Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Off Trail for a while, but I'm back!

Did you miss me? I really missed the three of you that actually read my blog, so a quick 3 month recap...
Late December: The Triple Century run really kicked the crap out of me mostly in terms of drinking, I really didn't appreciate the enormity of drinking 100 beers, I ended up finishing 40 of them. Running, which is normally my strength, 100 miles during the Xmas holidays was extremely difficult given the freak snowstorm that Vancouver received. I ended up doing the majority of the miles on a dreadmill, the 7 mile loop trail that I picked was taking me two hours to run a lap. Also, not much in the way of support as everybody was snowed in. I put on a ton of weight and catching a cold bug didnt really help matters.
January: The first three weeks really sucked. I was out of shape, still feeling the lingering effects of my cold and I was also leading the 4:15-4:45 marathon group for the Runners Den in Port Moody. There was still so much snow on the roads that we ended up doing some of our mileage on the trails. I have 12 runners in my group that I co-lead. Starting the fourth week of January, I finally succumbed to buying the 10 minute trainer workout DVD. You may have seen the infomercials at 2am and wondered,"Can this really work?" I'll try anything once...although looking at the program, it has me working out between 10 to 30 minutes a day, 6 days a week.
February: Decided to sign up for the Vancouver Marathon, May 3rd. I don't think I'll qualify for Boston, my BQ is sub 3:15 but I'd like to see if I can run 3:45. Also registered for Cascade Crest 100 mile Aug 29-30, (sorry, Brownie. I'm sure this ranks pretty high on the Bogusity scale.) PCT 50 miler July 25, Knee Knacker if I get in and I'm flipping between Scorched Sole 50 mile in Kelowna, San Diego 100 miler and Vancouver 100 which all take place on June 6. My road running has really improved, unfortunately my trail running has suffered. The only trail runs I do nowadays are either with the Vancouver Hash or Club Fat Ass. I'm also in the middle of Week 5 of the Ten Minute trainer. I'm just as surprised as you are. These workouts are intense and I am doing 30 minutes or three workouts a day, six days a week. Today (Wed) happens to be a rest day, only 10 minute Cardio, but I can't believe the results I'm getting. Now if only I could stick to the eating plan...
Tomorrow is the Marathon clinic's track workout, 3 km time trial, followed by 4 * 200 m. Let's hope the track is clear of snow. Gotta go do Cardio now, "Lost" is on at 9pm.