amble with the angus RR

Hey all,

Training has been going pretty well.  I haven't been putting in huge hours, but very consistent week in week out.  This week and the next may be a bit different.  I looked at the past two weeks and it seems like I'm getting into a cycle of more bike, vs more run.  One week I'll get in 5 runs and 3-4 bikes, then the next week 5-6 bikes and 3-4 runs.  Swimming has been a solid twice a week, which I know I shouldn't expect much, but I'm actually improving!!!  I'm getting close to where I was in the pool.  I'm able to start pushing some workouts, I did a toughy yesterday with a main set of 10x200 @ ~ 1:40/100 pace.  My weight is down a bit more too!!  Wow that makes a difference, both for my run speed as well as my layering lol I'm right on my all time low weight and wayyy lighter than I usually am this time of year.

Last week friday I did the amble with the angus 5k!  I feel I didn't do the half mary justice so with some prodding from a friend or two I entered this fun run.  It would give me some indication as to where exactly my run speed was at as well as give me another good tempo.  My friend from work Reinier picked me up in the morning, yes friday morning before work.  Weird eh?  That's a first for me, running a race before work.  It was still dark as we did our warmup around prince's island park(that's where the race started).  Even as we lined up to start and ran off it was still dark.  It was really cool that all the "fast" runners stayed home for this so I could enjoy some time in the spotlight.  I ran out with the lead group, one which included Mike(a friend of Reiniers and a fellow triathlete).  But the grp soon put maybe 20 yards on me.  I counted maybe 5-6 just ahead of me, not close enough to latch onto.

Arg I hate being in "no man's land" it's so important in a fast race to be able to run with a grp, mentally it's just so much easier right?  After they got the gap and we headed through a few turns, some snowy parts and the first mile marker(6:10 right where I wanted to be) I realized they weren't gaining anymore.  I could even see Mike(he'd beat me easily in the half mary I did from my last post) so I kept them on target.  We were headed west along the bow, then up a short hill onto 14th st.  This is where I took a good chunk out of their lead and got into the grp just as we headed onto the bridge across the bow.  It seemed like some of them faded a bit so I moved to the front and continued on.  There were also some icey patches especially once we'd crossed and ran down the bank, back onto the bow pathway headed back east.  There was 5-6 of them when I joined, but here's where it started to break apart and I was able to move to the front.  One of them had also moved further ahead, he was too far up to catch. 

Once we hit 10th street we crossed over on the road, then looped around and ran back across to the north side again on the footpath.  Weird, lots of corners and with some icey patches.  We really had to slow down, especially when in a grp.  This is where I lost site of our leader??  I wondered if he dropped out or took a wrong turn?  Anyways we continued on, I guess I was leading at that point, but not too long as some young teen came by me.  I was content just to run on his shoulder.  I was hurting, but I'd pretty much kept a even pace through out the race.  Then we crossed the two bridges by Oclare, the guy I was running behind almost made a wrong turn, I corrected him.  We heard as we crossed that we had finished 2nd and 3rd.  So I guess buddy that cut the course did cross the finish?  Mike came across just after us in 4th and confirmed that the leader had cut off at some point.  Oh well, it was just a fun run, my time was 20:30 as the course was long, 5k time was 19:07 according to my calculations.  The goal was to break 19 and with some snow, turns, and ice I'm really happy with that.  What's next???  More hard running, I'd really like to PB at the police half in spring, we'll see that's a tough course.  Out of my running pb's that seems like the first one to tackle.  Long RR eh?

Oh and of course Merry Christmas to all you blogger folks and have a happy New Years.  Stay safe and don't drink an drive.  Cheers,

DP

I look like I want to hurt someone (last chance half)

Enjoyed yesterday's swim

Hey,

I had a pretty good swim finally, I might actually admit that I enjoyed it again!!  I've been steadily swimming twice a week for maybe a month.  I know it's not a lot, but that's all I can do for now.  Late winter, maybe spring I'll add the third swim, and more later.  Anyways yesterday I finally started to feel some swim fitness.  I was kinda surprised as with the 2 swims it's really hard to improve.  Anyways yesterday I did a warmup of 500m and then did 10x100 on 2 minutes.  At first I thought I should go on 2:10 but I thought I'd give 2 a go, I can always adjust after a few.  I was happily surprised that I was getting adequate rest, hitting the wall on 1:40 so 20 secs was perfect.  I also did every other with pull, which helped a bit.  I had someone in my lane who was just a touch slower than me.  So every time I catch him I rest on his toes till the wall, and then giver.  The 10 went by fairly easily, did some more pull and that came to 2k in 45 min.  Pretty good for November.  Cheers,

DP

Training indoors

Hey blog,

My wife and I have been training at the local gym!  I'm actually enjoying running on the treadmill.  I don't know why, maybe I'm a freak, but it's fun to run hard and make that tready motor hummmmm.  The hum turns into a whirrrr at about 10 mph ;).  I'm also riding in the basement about 3 times a week so far.  No more than 2 hours yet at a time.  I think I'll wait till later and watch hockey again while I ride.  This seems to be good to pass the time, and I'm really enjoying cheering for my Winterpeg Jets!!  Go Jets GO!!!  I'm not swimming more than 2 times a week yet.  This year I think I'll hold off on the 3x and maybe even 4x till later so I don't start to hate it that much.  Although it's really hard to improve on 2x a week.  I've found I just improve a bit and then just stay at that level till I add a swim, improve a bit, then add another swim, etc.  Oh well the training is going well over all, and my weight has stayed off.  Other years I've tended to gain a bunch in winter and have to train it off when spring/summer hits.  Not this year, I'm keeping it off, which is really nice for the running.  Not so nice for keeping warm though when the wife wants to keep the house cooler than I do.  I wear sweaters constantly in the house, somtimes more than one over a tee-shirt.  ha ha.  That's it for now, make sure you all our cheering my buddy Cam on tomorrow in AZ.  Check his blog for daily updates on his adventures.  Out,

DP

Last Chance Half mary

Hey,

I ran the Last chance half marathon today.  I almost didn't show as I'm still not quite over a cold I got like 4 weeks ago?  I'm really over the cold itself, I just have a bit of a sore throat/cough.  I've had no problems training through it now, I just notice it when I'm breathing hard.  The dry cold air makes me cough.  So I woke up in the morning still not sure if I'd even go run.  I didn't feel too bad, so I went. 

Started out ok, but after about 5k I thought I was done.  This is the spot where we cross back over the river and I was contemplating just jogging back along the Oclare side back to the start/finish.  I felt really weak, no energy even though I know I hadn't started out too fast, must be the bug/cold thing.  I slowed a bit, let all the runners around me go ahead thinking I'd run easier a bit and see how I feel.  Well I started to feel a bit better and noticed myself picking up the pace again.

I continued on and actually felt ok in the middle(miles 5 - 10) and re-passed all those I had previously let go.  Then towards the end I was still on pace to go under 90 minutes, but then into the last 3 miles, into a head wind and I just had nothing left.  I was running all by myself and walked a couple times inside the second last mile.  I thought for sure the sub 90 goal wasn't in the cards.  But then I got to 20k and noticed I had 5 minutes to run the last km.  No problem, so I sucked it up and finished ok.  Felt kinda lousy for having to walk, it always sucks to have to succumb to that.  But to run sub 90 on a bad day.  I just know my running fitness is better than that.  Next time...  Here's the Garmin:  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/128584108  (yes the course was a touch short)

DP

PS:  Good luck in AZ Cam, I just know you're going to rock it!

Victoria Marathon

Success on the weekend for two runners I coach.  Jason ran a personal best by 8-9 minutes despite some mechanical problems during the race.  The goal was to run under 4 hours
and he was close 4:04.  Jenna blew her PB to pieces and took 30 minutes off her PB and in doing so qualified for Boston with a time of 3:32!  Congratz to both of you guys, I am
super proud!

My triumphant return to the pool

Just got back from the pool.  Wow, it has been like a year and a bit since I swam last and it showed big time, ha ha.  Oh well, I had no pressure, my three goals today for the swim were to #1 remember my lock combination(check), #2 do some swimming(check), and #3 although not as important I wanted to swim 1k meters(check) although I nearly quit after 500m.  Nope, no joke I nearly bailed.  But after some 50s(after 500m all I could do is 50m without stopping) I went and got a pull bouy and finished it off with that.  Ahhhh the pull bouy, like old friends, lol.  Think I'll be swimming at city pools two evenings a week to start, if anyone cares to meet up let me know.

In other news my cycling and running are doing really well.  Did 20k the other day in a record time and my heart rate stayed low in Z2 where it should.  I was really pumped, too bad I don't have a race to show off my foot speed.  Someone mentioned the last chance half, hmmmm I'll think about that one.  The cycling is improving too, I'm riding with some roadies a few times a week and last weekend I did a couple longer rides as well.  I ride with a power meter on my tt bike, wow that's a big eye opener.  So much to learn, you never realize how much the power spikes up and down.  It's really gonna teach me to ride with a smoother power stroke.  These rides I do with two friends are interesting.  It's quite different as they're always playing cat and mouse games, hammering up hills and doing really hard tempo sections that has me panting, legs screaming at me.  It's good after all it's tits(time in the saddle) but I wonder how applicable to tt'ing it is.  Or maybe it's something us triathletes need more of?

DP

Ironman Canada

Hey all,

Congratz to all that did and completed Ironman Canada Julie, Dan, Lisa, Richelle, Dusty, Mike(from work), etc(I'm sorry if I missed anyone). No matter how many times you've done it, wheather it's your first or umpteenth, it still is never easy and if you got to the finish than you completed the number one objective of the day. Sorry I couldn't didn't come watch. I wanted to, but after our vacation I was broke, sick of driving, and still had not procurred a place to stay(that was cheap enough for me) hee hee so I didn't go. I will however make sure to go next year, I know, broken record I said that last year too. But this year I signed up, so I def will be on the course... As long as training goes ok. **cough cough (I have not swam in a long time).

EDITED: Here's a summary of my trip in Garmin recorded runs. Try to recognize where each run is...run!

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/108365902 (guess the first one will be impossible, we were in the boonies, wayy of the main highway near Kelowna, but super high, check out the elevation graph on that.)

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/108365871
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/108365835
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/108365787
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/108365766
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/108365708 (short but quick ;) )

Day off too

I raced a itt this weekend. The results are here https://zone4.ca/results.asp?ID=4039&cat=274

A friend from work had invited me to race. It was a lot of fun, really neat experience, and hard, really hard. These cyclists really know their pain, they're like masochists. It was interesting lining up for my turn, everyone leaving in one min intervals. I started out behind the two citizen women(I was the first cit. male). I caught the first lady right away, but man the second was soooo strong. It was really disheartening when I didn't see her up ahead for the first 10km and then when I did see her there I couldn't catch her till about 16km. That was very humbling. Oh well, after that I rode alone till the hill up to the turn around. There I started to see some cat5s on the return. Once we turned it was a tail wind, and some down hills. Yikes did we ever fly. Every time I looked at the computer it read 45-50km and that was just on the flats. I think I maxed out at like 74km p/h with no big downhills. Thinking back with as strong wind as we had, I think I probably lost some time on the return with all the times I was spun out and had no more gears. I was riding in my second highest gear on the flats. It was hard motivating myself to push, I kept reminding myself that I would not have to run after, push push push. Eventually I saw the finish and gave it a little extra to cross the line in 1:09. Later I saw this and was a tad disappointed, but I did all I could with what I had. I will get faster again next year. I own a power meter now and managed to get a average wattage of 261W so this will help a lot in training, having that bench mark. That is essentially my FTP and I can do all my workouts using that number.

Yesterday I met Curtis at the Res for our regular loop. My legs were heavy at first, but by the time we hit the big hill I was ready for some high revs. So I pushed it up the hill, heart rate up around my threshold. Then later I also picked it up for the last 4 miles. It was really encouraging seeing the low sixes for the last few miles, especially towards the end of a 11.3 mile run. I nearly choked on a bug as I was sucking wind so bad and one went right down. My last miles were 6:39, 6:44, 6:22, and the last 0.3 6:02 pace. I've written my running PBs off, but as I improve it makes me start to wonder. It's really working well to run less mileage now(did high volume at the beginning of the season) but with more intensity. I run hard almost every run at some point. They aren't long workouts, sometimes all I do is crank it up for a mile or two. Or add some intervals with jogging between.

Thursday morning we leave for BC, roaddddddddddddddddd trip!!! We're stopping in Kelowna, Van, Tofino, Vic, then down to Seattle(through port angeles) and then CDA no not to do the Ironman. Should be lots of fun, lots of driving. Don't worry Cam I'll save some driving for IMC. Looks like I got monday off so I can go watch, if you're reading and doing the race make sure you comment so I can look for your name out there. I will be sure to yell to HTFU lol j/k I'll be nice.

DP

The Riverbend Run club is growing

Not sure if I actually mentioned before that I have started a run club in my community. Today was pretty exciting as we got 6 people out to run, usually it's 2-3, but it's slowly expanding. With the expansion it only encourages more to come out so I expect it to really pick up. Heck even solo runners on the pathway can't help but notice the big grp running together right? We meet at 6pm at our community centre and run 4.5 km, I usually sneak out after for an additional run.

Someone asked me today why I do this? I had to think about it for a sec, I guess I've really got a passion for running, triathlon too, but mostly running. I just want to share it with everyone. I know what it's done for me in my life, I know it can help others too. It's contagious too isn't it? You guys know what it's like for yourselves, but when you hear about someone talking about a big PB in a race or a experience where they were able to run through discomfort, etc. It seems to re-kindle the flame right? Maybe I'm seeing it's harder for me to run PBs so I like to help others do it uh? See! you knew there was a selfish spin on it, and there is to some extent. Not to give me credit or anything, I couldn't careless about that, just to see someone else realize their potential.

Oh and btw I had a really good run after the club, I did 8x intervals. Not time/distance based or anything, they were usually about 400m and just went by heart rate. I'm getting faster even with the less mileage. DP out!

Awesome tour pictures

Check these out, amazing!!

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/07/2011_tour_de_france_part_1.html
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/07/2011_tour_de_france_part_2.html

Also found a blog lots of the above pics come from. I haven't checked it all out yet.

http://www.cyclingtipsblog.com/


EDIT: I'm such a nub, I only realized now that about half of these pics are taken by Getty Images which is the company that owns the company i work for Istockphoto. Cool eh???

skunks!

I went for a late night run yesterday. I think I headed out at like 9:45(the best time to run). The flies were bad, I had to watch the eyes and mouth for intruders constantly although I failed at times. For the first part of my run I go along a pathway that has peoples' backyards facing it. Lots of really nice yards with trees, flowers, roses, etc. It was starting to get dark so it was a blur at first, but I saw some rustling, a lot of black and white blur. I stopped and realized there were a pile of baby skunks running around the yard. It took me awhile to get a proper head count as they were running around and it was a big family!! The mother didn't even take too much notice of me and retreated underneath some bigger plants. I was able to get in real close and count 7 babies!! Amazing, those things are the cutest ever, and really tame too. I think I could have picked them up they ran right up to my feet. Although it was in someone's backyard so maybe they are pets?

Good ride yesterday

Most of my rides involve some kind of hard effort. Yesterday was no exception. Sometime between thunderstorms I managed to get out on a loop near my house. I did 6 or 7 loops on this bike path with the middle 5 including a threshold portion. If you look at my garmin info you could probably figure out which part. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/100429890 There was a stiff head wind at times, which made it really easy to get the heart rate up. The max hr you see there is pretty much bang on my threshold. I was panting like a porn star hero!!

One thing to note is I had a bit of a tiff with a dog walker. I don't have a bell on my bike, I really need to get one of those. So I'm def. in the wrong there in that I don't warn people when I ride up. That being said the path did have a line on it, it's one of the wider ones clearly marked for walkers and cyclists. It just makes sense to keep on the right. I had slowed down, cause you never know what a dog will do. Sure enough just as I get close the dog runs across the path so I hit the grass. Don't worry dog lovers(I also love dogs) the dog was in no real danger as I was already going slow. What annoyed me is that the owner when he saw me made no effort to pull his dog back over onto his side of the path(remember there's a solid line in the middle) instead he starts cursing at me cause I nearly clipped his dog. He's screaming somthing like, "Hey, bleep bleep bleep, I'm trying to walk my dog here!!" "Go around!!"... Where should I go around??? I already went off the path to avoid the dog, does he really need the whole path??? I was going at a safe speed and the dog was in no danger. Did he want me to ride through the long grass and bush??? I was tongue tied, I honestly didn't know what to say I thought it was so stupid. Some people really do believe that the world revolves around them. Anyways I will get a bell as I'm riding in the city quite a bit and it would be good to warn my fellow path users up ahead.

Inspiration

I just eat this stuff up. Even with all the drug problems professional cycling still has it's share of inspirational stuff. It still blows my mind how these guys can punish themselves so much through out a tour, especially when they crash and just get back on the bike for some more. Then are back on the bike the very next day ready for some more, bandages en all. If you haven't heard of Johny Hoogerland, check out this story.

Johny got hit by a car, here is the youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYPDAry-A-s&feature=related He took 33 stitches and went on to start the next day. Went on a breakaway two days later and even held the king of the mountains jersey.


Then there is Laurens Ten Dam from Rabobank who I saw cruise off the road hit some rocks and proceed to fly over his handle bars smash his face on some rocks. Yeah he finished the stage and now I just read he showed up for the next days start.

Jens Voigt the oldest man in the pelaton crashed twice on a stage two days ago. He not only finished the stage but was still able to help out his team leader Andy Schleck in pacing the pelaton up one of the pyrenees.

Lots of inspiration...

ahhhh multisport

Heya!

I had a great weekend of training, not in terms of huge volumn or anything. But I'm just really enjoying the cycling and running, maybe I'll add swimming before the end of the year? Stay tuned... just don't hold your breath.

Friday evening I went out for a trot. I love being coached, but one thing about self coaching is I can totally do workouts as I please. If I feel good I run hard, if I don't I just trot it out. So after I'd been out there for 3-4 miles I stopped for a bit while I decided, tempo or not? There were these swarms of flies out along the river so this could be pretty tough, plus I had that nagging pressure in the lower half of my body. Running hard would just make that worse. So I stopped for a bit to let the pressure ease up a bit and decided to try. So I reset the watch and gaver down the gravel/dirt path. I started off along the bow just north of glenmore trail and headed south. Got onto the paved path maybe 2/3 of a mile further, ran to carburn park out and then ran back towards the park again to end a 3.1 mile jaunt or 5km whichever you prefer in a time of 20:03. Pretty good, although the 3 seconds are a little annoying, 19 somthing looks better. Oh well, I'll get faster.

Saturday I went out for a bike ride with Greg. It was a beautiful day and we headed out on springbank road and to Bragg creek. We didn't quite make it to Bragg, turned around at the round about. It was fun, my fitness isn't bad, but it still needs lots of work too. I rode my road bike and it sure made it tough coming up the last hill headed back into Calgary. Yikes that hill hurts, and with my road bike I run out of gears sooner than on my tt bike.

Today I went out for another bike ride. I had thought of doing a long run, but I had eaten some cheese earlier for lunch and I thought it might hurt me running. So I headed out on the road bike again. This time I rode south, then west through fish creek. Got up the hill in the far south western part of Calgary near Keith's house and then rode back. One thing I've noticed this year is my sweat is like wayyyyy saltier. I assume that's why I had the cramping problems in the marathon. I guess for my next long race I will have to take in extra salt. I hate being a heavy sweater, so annoying. So anyways with the tempo and two days with almost 4 hours riding total it was really a good weekend. I love the hotter weather, cheers all have a great week.

DP

still kicking

Hey all,

Things are going good over here. I'm riding my bike again!! Just got back from a nice little ride to Sikome lake with 8 climbs and then ride home. I went out late and actually only finished 9:45, riding in the dark for the last few minutes. It rained a bit, although at times when I thought it was rain it was actually the swarms of fruit flies and mosquitoes. Saw some deer and scare the crap out of a coyote as I rode up quietly behind him.

I'm running as well, right now as long as I get a ride or run in every day I'm fine. Since I'm not doing that much I try to include quite a bit of intensity. I'm already thinking of Ironman next year, although I'm not swimming yet.

Couple of new things I've started this year is coaching(two marathoners) and a mini run club in our community of Riverbend. The interest has been slow for the run club, but I'm gradually having more and more contact me. The key is to get more regulars showing up every week.

The coaching is a lot of fun too. I'm really lucky to guide a couple of good runners. They're doing the Victoria marathon in Oct. I've learned so much with both of these ventures. It's one thing to train and follow what you know works for you. It's completely different to try to learn how someone else responds to different training stress. Everyone's different, what works with one will not work with another. That's why it's so important for communication in the athlete/coach relationship. Cheers,

DP

Finish pic

Hey,

Went for a bike ride today. Yup that's right, first bike ride this year!! It looked gloomy in the morning outside, but thankfully the sun came out in the afternoon and I took my road bike out for a ride along the canal pathway to Chestermere and back. No idea on the exact time 90 minutes approx and no bike computer, I just road like I felt. It was a little windy, but not too bad. My legs felt it, the lack of riding. Still not sure how I'm finishing this year off. I think I may just stay away from the races and just get back to some general biking/running and who knows maybe even go for a swim here and there?

Cam didn't post the finish pic of both of us. If you didn't read my race report this is what basically happened. We started running together at about 5 or 6 miles, got to 18 miles and he went into a portapotty. I slowed in the last five miles and he caught me right at the finish. Pretty good picture, I might actually buy it as it'll be a good memory down the road.

Ironman Mount Tremblant

Food for thought eh guys? I've always wanted to visit this area, I bet I could convince Lisa to go too. Curtis I believe you've talked about how beautiful that area is correct? Maybe we should go east? Although Canada's course is difficult to beat. Oh btw it's the same time of year too. Apparently a new york city Ironman will be announced sometime too.

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/forum/Slowtwitch_Forums_C1/Triathlon_Forum_F1/Its_official%3A_Ironman_Mont-Tremblant_P3366785/

What now??

Got that empty feeling. I have several options. I guess the marathon didn't go exactly according to plan. The time was ok, but deep down inside I wanted more(or less meaning time). This was meant to be it for this summer. I was to slowly start preparing for next year. Now I'm not so sure, I could make another attempt in fall?? Although looking at it, this would be for 2013 Boston and I'd have to run 5 minutes faster as the newer faster times apply for that. Funny how I never really cared much for Boston when it was "easily" attainable. Now that I can't run that fast anymore I want it!!! LMAO. I hadn't even planned on going to Boston if I were to qualify, but nowwwww /cry Oh well, I need a week or two to figure out where I want to go from here. Right now I have all these ideas floating around in my head.

DP

Calgary marathon RR

Hey,

I had a great time hanging out with my buds Curtis and Cam. We missed Trevor though, hopefully next time he'll be in the grp too. Cam came out from Golden to stay at Hotel Vierling, we had a marathon pasta dinner there the night before. Then the next day I met up with them there again so we could all be dropped off by Curtis's wife. We got to the race site close to an hour before. It was chilly, maybe 3-4 degrees? The sun was starting to warm things up so that helped although it was still hard when it was time to discard the warm clothing and get over to the start area.

This is the first time I really drank coffee the morning of a race. It really helped to ummm finish ALL the pre race business. As Cam says "Clean the pipes", although it might have contributed to cramps later in the day. Cam and I ended up close in the start area, Curtis a bit further back. The first few miles I spent trying to relax, not go out too fast. Cam had bolted up ahead to get through people and I just ran on my own, although never more than 50m ahead. I wanted to be sure this was MY pace that I started at so I made no rush to run up to him, I kinda planned to run the first few miles on my own anyway. Then after that if he happens to be in the same area well then we could hook up.

Slowly the distance got cut down, I think it was about the fifth mile where I ended up right behind him, but I just stayed there. Finally he turned around and laughed, he says he knew I had to be there. ha ha so we ran side by side for the next hmmm 12 miles? During that time we ran up Shaganapi. Cam figured we ran it too hard and that it was my fault, ha ha. Then some stomach issues, but that for the most part calmed down. Through miles 13-16 we moved back and forth a bit. Somtimes it seemed Cam would pull away from me and I was sure I should let him go. Then other times he told me later that he was sure I would drop him. I guess that's the way it goes(we were less chatty by that time) sometimes you feel good, sometimes you don't.

So at about 18 miles we come up on a porta potty and Cam announces his need to stop. I thought he would make it quick so I promised him no accelerations(not like I could have anyways at that point). But that was the last I saw of him till the finish. He says he came out and I had about 200m on him. I think I felt pretty good coming up to the top of Shag. My calves were a problem though, the only real problem. They were starting to cramp. Like Ironman Canada 2009 deja vu. I made it onto memorial drive and shortly after 21 miles(I was still on pace for a sub 3:15) they really started cramping and I had to have my first walk break. Aughhh that was frustrating as I only had 5 miles to go and really the rest of me was doing pretty good. So I ran and walked the rest of the way in. I was waiting for Cam to pass me, but he took his sweet time. Then ended up catching me right on the finish line just shy of 3:20. Pretty good timing Cam. Curtis came in later, his knee had been bothering him at one point in training and that flared up in the race again. But we all finished, that's the important thing. Not a bad race, and the time is ok as this Calgary course is a toughy. I just wish I hadn't had to walk so much. I may have to take in more sodium during the race, to keep the cramps at bay. Dunno

Last long run

Well that was the last long run for this "trip". This time it just so happened that my cousin(who also runs) was in town so I bugged him to join us for a shorty. He did agree to a res. loop so we met at glenmore landing like usual for Curtis and I anyways and ran the loop. We had a good time, sorry Gord I realize the pace may have been a tad quick, and maybe the altitude? Either way he made it, hope he enjoyed the Calgary run as much as Curtis and I always do. 9.5 miles in the tank. I've done a few shorter runs this week with one day off, probably one more day off and a few extra easy runs with some accelerations to keep sharp.

I really don't know how it will go. I've always cherry picked the easier marathon courses, plus it's been awhile since I've run a stand alone marathon. All I remember is they hurt!! Yes believe it, sometimes even more than an Ironman run. Good luck to my buddies doing the race, and sorry for the ones that couldn't make it. Hope it doesn't rain too much, but if it does honestly it won't matter after 5-10k.

What will I do after the marathon? It's helpful to always keep the next goal in mind. I'm not sure I have one at this point, I do have a few things in mind. Nothing solid for this year though, I may start slowly preparing for IMC 2012. I have let the bike slip and have done ZERO swimming so it would be good to slowly bring those back. I will keep you all up to date. Cheers,

DP

Hey there

I'm still kicking too. Had a pretty good long run last weekend with Curtis. I was MIA for 5 days before that as we had a mini vacation in Vegas. It was a lot of fun, but my running has taken a step back. Hopefully I'll get the legs to come around before the marathon, and maybe loose some of that Vegas weight, ha ha. We ate lots of good food. We've had a bunch of nice days here in Calgary. We've got it lucky as we have no fires or floods to worry about like other Canadians. Cheers, happy hump day.

DP

Sup

Hey,

Had a couple good training days on the weekend. It was tough for sure, but really a good test of fitness. Saturday Curtis and I went to the track and ran a 10k time trial. We got there bright and early 8:30 did a little warm up and started out. It went pretty much as expected, I don't think it was quite race pace, but close. My schedule called for a race this weekend followed by a long run. I didn't want to pay for a race, so figured a track 10k would suffice. My time was 40:25, about 6:32 average pace? It hurt a lot!!

Sunday we got together later on. Not sure how the legs would feel and they actually weren't too bad starting out. I expected much worse, maybe it was the mango we pounded back immediately after the run on saturday. It has magical powerssssss. We ran a pretty comfy just barely under 8min mile pace for most of the run. At the end Curtis and I separated to finish on our own. The last miles were a little quicker, and finished it off really strong sub marathon pace. So that was good, but I was feeling it quite a bit from the weekend. Monday I was really sore.

Today I was talking to my mom and apparently my nephew(10 year old) who would ride with me at Christmas time. Remember you guys? here's a pic from then. https://picasaweb.google.com/106198986038535884164/Runningman?authkey=Gv1sRgCJDvsrzEz9PFGg#5423050708184126914 Anyways he's convinced he's going to run the full marathon in Manitoba. He is a good runner, he did the 2.6 mile super run last year and did well. But that's quite a jump to the 26.2 miles uh? hee hee my brother convinced him that they could run the half together. Say what now??? I'm on the phone with my mom hearing this going, "How old is he again mom??" Anyways I'm gonna have to talk to my bro even about that venture. In my opinion 13 miles is too much for a 10 year old. Made my day though, everyone wants to be someone's hero right? Cheers,

DP

Broke 170 yesterday

Stepped on the scale yesterday and saw 169! It's been a slow grind from my off season weight of 185. Nothing more to say, just over a month till the marathon!! This week I've been more tired/sore than usual. I think it's still that damn marathon pace run on sunday where I went a bit too quick. I also have bought a bad pair of shoes. They are hurting my forefoot and I'll loose my big toe nail on my right foot because of the sunday track run. I hardly ever loose toe nails, my feet are model feet compared to most runners. Oh well, I guess not anymore!! Cheers,

DP

We have a winner!! (winner chicken dinner)

January 1st a bunch of friends started a running challenge. The challenge was to run 100+ days consecutive. The previous record held by Susan Oseen(correct me if I'm wrong) who went over 200 days a couple years ago. Not so much about the competition, other than bragging rights it's more about encouraging us to get out the door and put the miles/base in. Anyways we have a winner, Curtis was the only one to actually make the 100 days. I think he went 112 days and I was lucky to join him for his last run without a day off in 2011. Here's a picture of his winnings, a Americano, so fitting eh Cam?? Despite not winning, the challenge definately provided motivation. Anyways I thought I should mention it, Curtis didn't want me to brag too much, but I had to at least mention it.

We've kept up the training here in Calgary. We got together on sunday to hit the track for a longer marathon paced run. I think I went a bit too hard as today I still felt flat from it, that and the poop fairy not allowing me to do well with the 600s today. I think we have 2 more hard weeks eh guys? And then it's taper time?? I'm already feeling the pressure/race nerves. I'm not so confident with the marathon, and this Calgary course, it's not a easy race is it? Comeon guys give me some positive feedback, is it really that bad? Just lie to me if it is, I need a pep talk. lol

Pond loops

Had a really good run yesterday. My legs are slowly remembering how to run fast. The first intervals I did this year really felt like I had to force the pace ya know? Like my legs didn't even know how and I had to stay on the gas despite the brakes rubbing on my wheels. Kinda like that. Yesterday was different. The moment I started the 6x1k workout I just seemed to flow, it was still hard, I ran as hard as I could for the workout, but I didn't have to force it. My body just felt like it was flowing along and I only had to apply the gas for the small rise in the pond loop, or when my mind started to wonder. The pace naturally occured with no thoughts of stopping the workout. The first one was a bit slower, then the rest were all descending by like 2 seconds every time. So the pace was really consistent. The rest was 90 secs or somtimes close to 100 secs because I just made the recovery the time it took me to jog to the start of the pond loop(the loop is 1200m, so I would do 1000 then jog the last 200m to the start line).

DP

three days of...

REST AND RELAXATION!!! That's what the doctor ordered. Ok no doctor, but it was self administered after my knee decided to act up on friday at work. I have no clue why, well I do really. It's the running obviously, but I didn't feel any warning of any kind. But I won't eff around with injuries as I've said before so I took three days off. It feels much better now, tomorrow I'll try it out.

Last week I knew I was kinda pushing things by continuing to run with these old pair of shoes I have. So I actually had already decided that on friday I'd finally go out and get a much needed new pair. Funny that my knee couldn't wait 1 friggen day. Oh well it just so happened that Lisa had booked a night at the Banff springs hotel this weekend she kept me busy(not that kinda busy you sickos.... ok maybe some of that too) enough out there to not think too much about the knee.

We took in the hotel tour as soon as we got there yesterday. The guy who gave the tour had been there forever and was amazing, I've never had a tour from a guide who knew half as much as this guy. He'd seen and given tours to pretty much every celebrity, politician, and sports/movie stars ever. Man could this guy talk, and we even got to hear about the famous "Doomed bride". She was walking on a stair case when her dress caught on fire by some candles along the railing. In her panic she fell down the stairs and broke her neck. Apparently lots of people see her with her fiery bridal gown. Then today we went and got a massage at the spa. That was really good, the therapist I got was really good and we got to hang out in their mineral pools and multiple hot tubs(all set to different temperatures) and of course one of them outside. My knee got pampered like you wouldn't believe, ha ha. If that doesn't heal it, nothing will. Cross your fingers for me tomorrow.

Cheers,

401 post here!!

Heya,

Got the intervals done yesterday. I was much stronger Cam this time around. Again I went out to the park and along the river pathway towards Glenmore trail. Did a little over 3 mile warmup and did a hard 5x 2.5 min with 90 sec jogs between. I don't know the speed(didn't want to), but I just felt strong and steady. No thoughts of stopping, although they did hurt, especially on the small rise I had to do. Today we're supposed to get snow, the clouds have rolled in there's some rain drops starting to fall. Curtis and I want to go out for a longer one today, hopefully it'll work out. Worst case scenario we'll cancel and I'll have to hit the treadmill, haven't done that in awhile. So it goes, got to see the new Calgary marathon course map. If you're not man(or woman) enough to enter the full you won't notice as it only applies to the full Mary runners. Cheers fellas(and gals),

DP

Intervals

Aloha!

Had a good run yesterday, although slow, but I was able to do all of the intervals so hopefully Cam won't make fun of me. lol I had a med/long run scheduled for yesterday, but sometimes you gotta make adjustments because life gets in the way of your training program. I didn't have 2 hours to do the longish run because Lisa and I had tickets to the Flames game. So I looked at the schedule and figured since I have a rest/easy day tomorrow(which is today) I could add a shorter but fast workout. Friday I have a tempo so with the easy thursday run wednesday would be perfect for some intervals. Yayyyyy, not a bad day for weather so I ran to the park and did 4x pond loop. I found out later that the loop is 0.75 mile. So I did approx 4x1200 with 90 second walking rest between. I started off with the first two pretty conservative in just over 5min and then just under. Then for the last two I was able to cut off a bit more time. I basically descended the times all the way through. Later looking at the times it was a bit disappointing as I should be doing them at my 5k race pace, but more importantly I wanted to do them all and finish strong so I accomplished that. Just goes to show how little speed I have though. Looking at the schedule it does show me plenty of intervals coming up in the next phase so that should def. help.

There was a pretty good runner I noticed doing a tempo on the pond loop, he was faster in his tempo than I was in my intervals. We happened to finish at the same time so I chatted with him as we did a cool down lap. Turns out he's training for the Police half and eventually the Chicago marathon. It was nice meeting someone new, although it sounds like he just works in the area and that's why he drops in at the park on his way home to get his run in. I failed to get his email address so maybe we could run together in the future. Oh well, I should see him again this summer. Cheers,

DP

Don't forget about the .....

Ass slapping guys

I want to hear all about how you guys battled it out..... for second place that is!! muah ha ha ha ha Man I'm so funny.

Anyways had a solid week. It was labeled as a rest week, but it didn't really look like it. Maybe 10 less overall miles, down to 58 but just as much fast running. Oh well next week I'm supposed to run 70(I may shave a few off of that) and it looks like a 22 miler on sunday. Should be fun, today I just ran 15. Good job on gettin 30 in today Cam. Thanks for the slurpy pic. I'll have to think of somthing creative to send you next week. Train hard guys, only 2 months away time to start doing some speed work, hopefully the base is mostly there already. Cheers,

DP

Kicked my ass today to kick yours May 29th

The 6x600s done today were tough!! I'm not used to running distances that short. Total distance today was 8.7 miles I think? I started off with 2 miles warmup and then did 2.5 min on, 2.5 off which I figure would be about the 600m interval with about a 400m jog. Pretty tough stuff, I even had to bail on the 5th half way through as I was feeling a bit sick. I came back though with a strong 6th rep. It was a tough jog home, I barely made it and now sitting down my legs are still hurting. Oh well, hopefully this will give me the edge to kick ass in the marathon, eh fellas? Train hard guys, leave no stone unturned = no mile not run. I don't want any excuses when I mop the city of calgary with your butts. NO MERCY!! ha ha, that's my trash talk for the week.

DP out

Pretty good weekend of training

No outdoor running, and no long long run this weekend, but lots of miles. 34 miles to be exact including fri,sat,sun. Friday I did 12 miles, easy pace, picked it up a bit for the last half hour. Saturday 7 miles easy, then Sunday 15 with 12 miles at marathon pace. It didn't feel too bad, after 2 miles at 7.5 mph I put it up to 8.3 for the 12 miles, that's 7:13 min pace. Felt strong the whole way through, only at the end I had a bit of stomach distress, but felt like I could have kept going. Not 26.2 miles yet, but I'm about to go into a race prep phase so that should take care of it. I hope some of the snow melts as I have my first session of VO2max intervals(600s) on wednesday. I'd like to go to the track for that. 58.5 miles last week, little lower than I wanted to be, but I had changed one of my earlier long runs into a tempo because I had less time to run. I looked at the schedule and really I only have two more 20+ milers on the schedule, lots of 15-18 mile stuff and plenty of marathon paced runs and shorter intervals in this next phase. Fun stuff, only 9 weeks till race day. Oh and I also crossed the 85 consecutive run day mark. Wooo hooooo 15 to go to hit 100.

Gotter done, thanks to Cam

Had the long run to do today. I was debating since I woke up in the morning, do I run indoors on the tready, or head out the door and risk the ice,water,and possibly snow? The forecast was for snow, but it wasn't happening yet. Wednesday's run was a disaster cause of all the ice and water, plus not taking any nutrition or water to drink. Sooooo I gotta admit I was leaning towards hittin the treadmill. I really thought I should get it done outside, but I also didn't want to risk not getting the 20 miles done.

Then what happens, I get this text. It's a image, and Cam's face. Although I couldn't see it cause of all the white and blue sky in the back ground. He took a pic and sent it from the trail and at 2:20 of his long run. I guess he takes his iphone along in case he meets any bears. hee hee oh well it was just the kick in the ass I needed. I figured he's running outside, I'm gonna hit up the great outdoors too!! So I did just that.

To avoid the big crash I had on wednesday with Curtis I took two bottles of nutrition. One with nuun, and the other with infinit, plus some gel chews just in case. It was really annoying going off with two full bottles. One bottle I found is fine because you can swing the other arm more, but two bottles is a little annoying. But they did empty after awhile. There was a lot less ice than wednesday, I guess the temp was a little warmer. Still had a few rivers to cross, soaked my socks a few times. I had a weak moment, probably from 9-12 miles I found it tough. The legs were starting to get a bit sore and the fact that I knew I was only half done was a bit disheartening. But then I stopped once for some gel chews and that seemed to help. By the time I hit 15 miles I kinda got a second wind and started picking up the pace a bit. It also really seemed to help when I finally got back on a usual run route and on my way home. Had to do 2 extra loops around the pond near home to make up the extra distance, managed the last few miles in 7:28 - 7:38 pace. Those didn't have any ice or snow. Finished strong just past my house. The average pace was 7:44, man my hamstrings hurt about 20 minutes later in the shower. Thanks Cam, for the motivation to hit the pathway. Sure there's nothing wrong with the treadmill, but for me today it was def. time to run outdoors. Over and out.

DP

My legs are tired

Today was rough. Yesterday Curtis and I went out in the evening for a 14 mile run. The path was mostly clear other than a LOT OF ICE!! Yikes I've run on a lot of ice this winter, but that was the worst. We also had these rivers of water/ice/snow crossing the path at various spots and we both got our shoes/socks soaked a few times. Fun fun, freeeeezing cold water. I was looking at my shoe today, the right one, it looked odd. Strangely red??? Had I worn red socks where the color had run or maybe the bits of red from the shoe run onto the white?? I had some sores on my toes from all the running I'd done, but I never thought of checking them for cuts. Anyways after today's 5 miler I took off my right sock and noticed my toes had bled. Yikes my toes must have bled a lot yesterday and I guess all the water washed the excess blood off so I didn't even notice. Strange...

Anyways as I said a easy 5 miler today. It was really hard, my legs were sooo trashed from yesterday. Did I mention all the ice, plus we didn't carry food/water along so I was famished. I'm usually ok for up to 2 hours, yesterday was the exception. It made for a tough recovery. I think for today's 5 miler is the worst my legs have ever felt this year. Crazy, I'll def. be bringing 2 bottles of nutrition along for sunday's 20 miler. Hopefully all the ice will be gone, my hips, groin, and over all core does not like it. Cheers,

DP

PS: Curtis and I saw a porky pine, a monster beaver(like knee high) running beside us, and the usual deer. LOVE IT!!

Long run just wasn't meant to be today

First off it was a busy day. Church in the morning, I volunteer today and I was late getting there(not the time change thing, I actually remembered). Then at 5 a friend had invited me to this fund raiser thing. I thought about canceling, but thought I should go. After all my gym is 24 hours right? In theory my plan was flawless, I even skipped most of the meal at the fund raiser thing so my stomach would not hate me on the run. I had salad!! So I left that early to get to the gym and attempt my 21 miler. But after 10 miles, stomach gas most of the time, 3 bathroom trips. I just couldn't get my stomach to co-operate so I pulled the plug after 10+ miles. Frustrated, but it's the first workout I've quit in a long time, and I have lots of 20+ milers to do. Tomorrow's another day, I will get the run done tomorrow with out any trouble from the Poop fairy. EOM

DP

Place your bets!!

Here is another view point of the bet/challenge:

Cam's profiles are good, but I think you have to also look at the age categories as it makes a big difference. We're not directly racing each other. For example:

Darryl 35 - 39 PB - 2:56 4th place if they ran their PB at the Calgary marathon 2010
Trevor 35 - 39 PB - 3:12 8th place if they ran their PB at the Calgary marathon 2010
Cam 40 - 45 PB - 3:07 6th place if they ran their PB at the Calgary marathon 2010
Curtis 45 - 49 - 3:09 2nd place if they ran their PB at the Calgary marathon 2010

Please correct me and don't hate me if I happen to get your age cat. wrong. I will fix it if I have. So looking at the results some extra things have to be noted. Some of the PBs were run a long time ago and not in the age class we're in now. But I thought it was interesting to look at anyways. Also have to look at the course run on. For example, mine was run on a pancake flat course, while Curtis's was run on a very hilly course at the beginning of the season. Cam's race was run on a cold rainy day I think? Trevor, sorry man I don't know where you ran your personal best and what the conditions were like. We're all pretty close though if you look at the age cat. placings. This is the marathon, 26.2 miles, anything can happen. On paper not knowing anything about you guys and trying to look at it from an unbiased view(me not being Darryl) I'd go with Curtis. Just my two cents. Place your bets, or correct me where I'm wrong or somthing I've forgotten about.

Ass kicking

Ass promised :)

Good easy, really easy 3.5 miles today. I recover like a PRO!!

Couple solid workouts

Make me feel like a rock star. Yesterday I did a 9 mile run on the tread mill with a 5 mile tempo in the middle. I managed the 5 miles @ 9.1 mph (6:35 min pace) so I was very happy with that, I thought it would be more difficult than it ended up. I had the heart rate monitor on and I was right on target 155bpm(my threshold is pretty low @ 165ish) so that's good.

Then today, it's always a good sign when you recover quickly from a hard run and are ready to go again the next day. Today it was a med/long run 14 miles. I got to run outdoors again. I was a bit wary and anxious to know what my fitness was like outdoors. I've been running so much on the treadmill, I felt good there. But sometimes it doesn't translate too well to outdoor running. I was really happy with the result. The run felt easy, I kept trying to hold back and my pace continued to be too fast for my goal. Managed a 7:38 min average for the 14 miles, about 2.5 miles of it was on slick snowy conditions. So that's very good, I'm pumped!

One minor bummer, I'm still not able to loose much if any weight. Kinda surprising, good but bad, which ever way you look at it. I'm basically where I was last year(running fitness that is), I'm just 15 pounds heavier. Just imagine what I could do if I could get rid of the baggage. Oh well I'm not panicking yet. Yesterday and today were good runs, tomorrow I get a recovery run. One thing Chuckie told me is something like, "Don't ever let one workout define yourself, good or bad" Really good advice and I know what he means, but man progress even in one run sure makes a guy feel good. It also motivates oneself and makes it easier to head out the door tomorrow. Am I right? After all half of our sport or more is mental. 21 miles on the weekend, hopefully the weather will co-operate again. Cheers, all, happy running,

Blast from the past eh Cam? For the rest of you this is obviously in Golden, training for my first Ironman(on my road bike... not that there's anything wrong with that)

DP

PS: You guys are going down, may as well pay up now. hee hee j/k but no really I will crush you!! ok j/k Train hard my friends!

Bad News

Don't think I'll be participating in the death race this coming year. I feel silly for having entered, especially since I won't get any of the money back and one of the reasons I won't race is because of money. 1. Money, I've been putting off some line of credit debt that I need to pay off. If I keep entering races it just doesn't get done, and next year I want to do Ironman and give KQ another go. 2. The hotels are all booked in Grand Cache. I was going to stay in Hinton, but that's 150km away. At first I thought this wouldn't be a big deal, but honestly thinking about finishing at 3-5am and getting out to the hotel after hopefully finding Lisa. 3. I'm still burnt out from cda training and this year was supposed to be a year of recharging so I can do Ironman in 2012. 4. At first it didn't seem like it would take that much training, but after really looking at it, some of my days would be longer than my longest IM training days. Not really fair to Lisa. 5. Don't really have a support crew figured out, and I don't want to ask a friend to do that. It's just too much time, and money committment for them. I think there's probably more reasons, I just thought I should tell my readers.

So this year as of now(I say that because my plans seem to change often) I plan to train hard for the marathon. Do my best, hopefully qualify for Boston(although I doubt I'll actually go do it). Then start my prep(swimming/riding) for Ironman next year. I will start off really slowly so that I can have a good summer involving lots of camping hopefully. That is all,

DP

brrrrrrrrrrr

Hey,

I had a good outdoor run yesterday. I had a 10 miler to do and it was -12, -20 with windchill which I didn't see till later. I might not have run outside if I had seen that. But it had been awhile since I'd run outdoors so I was eager to do so. I can't loose the outdoor feel. So I headed outside towards carburn park and the river. The path there is mostly scraped so I'd have less problems with snow/ice. I alternated running around the pond, then running out to glenmore trail and back(Curtis the same type of thing we did last winter for those Chuckie tempos). On the third loop/outanback I just had to go a bit further out to make it the 10 miles. The pace was pretty good, I didn't go hard or anything, but the pace wasn't exactly easy, I guess moderate. I tried slowing down at times, but I right away sped up again like I was on cruise control. Felt really good, the average was only about 18 secs per mile slower than my goal marathon pace. So things seem to be going well. I doubt I would have been able to do 26.2 miles at that pace yesterday, but I have time yet. Progress is the name of the game. Tomorrow is the long run, 20 miles on the schedule. I wonder if I should attempt to do it outdoors, or just hit up the treadmill. 57 runs in a row now(58 if counting Dec 31st) Cheers,

DP

Quick update

The running is going really well. I've slowly built up into Pfitzinger's marathon plan and aside from the fact that he has monday as a offday of running I'm following it almost exclusvively. I just run like 25 min on that day and then take a mile off of three days of running and I'm set. I'm up near 60 miles a week, this week I should probably be just over. The long run is just over 17 miles. Not too much speed work yet as it's a endurance cycle that I'm in now which basically means it builds up the mileage. Once the mileage is up then more speed work gets added. For now I do one day a week of either accelerations, or a short tempo. This week I did 4 miles yesterday at 15-20k race pace in the middle of a 8 miler. That's pretty much it for now. Oh yeah, I'm over the hump 50 some days in a row now and still going. I have an average of 6.4 miles per day. Not sure if I'll keep going, as I get up over 60 miles a week I really need the recovery more and more and a day off would help more than even a really easy short one. Dunno yet what I'll do, for now I'm just monitoring how I feel, so far all systems check, no aches or pains at all.

DP

Back to the tready

So it's back to the treadmill for me. Tuesday I had some fast stuff to do and since I didn't really fall on my ass, I went to the gym to do it. I'm working my way into the pfitzinger schedule I posted awhile ago. It's a touch more mileage, and since I started a bit late I'm working my way into it, still trimming a bit of miles. He had 9 miles with 10xstrides. That didn't seem too bad and it turned out fun cause the strides really breaks up a run and the time seems to fly by. I cut it down to a hour run which gave me like 7.6 miles. For each stride I'd slowly crank it up to 10.5 mph for a count of ten, then slowly bring it down to my regular 7.5 mph. It was perfect, Chuckie had me doing a bunch of these last year. He called them analactic sprints I think? His theory was that they worked on your form, stride, but were too short to really create any lactic acid in the muscles. So they could be done on a easy/recovery type of run. Yesterday I did a med. length run on the tready. 1.5 hours or 11.5 miles. Did the first hour at 7.5 mph and the last 30 min at 7.8mph. Felt ok, not too hard.

DP

night vision

Hey all,

Had a great run with Curtis last night. We did our res. loop the long route. The back side was tough though, since we got that huge dump of snow on monday the running room grp has not been through the trail yet. So it was really rough single track(if you could call it that) which meant we were sliding back and forth off the path(again, IF you could call it that) it was dark but it may just have been a cross country ski path. Either way it was hard on the core, hips, ankles, etc. Towards the end nearing the paved part again(the crazy snowy part was maybe 5k?) I ran under a tree and happened to look up and there was a great grey owl. I've seen lots of owls especially around where I live, but this guy was like only 6 feet above us!! I couldn't believe he didn't fly away. Even when Curtis stopped under the tree he didn't lift off. He just sat there looking around. They are so earily quiet, it's unbelievable. Have you ever heard a owl fly over your head? Probably not because they make no sound, absolutely none!! They are the most incredible hunter. Anyways we stood there a bit, it was dark, but we were so close we could see him occasionally look down straight into our eyes. He seemed to look right through us. I guess with that night time vision and from that distance it's possible. That definatly made up for the crappy footing. I've never been so close to one of them. Amazing. Anyways we finished up our run and headed into the star bucks for a much deserved Venti coffee. :) The highlight of the run, well second highlight of the run. Later,

DP

37 days and counting

Hey,

I had a crappy/good weekend of running. Crappy because on saturday morning when it was time to get up for the long run, I just couldn't. My stomach was bugging me a bit, but more than that I just had no motivation at all. So I bailed on Curtis, sorry buddy. :( I still got in a 5 mile run that night, it actually felt really good. I just am not a morning workout person. No matter how much I try, I can do it, but I can never get to the point where I actually enjoy getting up for it. Give me a evening anyday, it doesn't matter how late it is. I can do workouts till 2am if I need to. Anyways, I felt good sunday too so I decided to do a solid tempo run. I'm still over weight, but despite that I'm feeling pretty quick. I did a mile warmup then went right into a 5 mile tempo @ 9 mph or 6:40 pace per mile. It was tough, but got through it no problem. I did one more mile cool down for a 7 mile run. That makes it 37 days run this year. overandout,

DP

Pictures

Hey,

I finally put some pictures up from our trip to LL for the ice sculpting.

https://picasaweb.google.com/Darryl.Penner/LLIceCarvingFestival#

More hills and more treadmill

Hey,

Had a pretty good run yesterday on the treadmill. I could really have run outside, but I really wanted to do some steep hills and there is no better place to get the precise grade and length of hill like the treadmill. Another plus is you don't have to run down inbetween, you can keep going up and up and up as long as you want, crazy phenom eh? lol

My workout:

15 min Warmup

3 x 5min Walk @ 15% grade 3.5 mph, the last 4mph
Active rest between sets 5 min @ 0% grade, 7.5 mph
Just over 4 miles in 42 min

Simple as that, wasn't really that hard of a work out(the last one at 4mph was hard though) and short. I really need to be careful how hard I work my calves. They pull really easy so I'm thinking I need to gradually get them used to the steep uphills. That is why I did the shorter workout and not too intense. That and I didn't have much more time than that. Don't worry, when I'm ready I'll be doing some epic hilly training runs. Right now it's baby steps. The way I look at it is I have to train now, to prepare myself for the hard training later. My current training will prevent injuries and burnout later. Running challenge going well, feeling good after 32 days(well 33 technically) running.

Goin down!!

Heya,

I had an interesting, yet productive weekend of running. Last week it had melted so much that even the snowy trails would turn into ice by evening which is when I do most of my runs. Friday I went out and it was extra slick, lots of clear/black ice. What makes black ice even worse though is when there's a slight dusting of snow on top. You can't see the ice so you can't prepare yourself for the slippage. Also the dusting of snow makes it worse, it acts like a bit of flour on the bottom of your shoes. AS an example to start my run I walk down the steps to the sidewalk where I KNOW/KNEW there would be some ice under the snow. I knew it was there, I walked super slow over it expecting the slippery surface and guess what... I still went down!! I guess it was a slight downward slope? The good part was that I was going slow enough that I could easily get my hands ready and didn't even land hard on them. So I got up, dusted myself off, took a moment to look around made sure none of my neighbors weren't keeling over laughing so hard at me, then went for my run. It was super dangerous out there and I barely caught myself 3-4 times where my foot would land and keep moving as it lands on the slick ice.

Saturday there was just too much snow on the ground to attempt a long run. The hardcore ultra marathoner types would have toughed out the long run outdoors, I guess I'm just not up to par yet in that department. I wanted to make sure I get 3 hours/21 miles in though as this is 3 weeks out till the Frozen ass 50. I headed to the gym, where I knew I could get through it. Boring yes, but actually it's not as bad as you'd think. You just have to prepare yourself mentally for it, know you will be on the treadmill for a long time. The good part is I don't have to carry any nutrition, it all sits around me on the treadmill trays. I had 2 bottles of infinit, a bag and a half of gel chews and if the poop fairy insists on paying me a visit, well I got a warm comfy bathroom in the back of the gym where we can visit all she likes before I continue my run. On a side note, funny how you never need to pay her a visit when the option is there. That was my longest run ever on a treadmill, but to help kick it off I just so happened to catch the Xterra world championships in Maui. That race was soo amazing, so epic, yet I still have no desire to take triathlon to the dirt trails. I soooooo want to visit Maui again though, love that place!! Anyways I got through that and then flipped to watch some bob sledding, downhill sking, and 2 episodes of the simpsons to get me through the run. Finishing I felt sore but not too bad really.

I just don't know how I'll get through 125 km of mountain trails... I really don't. Maybe I should have stuck to marathon running this year till I can give Kona qualifying another go next year. I don't know, it just seems crazy, and not the usual crazy. Like insane!! This the first time I actually heard my mom try to talk me out of somthing. She's been very supportive about Marathons, triathlon, Ironmans, but this, nope this time she actually told me I should maybe stick to doing Ironmans. lol and if you met her you'd know why I'm so surprised, she's normally all about challenge, she's one tough lady!!

Sunday's run was fine, hardly even felt the long run from the day before. I emailed my friend Sonja who's coached by Chuckie. She's an amazing athlete that last year completed a 100 mile ultra, and did 3 Ironmans(including 2 Ironman qualifiers and the Hawaii Ironman, yes that's right she's already qualified for 2011). I ask her advice on ultra marathoning. You see I did this 21 miler 3 weeks before the frozen ass 50. I wasn't sure if I should chance another long run. Ideally it would be nice to get a 25-26 mile run in before the event, but I want to be sure I'm recovered. Her answer, do it with a big IF I'm completely injury free, no niggles, no pain. Which I am, and really it's more than 2 weeks the event is on monday, and I'll most likely do the long run saturday morning so I have 16 days to recover. Hopefully I can do the last long run outdoors. Later,

DP

Run to the hills!!

Just a quick update. This time I mean it, short and to the point. The challenge is still going with me. This weekend was tough as we went to LL for the weekend(the ice carving festival). They were amazing, I was blown away. I got some pics, I may post some later. We left saturday morning so I quickly got a 20min run in before we left. That was my first 20min run of the challenge. Then when we got home Sunday late, I relaxed a bit and went to the gym for a 50min walk/run. Most of it was done before midnight, at least 20 min of it. To answer your question Susan I'm already training specifically for my race. I'm not doing the marathon schedule that I posted awhile ago. I'm running/walking really steep hills near my house and also some walking on the tready at 15%. This will help strengthen my calves as that's always been my weak point and this race will be all about hills. Hills hills hillssss. :) Later,

DP

Running outdoors again

Heya,

Finally got to run outdoors yesterday. It's been 10 days in a row on the treadmill, that must be some kind of record for me. I just did a short 3.65 miles and after I could feel the effects. I started to feel sick and had to lay down after the shower. I guess I'm not used to the cold air anymore, plus being a bit under-dressed didn't help. Some of my shirts are literally wearing through. I am the king of thrifty as some of the under shirts have been with me since the beginning of time. I will have to take a picture so you can see, there are several that are over 10 years, maybe even 15 years old!! The one long sleeve I have I remember buying before my first marathon which was in 1995, yup 15 years ago. Anyways the forecast looks like some warmer weather so it looks like I should be able to run outside more frequently. I'm sure the deer, coyotes, porky pines, etc all miss me a lot!! Today will be 19 runs in a row, too bad Trevor had to bail out. Although he's smart in doing that, health always trumps challenges. Over and out...

Are you getting tired of the dreadmill?

Here's a workout to spice up your running boredom! Not that treadmill running is that difficult for me, but I am kinda getting tired of the same pace for varied distances. Sooooo I figured I'd pick it up a bit, here's what I did.

8 miles
-Start out with a easy mile, not sand bagging easy, but comfortable.
-Then for the next mile crank it up 1mph, or 1 min per mile(it's pretty much the same thing.
-This harder mile should not be very hard, like a touch slower than your half marathon pace. But by the fourth you'll start to feel some fatigue, but not too much
-repeat this as often as you like, I did it 4X tonight, it's not quite speed work(it's slower than I'd normally do my tempos), but doing some kind of intervals like that breaks up the workout and adds a little spice to a otherwise dull dreadmill run. At least I thought it was fun, try it! The treadmill doesn't have to be a cop out workout. A major benefit of the treadmill is it's specifity. You can do workouts on it that you couldn't manage outside, intervals, hills, etc. May as well use it to our advantage while the weather forces us to. :)

Day 11

Heya,

The last couple weeks have been pretty good. It's funny cause last week I ran almost exclusively outside, this week so far has been a treadmill week. This year I'm in the gym for the cold days. Last week got about 41 miles in, it's super easy to get the mileage up when you're running every day, eh fellow runners? 15 mile long run on the treadmill on sunday. Probably no run with Curtis this week as he finally got sick, poor Curtis that really sucks. Last I heard though he's kept up with the runs(no pun intended I hope). If I get really sick at any point I don't think I could do it. This week hopefully 18 mile long run? Maybe outside this time?

As you saw I'm doing the death race this year. Man truth be told I'm so incredibly scared, I admitted in a earlier blog that I was afraid of the marathon and I still am! But then I go and enter a marathon almost 3x longer, what was I thinking?!?!? But part of me is also extremely satsified, finally I'm going to see what I'm really made of. I've always wanted to run through the night, to actually get to that point where I don't know if I can go on. I'm probably going to go coachless this year. I have lots of ideas as to how to train for this event. Most of it will be in the city, not ideal I know, but it's what I got to work with. I'm already starting on some extra strengthening/stretching. My back, abs, upper body in general will need some work.

As for my other races, I finally entered the Calgary marathon. It's the first time doing this race, that's funny I'm not afraid. Well that's not because anything's changed, it's just that I won't be exactly "racing" it. It'll be a training day who knows maybe I'll run to and from the race? I wanted to do the Police half too, but it's earlier this year and Lisa has somthing special planned since it's just a few days after my bday. I'm gonna try to do the Frozen ass next month, then do the marathon, and I want to do one of the training camps in Grand Cache. I hear these camps are hugely beneficial, so I want to get over there for the first one in June. That way I have a bunch of time to get back here and train my weaknesses.

Here are some fun "run challege" statistics

11 days run
5 days on the tready
6 days outside
71.82 miles
Time - too lazy to tally up
Average speed - slightly faster than 7.5 mph or 8 min per mile
Average distance per day - 6.5 miles

What have I done!?!?!?!?!

I'm also 4 for 4

Jan 1st 1 hour tready
Jan 2nd 97 min outdoor (yes Curtis I did our epic loop, although this time it was EPIC slippage!!) my ankles are still recovering from it
Jan 3rd 30 min run outdoors
Jan 4th 40 minutes outdoors

I've been running a few months consistently. I actually ran about 35 miles each week on my Christmas break. Not bad for me, and I didn't gain anymore weight!!! Now I need to shed some off.

Christmas, New Years, Run challenge, Bum sitings, etc

Sounds like a long post from the title, but I'll have to make this quick as house cleaning awaits!! Here are the highlights of my Christmas/New Years holidays

First off I met my friend on the city bike paths again. On a late night run I was climbing the hill near the Glenmore trail and the bow river. He had his belongings sprawled out on the bike path. I didn't recognize him at first, but then I doubled back to say hello and to finally introduce myself. His name is Jim, he is homeless, and made it clear he does not drink alcohaul. I couldn't smell anything on him so I'm gonna assume this is correct because in all my sitings I've never seen him act drunk or smell of anything other than BO. He confirmed pretty much all my guesses. He does do odd jobs around the neighborhood, he even mentioned he collects toys for kids? Anyways I kept it short, I just wanted to introduce myself, say hello. He made it clear to me that all our ummmm meetings and his jokes were just his way of letting people know who he is. So there you have it, Jim is his name.

Second, running with my bro. Now I know I have some natural running talent, but my bro would knock my socks off if he were ever to actually pick up running. Who in their right mind could just walk out the door and pound out 10k without any run training??? Well that's what my bro decided to do, with a little coaxing from me. I borrowed him some running gear and we headed out. I was able to show him some of the critters that I see. Lots of deer and even a bald eagle. I made a pit stop to drop off a little somthing at my new friend(Jim)'s "home" and we carried on. Curtis we ended up doing the footbridge 10k loop(he'll know which that is) which included the steep hill. I let my bro walk that and then we kept running, on snowy paths from there. He had to walk a bit at the end so I'd keep going and double back for him a few times.

Third, walking with my mom and bro. We got a couple gorgeous days and all the ducks/geese, eagles made it worth it!!

Fourth, Going to watch a really good game. You would have to see it to believe it as most of you will not believe that the Edmonton Oilers could produce such a game. Well ok the opening period sucked, they played TERRIBLE!! The gave up 3 goals to the Avs, but then a different team walked out to start the second period. I really think it was a team of impostors who started the game as this was a different team!!! They came back goal by goal to tie it up in the third. They could have really won the game as they clearly out played Colorado especially in overtime, it was a nail biter. Edmonton got a penalty though and then eventually Colorado did too, but no one scored in the 4 on 4 5 min over time. Then in the shootout Colorado scored, but it was a super 2 periods + overtime, too bad the game started out 3 - 0. Oh well just goes to show, you have to play 60 minutes of hockey.

Fifth, the time spent with family. I don't know why, maybe cause it was at our house but this year it was extra special. One of my bros wasn't here, I'm sure that would have been the icing on the cake. We had the tree up, we slept in, then had breakfast all together. Waffles, omelettes, or cereal, and yes Cam as you saw in the video PLenty of coffee!!

Sixth, playing games with family. We played plenty of Mexican train(with dominoes) and knipsbrat(or crokinole). Knipsbrat is the german word. Yes I speak Plattdüütsch, I don't write it as I had to google the two german words there. Anyways those games are so much fun. If anyone wants to come over and play, you are always welcome. Look them up if you want to see how they are played.

Seventh, and the last, but not the least. The run challenge. Yes I will take part, but since I have some aspirations this year about doing a couple ultra marathons I don't know how long I'll last. As I'm sure is the case for some of you as well I'll need to do some longggg runs, so I will listen to my body and if I do happen to need a day off here or there. Yes 20 minutes might not cut it at times. But who knows, I will still try to do it, just will listen to my body and not risk an injury.

Here are the rules as layed out by Cam if anyone else wants to still join.

1. Run every day a minimum of 20 minutes.
2. You may miss one day per month, however you must make up for that day by running twice the day before or the day after.
3. Those two runs must be separated by at least 3 hours and of course a change of clothes.
4. Run as many days as you can. This started out as a 100 runs in 100 days contests but Susan smashed that record out of the water by doing something like 210 days a couple years ago??

Jeez when ever I say it'll be short it ends up being long. Arughhhh