Goodlife Victoria Marathon | October 12, 2014

Chip Time - 3:11:07

Overall - 86 / 1565

45-49 - 14 / 116

M - 75 / 791
Shoes - Brooks Pure Flow (Red)

I had put pretty big expectations on myself for this race. Having run a strong PB of 3:04 in May at BMO Vancouver Marathon I was hoping to build on that and really wanted a 3:00 on the books. Mostly, I was working towards a vaunted velvet smoking jacket. Sigh. (see below)

As if on cue, the last speed training session 10 days prior to the race I managed to tweak my hamstring. Unexpectedly this was on my right leg, which had not bothered me at all. Being that last year at this time I wiped out and surfed on my ribs for a few meters, this didn’t seem like much of a setback. Fortunately some physio and taking it easy for a few days helped to settle it down.

Race morning I was feeling good. I hadn’t picked up a cold and my body felt mostly injury free other than the usual aches and pains. The weather had cleared up from the previous days’ rains, a nice temperature and not too windy.

I went out with purpose, aiming to keep a consistent 4:15 pace. I felt good to start and fell in with a few other guys that were also aiming for 3 hrs. I probably went out too fast for this course, erring on the side of a little quicker than 4:15 pace rather than slower. We ran together for a bit before breaking off at a water station.

This course is not “hilly” per se but it’s a rolling course that doesn’t let up. The climb up past the golf course was enough to start dropping my pace. I never really did settle in to a comfortable pace, other than a few sections that were probably descending a bit. By the halfway I was “just” on pace but I knew that it was going be challenging to keep it up. I had forgotten that the turnaround was a couple km’s past the halfway point and this was a little tough as there’s something about heading back that can give you that kick.

By 30k I was 2 minutes behind pace and unfortunately I didn’t have anything left in the tank. I was fueling well and drinking fortunately but to no avail. By 33k I was about 5 minutes behind pace. I knew at this point it was just becoming a rescue mission, getting to the finish. It really was a classic case of the last 10k beating me up as I desperately watched my pace per km climb. (A quote I just found from Reid Coolsaet's coach “There’s 35 km — and then there’s the second half of the race” - Dave Scott-Thomas)

It was great to see Alan and Melissa around 37k and have Alan offer to run me in but by this point I was really in the pain cave and chose to suffer it out alone. Many times in the last 7 or 8 km I had to talk myself out of walking. I really just didn’t want to see the 3:15 go by me at this point. “Just keep moving. You can salvage this if you just keep moving.”

I felt almost as bad as I did 3 years ago coming into the finish line, but fortunately this time I was 34 minutes faster! A 3:11 is my second best time so nothing to complain about. (Last year I was itching to even get near 3:15).  It was great to see my brother Colin and nephew Evan at the finish line as well as the awesome BRC crew, Emma, Jan and Greg 2.0!

Race Post-Mortem

I think the biggest thing going against me in this race was that I never did get my mileage back up after my 50 miler in July. August was busy with family visits and travelling and I didn’t even get 300 km’s in. September I missed some mileage from injuries and just barely scraped in 300 km’s. Compare that to my 3 months of near 400 km per month running leading up to Vancouver. I was likely training a bit too fast, not adhering to my zone 1 on the long runs, and maybe not enough long runs. I also fell off my daily core and strength routine a bit.

Near the finish - End the suffering!

Sums up how I felt. (w/ Colin) Photo by Emma

BRC represent! w/ nephew, Evan - Photo by Emma

East Side 10k | September 13 | Vancouver

Chip Time - 37:58

Overall - 43 / 1461

45-49 - 3 / 71

M - 35 / 694
Shoes - Brooks Pure Connect 2 

The East Side 10k was my 2nd 10k for the year and I wasn’t expecting any revelations in my finish time. I ran a strong PB of 37:49 on the very flat MEC 10k Fast Blaster in April and this course is much hillier. I just wanted to get in another race before Victoria Marathon to test my fitness and this fell about month before.

I’d been experiencing some hip and hamstring issues but with physio they seemed to be settling down and by race morning I felt about as race ready as I could. I ran the 3k down to the start line to warm-up.  

This was the 2nd year of the race and it’s part of the Canada Running Series that draws a fast crowd. It was great to see many familiar faces including many of the Fraser Street Run Club.

My race plan was to go out hard, hang on tight and hope for the best.

Siskiyou Out Back (SOB) 50 Miler | July 2014 | Ashland, OR

Gun Time - 9:19:32
Overall - 32/87
Shoes - Brooks Pure Grit 2

Spoiler alert: Yes, I finished

Towards the end of 2013 I decided that 2014 would be as good at time as any to run my first 50 miler. I’d just run Squamish 50k in the summer and knew that Squamish 50 miler would probably be a brutal introduction to that distance. When I ran SOB 50k in 2012 I remembered a much more runnable course and a great destination in Ashland, so readied myself to sign-up.

With this goal in mind I came into 2014 with the goal of getting much more weekly mileage in. From most of what I had read and overheard, the best preparation for ultra distances is to get in solid mileage at an easy (zone 1) pace and to try and train on race specific terrain as much as possible. (I also still had to train for BMO Vancouver Marathon in May, but knew that extra mileage would be beneficial towards that as well).

2014 Training

The SOB 50 miler course is near Ashland, OR, just north of the California border, in late July. (In fact, the out and back course briefly crosses into California before heading back.) I knew it was going to be a hot one, and fortunately Vancouver was getting amazing sunny weather to train in in the weeks leading up to the race. I made sure I was getting runs in during the midday heat and with a backpack on as well.