Frustration setting in

It has now been four weeks since I’ve completed my first marathon, but the recovery is not going as well as I’ve liked.

My left knee has been giving me all sorts of trouble, especially in the running-completion department. Almost every run I’ve attempted since Victoria has not ended as well as I’d hoped. The runs start OK, but partway through, or near the end, the pain kicks in, and I’m in stop-and-go mode the rest of the way.

Maybe I’m stubborn because I want to run no matter what, but after today, I have to concede that I might do more harm than good continuing in this way. Some cross-training won’t be that bad, I guess. At least I can avoid some of the ugly fall weather that can be a deterrent to running anyway. I believe this will pass, and once it’s healed, I can hit the road again, and hopefully in time for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Half.

Effort = reward

Last week, my marathon training clinic held a wrap party/dinner at a restaurant in Yaletown. It looks like everyone was there, and most conversations revolved, naturally, around race experiences and future goals and/or races. The clinic leaders handed out raffle prizes and gifts to pace-group leaders. The surprising bit was when they next recognized the first-time finishers with plaques. And there were many first-time finishers. I thought that was a nice touch, and kudos to June and Cory for making that extra effort to provide a great memento of a great achievement.

Race bib, medal, and plaques from my training clinic.

But the next presentation was even more of a surprise: I was awarded “Most Outstanding Runner” in the group. I certainly wasn’t the fastest in the group, but I’m sure the award was for dedication. I feel that the commitment (in time and effort) required just to train for a marathon should not be taken lightly, and I realized that from the beginning. The clinic’s structure was something I needed to train properly and minimize injury, and the group setting provided great encouragement, support, and camaraderie, something I have not experienced since my first ever training clinic, which is coming up to four years removed.

I would have been content with the medal and the printable certificate that the Royal Victoria Marathon provides with its race results, but the plaques are a great reminder that what I’ve completed is a remarkable achievement.

Agony and ecstasy: 1st marathon complete!

This past Sunday, I completed my first marathon – an accomplishment that, even a year ago, seemed impossible to achieve. But I committed to the training, gave myself five months, and the result is there.

I didn’t want to think of a finish time, but somehow 4:40 became a default during training. I had to push in the last kilometre, but I sneaked in at a chip time of 4:39:21. I may have just beaten my projected time, but it certainly was not easy, and not the least bit steady.

The halfway split time is the evidence. 2:09:16 would have been a personal best for 21.1 km, but I had another 21.1 to complete, and it was obvious I had gone too fast. I’ll spare you the details of the 2nd half, but suffice to say that I hit the wall before km 32. I did muster just enough in the final kilometre to run it completely and finish with my arms in the air, and resist that temptation to stop my watch as many, many people have told me beforehand.

Don’t get me wrong with this over-analysis; I may have criticized myself constantly in the hours after for what went awry during the run, but it’s a learning experience, and I’m now basking in the glow that comes from completing the first marathon, and I’m ensuring that it won’t be my last. I do recognize the extraordinary commitments required to train for one, so I’m not entirely sure when I can next attempt a marathon, but I hope to try in the next 12-18 months. In the meantime, I’m looking forward to my next event, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon in December.

Some numbers that I’ve compiled from 22 weeks of training for this marathon, which surprise me the more I look at them: 745 km (463 mi) run over 75 sessions; weekly totals ranging from 14 to 62 km; two calendar months (August and September) exceeding 160 km (100 mi) run per month.

After all that running, I should go rest my legs…

Tale of the taper

This is it. Less than a week left until M-day, the one event for which I’ve been training all summer, for which I’ve set my sights for almost a full year, and I’m feeling the almost-clichéd simultaneous nervousness and excitement. If nothing else, I’m saddened that it’s almost coming to an end.

When I started this training four months ago, the whole thing was daunting, from tempo runs and hills to the long runs that, at the time, seemed impossible to achieve. Now, 21 weeks and an incredible 683 km (424 mi) later, I’m on the verge of completing my first marathon.

I’ll return next Monday with a wrap and much more thoughts on race weekend.

A few transit-related observations

This is from just three hours running errands after work:

1. I noticed a lot of suitcases at Canada Line’s City Centre Station. That gives me some reassurance that people are willing to take Canada Line to the airport. I hope to try it myself later in the year. Hopefully the additional surcharge to the airport doesn’t scare a lot of people away. Even at $6.25, that’s quite a bargain for direct service from a major city centre to its airport.

2. Canada Line in-train announcements: based on my London Tube experience, I’d like to hear something like this when the train doors open (and it can be applied to outbound Expo/Millennium Lines as well) : “King Edward. This train is for YVR-Airport (or Richmond-Brighouse).” I find it annoying that the destination of the train is made after it’s left the station.

3. A great majority of the 99 B-Lines heading eastbound are signed “BWAY STN”. At the moment, that’s a welcome sight over the epic-fail that is “COMM’L / BDWAY STN”.

4. My final bus to take me home was late. It was so late, it was tag-teaming with the bus that’s actually on time. Needless to say, I wasn’t too pleased with that.

Anticipating the September transit service changes

Buzzer Blog post summarizing the changes (and this one).

The changes as detailed on the TransLink site.

I’ve written in December about how TransLink rolls out service changes every quarter, and the autumn version always takes place on Labour Day. With the Canada Line being put through its paces for three weeks, the real test begins when the 98 B-Line is discontinued and South-of-Fraser services terminate at Bridgeport Station instead of Downtown Vancouver.

Rather than point out what’s already been posted by Jhenifer or TransLink, I’ll do a quick analysis of some of the changes.

• Combining Commercial and Broadway stations into one: I have always considered it one station ever since the M-Line opened, so it’s good to have official confirmation of that. Thing is, I’ve always referred to it as “Broadway/Commercial Station”, and I’ll likely continue to do so for a while.
• “3 Main/Marine Drive Station”: It’s good to have this route extend to meet Canada Line, but it just looks awkward on the timetable. Maybe it’s about time to apply the street name on the bus display in both directions (ie. “3 MAIN to DOWNTOWN” and “3 MAIN to MARINE STN” or “403 THREE ROAD to BRIDGEPORT STN” and “403 THREE ROAD to RIVERPORT”).
• The 160 returning to suburban stopping procedures should be good for Tri-Cities commuters, but I’m expecting ill-advised passengers thinking they could still get out on Hastings eastbound through Burnaby, when that’s no longer the case. Although I’m still stumped as to why the 190 only gets one westbound trip.

No more 98 B-Line as of September 7!

• The big change related to Canada Line, of course, is the discontinuation of the 98 and 49x and truncating the South-of-Fraser services at Bridgeport Station. I suppose three weeks of transition are better than none, but it looks like it worked. This past Friday, I boarded a 491 from Burrard Station. Before Canada Line, these buses would be full leaving the bus stop. On the 491’s last day of service, there were no standing passengers.

Of course, the circumstances change starting the day after Labour Day, so it helps to have patience as commuters get used to the changes and traffic patterns. The Buzzer Blog even has a post of tips to get you through September with some sense of sanity.

Photo credit: flickr @ Boris Mann

Breaking the training thresholds

I’ve plugged in the split times, calculated the approximate distances, and stared at the spreadsheet in amazement. Earlier today (Sunday), I went on the first of two scheduled training runs that were meant to be the longest in the program. It was supposed to be 32 km (20 mi), but by my measurements, it came to about 33.6 km (20.8 mi). And this run was not easy: it crossed three bridges (twice on the Lions Gate), and had significant stretches of hills (including southbound on the Lions Gate). Of course, the course for the Royal Victoria (or most marathons, for that matter) isn’t that extreme, but the training runs do condition you to assume the worst, but the race reality is far from that.

Even with the added distance beyond 32 km, and the difficulty of the course, I still felt at the end that I could have gone further, maybe 5 km or up to 5 hours. And that’s another surprising aspect of the long-run training: I’ve survived most of them simply by running them as slow as I possibly can without resorting to walking. And now that I’ve almost run 21 miles in one go, I reckon I’ve got enough to finish the last 5.2. Even if they aren’t, today’s pace leader gave this advice: “Just suck it up.” Six weeks now to Victoria…

Negativity over negative splits?

(Fitting that Moby’s “Run On” was playing when I started to type this.)

I am personally in week 14 of 22 toward training for the Royal Victoria Marathon, and my body can feel the toll all this running has taken. Thankfully, it’s nothing major, so as long as I carry on and take it easy, I shouldn’t experience an injury before October (knock wood here).

The scheduled hill session last week had me huffing and puffing as usual, which was fine; I wanted to focus on form. But for some reason, on the last repeat, I went all out. It was an old-fashioned sprint, but uphill. Calculating it later, that could well be the fastest interval I’ve run. On the cool-down and de-stretching, an employee of the running store I train from told me she was surprised at that burst of speed. She knew firsthand because I had passed her about halfway through that final repeat. I told her that it’s usually my style to start conservatively and finish strongly.

I then described the tempo run of the previous day: an out-and-back 6 km, where the first half was done in 17:00, and the second half in 15:30, which included my first sub-five-minute kilometre (equivalent to an 8:00 mile). That’s when she told me that a negative split should not be that disparate. She recommended, and I agreed, that it would be better to run steadily throughout, then surge slightly in the final kilometre or so. I can understand the reasoning for that; I think that a faster overall time can be achievable using this method. I applied that to this week’s tempo and hill runs and felt that staying constant could give me additional endurance under race conditions.

I’d like to pose a few questions: Have you ever had a negative split? Do you achieve them regularly? Is it a good idea to train (and race) in this way?

11 weeks to Victoria

From here, it should get much tougher. For the past 11 weeks, the training has been similar to what I had done before for five half marathons. For the next 11 weeks, the training intensifies as the Royal Victoria Marathon draws closer.

For most of the first 11 weeks, I ran 3 or 4 times a week. Tuesday is the tempo run, and Sunday is the slow, long distance run. My spreadsheet has been showing the progression from fast to slow each week; a separate tab summarizes the distances. After 11 weeks, the total is 285 km, or about 26 km per week.

This past Sunday, I crossed a new threshold: a 23.4 km long run, completed in 2:45. It’s the longest I’ve ever run, both in distance and in time completed. It was done in humid conditions that had me sweating from minute one, and yet I felt fine, but exhausted, at the finish.

If that’s any indication, then I’m ready to tackle the horrible hills, the speed sessions, and the longer runs that will constitute the last 75 days before my first marathon. Bring it on!

Transit daytripping: endings and beginnings

This past weekend, I went on a journey to the fringes of the TransLink service area, to board the Albion Ferry in its final week of operation. With the opening of the Golden Ears Bridge, the 52-year old ferry service will cease operations at the end of the month.

I planned this trip to include a trip on the new bridge via route 595, which links Langley Centre and Haney Place. At the last minute, I added a lengthy side-trip to Downtown Vancouver to check the open house for the new City Centre Station of the Canada Line. This would likely be the last such event before the whole line opens sometime in August.