#105 Get Back...

...to blogging

So it's been a long while since I've written/updated the blog (as promised after Boston). Mostly because no matter how hard I tried (okay, I didn't try all that hard), someone would inevitably get offended, insulted or annoyed by what I had to say/write and I was just getting tired of being judged and viewed as 'that' kind of person when in reality, I am actually a pretty all-round descent human being. Really, I am.

Anyway, since blogging about Cabot (which was awesome!), a lot of stuff has happened.

Firstly of all, I finished and graduated from Teacher's College at OISE/U of T and have (finally) finished with my formal post-secondary education ...and it only took 7+ years and tens of thousands of dollars. Yay knowledge! Now I get to look forward to a dismally poor teaching job market and new legislation that says I have to wait at least 2 years to be employed as a teacher. Boo reality!

But not to worry, because I scored a super sweet job for the summer at Mountain Equipment Co-op (aka MEC... aaka the organization formally with a mountain in their logo Haha). I was hired specifically as a 'natural running guy' given my ability to run 'naturally' and my knowledge and experience with the sport/activity (left foot, right foot...) and minimal/barefoot running (which I acknowledge for its potential value but am actually am not a huge proponent of). But in reality, the majority of this job actually means selling random pairs of rather 'unnatural' (I guess leather is kinda natural... or it was) and definitely 'un-minimal' footwear, mostly to people climbing modest mountains or doing expensive hikes in far off and exotic places (see, I really don't try that hard). I plan to do this for the next 4 months or so while I look for a 'real job' and start this crazy thing called 'adult life.' Which apparently, from what I hear, are neither all that fun or exciting.

Secondably (uh ya, I realize that's not a word)... oh wait, that was everything. Okay, maybe not a lot of stuff happened, but that stuff did and it's been keeping me fairly busy.

June was also a pretty awesome month for running (although which month isn't?!). I ran each and every of the 30 days this month and covered a total of 525 km, which is pretty good but not even close to my one month mileage PB of 645km set earlier this year in March (also a surprisingly good month for running). As part of all that running, Black Lungs Toronto competed in the inaugural running of the Ragnar Relay Niagara Falls where we won the event overall in a time of 20hr and 20min. The scenic route from Cobourg to Niagara Falls covered ~315km, if you count all the times we (ie Hesch and Hidds) got lost, and was a continuous relay where someone was running for the team at every second of the race. We were also the first team to finish (at ~11:20am Sat) as well as the last team to start (at 3:00pm Fri) which means our 'kill count' (Ragnar terms not ours) was... All of them (~120 teams). Each of our 12 guys ran 3 legs, averaging about 26k total within that time, and tempers only flared at the very end when sleep deprivation and poor hydration and nutrition got the best of us (okay, me. Sorry again Davey). All in all, it was an awesome time. Congrats guys, we did well. Man, I love relays!

I also set new 5k (15:53; 3:11/k) and 10k (33:40; 3:21/k) PBs during the Pride run and the Ekiden Relay respectively. 'The Longest Day Ekiden Relay Race' took place on the evening of 21 June and was a mostly successful start to the summer which saw 11 teams compete in the 6-person relay where the goal is to run the fastest cumulative marathon (42.2k) time. Unfortunately, more than a few of the 10k runners found themselves lost after taking a wrong turn on the out-and-back course on the Leslie St Spit/Tommy Thompson Park. Our own BLT team was even disqualified when one runner (lets called him anonymous) only ran ~9 instead of 10k. As organizer and unofficial race director, I take full responsibility for this (the runners getting lost; not Clearsky running 9k) and apologize to those who got lost. I luckily did not get lost (which is good considering I planned the course) during my own 10k leg and ran almost entirely alone (ie time trialed) before setting an unexpected 40sec PB as well as helped our 'Lungboat' team (Melinda, myself, Rob C and Anne B, Erin B and Kyle F) win the top mixed team award with an overall time of 2:37:45. The top men's and women's teams (both from Marathon Dynamics) ran 2:33:08 and 2:56:37. Congrats and thanks to all who came out. Complete results here.

Then, only a week later on Saturday the 29th, the Pride and Remembrance Run (a 5k race) took place along Wellesley and around Queen's Park. This race is always a guaranteed good time despite its late (10am) and often uncomfortably hot and humid (25+ degrees) start. But this year wasn't too bad which translated into some really fast times. BLT submitted a team and all our times were scored (using the average) and were awesome enough for the overall team win. Not to mention all the amazing individual performances where 8 of our 10 guys ran PBs. Congrats guys, simply incredible! We couldn't do it without each other. The race was followed by an excellent post-race food and awards celebration (I won a pair of shoes) and the BLT crew then enjoyed the rest of a beautiful afternoon with a roof-top patio party at the always welcoming CBC. Thanks Rob and Anne! This however made for a less than stellar long run the next morning, which luckily was all (well deserved) easy running.

With 2 new PBs in the bank and more on the mind, it's been really fun getting fast again. Even though the weather has been brutal at times, I'm looking forward to the summer training and the build towards Chicago in the Fall (Sun 13 October).

Well that's pretty much it for now. July is set to be another busy month with a family wedding on the first weekend; a road trip to Utica, NY for the Boliermaker 15k on the second; the Toronto Beermile (and Lindsay 10k?) on the third; and potentially a weekend up to Tom Hesch's cottage for some running and relaxing with the guys on the final weekend. Look forward to a post-July update as I/we continue on 'the Road to Chicago' (I'm actually flying so perhaps I could call it the 'Clouds to Chicago'?).

Happy and healthy running to you all.

#81 Ticket to Ride

"It all starts here"?...

Today is Monday September 10th and 99% of you who follow this blog regularly (because admit it, you love the controversy!) will know that today marks the opening day for registration for the 2013 Boston Marathon. And while I wasn't glued to a computer screen at 10am to register the second that it opened, I have now completed and submitted my 'application' and am all but guaranteed to get in for the April 15, 2013 race (the 117th edition). For those who don't know, Boston requires a qualifying time in order to register for the race. For me, in the open category (aged 18-34), my qualifying time is 3:05. I bested this mark by a full 28min way back in May when I ran my BQ (Boston qualifier) at the Goodlife Toronto Marathon in 2:36:59. By exceeding the standard by 20min or more, I was able to register today with little concern that the race would sell out (as it has very quickly in past years). For a breakdown of how it all works, check out Doyle's summary on the CanadianRunning website.

No... it all starts HERE!

In unrelated news, today was also my first day of 'school' at OISE (Teacher's College at U of T) where I begin my ~10month journey to become an educator (yikes!). And also, less than two weeks ago, on Wed 29 Aug, I successfully defended my MSc. thesis entitled: “In it for the long run: An ethnography of psychological and social benefits of distance running“ which explored commitment to the physical culture of distance running via an ethnography of a local running club (can you guess which one?!). In doing so I briefly presented a summary of my work which for those interested can be viewed here.

But less about that and more about running (NYC training)...

Another two training weeks are now in the books and one of them featured a number of mini milestones.

On Friday 31 August, I ran a double (11k AM; 16k PM) which brought my mileage for the month of August to just over 600k, my highest one month total ever. On the same day, my total mileage for the year exceeded 4000km and there are still 4 months to go including some massive weeks (150k+) in September and October. Cracking 6000k for the year is a real possibility. I also ran a little further than expected (36k) on Sunday September 2nd which brought my weekly total to 163k (101 miles), the first time I've ever eclipsed 100 in a single week. I'll admit that I did this somewhat purposefully just to say I could and it was not exactly part of the scheduled program (but Rob C still approved). And other than a minor shin problem that flared up during the speed session on Wed (since completely gone), the week felt great and I'm confident that my endurance is really coming along (sadly at the expense of my speed).

This past week I decided to take a bit of a 'break' and back down on the mileage in order to recover from several weeks of increasing volume (and steady intensity). This meant 'only' running 16k on Mon and Tues and a mere 12k on Wed where I was so busy organizing an Ekiden race that I wasn't able to warm up at all but rather, simply toed the line, ran a 34:20 10k and then did a quick 2k cool down. It ended up being a great event and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. Except Dave Clark who injured his quad. Sorry Dave.

Thursday was a double day (10am; 18pm) and Friday morning featured a hilly and windy 17k on the back roads of Ingersoll, ON. Due to the LB Island race happening on Sunday, the long run was moved to Saturday which just happened to be the wettest and wildest weather day in recent history. I was already drenched when I arrived by bike to the Y to meet the others at 7am. A committed (and crazy) group of 6 departed shortly after for a 32k run up to the Beltine, down the Moore Valley and back again and which at times featured torrential downpours and flash flooding. We all managed to survive (good thing we could swim) and were forced to believe we were better off for it (something about building character...stupidity and stubbornness are character traits!). On Sunday, many of us club members helped out at the Longboat Island Run (5 and 10k) which featured some wicked fast times and new M&F course records inthe 5k (good for $600 each...I sure wish I was faster!). My 'job' was to act as a courier and continuously bike back and forth between 5-10k (the 5k course route) in order to monitor the runners and make sure no one died. No one did so I consider the day a complete success. Once the race was done and everything was under control, I and some of the guys headed back to the mainland and biked to Rob C's to fit a run in. We ended up doing 17k including a section with some of the others who were grinding out their long run. The week total ended up being about 139k, but felt anything but like a 'recovery' week. The week ahead should see a return to higher mileage and the always exciting LB Cross-Country 'Championships' organized by Bert. Good thing the club has insurance.

That's all for this post. Sorry George for the lack of controversy. Just for you, how about I say that although I think that the new Boston qualifying standards and the process of opening registration to those with the fastest times are an overall improvement and step in the right direction, I'd still like to see the standards increase, especially for the women (to say 3hrs for men and 3:20 for women (in the open category)).  And no charity or sponsored runners either! For us recreational runners, this is our Olympic marathon… where only the best should be!