2500 in 2017!

With two days left in 2017 I’ve now run more than 2,500 km this year (over 1,555 miles).
 

When I started this blog last winter I was day dreaming about the warm places that were 2017 km away. Tonight’s temperature certainly isn’t Caribbean, with wind chill taking it down to -28c (-18f).

 

That's as warm as it gets this week... Ottawa is currently the worlds coldest capital city.

Less than 48 hours to help me help Start 2 Finish:
https://www.gifttool.com/athon/MyFundraisingPage?ID=1466&AID=1695&PID=602510&Preview=Y

The Return on Investment:

1. The Start2Finish Fitness Literacy Model is a comprehensive, strategic approach that produces long-term social change. 
2. Start2Finish has a $17 social return on investment for every $1 donated. 
3. Start2Finish has empowered 70,000 Canadian children living in poverty.

Happy Holidays

What better way to start the holiday week than a snowy outing with some Running Room friends.  Around 30 people gathered for a scenic run followed by some hot chocolate and festive treats.

Just before heading out I was asked if I could guide Jason Dunkerley... it's not every day you get the chance to run with a Canadian Paralympic medalist!
I had not guided a blind runner before but was happy to have a go.  Jason and I had a quick chat (to make sure he wasn't expecting a pro!) and we were ready to go.

Initially I was a bit anxious about letting him down or not keeping up (his marathon PB being about 45 mins faster than mine).  Jason's relaxed, friendly attitude put me at ease though, and the group was doing easy '10 & 1s' at chatting pace so speed was not an issue - although I remained nervous about footing as we ran through a mix of snow, slush, and roads with various cracks and potholes.

We chatted away for the whole 8km - he is very humble for such an accomplished athlete - and we arrived without any slips or trips.  Running with Jason made me a lot more aware of my surroundings, above and beyond the surface underfoot. It certainly me made think about what I take for granted when I run.

 

Don't Sponsor Me...

... but do support Start2Finish!

 

I would love your support to hit my target
(less than $300 to go). 

But your money can go further in December,
by donating via the Match Campaign:
https://www.start2finishonline.org/?_ga=2.36761383.666507077.1513735072-624209623.1510409193

 

You give and Start2Finish will match your gift!

Give the gift of nutrition, mentorship, or education to a child through Start2Finish.

If you'd really rather donate on my page then that's fine!
 
The link is here
https://www.gifttool.com/athon/MyFundraisingPage?ID=1466&AID=1695&PID=602510 

OCRC McMarathon Relay Recap - 5 runs in 1

credit: @RunCarlosRun

55+ km to visit 15 McDonald's across Ottawa.
Each runner starts the stage by eating the designated item, and then runs to the next location.

No designated eaters. No designated runners.

Each team uses a pre-loaded gift card 'baton'... 

 

Time for a bit of end-of-year fun, this was a different kind of physical challenge and a memorable race! There was a lot going on so I'll try to provide a short summary of my runs within the context of the event.

 

Greg regularly runs with the OCRC who organized this unusual tour of Ottawa, and most teams were 4 or 5 people - but it was a good excuse to reunite the 'Moose' team (having not run together since Hamilton), so we decided to have a go as a trio. This recap is just from my perspective.

 

Start

The stages (locations and menu) were released the week before so we split the event up based on logistics and food choices, either looking for favourites or trying to avoid items - I had no interest in trying to sprint a mile after a fish burger!  We decided to pretty much alternate stages, with the two team members not running using a car to get to the next venue.

 

The teams assembled at the first location at 10:30 am, with some icy wind-chill and snow in the air.

I had managed to oversleep, so breakfast was a large coffee. I couldn't bring myself to eat at the first restaurant knowing I had five courses to look forward to... 

 

Stage 1/5 (3/15) Cheeseburger + 5.6 km

Cheeseburger

Greg took on the first run, and handed the baton to Tony, before I got my first turn.  I was really hungry by the time I started, and we had a slight lead with the other teams close behind, so the pressure was on.  With adrenaline pumping I wolfed the food down and ran out the door - probably too fast and the cheeseburger threatened to reappear in the first km.

I was relying on my phone for directions which caused navigation issues, leading me down a path to the Transitway.  This 500m 'shortcut' helped us to stay just in front of the second team as I handed over to Greg for stage 4 (Tony Stage 5). 

 

Stage 2/5 (6/15) Small fries + 3.3 km

We were two teams jostling for first position as we approached the halfway point. The small fries were relatively easy to take care of but predictably super salty which left me feeling dehydrated for a while.  The stage was a short one and I ran my fastest km of the day to finish and pass the baton to... myself, as I was running stages 6 & 7 back to back.

 

Stage 3/5 (7/15) Junior Chicken + 3.2 km

Eating and then running hard was proving to be quite tough, but having no real break before repeating it was something else.  The other leading team had divided their stages into groups (so each runner doing 3 or 4 stages in succession) which I think I would have really struggled with.

I ate as quickly as I could but as soon as I started running again I could tell it was going to be near impossible to get the morning's pace back. The stage had a couple of small hills and some tricky road crossings and I was glad to get it finished and hand over to Tony for Stage 8 (Greg Stage 9). 

 

Stage 4/5 (10/15) McChicken + 7.2 km

McChicken

By my 4th stage I had no appetite and it was a chore to eat. It was also one of the longest stages and muscles were starting to feel tight. For nearly the whole distance I felt queasy and uncomfortable.  I was grateful for my team providing an impromptu water station on the route, but the road seemed never ending and I was relieved to put it behind me and get Greg started on Stage 11, back towards downtown. 

Tony ran stages 12 & 13 back to back, which worked out really well as the rendezvous would have been hard to juggle with shoppers and tourist traffic clogging the routes.

 

Stage 5/5 (15/15) Big Mac + 1 km

After Greg's quick sprint across town for the penultimate leg, I was ready and waiting to get the event finished. Tony joined me for a Big Mac sandwich but I was out the door before he'd finished eating, and went as fast as I could to the finish line at McDundonald Park.  The crossing lights were on my side and it felt like I was flying along for the final km, but in reality my legs were tired and I was still very full so not as fast as I would have liked. 



After just over 5 1/2 hours we finished a respectable second place, less than 15 minutes behind the winners, and about 30 mins ahead of the third team.

 

I don't know if I'll look at the golden arches in the same way again, and it will be a while before my next visit - I'm not ready to sign up for the 2018 relay just yet.

The day was a lot of fun, and the event was well thought out and put together. 

 

My personal tally ended up being 20.3 km and based on Strava approximate calories burned vs. menu details (about 1800 calories) I was almost calorie neutral!



Finish




 

Nearly There! (11 Month Sit-Rep)

After completing the Hamilton marathon at the start of the month, the running has been fairly light over the last few weeks - coinciding with the arrival of some wintery weather.  
 
I have now passed 2400 km and am looking to reach 2500 before the end of the year.
 
For fundraising I have less than $300 to go to reach my $2,017 target - so it's time for a last big push through the holiday season!
 
You can support me here (registration closes Dec 31, 2017 11:59 PM):

HYPERLINK: https://www.gifttool.com/athon/MyFundraisingPage?ID=1466&AID=1695&PID=602510

Start2Finish National Running Team

Hamilton Road 2 Hope Recap

This was a bit of a last minute decision... I signed up for the Hamilton Road 2 Hope Marathon just a couple of days before the race weekend, in the last few hours of online registration.

My two fellow Midnight Moose runners were heading down to participate with Tony pacing the 4 hour marathon and Greg aiming to run sub-4 hrs for a Personal Best.  They invited me along.  I was still a bit disappointed at not running my planned fall marathon in Washington D.C. and although I hadn't been doing marathon-specific training I felt like my high summer mileage could carry me through. The logistics were taken care of and all I had to do was turn up and try to keep up!

A weather warning was issued for the Sunday, predicting heavy rainfall and strong wind gusts. This was going to be cold and wet. 

We were bussed to the start area around 06:30am with some misty drizzle, but it was drier than expected; the temperature was a mild 7c.

As we stood at the starting line the wind picked up and we were hit by some heavy rain. Within a couple of minutes everyone was cold and wet, and keen to get moving.

Rain continued along the first few miles of the course, through the rolling fields of the Hamilton escarpment.  The lake was just about visible - on sunnier the days the view must be amazing!

Tony was setting a consistent pace for the 4 hour group and we both stayed with him for about 10km when Greg pulled away.  I stayed with Tony until the half way point, where the course goes into a long descent down a closed section of the Red Valley Highway. The rain had eased off and the tailwind felt good as I flowed downhill, so I was careful not to get too carried away.

Around 30km the route becomes a flat out & back along the lakeshore. Another rain burst kept everybody wet, and I could feel the soles of my feet getting sore. The lack of recent long runs was starting to have an effect around now. It felt a lot harder being back on the flat, and when we turned towards the finish line the headwind was really tough.

Just after the 39 km marker I managed to catch up with Greg and we stuck together for the last portion of the race.  We were both hurting but determined to get finished in under 4 hours, but it was getting close and we knew Tony must be just behind us!

With a final kick down the finish chute I finished in 3 hrs 58m 50 s, just a second behind Greg, with Tony coming in at 4 hrs.

Rattle Me Bones

With #2017in2017 in the bag, it's time to look for some fun runs!

Rattle Me Bones is a Halloween themed event, and participants are encouraged to dress up and choose between four run distances on roads and a fifth on off-road trails.  http://rattlemebones.ca/

I entered the 10 km 'Wishbone' - which was an out and back near the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, almost identical to the Protein Night Race course in August. After the Wishbone was the 1 km 'Jigglebone', a family fun run (non-timed) which welcomes young children - so my wife and I took our little bumblebee for a run.

The weather was wet and windy all morning, but the rain eased off for the first half of the Wishbone.  My Halloween outfit consisted of skeleton gloves and face scarf, but I took the face covering off after just 400m before it could interfere with my breathing.

The first km went out very fast, well under 4 mins, but into the 2nd and 3rd kms the front runners built up a steady lead.  I was quietly wondering if I could go under 40 minutes for the 10 km and kept pace with a couple of other runners and pushed myself to stay with them.

My pace started slipping towards the end but I managed to finish in 41 mins 37 secs which was 10th place overall and 1st place in my age/gender category.

By the time the Jigglebone started we were wet and cold but the run was a lot of fun, with lots more fancy dress and faces painted (and a lot less competitive pressure!).  The pace was dictated by 3 year old legs which went out fast but got distracted half way by some of the other costumes. 

The course ended up being 1.5 km but we all really enjoyed the atmosphere, and of course the post-race treats!