Summer (Not So) Fast

"It's the noise that destroys."

-- Scott Jurek

I thought I knew what that meant when I first heard it a month ago, but I didn't. Not until last Saturday.

The beginning of runs are rarely fun for me. During that first 3 or 4 km when the body first thrown out of its comfortable seditary state, before the body has become accustom to feet pounding pavement (or preferably grass), and before the shirt has been thoroughly soaked through, the mind play tricks on you. It interprets the sensation from the body as pain and question the logic of the excercise. At least for me, this is usually a prerequisite to the clarity of mind I crave in the middle of a good run. I have generally been able to fight pass these tricks the mind tries to play on me. Different strategies work at different time. "I'm going to be late if I stop". "I have to chase down those damn windmills". "Hmmm... I think she's looking at me". Or simply, "This will end. It will feel good soon. It always does." None of these worked on Saturday. In retrospect, it was because I did such a great job at convincing myself the day before that:

I wasn't going to run SummerFast.

My knee had bugged for the last 2 weeks. However during the subsequent 3 or 4 runs since it peaked, it didn't get worse. In fact the run last Wednesday was felt fantastic. For the first time I was able to catch Dave and his posse. I have been able keep them in sight for the last few weeks, but I have never caught them, and certainly never ran with them. But last Wednesday I caught up with them half way through the run and stayed with them (until they hit that gear with a km to go and started pulling away again, but let's not focus on that). It felt good. And better yet, the knee held up. Maybe I didn't need that physio appointment the next day after all.

Then I went to my ultimate game after the run.

Typical play. Jumping up for the disc. Catching the disc. Landing with the disc. Sharp pain in the knee? Knee buckling? Crumbling to the ground like a little girl? Not so typical play. I guess I do need that physio appointment. Irony's a bitch.

"You pissed off your Patellar tendon", she said. Her diagnosis pretty much match what Michael and Brian said. Weak hip and glutes makes my knee rotate inward on impact, putting unnecessary strain on the tendon. My tight quads and hamstrings pulling on the tendon also didn't help. Apparently Mr. Patellar is a sensitive little bastard. Prescription? Squats, just as Michael and Brian suggested. I should have saved the 70 bucks. Ok, she did suggest a couple of other excercises, and the ultrasound seemed to helped too. It felt good to know what it was and how to fix it.

Then I went to my (other) ultimate game after physio.

Actually the game went pretty well. The knee actually loosened up during the game. However it was pretty sore after and the next day despite the ice, so I decided to not run SummerFast. I convinced myself it wasn't worth it, and may as well rest up and save the knee for the long run on Sunday. SummerFast was a diversion. The fun little loop around Second Beach pool. It wasn't the goal. Focus on the goal.

I wasn't going to run SummerFast. It's done. I've decided. I even annouced it on Twitter. And Twitter is always the final word, right?

Since a bunch of people from the clinic was running SummerFast, and I paid my $30, I was going to go cheer them on, take some pictures, eat their food, and pocket some post race swag (btw, there are no swag at SummerFast! I guess the Longest Day is just special?!?). I rolled in on my bike 10 minutes before the race started. Hey, the race package pickup booth is still open, may as well pick up my number right? And oh, the gear check tent is right there...and the nice lady is waving me over telling me "there's still time, just give me your bag and I'll check it for you"

Ok, I guess I'm going to do SummerFast.

I finished the race in 46:13. I wasn't disappointed at the time (ok, I was a lot disappointed, I ran my Sun Runs faster than that B.R.C [Before Running Clinic]), but I was very disappointed at how I did it. I had done such a good job telling myself the reasons I shouldn't be running the race that they were all I could think about for the first 3km of the race. I wasn't mentally prepared to run, let alone race. (Come to think of it, I wasn't physically prepared to run either having not loosen up, which probably made it hurt some more.) So after the first km or so when the mind games started all I could think about was the reasons why I shouldn't be there, instead of the reasons why I should.

And then I stopped running.

For that first time in a timed race, I stopped running. In fact I stopped 3 times. Yes, the knee hurt, but looking back it honestly wasn't that bad. My mind just wasn't in it. My mind was so out of it, the laces from my right shoe just keep getting undone because apparently I didn't even know how to tie a simply knot properly anymore. I even started taking off my number shortly after hitting the Vancouver Rowing club. (As an aside, I feel completely ridiculous writing this after reading Dave's Scorched Sole 50 miler race report). Wow, was this how SummerFast going to end for me? With the walk of shame?

Then the aforementioned Jurek quote came back to me. And then another saying from those hippie yoga instructors popped into my head: "If you're struggling, breath through it. Focus on your breathing." And finally: "I hate to have to blog about NOT finishing SummerFast AFTER starting it". Ok, let's start running again.

The next 2km was pretty ugly, but having decided that I was going to finish helped. Pocketing my glasses (I really wasn't going to run, so no contacts) and only seeing fuzzy blobs helped. Focusing on my breathing definitely helped. Then something magically happened between the 5 and 6 km marker. My knee stopped hurting.

I'm pretty sure the pain was still there, because it was there after I crossed the finish line. But for the last 4 km, I felt no pain in that knee. The stride felt normal and I started to reel people in. The last 4km felt fast, but more importantly it was fun (hmmm.. fast == fun?). The sprint to the finish was a blast with fresh legs from all that gold bricking during the start. I finally got a negative split I guess.

And what isn't a race report without a bit of post race soul searching... long list this time. Sigh.

The moments of zen from the Summer[really-slow-at-the-beginning-but-then-it-turned-kinda]Fast 2010:

1) The mind can be weaker than you think, or stronger than you think. It is about how you approach whatever you're facing and how you prepare for it.

2) "Run or don't run, there is no try". Especially in a race, because it will hurt in a race. It always does. If you give your mind excuses, it will use them.

3) Re: "Run or don't run...". When in doubt, run.

4) Scott Jurek knows what he's talking about regarding running ... surprising for a man who can only run 267km in 24 hours.

5) For the next 10 km race I run, I'm just going to run 5 km before starting the damn race.

The next day was Sunday and the Running Room's long run took us around the waters of Vancouver. I ran and chatted with Tom for a large section of the course. We were apparently pretty engrossed in our conversation because we missed Third Beach, our turnaround point, completely. We were also apparently pretty bad in our knowledge of Stanley Park because we didn't realized we missed Third Beach until we saw it... on the way back. Great job by Tom and Andy (another fellow clinic member with suspect navigational skills) who both finished smiling back at the deserted Running Room after the run. The extra distance without carrying any gels meant that by the end of the run I was pretty zonked. But the lessons from yesterday ran through my head, and the legs kept moving. That made me felt better about Saturday.

It felt good doing a little bit of repenting on Sunday. Maybe church isn't so bad.

P.S. Great times by fellow clinic runners during SummerFast. Ken (not from the clinic but close enough) broke 39 minutes. Amelia got a PB and a medal while hung over (I took a picture [of the medal, not the hung-over-ness], will post shortly). And Carolyn and Allison both didn't run as fast as they had wanted to but the important thing was they looked good doing it. Plus some great looking times by newly discovered clinic members Jason and Kristine. I really will show up one of these Thursdays.

A quick stroll through UBC

As promise, a race report for the Longest Run 10k from last Friday. First ever race report, so bear with me...

For a race I had never about or planned to run in until a week before the event, I was certainly happy that my fellow running clinic go'ers Amelia, Carolyn, and Alyson convinced me to run it. I can say for a fact that it was the funnest race that I've ran it before. Ok, ok, so other the the BMO marathon, all my previous races consisted of really only a handful of Sun Runs, but it definitely beats it in every conceivable way. No running on the side walk or the curb to pass people who say they can run 10k in 45 mins. No almost running over people who choose to drop to tie their shoe laces in the middle of the road. And a much better post race atmosphere. ..

The race started at 7pm on Friday June 18th, and I had planned to be there at 6:30 so I don't repeat the start of race debacle at the Vancouver Marathon this year. True to form, I pulled into UBC at precisely 6:45. I had no idea what to expect in terms of the number of runners or pre-race activities, so I hauled ass to get change and follow the rest of the crowd to the start line.

Luckily, the distance from the lots reserved for the race to the start line was mercifully short, and so was the lines to the bathroom. I even got a chance to find the aforementioned ladies before the race. But the biggest surprise of all was finding the Master Jedi (aka marathon clinic instructor Dave Papineau) at the start line with his camera handy. Sweet...a chance to take a non-crappy race photo!

As I said before, I always zone out some when running, especially when running hard, so here are the bits and pieces that I do recollect...

• I think I ran the first 2km wayyyyy too fast. I have no idea how fast I ran it since I purposefully didn't wear my Garmin because I just wanted to treat the run like a fast tempo run. But I kept up with the front runners for the first 0.5 km and was in contact with them after 1.5 km. I was feeling pretty good about myself and then...
• I realized that the first couple of km was mostly downhill. What goes down must come up, especially in a course that is two 5km loops. D'oh! Km 2 started the uphill stretch and was also when I started paying the price for letting the ego take control during the start. Let just say, from the 2 km to the 4.5 km mark, I essentially had my eyes closed, wondering aloud why I was doing this instead of having a beer at the beer garden.
• Saw Dave at the 4.5 km mark with his camera poised! So for the first time in my life I ham'ed it up, gave the camera a pair of thumbs up and a dumb-ass grin, only to hear him say something about "picture...blurry...out of focus". D'oh!
• Back at the start of the loop and the 5km marker, someone was yelling the split time... 20:14. Not bad, but got a bit of work to do if I want to break 40. But wait, the timing strip for the official split was like 200m back, now I'm confused...
• The second loop felt way better (but apparently not faster) than the first. I knew where the downhills were and that let me glide a little, and it allow me to psych myself up some for the uphills. In fact, the uphill sections at around the 7km was where I passed a couple guys (#134 and #83) I've been chasing for the last 20 minutes or so. I remember #134 distinctly (according to the results that would be Darbara Ghuman). He was behind me for the first 2km or so, but he was breathing so loud I thought he was going to fade (and faint) soon. And then he passed me. That's ok, I thought, it'll happen. Wrong. I slowly reeled him in and then passed him for good at around the 7.5 km mark on the uphill stretch.
• Couldn't say the same for #83, who would be Jeremy Cuff and his LGRR racing singlet. I passed him on the same hill at 7km but he quickly took it back. We traded a bit until I decide to just coast in behind him for a bit. Just resting I thought. I'm sure he was doing the same too because right before the 9km marker he put the hammer down. I tried to follow but just didn't have the pace. Right, that's why I have to start doing those track intervals again...
• Master Jedi and his camera again 300 meters from the finish. "Finish strong" was all I heard. No cheezy poses this time. Combined this with the extra energy and the smell of the finish, I started my sprint for the finish. And unlike the Sun Run, there was actually something there in them legs. Hmmm... maybe I could have ran harder?

So the time I ended up with a time of 40:45:41, with an official 5 km split time of 19:50:64. Right after the race I had thought I missed a negative split by 17 seconds (going by the 20:14 the guy yelled out at the 5 km marker), but apparently I positive split by more than a minute. I still think that's off since I didn't think my second half was that slow! Even though I didn't break 40, I still shaved 2 full minutes off my previous 10 km PB. Plugging that number into McMillian's running calculator gives me a 3:11:14 for the marathon. There's hope after all for Boston!

The second funnest part of the race was seeing the other's crossing the finish line. Amelia was 6th in her division and 8th overall for females with a 42:26, missing a negative split by a mere 2 seconds. Alyson crossed the line with her usual smile at 44:53. Carolyn sprinted through the line with a 47:09.

The funnest part was obviously the post race BBQ where I got a chance to chat with Dave and everyone else while enjoying the peek-a-boo Vancouver sun and stuffing whatever freebie hemp bars and coconut water I could fit in the pocket of my hoodie. Only regret, not grabbing a box of that coconut water when I had the chance! I took 3 and downed all of them right after my 23km long run on Sunday. Won't make that mistake next time. I'm bring a garbage bag for next year!

For actual photos, check out Dave's blog entry.