Great Trek race report

I didn't sleep that well and was up at 5:30 for my pre-race breakfast.  I had a bagel and some Ovaltine.

Rain was no longer in the forecast and the temperature was a bit warmer at 9 degrees.

I arrived at the University of British Columbia just past 7:30 for the 8:30 race start.  I dropped off my bag and walked around, doing some active stretching.  I decided that I was overdressed so I retrieved my bag and took off a layer.  I went to the restroom twice before the race.

I was assigned the Yellow corral based on my 2:15 estimate when I registered for the race.  I knew that was much too pessimistic based upon my training runs so I moved up a bit (so did a lot of others around me) and positioned myself slightly behind the 2:00 pace runner.  In my mind, my real goal was 2:00.

Quarter 1

Once we were off, I followed the 2:00 pacer for a while.  Based on her pace, it looked like she was going to do a steady pace for the whole race.  Because I knew that the first and third quarters of the race were mostly downhill and the second and fourth quarters were uphill (the course was out and back twice), I decided to take advantage of the initial downhill and passed the 2:00 pacer.

Since I knew that I was terrible at drinking while running, I walked briefly at each water station.  I took a swig of Nuun sports drink and some water at each water station.

By the time we reached the first turnaround at around the 1/4 mark, the field had spread out and I was several minutes ahead of the 2:00 pacer.

Splits:

Mile 1 - 8:31 (a 2:00 half marathon requires a 9:09 average split)

Mile 2 - 8:11

Mile 3 - 8:37

Quarter 2

The second quarter was gently uphill and, not surprisingly, my splits were slightly worse.  I started to feel some groin tightness at around Mile 4 but it wasn't too bad.

The last section of the first lap took us down Main Mall in the heart of the UBC campus.  I chatted for a while with another runner who was also looking to do a sub-2:00 time.  He was doing the Great Trek for the third time and hadn't broken 2:00 yet.  I told him he was in good shape to do it but he warned me about the final quarter of the race being uphill and difficult.

Splits:

Mile 4 - 8:41

Mile 5 - 8:49

Mile 6 - 9:01

Quarter 3

The start of the second lap was again downhill and I was now aware of the whole course so I was determined to take advantage of the gentle down slope.

Splits:

Mile 7 - 8:53

Mile 8 - 8:37

Mile 9 - 8:10

Quarter 4

At the turnaround, I could see that I had extended my lead on the 2:00 pace runner.

I felt relatively strong for the climb to the finish line and I think I passed more runners that those who passed me.  My groin was beginning to bother me a bit more and the balls of my feet were started to feel sensitive (turned out to be blisters developing).  My heart rate started to climb after being relatively steady for most of the race.

I took a bite of an Xact Energy fruit bar for the first time in addition to the Nuun sports drinks and water at the water stations.

To my surprise, I found that I was lapping some slow runners who were still completing their first lap.

I finished strong as I ran through the finish line chute.

Splits:

Mile 10 - 8:56

Mile 11 - 8:58

Mile 12 - 8:57

Mile 13 - 8:52

Finish

My official chip time was 1:53:01 which was a personal best half marathon result.

I was 490th out of 1,295 runners, 356th out of 739 males, and 9th out of 31 males aged 60 through 69.

Week 12

It was time to taper training as the half marathon quickly approached.  The longest run was only 3 miles.  A lot of runners complain about having to taper but I had no problem with the fewer miles.

The weather forecast for race day was calling for light rain and 5 degrees.  I struggled with deciding what to wear.  I decided to go with a couple layers without rain gear.

Running socks were included with the registration and I tried them out on one of the short runs.  I liked the feel and decided to go with them for race day.

When I signed up for the half marathon, I was required to provide an estimated race time.  Since I was basically starting from scratch, I put down 2:15.  I hoped that was pessimistic.  My previous two half marathons were done in 1:56:48 and 1:57:59 and I still held out hope of a sub-2 hour time even though I'm 14 years older than my last race. 

I was happy to see that my VO2 Max continued to rebound and was back up to 39.9.

Week 11

My half marathon is now less than a week away and tapering has begun.  The long run this week was only 7 miles.

I'm happy with the last couple weeks of training but I still think the runs lost to vacation and illness have set me back.

My VO2 Max is still recovering and is now up to 39.5.

Week 10

I got back on track and completed the scheduled runs.  However, I continued to use the strength training days as rest days.

This was the peak workout week and the long run was 10 miles.

My VO2 Max is recovering from the setbacks from the vacation and illness.  It fell to 37.9 (from a peak of 40.6) and is now back to 38.8.

CIBC Run for the Cure

The CIBC Run for the Cure is an annual fund-raising event in support of breast cancer research.  I had run it a couple times in the past to support friends with breast cancer.

I decided to do it again this year, even before it took on much more personal reasons.  Before we went on our last vacation, my wife had her regular, bi-annual mammogram.  The results came back with some suspicious calcification and she took an ultrasound when we returned.  She was immediately scheduled for a biopsy and at this point we're still waiting for the results.  We're hopeful it's benign but it's just a reminder of how close breast, and all cancers, can hit to home.

The run is 5K but it's not a timed event.  Based on my watch, I did the 5K in 25:31.

I even made it onto a couple of the evening newscasts.

Week 9

Vacation done - check
Recover from stomach flu - check
Ready to resume full training schedule - wait. what?

I thought that, again, I'd be able to get a full week's training done but it wasn't to be.  This time, I woke up a bit lightheaded and any time I bent over it felt like I was about to faint.  My blood pressure was lower than I ever remember it being recorded.  Of course, that meant taking another day off.

I resumed training on Tuesday with a race pace run.  I decided to do it outdoors, the first time off the treadmill in far too long.  I tried out my new FlipBelt to hold my phone and keys.  It works as well as all the online reviews say it does.  

The dizziness resurfaced on Wednesday and I was forced to skip the remaining training runs scheduled for the week.  My hopes of a sub-2:00 half marathon were slipping away.

Week 8

With the long vacation now behind me, I was looking forward to getting back to a full week's training.  However, stomach flu symptoms on Tuesday changed that and I took three unscheduled rest days.

I ended up sick for several days but did manage to do my long, very slow distance run for the week after four days without any exercise.  It was only 6 miles since this week was another scheduled cut back week.

Not suprisingly, my VO2 Max dropped again, and was now down to 37.9 which is less than it was when I started my training program.

Week 7

The vacation continued to wreak havoc on my training.  The only consolation was that I was walking considerable mileage in lieu of running.

Once home, I resumed training and this week's long run was 8 miles.  I did 12 miles for the week versus the 18.5 miles called for by the training plan.

My VO2 Max continued its decline, and was now down to 38.9.

Week 6

With long port days almost every day, there was no time for running.

I managed to get in a run on the lone sea day of the cruise. I did the week’s long, slow distance run of 7 miles.

My wife was up early the next day and decided to go to the gym so I joined her and managed to get in a second run this week before heading ashore to Quebec City.

The lack of running seems to have affected my VO2 Max.  It fell again this week, down to 39.5.

Week 5

We travelled to New York and, while we did lots and lots of walking to see the sights, I didn’t have time to run.

Once we started the next phase of our vacation and boarded the cruise ship, I was able to do some running but didn’t find time to do any strength training.  I had hoped to do some runs outside but the ship didn’t have a running track.

This week became the pull back week that was scheduled for last week so the long run was only 4 miles.

Because of the port schedule next week, I also started week 6 early and did a tempo run.

My VO2 Max reached 40.6 before, disappointingly, slipping back to 40.2.

Week 4

I went for a hike before my Monday tempo run and started experiencing some calf tightness in my left leg.  I decided to do my run that day anyway to see if it would loosen up.  I'm not sure it was the best idea but it did feel a bit better after a while.

According to the training program, this week is supposed to be a cutback week where the mileage is reduced to allow the body to recover from hard training.  However, with a planned vacation next week where it will be difficult to fit in runs, I decided to delay the cutback to Week 5 and did 6 miles instead of the scheduled 4.

My VO2 Max continues its gentle climb and is up to 40.3.

Week 3

The runs in my training program are getting longer.  However, I'm managing to increase my pace on the tempo runs slightly and am maintaining race day pace for a longer duration of my Race Pace Run.

The long, slow distance run this week was 6 miles and my maximum VO2 Max reading this week was 40.1, continuing the gradual improvement since I started running again.

Week 2

You'd think that, being retired, I'd have plenty of time to get my training done.  But, once again, life intervened and I missed my strength training day this week.  At least I got my runs in and made up the strength training on my rest day.

My long run this week was 5 miles.  That's the most I've done since I did my marathon 14 years ago.  I was happy to be done but could have gone further if required.

I have an Apple Watch and one of the statistics it tracks is VO2 Max.  While I realize it may not be entirely accurate, I'm looking at it for longer term trends.  This week I maxed at 39.  When I started the training program, my best reading that week was 38.3.  It appears that I'm slowly trending upwards which is nice to see.

Week 1

This week was the first official week of my half marathon training as I started a 12-week program by Marathon Handbook.  I had to shift the run days around to fit my schedule and I'm using elements from other training programs as well.

We spent a couple days in Whistler so, once again, I had to fit my runs in where I could.  My race pace run still didn't quite meet my goal but it was closer.  I missed my strength training day; instead I ended up doing a 8.5 mile hike.

I was pretty tired by the time we returned home from Whistler so instead of doing the scheduled tempo run with hills, I went at an easy pace.

The long run for Week 1 was 4 miles.  I had done up to 4.5 miles recently so this was no problem.

On my Sunday rest day, I made up the strength training I missed earlier in the week.

New Plan?

I continue to tinker with my training plan.  I recently stumbled across yet another 12-week plan, this time from Marathon Handbook.  I've now adopted it as my base point.  I mixed in some of the elements from my original plan from RunToTheFinish.  The main difference is 4 runs per week rather than 3.

One of the runs each week is done at race pace.  I did this week's race pace run on a trail near my home.  Week 1 isn't until next week and I'm still building up mileage so the run was only 1.5 miles.  Unfortunately, even for this short distance, I didn't attain my race pace goal.  It was very hot and primarily gently uphill for most of the run so I'll blame it on that ;-)

Getting Ready for Week 1

I'm still a couple weeks away from starting Week 1 of my training plan so I'm continuing to gradually build up my miles.  My long run this week was 4.5 miles.

Fitting everything into my day-to-day life still presents some challenges and I missed a weight training day.  However, I did do over 9.6 miles of walking that day so that probably counts as cross training.

More Cruise Training

My vacation on a cruise to Mexico continued to make it challenging to stick to my training schedule.

Monday was supposed to be a rest day but because we were at sea I did another run, this time on the running track, and turned Tuesday, when we were in Peurto Vallarta, into the rest day if you can call 20,000 steps a rest day.

Wednesday was Mazatlan. I managed to hit the gym before we arrived for my cross training workout.

On Thursday we were in Cabo San Lucas. It was too hot to run comfortably outdoors so I did my time on the treadmill and included some hill work.

Friday, we were at sea again and I did my scheduled full body workout.  Saturday was a travel day and I didn’t manage to do my cross training.  Finally, home on Sunday, I did my long run of the week, 4 miles.

Training During a Cruise

This week presented some challenges.  Leading up to the weekend, I got my training in while preparing for a vacation.  Then, we flew to Los Angeles for a Mexican cruise.  I still managed to get my workouts in despite losing most of Saturday to travel.

Most cruisers would prefer to spend their time by the pool or at the buffet, but instead I did my scheduled Sunday 3-mile run on a treadmill while the ship gently rocked in the Pacific Ocean.

I'm Committed

I went ahead and actually registered for the Great Trek Half Marathon in Vancouver, BC.  The course runs through the University of British Columbia which is where I attended university many, many years ago.

The training plans that I've seen are mostly 12 weeks in duration and I have more time than that until October 22 so I've been building up my mileage in preparation for the official Week 1 of training.  I just completed Week "-4".

I'm doing a modified version of Amanda Brook's beginner Run to the Finish half marathon program.

This week I completed a 2-mile and a 2.5-mile run with hills and an easy 3 mile run along with cross training days.  Like before, the majority of my training is on a treadmill.  It's felt good to get back into the exercise routine.

I'm Back!

It's been almost 14 years since I ran the Portland Marathon.  I'm over 60 now and starting to feel it.  My cholesterol and triglyceride levels are high and my doctor has given me 6 months to bring the levels down before she suggests medication to control them.  I definitely don't want that so it's time to get back to running.  Studies have shown that running lowers the amount of LDL cholesterol.  I haven't done much/any running for years and simply walking the dog and the occasional hike hasn't been good enough.  

As in the past, I decided that signing up for a race was the best motivational tool for me.  I figured that a half marathon was the best distance as a goal.  I haven't actually signed up yet but I'm targeting the Great Trek Half Marathon in my hometown of Vancouver, BC in mid-October.

I started training this week with a couple runs of 2.5 miles each.  It's a start and I'm looking forward to calling myself a runner again.