My neighbor ran the Morat/Fribourg in 1:21:xx averaging 4:40/min
He told me he decided to run without a watch. My jaw dropped in bewilderment! How can you run without a watch tracking your every move, telling you if your a few precious seconds behind, or pushing your heart slightly over the top? This is what our ancestors of long times past would do because they didn't have any other choice. But in our modern day and age where there are commercial satellites in every quadrant of the sky how could one come to such a ludicrous conclusion as to run without this marvel!? Then a moment of silence and I began to consider my own ridiculousness of being so tied down to realtime performance that I would forget the simple pleasure of running an overall race. For and engineering mind, I suppose numbers count, and its not uncommon that I will start calculating in my head my projected finish line time. Its what happens when I don't have a tight rein on my mind. It starts playing with numbers and other abstractions.
So lets talk numbers:
I wanted to push my heart hard and see how I could perform doing some 400 meter reps.
1. 1:32
2. 1.32
3. 1.23
4. 1.39
5. 1.31
6. 1.36
7. 1.53 (uphill)
8. 1.36
Its not too shabby, and I'll try not to let it slip out that I had originally planned to do 10 reps but . . . well. . . um . . . maybe next time.
dimanche 10 octobre 2010
dimanche 3 octobre 2010
Morat-Fribourg 17.17km
Morat- Fribourg is a race I did 2 years ago while preparing for the Lausanne marathon at the time. I remember coming home very enthusiastic about how fast I ran it, in spite the fact that at 6:00a.m. there was frost on the ground and everyone was scrambling to reevaluate their running gear. This time however it was one of the hottest Octobers at 25°C with a bright sun shining down on us. At every opportunity, runners headed for shade, and doused water over their heads to cool down. The hill profile for this race is unpleasant to say the least, climbing, climbing, and climbing some more, short bursts downhill and then more climbing. I had forgotten all about this and was making outlandish claims before the race began that I was hoping for a 1 hour 25min to 1 hour 30min, afterall its soooo easy when the race hasn’t begun and I’m feeling great.
As for results:
My performance has hit new records with an incredible improvement over 2 years ago of 1.2 seconds!
Now wait a minute was that a typo? Did you mean to say 1.2 minutes Jay? No, no you heard me correctly, I couldn’t be more proud of my final sprint, revving at 188bpm, almost blew my exhaust valves straight through my chest.
As for this dreaded fin-ally: heads were hanging low, the midday sun was boiling our blood, the thick spit was all dried up in our mouths and then the adrenalin kicked in that transformed me for a brief second into a dragster:
The Nissan 350Z 3.5-liter V6, 24 valves.
Jason Hollinger TripleZ, 6 liter Inline2, 4valves
1 :33 : 28.9 in 2008
1 :33 : 27.7 in 2010
So what can happen in 1.2seconds you might ask?
The Nissan 350Z can reach 60MPH that’s what!
And the Jason ZZZ passed 40 people on the proverbial climb of death, and came home with a personal best! To think I was 1.2seconds away from defeat but those Langolier ghosts of times past couldn’t gobble me up, not this time anyway.
As soon as I crossed the finish line, my head began to spin, my mouth felt wider open then a whale gasping for more phyto-oxygen, the sweat was proof that a huge cumulo-nimbus was hovering and dumping rain all over me. And my stomach gulped down endless cups of Gatorade that disappeared into the abyss.
When I regained my composure, I met up with Alain and we headed for the showers. There’s nothing like a cold shower to relax those aching muscles . . . NOT.
After our Swedish polar swim experience we met up with Alain’ friends Mark, Aline and cute little Robin and found our way to Avenche where an amazing chef kept the restaurant open for us to have “la chasse” and with that all gobbled down we concluded our Morat Fribourg experience for 2010.
As for results:
My performance has hit new records with an incredible improvement over 2 years ago of 1.2 seconds!
Now wait a minute was that a typo? Did you mean to say 1.2 minutes Jay? No, no you heard me correctly, I couldn’t be more proud of my final sprint, revving at 188bpm, almost blew my exhaust valves straight through my chest.
As for this dreaded fin-ally: heads were hanging low, the midday sun was boiling our blood, the thick spit was all dried up in our mouths and then the adrenalin kicked in that transformed me for a brief second into a dragster:
The Nissan 350Z 3.5-liter V6, 24 valves.
Jason Hollinger TripleZ, 6 liter Inline2, 4valves
1 :33 : 28.9 in 2008
1 :33 : 27.7 in 2010
So what can happen in 1.2seconds you might ask?
The Nissan 350Z can reach 60MPH that’s what!
And the Jason ZZZ passed 40 people on the proverbial climb of death, and came home with a personal best! To think I was 1.2seconds away from defeat but those Langolier ghosts of times past couldn’t gobble me up, not this time anyway.
As soon as I crossed the finish line, my head began to spin, my mouth felt wider open then a whale gasping for more phyto-oxygen, the sweat was proof that a huge cumulo-nimbus was hovering and dumping rain all over me. And my stomach gulped down endless cups of Gatorade that disappeared into the abyss.
When I regained my composure, I met up with Alain and we headed for the showers. There’s nothing like a cold shower to relax those aching muscles . . . NOT.
After our Swedish polar swim experience we met up with Alain’ friends Mark, Aline and cute little Robin and found our way to Avenche where an amazing chef kept the restaurant open for us to have “la chasse” and with that all gobbled down we concluded our Morat Fribourg experience for 2010.
vendredi 1 octobre 2010
Cows in Toronto hate marathons!
Flew 6000 km’s burning 52000 liters of fuel, then
Drove 600 km’s burning another 72 liters and finally
Ran 21 km’s and burned through a bowl of pasta and some lentil soup!
Let’s start by saying “ mission accomplished ”
The goal was to run with my father and run well.
While I finished my half marathon race with a very satisfied PB time of 1:48:35
Juerg decided to do 2 half marathons back to back in his “under 5 hour” target with plenty of time to spare at 4:57:02.
We both wore our finisher medals proud like champions. From our 8th floor Sheraton hotel room we had a birds eye view of the finish line and once I got up there I couldn’t help indulging on watching all the people still running and the crowds making their way to the much appreciated food and drinks.
There is an irrefutable quirk in the human soul that can be seen on race days, the competitive nature that lies somewhere within us. Be it with ourselves to perform better then last time or with others around us, and it manifests itself in many ways. There were some, no matter where they stood in the rankings, as long as they could dash past someone before the RFID chip was registered. While others reacted as if they had just drank a red bull a few hours too late and walked to within 50 meters, numb limbs bobbing in all directions like an octopus caught in a net and comically jolted through the finish. I stood there observing these quirks, and witnessed in some, inspiring determination and in others a shattered resignation. Luckily both my father and myself fell in the former category and celebrated that night at the Keg.
Now I bet most people don’t know that cows don’t like marathons. In fact in Toronto they especially hate them. Why you ask? Is it because they’re scared of Caesar salads, or onion soup or could it be because of the Flintstones style succulent steak that almost toppled me walking back to the hotel? Ya that must be it, because I only had one Rickers Red.
Some funny things I saw along the race: A man in a Santa costume, another dressed like a banana, and a guy running in flip-flops! (I very quickly swallowed my laughter when it dawned upon me that he was actually running in front of me, that’s when I became more serious and determined and never saw him again!)
When I got to the 8 km mark, I saw coming back in the opposite direction the Elite group of 20 Kenyans and Ethipians hitting their 16km’s, the runners all cheered them on and everybody’s pace increased for a short while, energized by the hurricane that just blew past us. Then I also made the bend and keeping eyes out for KJP we spotted eachother for a very brief highfive and “Hop Swiss” and then it was back to concentrating on the race.
Our finishing results:
Juerg
http://www.asiorders.com/view_user_event_video.asp?EVENTID=63213&BIB=1875&VLOC=Full%20Marathon%20Finish%20Line
Jason
http://www.asiorders.com/view_user_event_video.asp?EVENTID=63213&BIB=12202
There’s so much I could write about this fun adventure but nothing beats living it, and with my mind packed with good memories it was already time to fly home. I was greeted with open arms and then again who wouldn’t with all the presents that were packed into my suitcase!
I have finally finished my blog entry so I am now allowed to read Juergs, ooof I made it.
Drove 600 km’s burning another 72 liters and finally
Ran 21 km’s and burned through a bowl of pasta and some lentil soup!
Let’s start by saying “ mission accomplished ”
The goal was to run with my father and run well.
While I finished my half marathon race with a very satisfied PB time of 1:48:35
Juerg decided to do 2 half marathons back to back in his “under 5 hour” target with plenty of time to spare at 4:57:02.
We both wore our finisher medals proud like champions. From our 8th floor Sheraton hotel room we had a birds eye view of the finish line and once I got up there I couldn’t help indulging on watching all the people still running and the crowds making their way to the much appreciated food and drinks.
There is an irrefutable quirk in the human soul that can be seen on race days, the competitive nature that lies somewhere within us. Be it with ourselves to perform better then last time or with others around us, and it manifests itself in many ways. There were some, no matter where they stood in the rankings, as long as they could dash past someone before the RFID chip was registered. While others reacted as if they had just drank a red bull a few hours too late and walked to within 50 meters, numb limbs bobbing in all directions like an octopus caught in a net and comically jolted through the finish. I stood there observing these quirks, and witnessed in some, inspiring determination and in others a shattered resignation. Luckily both my father and myself fell in the former category and celebrated that night at the Keg.
Now I bet most people don’t know that cows don’t like marathons. In fact in Toronto they especially hate them. Why you ask? Is it because they’re scared of Caesar salads, or onion soup or could it be because of the Flintstones style succulent steak that almost toppled me walking back to the hotel? Ya that must be it, because I only had one Rickers Red.
Some funny things I saw along the race: A man in a Santa costume, another dressed like a banana, and a guy running in flip-flops! (I very quickly swallowed my laughter when it dawned upon me that he was actually running in front of me, that’s when I became more serious and determined and never saw him again!)
When I got to the 8 km mark, I saw coming back in the opposite direction the Elite group of 20 Kenyans and Ethipians hitting their 16km’s, the runners all cheered them on and everybody’s pace increased for a short while, energized by the hurricane that just blew past us. Then I also made the bend and keeping eyes out for KJP we spotted eachother for a very brief highfive and “Hop Swiss” and then it was back to concentrating on the race.
Our finishing results:
Juerg
http://www.asiorders.com/view_user_event_video.asp?EVENTID=63213&BIB=1875&VLOC=Full%20Marathon%20Finish%20Line
Jason
http://www.asiorders.com/view_user_event_video.asp?EVENTID=63213&BIB=12202
There’s so much I could write about this fun adventure but nothing beats living it, and with my mind packed with good memories it was already time to fly home. I was greeted with open arms and then again who wouldn’t with all the presents that were packed into my suitcase!
I have finally finished my blog entry so I am now allowed to read Juergs, ooof I made it.
vendredi 17 septembre 2010
5th race La Sarraz
So here comes my recount of the last of five races after 10 days writers block. This is in someways a good time to write because for one, all the pain is long forgotten, and two I can allow myself to exagerate a bit, hahahah.
After analyzing the hill profile I designed my race strategy. Supposedly it was going to be 2km relatively flat then 3km up up and more up and then 3 km down down down and 1 last km flat. So I told myself all I needed to do was run a 5km race and then let the downhill roll me to the finish line. This strategy actually worked and for most of the race I was ahead of Niall, my memory might be abit blurred, but then will Niall really remember the race in the future? ;o)Ok Ok for 1 km I gave it all I got until finally his jedi saber voomed past me.
The whole thing felt like a near sprint for me and I felt like a dog in the summer with its tongue down to the ground as I crossed the finish line. Very annoyingly there were eager beavers passing me around the last 500 meters and already running a 4:15 min km I had nothing left in me to keep up, then I heard what sounded like a heard of buffalo approaching from the back and I refused to let these bozos who had been eating my dust come up and steal my glory. In the end Nialls familiar voice cheering me on allowed for a sprint and then another little booster over the sprint to catch 2 of my foes. I learned after the race that one of those buffalos was Stefan only seconds behind me. The race itself was actually no fun, contrary to Genolier or Meziere where I enjoyed the forest and alphorns and running altogether. This race was about fireing up the engine and getting to the end, brewt force, nothing beautiful just plowing through whatever was in my way. My compensation was that I could delight in the race statistics and garmins stats.
I can proudly boast a personal best running average of 4:41 min/km in 38:44. This actually gave a running improvement for the 5 races and I moved up in the ranks from 373,307,258,254,246. Niall' blog has some fun pictures and recounts all the other details quite nicely:
http://fitscottishbloke.blogspot.com/2010/09/83km-tour-du-pays-de-vaud-etape-5-la.html
You really managed to get the essence of the evening Niall, what more is there to say? I also confirm that mysterious extra field also almost killed me.
After 10 minutes to recover, the rest of the evening was all about enjoying eachothers company, going to the price table and reminiscing of the last five races. One mention must be said about the after race showers, I have never felt more like a sardine then in the mens showers, gladly there was still warm water, but having 20 naked sweaty men lining up just to access the communal showers was an experience I could have done without! Supposedly last year there was only one set of showers so they were mixed, that must have been interesting.
A long day is cutting my details short, eager for the Toronto race, now Im heading to bed.
After analyzing the hill profile I designed my race strategy. Supposedly it was going to be 2km relatively flat then 3km up up and more up and then 3 km down down down and 1 last km flat. So I told myself all I needed to do was run a 5km race and then let the downhill roll me to the finish line. This strategy actually worked and for most of the race I was ahead of Niall, my memory might be abit blurred, but then will Niall really remember the race in the future? ;o)Ok Ok for 1 km I gave it all I got until finally his jedi saber voomed past me.
The whole thing felt like a near sprint for me and I felt like a dog in the summer with its tongue down to the ground as I crossed the finish line. Very annoyingly there were eager beavers passing me around the last 500 meters and already running a 4:15 min km I had nothing left in me to keep up, then I heard what sounded like a heard of buffalo approaching from the back and I refused to let these bozos who had been eating my dust come up and steal my glory. In the end Nialls familiar voice cheering me on allowed for a sprint and then another little booster over the sprint to catch 2 of my foes. I learned after the race that one of those buffalos was Stefan only seconds behind me. The race itself was actually no fun, contrary to Genolier or Meziere where I enjoyed the forest and alphorns and running altogether. This race was about fireing up the engine and getting to the end, brewt force, nothing beautiful just plowing through whatever was in my way. My compensation was that I could delight in the race statistics and garmins stats.
I can proudly boast a personal best running average of 4:41 min/km in 38:44. This actually gave a running improvement for the 5 races and I moved up in the ranks from 373,307,258,254,246. Niall' blog has some fun pictures and recounts all the other details quite nicely:
http://fitscottishbloke.blogspot.com/2010/09/83km-tour-du-pays-de-vaud-etape-5-la.html
You really managed to get the essence of the evening Niall, what more is there to say? I also confirm that mysterious extra field also almost killed me.
After 10 minutes to recover, the rest of the evening was all about enjoying eachothers company, going to the price table and reminiscing of the last five races. One mention must be said about the after race showers, I have never felt more like a sardine then in the mens showers, gladly there was still warm water, but having 20 naked sweaty men lining up just to access the communal showers was an experience I could have done without! Supposedly last year there was only one set of showers so they were mixed, that must have been interesting.
A long day is cutting my details short, eager for the Toronto race, now Im heading to bed.
dimanche 29 août 2010
Starry starry night
Everyone was in bed and being the spontaneous running opportunist that I am I decided to get a quick 20 clicks in the bag. it was 20:30 and there was still a slight shade of daylight refracting over the the Jura Mountains. Off I went, convinced that I would run 20 when all the while reminding myself that I could cut it short whenever I wanted to. After running past the soccer field full of evening action the usual route took me to more solitary places. The forest was dark and deep and at some point all I could see were the bats flying along with me. Around the 10km mark I experimented with eating Pollenta to see how my body reacts, having forgot that I put Gruyere in it a few days ago my taste buds were giving mixed signals, somewhere between "this is disgusting" and " Ya its Gruyere, you put it in there don't you remember, you love Gruyere" I love Gruyere, so three seperate times I splashed my face with the gook and cleaned up with a standard sholder swipe.
Not far after my Gruyere experience I saw a beautiful near full moon rising over the Alps accompanying me for the rest of the run. By the last km's I was starting to observe my shadow and remarking the loss of stars in the night sky since the moon came out and stole the show. The heart was doing so well that I decided to pick it up a bit for the last 5km's and did them with an average 4:45/km, the 19 km took 1hour 45. I came in and lied down on the sofa thinking the flood of endorphins would keep me up another 2 hours, but before I had another thought I was out.
Not far after my Gruyere experience I saw a beautiful near full moon rising over the Alps accompanying me for the rest of the run. By the last km's I was starting to observe my shadow and remarking the loss of stars in the night sky since the moon came out and stole the show. The heart was doing so well that I decided to pick it up a bit for the last 5km's and did them with an average 4:45/km, the 19 km took 1hour 45. I came in and lied down on the sofa thinking the flood of endorphins would keep me up another 2 hours, but before I had another thought I was out.
Mezière avec un bierre
Wednesday 25th August in Meziere.
Our prerace bantor of Google Earth profiling and race pace prognostics filled my shoes with primed pistons ready for blastoff. The gun blast went off and my throttle hit the floor trying to get infront of everyone before we hit the forest area. I had terrible visions of the same thing reoccuring as in St Prex where everone had to walk to cross the bridge and we all lost 1 minute. This wasn't going to happen again and so ignoring Garmins warnings I blasted past as many slow pokes as I could. Please excuse the entirely relative expression but in my definition anyone I can pass is a slowpoke, and those passing me are overstrung poor managers of their pacing which I will inevitably gallop past very shortly as soon as we hit the hills. Its a sort of personal ego trip I entertain everytime to cope with the adversities, lots of fun even if its more fictional then anything. After 2 km I get my second garmin reading, 1st km 4:37, second 5:58, right on Stefans target. The rather challenging structures of this course included narrow rocky paths, slippery muddy sections where I called out at one point "ça glisse, ça glisse" and felt like I had made my philanthropic gesture to mankind for the rest of the race. Some quite steep climbs including the finishing 500 meters and steep downhill sections where my feet were trying to run away from me. Hey there! get back here! At some point I heard a starter gun go off and I hypothesized that this must be a Meziere tradition that once the first person crosses the finish line, they let everyone know it by firing off the gun. This was confirmed when shortly after I heard another gunblast go off, and I emmediately knew that this must be when the first "Lady" crossed the finish line. I glanced down at my watch and thought to myself "wow Tenke sure is fast"
Then as I continued I became more and more perplexed when the gun shots continued, but racing has a way of putting me in a nonsensical dreamy state where life contradictions don't spark any inquisition and I happily continued my race. Not soon thereafter the entire woods began to resonate with the beautiful harmony of Alphorns, this was truly a lovely site to pass the Alphorn band serenading us as we pounded down their soil.
My finish was another fun sprint to catch the guy who had passed me on the last 500 meter incline and with great satisfaction I dashed infront of this unsuspecting prey to steal one last position for the roster. I had a bit of extra time one evening to play with the results excel file and discover the Vlookup function. Now I can see in green all the people who were ahead of me in StPrex and Genolier that I managed to beat in Mezieres, and it only took me two hours! The Stats don't lie and going by the projected curve of position 373 to 307 to 258 I hope to be somewhere among the 210 in Chavornay.
There is something to be said about participating in such events with others and I must say I enjoyed just as much the car ride in/out and the postrace meal with Rich, Niall, Stefan and Tenke as I did the race itself. Thanks everyone for the good memories. Oh and Richard I hope you managed to get the mud off your nice new pink runners. ;o)
Our prerace bantor of Google Earth profiling and race pace prognostics filled my shoes with primed pistons ready for blastoff. The gun blast went off and my throttle hit the floor trying to get infront of everyone before we hit the forest area. I had terrible visions of the same thing reoccuring as in St Prex where everone had to walk to cross the bridge and we all lost 1 minute. This wasn't going to happen again and so ignoring Garmins warnings I blasted past as many slow pokes as I could. Please excuse the entirely relative expression but in my definition anyone I can pass is a slowpoke, and those passing me are overstrung poor managers of their pacing which I will inevitably gallop past very shortly as soon as we hit the hills. Its a sort of personal ego trip I entertain everytime to cope with the adversities, lots of fun even if its more fictional then anything. After 2 km I get my second garmin reading, 1st km 4:37, second 5:58, right on Stefans target. The rather challenging structures of this course included narrow rocky paths, slippery muddy sections where I called out at one point "ça glisse, ça glisse" and felt like I had made my philanthropic gesture to mankind for the rest of the race. Some quite steep climbs including the finishing 500 meters and steep downhill sections where my feet were trying to run away from me. Hey there! get back here! At some point I heard a starter gun go off and I hypothesized that this must be a Meziere tradition that once the first person crosses the finish line, they let everyone know it by firing off the gun. This was confirmed when shortly after I heard another gunblast go off, and I emmediately knew that this must be when the first "Lady" crossed the finish line. I glanced down at my watch and thought to myself "wow Tenke sure is fast"
Then as I continued I became more and more perplexed when the gun shots continued, but racing has a way of putting me in a nonsensical dreamy state where life contradictions don't spark any inquisition and I happily continued my race. Not soon thereafter the entire woods began to resonate with the beautiful harmony of Alphorns, this was truly a lovely site to pass the Alphorn band serenading us as we pounded down their soil.
My finish was another fun sprint to catch the guy who had passed me on the last 500 meter incline and with great satisfaction I dashed infront of this unsuspecting prey to steal one last position for the roster. I had a bit of extra time one evening to play with the results excel file and discover the Vlookup function. Now I can see in green all the people who were ahead of me in StPrex and Genolier that I managed to beat in Mezieres, and it only took me two hours! The Stats don't lie and going by the projected curve of position 373 to 307 to 258 I hope to be somewhere among the 210 in Chavornay.
There is something to be said about participating in such events with others and I must say I enjoyed just as much the car ride in/out and the postrace meal with Rich, Niall, Stefan and Tenke as I did the race itself. Thanks everyone for the good memories. Oh and Richard I hope you managed to get the mud off your nice new pink runners. ;o)
samedi 21 août 2010
20km early bird special
Was woken up at 4:30 this morning by a little tummy that needed some milk, then was left in my thoughts pondering how great it would be to sneak out early and come home 2 hours later without anyone even realizing. There was no moon, and it seemed dark. The night before the same thing happened and as I stood in my kitchen window contemplating the challenge a little hedgehog zigzagged across our lawn. I decided then that if I could barely see a hedgehog I would certainly stumble over one if I went out. As a consequence I went back to bed and woke up at 8:20 late for work. So today I wasn't going to let that happen. I filled up my water bottles did some stretching, thought of KJP who was grounded for another little while and thought I would do some miles for the both of us, so off I went KJP style at 5:15am. A "start slow, end fast" convert for life, I had absolutely no shame to get my first kilometer in at 6min53, and a second at 6:21, I was even proud of my personal self control. The fact that I couldn't see anything also contributed to my pace and having woken up seeing a hedgehog the night before I couldn't help but go out with a certain paranoia, every dark patch along the path transformed into a hedgehog, I've never seen so many hedgehogs in my life!
It was around the 3rd km when the persistant pinecone struck again. I can't beleive how many times this thing has bonked me in the head as I am running. Everytime I can't help but burst out in laughter. Its one of those low lieing camoflaged green and very hard closed pinecones. It sits there inconspicuously just dangling off a branch directly overhead the running path. And as pine needles are for the most part like little brushes, I always fall into the trap of makeing the gesture of ducking but not really caring because its just a few little bristles. Then out of the blue SHABLONK! It strikes again! This morning was the third time it outwitted me. The first time I couldn't beleive I had just been hit in the head by a pinecone, The second time I just couldn't beleive that the same stupid pinecone hit me again, and this morning I started to wonder how many more times I would fall victim! perhaps I should run with a helmet.
The rest of the run was lovely. The landscape started to reflect its colours, the passenger trains started their morning routines, my pace progressivley got faster to finish the last 5kms at 5min pace and feeling like a workhorse, to end the 20km run in 1hour57. After cooling down I came inside and just as I stepped into the shower Edana got up and greeted me good morning. My stealth morning run had just passed under the child radar and I ate breakfast with them with a nice feeling of accomplishment behind me to start the day.
It was around the 3rd km when the persistant pinecone struck again. I can't beleive how many times this thing has bonked me in the head as I am running. Everytime I can't help but burst out in laughter. Its one of those low lieing camoflaged green and very hard closed pinecones. It sits there inconspicuously just dangling off a branch directly overhead the running path. And as pine needles are for the most part like little brushes, I always fall into the trap of makeing the gesture of ducking but not really caring because its just a few little bristles. Then out of the blue SHABLONK! It strikes again! This morning was the third time it outwitted me. The first time I couldn't beleive I had just been hit in the head by a pinecone, The second time I just couldn't beleive that the same stupid pinecone hit me again, and this morning I started to wonder how many more times I would fall victim! perhaps I should run with a helmet.
The rest of the run was lovely. The landscape started to reflect its colours, the passenger trains started their morning routines, my pace progressivley got faster to finish the last 5kms at 5min pace and feeling like a workhorse, to end the 20km run in 1hour57. After cooling down I came inside and just as I stepped into the shower Edana got up and greeted me good morning. My stealth morning run had just passed under the child radar and I ate breakfast with them with a nice feeling of accomplishment behind me to start the day.
jeudi 19 août 2010
Deceived by my Garmin !
Blablink - - - Garmin turns on and a message appears « detected footpod, run indoors ? » This was a critical moment and somehow I wasn’t concentrating and hit enter, which meant for the next 8 km it would be calculating my distance based on an accelerometer and not on a GPS signal. It was wonderful, it was stupefying it was phantasmagoric, I was clocking 4:45 kms and even hit a 4:38 km. I felt bliss, reminding myself as I ran through the woods to breath, smell, enjoy, appreciate the beauty around me. And running fast added an extra exhilaration to the experience I couldn’t help it I had the bounce in my legs, every person I overtook I felt like I was a child again receiving an ice cream.
I kept to my plan of starting slow (not quite sure anymore how to define slow when the gun blast goes off and everyone leaps off like gazelles in the Serengeti, let’s just say I exercised a certain degree of restraint relative to what my urge was beckoning) and progressively accelerated, timing things to give me enough punch to sprint through the finish line and feel like a million bucks. I certainly did feel amazing straight after crossing the finish line Niall came up to me all excited about witnessing my sprint, and Stefan already had a cup of water waiting, now that’s what I call service!
It was around this moment when I had a bit of a “Twilight Zone” experience, Stefan told me that he averaged 4:54 and I glanced down at my Garmin which revealed stunningly that I averaged 4:47! But wait a minute . . . STEFAN WAS IN FRONT OF ME!!! It took me another 30 minutes to be ejected from the Twilight Zone and realise that my foot pod calculated 8.49km in just under 41min and not 8km so naturally I thought I was going faster. I supposedly covered more distance in the same time. When I interrogated my Garmin if this was so, it only responded “Blablink”
I think it’s in denial.
My true average was 5:03 which was more realistic to my bow legs and though a bit disappointed to not be under 5, I loved the race all the same, after all, can you believe for once I actually beat Tenke.
Ummmmm . . . . . just because Tenke didn’t run the race is no excuse, I still beat her ;0)
I kept to my plan of starting slow (not quite sure anymore how to define slow when the gun blast goes off and everyone leaps off like gazelles in the Serengeti, let’s just say I exercised a certain degree of restraint relative to what my urge was beckoning) and progressively accelerated, timing things to give me enough punch to sprint through the finish line and feel like a million bucks. I certainly did feel amazing straight after crossing the finish line Niall came up to me all excited about witnessing my sprint, and Stefan already had a cup of water waiting, now that’s what I call service!
It was around this moment when I had a bit of a “Twilight Zone” experience, Stefan told me that he averaged 4:54 and I glanced down at my Garmin which revealed stunningly that I averaged 4:47! But wait a minute . . . STEFAN WAS IN FRONT OF ME!!! It took me another 30 minutes to be ejected from the Twilight Zone and realise that my foot pod calculated 8.49km in just under 41min and not 8km so naturally I thought I was going faster. I supposedly covered more distance in the same time. When I interrogated my Garmin if this was so, it only responded “Blablink”
I think it’s in denial.
My true average was 5:03 which was more realistic to my bow legs and though a bit disappointed to not be under 5, I loved the race all the same, after all, can you believe for once I actually beat Tenke.
Ummmmm . . . . . just because Tenke didn’t run the race is no excuse, I still beat her ;0)
lundi 16 août 2010
Racing Rumagings
One Blogging entry for 2 runs, is that allowed? Am I breaking my blogging contract?
Well, my first run on the "Tour du Pays de Vaud" a 9.1 km stretch through ST Prex came up with a 48min47sec time. In the complex world of physical performance one days proud accomplishement of my personal best is the next days dissappointement for not matching what I know I am capable of. And so I went into this race convinced that I could keep to a 5min pace, even going so far as to telling Stephan that "once we hit the 6km mark, Im going to give it all I got" well, it turns out that once I hit the 6km mark I had already given it all I had and just crossing the finish line became my new revised declaration to . . . wait for me Stephan, well he was long gone, and I was left to swallow the dust from the runners passing me. I have notice a strange phenomenon everytime I go to an "official" race. The anticipation grips me and the adrenalin kicks in, all my circuits go bizerk and nothing is anymore how Im used to it from training. So inspite of telling myself not to go too fast to start I went too fast.
Yesterday I decided to verify if my "start slow, end fast" theory really holds up. because the St Prex race confirmed "start fast, end slow" but for the morale its the difference between banging my head against a brick wall, and freefalling through duck feather duvets. Lo and behold, when I start at a 5:15 to 5:30 pace for the first 3 clicks, the next 6 are sub 5 to 4:40! for a 9km total of 45min 53 sec.
I think when I push my body straight away to zone 4/5 its chemistry consumption switches gear, and then even when I slow down, the heart insists on staying in zone 4/5. But when I give myself a proper 2 km slow warmup, and progressively speed up, then my body doesn't realize what Im doing and I can sneekily go faster before it inquisitively requests " hey! what gives?!" and starts compensating my heartbeat ever so slowly, but by then I have already run another click in under 5 and it again ponders upping the heart to compensate. It's a poor fellow under these circumstances, but I try not to deceive myself too often...I think. Ofcoarse if you've watched the film "Inception" perhaps the whole notion of what is real may be a bit grey. What a mental mind boggler for this blogger!
Anyways this Wednesdays Genolier goal is to warm up for 15 minutes and then kick in the afterburner, for a 44:xx run. Stay tuned for Thursday's ramblings about why it wasn't so!
Thanks for the nice pre-race photo Niall, where I still look like a champion ;o)
Well, my first run on the "Tour du Pays de Vaud" a 9.1 km stretch through ST Prex came up with a 48min47sec time. In the complex world of physical performance one days proud accomplishement of my personal best is the next days dissappointement for not matching what I know I am capable of. And so I went into this race convinced that I could keep to a 5min pace, even going so far as to telling Stephan that "once we hit the 6km mark, Im going to give it all I got" well, it turns out that once I hit the 6km mark I had already given it all I had and just crossing the finish line became my new revised declaration to . . . wait for me Stephan, well he was long gone, and I was left to swallow the dust from the runners passing me. I have notice a strange phenomenon everytime I go to an "official" race. The anticipation grips me and the adrenalin kicks in, all my circuits go bizerk and nothing is anymore how Im used to it from training. So inspite of telling myself not to go too fast to start I went too fast.
Yesterday I decided to verify if my "start slow, end fast" theory really holds up. because the St Prex race confirmed "start fast, end slow" but for the morale its the difference between banging my head against a brick wall, and freefalling through duck feather duvets. Lo and behold, when I start at a 5:15 to 5:30 pace for the first 3 clicks, the next 6 are sub 5 to 4:40! for a 9km total of 45min 53 sec.
I think when I push my body straight away to zone 4/5 its chemistry consumption switches gear, and then even when I slow down, the heart insists on staying in zone 4/5. But when I give myself a proper 2 km slow warmup, and progressively speed up, then my body doesn't realize what Im doing and I can sneekily go faster before it inquisitively requests " hey! what gives?!" and starts compensating my heartbeat ever so slowly, but by then I have already run another click in under 5 and it again ponders upping the heart to compensate. It's a poor fellow under these circumstances, but I try not to deceive myself too often...I think. Ofcoarse if you've watched the film "Inception" perhaps the whole notion of what is real may be a bit grey. What a mental mind boggler for this blogger!
Anyways this Wednesdays Genolier goal is to warm up for 15 minutes and then kick in the afterburner, for a 44:xx run. Stay tuned for Thursday's ramblings about why it wasn't so!
Thanks for the nice pre-race photo Niall, where I still look like a champion ;o)
jeudi 5 août 2010
up up up and down down down
Today I was reflecting on the incredible advantages there are in cross training, or in my case it was doing hills. I decided I needed another run up to Burtigny, I took the logging road which doesn't bother with pleasantries and wind around to diminish the incline, it just goes straight. . . straight up. 5 km up and 5 km down. Strangely enough my Garmin tells me that I ran up 130 meters and down 500 meters, but I promise you I didn't end up in the lake!
It took 34 min up and 21 min down. Its quite a workout but funny enough I preferred the incline, coming down is very hard on the entire body, everything was aching and heating up as I came blazing down the road and as I rested at home, my body was twitching, borderline shaking from the impacts it had received. Perhaps I should place a bike at the top and cycle down, or better yet a hand glider.
Along the way I think I saw an Aardvark, either that or then it was a slow moving rock. Seeing as I am not from Australia my guess is it was an Aardvark.
It took 34 min up and 21 min down. Its quite a workout but funny enough I preferred the incline, coming down is very hard on the entire body, everything was aching and heating up as I came blazing down the road and as I rested at home, my body was twitching, borderline shaking from the impacts it had received. Perhaps I should place a bike at the top and cycle down, or better yet a hand glider.
Along the way I think I saw an Aardvark, either that or then it was a slow moving rock. Seeing as I am not from Australia my guess is it was an Aardvark.
5 x 1km with 1 min rests
The beauty of running is that there is lots of time to be in ones thoughts. I've come to realize however that there is a certain threshold were the intensity is too high and my heart is probably palpitating faster then a gazelle fleeing its predator. The only thoughts that are left bouncing around in my head are "un hun, ok, ya that's good, 5 min per kilometer un hun ok, ya that's good, that's an 8 minute mile, road, road, keep the eyes on the road, can I go faster, hows my heart beat, woaw that's high, its too high, can I hold it? can I hold it ? come on Jay you can do it . . ." not much Shakespearean inspiration in there I must admit. But sometimes that's about all of my life I feel like reflecting on.
This run was all about stop and goes. 5 km stop after 1 km and give 1 min break, then go again. results were satisfying: anything in the threes makes me smile, fours feels great and as long as I can hold it under 5 I'm happy. Just made it:
3:44
3:58
4:53
4:28
4:59
So the run was pretty much about doing math in my head, no personal paradigm shifts today.
This run was all about stop and goes. 5 km stop after 1 km and give 1 min break, then go again. results were satisfying: anything in the threes makes me smile, fours feels great and as long as I can hold it under 5 I'm happy. Just made it:
3:44
3:58
4:53
4:28
4:59
So the run was pretty much about doing math in my head, no personal paradigm shifts today.
samedi 31 juillet 2010
Thats what happens when you don't run for a while!
Today’s run I didn’t quite know what to do, I was considering doing something long and arduous, or maybe a few sprints, but finally I convinced myself that I would run 10km starting relatively slow and every km would try to run faster then the last.
So I started and as my first km is always downhill I hit:
1km 5:34
2km 5:20
3km 5:17
4km 5:18
5km 5:09
6km 6:04 ran out of juice
7km 6:08 clearly not doing well
8km 6:39 my Hamstrings acting up
9km 6:40 pride kept me from walking
9.3km 5:49 pace, happy it’s all over.
My average of 5:48 is still ok but I need to straighten up if I want to get some decent results for the Tour du Pays de Vaud coming up mid August.
samedi 24 juillet 2010
I dont like ham but I still got a Hamstring!
Its a sad reality that when I look at my last blog entry it was exactly 1 month ago!
But with that said I finally went for a run yesterday, 10km in 1 hour. All very slow and relaxed with km 9 at 4:30min speed to get the heart pumping and feel the life inside of me.
Nothing new to experienced sports people, injuries are almost a part of the game, If you do a sport long enough some body part is not going to like it, over use, wrong gear, poor weather conditions, or turtles crossing our running path, it can happen very quickly. Personally I have IllioTibial (IT band) strains behind me, major Achiles Tendonitis behind me, a sprained shoulder, a C3 vertebra needing some Chiropractor to put back in place and the latest is a Hamstring that doesn't want to let up. I blame it on 6 hours of Milano and back and 18 hours Lacanau and back of driving. I tried to convince myself yesterday that I could "run it off" but this morning my body reminded me that this was not the right strategy and all day I've been wobbling around wondering impatiently when I can go out again to prepare for the Montreal Marathon which is only 42 days away. Everything tells me its impossible but a little birthday proposal I received in the mail yesterday reminded me that NOTHING is impossible.
So I will have to see if these old bones and the bones that will have to take care of the children alone while I'm gone can come up with some kind of agreement. Time will tell.
But with that said I finally went for a run yesterday, 10km in 1 hour. All very slow and relaxed with km 9 at 4:30min speed to get the heart pumping and feel the life inside of me.
Nothing new to experienced sports people, injuries are almost a part of the game, If you do a sport long enough some body part is not going to like it, over use, wrong gear, poor weather conditions, or turtles crossing our running path, it can happen very quickly. Personally I have IllioTibial (IT band) strains behind me, major Achiles Tendonitis behind me, a sprained shoulder, a C3 vertebra needing some Chiropractor to put back in place and the latest is a Hamstring that doesn't want to let up. I blame it on 6 hours of Milano and back and 18 hours Lacanau and back of driving. I tried to convince myself yesterday that I could "run it off" but this morning my body reminded me that this was not the right strategy and all day I've been wobbling around wondering impatiently when I can go out again to prepare for the Montreal Marathon which is only 42 days away. Everything tells me its impossible but a little birthday proposal I received in the mail yesterday reminded me that NOTHING is impossible.
So I will have to see if these old bones and the bones that will have to take care of the children alone while I'm gone can come up with some kind of agreement. Time will tell.
mercredi 23 juin 2010
5 km near sprint
yesterday was the weekly Foulé Glandoise gathering, I was considering going but in the end I opted for enjoying family life and for some strange reason I was inspired to make a lasagna. It was the best lasagna I ever made and the only one at that, but while everyone was sleeping I watched the Worldcup and finally took the lasagna out of the oven and ate at 22:30.
Today my muscles were nicely lasagna primed and ready to go. late work, and helping put the children to bed took me to 20:30, my major driving force to still go run was a silly desire to make a blogging entry! Heyhey I managed!
There is a prestiges club that I do not yet belong to, it allows a certain degree of bragging rights, the entry fee is nothing more then 5 km in 20 minutes. Now this is quite a challenge, and though I have heard that it is possible, I am still a while away. Today was my trial run, to see where I stand and so off I went.
1st km in 3:54 sec (a delightful downhill start to encourage my 5km projections)
2nd km in 4:30 sec (still very pleased but now I was 26 seconds off pace)
3rd km in 5:03 sec (my biofuels were running out)
4th km in 4:40 sec (kicked in the backup generator)
5th km in 4:53 sec (considering it was uphill, was pleased and glad to stop)
5 km in 23 min (avg 4:36) a personal best, but no membership yet.
my Garmin tells me I had a max heart rate at 190bpm, strange as my calculated maximum is 183, maybe a little glitch, but which one, the heart or the Garmin?
It feels great to run, and even better to stop and write about it!
Today my muscles were nicely lasagna primed and ready to go. late work, and helping put the children to bed took me to 20:30, my major driving force to still go run was a silly desire to make a blogging entry! Heyhey I managed!
There is a prestiges club that I do not yet belong to, it allows a certain degree of bragging rights, the entry fee is nothing more then 5 km in 20 minutes. Now this is quite a challenge, and though I have heard that it is possible, I am still a while away. Today was my trial run, to see where I stand and so off I went.
1st km in 3:54 sec (a delightful downhill start to encourage my 5km projections)
2nd km in 4:30 sec (still very pleased but now I was 26 seconds off pace)
3rd km in 5:03 sec (my biofuels were running out)
4th km in 4:40 sec (kicked in the backup generator)
5th km in 4:53 sec (considering it was uphill, was pleased and glad to stop)
5 km in 23 min (avg 4:36) a personal best, but no membership yet.
my Garmin tells me I had a max heart rate at 190bpm, strange as my calculated maximum is 183, maybe a little glitch, but which one, the heart or the Garmin?
It feels great to run, and even better to stop and write about it!
lundi 21 juin 2010
22km to St Prex and back.
Saturday morning left the house at 6:45 children still beautifully asleep. Get to Nialls place 7:00 a.m. and ready to run. It was a cool day with the low hanging clouds just waiting to dump their reserves on us, made clothes selection tricky, I took a chance and went without the shell. My twitching muscles were excited to go for a 2 hour run, like a young pup who wants to chase down the squirrels in the forest and forgets his bearings I went out feeling great.
We headed down the usual path, over to Perroy and in mid conversation Niall interrupts me, it turns out we were approaching “the gate” and he was wondering when I would make a dash for it. Sorry, after my last racing deception I have to plan these things in advance and find the optimal distraction to get my head start.
We made our way through the beautiful Allaman river path. Up and down, in and out, over and many times under the low hanging branches from the weeks rain. The rain has a way of accentuating everything, even colors become brighter and more intense. Many times as we were running along there was pockets of strong smells, different flowers or plants huddled together , even the Kiwi plants were starting to release their pungent scent into the air.
With a comfortable and relaxed pace after 13km we made it to St Prex and when it dawned on me that this would mean a 26km run I got a little heavy hearted. To make matters worse not long after touching the infamous sign to which I have been initiated to the St Prex excursion tradition, Niall glanced at his watch and pulled a “Tenke” on me! I have to be back by 9:00 he tells me. Be back by 9:00 that means my nostrils were breathing dust going home. I tried and I tried to keep up as we approached km 18 and I was doing 4:28min/km I finally conceded that there are Jedi’s and there are Master Jedi’s as I read in a blog not long ago. However, this Jedi still managed to get back home and with a family very happy to see their papa with a handful of croissants, I recounted my morning whereabouts.
Later on that day I experienced the euphoria of physical exhaustion releasing its serotonin and other goodies into my bloodstream yielding 30 minutes of laugh attacks. Now that’s the life, when anything can happen and it’s still funny.
We headed down the usual path, over to Perroy and in mid conversation Niall interrupts me, it turns out we were approaching “the gate” and he was wondering when I would make a dash for it. Sorry, after my last racing deception I have to plan these things in advance and find the optimal distraction to get my head start.
We made our way through the beautiful Allaman river path. Up and down, in and out, over and many times under the low hanging branches from the weeks rain. The rain has a way of accentuating everything, even colors become brighter and more intense. Many times as we were running along there was pockets of strong smells, different flowers or plants huddled together , even the Kiwi plants were starting to release their pungent scent into the air.
With a comfortable and relaxed pace after 13km we made it to St Prex and when it dawned on me that this would mean a 26km run I got a little heavy hearted. To make matters worse not long after touching the infamous sign to which I have been initiated to the St Prex excursion tradition, Niall glanced at his watch and pulled a “Tenke” on me! I have to be back by 9:00 he tells me. Be back by 9:00 that means my nostrils were breathing dust going home. I tried and I tried to keep up as we approached km 18 and I was doing 4:28min/km I finally conceded that there are Jedi’s and there are Master Jedi’s as I read in a blog not long ago. However, this Jedi still managed to get back home and with a family very happy to see their papa with a handful of croissants, I recounted my morning whereabouts.
Later on that day I experienced the euphoria of physical exhaustion releasing its serotonin and other goodies into my bloodstream yielding 30 minutes of laugh attacks. Now that’s the life, when anything can happen and it’s still funny.
mercredi 16 juin 2010
10km in under 50min
Inspired by Niall who documents all his outtings I have decided to also have a go at it.
Ok, lets get started,
Ive been running for a while but never wrote down all my adventures and hickups along the way, perhaps it would have helped me smarten up quicker if I hadn't forgotten all the torment I put myself through over the years . . .
Yesterday I went running for the first time with the Foulé Glandoise, a bunch of 30 or so that quickly got divided up into 3 groups, the quickies and the slowpokes. Alain and myself found ourselves directly in between until we made a little short cut and then continued with the fast fokes. It was leaving Gland over to Luins up the slope of death to the little church were I got engaged and continued up some more, found our way over to Begnins and back. Good heart training but the downhill stretch was tough on the knees. I sure is nice to run with others, though it takes a bit of getting used to the logistics side, My personal independance needs to be a little remoulded but Im getting there.
My personal goals for the last few months has been to run 10km in under 50 minutes, I figured thats a reasonable goal with just enough challenge and prestige to be able to say I can do it, to get me motivated. So this weekend I felt up to the challenge. My first km is always easy as it goes downhill and its a beautiful way to warm up, however getting around km 8 I was beggining to convince myself to go straight and not turn uphill to get home, that way i would have a better time but somehow felt it was cheating. Coming along km 9 I forced myelf and let my heart rate rip through my chest like a whiny 2 stroke engine at 182bpm with a calculated 183 max; I was struggling! One little turn at the top, a 50m sprint and 10 clicks were in my pocket at 49 min 14 seconds. From my comfy couch after having showered and enjoying the flood of endorphins permeating through my body I had this thought "If only all of my life were this easy and rewarding! "
On to the next challenges . . . 5km in 20 minutes
Ok, lets get started,
Ive been running for a while but never wrote down all my adventures and hickups along the way, perhaps it would have helped me smarten up quicker if I hadn't forgotten all the torment I put myself through over the years . . .
Yesterday I went running for the first time with the Foulé Glandoise, a bunch of 30 or so that quickly got divided up into 3 groups, the quickies and the slowpokes. Alain and myself found ourselves directly in between until we made a little short cut and then continued with the fast fokes. It was leaving Gland over to Luins up the slope of death to the little church were I got engaged and continued up some more, found our way over to Begnins and back. Good heart training but the downhill stretch was tough on the knees. I sure is nice to run with others, though it takes a bit of getting used to the logistics side, My personal independance needs to be a little remoulded but Im getting there.
My personal goals for the last few months has been to run 10km in under 50 minutes, I figured thats a reasonable goal with just enough challenge and prestige to be able to say I can do it, to get me motivated. So this weekend I felt up to the challenge. My first km is always easy as it goes downhill and its a beautiful way to warm up, however getting around km 8 I was beggining to convince myself to go straight and not turn uphill to get home, that way i would have a better time but somehow felt it was cheating. Coming along km 9 I forced myelf and let my heart rate rip through my chest like a whiny 2 stroke engine at 182bpm with a calculated 183 max; I was struggling! One little turn at the top, a 50m sprint and 10 clicks were in my pocket at 49 min 14 seconds. From my comfy couch after having showered and enjoying the flood of endorphins permeating through my body I had this thought "If only all of my life were this easy and rewarding! "
On to the next challenges . . . 5km in 20 minutes
Inscription à :
Articles (Atom)