Post Run Recovery...

It's hot, humid, and I keep underestimating the humidity out there!!! Again, my plan was to get up early and head out around 5AM for my 130 minute run today...but as per usual, I managed to sleep in. So instead, I drove Amy to work for 8:30 and headed for my run.

At first I thought I wasn't even wearing my shades as it was overcast, but that changed quickly. My route took me north on highway 37, out of Belleville through the town of Cannifton, west on Maitland drive to Sidney St. and Sidney st, back into Belleville. Now, I thought it would be okay with traffic, and if was until Sidney, where everyone drives like dink at 100 km/h...and there are no sidewalks...I thought it would be cool as it's only a 60 zone, but as I said, drivers are dinks!!!

So I managed to avoid getting smoked a couple times and kept the rest of my route within the city limits, on mostly side streets and trails. After I stopped to refill my water at my parents place around the 1 hour mark, it got super humid, but I made it through to the end, ending up at 15.5 miles (25km) when you add in my warmup and cooldown at an averge running pace of just under 9 min/mile.

After the run, there was a lot of stretching, quad rolling, and drinking. I drank a glass of chocolate soy milk as soon as I got back, then stretched and rolled, then made myself a smoothie. I was out of frozen fruit, so I used fresh and it worked well and was super tasty. Here's the recipe...try it next time you run 15 miles...or 2...
1 glass OJ
1 strawberry yogurt
1 raspberry yogurt
1/8th of a whole watermelon (no rind)
1 whole nectarine (remove the pit or you'll eff up your blender)
1/2 package protein powder (approx. 2 tbsp.)
Blend
MMMMMM...tasty

Some tunes from today...
Wilco - Imposible Germany
Arcade Fire - Keep the Car Running (this is a great running tune)
Sloan - She Says What She Means
k-os - Black Ice

I also learned that I do need a big good meal the night before a long run. The Harvey's I had last night just didn't cut it and I was really feeling not so good on my run today...back to pasta next time...with a side of Steak!

Will

My long runs have just gotten longer...

The time has come in my training to "kick it up a notch", "up the ante", or "just giv'er" if you prefer. So far my long runs on Saturday have gone like this...week 1 = 60 minute, week 2 = 110 minute, week 3 = 60 minute, week 4 = 120 minute, and so on, and so on.

Now the time has come where the bi-weekly runs that were a mere 60 minutes, have increased to 90 minutes. It might not seem like 30 minutes is a lot, but let me tell you my friend, it makes a big difference. Anyhow, this is now how my training will continue through the end...my long runs will rotate...90 minutes one week, and an increasing amount by 10 minutes for the alternate weeks...130 minutes comming up this Saturday.

Yesterday was an okay day. I managed to get 11.25 miles (18.2 km) in, but I feel I underestimated the heat. There was no humidity, but there was also nothing but sun in the sky, and most of my run was done where there was not a lot of shade. I may have gone out too fast from the start, but I'm really starting to know my body better, so I was able to make a few adjustments and compensate. Also, this was the first run in 3 weeks where my IT band issue went almost completely unnoticed, which is a good thing.

I've gotta tell you about this band called Justice. Yesterday I listened to 2 albums on my run...the first was by this group Justice called Cross. Now when you think of a Band named Justice and an album named Cross you think one of two things...either a religious Christian rock band...or a hardcore death metal band, and I will tell you Justice is neither. Think Daft Punk meets MSTRKRFT...these are some sick synth beats that would have GOB considering to retire The Final Countdown (see pic), to replace it with a Justice track. Amazing new dance music, and great to run to...be sure to check it out!

I also had time to listen to Mark Ronson's Version, which is an album of cover tracks done by various UK rock and pop artists...covers of The Smiths, Kaiser Cheifs, and even Britney Spears, performed very differently by Lily Allen, Amy Winehouse, Phantom Planet, etc. It's very cool, and extremely universal...a definate crowd pleaser.

Anyhow, that's my update for now. In closing I would like to wish my little sister a very happy birthday...HAPPY BIRTHDAY B!!!

Will

"I find it easy catchin' diabetes from fly sweeties..."

"...Sit back and wait to hear a slammin' track
Rockin' jams by popular demand, I'm back."

Lyrics immortalized by the legendary Rakim from his comeback album the 18th letter on the track Guess Who's Back. I've been finding it very interesting that rap and hip hop artists rhyme about diabetes more often then any other genre of music (of course this is based on my own opinion and is not in any way proven, as I have no idea what honky tonk country singers are singing about, so it could turn out that all they sing about is diabetes, but somehow, I feel it's mostly about trucks and beer).

Okay, on to some training news...
Today was my 120' run. I covered 14.6 miles (23.5 km) in just under 2:15. I would tell you what my average pace was, but my Garmin is in the other room, and I don't really feel like getting up to get it after running all that way (you try it, dick!) ;-)

Anyhow, that's pretty damn good if I do say so myself. I have to give props to the Vaquerano (sp?) for hooking me up with some papousas at the El Salvador tent at Belleville Waterfront last night...I'm pretty sure that's what got me through the last few miles this morning.

The lactate test went good on Thursday. The results came back and my lactate threshold went up by 2 points which means that I can run faster longer. It also means that all this training is paying off. Oh, and my max heart rate went up 4bpm to 201, which is good...I think Superman's is around 199, so I've got that guy beat, of course this is only true when he is Clark Kent (again, not proof for this either), so it's not as impressive as it sounds.

Some choice cuts from today...
The Bees - Listening Man
Modest Mouse - Florida
Ludacris - Comming 2 America
LCD Soundsystem - Daft Punk Is Playing At My House

On a closing note...I was at the waterfront festival last night, and the fireworks were kick ass, although it was really dead, and a little lame down there due to the lack of crowds (and perhaps the fact that I was sober). But seriously...go check it out tonight if you're in town, a lot of people put a lot of work into this thing (no I'm not on the committee), and it's free, so what have you got to lose! See you down there.

Will

Ice Ice Baby...

Alrighty...so as I type my latest entry I am in fact on vacation...no where in particular, just not at work...all week long. So yesterday, I had my first therapeutic massage, as recommended by Sandy, and it was okay. I discovered that my legs are a lot more ticklish then I thought and burst out into laughter in the middle of the thing, but I'll get over it. Anyhow, looks like I'll be doing the massage thing monthly now until race day as it's a good way to work all the toxins out of your muscles that build up over time, plus it will help to prevent injury, plus it's covered under my health plan so what have I got to lose!!!

Anyhow, the RMT yesterday recommended that I ice my knee after my runs to help with the IT band issue. She also recommended bathing in epsom salts, which I haven't tried yet, and may not ever talk about in this blog if I ever do...no one needs to be picturing that. On to some training talk...

So today is supposed to be another hot humid sticky nasty day, so I was out the door at 6:30 this morning for my run. it was 20C and the humidity was at 98%, it wasn't terrible, but the air was a little thick for my liking, but I toughed it out and made it through my 60 minute run, with warmup and cooldown for a total of 7.5 miles, which is pretty much on pace for what I've been doing lately which isn't bad. I did got through a butt load of water though, which is probably a good thing.

I'll skip listing tunes today, but I would like to mention the above pic of Vanilla Ice holding his not one, but two AMA's, which is all the proof anyone should ever need that the AMA's, much like the Grammy's, MMVA's, MTV awards, and my personal fav the Juno's are an absolute joke, and a slap in the face to music fans around the world. I won't go into this any further as those who know me have heard my rants before on this topic, so I'll spare you the repeat.

So it turns out that Blessington Store is almost sold out of their wristbands and need a re-stocking already. Good work Paul and Briget...you guys rock. Make sure the rest of you go buy their gas...it's great...it's unleaded!!!

Tomorrow I'm off to the Hockey Hall of Fame with Amy and cousin Raymond, and Thursday I've got another Lactate test...I'll keep you posted.

L8r.

Will

A lesson on the IT band...

Okay, first let me clarify that I'm not a doctor, despite the dr's outfit I may have in my closet.

I was out for my run on Tuesday, when something terrible happened...I got a really bad pain, on the bottom outside of my right knee. This was around the 45 minute mark of a 60 minute run. I tried to run through the pain for a few minutes, but had to stop. I stretched, then tried to run again for a few minutes, but the pain got worse, so I decided to swallow my pride and walk the rest of the way home, but about 10 minutes from home, the pain got so bad that I couldn't even walk and was forced to call for ride (Thanks Hank). Anyhow, I iced it right away and continued to do so for the rest of the night. I sent Sandy an email explaining what had happened looking for some advice as I didn't really want to sit in emerg for 4 hours to find out there was nothing they could do. To make a not so long story shorter, it turns out that I have had my first experience with Illiotibial (IT) Band Syndrome, something that is common amongst runners when they get up to 35-40 miles of training per week, which around where I'm at.

The good news is that it's not debilitating, and after one days rest I was running again today. Now, that being said I do have to be careful and am stretching my IT band like crazy when I can, plus I've added some new hip stretches to the mix as I discovered my hip muscles are very tight on my right side for some reason. All this, plus I've booked myself in for a massage on Monday with and RMT that specializes in runners, recommended by Sandy. Apparently a massage is the best thing to work this out, so until then I'll be trying to stick to my regular routine, but it will proabably be all treadmill work for now, as if there's any pain I'll be calling it quits for the day.

Keep your fingers crossed for me. I'll keep you posted.

On the fundraising front...the super stylish diabetes.ca Get Serious bracelets are on sale now at the Blessington Store. So if you stop in for gas, pizza, or whatever, you can pick up a diabetes bracelet for a minimum donation of a mere $2, and all proceeds go directly to my campaign and to the Canadian Diabetes Association.

Cheers!

Will

Another Team Diabetes Fundraising Success!!!

I hope you've all recovered from whatever Canada Day fun and festivities you partook in over the weekend.

As mentioned in my last post, I was MCing the 40th annual Wellington Canada Day festivites. It was a great time, and if I do say so myself, I did pretty damned good. It was a little odd mcing something for the first time as anything other than a member of the media, but it all worked out great.

Big thanks to Brock, Anne, Mom, Dad, Raymond, Murray, Ann, and of course Amy who all manned the Team Diabetes face painting tent and did some professional looking face painting for well over 100 kids yesterday. We managed to raise $280 on face painting and bracelet sales alone, which is exceptional considering we were only charging $2 per face.

I would also like to thank the Wellington Recreation Committee for their very generous $300 donation to my campaign as a compensation for my MC duties. It was unexpected, but greatly appreciated...of course they presented it to me right before I hit the stage, so I had to make sure my A game was in check...a smart move on their part. ;-)

On the training front, I was up early and went for a chilly 7:30AM run with Amy yesterday morning. We covered 3 miles, which is really good, considering a short few weeks ago, Amy was struggling to last more than 5 minutes on the road. I'm proud of you baby...keep it up!!!

And on a side note, I tallied my miles for the month of July, and they came out to 104.75 (168.54 km). This has put me at a total of 467.25 miles (751.8 km) since I started tracking my distance in a log, back in February.

More training notes to come later in the week.

Will