Run For The Toad 50k Trail Race 2012

October 9, 2012 by Leave a Comment

After a 5 week break from running, I got back out there and managed to get in 6 solid weeks of training. There was really no rush to get back to 1000% but I had been looking forward to ‘The Toad’ for the whole year and I also wanted a little redemption from my DNF at The Limberlost Challenge. So in that 6 week cycle, I got back  to 3 80k weeks and a few long-ish runs of 29, 36, 33 and went into race day far less fit than I would like to be, but confident that could get around the 12.5 k loop 4 times in about 5.5 hours. Read more of this post

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LimberLost Summer

August 30, 2012 by Leave a Comment

After what was more or less my best spring of running ever and a Summer that was going strong and a great outlook to the rest of the year, my running came to a complete stop. Plans to continue my running streak ended at day 183 with an ankle that needed a couple of days off after the 100k Ultra in June. I was feeling better and healed up – ready to run the Limberlost Challenge 56K Trail Race in July….until…
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Niagara Ultra 2012 100km Race Report

July 4, 2012 by 2 Comments

cam-dave-finishing One reason I continue writing these reports as a sort of diary to myself, to look back upon and help remind me of the little things that you learn with each one. I don’t really expect people to be super excited and anxious to read them so I don’t post them to quickly following the race, as I once did. For this race, so many people are intrigued by the Ultra distance of 100k, and have been asking so much about it, I guess I have to get on this before it all slips my mind. Read more of this post

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Prelude to Niagara Ultra 100km Marathon

June 17, 2012 by Leave a Comment

“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”

~ Martin Luther King

Words to live by. In my case, words to finish my first attempt at a 100km Ultra Marathon.

Although this is a goal race of sorts, in so much as I have a goal, to run it and finish it, and hopefully so in 11 hours or less, it is not a goal race for which I have dedicated a large amount of time to.

Sure, I run and train a fair bit, and have devoted a few weekends recently to back to back long runs. And sure I have already done 3 marathons this year so what’s another race at a mere 2.4 x the marathon distance?

A lot!

[ This next bit was added on June 28 - post race. As I wrote my race report, I wrote this bit and realized it belonged here instead. ]

I decided to run the 100k because, again, like ‘Mt Everest’, it was there. I have run the 50k at this event a couple of times, as well as the marathon the first time we were there, and the 10k with Cam last year as I decided to take a break to focus on training properly for The Scotiabank Waterfront Marathon during the summer, not that that worked out well or anything. So this would make the 5th year in a row we’ve attended the Niagara races, and when I signed up in January, for what was supposed to be the 50k, I noticed there was a 100k event added. I waited a few days to sign up to give myself some time to think about it. Withing a week, after not really thinking too hard, I was registered for the big one. Double the longest distance I have ever run!

I figured, my main goal of running a personal best in Boston would allow me to train hard, get fast, run Boston, then get the mileage up even higher with some double long run weekends and I would be set. But when Boston became a bust, the new goal for a 2012 marathon PB and Boston re-qualifier, became the Toronto marathon in early May. That meant training for the 100k would be put on hold for another month or so, as I needed to focus on Goodlife, then recover from Goodlife, and keep in mind I had commitments to  be a Pace Bunny for  Ottawa at the end of May! So, as it turns out, Goodlife went well, i took an easy week afterward, built up again and did not taper for Ottawa, managed to meet my goal of 3:45 there and went out the next day for a 22km run. When that went well, I knew I had a chance to do the ultra 100k distance.

The next few weeks went well, getting the daily miles up and doing long run weekends of 30k + 42k and 29k + 53k. Then a weekend of 10/15 to rest up and a week of 2-5k runs to rest further. Going into the race. I was feeling ready.

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Ottawa Marathon – The Short Story

June 12, 2012 by Leave a Comment

What can I say about marathon #29, and the 3rd of the year. I was the 3:45 Pace Bunny. I did not really taper for this event to make it feel more difficult, on purpose, in order to maintain training value for the 100k Ultra Marathon in Niagara-On-The-Lake on June 23.

That’s about is. Yes, I made my time 3:49:25. This was not the ‘closest’ to goal bunny time ever but it was a good run with some great people alongside, making their goal times. Some had Personal Bests, some made their Boston Qualifying times and a few others were really close on what turned out to be a fairly hot finish.

In other news, the weekend for Ottawa was a success, with record numbers and great race results – of which you can read more about here – and the city was alive and receptive to the influx of visitors as usual. It is always a good time and we always seem to have a good contingent of Beaches Runners there to share the good times with. This was the 7th time in 7 years that we’ve made it there for the marathon weekend and if all goes as planned, we will be there again next year.

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How I Ran My Fastest 10k Race

May 22, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Sporting Life 10kThe Sporting Life 10k – It’s a tradition for more runners in Toronto, the GTA and surrounding areas than any other race in Toronto. The distance of 10k, and the downhill course attract so many runners – 20,000 or so in fact.

This is only the 2nd time I have run it having been in recovery mode from earlier Spring events like the Mississauga Marathon, or the new date of Spring time for the Goodlife Marathon.

This year, it was only 1 week after Goodlife Marathon which was a bit of a sore point with many runners around the city but that was a discussion for another day. I am a big supporter for road races in our city so I had no problems with the frequent events in our downtown core over the last several months. The more the merrier I say. Of course, non-running motorists think quite differently about this! Read more of this post

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Toronto Goodlife Marathon 2012 – 28th Time’s A Charm

May 15, 2012 by 4 Comments

Here’s how Marathon #28 went down…

Goodlife Toronto Marathon Home StretchThe Toronto Goodlife Marathon came only 3 weeks after a fairly disastrous Boston Marathon where we battled 90 degree temperatures. My decision during that race to slow down and save what I could for Goodlife actually paid off somewhat. Was it all worth it? I think so…

We all have our own reasons why our capabilities are not met in full for whatever reasons and instead of excusing myself for not realizing my top performance in the marathon, I will simply say, that on this day, I ran the best race I think I could have.

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My Own Duel In The Sun

April 24, 2012 by 5 Comments

The Heat was onBy now, most of the world is aware that The 2012 Boston Marathon was one for the record books. Highs of 30+ degrees Celsius its toll on all of us that day. My training companions and I dreaded the forecasts the week prior and in the end, we threw our goals out the window and ran smart. On race day the plan was to run for the experience and a not make it a day of personal bests. Except,  Nir, the strongest hot day runner I know, who was close to his PB with a very impressive 3:16! I am glad Nir survived to tell the tale because lord knows, had I tried to tough it out like that, I may have crossed the finish line, but it would have been in a golf cart like I saw several dudes…with a respirator attached…or worse. Read more of this post

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Holiday Running and Racing Recap

March 5, 2012 by Leave a Comment

I never did get around to writing this (in a timely manner that is). I jut logged on to get started on a Race Report for the Chilly Half Marathon when I realized I had a draft started about my holiday run-escapades.

As it turned out, the holiday season was another one of sneaking in runs when I could which was most days but I did miss Christmas day this year. Last year daughter Sarah and I has a lovely 6km run down to the beach and back and we planned on repeating that this year but it was too tough to do after the huge breakfast we ate!

Boxing Day was my first time attending the famous and historic Boxing Day 10 miler. It is a well run event in Hamilton, rich in tradition and it did not disappoint. We blessed with glorious weather and despite the lack of fitness going into it, I managed a decent time of 1:12 and seconds (which I’ve forgotten).

New Years Day saw us once again toeing the line at the Beaches Hair of the dog 9k run and Polar Bear dip. We were again greeted by decent weather which made for a good run (38 mins) and a bearable temperature for the Polar bear dip on lake Ontario that followed the run.

This race had a good turnout from our Beaches Runners Club members and the post race spread of Chili, salad, sweets is always well done. This low-key event in Toronto’s gorgeous Beaches is one of my all time favorites. I definitely recommend you join us next year.

One other interesting note about the holidays is that, as it followed a 3-week rest period of barely any running, it also kicked off my current running daily streak that has me on day 68 and feeling great! I hope to manage a daily run for the entirety of 2012 with 3k being the minimum length. For official reasons, a run must be a minimum of 1 mile according to the official streaking run community. I just chose 3k as a nice decent length to call a run. Let’s see how I go, and how I do when battling. Cold, flu or worse, injury (gulp).

An don’t worry, my ‘streaking’ does not entail any naked running!

 

Oh, and Chilly Half Marathon Race Report coming soon….

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Is There a Road to Hope – Marathon Report

November 10, 2011 by 1 Comment

I kind of get quiet when life as a runner is not going well.  So it takes a while to gather up the motivation to put into words what is happening. But here it is.

I trained hard this Summer. I pushed myself, ran about the same mileage as my previous highest mileage period where I ran my PB of 3:18:20. I ate well, not perfect, but well. I cross trained, but not that often. I got more sleep than usual. I cut out alcohol, but not as much as I did when I ran my 2 PBs.

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