The Beautiful Morhdorh as seen through the eyes of a hobbit
It is indeed all relative but for me, when I started out on this particular endeavour, I knew I had limited time to train based on competing priorities, a rather full travel schedule and a number of injuries I didn’t want to exacerbate with excessive mileage, so very early on the ‘less-is-more’ program became entrenched in mind and practicality. For my non-running or even non-exercising friends, less again is a relative term. At the end of this week, I faced the longest single training run I’ve ever completed – 35km lurked in the distance, casting a mental shadow across the end of a frenetic week like the dark forces looming out of Morhdorh. Now very long runs do appeal to some people; many individuals who may have some direct connection to our primordial hunting roots and envision their lengthy excursions as stalking prey across miles of open terrain, or perhaps they are simply borderline sadomasochists? Maybe one of these is a reasonable explanation for my friends who are ultra-marathoners? To me, a run over 2.5 hours has the appeal of cold, raw lima beans served on melba toast.
Another session of chilling outAnd so what was the week? Simply, week 13 in the 16 week program was another iteration of the previous 12 weeks with subtle changes to speed and distance to further prepare oneself for the upcoming race. Bring on ‘Groundhog day’!
Monday, Mar 21: Scheduled - Barefoot warm-up and Yoga. Actual – Been there, not quite done that, as in missed another chance for yoga redemption. I was caught up in last minute planning for a major fundraising event we were organizing in Toronto so emails and phone calls ate up the hours and I settled for a rest day, well at least rest for my legs!
Tuesday, Mar 12: Scheduled – 3 repeats of 1500m, with an accompaniment of “easy on the speed” to save legs for Sat so once again, only around 4 minutes per km pace.
Actual – Late start as after 21h00 when started on my easy 15 min warm-up around indoor track. Once again I rallied to the cry of “mount the barricades”....errr, what I really meant was back to the treadmill (contraptions most likely designed by aforementioned sadomasochists) for repeat intervals. Finished 3x1500 at sub 4 min/km pace with regular 2 min jog in between each set and once again, felt decent at the end. That wasn’t to be the case come Sunday!
Wednesday, Mar 23: Scheduled – New body weight program; 30 reps.
Actual – back to my strength in running, that is, running for airplanes. Off to Toronto for a couple of days, specifically for event on Thursday so 05h30 departure from condo that saw me survive Calgary airport overrun with stressed out parents, excited yet exhausted children in tow, as it was start of spring break and families were frantic to escape the clutches of Calgary’s winter. Eventually I arrived in Toronto late afternoon in midst of snowstorm and mused that I could likely maintain the same pace running as I was experiencing driving down the 427 into the city!
Thursday, Mar 24: Scheduled - 8 km run at target marathon pace).
Actual – Did exactly that, 8km at target marathon pace so done after 37 minutes or so. Only disappointing part was ran on treadmill again as although bright and sunny outside, the path along Lake Ontario was covered in snow and ice that was treacherous to navigate. Run was a good warm-up for the event that evening at the Magna Golf Club as it felt intense.
Friday, Mar 25: Scheduled - Yoga.
Actual – After a few morning meetings in Toronto, it was another day of travel as I flew back to Calgary. Let’s call it a day of rest?
Saturday, Mar 26: Scheduled - Can use this day to make up workouts or X-train day.
Actual – It was essentially a repeat of previous week as still moving houses: more “up-and-down stairs and in-and-out of garages” as we moved numerous boxes and ‘stuff’ from Lisa’s place to my house. Told you it was like Groundhog Day!
Sunday: Mar 20 Scheduled – 35km, last long training run before race.
Actual – Starting off at the crack of dark, well perhaps slightly later than that as it was after 7:00am by time I stumbled out into yet once again, a fresh layer of snow in Calgary. The Maple Leafs will be golfing soon so spring in Canada must be on its way?! After 7 straight days of something called “snow grains” and fog, sunshine seemed a distant memory, which is rare in ‘sunny’ Calgary. People were becoming a tad cranky as the novelty of fresh, crisp snow has long lost its appeal in these here parts.
No birds up at his point so settled for Guangzhou bird from Games opening ceremony to brighten the dayI know another long run on icy, snow covered paths didn’t hold a magical appeal with me anymore but I did convince myself to look at the bright side by using solid Canadian logic, “well at least it’s not -25C”. The first hour involved running to the meeting point where the dependable CRR Old Dawgs gathered for yet another long Sunday run; just over an hour in a pack of seven running zealots; a wee ways as a group of three; then the final last hour on my own, shuffling my sorry old ar?@ back to the rendezvous point. It was the longest I’d ever run on my feet – 3 hours, 14 minutes for 35km in the snowy conditions, which is more than 2 minutes longer than my slowest marathon time...to this point. Boston will not be a ‘PB’, and most likely a ‘PW’ (personal worse as opposed to a personal best) as sometimes you simply have to “have the pluck to suck and set your sights low”! I was pleased as punch to see Lisa waiting in the car for me to drive me home as she had also been out for a run – only an hour or so. Back home, at least home for 4 more days, and after a large breakfast, I started to feel human once again which was good as I had to pack for my flight to London, UK.
Cool down run after the 35m not really necessary – walking seemed strenuous at this point
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