race report - 2015 CANIrunning Snowflake Series Race 3 (10k)

day one of 2015, and first resolution broken.

alright, 'broken' might be a bit of a harsh description - but i certainly deviated from my goal, which was to not repeat any races that i'd run last year.  however, given that this is the only new year's day race around here and that it's organized for a good cause (The Sharing Place food bank) i dotted this event on my calendar as the right way to kick off a new year.  a $15 registration fee also doesn't hurt any.

to be honest, there's nothing like a race to get the juices flowing for another turn of the calendar.  and even though i'm only into week two of the hansons marathon method training plan in preparation for the waterloo marathon, i was able to use this event as a tempo run more than a time trial.  the conditions certainly didn't lend themselves to a time trial situation, as we had snow-packed and icy road conditions underfoot and -13°C windchill temps (felt even colder than that) thanks to 40kmh+ wind gusts.  in reality, this day felt very similar to the conditions that met us on jan. 1, 2014.

for a small, homegrown race this event pulls out a decent crowd - usually in and around 150 or more of the most sober post-new year's eve celebrants - ranging in age from under 10 to over 80 years of age.  as i'd noted last year, orillia has a very strong and supportive running community, and this kick-off to the new year may be as popular as it is in part because one of the lead organizers of the CANIrunning team is lisa avery, the top canadian female finisher at the 2012 ottawa marathon.  as a native orillian, she is not only giving back to her home community but finding that they are loving her and her efforts in return.

as for the race itself, let's keep this short and simple ...

pre-race
i showed up about an hour ahead of the start time and decided to drive the course route to determine what kind of footwear to don (i'd brought pairs of both my skechers gobionic and gorun 3) and reacquaint myself with the elevation changes and number of turns.  i'm glad that i did, as it was a bit hillier than i'd remembered, and the traction was far from optimal.

 learning from last year - wearing trail shoes this time!

after checking in with lisa avery at the registration table i nabbed my bib and affixed it to my skechers singlet which i'd wear overtop of my winter running jacket.  suited up, off i went for a 2k warm-up run, which included a bathroom pit-stop at the local mr. sub.  it may have been that the employee had just opened the store for the day, or my race bib, or my frozen visage - but walking into the restaurant she stopped her mopping, stood up tall and stared at me with a dumbfounded look on her face.  i might as well have been green with bulging eyes telling her to take me to her leader ... but instead i asked politely to use the restroom, and she obliged.

did i look that weird?

gathering at the starting 'chute' area with a couple of minutes to go, lisa bullhorned out a few announcements which were completely lost in the gusting wind and general crowd noise.  i managed to spot a few familiar faces and exchange pleasant "happy new year" greetings.  as the countdown ensued, i had one regret as i assumed the forward lean position: the copious amounts of food i'd eaten yesterday at the chinese food buffet as part of our 'christmas dinner' with my parents.

the race
it was again a combo of 5k and 10k racers, so you couldn't quite tell which pack to pace with - i'd already determined that my goals were to make this a tempo-ish negative split run, so i found a couple of ladies to latch onto.  one of them was wearing a running free vest, and it turned out to be fellow team running free barrie athlete caitlin foisy (who would end up finishing just behind me at the end of the day).  the front half of the 5k was well within the mid-high aerobic HR zone (my first race wearing a heartrate monitor), though i wasn't watching my garmin so much as i was trying to go by feel.

just prior to the turnaround i noted what i thought to be five runners coming back at me for the back half of the 10k, which meant that the pack was thinning out quite a bit as i would have said that there were a good 25-30 runners ahead of me coming out of the gate.  

navigating the hairpin at the start/finish line i mentally shifted into 'run harder' mode and focused on trying to keep within sight of the lanky, loping runner who was about 75m ahead.  for the second half of the race i managed to do just that, although i failed to close the distance on him ... it may have been that i didn't want to shift into top gear or that i simply didn't have it in my legs to catch him as he picked up pace.  or it could have been the extra plate of sushi rolls and deep-friend shrimp from yesterday.

with a final burst into the nasty headwind i crossed the line in 43:19 (21:53 and 21:26 for a negative split)  - decent enough to claim 5th overall, 2nd in my age group and a 50 second improvement over last year's finish at the same race.

post-race
i kept on chugging for another 2 easy kilometres as a cool down, and then nabbed the chocolate milk out of my car as my recovery drink to go along with the timbits which were provided as post-race snack.  there was a bit of milling around the food table and chats with some of the runners that i knew, but nobody seemed super keen on hanging out in the frigid lakeside environs so i didn't linger either.

so even though i violated one of my own racing objectives for 2015 it was a fantastic way to kick off the new year.  kudos once again to CANIrunning and the town of orillia for hosting a wonderful community fitness event.  even though i may declare that i will change up my schedule again for 2016, it's more than likely that you'll find me freezing my buns off with the other nutty competitors at couchiching beach park in 365 days' time.

how did you spend your new year's day?  what are your running resolutions for 2015?  as always, i'd love to be part of the conversation!

race report - 2015 CANIrunning Snowflake Series Race 3 (10k)

on the run ... avec moi

one of the blogs that i follow is 3 Cheap Runners authored by mike, michelle and rhoda - and last week i noticed this little 'get-to-know-me' segment that michelle had posted (as part of a pseudo-bloghop), and i thought that i would keep the fun going ... not unlike the good ol' chain letters of yesteryear. :)

four names that people call me:
1. patty
2. vooman
3. p-voo
4. spiff

four jobs i've had: 
1. volunteer resources administrator
2. pastor
3. funeral director's assistant
4. communications officer
 
four movies i have watched more than once: 
1. the shawshank redemption
2. casablanca
3. the matrix
4. all of the lord of the rings trilogy  

four books i'd recommend:  
1. the old man and the sea
2. the bible
3. born to run
4. open  

four places i've lived:
1. london, england
2. orangeville, ontario (canada)
3. mississauga, ontario (canada)
4. barrie, ontario (canada)  

four places i have been: 
1. cape hatteras, north carolina
2. teotihuacan, mexico
3. kota kinabalu, malaysia
4. palace of the romanian parliament

four places i'd rather be right now: 
1. surfing in new zealand
2. motorcycle trip across route 66
3. whipping around in a TARDIS
4. backpacking through the UK  

four things i don't eat: 
1. coconut
2. bacon
3. coffee
4. alcohol  

four of my favourite foods:
1. gingerbread men
2. pizza delight
3. doritos
4. hot peppers  

four TV shows that i watch (watched): 
1. gotham
2. ink master
3. penny dreadful
4. star trek: the next generation  

four things i'm looking forward to this coming year: 
1. tackling my first 50-mile race
2. teaching my daughter to drive
3. having something of a summer vacation for the first time in about seven years
4. finishing up my project motorcycle and getting it onto the road  

four things i say a lot: 
1. who left these lights on?!?
2. are you a runner?
3. hey, dr. brad!
4. off you go!

and now you know a little bit more about me, whether you wanted to or not.  if you'd like to pick up this ball and run with it i encourage you to do so - let someone else know what you're all about!

on the run ... avec moi

in the still of the night

to all my friends, mentors, encouragers, collaborators and supporters - i wish for all of you and your loved ones the merriest of christmas seasons and the boldest and brightest year ahead in 2015.

keeping in step on the journey,
patrick

in the still of the night

from good to gooder

december often poses the opportunity for a year in review, and casting a vision for the future.  so i figured that this is a good time to re-tool.

i'm deluded enough to believe that with each passing year i can become a better and faster runner - even though i'm well into my 'masters' era.  with that in mind (and having just finished reading through pete magill's build your running body) i am incorporating a few changes to my race preparation regiment.  these changes include:

• strength work - for the last few years i've basically lived by the credo that in order to become a better runner i need to ... run.  more.  and after that, run.  at this point, i think that i could definitely benefit from some focused strengthening exercises, and in particular squat, lunge and plyometric work.  i have a dayjob that has me sitting at a desk in front of a computer for hours on end, so i'm pretty sure that i have weakened glutes - nevermind horrendous posture.  while i've been consistent over the past five years with bodyweight exercises for my core and upper body, i have neglected anything that might induce additional fatigue for my legs.  again, thanks in some part to pete magill i've concluded that by developing some of these key running muscles (e.g. glutes, hamstrings) i'll not only be contributing to injury prevention but enhancing the horsepower of my running engine and lengthening my stride.




• establishing race weight early - while i consistently get the "put some meat on your bones!" comment, i know that between my obliviousness to my weight over the last few years and naïve belief that running would counteract my penchant for late-night ice cream and doritos i've probably carried more than my fair share of pounds into each race.  i've determined that i want to hit a race weight of around 135lbs (and at 5'9" that would situate my body mass index at 20, well within the normal range), and that the best time to establish that is during my base phase training.  when i hit the next phases of race preparation i will likely be eating a bit more to ensure proper fueling and recovery, so getting to where i want to be at this time will set a good start point and will likely be simpler to maintain (than trying to lose pounds in the late stages of training in order to achieve race weight).


• intentional increase in stride rate - i'd tried counting my strides-per-minute (SPM) rate before and landed in the 170 ballpark.  after a few article reads (like this one and this one) i thought that it would benefit me to pick up my feet a little faster, and to try to stay lighter on impact.  just making that mental decision has resulted in currently working on about a 190 SPM rate.


• minor changes to running form - i confess to being a tinkerer.  maybe it's because i'm a visual learner, but i tend to try to model my technique in sport from watching others ... i've done it with tennis, volleyball, basketball, golf, and now running.  while i'm sure that what results looks nothing like the athletes that i try to mimic (e.g. michael chang, karch kiraly, isaiah thomas, karrie webb) i do try to emulate the form positives which helped each individual excel in their respective fields.  for 2015 the adaptation for me in running will be to try to swing my arms a little more like mary keitany - towards the midline, and a little less agressively forward and backward (like the motion of the side rod on a train locomotive).  i believe that it is a more efficient motion in terms of energy expediture and reduces unnecessary torsion while maintaining momentum (for more on this i recommend reading this article and this one).





• dietary tweaks - as part and parcel of reaching race weight, i've been reviewing the quality of the fuel that i've been stuffing into my system.  i've substituted more fresh fruits and veggies into my meal recipes, as well as swapping out your econo-spaghetti for whole grain or brown rice pastas.


• training plan - two years ago i tried preparing for a marathon with the online version of the Hansons marathon training plan that i found ... and while it did get me to a new PB at that time, i wound up leaving it behind due to how tough i thought that it was to maintain a six-day-per-week schedule of cumulative fatigue mileage.  since then i've gone on to, well, maintain a six-day-per-week cumulative fatigue mileage sort of schedule.  so now that i actually am reading the actual Hansons Marathon Method book (review to come!), i'm back on track with their approach and am eager to see how well it conditions me this time around.

how do you find that your end-of-training year time is best spent?  are you a tinkerer?  if so, on what kinds of adaptations do you tend to focus?

from good to gooder

gear review - princeton tec remix headlamp

as cheap as i am, sometimes dollar-store quality just doesn't cut it.

this is especially true when it comes to headlamp territory.

for the past few years i've lived on the edge when it comes to low-light visibility - aside from the requisite reflective material on my running jackets, pants and shoes, i'd not worn any kind of lighting system to alert vehicles (and the occasional unaware pedestrian - there's a funny story behind that one ...) of my presence on the road.  living dangerously, i know - but i've gotten by.

however, this year i started trail running in preparation for my first trail ultra at the Limberlost Challenge and while lighting wasn't necessary for that particular event i did eventually need some kind of illumination for my one day of guide running for rhonda-marie avery as she navigated her end-to-end run of the Bruce Trail.  and as the summer faded into autumn, my trail runs with the Barrie Trail Running Club and the MEC trail running clinic necessitated that i strap something to my head to at least assist others with seeing the footpath if not keeping myself from ploughing headlong into trees.

the one piece of lighting equipment that i did have (and used on a couple of occasions) was a cheap headlamp that my kids had for finding their way to and from their cabins at summer camp.  as previously noted it came from an econo-mart kind of store and probably put out the equivalent of 3 lumens (a lumen being the measurement of total illumination of a region/space).  it provided enough light to scare the boogeyman and other critters away but not enough to allow someone to propel themselves at any kind of speed down a footpath - at least not safely.

after some comparative study i narrowed my choices down to the black diamond spot and the princeton tec remix. i ended up selecting the latter based on weight, size of the lighting unit and reports that when packed in with gear the black diamond spot's on/off button is easily triggered resulting in the lamp being on and batteries being drained.

i can tell you that i'm quite happy with this piece of gear acquisition.

the remix weighs in at a paltry 83 grams (powered by three AAA batteries), which makes a real difference when you're bounding your way along dark roads or through the woods.  i definitely want to keep additional weight to a minimum as well as not having anything on my forehead forcing my entire noggin to wobble or encourage poorer posture than i already exhibit.

with a max projection of 125 lumens, it really can light the way for you - here's a side-by-side comparison of our el-cheapo headlamp at maximum setting (left) compared to the remix's max setting:

which would you pick to avoid things that go bump in the night?

some other key features of the remix include the fact that it is water resistant (good for snow, rain and "quick dunkings" - but not deep-sea wreck diving!), and that it has multiple settings and intensities.  one of my favourite settings is the 'high-beam' version of the green LEDs, which for me simulates night-vision goggles (or some eerie episode of The X-Files).

spooky, kids!

at about $43 CDN the princeton tec remix doesn't break the bank either.  it provides a claimed beam distance of 73m for the max-bright white LEDs in the high-intensity setting and 51m in the low-intensity setting - plenty of distance to scout out the terrain in front of you unless you are running at mo farah velocities.

while i have no complaints about the remix, some people have dogged the battery compartment door as being shoddy workmanship, finding that it snaps off (i.e. breaks) easily.  i've opened and closed it several times now without any issue - we'll see what happens if i have to change batteries after a polar vortex run.  the only 'wish-list' feature that i would have is for the remix to have a flashing/blinking mode.

here's the quick talking-head version of my review:

if you need some lighting to strap onto your noodle, i definitely believe that the princeton tec remix is worth your consideration.

gear review - princeton tec remix headlamp