The days are disappearing; only 3 weeks to go until the big run. It seemed all so distant when I signed up last fall and even when I started the 16 week training plan, April 18 seemed to be a very distant date, well beyond the horizon. Now, it’s not months away but rather getting down to days with the race in Massachusetts on Patriot’s Day rapidly becoming a close prospect.
When the volume of miles seems to grow exponentially, the long runs become critical markers and I must admit, the prospect of 3 plus hours running became a daunting repetitive challenge that came around all too quickly every six days or so. But now, for this program, the long training runs are complete and the mileage diminishes significantly towards the last long run in the program, the important one; the race itself. The official taper began the day after the penultimate long run, and what a great feeling it was after months of steady increases in time and distance in the running shoes!
Of course the taper didn’t start so well as on the Monday when I got to London, England, I was officially fighting some type of bug. Injuries and illness are dreaded spectres for anyone training and when if one or the other becomes a reality, doubt can easily creep in. The key is to take the most appropriate steps and shift from movement to rest and recovery, something I can excel in when required.
Monday, Mar 28: Scheduled - Barefoot warm-up and Yoga.Actual – in transit again.
Did some stretching in the galley of the plane on my way to London and then took a three hour nap in the hotel room once settled in and unpacked. Late afternoon it was off to the ‘chemist’ to get some pharmaceutical help – anti-cold and flu drugs were on the shopping list. It was going to be a very frenetic week or so even without the training so getting feeling a tad better was number one priority.
Tuesday, Mar 29: Scheduled – 3 repeats of 1500m....
Actual – day of rest.I was still engaged in battle with flu bug so opted for another day of rest and huddled up in room with medicines and computer to catch up on numerous emails. Not exactly pure rest but certainly not training!
Being back in London for the 2012 Games Coordination Commission meetings, the evening was taken up with 3 hour in-camera IOC meeting. Speaking of time rolling off a calendar, the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games must seem to be hurdling down on the organizers but they appear to be on top of things, as much as you can be on a project as complex and massive as this particular one budgeted in excess of $14 billion. (On my way back to London, did snap a picture from the plane of Olympic Park in east London that provides visual evidence of the progress.)
View of East London from the Plane
Actual – completed training scheduled for previous day.
As I had already cashed in my rest day on Tuesday and was already feeling better, I completed the speed workout of repeat 1500m segments on the Embankment along the River Thames. The wet, cool weather meant crowds not as heavy as usual so easier crossing the bridges as well as getting past the line-ups at the London Eye.
Village of Morrin
As I did my run, couldn’t help but think about my charmed and often “Forest Gump” like life with all the experiences far removed from something I’d have dreamt about as a lad among the 200 or so denizens of my home village of Morrin. Having lunch with HRH The Princess Royal and discussing sport concussions seemed all so ‘normal’, with her stories of concussions incurred by riders in equestrian similar yet so uniquely different from ice hockey incidents. Although there are near enough some horse sized guys on the ice that could concuss another player one by falling on them; just not that common to see. With The Princess Royal being an IOC member, lunch with royalty perhaps wasn’t the biggest surprise during the week’s meals.
Thursday: Mar 31 Scheduled – 10km at marathon pace so around 4.7-4.8 min/km (7.5-7.6 min/mile) Actual –Ended up “saving” the 10km tempo like run for Saturday as Friday was shaping up to be a crazy schedule.
I wanted to start shifting days back to align with the Monday race so decided almost wise to take another rest day; definitely not a bad thing as still not feeling 100%. And Thursday turned out to be rather full as in 2012 Games meetings and tours from 08h00 through to 19h00. The surprise at lunch today was having the “Terminator” pop in to say hello to everyone and congratulate them for all the good work everyone was doing on the 2012 Olympic Games. Surprised me a bit in that Arnold Schwarzenegger isn’t as tall as I expected him to be but he still is a rather large, powerful man. Trust me, you knew you had shaken hands when he let go.
Friday: April 1 Scheduled - Yoga. Actual – simply became a day of managing logistics.
No “real” exercise involved but the overall schedule was pretty much exhausting: meetings until noon, a quick bite of sandwich, car to Stansted airport north of London, flight to Ankara, Turkey where after purchasing a visa, caught another plane to Antalya on the south coast of Turkey. By the time all settled, including a very confusing process of ordering room service while taking care of emails, it was after 03h00 in the morning.
Saturday: April 2 Scheduled - Can use this day to make up workouts or X-train day.Actual – indeed was a make-up day for workouts, a day that required more stubbornness than commitment.
The 05h35 call to prayer from the local mosque was not particularly welcomed with the speaker seemingly just outside the balcony, and sadly it was sleep that seemed to over-ride any urge for spiritual redemption. The dogs fighting at 7h00 proved to be another “morning alarm” so I grudgingly acquiesced to the local auditory environs and made my way downstairs for a full day of IPC (International Paralympic Committee) meetings. Before I headed out of the room, I did open the drapes for my first glimpse of Antalya in daylight – even with the clouds, it was a sight that did not disappoint and I knew it’d be a good spot to explore.
View from the hotel in AntalyaAs I sat down at lunch, I realized a run at the end of the day simply had to be done; not contemplated for any length of time as then the idea of an unscheduled rest day would become too much of a temptress. So straight after the conclusion of the meeting at 5h30, I quickly changed and got in a 44 minute, 10km run along the seafront at a pace slightly faster than called for which I blamed on the surroundings. The breeze off the Mediterranean seemed to inspire a faster pace with the simple joy of running in reasonably warm weather (18C or so) injecting extra energy into my strides. Of course, the occasional dog at the side of the road eyeing up my legs didn’t slow me down any either....
Antalya Beach
Actual – stretching while in meetings.
Did manage to do a fair bit of stretching the legs while sitting in the meetings including several sessions of standing to loosen up the rather tight calves and hamstrings. Sadly may be a lost cause, loosening up the muscles in the hips and legs that is. This is good for me, right?! Did get a few looks from my IPC colleagues wondering just what my problem was with sitting still.
In the afternoon, the Governing board was invited to the opening ceremony of the International Blind Sports World Championships. Had to include this as there are times when you witness things that just simply miss the mark – most of the ceremony involved a fashion show on the floor of a large basketball arena, a show relying heavily on stunning visual presentation yet this show was an audience that was predominately visually impaired or blind. I was stunned by how inappropriate it seemed; so much for this event being athlete focused!! Of course a couple of days earlier I was told how they were painting one of the hotels where athletes were staying: someone with a black sense of humour perhaps or was it an absolute lack of comprehension? Bizarre circumstances at best; appropriate definitely not.
Looking west along Bow river, centre of city...end of winter not the most colourful
