Mon Oct 17
One of the reasons the blog has been a little quiet over the past month or so is because I've been journaling here, and didn't want to publish anything until after the race. Now, here it is, and hopefully I'll return to a more regular irregular writing schedule. -tak! thbbft!
P.S. I will be backsplaining/retconning/updating this periodically as other thoughts pop into my head.
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Friday Sept 2
Walking home after FanExpo and seeing a live taping of "Jay And Silent Bob Get Old", I saw a poster for the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon (hereafter referred to as STWM). It got me thinking.
Sunday Sept 4
Looked into STWM ... Full marathon, half marathon and 5k, Walkers allowed, Boston qualifier, one of the fastest courses in Toronto, one of the most generous time allowances ... Hmm.
Mon Sept 5
Maybe I'll do the 5k
Tues Sept 6
Queen's Park wrun
I think I could do the 5k in my sleep ... granted, I've no proof, but c'mon ... I do 5-10k twice most weeks! If I'm doing this, I'm doing the half marathon
Wed Sept 7
np_yyz!
The more I think about it, the more I want a fucking medallion in 2016!
Thursday Sept 8
Mentioned it to my trainer, she also thinks I can do the half. That seals it. I'm doing the half.
Friday Sept 9
Submitted 2 questions to STWM that weren't explicitly in the FAQ ... can I wear a backpack, and since I plan to run-walk, should I register as a runner or a walker?
Sat Sept 10
Sun's out! Time to run!
Did about an hour of run-walk 60s / 60s ... More tiring by the end of the hour, but not too brutal.
Heart rate way above MAF limit though (expected) ... Between 145-160 most of the run (explains the tiredness) ... Also tweaked to 60 / 180 intervals because HR was getting kinda high ...
Going to be my last "hard day" until race day, I think. Still was just under 9 min/km doing 60/60 ... Thinking race day pace of 30/60 ... Need a better interval timer
Of course, there's the RBC Race For The Kids next weekend ... 5k medallion?
Sunday Sept 11
Fuck, the RBC race is sold out.
Fuck it, I just registered for the STWM half marathon!
I have a 22km wrun planned out … going to train at MAF rate only … I’ll see 1) how far I get in 3 hours, and 2) how long it takes me to do the walk
I’ve planned my route to go around Mount Pleasant Cemetery … happy birthday, Mookie!
Change of plans … I’ve never deliberately wrun that far before, and the route I planned out leaves me around High Park station … a long way from home if shit goes bad for some reason. Instead, I’m gonna do 21.1 around Queen’s Park … nice and close to home base.
Did it. Fuck yeah. Almost as easy as I thought it was going to be. 21.1 km, at MAF HR of 135 (more or less), in 3:25. Good enough for a medal! :) I think I can do this.
Physically, pretty good. A little sore by the end. Think I’ll eat something tonight and have a reduced fast. Given Sundays are going to be my “long days”, I think I’ll plan to eat at the end of that and simply fast between then and Monday strength training
Mentally, flagged for a bit around the 10km-12km mark, but I think that was as much due to what ended up being a terrible podcast episode for running to (and didn’t want to switch it out).
Physically, again, around the 16km mark, my time per km went up by about 40 seconds to 10:20-10:30, keeping my HR below 135, and my times stayed there for the remainder of the wrun,
Memo to myself : prepare for the last 5 km to be a little tough.
After eating and shower, a little sore all over (mainly back and knees) … nothing outright painful (like the trampoline incident).
Now, the question is … if I push myself (thinking run 30 / walk 60-90), can I beat 3:00?
Memo to myself : PACE YOURSELF AT THE START … go for the first 5km or so at MAF RATE!
Oh right … details!
Morning - usual fasted ACV/salt/greens+cinnamon+marine phytoplankton mix (so, no maca)
Lion’s Mane coffee + Chaga + Reishi capsule
Pre-wrun - usual cocktail of 5g BCAAs, 2 caps creatine, 400mg 2 caps caffeine, 3g ALCAR
Did the run fasted (duh)
Took a couple of sips of water throughout, all after ~12km at least, so I think it was more mental (i.e. “hmm I should take a drink”) than physical
Post-wrun (around 6pm) - usual protein shake (20g whey concentrate + 20g whey isolate + 12g glutamine), 2 caps creatine … also added a packet of Athletic Greens to the shake, assuming this’d be the start of my usual Sunday fast
Walking home, I felt hungry, and thought it’d be stupid to ignore the feeling given, y’know, I just walked 22km … had 4 scrambled eggs (cooked in butter), a bag of broccoli slaw (cooked in butter + a bit of chicken broth) w/ 2 scoops collagen mixed in, a side of kraut/kimchi
A lot of marathon guides suggest dudes cover their nipples with band-aids to avoid chafing … that never happened to me … I wonder if my HRM is creating enough space to avoid that? Do I need to worry about this? Is it gonna get worse? It hasn’t to date … so I’m gonna assume I’m fine.
Also, I've now cobbled together 2 or 3 4-5 week half marathon training plans ; trying to keep the intent of the plans intact, while tweaking to fit my schedule (keeping my twice-weekly strength training sessions - what would be referred to as "cross-training" in training plans).
Mon Sept 12
Knees a little achy heading into work (well, going up/down stairs) ; a little achy all over, actually … nothing like DOMS, but definitely feel like I did something yesterday :) (shit, I just wran a fucking half marathon yesterday!)
Feeling a bit better around 3:30pm
Strength training
My trainer thinks I’m (a little) nuts for doing the half fasted … but that’s how I roll … and she knows it :)
Tues Sept 13
Wrun pre (BCAA, creatine, caffeine, alcar)
10 km MAF - done! 9:58/km pace .. .not thrilled about that, but this is training, not the raee.
Wrun post (whey mix+glutamine ; creatine) + AthleticGreens (wasn’t sure if I’d have dinner or not)
Got home around 10:30, had to eat and had stuff to do
Didn’t get to bed until 12:30 or so ...may have to rethink this … #np_yyz on 5 hours’ sleaep isn’t sustainable
Wed Sept 14
Woke up late … missed the 5:45 Bay 6 bus ; caught the 6:10 bus, made it there with a couple of minutes to spare! Good to know
ACV+salt ; greens+cinnamon+maca+phyto
#np_yyz pre (EAA, creatine, caffeine)
np_yyz Pyramid workout today …
1 lap around Casa Loma (not that long, but ... down stairs! upward incline!)
55 jumping lunges (1 left and 1 right = 1 rep)
45 crunch things
35 push-ups (did first 5 on toes, then the rest on knees to keep better form)
25 star jumps (like squat jumps, but you touch the ground when you squat and throw your arms out like a star when you jump)
15 burpees #stillterribleatburpees
... and then all of that in reverse order!
Got back up to 31 jumping lunges before time ran out
Post - whey/glutamine ; creatine
Lunch - greens+butter+peptides ; 2 avocados ; 1 cucumber ; 1 tomato ; ~500g lamb
Trivia! wooo!
Thurs Sept 15
Strength training … took some measurements before workout ... compared to last measurements. down 1 pound - couldn’t care less (as weight fluctuates) … lost 4.2 pounds of body fat … granted it’s a Tanita unit, which uses electrical impedance and so is apparently pretty inaccurate … but I’ll take that as down is down, even if I don’t trust the specifics.
One step forward, two steps sideways? Signed up for the free one week trial at the YMCA, because the Central location on Grosvenor has an indoor track, it’s supposed to rain a fuckton on Saturday, and that’s long run day! Overall a good experience, except my gear let me down. Plan was 5 km at race pace - so 30s run / 60s walk … fucking timer stopped timing after a few reps … dunno if it’s just a piece of shit app, or if it’s some restriction on the free version … I’ll say this - if it is a restriction, it’s not made clear, and fuck the developer - I’m not buying their fucking shit out of spite. Then, I discover (although I suppose I should have realized this) that the Wahoo app doesn’t track distance via GPS well inside a building … so fucked if I know how far I’ve actually gone by the time it registers 1 km … according to the time it took ~20m … so I’ve probably gone ~2km … at which point I started marking laps, and decided I’ve already done 5 laps … so 37 more for the night! (the track is 8 laps/km for the outside/walking lane, and 9 laps/km for the inside/running lane). And since the timer was fucked, I did run one lap / walk one lap … started getting a little achy near the end, so did a few sets of run one / walk two. Still, overall successful, and mentally ready for Saturday’s long run.
Fri Sept 16
If I’m gonna have dinner with the boys, I’ll either need to put some time in on the treadmill after dinner (which seems like both a crap-ass idea on a full stomach, and may tip my hand). So perhaps Fridays are Rest Days from now on.
Sat Sept 17
I used to be happy just wrunning around like an idjit ...
Now that I’m an idjit with a purpose, this shit became a lot less fun.
But it’s just me, messing with mine own head. Don’t overthink. Stick to the plan. Keep calm and Kermit on!
16 km - at MAF
Sun Sept 18
6.4 km very slow - just a walk, not even at MAF
Mon Sept 19
Shit show work day, so I’ve pushed my strength training to Tuesday … unplanned rest day!
My first Canadian Inquisition as a regular Bloor Street Irregular went well! I got 5 2-pointers, so I think I pulled my weight … we won 73-60
Tues Sept 20
Strength training
8 km MAF behind me
Wed Sept 21
Early eye doctor appointment, so no np_yyz for me today :(
Of course, strength training, 8 km MAF and np_yyz all within a 13 hour window would be a little taxing.
3030 … we won!
Thurs Sept 22
Strength training
Plan : 7 km at race pace - 30/60
Did : approx 7km, indoors @ Y - forgot to track all of the laps … race pace of 60/60 for 70% of the run, 60/180 for the remainder … ran out of time - had to get to The Magnificent Seven
Feeding:
Post-strength : ATP Protein + glutamine + Athletic Greens
Post wrun : CanProtein + glutamine
Dinner at movie : tub of guac + collagen peptides ; Hundo Mint
Fri Sept 23
Rest Day?
Sat Sept 24
18 km - at MAF - 2:47 for 18 km, for 9:12 per km … which puts me at 197 min for 21.2 km, or 3:17. Again, that’s going at MAF pace, at Queen’s Park, cool weather. So, if STWM is mainly flat roads, and I’m able to push hard during the second half (and maintain 60/60), 3:10 should be within striking distance … maybe even 3:00.
Definitely hitting a heart rate wall around 14km. Having to go significantly slower to keep HR around 135, adding a good 30+ seconds to each km.
Sun Sept 25
REST DAY!? Pick-up softball day :) Funzo, haven’t played in years … not enough people for a proper game, so batting practice for everyone … I still can’t throw for shit (can’t accurately throw from 3B to 1B), still can’t hit for shit (gotta work on opening up the hips), but decent hustle and decent fielding.
Mon Sept 26
Strength training
CanInq - lost (71-67), but personally did ok - 5 2’s (tied for most for the team on the night!)
Feeding:
Post-strength : ATP Protein + glutamine + Athletic Greens + cinnamon
Bedford Academy : tub of guac + collagen peptides ; kale salad w/ 2 salmon, side dressing no currants
Tues Sept 27
8 km MAF - no big whoop
Ordered one pouch of pureWOD Greens Powder to try, mainly because it has some MCT powder … figure I’ll play with pureWOD Greens as a “meal supplement” (Monday post-workout and Thursday post-workout) for marathon prep … we’ll see how it goes https://www.purewod.com/products/purewod-greens-micronutrient-powder
Wed Sept 28
Another early eye doctor appointment, so no np_yyz for me today :(
3030 - won again! Aahoo!
Feel a cold coming on … I could actually feel myself feeling shittier as the day progressed - mainly a scratchy throat
Thurs Sept 29
Definitely riding the edge of a cold … scratchy throat, a bit phlegmy, the odd sneeze.
Gonna fight back hard with teas, lots of vitamin C, and some Evil Elixir (juice of 1 lemon, 1 tbsp ACV, 1 tbsp salt sole, 1 tsp powdered ginger, 1 tsp powdered garlic, 1 tsp cayenne - mix together and CHUG!)
Strength training
5 km at race pace
Track at the Y is 9 laps/km on the inside (running) track ; 8 laps/km on the outside track
KM 1 - running lane, all 9 laps at a sustainable pace - 7:45
KM 2 - 5 : ( walk 1 lap, run 2 laps ) x 3 for 9 laps - 8:30 (plus or minus a few seconds)
Heart race was through the roof … 155-175, so yeah, I think my aerobic base is still shit, but I could probably have done another 5km at walk 1 run 2 ...
I think this solidifies my plan to wrun the first 15km or so at strict MAF pace, and then step it up from there.
Fri Sept 30
Rest Day!
Also, LUKE CAGE drops today!
Also, holy fuck, it’s basically in 2 WEEKS!
Sat Oct 1
20 km - at MAF
Sun Oct 2
5 km very slow - just a walk, not even at MAF
Not gonna do softball today …
Mon Oct 3
Strength training
CanInq - had a really fucking good night … 8 2’s (granted, I got lucky wrt questions)
Tues Oct 4
Rest day.
Got home around 7pm, was feeling really fucking tired. Really really needed a nap, anaged to eat a bag of bacon jerky before I did so. Woke up around 1am, wandered right off to bed.
Wed Oct 5
Still really fucking tired, needed sleep, so missed np_yyz, missed PR day :(
Trivia
Thurs Oct 6
Strength training
Dinner in Mississauga, so pushing running to Friday
Fri Oct 7
No Rest Day for me ... replacement running day
5 km at race pace! Running @ YMCA ; 9 laps = 1 km (on the inside lane)
Did first 2 km all running
Next 2 km - walk 1 lap, run 2 laps, and repeat
Last lap - all running - gotta finish strong
Sat Oct 8
8 km - at MAF … tapering ... piece of steak! (no cake here! :) )
Sun Oct 9
5 km very slow - just a walk, not even at MAF
It’s next Sunday!
Mon Oct 10
Strength training
Thanksgiving - so no CanInq
Tues Oct 11
7 km MAF ... between 8:45 and 9:30 per km ; my cadence was over 130 steps per minute (getting better!)
Wed Oct 12
Np_yyz … race-friendly today, as a bunc of np’ers are also running on Sunday
Trivia!
Thurs Oct 13
Getting a little anxious … thoughts are racing (ha ha ha I’m sooo fucking funny) through my head about what I’m going to do on race day … if I want sub 3 hours, I think I’m gonna have to run all the way, and I dunno if I can do that … do I try? If I kill myself in the first half, can I finish? And then there’s all the anecdotes on the interwebs about real runners who have started off too fast and burned out … no, wait … cancel cancel cancel. Stick with the plan. Stick with the plan. Granted, the plan is totally half-assed based on smooshing together a bunch of plans I found on the interwebz and tweaking for my preferences … but STICK WITH THE PLAN. Fuck *focusing* on the time goal.
Final Plan:
WRun the first half at MAF pace
Then start going 1 song run, 1 song walk
Then start going 2 songs run, 1 song walk
LAST KM - run you clever boy, and remember!
Goals:
GET THAT FUCKING MEDAL!
GET THAT FUCKING MEDAL in under 3:15
GET THAT FUCKING MEDAL in under 3:10
GET THAT FUCKING MEDAL in under 3:00
Strength training
Inspiration! Figured out a way to not stress about the time on Sunday.
Keeping the Goals in mind … the time I wrun on Sunday is the time i wrun … and *that* becomes the time to beat for the full marathon next year!
Fri Oct 14
Race Packet pickup! … all the swag! (meh …)
And here’s the course!
Rest Day
Sat Oct 15
30 min @ YMCA … feeling great! Cadence between 132-137 steps/min … did ~4km in ~35 min apparently.
Prep:
Make a bottle of salt water - done
Break up half a bar of chocolate, put it in a ziploc bag - nah, I be good
Fill the blender bottle with some kind of mineral water - nah, not carrying a backpack agter all
Pin number to shirt - done
Lay out shirt, shorts, socks, shoes - done
Stash kleenex in shorts pockets! - done
Prep flipbelt - done
Charge headphones and cell phone! - charging
Lay out HRMs - done
Right now I’m 50% chill, 50% excited, and 50% freaked the fuck out! If I’m not careful, I’m gonna tear space-time a new one!
Mantra : Run Far, You Clever Boy, And Lift Heavy Shit!
Sun Oct 16
Race Day! wooo!
Memo to myself : The last 5 km may be a little tough, but YOU’VE GONE THIS DISTANCE BEFORE
Memo to myself : PACE YOURSELF AT THE START … go for the first 5km or so at MAF RATE!
Went to bed around 1am,
Plan is to get up for 6:45am, be out the door at 7:45am, gets me to the area around 8:00am
I got like *no* fucking sleep last night. Excitement and nerves got the better of me ... I think I had one sleep cycle ...
Woke up on time, everything good,
2 podcasts queued up, ~65 min and ~89 min, then hit the playlist!
8:50 am - oh great, it's starting to rain ... #dontgiveafuck
9:05am - time to go!
In-race thoughts, observations, memories, in chronological order ...
- running a little more at the start to keep up with the masses ... dropped down to a walk around Queen's Park
- There are km markers along the route which is useful (duh) ... I'll use my hrm lap counter to measure timing per km.
- at 5km, there are these pad things (they look like wide versions of the ramp-style covers you see covering electrical cables and wires on the floors at outdoor events and stuff), and a course worker is reminding people to step on them ... then I realize it must be to make sure the timing system registers the chip in my bib for split timing ... and a chill goes down my spine! Did I step on the pad at the start? It *can't* be physical contact with the pad thing, can it - it must be just to make sure you're in range. What if I fucked up at the start? Will I get my medal? Oh fuckity fuck fuck, if I don't get my medal ... fuck it. There's no way this shit could be that fickle. Stick to the plan. Stick to the plan.
- I'm wruning surprisingly fast - around 8:30 - 8:40/km - fast enough to make me question if something's wrong with my tech ...
- Every time I see a sea of Gatorade cups or empty goo packets littering the course, I feel like screaming "Sugar burners! You're nothing but a bunch of sugar burners!" in my best English Bob.
- Technology problem! Second podcast isn't playing, so kicking in the playlist ahead of schedule! *now* who's crazy for building a 420 song, 27 hour playlist?!?!? #wontbebored #shuffleftw
- I saw Marathon Jebus, complete with shaggy hair, robe, *and* carrying a cross!
- What are those little kids doing running around on the edge of the course?! OH! They're running up to give high-fives! I'm down with that!
- 19km ... when I get to 20km, time to run!
- 20km - started running ... ugh fuck, that's hard, but slight incline going north on Bay from the Lakeshore through the tunnel, so kept it up ... hearing what seems like a faint, dull roar ...
- dropped back to a walk around Wellington; noise getting louder - holy shit, that's people making noise!
- crowds are getting heavier lining the course ...
- I see a 500m marker, and other markers further along, I guess they're marking every 100m until the end.
- 500m is only 4 laps of the YMCA track ... fuck it, I'm running!
- Why the fuck did 200m -> 100m seem so short, but 100m -> finish seem so fucking *FAR*?!?!?
- I crossed the finish line to Robyn's "U Should Know Better"! (completely not cherry-picked ... granted, I skipped songs I didn't feel like listening to at the time, but I wasn't looking for that specific song, which has been a personal anthem of mine for years)
- And they're handing out medals! Even if I fucked up the chip timing thing, I STILL GET MY MEDAL! FUCK YEAH!
before 12:10pm - FINISH LINE CROSSED! Dunno my actual time, I'll have to go home and check, but I'm pretty sure I beat 3:10! wooo!
Usual post wrun stretching ... could have spend more time stretching, but I'm kind of excited at the moment.
Took a couple of shameless selfies.
Grabbed some water, and had my usual post-workout protein/glutamine/greens drink.
I redeem my post-race food voucher ... and this is what everyone gets:
#whatthefuckisthismess #irunonfat #idsayitsalljokesbutmetabolicderangementisnojoke
And I guess that's that ...
1:40pm … Official time (chip time) : 2:59:55.1 … YES! YES! YES! FUCK YEAH!
Gun time 3:21:45 (time from when the gun goes off until I hit the finish line … but since the gun went off at 8:45am, and my corral didn’t start until 9:05 .. yeah)
I had a theory that because the track at the YMCA was a 125m loop, that I may be losing some time due to lots of cornering, and that I’d be faster on longer stretches of straight surfaces, but didn’t want to set any expectations on that (as I had no real proof).
I also called an audible on the course (which turned out to be really good, I think) - I wran/jogged/whatever/just didn’t walk up any upward inclines - my thinking was that if I walked up them, it’d slow down my pace, and if I wran up them, worst case it should be around my normal walking pace.
2:00pm … and how do I feel now? I feel ok. Kinda sorta hungry but not really, kinda sorta gotta poop but not really.
2:10pm … ok, that’s over … now what? ;P
9:30pm - time for bed
Mon Oct 17
Post Race Day!
How am I feeling? A little stiff and achy ... but only a little ... I've felt worse before, so this is no big deal. I'll go as hard as I can in the gym today.
