So probably not the best idea to have shin splints three weeks before the big race and do no running. For some reason in the past any similar ailment would clear up or at least lessen over a couple weeks. In the time since the Around the Lake race on Oct. 16 to race day on Nov. 7th my shin didn't feel a whole lot better. Luckily Mel Bos (part of the women's team) brought her husband, Kevin, who does massage, physio, ART, etc., and he suggested we try taping it up the night before the race. I'd seen it done on the internet and thought it couldn't hurt to try. I also hit the advil heavy the day before which seemed to help.
After a rushed trip to get to Gibraltar late Friday night, then a quick look at the city and The Rock on Saturday, the race came all too soon on Sunday. It was nice for a change with the race start being about 300m from the 'Athlete's Village', a cruise ship brought in just for the runners and support. In the darkness we made our way along the dock to the line. Supposedly we were to run one lap on the street near the cruise ship and then make our way over to another part of town and continue for 19 loops of just over 5k. And I thought 10 loops of 10k in the past was bad! Anyways, somehow the leaders were told to do another lap so already we had run farther than we were supposed to, like 100k wasn't enough. We ended up doing a shorter 12th lap to make up for the extra distance at the beginning.
For some reason, the 19 laps didn't turn out to be as bad as I thought it would be. Maybe because we ran the first few in the dark so when it got light we had only 17 more to go. No, that's not it. Can't say why but this race, although being my second slowest 100k time ever, seemed to go by quite quickly. The course was horrendous: the first 2.5k along the seedy waterfront of Gibraltar made you want to run with others just as a safety precaution (strength in numbers); the path for the first half of the loop was broken asphalt and a lot of twists an turns AND a hill thrown in there leading up to the water station at the halfway point. I remember thinking how the hill would seem like a mountain in few hours (I never did walk one step on any of those 'climbs'). The second 2.5k of the loop was slightly rolling with a downhill that brought you back to a two-way stretch where you could see runners' positions relative to yours. It also led back to the main aid stations for each country. Once again all the support we had from our gang was stellar. Never at loss to offer food or drink or encouragement. One of the main reasons I keep coming back is because of the great group of people that accompany this race.
The first 30ks were awesome, I was on my pace to hit 7:29 overall. Within minutes of reaching the 30k mark I could feel something was wrong. The legs started getting heavy and it was hard to keep up a decent pace. I tried to keep it up, honestly I did. At 50k I knew any chance for a PR was over and it was all I could to just to keep moving and not either walk or drop out.
The race took its toll on the men on our team save for Thierry. He had a great overall race and finished in 7:40-something. Jack and Rick went out with injuries. Matt started out strong and I remember passing him about halfway. Darren was flying out of the gate and I really thought this would be his day to go sub-7:30 but then I noticed where we passed each other was getting closer and closer meaning he was slowing down. The women all did great with Denise being our superstar finishing in 7:56 for a new Canadian women's record.
When I finished it was probably the most anit-climatic of any 100k race I've done. I was really glad that it was over but didn't get that rush of emotion that I usually do when I'm about to finish. Maybe it's time to either really focus hard on this event or pick another distance and concentrate on that. No more of these years where I try really hard at doing well at many different distances and end up not happy with any of the results.
Some good advice: don't donate blood the day after flying home from Europe and five days after doing a 100k race. I'm still feeling the effects.
Pictures of the trip to follow soon!!
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Live coverage from Gibraltar
Starting on Sunday, November 6th, you can get updates from the race on the IAU website.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Weird
I thought I had written more over the past week or so but it was only that I thought about writing while I was doing stuff but never got around to doing it. To sum things up I've not been running, just sticking to non-impact activities like the eliptical, swimming and biking. I can't stand the water running so haven't been doing that, no matter how good it is for you when injured. The swimming is coming along, I'm up to 15 x 100m on 10 seconds rest. The eliptical is starting to get boring so it's good the race is next week. I'm back to loving the bike. Had two, two hour rides last week when the sun was out and the feelings flood back in as to how much I love pedaling. Even going to work in the dark has been a blast.
I'm not expecting to reach my goal of 7:30 next weekend but I'm going to try anyways. As this could be my last 100k in the near future I want to make the most of it but it's all up to the body at this point. After a few visits to see Colin McKay at Precision Health the shin feels a bit better, as long as I don't run. Advil will be my friend.
I'm not expecting to reach my goal of 7:30 next weekend but I'm going to try anyways. As this could be my last 100k in the near future I want to make the most of it but it's all up to the body at this point. After a few visits to see Colin McKay at Precision Health the shin feels a bit better, as long as I don't run. Advil will be my friend.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
2 minutes slower
On Saturday was the Around the Lake 30k out at Cultus Lake. The weather was a 100% turnaround from last year - beautiful sunny skies and warm once we got running. Carrie, my sister Karen, and me headed out early and got there way too early. Had to sit in the car and stay warm until closer to the start. My goal again was to run steady and not be too thrashed by the end of it or in the days afterwards. I could tell on the first climb that I didn't have any trail legs in me. I wanted like last year to go fast on the dirt road at the top of the first steep section and it worked out I was able to. My shin was ever-present every step but it wasn't stopping me from going on. Once I finished and cooled down I could feel it getting worse. I was happy only being two minutes faster with no hill training because last year I had been doing a bunch of hill work to be ready for H2H.
I've been paying for the over-mileage of the last week or so with the shin not very happy. The plan now is to lay off the road and stick to the bike and eliptical. It's close enough to the race I should be semi-healed up and able to go the distance.
I've been paying for the over-mileage of the last week or so with the shin not very happy. The plan now is to lay off the road and stick to the bike and eliptical. It's close enough to the race I should be semi-healed up and able to go the distance.
Friday, October 15, 2010
The Crunch
As usual it's coming down to Crunchtime: the last few weeks before a race where I fret that I haven't done enough mileage. So, like in the past, I go out a little too much and end up tired, unmotivated, discouraged, broken. A day after the marathon I did a 32 mile road run followed the next day with a 23 mile trail run. Surprisingly I'm not too tired, I'm still raring to go for Gib, I want to do the race, but I may be a bit broken. My left shin is acting up a bit but I think it's close enough to race day that I can baby it for the next couple weeks. Tomorrow is the Around the Lake 30k at Cultus Lake that I'm using primarily as a speedier workout on a soft surface. If the shin gets bad I'll be taking most of next week off to get it to hopefully heal up a bit.
Monday, October 11, 2010
The long and short of the last four weeks
Firstly I'm changing the way I'm going to be blogging in the past. I've found over the last year that by not posting anything for weeks at a time makes me not want to post anything more and more. It's like the more I need to write the less I feel like writing. So from now on I might just put down a few lines here and there on anything that comes to mind or the results of a certain workout. No more epic stories that take half an hour to read. I may extend it somewhat for a race but other than that I'll try and do more postings more often. Saying that this will be the last long one because it's been almost a month.
Okay, not to bore you with getting overly detailed here. Basically since UTMB things have gone down the crapper and only now are crawling back through the sludge to the land of the living.
I had set out in September to create a training plan to carry me through to Gibraltar on the 8th of November. As has so often happens after I develop a plan and start following it, I come down with some sort of malady, sickness, or injury. This time it was an injury but having nothing to do with running, at least not in the short term like a fracture or shin splints. After work one day I had this pain in my lower back and the following day I could barely move without getting a sharp jolt of pain all across the waistline. I went to the clinic where I was told I had problems with my SI joint and needed to see physio and massage. Two days later I went to physio where I was told that it wasn't my SI joint and that my hips were looking pretty much aligned but the nerves were aggravated in my lower spine. She gave me a few simple exercises to do and after two days it was still killing me. I had a regular massage scheduled but all Holly's efforts couldn't put a dent in the discomfort. Sitting for more than ten minutes totally stiffened up my lower back. I even tried acupuncture (what I do when I'm totally desperate) thinking it would loosen things up.
Finally I got referred to a sports massage guy, Ken Scheel, in Vancouver and luckily he could see me on short notice. He had a look at my spine and hips and knew right away that something was out of line. He'd look at my back, get me on the table, twist me and bend me, stand me up, have another look, get me on the table, twist me and bend me a different way, and on and on for an hour. I don't know how the physio missed the fact that my right hip was twisted up and forward and my lower back muscles were guarding it but luckily Ken knew what he was doing. As soon as he was done and I left the office I felt about 80%. I could sit in the car without pain but there was still some traces of the pain. Two days later I ran for the first time in nine days for one hour. The next day the pain was back a bit so I went back to see Ken. He said things had regressed a bit so it was more of look, table, twist, look. After that I've been feeling almost 100%, just a bit stiff at times. The third time I've seen him was only for a quick look and to say to come back if things get worse. He figures it's been something that's been building for quite a while and it was something simple that finally caused the hip to go out of alignment. Anyways, with some exercises I've been stretching and strengthening the hips to avoid anything like this in the future.
Okay, that aside I was at least glad to be running after the scare that I wouldn't be able to do the Baker Lake 50k or the Kelowna Marathon or Gibraltar. I guess I should be thankful that I was even able to do Baker Lake but I had such a crappy time there that it overshadowed my gratefulness.
I've been doing most of my runs the last few weeks wanting to finish with negative splits. I thought I could do BL in 4:15 with the out being 2:15 and the back 2:00. Whoa, was I mistaken. Firstly I hadn't even been in the trails for weeks and even though the trail is fairly easy as far as trail races go, I knew I was in trouble at the turnaround. I tried to bump up my speed on the way back but it only furthered me quicker down the path towards bonktown. Long story short I finished in the worst time out of the three I've done that race.
Fast forward a week to the Kelowna Marathon with solid week of training and no real tapering (okay two days) with a goal in mind of three hours. Just a quick run not wanting to feel too stressed and one that wouldn't leave me hobbled for days afterwards.
Having done most of my runs on the Mud Bay dyke the last few weeks I was pretty used to flat. One thing I'm hoping is to build up my 'flat terrain' muscles seeing as there'll be no hills in Gibraltar. I figured Kelowna is pancake flat and this would be a good test. The wind picked up shortly before the race then the rain hit us hard for about 45 minutes. After that it was just overcast with a bit of a breeze to help cool us off from the 17 degree weather. To get under three hours I needed a pace of 6:52 per mile and after starting I pegged my GPS at 6:48s just to account for any bathroom and refuelling stops. The pace felt pretty effortless and I let nothing distract me from keeping the pace. Even at the beginning when most people took off at 6:30s I settled into my own groove and sure enough I reeled most of them in. A first for me in a race of this length is how good I felt all the way through. I was feeling so well in fact that I thought I might try to up the pace 30 seconds per mile in the last five kms. As soon as I saw the 37k marker I turned the hat around backwards and hit the split button on my watch. There was a guy about one hundred feet in front of me and another about the same distance in front of him that I'd been watching for over an hour. As soon as I upped the pace I was catching and passing them. The increase in speed felt effortless and it was like I was still doing 6:48s. I finished in 2:57 feeling like I could do more which is what I wanted. Congrats to Carrie who did the half in 2:03 with not a whole lot of training the last month. Also to my sister, Karen, who was trying to qualify for Boston with a 3:50 but missed it by 6 minutes but still ended up with a PR.
Today my legs feel great and I have a four hour run planned tomorrow and Wednesday. This week and next are the last two big weeks of mileage before the taper to Nov. 8th. Feeling the best I have all year.
Okay, not to bore you with getting overly detailed here. Basically since UTMB things have gone down the crapper and only now are crawling back through the sludge to the land of the living.
I had set out in September to create a training plan to carry me through to Gibraltar on the 8th of November. As has so often happens after I develop a plan and start following it, I come down with some sort of malady, sickness, or injury. This time it was an injury but having nothing to do with running, at least not in the short term like a fracture or shin splints. After work one day I had this pain in my lower back and the following day I could barely move without getting a sharp jolt of pain all across the waistline. I went to the clinic where I was told I had problems with my SI joint and needed to see physio and massage. Two days later I went to physio where I was told that it wasn't my SI joint and that my hips were looking pretty much aligned but the nerves were aggravated in my lower spine. She gave me a few simple exercises to do and after two days it was still killing me. I had a regular massage scheduled but all Holly's efforts couldn't put a dent in the discomfort. Sitting for more than ten minutes totally stiffened up my lower back. I even tried acupuncture (what I do when I'm totally desperate) thinking it would loosen things up.
Finally I got referred to a sports massage guy, Ken Scheel, in Vancouver and luckily he could see me on short notice. He had a look at my spine and hips and knew right away that something was out of line. He'd look at my back, get me on the table, twist me and bend me, stand me up, have another look, get me on the table, twist me and bend me a different way, and on and on for an hour. I don't know how the physio missed the fact that my right hip was twisted up and forward and my lower back muscles were guarding it but luckily Ken knew what he was doing. As soon as he was done and I left the office I felt about 80%. I could sit in the car without pain but there was still some traces of the pain. Two days later I ran for the first time in nine days for one hour. The next day the pain was back a bit so I went back to see Ken. He said things had regressed a bit so it was more of look, table, twist, look. After that I've been feeling almost 100%, just a bit stiff at times. The third time I've seen him was only for a quick look and to say to come back if things get worse. He figures it's been something that's been building for quite a while and it was something simple that finally caused the hip to go out of alignment. Anyways, with some exercises I've been stretching and strengthening the hips to avoid anything like this in the future.
Okay, that aside I was at least glad to be running after the scare that I wouldn't be able to do the Baker Lake 50k or the Kelowna Marathon or Gibraltar. I guess I should be thankful that I was even able to do Baker Lake but I had such a crappy time there that it overshadowed my gratefulness.
I've been doing most of my runs the last few weeks wanting to finish with negative splits. I thought I could do BL in 4:15 with the out being 2:15 and the back 2:00. Whoa, was I mistaken. Firstly I hadn't even been in the trails for weeks and even though the trail is fairly easy as far as trail races go, I knew I was in trouble at the turnaround. I tried to bump up my speed on the way back but it only furthered me quicker down the path towards bonktown. Long story short I finished in the worst time out of the three I've done that race.
Fast forward a week to the Kelowna Marathon with solid week of training and no real tapering (okay two days) with a goal in mind of three hours. Just a quick run not wanting to feel too stressed and one that wouldn't leave me hobbled for days afterwards.
Having done most of my runs on the Mud Bay dyke the last few weeks I was pretty used to flat. One thing I'm hoping is to build up my 'flat terrain' muscles seeing as there'll be no hills in Gibraltar. I figured Kelowna is pancake flat and this would be a good test. The wind picked up shortly before the race then the rain hit us hard for about 45 minutes. After that it was just overcast with a bit of a breeze to help cool us off from the 17 degree weather. To get under three hours I needed a pace of 6:52 per mile and after starting I pegged my GPS at 6:48s just to account for any bathroom and refuelling stops. The pace felt pretty effortless and I let nothing distract me from keeping the pace. Even at the beginning when most people took off at 6:30s I settled into my own groove and sure enough I reeled most of them in. A first for me in a race of this length is how good I felt all the way through. I was feeling so well in fact that I thought I might try to up the pace 30 seconds per mile in the last five kms. As soon as I saw the 37k marker I turned the hat around backwards and hit the split button on my watch. There was a guy about one hundred feet in front of me and another about the same distance in front of him that I'd been watching for over an hour. As soon as I upped the pace I was catching and passing them. The increase in speed felt effortless and it was like I was still doing 6:48s. I finished in 2:57 feeling like I could do more which is what I wanted. Congrats to Carrie who did the half in 2:03 with not a whole lot of training the last month. Also to my sister, Karen, who was trying to qualify for Boston with a 3:50 but missed it by 6 minutes but still ended up with a PR.
Today my legs feel great and I have a four hour run planned tomorrow and Wednesday. This week and next are the last two big weeks of mileage before the taper to Nov. 8th. Feeling the best I have all year.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
