Work, work and more work!
Not much room for family, training or anything else.
I can count on one hand the number of swims and runs I have done in that time.
Ah well.
The runs I have done have mainly been hard...I figure if I am not going to get to do much what I do might as well count. One of those hard runs was a race last Wednesday night. The Nightcrawler 8km. I have done this event a few times now. Love it. Low key, well run, close by and reasonably priced race at night = good stuff. Only problem is that it is always the day before the Bay Street Rat Race so I never get to do it.
We had 12 of us signed up to go, but for a variety of work and health reasons (or what I think was the real reason = VERY nasty weather that day and night) only 4 of us showed up to race. I think the race suffered as well as apparently a record crowd had registered but I venture to guess only 200-300 people started in the pouring rain and howling wind.
I had lost some fitness so I decided to start solid, but slower than I otherwise might have, and see what happened.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
Somehow I deleted the Post on Sporting Life Team from Last Week...hmmm
Here is some of it back.
On May 3, 2009, thirty 7SYSTEMS athletes participated in the second largest Canadian running race. 7SYSTEMS not only took 1st and 2nd place in the Team Category, but also brought together some great performances from 7SYSTEMS athletes:
Men
Paul Kemp - 32:41 (17th overall)
Jamie Stephenson - 32:49 (19th overall)
Jon Moncrieff - 33:35 (26th overall)
Stefan Timms - 33:38 (28th overall)
Hugo Reyes - 33:41 (30th overall)
Rich Pady - 33:47 (32nd overall)
Mike Greenberg - 34:05 (36th overall)
Wes Dearborn - 34:20 (40th overall)
Gord Henderson - 34:29 (42nd overall)
John Healy - 35:18 - (55th overall)
Jim Morand - 35:28 (59th overall)
Bill Logie - 37:01 (98th overall)
Scott Taylor - 38:04 (142nd overall)
John Pineo - 38:37 (177th overall)
JJ Neely - 40:33 (326th overall)
Martin Rydlo - 41:34 (429th) WHO RAN AS/IN THE 7SYSTEMS CONTAINER
Andre Christensen - 46:52 (1532nd overall)
Jim Teevan - 51:36 (3249th overall)
Derek Teevan - 56:57 (5576th overall) (Alex Lanzillotta ran as Derek)
Women
Laura Macintyre - 37:34 (125th overall - 8th woman)
Kristin Toomsalu - 41:50 (474th overall - 48th woman)
Kate Timms - 42:10 (509th overall - 55th woman)
Heather Pady - 43:45 (763rd overall - 100th woman)
Mary Waterman - 46:47 (1494th overall - 264th woman)
Erin Down - 48:26 (2006th overall - 421 woman)
Katie Toomsalu - 48:49 (2158th overall - 462nd woman)
Laura Timms - 49:18 (2328th overall - 523rd woman)
Christina Lanzillotta - 52:43 (3736th overall - 1105th woman)
On May 3, 2009, thirty 7SYSTEMS athletes participated in the second largest Canadian running race. 7SYSTEMS not only took 1st and 2nd place in the Team Category, but also brought together some great performances from 7SYSTEMS athletes:
Men
Paul Kemp - 32:41 (17th overall)
Jamie Stephenson - 32:49 (19th overall)
Jon Moncrieff - 33:35 (26th overall)
Stefan Timms - 33:38 (28th overall)
Hugo Reyes - 33:41 (30th overall)
Rich Pady - 33:47 (32nd overall)
Mike Greenberg - 34:05 (36th overall)
Wes Dearborn - 34:20 (40th overall)
Gord Henderson - 34:29 (42nd overall)
John Healy - 35:18 - (55th overall)
Jim Morand - 35:28 (59th overall)
Bill Logie - 37:01 (98th overall)
Scott Taylor - 38:04 (142nd overall)
John Pineo - 38:37 (177th overall)
JJ Neely - 40:33 (326th overall)
Martin Rydlo - 41:34 (429th) WHO RAN AS/IN THE 7SYSTEMS CONTAINER
Andre Christensen - 46:52 (1532nd overall)
Jim Teevan - 51:36 (3249th overall)
Derek Teevan - 56:57 (5576th overall) (Alex Lanzillotta ran as Derek)
Women
Laura Macintyre - 37:34 (125th overall - 8th woman)
Kristin Toomsalu - 41:50 (474th overall - 48th woman)
Kate Timms - 42:10 (509th overall - 55th woman)
Heather Pady - 43:45 (763rd overall - 100th woman)
Mary Waterman - 46:47 (1494th overall - 264th woman)
Erin Down - 48:26 (2006th overall - 421 woman)
Katie Toomsalu - 48:49 (2158th overall - 462nd woman)
Laura Timms - 49:18 (2328th overall - 523rd woman)
Christina Lanzillotta - 52:43 (3736th overall - 1105th woman)
Sporting Life Update
For those that wanted to know. My time in the race was 33:39. Solid considering training to now, but would love to run about 39 seconds faster. No idea what my splits were. I was getting really annoyed there were no km markers, but apparently they were above us and I was looking for markers at ground level.
I caught and passed Jon M between 8 and 9km, and he held onto me and then sprinted by in last 200m. Nice job. He looked great as he ran away from me in opening km and kept getting farther away (apparently he went through 5km in 15:50) until he felt that pace and started coming back. I think Jamie S caught him at that point and never looked back, posting a solid 32 min time. I knew Rich P was close behind and figured he would be coming by anytime but managed to hold him off. He finished closely behind as well as Mike G and Wes D.
I caught and passed Jon M between 8 and 9km, and he held onto me and then sprinted by in last 200m. Nice job. He looked great as he ran away from me in opening km and kept getting farther away (apparently he went through 5km in 15:50) until he felt that pace and started coming back. I think Jamie S caught him at that point and never looked back, posting a solid 32 min time. I knew Rich P was close behind and figured he would be coming by anytime but managed to hold him off. He finished closely behind as well as Mike G and Wes D.
Most impressive was Kate. A low 42! Off very little training. She can't have run 10km more than a handful of times over the past couple of years. She's tough.
Unfortunately work has been nuts since then so haven't done much of anything in the last week. Ah well, that's life these days. Hopefully I can use these few races to get speed back up for some solid running this summer.
Unfortunately work has been nuts since then so haven't done much of anything in the last week. Ah well, that's life these days. Hopefully I can use these few races to get speed back up for some solid running this summer.
Monday, April 27, 2009
First Race of 2009 is Complete
I raced the Cadillac Fairview 5km in Sunnybrook park yesterday morning.
I had been looking for something to tune up my speed before Sporting Life and when I saw there was a 5km race within jogging distance of my house this weekened I decided to jump in. The start/finish line is on the Sunnybrook trail, just north of the Eglington overpass by Leslie (you go under it 200m into the race) so wamring up with a run to the start was perfect.
I also talked Gord H and Martin R into joining me. It is more fun with others around, and I thought it was appropriate since the last race I did was also with them in Sunnybrook (the Ontario Masters Cross Country Champs last fall).
The event is a fundraiser for POGO, and for non serious runners it has got to be one of the best deals going. You get to raise money for a great cause, and for your entry fee (a very reasonable $25) you get pre-race breakfast, a beautiful run through the park, a good post race bbq, awards and a Nike technical shirt. For serious runners looking to run hard the organization leaves a little to be desired (start was a mess and it is an out and back route that is very crazy coming back), but as long as you don't take yourself too seriously it is fine.
I was a bit concerned about my back and calf as they had been very tight since the trip to Ireland so I half expected to blow one or both of them in the race. To counter that as I best possible I got up early and did some dynamic stretching and activation exercises before my warm-up. I also worked in a long warm-up - which entailed running there and a bit of the course with Gord plus some strides to ensure as best possible my body was ready to go when the gun went off. Since this worked out to 5-6km each way not including the race, at the very least I knew I going to get some miles under my legs, and hoped the process would keep me from getting injured.
At 9:45am the very few serious looking runners gathered at the front and after debating with the starter who wanted us to move to the very back, we were off (literally - with no warning the starter yelled 'Ready Go" as we were standing there in a circle discussing whether to agree to move to the back). I took off to the front and set a strong but comfortable pace with a couple people I could hear close behind me. Around 500m a guy I did not recognize came by me pretty quickly. As I was deciding whether or not to go with him, Gord went by me and jumped in behind him. I took the opportunity to look around and saw that only one other guy was behind me, John H, and then there was a gap back to Martin and another couple of guys so I decided to move in behind Gord. The leader saw we had matched his move and when Gord pulled up beside him he threw in another surge. Very strange at this point of the race, but I guess it was his strategy to try and break everyone early. We matched him again and this seemed to discourage him and his pace slowed a bit. Gord moved up his right hand side and I accelerated and went wide left hoping we could get rid of this joker as I did not want to play his games the rest of the way. Gord and John went with me and thankfully we quickly dropped this other guy. I stayed out in front running the same comfortable but strong pace (I was not maxing myself but I could not seem to turn my legs over any faster). I led down to the turn-around playing some dodge-em (the trail was still open to users who were walking, biking, etc., on it which made it quite busy in sections) and after making the turn I saw that it was Gord, John and myself and then there was a good gap back to Martin in 4th who was passing the guy who had been in the lead with us. We hit the 3km marker on the way back in 10:02, which was fine as I would have been happy with a 16:40ish time. Gord had pulled up beside me after the turn-around and at 3km he surged to the front and we got a small gap on John. Gord then had the very unenviable job of negotiating the crowd of runners (600+ entered) who were running/jogging/walking down the path as we made our way back up it to the finish line. Gord accomplished this by yelling at the top of his lungs and waving his arms while weaving back and forth through the gaps of people. Our pace was going up and down as he did this and John got back on. Once we made it through everyone, with around 800m to go I accelerated up a bridge hoping to drop Gord and John. I saw that I had got a small gap and concentrated on carrying the speed the rest of the way. Then out of nowhere with 500m to go, John came flying by me at a speed I couldn't match. He carried on to the line to win in around 16:53 and I crossed in second in 17:00; Gord was another 5 seconds back in 3rd.
A bit disappointing but a good indicator of where I am at. I can run 3:20-3:25 per kilometer no problem but I have nothing faster than that in my legs. This makes sense given that I do my Monday tempo runs in those zones (or slightly slower) and have not really done any speed work at faster paces. I will need that if want to get faster again.
Kudos for Gord for leading us through the masses. I did not want to be the one trying that. It killed any chance he had to win as it was a mental and physical energy sapping exercise.
We'll see what happens this weekend at Sporting Life. Going to try going through 5km in 16:40 and see if I can hold on.
Of course, to really run fast I will need to lose the 3-4 lbs I seem to have gained in Ireland. I don't really worry about my weight and don't concentrate on it much, but I weigh myself on the same scale every couple of weeks for interest. I weighed myself last night that I am now 155-156 lbs. This is a gain from 150-152 I was at after Florida trip. Hmmmm. Too much Guiness and chips in Ireland for sure!
I had been looking for something to tune up my speed before Sporting Life and when I saw there was a 5km race within jogging distance of my house this weekened I decided to jump in. The start/finish line is on the Sunnybrook trail, just north of the Eglington overpass by Leslie (you go under it 200m into the race) so wamring up with a run to the start was perfect.
I also talked Gord H and Martin R into joining me. It is more fun with others around, and I thought it was appropriate since the last race I did was also with them in Sunnybrook (the Ontario Masters Cross Country Champs last fall).
The event is a fundraiser for POGO, and for non serious runners it has got to be one of the best deals going. You get to raise money for a great cause, and for your entry fee (a very reasonable $25) you get pre-race breakfast, a beautiful run through the park, a good post race bbq, awards and a Nike technical shirt. For serious runners looking to run hard the organization leaves a little to be desired (start was a mess and it is an out and back route that is very crazy coming back), but as long as you don't take yourself too seriously it is fine.
I was a bit concerned about my back and calf as they had been very tight since the trip to Ireland so I half expected to blow one or both of them in the race. To counter that as I best possible I got up early and did some dynamic stretching and activation exercises before my warm-up. I also worked in a long warm-up - which entailed running there and a bit of the course with Gord plus some strides to ensure as best possible my body was ready to go when the gun went off. Since this worked out to 5-6km each way not including the race, at the very least I knew I going to get some miles under my legs, and hoped the process would keep me from getting injured.
At 9:45am the very few serious looking runners gathered at the front and after debating with the starter who wanted us to move to the very back, we were off (literally - with no warning the starter yelled 'Ready Go" as we were standing there in a circle discussing whether to agree to move to the back). I took off to the front and set a strong but comfortable pace with a couple people I could hear close behind me. Around 500m a guy I did not recognize came by me pretty quickly. As I was deciding whether or not to go with him, Gord went by me and jumped in behind him. I took the opportunity to look around and saw that only one other guy was behind me, John H, and then there was a gap back to Martin and another couple of guys so I decided to move in behind Gord. The leader saw we had matched his move and when Gord pulled up beside him he threw in another surge. Very strange at this point of the race, but I guess it was his strategy to try and break everyone early. We matched him again and this seemed to discourage him and his pace slowed a bit. Gord moved up his right hand side and I accelerated and went wide left hoping we could get rid of this joker as I did not want to play his games the rest of the way. Gord and John went with me and thankfully we quickly dropped this other guy. I stayed out in front running the same comfortable but strong pace (I was not maxing myself but I could not seem to turn my legs over any faster). I led down to the turn-around playing some dodge-em (the trail was still open to users who were walking, biking, etc., on it which made it quite busy in sections) and after making the turn I saw that it was Gord, John and myself and then there was a good gap back to Martin in 4th who was passing the guy who had been in the lead with us. We hit the 3km marker on the way back in 10:02, which was fine as I would have been happy with a 16:40ish time. Gord had pulled up beside me after the turn-around and at 3km he surged to the front and we got a small gap on John. Gord then had the very unenviable job of negotiating the crowd of runners (600+ entered) who were running/jogging/walking down the path as we made our way back up it to the finish line. Gord accomplished this by yelling at the top of his lungs and waving his arms while weaving back and forth through the gaps of people. Our pace was going up and down as he did this and John got back on. Once we made it through everyone, with around 800m to go I accelerated up a bridge hoping to drop Gord and John. I saw that I had got a small gap and concentrated on carrying the speed the rest of the way. Then out of nowhere with 500m to go, John came flying by me at a speed I couldn't match. He carried on to the line to win in around 16:53 and I crossed in second in 17:00; Gord was another 5 seconds back in 3rd.
A bit disappointing but a good indicator of where I am at. I can run 3:20-3:25 per kilometer no problem but I have nothing faster than that in my legs. This makes sense given that I do my Monday tempo runs in those zones (or slightly slower) and have not really done any speed work at faster paces. I will need that if want to get faster again.
Kudos for Gord for leading us through the masses. I did not want to be the one trying that. It killed any chance he had to win as it was a mental and physical energy sapping exercise.
We'll see what happens this weekend at Sporting Life. Going to try going through 5km in 16:40 and see if I can hold on.
Of course, to really run fast I will need to lose the 3-4 lbs I seem to have gained in Ireland. I don't really worry about my weight and don't concentrate on it much, but I weigh myself on the same scale every couple of weeks for interest. I weighed myself last night that I am now 155-156 lbs. This is a gain from 150-152 I was at after Florida trip. Hmmmm. Too much Guiness and chips in Ireland for sure!
Friday, April 24, 2009
Running the Wicklow Way
We got back from Ireland on Tuesday night. We were there for a week for my brother's wedding. Congrats to Arran and Orla for a beautiful day.
The highlight of the trip, other than the wedding (which was great), was our trip to/from, and the run/hike on, the Wicklow Way last Thursday.
The Wicklow Way is a 127 km trail that starts just south of Dublin and heads south through the countryside of Wicklow County and its mountains. It is rugged and beautiful. Lots of wildlife and majestic vistas. A website dedicated to it is
http://www.wicklowway.com/.
I highly recommend spending some time exploring it for anyone staying in Dublin. It is great for running, hiking or mountain biking through true Irish countryside. For those crazy folks out there (read Brad C) there is a race on it offering distances from half marathon, full marathon, to the full trail.
Arran rented a mini coach to drive us all (12 people in total once everyone was picked up) from Dublin to a starting point he had picked near the end of the trail. It was a 14km point to point section that started somewhere past Laragh and ended at a brilliant pub called the Dying Cow close to Tinahely. I only know where we were because we stopped at a pub in Laragh to stock our backpacks up with cans of Guinness and Bulmers cider shortly before we started the run/hike.
Unfortunately it was a rainy day so that obscured some of the views and diminished a bit of the enjoyment at the end when we were cold, wet and hungry (should have added some snacks to the Guinness and Bulmers). It also meant much of the trail was very muddy (up past ankles in some sections where livestock obviously had really churned up the ground) so our shoes were trashed. Despite this, we all had an amazing time.
The plan was to hike the trail, but Kate and I wanted to get a run in so we decided to start by running out the trail for 30 minutes and then run back however long it took to meet up with the group. So, once the coach let us out, I pounded back a pint of Bulmers, and Kate and I took off up the kilometer long rocky path up the hillside (heart rate through the roof and burping cider = good times).
We ran across mountainside and through old growth forest along the way passing sheep, cows and wild horses. The terrain was all up and down with no flat sections so it was like doing fartlek intervals. As per normal, Kate led the charge up the hills (she is part mountain goat) and I would try to catch up going down. We turned around at 30 minutes and went back. The plan did not work out perfectly as we somehow missed the group (the trail split in a few places) and once we had almost reached the start we knew we must have passed them without seeing them so we turned around to head back down the trail. We caught back up to the group after another 10 minutes of running so timing wise it turned into an hour run which was perfect. Some hilarity ensued as we had been gone longer than planned so a few guys had gone to look for us up the mountain....bad idea as they were then lost. Eventually everyone was found (thankfully Steve was in neon green and easily spotted up the mountainside) and we were underway again (this time Kate and I hiked with the group).
Lots more to post about the rest of this hike but to keep this short, can sum it up by saying it was spectacular, although wet and muddy.
The best part of the day was ending at the Dying Cow pub and drinking pints of Guinness there late into the night listening to the local musicians. Google the Dying Cow and you will see lots of posts about it. It is as authentic a place as you get. Truly amazing.
The highlight of the trip, other than the wedding (which was great), was our trip to/from, and the run/hike on, the Wicklow Way last Thursday.
The Wicklow Way is a 127 km trail that starts just south of Dublin and heads south through the countryside of Wicklow County and its mountains. It is rugged and beautiful. Lots of wildlife and majestic vistas. A website dedicated to it is
http://www.wicklowway.com/.
I highly recommend spending some time exploring it for anyone staying in Dublin. It is great for running, hiking or mountain biking through true Irish countryside. For those crazy folks out there (read Brad C) there is a race on it offering distances from half marathon, full marathon, to the full trail.
Arran rented a mini coach to drive us all (12 people in total once everyone was picked up) from Dublin to a starting point he had picked near the end of the trail. It was a 14km point to point section that started somewhere past Laragh and ended at a brilliant pub called the Dying Cow close to Tinahely. I only know where we were because we stopped at a pub in Laragh to stock our backpacks up with cans of Guinness and Bulmers cider shortly before we started the run/hike.
Unfortunately it was a rainy day so that obscured some of the views and diminished a bit of the enjoyment at the end when we were cold, wet and hungry (should have added some snacks to the Guinness and Bulmers). It also meant much of the trail was very muddy (up past ankles in some sections where livestock obviously had really churned up the ground) so our shoes were trashed. Despite this, we all had an amazing time.
The plan was to hike the trail, but Kate and I wanted to get a run in so we decided to start by running out the trail for 30 minutes and then run back however long it took to meet up with the group. So, once the coach let us out, I pounded back a pint of Bulmers, and Kate and I took off up the kilometer long rocky path up the hillside (heart rate through the roof and burping cider = good times).
We ran across mountainside and through old growth forest along the way passing sheep, cows and wild horses. The terrain was all up and down with no flat sections so it was like doing fartlek intervals. As per normal, Kate led the charge up the hills (she is part mountain goat) and I would try to catch up going down. We turned around at 30 minutes and went back. The plan did not work out perfectly as we somehow missed the group (the trail split in a few places) and once we had almost reached the start we knew we must have passed them without seeing them so we turned around to head back down the trail. We caught back up to the group after another 10 minutes of running so timing wise it turned into an hour run which was perfect. Some hilarity ensued as we had been gone longer than planned so a few guys had gone to look for us up the mountain....bad idea as they were then lost. Eventually everyone was found (thankfully Steve was in neon green and easily spotted up the mountainside) and we were underway again (this time Kate and I hiked with the group).
Lots more to post about the rest of this hike but to keep this short, can sum it up by saying it was spectacular, although wet and muddy.
The best part of the day was ending at the Dying Cow pub and drinking pints of Guinness there late into the night listening to the local musicians. Google the Dying Cow and you will see lots of posts about it. It is as authentic a place as you get. Truly amazing.
Race this Weekend
Going to try a local 5km race this weekend in Sunnybrook Park as a tune up for Sporting Life. To run fast I need a few races under my belt so hoping this will work. The key is not to get injured. Back is quite sore and stiff from trip to Ireland (travelling plus uncomfortable bed) so a bit concerned about it. We'll see what happens.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Run Last Night
Solid run last night with the Monday night group.
Small but solid group showed up and we decided to do 8km.
I was nervous as my back and calf have been especially problematic since my crazy unplanned trip from Florida to Calgary for my grandmother's funeral 2 weeks ago (spent 2 days in airplanes and airports doing a milk run trying to get there in time = body not happy). I had to pull the plug 2km into last week's 5km TT as my back went into spasm, with the same issue also causing me to stop during another run and 2 swims in past week. My back had also bothered me during the Masters swim earlier in the day (main set was 6x400 free on 5:15, descend 1-6, but back tightened up on number4 and I had to back off my pace), so I wasn't that optimistic about being able to finish 8km tempo. However, I did not have any problems the day before running with my wife so I was hoping for same result.
I decided to build the effort and open things up if I felt ok by halfway. I ran with Dave H and Martin R for first km, splitting 3:40, with Gord H 5 seconds ahead of us. My back began to loosen up and calf, although noticeable, did not hurt so I used the next km to run up to Gord's shoulder. We ran together for another km when I picked up the pace again and dropped Gord (slightly). Turned at the 4km marker (it was out and back) in 14:10, and tried to increase pace slightly. Held that pace, and small gap to Gord, the rest of the way back for a 13:35 return split and 27:45 overall time.
Was very happy that body held up, and the time was quite respectable for an accurate 8km given the circumstances. It is great having this Monday run as I am sure I could not push myself that hard without it.
If I can keep running consistently for next 3 weeks and the body stays healthy then I think I will be 34:00-34:30 in the Sporting Life 10km. Would love to run faster but the 4 weeks off, lack of speed work (i.e. shorter stuff at 3:00-3:15/km pace) and lack of any racing (had originally planned Around the Bay 5km and Harry Rosen 8km as tune-ups but they did not work out) will prevent that from happening.
Off to Dublin.
Small but solid group showed up and we decided to do 8km.
I was nervous as my back and calf have been especially problematic since my crazy unplanned trip from Florida to Calgary for my grandmother's funeral 2 weeks ago (spent 2 days in airplanes and airports doing a milk run trying to get there in time = body not happy). I had to pull the plug 2km into last week's 5km TT as my back went into spasm, with the same issue also causing me to stop during another run and 2 swims in past week. My back had also bothered me during the Masters swim earlier in the day (main set was 6x400 free on 5:15, descend 1-6, but back tightened up on number4 and I had to back off my pace), so I wasn't that optimistic about being able to finish 8km tempo. However, I did not have any problems the day before running with my wife so I was hoping for same result.
I decided to build the effort and open things up if I felt ok by halfway. I ran with Dave H and Martin R for first km, splitting 3:40, with Gord H 5 seconds ahead of us. My back began to loosen up and calf, although noticeable, did not hurt so I used the next km to run up to Gord's shoulder. We ran together for another km when I picked up the pace again and dropped Gord (slightly). Turned at the 4km marker (it was out and back) in 14:10, and tried to increase pace slightly. Held that pace, and small gap to Gord, the rest of the way back for a 13:35 return split and 27:45 overall time.
Was very happy that body held up, and the time was quite respectable for an accurate 8km given the circumstances. It is great having this Monday run as I am sure I could not push myself that hard without it.
If I can keep running consistently for next 3 weeks and the body stays healthy then I think I will be 34:00-34:30 in the Sporting Life 10km. Would love to run faster but the 4 weeks off, lack of speed work (i.e. shorter stuff at 3:00-3:15/km pace) and lack of any racing (had originally planned Around the Bay 5km and Harry Rosen 8km as tune-ups but they did not work out) will prevent that from happening.
Off to Dublin.
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