2013 Running Re-cap

Overall mileage: 2525 kms 

(compared to 1983 kms in 2012)

Hard to believe another year has passed. Last year at this time I hadn’t even lead a marathon clinic and now I’m heading into leading my third. Looking back on my previous year-end posts feels like a lifetime away. I feel really good about the year that was. I’m starting to hit my stride and, I think, finally have a good base to improve upon now. 

I started 2013 with a personalized training plan from Jason at StrengthRunning.com, and this was definitely a big factor in my running progress for the year. His plan included active stretching and strength exercises that I (mostly) incorporated into my daily routines and as such I was able to avoid losing training time to any serious injuries. It also got me in the habit of adding more miles in general, at easy pace. 

Leading the marathon clinic out of the Broadway Running Room in 2013 was a first, and a lot of fun. It’s a fair bit of prep work but overall once you get the routes planned, speakers booked and pace leaders sorted you can show up and enjoy the ride. It’s really exciting and satisfying working with so many motivated people and watching everyone’s progress. 

In 2011 I ran 6 races [2 marathons]

In 2012 I had 9 races booked and ran 8 [2 marathons, 1 50k]

In 2013 I had 10 races booked and ran 9 [3 marathons, 1 50k]

In 2013 I set 3 personal bests (marathon, half marathon and 10k), setting a marathon PB in May, and then besting that again in December.

Race Report: Seattle Marathon 2013

Garmin Splits

Chip Time - 3:19:09 [PB]
Overall - 126 / 2,124
Div M40-44 - 22 / 168
Shoes - Brooks Pure Flow 2

All things considered, Seattle was a pretty good race and I’m really happy that I beat my primary goal time of 3:20 going in to the race. That being said, after debriefing and gathering my info, I basically hit the wall pretty hard shortly after the Madison Hill at 34k. So even though it was a great result, it wasn’t necessarily my best race.

A week before the race Barry (having run a crazy 5 marathons, a 50k ultra AND an IronMan this year already) kindly offered to pace me for Seattle.  He wasn’t feeling recovered enough to push a sub-3 and was going to be in town with the family anyway, so I lucked into a top-notch pacer at the last minute. I knew I had pretty high expectations of myself in this race having missed Victoria Marathon as my goal autumn race but this actually made a little nervous, knowing I absolutely had to be accountable now.

I ran what I felt was a strong 3:24 at Vancouver Marathon in the spring, even with the hot weather, and after having my V02 Max and lactate threshold test done by PEAK Centre had a great summer session of solid Zone 1 training. I also ran the Dingle Marathon in early September, as a fun race where I held myself back to enjoy the views, with the intention of it being a lead up to Victoria a month later. I did better than expected, a 3:27, without suffering much, even with a 2km climb at the 34k mark.

Because of my injury a week before Victoria Marathon I ended up not running for close to 5 weeks through October. I hadn’t intended to run Seattle Marathon but I left it as a last-minute backup option depending on how training was going through November. Turns out I ran my second highest mileage month in November and was feeling pretty strong to run Seattle.

Barry found out from Jan that my stretch goal was a 3:15 and without much convincing I decided to give it a try. (I knew it would be easier to fall back off a 3:15 pace than to try and make up time from a 3:20 if I was feeling it).  (Being that I’m 44 I was really hoping I could nail a BQ in the 40-44 category before I bumped up to 45 in January).

The weather report leading up to the race was looking pretty soggy and cool so it was as bit of a surprise to have a dry, mild (12C) day but LOTS of wind on race morning.

I was a little slow dropping off my race bag so Barry and I had to rush a bit to get to the 3:15 pacer as the anthem was being sung.

We headed out along 5th Ave and settled into a comfortable pace with the 3:15 group. Feeling good, it wasn’t long before we dropped them. The writing was on the wall for the type of race it would be as we started hitting the strong headwinds climbing the overpass, and then as they continued as crosswinds along the freeway heading to the first tunnel. It felt great to get in the tunnel away from the wind for a bit and I was surprised how warm it was.

Next up was the floating bridge out-and-back and we could clearly see the whitecaps on the lake as we headed out. I used Barry as my wind block where possible but the wind was pretty unpredictable, gusting from the sides. It was even worse after the turnaround, having to hold on to my hat and hang on when the gusts felt like they were going to throw me off the bridge. :)

Once we finally got to the other side and headed down I felt so good to no longer be fighting the wind that Barry had to reign me in a bit. We headed along Lake Washington Blvd towards Seward Park. About halfway around the park we hit the halfway point of the race, about minute ahead schedule for a 3:15 pace.  The rest of the run along Lake Washington felt good and we continued to stay ahead of pace. The pace was feeling good and I wasn’t suffering.

It wasn’t until we reached 34km, the infamous Madison hill climb, that I started to struggle. Once over the top I managed a 4:26 km on the downhill but Interlaken Blvd. for the next few km’s took it’s toll as I quickly started to lose steam with the rolling end of the course. I think the 3:15 pacer passed us (alone)  at around 36km? Barry suggested another gel at this point, which I should have done, but a gel had opened in my pocket and I couldn’t fight with the other one to get it out of the sticky mess so I didn’t.

My worst kilometre was, fortunately, the last, but it was over a minute slower than my average race pace (5:46). Barry was an awesome pacer and urged me on, even to shuffle if I had to. (which I definitely was as we were heading into the last stretch towards the finish.

It felt fantastic to finally get up the small incline to the stadium and cross the field to the finish. I hadn’t been following my time so it was great to see that I would come in at a solid 3:19.

The Debrief: It definitely helped to have a pacer. I could focus on running and not be stressing on looking at my watch as much. It also helped that he could reign me in a bit at times. I probably could’ve fueled and hydrated a bit more early on. I did get water at every station but usually only a sip and I only took Gatorade once, I think. The extra energy taken to fight the wind took it’s toll throughout. Still, on a hilly course and a windy day, pretty chuffed to finish as well as I did.

Proof indeed.

Race Report - Victoria Marathon 2013 - DNS

My second ever DNS (Did Not Start). My first was last fall, I had bad case of the flu prior to the Bellingham Trail Marathon. 

One week. 

9 days prior. 

I was doing the last clinic session with my marathon clinic, doing some speed work around False Creek. Flat, flat False Creek. 

My legs had been tired all week and I really wasn't paying attention. As we went into another speed interval I clipped my toe and went chest first, sliding along the seawall. 

I don't recommend body surfing on concrete. Regardless, with badly bruised ribs, I had to drop out. 

I would've been more upset about missing the marathon if I hadn't already ran a good marathon in Dingle, and Squamish 50 before that. 

Fortunately my clinic members totally rocked the weekend and I was able to see most of them through at the finish line in Victoria! 

Race Report - Dingle Marathon - Ireland 2013

Chip Time - 3:27:52
Overall - 48/341 
Shoes - Brooks Pure Flow 2

I’m not sure where I came across the Dingle Marathon in my web-surfing travels. I think it was probably shortly before last year’s race (2012). This year was only its 5th in existence and with the scenic region and destination travel I’m sure it will grow quickly.  There are destination races all over the world that I want to run eventually but this one stuck in my head. It’s a small race, with only 350 marathoners, 1500 half marathoners and 60 ultras (50 mile).

As it turned out the holidays I booked from work this year fell perfectly when the marathon was scheduled (unintentionally, I swear!). Leah and I had been wanting to get back to Europe for years so when I mentioned it jokingly in passing it didn’t take us long to distill it into a reality.

The plan was to fly into Dublin, check out the city for a couple of days and then rent a car and drive across the country down to Dingle in Couny Kerry. We arrived in Ireland a week before the race so it gave me lots of time to acclimatize and get over any jet lag.

We stayed in a gorgeous small village “just over the hill” from Dingle, called Cloghane (clah-hayne), at the base of Mt. Brandon. The drive was about 30 minutes and we had to go over Connor Pass, the highest mountain pass in Ireland, which is (like nearly every other road in the region) a narrow, winding, single lane road. It’s a fairly long steep pass and I was nervously seeing signs for “Marathon in progress” …fortunately it was only the 50 mile Ultra runners that would see this stretch on their route.

Connor Pass

Race Report - Squamish 50 - 50km

“Oh.  My.   God.”  The first words out of my mouth after crossing the finish line.

This was the inaugural running of a 50km course added to the Squamish 50 lineup and I think RD Garry Robbins was intent on ensuring it was a memorable one. This was only my second 50km trail race and I figured it was going to be tough but to say I underestimated it is, well, an understatement.

(Ed. note: Sorry, it's long. Also, the exact order of trails and experiences are probably off as I don't know the area and I was zoned in my own little world concentrating most of the time) 

Leah had a gallery opening the night before so we got in a little later than expected but I actually managed to get a reasonable sleep considering we had to be up at 5am to get ready. We hit the road at 6am and it took an hour or so to get up to the shuttle pick-up location where we met up with Greg, Dave, Alan, Kathryn, et al. The weather was cloudy and cooler than expected which was a pleasant surprise.  

Waiting for the bus. Oh, sweet innocence.

The atmosphere up at the start line at Alice Lake had lots of positive vibes mixed with bundled, nervous energy. It was a pretty small crowd being that a lot of runners had taken advantage of the early start time (this caused some controversy as it was meant for runners who thought they would not make the 10hr cut off, not regular racers). The weather was cool and cloudy right up until the start time of 9am but then, voila,  the sky cleared and we all knew we were in for a hot afternoon.

Starting Line - Alice Lake (Photo by Emma)

My First V02 Max & Lactate Threshold Assessment

Next week I have Lewis from Peak Centre for Human Performance coming to speak to my marathon clinic and, quite by coincidence, they were offering a promotion as part of the Scotiabank Half Marathon Expo this weekend. I’ve been thinking about getting the testing done recently anyway so took up the opportunity. It also seemed a great way to share my experience with the clinic group. (Ed.note - I did some research by looking up the footage of Karl running the test during the Running Vancouver series, Episode 2).

I met Lewis at the Peak booth at the Scotia Half Marathon Expo, and he gave me a rundown of the process. I’ve never used a treadmill before so it took about 10 minutes to start feeling comfortable as I warmed up. (Fortunately no mishaps of flinging me across the room or anything). Once I did an easy 20 minute warm-up, Lewis took a baseline blood test to start from  and then we stopped and got me into the awesome head gear that holds the breathing tube and mask.

The Peak booth was set-up right next to the expo presentation stage and just as I was getting started again the Elite panel was taking the stage to share their experience. Unfortunately I was facing the other direction but at least I could listen to their combined wisdom for distraction while running faster and faster in place.

Every three minutes or so blood was taken, while still moving, and then the pace increased. It’s pretty interesting how it seems easy for quite a bit of it and then how suddenly in the last couple of tempo increases it becomes a real challenge to keep up. The Peak team was great at motivating me to keep it going but then, as I was starting to run crooked and lose my posture and breath like a beast, it was time to call it quits (after about 20 minutes or so, I think).  

I look forward to getting my results early this week and then meet up with Lewis prior to the presentation on Thursday to go over them and figure out how I can use and improve them.

Race Report - Longest Day Race 10k - 2013

Chip Time – 42:36 (PB)

M4059 – 14/118

Men – 34/281

Overall – 39/612

Shoes – Brooks Pure Flow 2

I was surprised to look back and realize I hadn’t run a 10k race since 2011, my last PB of 43:22 was at Summerfast. That course is very flat and I haven’t been doing much in the way of speedwork so figured I’d have to work pretty hard to get past that time.

The Longest Day Race is always a lot of fun and especially nice this year to have my brother, Colin, over to run his first 10k race, and Kevin who first introduced me to the race a  few years ago. Not to mention having Leah there and visiting with the usual group of Broadway Run Club folks. It’s a nice change to have an evening race plus the bonus of a great BBQ afterwards. Fortunately the weather turned around from the miserable rainy start to the day and it was a really pleasant evening.

There were a few minor logistical issues this year due to the construction around UBC, a few sections where 10k runners were wandering across the 5k course getting to the start line, but it seemed to sort itself in time. One of the changes was that the course was run backwards from where it usually goes.

I started out way too quick clocking a 3:57 for my first km, and a 3:50 for my second, no wonder it was hurting early, but hey, it’s 10k. I also didn’t realize we’d hit the hill from SW Marine up 16th Ave that was going to be such a slog at around the 4km mark, and we’d have to do it again right before the finish! Ouch. That definitely dropped the km average down considerably and it was a challenge getting my legs back for the 4:15 ballpark I was trying to stay within. My 5k split was 20:56.

I managed to hang on, get back up Heartbreak Hill part two, and head towards the finish line for the last “sprint” down the hill, around the corner and then onto the grass for the last 100 meters. I could see the clock ticking down, still time to stay below 43:00. I was definitely feeling this one and could feel a touch of “the heaves” as I cooled down immediately across the line.

Back over to the sidelines to meet with Leah and my nephew Evan and watch Kevin, Colin and other familiar faces charge in. So proud of my little bro for coming in at 56:50, under an hour like he was hoping for, and solidly at that!

Steve's goofy face, nephew Evan, Colin and Kevin

Read Kristine’s race report, here, too.