Oct 273.3 km
YTD 2950.7 km
Did one race the Horror Hill 6 hour covering 47.8 km on a cold wet mucky day. This was the first month every that I ran every day. Most months I miss less then a handful of days but I was taking part in the "October Challenge" to run and minimum of 5K every day.
Thursday, October 31, 2013
And that's a wrap
Last run of October 2013...5K at lunch this evening. And thus concludes the October Challenge and I am pleased to report that I ran 5K or longer each and every day this month.
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Lunch Run
5K the ussual was this eve. Calves were a little tender after running on my tip toes Monday otherwise I am pretty much back to where I was before HH.
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
93.14159265359%
Todays 5K was much better. Swelling in the right leg is almost gone and the normal range of motion is back. It would have been a great day to take it outside. Bright Sunshine , no Wind and temperatures hovering a little below slowly progressing to a little above made things rather pleasant.
Yesterday ... post went missing!
Right leg is still quite swollen but feeling better. It took be nearly 1.5 K to get up to a 6:00 pace. At first I was running on my tip toes but as things loosened up it was back to more of a mid foot strike. Logged a total of 5Ks and felt pretty decent near the end of the run. I really hate it when running doesn't' come naturally!
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Recovery Run
Best 5.2K recovery run ever! Left knee and lower leg were swollen and quite stiff as HH yesterday. I had a suspicion that run today may improve things and I wasn't dissapointed. The October Challenge really helped my out on a day that I probably would have remained idle.
Horror Hill 6 Hour Ultra - Saturday, October 26, 2013
Had lots of fun at Camp Heidelberg near Waterloo yesterday. Did this race for my second time and consecutive year. Last year it was wet , really wet and it made for some pretty tough running. I didn't think it could be any worse but this year was something to behold. It was around 5C cooler and for the first 3 hours it was heavy wet snow and howling winds. In spite of what Mother Nature threw at us I actually had fun and really enjoyed most of the race. The key was being comfortable and that I was. For the first time ever I wore my new Ron Hill water / wind proof jacket , Mizuno compression short under , shorts, wind proof underwear and to round it off I used my Saucony Gortex Exodus shoes with Injji Toe Socks and of course gloves.
Race day started early , up a little after 5am, hot tub and coffee leaving around 6:15 am. The 90 minute drive took close to 2 hours as I hit some heavy wet Snow between Tiviotdale and Salem...plows were out! Had lots of time before heading out at 09:00 am.
I was optimistic that I could have a faster run and headed out easy with the plan to pick it up as the day went on. I wasn't wearing a Garmin but wanted to keep track of how many 2.5K loops I had done. I have a hard time keeping track of numbers besides they start bouncing around in my head a drive me crazy after awhile so I came up with a different way of counting laps. I aim for a monthly average distance of around 300K which works out to around 10K a day. Last week in prep for HH I logged 5X5K lunch runs. At HH every 2 laps was 5K and made up for the distance I didn't cover through the week. So in mind loop 1 was Monday morning , when I started loop 2 it was Monday afternoon, completing loop 2 it was Tuesday morning and so on and so forth. Did my first Gel Tuesday at lunch and then decided to do the next one Wednesday morning. This way of keeping track of my progress was fun and helped me to Gel on schedule. For the first 3 hours it was really snowing hard and every lap was a tiny bit harder. It was really slippery in spots, almost as bad as water on Ice! I had my music on from the start and it really helped me enjoy the run. Usually I find it mentally tough getting to the half way point but I was moving well and was really enjoying the nasty weather. When it was Friday afternoon I had completed the first 25K of the race. I decided to skip the weekend and start back on Monday morning again. If I remember corrector I was also 2hrs54 minutes into the race. My minimum goal was to get to 50K , maybe 51 or 52 but doing the math I didn't have much time in the bank so it was going to be a real challenge to get there. I felt like I wasn't getting quite enough calories so I decided to do Gels every 2 laps ( once a day) instead of every 3 laps ( every 1.5 days). The 4th hour wasn't too bad , the snow turned to light rain and the wind picked up but I felt warmer and took my Ball cap off. In the 5th hour things really begin to hurt. Right shoulder and just general aches and pains and I continued to slow down. I did however manage to avoid the "Death March" and continued to run albeit slowly. More or less continued on the last hour the same as the previous and made it to my second "Friday Afternoon" crossing" the timing mat logging 47.5K in 5hrs59minXXsec. The moment I was done I hosed down the mud from my legs , removed my shoes , sprayed them and my feet off then walked across the parking lot to my car to change!
All and all a fun day with great results under somewhat grueling conditions. The general consensus from those who ran was it was a bit tougher then last year and that was certainly reflected in the overall results. They had some great food , had 2 bowls of Chilly and 2 Sausage on a Bun. Sat , talked recovered for an hour or so before heading out. Right Knee was really stiff and by the time I got home it was quite swollen. There wasn't anything in particular that I did to it but I suspect that it was all the slip sliding around! Its done that sorts of thing before so I am not particularly concerned about it. Should make today's 5K interesting ...think I will put on some tights!
Results are up ...I was credited with 47.8 k and out of the 20 of us who braved the weather I placed 12th, I was 8th out of 14 males and finished 2nd out of 3 in the 50+ age group.
Race day started early , up a little after 5am, hot tub and coffee leaving around 6:15 am. The 90 minute drive took close to 2 hours as I hit some heavy wet Snow between Tiviotdale and Salem...plows were out! Had lots of time before heading out at 09:00 am.
I was optimistic that I could have a faster run and headed out easy with the plan to pick it up as the day went on. I wasn't wearing a Garmin but wanted to keep track of how many 2.5K loops I had done. I have a hard time keeping track of numbers besides they start bouncing around in my head a drive me crazy after awhile so I came up with a different way of counting laps. I aim for a monthly average distance of around 300K which works out to around 10K a day. Last week in prep for HH I logged 5X5K lunch runs. At HH every 2 laps was 5K and made up for the distance I didn't cover through the week. So in mind loop 1 was Monday morning , when I started loop 2 it was Monday afternoon, completing loop 2 it was Tuesday morning and so on and so forth. Did my first Gel Tuesday at lunch and then decided to do the next one Wednesday morning. This way of keeping track of my progress was fun and helped me to Gel on schedule. For the first 3 hours it was really snowing hard and every lap was a tiny bit harder. It was really slippery in spots, almost as bad as water on Ice! I had my music on from the start and it really helped me enjoy the run. Usually I find it mentally tough getting to the half way point but I was moving well and was really enjoying the nasty weather. When it was Friday afternoon I had completed the first 25K of the race. I decided to skip the weekend and start back on Monday morning again. If I remember corrector I was also 2hrs54 minutes into the race. My minimum goal was to get to 50K , maybe 51 or 52 but doing the math I didn't have much time in the bank so it was going to be a real challenge to get there. I felt like I wasn't getting quite enough calories so I decided to do Gels every 2 laps ( once a day) instead of every 3 laps ( every 1.5 days). The 4th hour wasn't too bad , the snow turned to light rain and the wind picked up but I felt warmer and took my Ball cap off. In the 5th hour things really begin to hurt. Right shoulder and just general aches and pains and I continued to slow down. I did however manage to avoid the "Death March" and continued to run albeit slowly. More or less continued on the last hour the same as the previous and made it to my second "Friday Afternoon" crossing" the timing mat logging 47.5K in 5hrs59minXXsec. The moment I was done I hosed down the mud from my legs , removed my shoes , sprayed them and my feet off then walked across the parking lot to my car to change!
All and all a fun day with great results under somewhat grueling conditions. The general consensus from those who ran was it was a bit tougher then last year and that was certainly reflected in the overall results. They had some great food , had 2 bowls of Chilly and 2 Sausage on a Bun. Sat , talked recovered for an hour or so before heading out. Right Knee was really stiff and by the time I got home it was quite swollen. There wasn't anything in particular that I did to it but I suspect that it was all the slip sliding around! Its done that sorts of thing before so I am not particularly concerned about it. Should make today's 5K interesting ...think I will put on some tights!
Results are up ...I was credited with 47.8 k and out of the 20 of us who braved the weather I placed 12th, I was 8th out of 14 males and finished 2nd out of 3 in the 50+ age group.
Friday, October 25, 2013
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Monday, October 21, 2013
Boston Marathon 2011
It seems like forever ago since I ran Boston in 2011. The entire experience was totally amazing with the exception of the Marathon I tried to Run. I don't know what I was thinking but I really believed I could BQ at Boston and went for it. Live and learn I guess!!!! Not being real thrilled about my run I didn't fork out the big $$ for the race pictures. I received an email recently offering me the pictures at a 40% discount so I figured why not ... there was one good one of me crossing the finish line.
So here is my day in pictures ....
Waiting for the race to start in Hopkinton is unlike anything I have ever experienced. It was cold, really cold and the place was alive with energy and pre-race jitters. I was 100% relaxed loving every minute soaking it all in...I was running Boston!
I made it through the 1/2 at a 5:00 pace felling a bit tired but still OK.
I get a kick out of the next three shots. Its like the guy in the red shirt thought I was going to keel over!
I think I am getting close to the finish trying desperately to keep it together.
This picture captures how I really felt.
There is nothing quite like crossing the finish line!
How quickly we forget!
So here is my day in pictures ....
Waiting for the race to start in Hopkinton is unlike anything I have ever experienced. It was cold, really cold and the place was alive with energy and pre-race jitters. I was 100% relaxed loving every minute soaking it all in...I was running Boston!
I think I am getting close to the finish trying desperately to keep it together.
This picture captures how I really felt.
There is nothing quite like crossing the finish line!
How quickly we forget!
Lunch Run
5K done indoors at lunch today. Ditto the next 4 days leading up to Horror Hill on Saturday!
Sunday, October 20, 2013
A little trail
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Cool and wet but very nice!
Got to wear my Ronhill Rain jacket today ... kept the cold and wet out and allowed the warm and wet to vent. A truly awesome piece of running gear. I only planned on 10K but was feeling so comfy in the rain I added another 5K to the day for a total of 15K.
Friday, October 18, 2013
1hr34min38sec - 11,998.02 metres
Thursday, October 17, 2013
October Rain
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Taking it Outside
Just finished a rather pleasant run thanks to the October Challenge. Nearly 3 hours in the dental and one root canal later I wasn't really up to running. Pharmacist gave the OK to drink Beer and Run whilst taking Percosets. Just warned me I may be a little bit off balance .... just another normal day in my books! PVRed the Ball game and headed out the door with the intention of doing 5K and ended up logging 10.8K trail / road mix. Go Dodgers, go Tigers!
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
180
Bored on today's 5K treadmill run.
Checked my Cadence.
6:00 pace = 160
5:00 pace = 172
4:30 pace = 178
Proper cadence for "good form" is 180 foot strikes/min regardless of pace. When I hit a 5:00 pace this is where I truly feel like I am "running" , anything less feels like a shuffle or a jog if you prepare!
Checked my Cadence.
6:00 pace = 160
5:00 pace = 172
4:30 pace = 178
Proper cadence for "good form" is 180 foot strikes/min regardless of pace. When I hit a 5:00 pace this is where I truly feel like I am "running" , anything less feels like a shuffle or a jog if you prepare!
Monday, October 14, 2013
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Saturday, October 12, 2013
Back to work!
Logged 10K on the treadmill on my meal break. It wasn't nearly as much fun with no Beer and no Sun.
Friday, October 11, 2013
100% Sun
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Shorts Shoes Socks , take two.
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Shoes Shorts Socks
It may be Oct 9 but all I need to do to prepare for today's run was to throw on a pair of shorts and add some socks and shoes. It was such a lovely day I would have loved to gone long but I had too many other things to do. I had a plan , had the pool and beer ready. I ran fast for 10.3 K so I would really heat up then when I was finished I jumped in for a quick cool down the floated around on the air mattress for 90 minutes consuming the Beer.
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Cool Running
Monday, October 7, 2013
Last mid
Finished off my string of night shifts this week with a 12K run at a 6:00 pace on my meal break this morning.
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Friday, October 4, 2013
Thursday, October 3, 2013
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
September 2013 Totals
Sept - 287.6 km
YTD- 2677.4 km
Three races , 100 mile attempt http://westgreyrunner.blogspot.ca/2013/09/hallucination-100-dnf.html, 6 Hour http://westgreyrunner.blogspot.ca/2013/09/the-dam-hill-run-6-hour-ultra-september.html and my shortest of the year http://westgreyrunner.blogspot.ca/2013/09/chase-coyote-145k-trail-race.html.
YTD- 2677.4 km
Three races , 100 mile attempt http://westgreyrunner.blogspot.ca/2013/09/hallucination-100-dnf.html, 6 Hour http://westgreyrunner.blogspot.ca/2013/09/the-dam-hill-run-6-hour-ultra-september.html and my shortest of the year http://westgreyrunner.blogspot.ca/2013/09/chase-coyote-145k-trail-race.html.
Best 8min30sec
This sure explains allot ...
http://www.somaxsports.com/video.php?analysis=chris-solinsky-stride-analysis
If you only watch 1 running video this year make it this one!
http://www.somaxsports.com/video.php?analysis=chris-solinsky-stride-analysis
If you only watch 1 running video this year make it this one!