Watching the River Roll

it has been a long couple weeks in the running game. some great workouts. some not so great races....

boilingpotatoes — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:47:14 -0500

it has been a long couple weeks in the running game. some great workouts. some not so great races.

track workout tomorrow, but for today check out the press release for Speed River’s great new partnership: http://www.runnerspace.com/news.php?news_id=22941-Speed-River-Track-Club-And-Sprint-Management-Announce-Partnership

and by the way. CIS we coming for you: http://gryphons.ca/news/2012/1/17/SWIM_0117121314.aspx

Gryph What.

http://runmonsterrun.bandcamp.com/track/rises

boilingpotatoes — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 08:07:21 -0500

http://runmonsterrun.bandcamp.com/track/rises

jan 12th. no snow. no complaints. last night we were out on our big 400m oval up at a local high...

boilingpotatoes — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 11:58:34 -0500

jan 12th. no snow. no complaints. last night we were out on our big 400m oval up at a local high school. 400 repeats. feel good. have fun. check. be fast. be strong. check. be ready for the weekend. be fearless. check.

we were out last night for a session on cook’s mill road. it was a dark and damp day and it...

boilingpotatoes — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 11:40:13 -0500

we were out last night for a session on cook’s mill road. it was a dark and damp day and it was almost surreal to see all the runners in their bright winter clothes against the backdrop of dull brown winter forest and pale yellow dead grass. there were different groups doing different workouts, all of which were mixed zone type of work.

it was a hard workout for me out there. one of those days when the harder you go the slower you go and the more relaxed you try and be the more you flail. how was your workout? some one asked back in the cold tub - long day at the office i replied. it’s a pretty common saying for us.

…day at the office.

Blue Collar Runner

boilingpotatoes — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 18:43:29 -0500

Blue Collar Runner:

Milne is the man. Dedicated to the group. Dedicated to excellence. He solo’d a 2.20 1k on a flat track and then came back to pace his Speed River/Guelph Gryphon teammates in the 1500m. No complaining. Not afraid of work.

If only all elite Canadian Mid Distance guys had his integrity of character.

good to have the guys back together. race tomorrow at UofT. the 1k is loaded. just got to hop on...

boilingpotatoes — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 18:06:51 -0500

good to have the guys back together. race tomorrow at UofT. the 1k is loaded. just got to hop on the train and not fall off. we’re gonna kill it.

third lap

boilingpotatoes — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 11:49:37 -0500

the third lap of a 15 is the hardest. i think i’m staying on pace, even pushing it and then i hear the split. shit. too slow. making it to 800 is easy but making it home…that’s the hard part.

on new years day I ran a mile repeat workout. i was supposed to be in North Carolina (where it was frickin beautiful!) with my team mates, but some family stuff came up and I returned early to Guelph. It was just above 0, very windy and icy up at St. James (indoor tracks were all closed) but I had to go to work.

the workout started out a little slow. to be honest i was feeling a little sorry for myself out there. 400m slow. 600, slow. 800, fucking slow. Come on you bastard. You’re out here already. You going to waste your fucking time? 1k, faster, 1200, faster, 1600m acceptable.

for the next intervals get out faster. right off the line was the only thing i was thinking to myself. and then in my third lap who are you waiting for? nobody’s going to give this to you. nobody cares about how fast you run. you’ve got to take it. you’ve got to fucking take it.

Canadian Running: Guelph, Birth of a Running City

boilingpotatoes — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 15:08:42 -0500

Canadian Running: Guelph, Birth of a Running City:

fantastic article written about our group. see some shots of cooks mill, the varsity squad, and CP hills!

Run Monster Run

boilingpotatoes — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 14:25:40 -0500

Run Monster Run:

clicking on the link above will take you to the page for my spoken word/hip hop project Run Monster Run.

For me, one of the most important things in life is creativity. Whether it is the simple and physical creativity of running through forests and leaving footsteps or the more intricate creativity of songwriting and poetry.

Enjoy and pass it along if you like it.

one thing i’ve learned this year is that the universe don’t care much for my plans. the...

boilingpotatoes — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 12:18:28 -0500

one thing i’ve learned this year is that the universe don’t care much for my plans. the universe don’t care about my workouts. the universe don’t carea bout my grades. the universe don’t care about my health. the universe don’t care if i win CIS.

the only thing i can do is control the controllable - don’t be too crazy on new years eve, shovel the St. James track, put on an extra pair of tights for the wind and the rain, and run on.

…always run on.

Made it safely to North Carolina. Made it safely but arrived to...

boilingpotatoes — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 10:44:50 -0500

Made it safely to North Carolina. Made it safely but arrived to some sad news. My beautiful, kind and unbelievably gracious grandmother passed yesterday. She was a strong, brave woman who loved her family very much and always looked out for others.

I have a memory of her that I think is quite fitting. There was a huge oak tree in her backyard when I was a kid. I would spend a lot of time looking up to the top branches - those branches which lead only to sky and heaven - imagining all types of possibilities. She taught me to love nature and respect the world around me, but also to embrace and enjoy it. Oh, to climb up that tree! What a house I could make!

Although one weekend my grandmother told me the tree had to be cut down. It is sick she explained. I was angry. That isn’t fair. My eight year old self having trouble letting a friend go. It isn’t fair. No, but that is life. Here, let me show you something…She lifted me up. In my memory there are beams of sunlight shining on a little sapling growing from a crook in the middle of the two split branches.

There is always a beginning. Much like snow can turn into sunshine and green grass.

R.I.P. Nannie. Love you Always

long drive. slept a while in the back of the van. nice diggs. run tomorrow.

boilingpotatoes — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 00:11:00 -0500

long drive. slept a while in the back of the van. nice diggs. run tomorrow.

time has gotten away from me here. I spent a week in Thunderbay with my girlfriend’s family...

boilingpotatoes — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 10:30:38 -0500

time has gotten away from me here. I spent a week in Thunderbay with my girlfriend’s family and it was great. Lots of food, wine and laughs. Now I’m back home in Guelph for the last day until heading to North Carolina for a training camp. I’m looking forward to the trip. We’ve got 9 guys, 6 days, two rooms and one big ole van. It’ll be a great lead up to the first big track race of the season on january 7th.

The weather should hover around 10c and we’ll work out on UNC’s big outdoor track.

The road to Winnipeg starts with a 13 hour roadtrip to NC

Trying something new here. Tumbling from my phone! So i would like to share a running memory with...

boilingpotatoes — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 11:33:03 -0500

Trying something new here. Tumbling from my phone!

So i would like to share a running memory with you today. It’s a funny one. Back in the day i was a little punk. Long robert plantesque hair, pink aviators, leather jacket and an unwarranted arrogance circa jayz swagger 2011. Seriously. I used to workout and race in basketball shorts and aviator…

So, once upton that time i began working out with the speed river jr group. During those days when neither the varsity group, post collegiate or junior group was so massive we all used to workout in the dome at the same time. Being a punk i loved it. I was able to show off to all the pretty university girls and since i was a fast little bugger i had some bravado (i worked out in a shirt that had “smoother than vaseline” sharpied on it).

Now for the funny part. I was doing leg swings one day and the lovely laura moultton complimented me on them! Well i was so proud i swung my leg extra hard and kneed myself in the nose. It bled…

shit, i’ve fallen off this tumblr thing this week. my bad. blog so hard mutha ukas want to...

boilingpotatoes — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 12:49:11 -0500

shit, i’ve fallen off this tumblr thing this week. my bad. blog so hard mutha ukas want to fine me…not so much.

Here’s a little running update to let you know where i’ve been at:

As my last post suggested, I’ve been running a lot lately. It has been going well for the past couple of weeks but it glitched on Tuesday. After a mediocre workout on Monday night I bonked and worked hard to recover. Tuesday afternoon during core I nearly passed out from some dizziness and spinning. For the rest of the night I was down for the count. Wednesday though turned the whole week around. It was a ballin’ workout with some race pace 800’s. Despite feeling gassed and depleted I got into the mindset to hurt and had a great workout. Excited to be ready to do some great things this winter.

Also, here’s what to expect for the next week. I’ll be going to Thunderbay to visit with the ‘inlaws.’ While I’m out of Guelph I’m going to do a week of running memories. These will be stories about roadtrips, competitions, workouts ect. AND tomorrow I’m going to post a heart healthy turkey chilli recipe.

Much love readers

some people i’ve trained with adapt really well to high mileage phases. and i’m talking...

boilingpotatoes — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 11:37:43 -0500

some people i’ve trained with adapt really well to high mileage phases. and i’m talking high mileage. 120-150 miles a week. if you are conservative and say that you run about 7 minute miles 150 miles a week is 1050 minutes or 17. 5 hours. 17.5 hours of pure running. forget about cold tubs and core and stretching and napping and fuelling which accompany those hours of running.

Now, truth be told those guys are crazy and most of us don’t run that much. ”high mileage” is a relative term right. For example if you are used to running 20 miles a week and then you step it up to 40 miles for a couple weeks that is high. Similarly if you run 70 miles and bump it up to 90 that is high.

I’ve never considered myself a high mileage runner. In fact, I’ve found that my immune system gets really stressed and strained when I run too much. As a result I make sure I always take a day off per week and never try to push the numbers for the sake of pushing the numbers. I’m lucky that I have a very trusting relationship with my coach that allows for that type of input and dialogue which allows me to really read my body and adjust plans accordingly.

This month though, in prep for an indoor season of high intensity, I have been pushing the miles a bit. Running pretty close to as much as I have ever run before. Physically I am handling it better than I expected and that is encouraging but for me handling it physically is only one of the issues. I’ve found by increasing mileage and load I get increasingly surly, grumpy, pissy and short with people. I become more anti-social and frank, am more emotionally exhausted.

None of this in and of itself is really a problem because I have an amazing support system to understands why I am the way I am during these periods of training. From my coaches and my teammates, to my parents and my little brother, to my various therapists and doctor, to my super supportive girlfriend I want to thank all of my extended support team for dealing with a very senile young man lately!

"this is where i verse something about the fire"

boilingpotatoes — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 17:53:42 -0500

“this is where i verse something about the fire”

thatshitcraymaybe one day i’ll be able to box like...

boilingpotatoes — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 10:59:54 -0500

that
shit
cray

maybe one day i’ll be able to box like that….

"All I want is to be recognized as being, is John Carlos, the son of Earl Carlos. No more, no less."

boilingpotatoes — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 13:32:53 -0500

"All I want is to be recognized as being, is John Carlos, the son of Earl Carlos. No more, no less.":

forget about Pre. this is the best track story of all time.

read more about the olympic project for human rights: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_Project_for_Human_Rights

at the beginning you feel smooth. the man in front of you can’t be going fast enough. you nip...

boilingpotatoes — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 22:00:30 -0500

at the beginning you feel smooth. the man in front of you can’t be going fast enough. you nip at their heels. you don’t check your shoulder. you lean into the corners. time is kind and gives you your recovery.

but then it comes. slowly at first. ripples more than waves. discomfort you can control. but time becomes a little more coy. offering and withholding the recovery you were promised.

still, you start. out fast. three quick steps off the line. hold it. there is nothing but the logo in between the shoulders of the man in front of you. the logo and the burning in your stomach.

then a large wave. huge break. big crash. everything becomes fuzzy. you forget everything you knew about pace or control. everything you knew about form. you throw your body around the corners to the line.