you've followed along with my blogventures then you know that i can't leave well enough alone - i like to tinker.  the beauty with this outline that stan's provided is that it has some flex to it - he even makes concessions for the occasional 'carb craving', allowing for a piece of toast or fruit here and there.  with that in mind, i was keen to launch into this new dimension of race readying.

#fatloading here we come ...!

A photo posted by patrick voo (@pbfvoo) on Apr 12, 2015 at 5:59pm PDT

 
i'm now a day and a half into it, and so far i've noticed a few things:

1. stan provided advanced warning that fats don't provide that 'full up' feeling like carbs do - and i admit to feeling noticeably hungrier after each meal yesterday and today.
2. so far it looks like fats lead to less weight gain than carbs - maybe because carbs trigger greater water retention.
3. it's already painful to stare at the loaves of bread and bags of potatoes on my kitchen countertop.

but i will see this thing through - and trust that there will be a pay-off come race day in terms of efficiently metabolizing fat as fuel, and staving off the vaunted 'wall'.

fat fingers crossed!

burn baby burn: a newbie takes on fat-loading

taking it too far

december is the perfect time to talk about excess.

aside from being the season for holiday (tr)eating, shopping sprees and the occasional beverage, this is the point in the year that many runners begin to map out their next series of races on the calendar.

having completed a couple of smaller races and three marathons this year, i've already announced (to my running partners at least) my intention to register for my first ultra.  in runner's parlance an "ultra" is any race which exceeds the marathon distance of 42.195km - and in my case, the contest that i'm eyeing is the limberlost challenge which offers 14k, 28k, 42k and 56k options.  the plan is to tackle the four-loop 56k distance, which will make it not only the longest footrace that i will have run to date, but also my first attempt at a trail race.

there's all sorts of talk that is alive and well within running circles as to why certain runners feel the desire/need to press on to longer and longer race distances.  just today i read an article that indicated that registration in ultras has increased as of late perhaps because marathoning doesn't offer the same kind of challenge that it once did. i'm not so sure about that - i still have some marathon distance goals (looming large is the BQ, but also to eventually try to cross the 3-hour barrier) as well as bucket-list races (e.g. Chicago, London, New York, Big Sur).  and it's not that i feel more accomplished if i become an ultramarathoner, either.  kyle kranz, an acquaintance and social media director for skora, posted this on facebook not too long ago:

one of things that i do want to do in 2014 is focus more on speed by running some 5ks and 10ks - maybe even a half marathon or two.  there can be a kind of running snobbery that comes into effect when people progress in distances, where they feel like running a shorter race is somehow 'beneath' them.  make no mistake, an all-out 5k can be even more grueling and taxing than a marathon.  gotta respect athletes at every level.

no, for me the lure of the ultra next year is about something else.  or somethings else.

first off, i feel like taking on the limberlost challenge will help transform my running for me.  i'm still in search of that elusive 'love of running' ... i would identify myself as someone who loves to race.  and so in order to race, i must train, and do so diligently.  with continued envy i read those facebook and twitter posts and books from people who simply find joy in getting out there and propelling themselves by their own two feet.  there's been no runner's high for me, and few moments of transcendence through many miles logged.  perhaps that's been because my focus has been securely on attaining that 3:15 boston qualifying time.  my hope is that by taking on a distance that requires you to think more about endurance than speed, and on a terrain that forces you to be more nimble and adaptive than robotically repetitious i might connect with a purer form of running than i have to date.

secondly, crossing into ultra territory has opened up a whole new sector of the running community.  this has been very cool - once i started following various ultra-running related twitter feeds and blogs, and adding the occasional #ultra or #ultrachat hashtag, i found a brand new tribe reaching out to me.  far from being exclusive, hyper-disciplined elite level runners, what i've experienced so far in the ultra community are people who are not only more connected to running than i am but who are also more connected to their bodies, to beauty, to the environment, and to a sense of harmony.  i'm envious - and excited about this.

thirdly and finally, i have an outstanding commitment to my friend hermann in johannesburg to visit him and run the comrades marathon.  billed as the world's oldest and largest ultramarathon, it is a point-to-point 89km road race that alternates starting and finishing at the cities of pietermaritzburg and durban.  one year it's a net uphill race, the next a net downhill.  when i first met hermann at a conference in detroit in 2010 i was just becoming a runner, but we shared stories of his completions of the comrades and what amazing experiences he had each time.  while we haven't spoken of it much, i feel a bit like red promising andy to come down to zihuatanejo.  it may take time, but what a great thing it will be.

what are your goals?  what do you hope to accomplish in 2014 ... running or otherwise?  and how would you (or i) know if, with respect to running, enough is enough?

taking it too far

fail to plan, plan to fail - part deux

ever had those times where you solve a problem in your sleep?

the sleep two nights was one of those nights for me.

not that i went to bed thinking that i had a problem ... but it may have been an instance of my body revealing something to me that my mind had not yet perceived.

with 5-1/2 weeks left to go in my marathon training, i have on my schedule for this sunday (yes, easter sunday) to run what the hansons call "the simulator" - a 26.2k marathon-pace training run designed to psychologically and rhythmically put one through the paces of the actual race.  only a scaled-down version.

however, what has me concerned is that i'm doing this dance with overtraining.

 
in the previous "fail to plan, plan to fail" post i'd noted that the program that i'm working with now operates on the principle of cumulative fatigue.  train on tired legs, and that will prepare you for running the latter part of the marathon.  i get that (and believe me, i feel that) - but combined with the 34% total mileage increase over my peak month during the last training cycle (even my first month of training for this race exceeded my peak month for my previous race) i'm concerned that i might be pressing for too much too quickly.  it's not that i'm picking up on any of the telltale signs of overtraining - my mood's alright, i'm not finding my constitution particularly rundown, and i haven't acquired any injuries - but i do think that i know enough about myself to anticipate that running a marathon simulation (even the kilomathon version) might bump me over that edge.

so, as i've ofted told myself, i'm going to trust my training.

the inclusion of the simulator was my tweaking of the prescribed plan, and not originally part of the program.  i've already doctored a number of the training runs to include hill sprints, 10x1min. fartleks, 6x100m strides as well as tacking on extra kilometres here and there.  so while it's far from unadulterated, at this point i don't feel like backing off from the simulator is a serious detraction from my training.  i still put in my regular MP run today, and will instead stick to the originally scheduled long run for this sunday.

have you ever found yourself overtrained?  what were the real red flags for you?  and how did you escape that spiral?

p.s.  make sure to check out stan's last two posts about marathon training and his progress toward boston - they're top notch.

fail to plan, plan to fail - part deux

fail to plan, plan to fail

never having run (for all intents and purposes) prior to the spring of 2009, i can safely say that i didn't know what i was doing when i agreed to a friend's challenge to run a half-marathon on labour day that year.

up until that point, all that i'd managed to do was to make it through a music video or two (from the 1980s of course) while on the treadmill.

since then, i've managed to complete three half-marathons, one 30k race and three full marathon distances - and generally speaking, i've been progressively getting better/stronger/faster ... (cue Six Million Dollar Man music)

i'm sure that part of this has been a result of now a couple of years of conditioning myself as a runner.  last week marked a milestone as i completed my first 60+ mile week of training, and today my mileage in 2013 has eclipsed 1000 km.

but i'm also confident that part of my steady improvement in racing is attributable to the training plans that i've followed.  i find this area of conversation very interesting, as it forces me to assimilate all sorts of things that i've heard and observed about training and coaching. for instance:

• various elite distance athletes train without a coach (e.g. jason hartmann, and until recently ryan hall)
• the kenyans and japanese distance runners tend to run and train in groups (whereas i tend to run and train alone - maybe it's because i'm such an introvert)
• the great haile gebrselassie once said in an interview that racers should not be nervous standing at the start line, because at that point it's just about showing off all the work that you have already done in training
• it was said about patrick makau (current world record-holder in the marathon - 2:03:38) that he "trains to race fast, not to train fast"
• i had the privilege of meeting and getting to know paul hefferon, who finished 2:16:46 in his debut marathon at the 2012 olympic trials in houston running with the hansons brooks distance project
• my friend (and planned pacer at the 2013 mississauga marathon) stan ong is a sub-3 hour marathoner who trains by feel
• if it's been said once it's been said a million times ... when it comes to race day, you have to trust your training

to date i've tried to followed three different race preparation schedules.  for my first two half-marathons, it was a training plan for the disney half-marathon that was sent over to me by a co-worker who had raced at disney world.  then for the 30k and first full marathons, i used a version of the runner's world intermediate marathon plan.  for the last two marathons, i worked with the 'ryan hall marathon training plan' as published by nissan's innovation for endurance program.  and now, spurred on by mostly positive reviews and my friend paul's association with the hansons brooks distance project, i've been using a modified form of the advanced hansons marathon method plan.

this plan that i'm currently using has (in my mind) two distinctives about it: 

1. the principle of cumulative fatigue - the idea that every run is pretty much executed on tired legs.  this is the first program that i've tackled that has me running six days out of the week, and the premise is that training within a maintained level of fatigue simulates the final 15k or more of the marathon, thereby acclimatizing you to pushing beyond 'the wall'.
2. the 16 miler - most programs will include a 16 mile run, just not as the longest run in the schedule.  the hanson brothers and their teams have found that making sure that the longest run in any given week is not disproportionate to the total number of miles logged in the week (e.g. not more than about 25%) emphasizes the importance of each training run (and type).

so far, so good.  i'm pleasantly surprised at how i've managed to sustain the 6-days-per-week schedule, and while i'm not clearly seeing gains in pace, i have to admit that this is really the first go at training where i've given myself specific times in which to try and complete specific distances.

i'm always curious to hear about what other training plans have worked for other people - feel free to weigh in on my experiences or your own.  for now, i'll finish out the hansons marathon method and bring the definitive update after may 5 in mississauga.

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fail to plan, plan to fail

road review - the merrell road glove

tonight i'm headed with a friend to a 'natural running clinic' at the local mountain equipment co-op, so i thought that i'd take a few moments to jot down my reflections on my favourite shoes currently in training/racing rotation:  the merrell road gloves.

these are sleek, light, fantastic shoes.  i purchased them late last summer in advance of the road2hope marathon, knowing that i wanted to fully transition into a zero-drop, minimalist shoe.  i also liked the fact that being produced by merrell, i wasn't simply buying into the 'standard' running footwear industry ... not that there's anything particularly wrong with that, but i do like to march to the beat of a different drum. 

here are my top observations about these shoes, having put on a good 350-400 km on them:

1. light - as in 6.9 oz (men's size 9) light.  putting these on really feel like slippers to me, and getting out on the pavement it takes very little time to forget that they're on my feet (even over 42.195k) - except that they're nicely protecting the bottom of my feet.
2. outsole - the vibram outsole is outstanding - grippy (even in snow/slush/ice conditions, i've discovered!) and durable without significantly deadening the feel of the surface beneath you.  this is a fabulous marriage of technology with technology.
3. flexible - as a forefoot runner, these shoes have contoured just the way that i've needed them to, and now they have a pretty groovy curve up front:
   
   
   
4. zero-drop - as mentioned already, this was a non-negotiable for me ... and these shoes definitely work well to promote a mid-foot/forefoot strike as the 11mm stack height will offer some pretty immediate feedback if you decide to drop that heel first.
5. sizing - this is both an observation and a plus.  first, most of the messageboards that i'd read in advance of purchasing these shoes indicated that they ran a 1/2 size large, so i did try out both a 9.5 and 10 at the store before settling on the 9.5s.  the wonderful breadth across the forefoot meant that my foot would not be scrunched as the toes splayed out, so the smaller size worked perfectly for me.
6. machine-washable - yep!  i just toss these babies into a mesh garment bag and run 'em through the regular cycle after putting them through their paces on brine-saturated roads.  air dry and they are ready to rock again.
7. quality, quality, quality - merrell has a reputation (at least with me) of building hardcore equipment, and this has proven to extend to its road running shoes.  i bet that i could get another 400 km out of this pair - they are still in that great shape.

well, i've gushed enough.  i love these shoes, and they fit my foot really well - unlike the fit that my friend stan (9run.ca) experienced, as there were issues with the apparent arch support on the footbed, but it's not something that i've noticed in a negative way.   the one change that i did make was to swap out the original laces for flat laces - personal preference.

based on my experience, i highly recommend the road glove for anything from speedwork to the marathon distance training and racing ... and would not hesitate in the least to endorse pretty much anything from merrell.  happy running!

road review - the merrell road glove

light feet and footlights

this past weekend was a hoot and a half - we opened our local production of Spamalot to an almost completely sold-out house (we were supposed to have opened on friday night, but thanks to snowmageddon we bumped that to saturday night) and danced, pranced and taunted our way through two hours of holy grail humour.  i don't think that i've ever been part of a more exhilarating or exhausting show ... the costume changes, make-up on/off/reapplied, and booting it all over creation just to make it the right appearances on the right parts of the stage.  whew - it's tiring to even try and describe it.

in and through all of the rehearsals and now the actual performances, i've been a good little boy and stuck to my marathon training schedule.  i have to admit that mondays for the last five weeks or so have been the most difficult runs for me as they're usually post 9-10 hours of theatre work - so at the very least i'm grateful that they're listed as 'recovery runs' for me.

anticipating an elevated level of fatigue, what i did try to experiment with this past weekend was to remove the insoles from my saucony kinvaras and nike flex 2012 runs.  two reasons for this:  (1) i felt like having to be on my feet so much i could use a little bit of extra splay room in my shoes (i would appreciate it later in the day on stage); and (2) the reduced slivers of an ounce that would result would be welcome over the 10 to 16 km.

as it turned out, it was a welcome change and i think that those insoles may not return.  both pairs of shoes felt good without them, since i like a flatter heel-to-toe drop and am a forefoot runner who enjoys ground feel.  i know that some of the shoes that i have been looking at trying out (brooks pure drift and skechers gobionic) have been intentionally designed with removable insoles - maybe this is a technological tactic that will work for me.

light feet and footlights

monkey see, monkey do - runners that i follow

there are all sorts of learning styles, and i find that when it comes to athletics i am very much a visual learner.  specifically i've taught myself tennis, volleyball and golf by watching the technique and form of particular competitors that i enjoy watching and who excel in their respective fields.

the situation is no different when it comes to running.  i've never had a coach (except for motivation) and did not start any kind of running until the spring of 2010 - nothing in high school, and only the occasional once around the track in university if i saw a pretty girl worth following for several hundred metres before i passed out.

here are just a few of the runners that i've paid close attention to, for various reasons:

• haile gebrselassie - IMHO the greatest distance runner of all time.  a dimnuitive figure with gobs of talent and just as big of a heart.  depending on how old he might actually be, he may have set the world record time for a male marathoner when he was 40.
• geoffrey mutai - the person with the fastest finish of any marathon ever and arguably the best living marathoner. makes every race look like a easy jog in the park.
• ryan hall - one of the US' best distance runners, and outstanding man of faith.  gives back to people generously, and i have tried in the past to mimic his form.  his marathon training plan also helped me to achieve my current PB in the marathon (3:18:15).
• meb keflezighi - currently the #1 marathoner for the US.  at 37 he's still kicking butt, having won the 2012 US Olympic Marathon trials and placing 4th at the London Olympic marathon.  another inspiring man of faith too.
• desiree davila - i have a friend who trained with desiree as part of the hansons brooks distance project in michigan.  desiree is one tough competitor, and now in the top three female US marathoners.  i've adopted her arm carriage style in my own running.
• mary keitany - the favourite in just about any race in which she's entered.  a powerhouse.
• tsegaye kebede - this guy is about the height of my honda civic, but probably has the stride length of a cadillac.  unbelievable runner from ethiopia, having captured this year's chicago marathon in 2:04:38.  i've adopted his leg position and stride pattern in my own running style.
• yuki kawauchi - my new favourite runner ... known as 'citizen runner' because he's the only person on this list who's not a full-time athlete (he holds down a day job just like me).  runs like a maniac - having put together back to back marathons last fall within two weeks of one another, forking out $6000 for a plane ticket to a race in egypt because he missed the plane that the organizers paid for, and five out of the first six marathons he ran he ended up in the medical tent after crossing the finish line.  he's told interviewers "Every time I run, it’s with the mindset that if I die at this race it’s OK." now that's a racer i can look up to. 

so who do you admire/follow in running?  i've only listed the high profile types, but maybe for you it's someone local, or in your family line.  feel free to share the names of those who inspire you as you run!

monkey see, monkey do - runners that i follow