Stampede Road Race 5k report

It doesn't get hot in Calgary. At the height of summer, it gets warm in the afternoon at the most. Not today. Thankfully given the heat, my world salt-shortage inducing levels of sweating were only going to be on display for the 5k.

 

Good thing too, as determined to wear a Canada top, the only one I'd been able to find was a cotton one. While Athletics Canada does sell very nice singlets, they are constantly out of stock. To complete my fashion inventory, I was wearing new Lululemon running shorts. Extremely light and airy, they are almost worth the hefty price. I digress, though "fashion consultant" is one of my wife's roles in my racing.

Lining up, I got talking to  a high school student visiting from Kingston Ontario (I think with his Dad). Asking me my backstory and age, as soon as I got to the losing weight, and running for 3 years part, he said "oh, high five!"

Having known what the weather would be - day high of 31, and already 17 and rising with a strong sun at 8am, I'd set my aim for this race a week ago. A sub-20 was my mission, and I considered a PB (19:25) unlikely.

Before that though was the entertainment provided by a half- marathoner who had arrived late - it started half an hour earlier. He came tearing down, vaulted some equipment like a showjump horse, ducked under the cordon and went over the timing mat to start his day.

A bit of banter at the startline - "start with your left foot first so you don't set off the timing mat..."

A nice bump-free start and a left turn. The air felt very warm, little cooling effect. More like opening a fan-assisted oven.

There was an incline from 0.5k to 1k, which felt tough without cooler air, despite not having been going long enough to start sweating.

I had half a bottle of gatorade with me, placebo effect mostly for this distance, though I really felt I needed it. There was a water station before the 2k mark (doubling as last water station for the 10k). Shortly after this I could feel my breath getting heavier, so would stick within the pace parameters set on my watch. My form seems to have suffered here too, with the headcam picture getting noticeably shakier. The distance markers and my watch were not in sync - last year I had wondered about the measurements too. More on that in a bit, there's a race to finish :)

A-Chang spotted me coming down the long straight from km2 to km3 from a long way off. "My distinctive attire?" I asked afterwards. "No, the way you run."

 

Form check! My running style had become a flail already.

Thanks to Kristy for the shot below. It's both flattering and shows how fatigued I was getting. Kristy was filling in the time waiting for the never-knowingly unenthusiastic Rich who was braving the 1/2 marathon.

Taking my mind of that was the F-18 which flew overhead a couple of times.

After that I backed off a touch to try to recover slightly. It worked to an extent, though I did get passed by a couple of people. The only change to this year's course was the extra loop went in a different direction. It was quite a bit tighter than the one last year. In an effort to make the course 5k, it was probably over-extended. Picking up the pace again was a struggle, my watch beeping to tell me I was at the right speed only after about 20 seconds.

To my surprise and delight, Kristy was in a great spot to capture me as the course joins the last 300 metres of the Glenmore track. Rich would be along later, defying the weather and clocking just under 1 hour 31 min.

I am panting like a dog in this shot, feeling quite close to exhaustion.

Half way around the final bend, my watch said I'd done 5k already. While it's easy to claim the course is long, for the Calgary marathon it was only slightly more off. I'll be checking my watch at the track soon to find out either way.

5k or 5.14k, I still wanted to have a sub-20 on the official results. The home straight revealed the official clock giving me a chance of beating last year's time. I managed to up the pace a little and close the gap to a couple of guys who'd overtaken me previously. Not a huge kick as can be seen below, but it got me a 19:46, 2 seconds inside last year's effort.

That final straight had me looking up quite a bit, trying to suck in just a little more oxygen.

12th overall out of 304. I was 4th in my age group - for the sceond year running. No matter really, having medalled my first 2 races this year anyway.

My splits as can be seen below, show me at 19:13 after 5k, which would be a PB by 12 seconds. I'll believe it when I double-check my watch. If it turns out to be true, I'm still likely to enter next year, just assuming it to be a long course worthy of the challenge.

 

At the end as always was A-Chang, indulging this passion of mine. We had the pancake breakfast, and now have the Mud Hero obstacle race in 2 weeks to look forward to - we'll be doing this one together. Fun will be had.

Here's the headcam vid, thought I'd go with a marriage concept - enjoy!

Canadian Olympic Track & Field Trials

This year in London, my Dad is volunteering his services, and will be a driver. Feeling inspired, while still in the UK, I filled out the online form to volunteer at this year's track and field trials for the Canadian team in Calgary. I've never been to a track and field meeting before (not including school), so thought this would be a novel way of taking in the action.

Volunteers weren't supposed to take photos when out on track, so I was cautious about getting my phone out. I was there for the last 2 days, friday and saturday. I caught the sun quite a bit, despite getting myself "oven-ready" with the sunblock.

First of all on friday morning (having got my own run in before I showed up at the track of course) I helped move the pole-vault mattress which seemed to get moved depending on whether the long jump or triple jump was taking place either side. The rest of the day I was helping to move the starter's stairs. It's in the above photo, the heaviest and rustiest piece of equipment at the whole damn track. Some of the events took too long so we had to move fast.

I'd been considered for such tasks as I turned up in my Calgary Half Marathon shirt - "you're the runner? We've got the job for you!" I spent quite a bit of time talking myself down when asked as some seemed to think I was an injured elite or something. One olympic hopeful also helping out that I talked to does the luge (feet first single sledge-like bodsleigh), and said she trains 3 times a day including dragging herself around the gym floor to gain shoulder strength for that all-important start.

A couple of moments that stick in the mind from that day.  One was a 400m hurdles athlete who fell and slowly walked the rest of the way around. His girlfriend emerged from the stand to see him across the line. The other event I recall was a high-school 4x100 relay - they all looked dressed for basketball as opposed to being as aerodynamic (and skimpilly dressed) as possible. One girl laughed quite a lot as the announcer mispronounced her name.

So, on to saturday and the grand finale. The day was of course started off by me getting my workout in. After that, I turned up early and first of all helped see some paralympians from the call room to the shot-put green. The guy I followed walked with a wheeled walking frame and tired quite quickly. Along with friends, he made light of it. "That's the warm-up done!" "Ah, there's the beer tent!"

So I was going to do the stairs again, but the media centre guy showed up saying a fit guy was needed to help the CBC move one of its large cameras. Not wanting to do exactly the same thing, I sprang up from my seat and got the gig. Even closer to the action :)

Having been 1st at the lunch tent I had sausage risotto and rice, friday's having been quinoa and pork.  So first off I stood by the camera for an hour and a half as it covered the ladies pole-vault. It's the kind of enormous clunky camera you'd think doesn't get used anymore. The precision required is quite something for the pole-vault. At this level they probably are fine when it comes to running at the right speed, using the right strength to push off with the pole, etc. But it seemed that timing of each little part of a vault is everything.

Also going on was the mens' triple jump. All have their own specific method. Some want a slow hand clap, some a quick one, and others none at all. One guy kept pacing back and forth in front of me, and another kept spitting in the bin.

I also watched the 3000m steeplechase from the same place. The jumps sure do grind the athletes down. One surprising thing for me was how slow the last couple of runners were in both the mens' and womens' races. If I'd taken part, I believe I would have probably finished 2nd or 3rd from last. 

After that I helped move the camera to the finish line, and shortly after halfway round 1st bend. It wouldn't need moving again for an hour and a half, so I stood near the finish line for the best view in the house. In the above screen grab, I'm to the right of the lady with the green folder.

My chiropractor was there too, though by the time he volunteered there were more than enough chiropractors, so he helped out with doping control. As he was escorting an athlete to a date with a plastic cup, we flashed each other a quick grin. In between camera movements, I helped out with retrieving lane markers. One thing I noticed at the start was how much jumping and thigh slapping athletes did before settling into the blocks, and women seemingly much more than men.

With the final camera movement done - in quite a hurry and it almost tipped over, I could watch the final 3 events. Where I sat I could take some quiet camera photos. Above are the finishes of the womens' and mens' 200 metres.

Finally, the big one: the ladies' 100 hurdles. 6 of the 8 in the final had met the Olympic "A" standard time, so first 3 in this race would go to London regardless. When the 1st false start happened, there was a gasp. It looked like Perdita Felicien had gone too soon. She had been world champion in 2003, and probably would've taken home gold from Athens in 2004 but fell. In 2008 she was injured, so it looked like her Olympic career could be in some trouble as in 2016, she'll be 35. Stranger things have happened maybe. Anyhow, she was allowed to start under protest. 

Th next start didn't happen, apparently because the starter's gun failed. Shortly after that quite a bit of noise from the opposite direction when one cameraman decided to move, spoiling a few photographers' line of sight, and a very loud "dude, you just can't do that!" 3rd start and they came flying through as above. The heptathlete Jessica Zelinka won.

That was that, didn't know what to do when it came to looking for autographs or asking one of them to be in a photo with me. Besides, I had the best view of all the action. So now, back to training for the Stampede 5k next week...

Holiday!

I got back to Calgary last saturday and was probably not going to have the time to write this until the following weekend but now I can because I have a cold. Boo. Still, another benefit of being on a constant mission for fitness is quicker recovery from illness. A good thing too, I don't really enjoy the hurricane-force sneezes.

But to get back on point (!), 4 days after the dual joy and disappointment of the marathon, my wife and I flew to the UK to see my family. A holiday can easily derail one's training, but if it's straight after a marathon it helps with recovery for the same reason.

In the mornings I would join my wife in abs exercises using a video from the Korean "Figureobics" series. Jung Da Yeon, the lady who started it, had been overweight and this 40+ year-old mother of 2 got herself in shape. I might have even lost weight that week, my waist certainly got slimmer. In 2006 I was a 40", now I'm a 31". The first time I did more than a walk was playing football (aka soccer) with my nephew. Just short of his 7th birthday, his ball-control skills are way beyond mine. All I could do was outrun him.

My first run was exactly 2 weeks after the marathon with my Dad on his sunday route. It's roughly 13 k. Once we got to a hill around halfway, he told me to go on ahead. I used to ride my bike around most of those back roads, so quite a refresher course. This was also about the only morning on which it didn't rain, a nice reminder of the English un-weather. Dad was pretty pleased right after, as I was with him for the first half, and he was chasing me for the 2nd, he said he'd gone 2 minutes quicker than usual. The quickest in 2 years in fact, perhaps from the last time I visited.

For 5 days, A-Chang and I went to Vienna and Budapest.

Budapest

Lots of walking done, and I went for a run in each city (you haven't visited a city until you've run its streets). Up and down the river in Budapest, and got a bit lost in Vienna. I wore the headcam and the link for the vid is at the end of this post. I didn't wear my watch for either run, just wanted to get the legs going and look around.  

I missed Fish Creek Park

On the first sunday back, I headed out to Fish Creek park for a 14k run. I felt heavy, probably due to the "utility belt" I'd gained while away. I kept thinking I was going slowly, but my garmin kept giving me sub-5min/k splits. A small  amount of speed work on wednesday, then my cold.

The Stampede Road Race 5k is 2 weeks away - at the moment a sub-20 minute time would be wonderful. A PB? I doubt it right now, but if it's there for the taking I'll take it. One favourite running quote from Steve Prefontaine that I carry with me on race day is, "to give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift". A race, for me, is about giving my best on that day and re-affirming why and how much I love to run.

To see the Vienna/ Budapest video, click here.

Calgary Marathon - 4 stretches and a bag of salt

Another subtitle could have been "the good, the bad, and the ouchy", though I'm sure someone's thought of that one before. This marathon (my second) for me was overall a success, however it does leave unfinished business, but I will start at the beginning.

The Calgary Marathon was moved this time to the Stampede grounds, had a new course, and certainly had a "bigger" feel. I'd set myself a "dream goal" of 3 hours 10 minutes, doable I thought given my time at other distances. My PB from my till now only marathon was 3:29:56, so a "minimum goal" was to beat that.

I had been careful not to have as much fibre given my experience at my first marathon. Between waking up and startline I had also gone for a CC (confidence c**p) 5 times. Though I'd forgotten to bring tylenol with me, I knew it probably wouldn't help prevent a muscle pull or anything like that.

 Rich was there, doing the 10k this time, coming back from Boston some 5 weeks before. He shouted "Go Peter go!" before the startline like only he can.

 Once again, the Team GB top. Fewer funny looks this time.

Kudos isn't a strong enough word for Neil Zeller and this shot he took of me. It's a true "what I think I look like" photo. For my wife, there were 2 spots between the start/ finish where she would be to take my photo.

As usual I had the headcam on. I knew it would help capture the atmosphere, always great at this race. Just seconds after the horn, I felt a bump to my left, one runner's shoe having come loose.

Many thanks to Kristy for the above shot (worth a 50% GORR on the revenue from this blog!)

2 photos from mainstream media above, play "where's P?" on the bottom one.

No sooner was I past the Saddledome when a voice to my right said "Peter - a touch of the runs?" I didn't catch his name, but he said he'd heard of me through Neil.

I knew Km1 would be quick, and my plan was to dial down the pace after passing the sign. I did, but not enough, I realized, when I saw the half marathon 1:30 pace bunny just edging past me halfway through Inglewood at about km3.

It was a touch irritating to be chopped by a couple of people who didn't think I was on the inside of them on a couple of the early 90 degree bends, though kind of expected perhaps. What I didn't expect was another runner to unclog his nose in front of me twice. The first one was in the bushes to the left, then loosing his bearings he did it again a few seconds later to his right and into the middle of the road. As a precaution I jumped, then loudly said "nearly!" which he pretended not to hear. Below is the least flattering freeze frame I could come up with, this is the "ugly" I refer to at the beginning of this write up. His shirt was white at the start of the race.

On through Bridgeland, I remember quite a few of the lady runners spitting, though safely. Still a novelty to me perhaps. I don't think I spat once in this race, which is unusual, the need usually arises at some point.

Crossing the Bow River for the second time, I caught the eye of an official photographer, who then said "come on Great Britain" in an English accent as I passed him.

Just like my first full marathon in Calgary, I knew it would get quiet after the half marathon turn-off. It was just after this that A-Chang was stationed for the first photo op. I was by this time following the guy in the hula-skirt who was getting all my press and lens time. 

The second quarter of the course was the slightly uphill section, and just when I was contemplating taking my gloves off, it clouded up and stayed that way. I was about a minute and a half ahead of schedule and managed to give up a little time.

Two things that did go right are that my feet felt comfortable throughout as I had adjusted my shoes perfectly according to my different-sized feet. The other was avoiding having to stop for a bio-break, not even needing to hold it during the race. The same can't be said for this guy, who took off from this porta-potty like he'd left a hand grenade in there. Have headcam, will capture evidence.

Through Garrison Woods, and still feeling fairly comfortable.

 40 seconds or so ahead of schedule at the halfway point.

At about 27 km I could feel my legs getting a little heavy.

I got to A-Chang's second photo spot at 31km.

Just 2km later on the 14th street bridge, my right leg which had given me a little trouble in the build-up to the marathon, tightened considerably, so I stopped for a brief stretch.

A second, slightly longer stretch was needed a few minutes later.

Just after 34km, and the above delightfully dressed lady, my right hamstring locked up. Not her fault.

The 2 people I stopped near were well equiped. The lady above gave me a packet of salt, which tasted, well, salty, but I knew I needed it. I hope she knows I'm extremely grateful.  Before that kicked in however, my "reliable" left leg locked up a couple of minutes later. A long stretch, then I walked for about 10 seconds, and with the knowledge that a 3:10 was long gone, said to myself "I'm finishing, no matter what", then broke into a gentle trot.

The salt, along with grabbing 2 cups of gatorade at the next aid station started to have an effect, and the trot turned into a jog.

Also giving me a lift was the fantastically raucous crowd at the east village aid station. By the time I passed the 40km sign and girl on stilts my legs felt fresher, though stiff. Up ahead, the few other runners I could see were looking wobbly. "That must be what I look like" I thought.

Not as fortunate as myself was one runner I saw seized up on the ground about 500 metres from the finish line. Well attended by medics, I hope he recovers well.

It certainly made me happy to be finishing under my own steam, and despite my trials between km33 and 35, a big PB was still coming right up, as I passed a couple of runners who'd already finished and gave me a loud "attaboy!"

A nice moment right at the end with a father carrying his son on his shoulders.

 Finally there in 3:20:47, 84th place out of 972, and a PB by 9 minutes and 9 seconds.

For the record, my pace chart.

There were 3 stairs to negociate to get in under the grandstand where the food was. "Negociate" is an interesting word. Tougher than that was the "staircase to hell" in the c-train station afterwards. Anyone who has had to walk down a flight of stairs right after a marathon will know what I'm talking about. Imagine singing "ow" to the tune of the 1812 overture.

When I got out of bed the next morning, while I could stand, I had to bend at the waist to get myself going. "And we're walking.." I said to myself like some sort of aerobics dvd.

Overall then, I can't complain about slicing 9:09 off my PB. The course was quite good and fun, wouldn't have minded sharing the road with less traffic in places. A 3:10 marathon is unfinished business though. I actually registered for the California International Marathon in Sacramento on December 2 the week before this race. I have a few things to work on for that mission.

Now for the video. I should give the headcam some trial runs to steady the picture for the next races, won't bore readers with those details. Enjoy, and don't sit too close to the screen!

The url is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nS9c3WfxysM&list=PLF35F7ACB6146641A&index=7&feature=plpp_video

Race ready?

"...and you're race ready," said my chiropractor after my final session before the Calgary Marathon next week. I hope so, I feel like a newcomer again, with this being my second full marathon. The right leg has been improving, and I believe that if it gives me trouble on race day it'll still be runnable.

After my friday tempo my watch went blank when I was trying to save the workout, wiping all its settings which doesn't happen if changing the battery otherwise. Time then on saturday for the shortest run I've done in years, 2,000 metres on the track to calibrate it. Its default setting had the 5 laps of the track at 2,116 metres, so good thing I did. It's not a GPS watch, rather one that uses a footpod. I worry that in races, one of those would have trouble finding a satellite along with several thousand others and also lose signal in tunnels, under bridges, etc.

So for race day, then the general aim is to get under 3:10. This would be a BQ time, though I'm not interested in running Boston any longer as per my previous rant. I'll keep it around the 4.30/km range, slowing perhaps a touch between km 12 and 22 which is where the course gains elevation a little. It's different from the old course which had a significant hill, so should be faster.

My official photographer also has her map and set of instructions I'll be writing for her to get my photo in 4 different places. Given how long she'll be waiting, it ought to keep her from getting bored. She will no doubt spend a fair amount of time looking at the runners' fashions, especially ladies in lululemon.

From km 22 onwards there's a gentle downhill all the way to the finish at the stampede grounds. As in previous years I will start right at the front, just behind the handfull of elites, and settle into my pace at the 1km mark, hold it steady from there on, then try to hold it together for the last 10km. Hopefully too, I can get plenty of good material on the headcam...

Are you not overtrained?

In hindsight I should have made straight for the exercise bike after my 10k, rather than training "as usual" straight after. Lesson learned. After a 5k perhaps, 10k no. The sunday before last I did my long run of 16k and felt ok, though my right groin - pectinius and sartorius I believe (ooh, I just googled) - cramped up a couple of times. Most oddly of all, I was recognized by someone at my company - "aren't you Peter, from the company newsletter?" - I shared my story with hr for their wellness site.

But I digress. The sunday just gone represents 3 weeks until the Calgary Marathon. My avoiding speed runs and replicating them on the bike was my way of saving myself for the key final over 20k run before race day. I dropped my wife off for her kickboxing class, then did a one hour out and back. My "P&S" cramped on the 30 minute mark, but shifting my weight and remembeing to engage my toes, this faded.



A-Chang was waiting when I got back, with her new bike. I took it gently, only going around 5:30/ km. A-Chang had to walk up slopes with her bike with tired legs from kicking bags and stuff. I was pleased that even though I could "feel" my right leg, it stayed consistent. At the 20k mark, I even put in a 4:24 to no ill-effect.

On to today, and I did my recovery run on the bike as planned. It seemed like I had a headache for most of the day, though slightly less post-workout. I had the sniffles a bit too. Now I read that this matches a couple of the symptoms of over-training. Much of this is due to carrying on regardless after my 10k, despite that having pretty much been a 100% effort. I'm overtrained then, largely because of what I did after that race.

Given that I came through the longest training run with my leg actually feeling better afterward, and with the taper now starting, all should come good on race day. I'll make sure to be smart between now and then and also during the race. There's less pressure too seeing as Boston has dropped off my bucket list. That said, I still want to beat 3:10. I almost feel like a beginner again, being just my second full.