Where am I!
So as you can tell I haven’t been updating this blog. Mostly that is because I just don’t have the time to keep this up at the pace I would like to. If you are interested in what I am up to though you can check out my training blog. I update it every day and it usually has more in there then just the training I’m doing. You can check it out here: James’ Training Blog
100 Push-ups
So I stumbled across this website the other day and the challenge was just to irresistible to turn down. Basically this program claims to be able to take you to the point where you can do 100 push ups in about 6 weeks training but doing their simple push-up routine 3 times a week. You start off with an initial test to see what your current max consecutive pushups is and then it gives you your routine.
My initial test was 21 push-ups. I literally fell to the ground after number 21. Thats more then I thought I could do to tell you the truth. Anyways today was workout #1. I did 5 sets of push-ups. 10, 12, 7, 7, 15. I’m going to keep it up and see how it works. Push-ups are one of the best exercises you can do for strength. They work many different muscle groups and best of all you don’t need any equipment to do them. So we’ll see how it goes. If I can do 100 push-ups in 6 weeks I’ll be VERY happy 
October
Well it just keeps getting better and better. October was another awesome month. Running keeps getting easier and every day I genuinely cannot wait to lace up my shoes and get out the door. If I only have a short run planned I have to try very hard to make sure I don’t run to far or fast. I am absolutely head over heels once again with exercise
This month was one of the biggest I have ever had from a pure distance standpoint. In total I checked off 108 km in 10 hours and 27 min. My body is now strong and fit enough to be running up to 6 days a week so I’m going to be able to start building to some pretty big weeks and months.
Part of the reason things have gone so good is that I have a lot of experience and that experience has taught me one very important thing. You need a plan and you need to follow it. A big part of becoming a better runner is putting in the time doing a lot of slow easy miles. You don’t go out every day and run as far and hard as you can. Once a week (maybe twice if you are experienced) you push your limits. The rest of the time you take it easy. You run distances you know you can run easily and you do it at a pace slow enough that you could have a conversation with a friend. If you don’t take it easy you eventually get injured.
Below is a graph showing my actual training vs. my planned training over the past 3 months. You will notice I pretty much do exactly what is planned and not a much more each week. It’s not because I couldn’t do more, it’s because I know if I don’t give my body the time to adjust to the stress of running I’ll end up injured.
If anyone reading is thinking about getting into running and wants a plan for them self I have just the thing. Check out this couch to 5k plan offered on beginner triathlete. It can safely take pretty much anyone from the couch to running a 5k in a few months.
My Training Philosophy
I saw this quote today and I think that it pretty much sums up my feelings on running perfectly. Still working on easy.
“Think Easy, Light, Smooth, and Fast. You start with easy, because if that’s all you get, that’s not so bad. Then work on light. Make it effortless, like you don’t give a shit how high the hill is or how far you’ve got to go. When you’ve practiced that so long that you forget you’re practicing, you work on making it smooooooth. You won’t have to worry about the last one – you get those three, and you’ll be fast.” – Born to Run
Massage :)
So I took a close look at my work benefits plan and noticed that I get fully covered for massage therapy! As soon as I found out I made an appointment at a place by my house. I figured with all the training I’m doing some massage on my legs was just what I needed. So now every few Friday’s I plan on going in and getting my legs worked on. I feels great and best of all I don’t even have to pay for it.
It’s a good life
Ottawa
From Thursday to Saturday I was in Ottawa for meetings at defense headquarters. Luckily the weather was awesome and I was able to get out for a good run on Friday afternoon. Below is a picture of route I took behind the parliament buildings from my hotel and a few pictures I took along the run.
What’s Next?
The months of November and December are pretty bare as far as races go. There are a few little races but unfortunately I’m out of town for some of the shorter ones. In January the Island Race Series starts up. It’s 8 races over a period of 16 weeks (one every 2 weeks) and the races range in distance from 5k to half marathon. I think I am going to do all the races 10k and under which will be 5 of the 8 in the series.
In the meantime I have 2.5 months to prepare. I’m going to start to slowly up my mileage and running frequency. In October I going to bring running up to 4x per week and start to slowly increase my long runs up to around 12 – 14k. After that I’m going to keep my long runs no further then 15k till the end of the year and start to increase my mileage during the week till I get to the point where I am running 5 – 6 times per week with a mid week run in the range of 10k. I’m also going to add in yoga once a week and strength training 2x per week in order help prevent injuries.
Hopefully all of this will lay the ground work for next year. I plan to run the Time Colonist 10k (April 25th) and the Kelowna Apple Triathlon (Aug 22nd) as goal races. I’ll be keeping all my racing short to avoid ramping up my training volume to much. Increasing volume too quickly more times then not leads to injuries which I have experienced enough of in the past. I want to make sure that I am strong and solid at the short stuff before I even think about racing long again.
Race Day!
So yesterday was the big day that I have been building up to. It wasn’t big in the sense that I was going to break any of my personal bests, but it was big in the sense that I set out to accomplish a fitness goal and I achieved it. It has been a long time since I have done that.
All in all my running training for this race added up to 20.1 hours of running and 198.6 km traveled by foot over a 12 week period. When I started running a nice hard pace for me was around 6:30 – 7:00 min/km. It was very tough in the beginning few weeks because my body was not used to moving. It wanted to stay seated on the couch but I knew if I could just push through the first few weeks it would eventually get better. And it did. The last 3 weeks have been amazing. I have a spring in my step and I completed the 8k race at a pace of 4:54 min/km. I never in my wildest dreams thought I would be able to hold that pace for this race.
But enough of the back story, what about the race? Well I have to say if you ever want to do one of the most beautiful races in North America then the Royal Victoria Marathon, Half Marathon and 8k is where it is at. The 8k race starts downtown right beside the historic Empress Hotel and BC Parliament buildings. Over the first km you weave your way out of downtown to the water front. The second km is along the seawall with beautiful views of the Pacific Ocean and the Olympic Mountains in Washington. The 3rd km takes you into Beacon Hill Park which still gives you a view of the ocean as well at the amazing park itself. The 4th km stays in Beacon Hill till you hit the turn around at the end of the 4th km. The picture below shows the route which took me 39 minutes and 14 seconds to complete.
Tomorrow is Race day!
Tomorrow I will be toeing the line for the first time in over 2 years. 12 weeks ago I finally got fed up with letting myself get so pudgy and out of shape. I decided that I couldn’t continue to make excuses for my inactivity. I needed to suck it up, lace up my shoes and get back out the door. I knew it would be hard work but I also knew that the best I ever felt in my life was when I was training and racing. The high you get after a hard workout is the best feeling in the world. There is nothing like coming up against a hill that has kicked your ass for weeks and finally being able to power up it, or the feeling of being so focused and present in the moment. When you run hard the mind doesn’t wander, it doesn’t think about anything but what you are doing at that very moment. The world around you disappears and you attain a level of focus you want to get back to over and over again. Running becomes an addiction that just gets better and better.
I now wake up craving my run. A far cry from 12 weeks ago. Tomorrow no matter what the results are will be a resounding success. I set out to take my body back from the couch and no matter what the time when I cross that line I have accomplished that goal.
So……
Hello everyone. It’s been a while. I am happy to say though my lack of updates has mostly been due to a busy month and not being hit by a bus.
Let me bring you up to speed on whats been going on the past month. Kristi and I attended beer fest, kelowna wine fest, I’m pretty sure I was taken out for 10 days by H1N1. In the midst of all that I’ve made all my runs, most of my rides and have managed to drop another 13 pounds. That is the quick and dirty update. I’ve got some pictures of my August canoe trip that I will post soon and I’m also racing my goal race an 8k tomorrow.
