Monday, Feb 21: Up in the air...Calgary to Lausanne via London Heathrow
Exactly eight weeks to go to race day; half way through my 16 week training plan and the days are racing by faster than my tempo runs. In midst of the endurance-lactate threshold phase, this is a “recovery week” in that the long weekend run coming up is only 14km and I’m actually enjoying the anticipation of a shorter sojourn on the running path, where ever that may be, come the weekend. Funny how quickly things become relative as not too long ago, a 14km run sounded like a long ways to haul ones’ body over hill and dale!
Taking stock, the “old body” is hanging in there although lots of familiar aches have re-introduced themselves after a few weeks of increasing mileage and effort. All good, although the niggly-wiggly right Achilles and heel remind me to take care of the legs with more stretching, and alternating ice cold – hot foot baths after the long runs. Ah yes, stretching, never has been one of my strong points through my athletic life and it has become my personal Achilles heel. Mentally I remind myself to take care of the details, focus on the daily things to accomplish and the results will take care of themselves on April 18 in Boston. A detail I need to add is a stretching routine.
Certainly didn’t spend any time stretching on AC850, the 8+ hour flight from Calgary to London, other than stretching the legs in the “pod” up in business class while taking in a movie. Did pause to reflect on how “everything is amazing yet no one is happy” lounging in my seat with 35000 feet of empty space between my backside and the deep blue sea. Of course, it was even easier to enjoy a moment of reflection while sipping a glass of wine that accompanied my dinner of black cod, as I was fortunate enough to get an upgrade and enjoyed the spoils of sitting up front. And trust me, I truly appreciate the “spoiled” factor as I’ve spent a lot of time travelling by some rather dubious means including on airlines flying aircraft apparently held together by duct tape with flight attendants possessing commando like personalities. “Ask for water and I’ll slap you sideways...now let me get back to polishing my nails...!” Ahhh, yes, the days of working in the former Soviet Union where planes on the Department of Foreign Affairs ‘Do Not Fly list’ are in abundant supply. Business class on Air Canada is rather sweet!
It seems that the most difficult part of my enterprise activities for the last thirty years, either paid or volunteer, has been simply getting there. Whether a ten hour drive across the frozen prairies of Southern Alberta and Saskatchewan, or thirty hours in transit to get to the distant steppes of Kazakhstan, significant travel times have always been an integral part of my life journey. The years of experience has allowed me to develop reasonable coping skills for travel and once on the ground in London, I simply flipped my mind to neutral and navigated the maze of London Heathrow airport, from the tired and dishevelled Terminal 3 to the gleaming expanse of Terminal 5, the latest addition to the sprawling airport complex west of London.
So, eight weeks, give or take a few hours based on time zone difference, and here I sit in Terminal 5 at London Heathrow airport tapping away on my laptop keyboard. Check my training schedule and make mental note as to when I will fit in the next training run amidst the meetings with the IOC at their headquarters in Lausanne, specifically at Le château de Vidy. It’s all about making the best use of time available.
Tuesday, Feb 22: Lady of the Lake in Lausanne?
The day started off poignantly with the news from Christchurch, NZ and the devastating earthquake. I was riveted to the TV before breakfast as I have a couple of very close friends who live there and a number of great Kiwi friends. It’s always an attention getter in life when these things happen as you realize how fragile and unpredictable life can be. Best make the most of it -- daily! (Later did hear from friends that although their house sustained some major damage, they were all right and generally fared much better than so many. Still, it was a powerfully emotional, harrowing experience for thousands and an event that will take years for NZ to recover from in a number of ways.)
The training no longer about simple endurance but now about pushing my lactate threshold, that is, the ability to run faster longer or more practically, stretching the time and distance you can run before you feel like throwing up. Therefore, speed intervals are on the schedule. Staying in a hotel across from Le Port d’Ouchy on the lake front of Lausanne, I exited lobby, turned left and followed the lake front towards Quai d’Ouchy. It felt rather warm at 9C and the bit of drizzle didn’t dampen my enthusiasm for a run involving fewer layers of clothing. The picture below is what the Quai d’Ouchy looks like on a nice sunny day, not quite the case for my run.
As I came around the corner, I ran into a unique statue of a nude young lady; not sure who she represents but a tourist from Belgium thought that a picture with her was absolutely necessary. As I was in the middle of a lerisurely 15-20 minute warm-up, the tourist stops were fun to accomodate. After the photo-op, I continued east along Quai d’Ouchy towards the Olympic Museum which I made my turn-around spot, finishing my warm up back at the port.
From there it was westward doing 1km interval repeats: a km at or just under 4 minute pace with 2 minutes walk / jog recovery, repeating 4 more times for a total of 5 km at cruise pace. Rough calculations told me that this was about 25% slower than the 1km repeats I was doing training back in the 90’s but I was also 40% older, 10% heavier and at least 50% busier. Reminded myself with my inside voice to keep perspective always and try to focus on the moment, constantly. The cool down run back to hotel was a nice way to end the afternoon, a run generally a great antidote to the effects of jet lag....what ever that is?! And called both Lac Léman and Lake Geneva, I’m left wondering what the preferred name is, thinking that may depend upon your nationality.
Thursday, Feb 24: “Home” in London
Used Wednesday as a rest day and a catch up day with friends: breakfast at the “Swiss Chalet” (not like the chain restaurant in Canada) at the Geneva airport and fish’n’chips with ubiquitous English pint at the Sawyer’s Arms’s in Paddington, London. Thursday meant back to the training, so off on an out-and-back circular 9.5km through Kensington Garden, Hyde Park, Green Park and St. James Park in front of Buckingham Palace. I had booked the day off from work so it was a leisurely 09h15 start from my hotel in the Bayswater area for the approximate 55minutes of running including short warm-up and cool-down segments.
When you pay attention to your surroundings, there are constant reminders just how fortunate one is and how many we owe so much to over the years for our way of life. Crossing into Green Park, I paused for a moment of reflection in front of a monument to 49076 Royal Artillery Regiment members killed in WWI! The staggering loss of life in so many horrific wars across the millennium is incomprehensible, both morally and mathematically. It struck me, not for the first time, that we have so much to learn as a species, hopefully the lessons learned before we exterminate ourselves. I appreciated the opportunity to complete a tempo run even that much more as I continued on my way.
Later in the afternoon, after a brunch on Queensway in Bayswater, I took the “Tube” to Victoria Station, a place I’m rather familiar with having first journeyed through there in July, 1976 and have made countless trips transiting via Victoria station in the heart of London. Followed my routine of buying a baguette for the 1h45min train trip south to Bognor Regis, to be accompanied by a cup of tea on board, and a read of a good book (far better than reading a bad book!) to enhance the rail experience.
Saturday, Feb 26: “Another second home”, the seaside “resort” of Bognor Regis
This weekend was certainly a contrast in activities and excitement. Friday saw my butt parked in a chair for over 7 hours catching up on email, while on Sunday my butt was parked on an Air Canada flight back to Calgary. On Saturday, my butt was hardly parked at all for it was the day for a scheduled long run, this one an easy recovery run of only 14km (9 miles) that took me back along the English Channel coast for a few miles, followed by a late afternoon rugby match at Twickenham Stadium in London watching England defeat France 17-9 in a Six Nations rugby match. A rather stellar weekend all round!
Familiar to me in so many ways, I headed west from Felpham along the Bognor seafront and out through the villages of Aldwick and Bersted. Typically, English towns and cities certainly aren’t laid out in a grid fashion as in North America but rather follow creeks, coasts, hills and fences, collective boundaries set so long ago which is my explanation (excuse?) for a couple of wrong turns that morning. Turned out rather well though as my unplanned route took me past the church my parents were married in back in 1946, when Canadian soldiers were making a habit of bringing back English “war-brides”, and from the view of the steeple I knew it was past the thatched roof, a left turn at the pink pub and I was good for the return stretch. The soft sands exposed by low tide made for a very pleasant finish, just me and the seagulls enjoying the soft light of the sunny morning, my biggest worry was to not tear a groin hurdling the groins or what one might call an erosion preventing sea wall.
And to finish off the Saturday morning run in Bognor, well of course a full English fry-up breakfast at Rick’s Cafe. Not what’d you consider ‘health food’; definitely high-calorie comfort food which was a satisfying change from the numerous porridge breakfasts I’ve ‘chowed down’ before or after a long run. It was perfect!
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