November 16th - 22nd

7 days from Seattle half marathon, the entire group is racing that weekend, except for Jon who is heading to Japan. 14 days from Gunner Shaw Vancouver. I'd like to get a good race in that park to make up at least a bit of a disappointment from BC's.
Leading into the race, I feel a lot healthier than I did going into Royal Vic, with far fewer nagging injuries. And there is little doubt I am a stronger climber now than before. If I can keep the leaders in site through the early flats and downhills, I should be able to produce a good result. Generally speaking, the top ten finishers splits range from 3:30 to 4:30 slower second half.

Here is a terrific article about how overly powerful the teachers union is in the United States, and the small steps taken to get good teachers in the classrooms


November 16th: AM: 51:00" steady (5.25 rating) PM: 51:32" steady through the Mystic Vale deluge (6.5 rating)
November 17th: Lochside loop tempo, 4.4km laps. Workout was 30" at half marathon pace, into 10" at 10km pace. First lap 14:30 18.2km/h, Second lap. 14:10 18.6km/h, 10km stretch starts shortly into third lap (7 rating) - very strong through half marathon pace section, not quite as great a pickup as ideal for 10km space
November 18th: rest day
November 19th: 126", around camosun interurban, prospect lake (fun run 7 rating)
November 20th: AM: 49:20" on uvic loop (5 rating, normal AM run) PM: 50:56 on same loop
November 21st: WU: 6" at 10km effort 1.5" rest 3" at 5km effort X3, roughly 1.9km per 6" rep
(tough, tough day, dont really want to rate
November 22nd: 95:22" steady, 5 Royal Roads Hills, 142 average heart rate, 4:20km/ average

November 12th-15th

Currently I'm drawing up a battle plan on how to run fast in Seattle in what could be very frigid temperatures on the weekend of the 28th. Ill definitely be picking up a slice of Cheesecake from the factory for the drive back into Canada.

These two articles are worth investing a lot of time reading, the Favela's of Rio de Janeiro and the crime problem, and Obama's Chief Economic advisor Larry Summers.

Also take the time to peer at the webcams of the interior. This is shaping up to be a high precipitation type of winter.


November 12th: 121" steady, some stretches much quicker than others, including more than one 5km split under 20" (Definition of a get it done day 5 rating)
November 13th: AM: 50:18" steady at about 4:25/km pace (4.5 rating) PM: 52:36 slower than AM (5.0 rating)
November 14th: 3X10" at 10km effort, its really more like 8km effort, a bit of a disconnect between the legs and the cardiovascular system (Ratings between 4 and 7, should have worn gloves during effort) - completely wiped out afterwards.
November 15th: 90" steady - speed faster than usual due to new paving on Galloping Goose trail - still wiped out, but in a good way.

November 6th - 10th

I just love it when it rains everyday this time of year in Victoria, continuous downpour is the best way to fill up the reservoir over in Sooke. I'm getting a hang of all the hills, which is good prep for Seattle in 18 days. Here is an interesting exchange about paces in Marilyn's blog. I am aware that I have posted Brothers in Arms before, but there is little quite like Mark Knopfler live.

November 6th: AM: 50:05 steady (5.0 rating) PM: 50:38" consciously easy steady (6.96 rating)
November 7th: WU - 50" continuous switching between 5" of marathon to 5" 10km pace on Lochside loop, stayed very focused on not slowing down much between 10km- marathon transition WD - (7.5 rating)
November 8th: 97" easy on Munn Rd loop (7.5 rating) - kinda went nuts on the 2km climb
November 9th: AM: 50:25" steady (6.0 rating on UVIC loop) PM: 50:57" steady (7.0 rating in dusk)
November 10th: WU - 30" of 1"hill repeats - 13 reps in 29", about 83seconds recovery on Hillwood rd - corner near top amplified workout (7.75 rating)

November 2nd - 5th

After reading an autobiography of British Marathon legend Bill Adcocks, and seeing how detailed his day to day running log was, I thought it was time to do better than the 48" steady type of inscription to describe a run. As I find that people over estimate their levels of fitness and how they are feeling in running blogs, I needed a system that would not lead to such great running lines as " feeling great". The result is a running scale, each run gets given a score, that go roughly along these lines:

1: injured, walked home a long way
2.5: Very tired legs or light cramping, but continuous run albeit very slow
5: basic meh run, neither strong nor weak, out to get it done
7.5: well above average, easily could have gone quicker
10: marathon record type day energy

The song is here because as it turns out, there are quite a number of french speaker in the running group. And there is no more french song.

November 2nd: AM: 46:10” steady (5.5 rating) PM:51:35” steady (7.15 rating)
November 3rd: 68:10” steady (3.5 rating due to lowish energy levels)
November 4th: rest day
November 5th: 121” steady (5 moving up to 6.5 rating)

BC X

If RVM was a good day, things couldn't have gone more differently on Sunday. Reality is that I was flat, and that extra 5% of effort needed to be competitive just wasn't there. I'm not going to dwell on it or make excuses as this race was not a long term objective and has not caused a significant shift in the direction of training. I usually judge the race based on how my placement in the field changes after about the first third of the race. If I hold my spot its a good day, and if I lose ground its a bad day. Yesterday was the latter, losing positions pretty well the entire time.

Moving forward, Sunday was a pleasant mid length run, the legs felt about the same level as after a normal Saturday workout so getting back into a normal week wont be a problem.

October 26th: AM: 48” steady extra loop PM: 45:45 steady but not feeling great upstairs
October 27th: WU – 12X 30”” uphill sprints, (90””) WD
October 28th: 51:15” easy
October 29th: 30:15 easy
October 30th: 30:30” with 8 long strides
October 31st: BC X 10km 33:20, very flat, somewhere mid pack
November 1st: 90:10” steady

Normal week gearing up for Cross Country

October 22nd: rest day
October 23rd: 125” steady
October 24th: AM: 44:30 steady - predictably in the rain- PM: 49:30” much faster around Stanley Park and Seawall
October 25th: WU 7.5X3” @ 5km effort (1.5”), good throughout WD
October 26th: 95” steady steady up and down hills

You only get better if you do things you're bad at

The stuff I do for fun. I still don't have much spark after the race, but my performance in the workouts was by and large good so I won't worry about it until taper time comes before racing on Halloween Day. Anybody who went outside Saturday morning can empathize with doing that workout on that morning. The above are from a Barron River trip 2 years ago.

October 16th: AM: 44” steady PM: 45” steady
October 17th: WU 9' @ 10 km (2') 3' @ 5km (1.5') 12' @ 10 km (2.5') 6' @ 7.5km WD
October 18th: 89:36” easy
October 20th: AM: 44:45” steady PM: 45:46” varying speeds
October 21st: 30” of 1”hills WU -WD