Margreet Dietz

Energy returns in 132K week

2012-02-27T08:14:00.004-08:00

A record week of running. Again.

It didn't start out so well, as I still seemed to lacked energy initially; last Sunday I had cut my long run short, from the planned 32K to 24K, because I felt a little off. Not sick enough to skip the session entirely but even the shorter one had been a struggle.

I rarely skip or cut short long runs; they're too important and I like doing them. But last Sunday even 5:30 per K seemed like hard work, whereas recently a 5:00 per K average has been comfortable.

On Monday, I had a double session, with 10K in the morning followed by 6K in the afternoon, both at recovery pace. I felt better than I had on Sunday.

Tuesday I ran 16K in 84 minutes; the goal was to run at a pace that is between that of my long runs and recovery sessions. "Felt good, not superbly energetic but not too bad either," the notes in my diary say.

Wednesday had a 24K session. At about 5:10 per K (the slow end of my target pace for these sessions), again I lacked energy, even as my ECCO BIOM shoes made me opt for a beautiful route along the Squamish Estuary and the Spit that offers spectacular views.

Finally, on Thursday's 11K recovery session, I felt the spring in my step return.

Just in time, as Friday had a 19K run that included 10K at half marathon race pace.

I decided to run it around the track. Tim and another local runner agreed to join me for part of the 25 laps, even as Friday brought wet snow which turned the local Don Ross dirt track into a very soggy experience. I left at 3:25pm to run the 9K from home to the track to warm up, and was soaked by the time I arrived there.

I was so glad to have company for this session. I ended up running the 10K in 41:54, which I was stoked with given the conditions. It was a great confidence booster, especially after the experience of the previous few days.

Saturday had another recovery session, also 11K, which I enjoyed.

Sunday brought my longest run in 3 1/2 months, at 35K. The conditions were absolutely perfect as Tim and I headed out on Sunday morning at about 9:30am. It was cool and sunny, with blues skies and snowtopped mountains. The road was dry and clear.

We had a slight headwind on the way out, giving us a slight tailwind on the way home.

Tim and I ran the first 11K together, before we each did our own thing. We eased into the run along the usual out-and-back route. I reached the halfway mark 17.5K in 93 minutes, for an average pace of 5:21 per K, and picked it up gradually on the way home.

Feeling strong, I managed to wind up the pace to end up with covering the second 17.5K at 4:39 per K. It was a stark contrast from the way I felt a week ago.

Sunday's 35K session brought my weekly total to 132K.

This week has 128K and, if all goes as planned, a half marathon that I'll run at marathon goal race pace on Saturday.

Amazon Breakthough Novel Contest Award

2012-02-23T12:22:00.003-08:00

From my Mother, my first novel, made it through the first round in the 2012 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest Award in the young adult fiction category.

To make it into the second round, manuscripts were evaluated on a written pitch of no more than 300 words. Here's what helped me get selected:

For Nadia, an experienced marathoner, running is a quest for truth, her personal truth—helping her understand who she is and how she fits in the world.

Things she has never understood about who she is, or could be, slowly but surely become verifiable and indisputable facts as she runs. By better understanding herself, she connects to the universe and mankind, and the eternal question: Why are we here?

A brief and mysterious phone call by her maternal grandmother, Oma, gives the 40-year-old plenty of food for thought as she embarks on her biggest challenge yet, a 62-mile ultramarathon on Canada's West Coast.

Oma, now 94, reveals clues to a secret from the time she fled with her only child, a baby daughter, into the forest to seek shelter from the brutalities in the Second World War in Sudetenland, the part of Czechoslovakia annexed in 1938 by Germany.

Her grandmother immigrated to the Netherlands in the early 1950s as a young widow, escaping Czechoslovakia in the aftermath of a Communist coup d'etat.

Though close to Oma while growing up in the Netherlands before moving overseas as an adult, Nadia reflects during the race on the hardships her grandmother endured and the impact it made on the way she lived.

Realizing she knows far less about her roots than she always thought as the miles—and unexpected challenges that put her at odds with longtime boyfriend Tony—pass under her feet, Nadia also sees that the freedom she feels as she runs parallels the one her grandmother struggled so hard to find.

Thinking about Oma's life helps Nadia gain perspective and courage as she recalls stories and clues of family lore to join them together in a full picture while the race unfolds.

Only 25 percent of the 1000 manuscripts will survive the next round to make it into the quarter final. Fingers crossed!

Invincible, except on Sunday's long run

2012-02-20T08:40:00.000-08:00

In New Zealand clouds (2005)

After setting a personal record for the half marathon distance on Sunday for the first time in four years, improving it by 46 seconds to 87:27, I have been running on clouds the past week. I felt that the training I've been doing - bigger volume and less intensity - suited me; I'm very much enjoying the training and I've been feeling strong.

For the first time I am running every day. I've been doing so since the start of the year, which is 50 days now. I had wondered if that was a smart thing to do but by now I feel that the three weekly recovery runs are very beneficial.

And to get confirmation of my fitness through such a big PB has of course been extra motivating. (Thanks to the Squamish Chief's Ben Lypka for this article on the race.)

On Monday, the day after the First Half race, I did a double run, with 11K in the morning, followed by 5K in the afternoon. "Felt good. Beautiful day. Don't feel like I ran 87 yesterday. No more tired than I've felt recently, less actually after the past week of recovery [a week of 108K]," I wrote in my running log.

Tuesday was a lactate threshold session; a total of 18K including 8K at half marathon race pace. I managed a 4:10 per K average for that 8K, which I was happy with. "Felt decent given Sunday's effort," I wrote in my log.

On Wednesday I did 24K at 5:00 per K average. "Good run. Felt great," my notes say. I took a couple of gels and a bottle of water. After the run, I felt very tired. "Solid nap," according to my log.

Thursday had 11K at recovery pace. I'd forgotten to charge the Garmin and ended up running 12K. "Was tired, not surprisingly. It was nice to run in the afternoon, knowing it was the shortest and easiest run of the week," I wrote in my diary.

Friday called for 21K. The Garmin hadn't been on my mind, so it was still out of juice. I did a version of my standard out-and-back route that I knew to be at least 10.5K, so I ran at least 21K, perhaps closer to 21.5K. It took me 1:43, again I felt good. "Good frame of mind, time went by fast, positive thoughts," my notes say. "Tired afterward."

Saturday's easy 13K including 10 100-metre strides. "Felt awesome, nice easy run. Felt good too, if somewhat tired during the strides," I wrote. "Noticed how I either have a better feel for how long 100m takes me, or that I run them a little quicker, as I used to check my watch typically after 80m."

On Saturday afternoon I went to the final session of a very cool six-week project by Jaimie, a Quest University student. Called “Me and You”, the project involved sharing life stories through creative means:

"Each session, we do creative exercises exploring events in our lives. Between sessions, we work either from prompts or from our own ideas to express and understand our lived experiences. Then, we come together and share our stories with each other—not to critique, but to find resonance. The medium, whether oral storytelling, writing, drawing, interpretive dance, or another means, is up to the individual."

It was another inspiring afternoon with beautiful stories, drawings and three original songs. I had a couple of afternoon coffees, which I normally don't do, and a few of the yummy snacks everyone brought.

Afterward, Tim, Luka and I went to Nexen Beach where we walked and chased sticks across the beach (Luka did most of the latter). Then we had a glass of red wine, and dinner. Perhaps I ate too much or too fast. I felt a little off by the time I went to bed. I didn't sleep well, and when I woke up the next morning, I felt completely exhausted. Even my coffee didn't taste good, always a sign something is not quite right.

As I walked Luka before Tim and I were heading out for a long run, I couldn't imagine covering the 32K I was supposed to do. My stomach didn't feel right, and neither did the rest of me. But skipping the session entirely didn't feel good either. Tim was planning to run 24K, so I decided to try for that and see how that would go. I could always turn around. I could always do a second 8K run in the afternoon.

It was hard work to run 5:30 per K. I was glad to run with Tim, who entertained me with stories from Chris McCormack's book I am here to win. When we made it to 12K, I was so happy I could turn around and start on the home stretch. Tim went ahead, picking up his speed, and I watched him disappear in the distance. I knew I'd be fine running home, as long as I took it easy.

At the pool, another 4.5K from home, I ran into a neighbour, an Ironman triathlete, who'd just been to the pool with her two little kids. She offered me a ride home. I declined quickly before I could give in to temptation. It took me 2hr 16 to cover the 24K distance. That's an average 5:42 per K.

After 90 minutes of couch time, we ran some errands and took Luka to the beach again.

I didn't feel up to another 8K in the afternoon, as I still didn't feel 100 per cent; and 128K for the week was solid, even if it was short of the 135K I was meant to do.

All in all, an awesome week that concluded with a reminder that I am not invincible:-).

I am feeling much better this morning. Today has another double session, 10K in the morning and 6K in the afternoon, both recovery pace.

'A strong pick' - Midwest Book Review

2012-02-16T12:28:00.000-08:00

I was thrilled to find that Midwest Book Review agreed to read and review my latest book, and first novel. Here's the verdict:

"In honor of those who came before us, we try to understand their plight. From my Mother is a novel following Nadia, as she faces a major marathon, looking back into her family's history and struggles to survive. She thinks of her grandmother who fled a communist revolution all those years ago, and looks to understand her, and the struggles we face through generations. From my Mother is a strong pick for world fiction collections."

— Micah Andrew for Midwest Book Review

Back to training - lactate threshold

2012-02-14T20:39:00.000-08:00

After running a PB, especially one that has taken four years and is a big one on top of that, motivation for training is high. Having upped both my volume and frequency, running well over 100K a week in daily runs, my result at Sunday's half marathon has given me much confidence that I've chosen the right training for my current level of fitness, frame of mind and goals.

It's very important to believe and trust in your training.

I felt great during yesterday's double recovery session - I ran 11K in the morning and 5K in the afternoon. The stunning weather didn't hurt my mood either.

Today called for 18K including 8K at 15K to half marathon race pace. While feeling good following Sunday's half marathon PB, I wasn't sure what to expect but was glad to cover the 8K at 4:10 per K average and an average heart rate of 160bpm.

I am looking forward to a 24K session tomorrow.

One for the record books

2012-02-12T18:40:00.000-08:00

My plan for the First Half Marathon was to use it as a marathon race pace training session for the Vancouver Marathon on May 6, which is my key goal race for the first half of 2012. As mentioned in a previous post, my session today called for running 16K (10 miles) at 4:15 per K (or 6:50 per mile) as part of the race.

Then I would be free to run whatever I pleased for the remaining 5.1K (1.1 mile); if I felt good, I'd sustain or perhaps even pick up my speed. If I felt tired, such as from this week's 108K including the half marathon, I'd allow myself to 'jog' home.

Of course I hoped to finish in 90 minutes or less, especially after the organizers were so kind to give me a competitive start spot by exchanging the BIB-number 841 of my transferred entry, after I had forgotten to register for the competitive slot offered to me because of my 2011 89:46 by the January 14 deadline.

(The race offers elite and competitive entries; the latter is for men who ran sub-80, women who ran sub-90, or those who finished top 3 in their age group in the two previous editions. In fact, the awesome woman who agreed to give me the competitive BIB #190 told me on Friday night, smiling, You'd better prove me right and finish sub-90!)

Tim, racing though not race fit, and I left Squamish early to meet Angelique, who's also maintained a low-volume running regime since her debut marathon in October, at her place which is less than a K from the start. We did a warm-up, which we decided to cut short to two minutes because of the rain, before going up to Angelique's apartment.

We left her place at 20 minutes before the start, then wished each other well after another short warm-up that included a few easy strides. Then it was time to line up, listen to Oh Canada and get started.

I knew I'd likely be a little too fast in the first mile, as this amazing field starts at a cracking pace, and wasn't surprised to see 6:36. I settled into a pace that was a touch slower, though missed seeing the 2- & 3-mile markers. The weather was perfect; cool, with some light rain in the early stages of the race. I was glad to have only worn a sleeveless top, though did wear capri tights (Under Armour's amazing so-called heat gear) with knee-high compression socks.

While I was keeping an eye on staying on my 6:50 mile plan for the first 10 miles, I also focused on how I felt. After another 20:15, I hit the 4-mile mark, and realized I felt strong and comfortable. It wasn't a walk in the park but my pace, though requiring effort, seemed well within my ability today.

I had taken a cup of water at the first aid station and had a gel somewhere around 4 miles as we began circling Stanley Park with its stunning vistas. 'Stay comfortable' became my mantra. It reminded me that I was comfortable, and needed to keep on a pace that allowed me to feel that way.

I focused on maintaining my pace, which was a touch quicker than 6:50 I realized, as I did the math quickly at each mile marker (5 x 7 = 35 minutes, minus 5 x 10 seconds = 34:50, and compared it to the time on my watch, which was 34:33. A little fast but, again, I felt good, comfortable.)

By this point, I was running with a guy who I'd end up sharing the rest of the race with. We didn't speak. The only thing I said the entire race was, Thank you, when he thoughtfully gave me space to avoid a puddle of water. (Actually, I also said or mouthed Thank you to the volunteer who handed me water at aid stations.)

By 10K it was time for another cup of water and another gel. I was just shy of 42 minutes, a little faster than the 42:30 I was aiming for, but I was still comfortable in line with my mantra of the day, 'Stay comfortable.'

I was focused, felt relaxed and strong. Would it last? I believed it would. At each mile marker I saw, I hit the lap button, mostly for a record of my splits afterward. To gauge my progress, I kept doing the math by multiplying the number on the mile marker by 7, and then substracting the same number times 10 seconds from it, and compared it with the overall time displayed on my watch.

Time and miles seemed to be flying by. I hit the halfway point at 44 minutes (give or take a couple of seconds); 88 minutes flashed in my mind but I immediately pushed away that thought. I was 1 minute ahead of my planned pace, the 4:15 per K or 6:50 per mile marathon goal race pace, after all and I clearly remembered doing the math a year ago at exactly the same point.

In 2011 I hit the halfway mark in 43 minutes, prompting visions of an 86-minute finish, before dying at about 16K - after rounding a pretty pond - and finishing in 89:46. So I refocused on maintaining my pace and level of comfort; it was all about the 16K at marathon goal pace. I still felt strong.

When I hit that pond, and the painful memory of last year's race, I had another gel which I'd saved for the occasion. I still felt good, so good I missed the 10-mile marker (16K) which signalled the end of my key goal for the race. I was supposed to hit that in 68:20. When I checked my watch again, I was at 71 minutes and knew I had missed the marker.

My main goal for the race was accomplished and, feeling strong, I decided it was time to see if I could pick it up a little for the remaining 4-1/2K. As I accelerated, I still felt strong, though slowly but surely less comfortable. That was OK, however, as there were only 2 miles left to go.

Though I knew it was there, I had forgotten about the nasty uphill incline in that final kilometre before the finish, but thankfully it didn't feel as steep as it had last year.

I see 87 on the clock Rita Ivanauskas

Now there was just a 500-metre stretch to the finish left and I gave it all I had. Volker, a fellow runner from Squamish, said, That'll be a PB for sure, but I didn't have the breath to respond.

As I crossed the line, I wasn't sure about the seconds but had very clearly seen the minutes: 87.

Eighty seven!

It was 5-1/2 years ago that I first ran sub-90 (89:29 in the Sydney half marathon) but until today I had only run faster than 89:16 once; that was 88:13 in the 2008 Sunshine Coast Half Marathon. My official net finish time for today turned out to be 87:27, a personal best by 46 seconds. I couldn't be happier with that result and the way I felt during today's race.

I looked for the guy I'd spent more than half the race with. We highfived and congratulated each other; it was a PB for him too.

As a bonus, my PB earned me 2nd place in the F40-44 age group (behind Lisa Harvey who was second overall with a blistering 1:18:43.)

My splits were: 6:36, 20:15 (an average of 6:45 for three miles), 6:42. 6:52, 6:43, 6:43, 20:13 (an average of 6:44 for three miles), 6:22 and 7:02 for the final 1.1 mile.

Tim and Angelique both had solid races too, finishing in 93:30 and 2:11 (Angelique's 3rd half marathon), and were happy to establish their current level of fitness as a benchmark to step up their training for the next race, the Sunshine Coast Half Marathon on April 1.

Dylan Wykes improved his own course record to 64:21 as he prepares for the Lake Biwa marathon in Japan in three weeks where he hopes to secure a qualifying time (2:11:29 or better) for the Olympics in London, while Natasha Fraser was the female winner in 1:16:17.

More inspiring performances came from Betty Jean McHugh who, at the age of 84, ran 2:26 and Frank Kurucz who, at the age of 80, did 2:07. Or how about Carol Peters (F60-64) with 1:43 or Scott Stewart (M60-64) with 84:53. Mark Bennett set a new course record for the M50-54 division with 73:46.

(Check out the full 2012 First Half Marathon results here.)

I am on a high and looking forward to a big week of training; 135K starting with tomorrow's double recovery run, 10K in the morning and 6K in the afternoon.

Proof is in the pudding, erm pacing

2012-02-10T12:00:00.000-08:00

In last year's First Half I had hoped, and expected, to break 89 minutes. And I seemed well on track to do so, hitting the halfway mark in 43 minutes. However, it took only three more miles before I ran out of steam, and needed all my willpower to finish in 89:46.

I had a look at my race report from the 2010 edition, you can read it here, and found the following splits:

I had 12:52 for the first 2 miles (average 6:26 per mile), then 6:43, 6.49, 6.49, 6.46, 6.44, 6.42, 6.49, 6.52, 7.03. Then I ran the final 2.1 miles in 15:34, or about 7:22 per mile.

It's a good reminder of a few things:
- with a competitive field, the start of this race is fast;
- the course is marked in miles, rather than kilometres, so make sure you know your pace in miles if you're going to be taking splits;
- a finish time alone doesn't tell the whole story of a race. Last year the first half of the First Half took me 43 minutes, and the second took me at least 46. The other way around would have felt much better;
- this year my goal is to use it as a key training session for the Vancouver Marathon, rather than race it as fast as I can. I want to do the first 10 miles at 6:50 per mile (my Vancouver Marathon goal race pace). That means hitting 10km in 42:30 and 10 miles in 68:20. Then I am free to do as I feel; I am hoping to feel good enough to pick it up in the final 3 miles.

Ready for First Half Marathon

2012-02-09T13:14:00.000-08:00

This Sunday I'm running the First Half Marathon in Vancouver, organized by the Pacific Road Runners. It's my third time competing in this event.

The 2012 edition was firmly set on my race calendar for months, so much so that I completely forgot the not-so-minor-detail of accepting my entry slot.

The race, capped at 2,000 runners, sells out in hours. However, the organizers offer elite and competitive entries. The latter is for athletes who ran sub-80 (for men) sub-90 (for women), or finished top 3 in their age group in the two previous editions. But these athletes still need to register; somehow I didn't and by the time I realized this, last week, it was too late.

Thankfully, they do offer transfers (for a fee of $20) and I gratefully bought a slot from a fellow runner in town who no longer planned to do the event (thanks Kathryn). Pfew! I don't plan to race all out (though it might end up feeling just like it as I'll explain) but to use it as one of my marathon goal race pace sessions that's on my schedule this week: it calls for 26K including 16K at marathon goal pace, which for me is an ambitious 4:15 per K.

My main focus of training is the BMO Vancouver Marathon in May.

These marathon race pace workouts, I have found, are exceptionally tough to do on your own. So I'd rather pay $80 to share the experience with a couple of thousand others, which should make it easier. Easier than really hard is still going to be pretty tough, though.

My fastest half marathon time ever is 88:13 (2008 Sunshine Coast Half Marathon), which is a pace of 4:11 per K and my fastest time by more than a minute for the distance in any other event.

The first time I broke 90 minutes for 21.1K was in September 2006, when I ran 89:29 in the Sydney Half Marathon (then a PB by 3 minutes for the distance). Three months later I ran 89:16 to win the Central Coast Half Marathon, another PB and my second-fastest time to this day.

Next I did the May 2007 SMH Sydney Half Marathon where a sudden vicious stitch reduced me to a jog resulting in a 96:43. Four months later I did a 'half marathon' in the Netherlands in 2007 that turned out be 21.6K, which I ran in 92:10 on a shockingly windy and wet day on an exposed pancake-flat course in the province of Friesland.

In 2008, as mentioned I ran my half marathon PB.

In 2009, I ran the First Half in 89:39 and last year I finished the event in 89:46, both at an average pace of 4:15 per K. Most recently, in June 2011 I ran the Scotiabank Half Marathon in 89:44, another 4:15 average.

So, I am curious to see how doing Sunday's race as a marathon race pace session will feel. I am completely focused on running the first 16K at 4:15 per K pace; I'll decide on what to with the final 5.1K when it's time to run them.

Writing this post made me realize that I've not raced that many standalone half marathons (I've done at least a dozen of them as part of half Ironman races).

My first one was in October 1998, the Canadian International Half Marathon in Toronto. I finished in 2:04:44 and don't remember much about it. The second was in February 2000, the Peterborough Half Marathon in Ontario, which I ran in 1:54:10. Then I did a bunch of the distance in half Ironman races. My next half marathon was in Lake Macquarie, Australia, in August 2002, where I was stoked to run 95:35.

I also remember that as soon as I finished this race the outside bottom of my left foot was so sore I had trouble walking; I had been absolutely fine during the race. After seeing a GP, who of course advised at least a couple of weeks off running and having Xrays done, both of which I did, a deep tissue massage therapist only needed one session to release a tight muscle along my shin that turned out to be the cause of the pain. Simple.

In May 2003 I ran the SMH Sydney Half Marathon in 1hr 43, though I can't remember why it was so much slower though possibly I was still being careful after having done Ironman Australia about six weeks earlier, before finishing the September half marathon in Sydney in 92:38, a whopping PB by 3 minutes.

Within two weeks, I had an ITB injury that stopped me from running altogether for a few weeks and couldn't be fixed by the deep tissue massage therapist. This eventually led me to ART, a treatment I've used successfully ever since to ward off problems, though my budget allows fewer sessions these days.

Yesterday I had an excellent 45-minute ART treatment from Dr Leah Stadelmann of Chief Chiropractic in Squamish to release the tightness in my calves. You can see why half marathon races make me nervous about injury:-).

In May 2005 I did another SMH Half Marathon, fresh off the plane and returning to Australia after recovering from Ironman New Zealand in early March by hiking around New Zealand for a few months. I have yet to find a note of my time that day.

In September 2005, I did another Sydney Half Marathon, still suffering after walking 100K in 23hr 45min in Sydney Oxfam Trailwalker, in 1hr 40. Trailwalker was a last-minute opportunity and I had already signed up for that half.

In late August 2006, I ran the Lake Macquarie half marathon again, this time finishing in 92:51, only three weeks before first breaking 90 minutes for the distance. The half marathon is an intriguing event for sure and I am very much looking forward to Sunday.

New shoes: ECCO BIOM Trail

2012-02-09T11:38:00.000-08:00

My feet have enjoyed a pair of ECCO BIOM Trail shoes for the past two days. On Monday, I ran an easy 9K on a combination of road and trail, and today I did 17K in them, most of which on trail.

My first impressions of these shoes, provided to me by ECCO, a Danish shoemaker with almost five decades of experience, are very positive in terms of comfort and feel, and I am looking forward to putting more miles on them.

According to ECCO, this model is part of their so-called Natural Motion products.

"The BIOM Trail shoe translates ECCO's advanced Natural Motion system for the needs of offroad running, featuring more support, tougher construction and aggressive mult-terrain action. The shoe strengthens the feet and lower legs and increases running efficiency.

"The basis of BIOM Natural Motion is to provide anatomical cushioning while guiding the body to move naturally and to strengthen," according to ECCO, which has been offering running shoes since 2009.

I didn't know ECCO made running shoes and have to say that so far I'm quite liking these. I don't know about the above claims and don't necessarily care; my running shoes are a big deal to me and the proof is always in the pudding.

How much wear they get is how good I consider them to be for my feet and the type of running I'm doing. I'm not a hardcore trailrunner but cover plenty of trails in my training.

Since I reviewed a pair of New Balance REVlite 890s (for IMPACT Magazine) about a year ago, I have fallen absolutely in love with them and am onto my third pair now. These are road shoes, of course, but I wear them on the trails I cover here too.

Like I had with the REVlites, I felt love at first fit with these BIOM ECCO Trail shoes. Let's see if this romance turns into a long-term relationship. I'll keep you posted.

Record running volume

2012-02-06T18:56:00.000-08:00

I love broadening, and painting, my horizons

Strangely enough, I have never been a consistent record keeper of my run training. One reason was that from June 2005 until April 2010 I received a spreadsheet that detailed my sessions. And I was pretty diligent about doing all my training so I figured that the program was my diary.

A friend who visited us from Australia to run the Whistler 50 in November helped change my mind; he carried with him, like a treasure, a thick diary with one day to a page in which he detailed, among other things, his running. Some pages were completely filled, others only had a couple of sentences or even just a few words.

Especially the latter was a revelation to me, as I have kept plenty of diaries with notes on all sorts of things but rarely daily for a consistent period of time as I always believed I should write a lot, fill the page, or not bother. Of course you might not have that much to write every day, or not make the time, and once I missed a day, or three, I'd lose the motivation because the chain was broken.

I'd never considered the freedom of saying very little, like simply writing "Ran 30K, felt great", if that's all I had to say.

Another reason for keeping a record now is that I own a Garmin, as of June last year. I can effortlessly keep track of the distance I run, as well as average pace, heart rate, etc. So since December 3, 2010, I've been keeping a diary of my run training and, with permission to write the briefest of entries, I've got a daily record.

So far I have filled most of each page every day as the permission to write as little as I want invariably means I have more to say than I initially thought. Writing daily in my training diary is a new habit I very much enjoy, especially now that I'm running daily for the first time and am covering more distance too.

In the past week, I ran the most I've ever done in one training week, covering 129.5K. The spectacular weather helped to make it very enjoyable. My calves are tight, but other than that, I am feeling great.

Whenever we try new things, we likely have expectations that are based on old experiences so we can expect to be surprised. My body showed me on a few occasions this past week that it was not as fatigued from the record mileage as my mind thought it was; even though my mind didn't change its mind about being tired, my body kept moving as if it wasn't. It was my body resisting the fatigue, rather than my mind which is what I've been used to.

It's the continued string of such discoveries and the dynamic nature of being a runner that keeps me motivated. I love being in motion, especially when you feel its momentum.

A runner's third degree

2012-02-04T08:37:00.000-08:00

A gorgeous Friday had me run in shorts for the second day in a row. Admittedly, Thursday had also been a day in shorts because my tights and capris were in the laundry room, though the sun was nice enough then too. Yesterday was the first real hint of spring.

It was just beautiful. Teens were walking around in T-shirts and people were out walking their dogs and riding their bikes. I was tired, what's new, but am learning that daily runs are best absorbed without too many expectations about how difficult they might feel. On today's menu was 21K, which I started with a caffeine gel shortly after noon.

I brought another caf gel but chose to risk being a little thirsty by the end of the session over carrying a bottle of water. I opted for a route that allowed me to run mostly on soft trails. First I took the trail in Valleycliffe that runs along the Stawamus river from the end of our street toward the Sea to Sky Highway, before following the trail from the Adventure Centre to Brennan Park.

As has been the case recently, the tiredness I felt before (and, as it turned out, after) the training dropped away once I started running and I easily adopted the rhythm I run most of my weekly kilometres at (this week, for example, I am doing 24K, 21K and a 29K sessions in this pace range, for a total of 74K from the 126K, or 59 percent of the weekly volume.)

After about 6K I ran into the owner of our doggy daycare, who is also a superb dog trainer. Her son was racing a tiny bike as she followed on hers, with a soccerball tied on the back of it. She stopped me, apologizing for interrupting my run, and asked if Luka, our dog, would be interested in a photoshoot as some company was looking for some "mutts".

Keeping one eye on the kid, who was impatiently waiting and yelling 200 metres further down the trail, she quickly tried to explain what was involved. I didn't think of stopping my watch, so I am not sure how long we chatted; at least 2, but less than 5, minutes I believe.

After picking up my pace again, I soon followed the road underneath the highway and took the dyke trail that meanders along the Squamish River, passing the West Coast Railway Heritage Park. Here I came across a man and a woman with about four dogs, of which three ignored me but one was keen to say hello. As I stopped to pet the blonde four-legged cutie, the woman asked me, I forget in which order:

Do you live here? (Yes, how about you?)
I live in North Van but come here with my dog as I love to walk these trails. (Yes, it's gorgeous here.)
Do you belong to a fitness club? (No, I am a marathon runner.)
Do you run every day? (Yes.)
Oh, does your back bother you? And joints? (No but I do get tight so you have to take care of it with Epsom Salt baths and massages.)
And, as I had put my earphones back in and was back running about 50 metres ahead, she yelled after me: Are you happy? (Yes!)

She seemed nice and this conversation had taken place in the briefest of moments as she shot questions at me, while I petted her very enthusiastic dog who was trying to kiss me. As I smiled about the interrogation while half closing my eyes as I ran towards the February sun, I was pretty sure I would see her again after turning around after another kilometre to run the same way back.

And indeed. As her dog greeted me even happier this time, and as I quickly stopped Mr Garmin this time, she asked whether I drank alcohol, ate protein - meat?! I asked if she ran, Oh no, she said, I am too big up here, pointing to her chest, but she loved walking. Her statement, I felt, was wrapped in a subtle question.

I told her I believed that anyone can run if they feel like doing so. Walking is the way to start, and then slowly add brief stretches of running. I stressed the importance of easing into running gradually, telling her about my 62-year-old friend who had recently begun running but who, I found, was nearly sprinting for 30 seconds rather than jogging. Easy does it.

Even after menopause? At my age? Absolutely. I told her about the running coach I interviewed for Running Shoes Are a Girl's Best Friend, and how people who struggle to run a 400-metre lap around a track are stunned to find they can run 4K after a six-week Learn to Run clinic. I didn't carry business cards, nor did I mention the title of the book, as it was a brief conversation.

As we went our separate ways, I later thought I could have pointed her to her local library in North Vancouver. Oh well. I didn't want to sell her on my books but on the fact that if she's interested in running, it's never too late to start.

In fact, I just spotted this new book and talk on February 9: Octogenarian BJ McHugh, who started running in her 50s, has entered more than 300 races and has set more than 30 world records for her age. She continues to enter half and full marathons to this day, and can often be seen running in her current hometown of North Vancouver, BC.

As a passionate runner, I don't want to preach my religion. But if you're interested, I want you to know that you can (always check with your GP first, of course). I'm part of a project of a local university student who, among other things, asked us to to share Life Wisdom, answering the question: If there was one thing that you could teach either to a small child or all of society, what would it be?

I would ask you to move on your own account, and to do so regularly; walk or run. Our bodies are made for walking and running. If we don't use it, we lose a part of who we are. We lose access to who we are. Using our body allows us to tap into a vast amount of knowledge and experience that is stored there.

By using our body, we learn to marvel at its capability. We feel gratitude for being. We sense the deep mystery of nature that is ours to discover as we unfold our own by using the body we were given.

Moving, through walking or running, shakes loose an awareness that we only find when we use our muscles, joints and bones, as we feel the heart pump the blood around our veins, more forcefully and with full dedication as we propel ourselves forward at a pace of our own choosing.

There is a vast expanse of ability few of us ever use to its full potential, the way our ancestors did and knew they were supposed to do. Most of us have no idea what our bodies would allow us to do if we used them more often, and more regularly. By using them, simply, not in a competitive way unless we want to, we find out. And we become curious to see what more is there.

And yesterday, I read this quote by Desi Davila, who last month secured her spot on the 2012 USA Olympic team to race the marathon at the Games in London, on LetsRun.com, an entry from her journal in December 2006:

"Rarely are we ever satisfied with our performances. Even after our best races we might be content for a moment, but it is in our nature to constantly over-analyze and re-evaluate, finding seconds on the course, flaws in our race plans, what ifs… should haves… and could haves. Are we ever satisfied? There is a competitive mentality that keeps us coming back for more, day after day, race after race, and year after year…

"Odds are I’ll never wear an Olympic medal around my neck, but maybe…just maybe, I will. With that in mind I’ll take off down the road and put in the days work. If we don’t try we’ll never know. At least I can find out how good I can be. I can have an answer at the end of the days, and have a hell of a good time with the process."

I will never go to the Olympics (as an athlete; I have been as an accredited reporter for the Olympic News Service), nor do I expect break to any world records. But, aside from the joy I get from running, I am deeply motivated to find out what I am capable of.

I ended up covering the 21K in 1:46:43, which included my chat to the dog trainer and the first encounter with the woman mentioned above, an average pace of 5:05 per K at an average heart rate of 134bpm.

Write letters

2012-02-03T11:40:00.000-08:00

More details

I just came across this A Month of Letters challenge,which sounds very neat. It works as follows:

In the month of February, mail at least one item through the post every day it runs. Write a postcard, a letter, send a picture, or a cutting from a newspaper, or a fabric swatch.
Write back to everyone who writes to you. This can count as one of your mailed items.

When a runner's body takes over

2012-02-01T17:44:00.000-08:00

Today I had a 24K session. In this type of run, I am aiming for a pace average of between 4:41 per K and 5:06 per K, which is 10 to 20 percent below my marathon goal race pace of 4:15 per K (which would get me across the finish in 2:59:xx.)

I felt tired at the start, which didn't surprise me, for several reasons. First, I am running a lot.

Second, yesterday's was a lactate threshold session, which I had done at night because the Squamish Titans, a multisport club I am a member of, held its monthly 5K time trial, or race, whatever you'd like to call it. Since my 16K included 6K at 15K to half marathon race pace, I opted to do the 5K with the group as it's more fun and mentally easier to chase others.

I would simply tack another kilometre at the end of the 5K and resist the temptation to race all out; I was aiming for 15K to half marathon pace, not 5K speed. I warmed up by running the 9K to the meeting point from home; it was dark and rainy, and a nice temperature for running.

With the group, a total of 16 plus the coach, we warmed up for another 2K and did three striders.

As everyone settled into their chosen pace and effort, I ran stride for stride with Andrew, another Titan, which was great as he even generously did the extra kilometre with me. We covered 5.89K in 23:59, or a pace of 4:06. My average heart rate was 162bpm. Perfect!

I ended up running 18K in total last night. On Monday, I had covered 16K after Sunday's 32K; including today's 24K, that's 90K in four days. Yeah, I had reason to feel tired today.

But as I got into a rhythm on the sunny trails, making my way to the dyke that runs along the Squamish River as it heads toward the Spit and the Estuary, a beautiful area offering spectacular views of the Howe Sound and the Chief, I noticed that as my mind was busy thinking about being tired, my body was showing that it didn't matter.

My legs kept moving in a smooth rhythm and Mr Garmin told me that my pace was exactly where it should be. My body had taken over to show that the fatigue I felt didn't mean that I needed to move at a slower pace; I was comfortable under 5:00 per K, and my heart rate was in the mid 130s.

As I wondered over the next few K whether this would only be a short burst of energy before I'd hit the inevitable wall, my legs kept moving at the same clip. So I relaxed and went along with it; I still felt tired but my body had taken charge and showed that it was firmly in control.

After a slow start - I ran the first 5.5K in a little over 30 minutes, I ran the bulk -19K - at an average pace of just under 5:00 per K.

New menu: double runs & couscous recipe

2012-01-30T21:24:00.000-08:00

This week, one with 126K on the program following last week's 120K, began with a day of recovery; an easy 10K in the morning, followed by an easy 6K in the afternoon.

The weather was beautiful - dry, which was a stark contrast to yesterday when I ran 32K in heavy rain, wondering how on earth it is possibly that I am training for a marathon for a fifth consecutive winter on Canada's West Coast and still do not own a pair of waterproof gloves.

I am really enjoying the three recovery runs I have each week; so far each of them have been 10K, on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The double run today felt relaxing, too, and I enjoyed both sessions today, feeling my muscles loosen from yesterday's effort when I eased into the run with a sluggish body and a pace of 5:32 for the first 10.5K, followed by an average 5:23 for the next 5.5K, before turning up in the final 16K to an average 4:53.

The rain certainly underpinned my motivation for picking up the speed in the second half, as it would get me home quicker and help boost my core temperature. For a while, it seemed my body was going to tire but then it simply adjusted and happily cruised along at my chosen pace while I contemplated my astonishing lack of suitable gloves for this climate and listened to my iPod.

It was only a brief rest on the couch this Sunday, as there were chocolate breads to bake and dinners to prepare for an evening with good friends (who, incidentally, are training for their first half marathon).

I tried a new recipe from Survival of the Fittest: The Australian Institute of Sport official cookbook for busy athletes. I love great food but don't have a ton of patience in the kitchen (nor for spending hours looking for crazy ingredients in farflung places.)

Perhaps a bit risky to try a new dish for the first time when having people over, but this moroccan-style beef with couscous got eight thumbs up. The ingredients (except for the silverbeet leaves, which I replaced with parsley) were easy to find, and the dish is relatively fast and easy to make.

Serving 4, you need:
canola or olive oil (the book recommends spray)
500g lean beef, cut into strips (I used buffalo)
1 onion, cut into thin wedges
1 teaspoon minced garlic (I used four cloves, finely chopped)
1/2 teaspoon finely choped red chilli
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
400g can crushed tomatoes
250ml (1 cup) beef stock
2 zucchini/courgette, sliced
4 silverbeet leaves, shredded (I used a bunch of fresh parsley instead)
1/2 cup sultanas
2 cups couscous
1/2 cup toasted almonds (which I had but forgot to add, doh!)

Add oil to wok or frying pan and heat. Stirfry beef (buffalo) in 2 batches (I just did it all in 1 go) over high heat for 3-4 minutes or until well browned (I left it a little raw). Remove from the pan and set aside. Add onion to the pan and cook over medium heat for 3 minutes or until soft. Add the garlic, chilli and spices and strifry for about 30 seconds. Stir in the tomatoes and stock, bring to the boil and reduce the heat. Add the zucchini, silverbeet (parsley) and sultanas, simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Put the couscous in a heatproof bowl and add 2 cups of boiling water. Cover tightly and stand for 3 minutes, then fluff up with a fork before serving. Return beef to the pan to heat and serve over couscous, sprinkled with almonds.

Not in the cookbook, but from own experience: pair with a 2010 Painter Bridge Zinfandel (a yummy red our friends brought) and/or a 2011 Finca Los Primos Cabernet Savignon (our staple red).

Delicious!!!

Also a new staple on the menu will be the double runs like today's on Mondays; with the exception of next week, a recovery one, all Monday sessions for the next nine weeks will consist of a 10K recovery run in the morning and 6K in the afternoon/evening. I like them.

Next up, a 16K session including 6K at half marathon pace.

Yummy, easy and healthy post-run meal

2012-01-25T21:33:00.000-08:00

As miserable as yesterday's 16K session was in rain that was so steady that I couldn't have been wetter if I had run for 80 minutes in a swimming pool, today's 23K in air that was just a couple of degrees warmer and a touch drier was heaven.

The sun even peered through the clouds hanging mysteriously across the Squamish valley and the surrounding mountains. It was bliss, and so was my average pace of 4:52 per K for the distance. There was some rain once I got past 9K but my mood was too good for it to be spoilt.

I love a salty omelet with ham after a long-ish run, especially in winter. Today I varied the menu by cracking a couple of eggs in a bowl and then soaking two slices of calabrese bread in it, just as you do to make French toast.

I cooked the first slice in a frying pan with a little canola oil, adding a slice of ham and some sea salt just before it was done. The next slice I fried until done, and then smothered it in liquid honey.

This easy combo took care of my post-run cravings for salt and sweetness in one super-simple, healthy and, most importantly, d e l i c i o u s meal. I suspect my post-32K meal on Sunday will look quite similar.

Tomorrow has a recovery 10K, followed by another medium-long run of 19K on Friday.

***

On Monday I went to see my friend Michiko. She showed me how she makes gomaae (a Japanese dish of spinach and sesame seeds). Hers is absolutely delicious. I'll try her recipe soon; if my efforts result in tasting only a fraction as good as hers, I'll be very happy.

Sunday = long run plus couch

2012-01-22T17:23:00.000-08:00

The memory that stands out most from preparing for my first marathon, the 1999 Ottawa Marathon, was that Sundays became days when you did a long run and then, especially in winter, happily spent the rest of the day on the couch reading, napping and refuelling.

That pretty much sums up today, too.

After putting the final touches on the financial column I write five days a week for New Zealand's BusinessDesk, I walked Luka and realized that it was wetter and colder than I thought. Rain turned into snow turned into rain as the temperature hovered around zero.

It helped me decide to wear a little more than I had planned - I changed into an ancient pair of MEC running pants (bought when I trained for that 1999 marathon in a Toronto winter) that are a touch too wide and a touch too short but otherwise perfect in wet, cold conditions like today's.

I also mapped out an out-and back route for 26K, keeping in mind that the sidewalks and smaller roads in town were still covered under a layer of wet snow. Tim would join me for the first 9K, so I marked his turnaround spot too, just in case Mr Garmin ran out of juice or would otherwise fail to cooperate in the weather (it worked perfectly fine, aside from missing the first 300 metres as it searched for GPS signals).

I was a little grumpy in the first 3K as my shoes got soaked along Westway Avenue already and we then had to negotiate a few icy parts to drop down from Hospital Hill to Loggers Lane on Scott Crescent, but after that both our speed and my mood picked up significantly.

Shortly before the Eagle Run, after 9K, Tim turned around and headed home. The 19K he ended up covering today was his longest run since finishing the Whistler 50 at the start of November, Tim's first ultra.

I had my first gel and kept going until Squamish Airport, which I reached after 13K. By then it was snowing beautifully, and I enjoyed the next 2K that sloped downhill. I picked up my pace as I aim to do progressively in my long runs.

Overall, I felt pretty good and I enjoyed being able to do the session outside. Before I knew it, I was heading up the hill to Valleycliffe, though this time I stayed along Highway 99, which has a wide, and clear, shoulder, to avoid the icy Scott Crescent.

As it turned out, I went a little long, reaching home with 26.74K on the Garmin in 2:19. Given that it took at least 300 metres before the GPS had picked up the signals at the start of the run, it's safe to say I ran at least 27K.

I couldn't help but think about having to run another 190K as Coquitlam's Lucy Ryan just did at the 135-mile (217K) Brazil 135. A big huge congratulations to this amazing athlete!

Lucy, who I met at the Haney to Harrison 100K in 2010, had never run farther than a half marathon in 2005. By now, she has finished a bunch of Ironman triathlons, Ultraman Canada—which consists of a 10K open water swim, a 421K bike ride, and an 84K run—and several ultras.

I can't wait to ask her if she considered the 135-miler as a 100K (of which she has done at least four) in that, "Running 100K gives you a 'day off' from regular life. It's like a vacation of the mind—no thoughts of finances, work, what the kids are up to, etcetera—just pure survival. How often do you get to do that?" as she says in A Hundred Reasons to Run 100km.

As it is, I ran half the distance Lucy covered in 45 hours this week, a total of 110K, slightly short of the 114K I was meant to do but the difference was too small for me to add a second run this afternoon. It was another solid week of training, and I am not going to obsess over 3 or 4K.

By the time I got home, happily soaked, Tim and Luka had already found their place on the couch, with a cup of tea and a book for the former. After a hot shower, I joined them with a big ham omelet on a couple of slices of bread, a cup of peppermint tea and two of the books I'm reading at the moment, Thinking About Memoir by Abigail Thomas and How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer.

Sundays, especially in winter, are great.

Next week's program offers 120K.

On the road

2012-01-20T15:46:00.000-08:00

Yesterday the temperature warmed up to about minus 4 by mid afternoon. The sun had even come out, while the wind had taken the day off. Tim was keen on a run, and so was Luka. My schedule had 10K, but a lap around the 'hood of about 7.5K worked fine too.

This morning I woke up to a white view, and thought that today's 18K might be for the treadmill again. But the conditions and temperature were quite nice I found during the morning walk with Luka, and I decided to opt for the snowy outdoors instead of the Star Trac treadmill.

Aside from a fairly usual winter outfit including a fleece hat, I had added a fleece neck warmer. Since it was snowing, I also wore sunnies. My feet would be comfy in the Hoka One One. It was nice to be outside, and I got into a rhythm quickly. I was perfectly comfortable - aside from a cold nose when I was moving into the snowy headwind.

Some were tiny but agressive flocks of snow that hurt my face or jumped straight into my airways. I couldn't pull the neck warmer to cover my nose without my glasses fogging up from my steamy breath having no other way to escape. So I took turns between enjoying a cold nose and foggy glasses, and repeat, by moving my neckwarmer up and down clumsily as my fingers were cosily trapped in warm thick gloves.

While I like winter, my kind of winter is pretty mild. Like an Australian winter.

I felt great and enjoyed the run, though by 6K and bearing the full brunt of a headwind, I tired a little of the neck warmer dance. It's funny how little things can get to you on some days, and I began thinking about cutting the run short. I didn't want to because my nose was the only source of discomfort. Obviously I needed more practice and a better head cover in this type of weather.

By 9K, the snow stopped falling, and it was all the encouragement I needed to keep going. I got home after 17K in 94 minutes, with an average pace of 5:35 per K and an average heart rate of 129 beats per minute. Today's run brought the five-day total to 73K.

Up next is tomorrow's recovery 10K, followed by 26K long run on Sunday when I might add a second run of about 5K in the afternoon.

Treadmill encounter

2012-01-20T07:44:00.000-08:00

Once a month the Squamish Writers Group meets in the office of Goodwin Studios. I wrote this piece on a fleeting encounter on the run to read at last night's meeting.

In Alan Sillitoe's story The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, the protagonist uses running as an emotional and physical escape from his life. I doubt I run to escape, though might discover one day that in fact I do, and I usually run in solitude rather than in loneliness.

There's plenty to think about on the run, after all, and on hard workouts there's no space or breath for talking. Silence can be golden for a runner but not all days are like that.

She gave me a friendly nod as she stepped on the treadmill to the left of mine. I'd been running on a Star Trac model for about 15 minutes. Escaping the danger of icy patches on the road, I had opted to stay indoors for a third day in four.

Club Flex owner Don Smith had welcomed me back after my two-year absence; the eleven dollar drop-in fee was a small price to pay for using an eight-thousand dollar machine for two hours. Today I particularly sought to escape the arctic outflow pushing the wind-chill below minus 20 on a day when I had to run 23 kilometres.

Running on a treadmill is challenging and takes practice. For starters, one needs a positive attitude and steely determination as the word Stop is emblazoned on the panel in front of you as well as on an emergency button on the side. Thick letters spelling out a forbidden desire that's most appealing when training is toughest are surrounded by a sea of red, taunting the runner to press the button one cannot escape from seeing on the treadmill.

Nothing takes more willpower than to remain in one place when that's seemingly taking you nowhere, a feeling a writer can be all too familiar with. At least the rest of the Star Trac screen reminded me that I was indeed progressing, as my heart, the hardest-working muscle in our body, was beating at 139 beats a minute.

For the 115 minutes I would spend keeping up with the band I had set to moving at 8 miles an hour, it would about pump about 70 millilitres of blood per beat, as hearts do. At this rate, my heart moved almost 10 litres a minute, or more than 1,100 litres of blood for this workout.

Cooperating fully was the largest muscle in our body, the gluteus maximus. It's the force that keeps us all upright, and a runner moving ahead—if she takes care not to let this beast become too tight by training too much too soon. The gluteus maximus can become a pain in the butt, as the left and right one are rarely created equally. The result of this common imbalance typically wreaks havoc elsewhere, like the knee.

If the right gluteus maximus is weaker than his left brother, it's the left knee that usually pays the price. Imbalanced is how we are all born, and we learn only to deal with this lack of equilibrium by first discovering it. Injury is a great teacher to those who are willing to listen and learn.

I'd never met or seen the woman who I was to share part of my run with, as she kept up with her Life Fitness treadmill and I with my Star Trac, yet I knew a great deal about her by the time she left her stationary post thirty minutes later.

An elevated heartbeat, whether on the road or on a band spinning to nowhere, is conducive to talking, which in turn uses our body's strongest muscle based on its weight, the masseter.

She was 26 and about to marry her fiance in September. That's why she was next to me. She was going to use the nine months she had left until the wedding to get in the best shape of her life. She didn't need to lose that much weight. It was her tummy that gave her trouble as it refused to tone the way the rest of her body did.

She began working out as a teen, as she had a job at a gym back then. Her family all struggled with their weight and never listened to any of the advice she gave them.

She always watched what she ate, loving bread and carbs but not able to eat too many of them. For the past year she had done a lot of weight training which had made her a little bulky, she said, so that's why she ran.

Running was tough but she always felt so great afterward. Her fiance was amazing, he could just keep going and had even run a marathon, something she'd love to do one day. First, she'd try a 10K.

A knee injury had taught her boundaries as a runner. Her doctor had advised her to rest, as non-running GPs typically do.

Tim Noakes, the South African author of Lore of Running, rightly recommends runners to never trust a doctor's advice on running unless he or she has practiced the religion. Rest is always the doctor's answer to an injured runner but it never is the solution to the problem, though it might get rid of the symptom temporarily.

Bikram yoga had filled the void, before she got to the weight training, she said, as we kept pace side by side. I didn't look at the speed she was running at, which I consider bad form unless it's the topic of conversation.

She took Bikram yoga classes—expensive at $20 a pop, she said—every other day and found that the 90-minute routine of 26 postures in rooms that are heated to well above 30 degrees helps you lose weight quickly.

The last class she took in Vancouver, where she moved five years ago from her hometown of Somewhere, was led by a drill sergeant who cranked up the heat an extra 5 degrees and blocked students from leaving the room.

She was glad to have left Vancouver behind after three years. She and her fiance had bought 8 acres in the Upper Squamish Valley. She liked it here; people were friendlier in small towns. Her parents had visited too, experiencing the area's typical wet climate before enjoying a week of the late summer just before fall arrived.

Plans for the land were still in the works. Organic gardening was among them, though the start she made with tomatoes showed her the soil and conditions were different here. Her tomatoes had become almost the size of melons but remained green. The sunflowers that sprang up in her garden were a neat surprise.

She wanted to travel; visiting a friend in New Zealand might be top of the list.

Her treadmill was almost done as she never ran longer than 45 minutes, less on days she would be on her feet for eight hours at Coffeeshop. Hers was a supervisory role, she added, with unmistakeable pride before she left me at 48 minutes into my run, saying it had been nice to meet me because it made the time go faster. It certainly did.

Mid-week 23K on the treadmill

2012-01-18T17:51:00.000-08:00

A morning walk with the dog confirmed that it was truly cold outside. The wind was what made the unusual cold for Squamish unbearable enough for me to head to Club Flex again. The $11 drop-in fee was well worth it to spend just shy of two hours on one of their Star Trac treadmills.

Today's 23K session is one of two so-called medium long runs I have most weeks in this schedule during the Endurance as well as the Lactate Threshold + Endurance phases, which together span 11 of my 18-week program. In these workouts I'm aiming for a similar pace / effort as in my long runs, i.e. between 74 and 84 percent of max heart rate and, in my case, a pace of between 4:41 and 5:06 per km.

Having said, Advanced Marathoning recommends taking it a little easier the day after a hard run, such as the lactate threshold session I did, also on the treadmill, yesterday.

Today I ran at midday and, having only had breakfast, I brought two gels. Of course I also had a small towel, a bottle of water and an iPod.

Today's workout wasn't challenging per se - I ran 14.2 miles in 1:55 and my heart rate never got above 145, staying comfortably below 140 for at least 90 minutes.

Even so, I felt a mental tiredness in the final 20 minutes or so of the session. It's I think the most challenging part of doing longer runs on a treadmill when the stop button is right in front of you the entire time. It's too easy to get off that band as you're not going anywhere.

On the road I usually plan an out-and-back route, or a nice big loop, where it's just not possible to cut the run short as I need to get home. The option of stopping doesn't enter my mind on the road, slowing down on a hard session, sure, but stopping, no.

Feeling the mental fatigue, I entertained myself by focusing on the enjoyable rhythm of my pace and cadence in the second hour and listening to music. Most of the first hour I had chatted with a woman who jumped on the treadmill beside me.

I also aim to visualize parts of the marathon as I train; particularly when I feel like dropping off my pace towards the end, I remind myself that sustaining the effort might be the difference between a 2:59 and a 3:xx finish.

Here's a great clip where the top 4 women of the 2012 US Olympic marathon trials held this past weekend - Shalane Flanagan, Desi Davila, Kara Goucher and Amy Hastings - talk about their final mile.

All in all, time flew by today and I felt strong throughout. With another solid run, I am 49K into this week's 114K. I love training for marathons.

Watch this interview with the inspiring Flanagan the day after she won the US Olympic marathon trials in record time.

Lactate threshold run on treadmill

2012-01-18T08:10:00.000-08:00

It's cold; today the mercury is at minus 12. There's even an arctic outflow warning. Arctic outflow, according to The Weather Network, will give wind chill values exceeding minus 20. I haven't decided yet what do with today's 23K session; I'll venture outside to walk Luka first to check what it feels like.

Yesterday wasn't too warm either and, more importantly, there were still enough slippery spots on the roads. With a lactate threshold session to do where I have enough on my mind without worrying about footing, I headed back to the treadmill following Monday's gorgeous 10K recovery trail run over a light layer of snow with Luka.

Luka at 4 months

Incidentally, Luka loves snow, which gives him an extra spring in his step. He was rescued as a puppy from an area about 40 minutes north of Whistler. When we adopted him in early April 2009, Luka was estimated to be about four months old. That meant he was born in a winter when Canada had the first nationwide white Christmas in almost four decades.

Yesterday's session was 16K, or 10 miles. It included 8K, or 5 miles, at 15K to half marathon race pace and/or a heart rate of between 82 and 91 percent of max. On Sunday, when I had such a tough run on the treadmill, which was my first indoor run in about two years, I had brought my Garmin heart rate monitor which wasn't compatible with the Star Trac treadmill. Yesterday I brought a Polar monitor, which worked.

After a warm-up of 3 miles, I eased into the fast part of the run by starting at 8 miles an hour. Sunday's run reminded me that it's early in the season and that running on a treadmill indoors feels very different. After a mile I upped the speed slowy to 8.5, and then sped up gradually to 9 for the last two miles of the session. In the final half mile, I slightly increased at quarter mile increments to 9.3.

IF my heart rate readings were correct, my max is well above 184; for most of the workout I was between 170 and 190 bpm. But, unlike Sunday, I wasn't struggling - it was challenging, sure, but not crazy - and I felt good after the session was done, too. Once the 5 miles were complete, I cooled down with an easy 2 miles that brought the total to 10 miles. A great workout.

I believe yesterday I might have used this treadmill, the Star Trac E-TR, which retails for a cool $7,500 or so.

If you're looking for some suggestions on treadmill workouts, Matt Fitzgerald offers a few in this article; it includes marathon race pace training (as I did, or rather tried to do, on Sunday, see this post). Another is the Endless Hill.

I might try to see if my schedule allows for the VO2 Max Test he suggests; The workout format that exercise physiologists commonly use to determine VO2Max is also useful as a powerful (if painful) fitness-boosting workout. Start by hopping on the treadmill and running easy for five to 10 minutes.

Next, increase the belt speed by 0.5 mph and run for one minute at that speed. Now increase the belt speed by another 0.5 mph, hold the new speed for another minute, and continue in this fashion until you feel unable to run any faster. Reduce the belt speed and cool down. Note the maximum speed you attained and try to beat it when you repeat the workout in three or four weeks.

Tough run on the treadmill

2012-01-16T08:12:00.000-08:00

I generally like to run on the treadmill, which I have used for runs of up to three hours. I believe it had been two years since I last ran on one before yesterday. On a day with icy roads and a session that included a tempo run at marathon race pace, the treadmill was the way to go.

I went to the gym at 8am, the time they open on Sundays. I brought water, a couple of gels, a charged iPod and a towel. Anticipating that the machine might be set to miles instead of kilometres, I had checked on the conversion of my goal pace.

There are plenty of benefits to running on the treadmill.

Norway's Ingrid Kristiansen ran a 2:21:06 marathon world record in 1985 after a winter with mostly treadmill running, according to The Competitive Runner's Handbook, while Alberto Salazar is also a fan, doing an incredible 35 miles on a treadmill in preparation for his victory at the Comrades Marathon.

Interval workouts on the treadmill are just as beneficial, Salazar says in Alberto Salazar's Guide to Road Racing. However, "[t]he main difference is that on a treadmill any given speed is slightly easier than on a track because you're not fighting your own self-generated headwind," he writes.

In a test with three mile repeats, Salazar found that his speed was 17 seconds per mile slower on the track than on the treadmill. According to Bob Glover and Shelly-lynn Florence Glover in The Competitive Runner's Handbook, "about 7 percent less energy is required, equivalent to running a slight downhill, to run on a flat treadmill rather than on a flat road."

My session called for 27K in total, including 13K at marathon goal race pace in the second half. I eased into the session, warming up until I hit cruising speed of 7.5 miles per hour (8 minute miles or 4:58 kilometres), though that felt a touch fast, and I eased back to 7.3 miles per hour.

I had the sense that I didn't feel as comfortable as I have in the past couple of weeks; perhaps it was the heat of running indoors, perhaps the treadmill wasn't calibrated accurately, or perhaps it was a result of the muscle release treatment on Friday, followed by a rest day on Saturday.

After 8 miles in 67:47, including the warm-up, for an average of 5:15 kilometres or 8:28 miles, I had a quick break, refilling my bottle of water and taking a gel. It was time for the tough part of the workout.

I started off at 8 miles an hour, or 7:30 miles / 4:39 kilometres, moving gradually to 8.5 miles an hour over the next 15 minutes. While I wasn't panting or otherwise physically distressed, I also didn't quite feel up to it and the result was that after 3 miles I pressed the stop button.

I took a walk break of about 5 minutes, not too pleased with myself. Then I sped up to either 8.3 or 8.5, only to hit the stop button again after a mile, and taking another walk break. I didn't quite understand what was going on. Particularly on the treadmill, 8.5 should be doable.

I did another mile at 8.3 or 8.5, took another walk break, then ran a mile at 6.5, wondering if this was one of those days when it was better to pack it in all together. But I didn't want to; as much as I didn't feel like running the remaining 3 miles of the 8-mile tempo run that I clearly wasn't doing the way it was meant to be done - and I really didn't feel like running the remainder - the thought of cutting my long run short was even less appealing.

So I compromised, and coaxed myself into running the final 3 miles at 8, which took enough effort already. It was a tough, tough run, and I don't quite understand what happened. But sometimes that's the way it is. While it's a shame that I felt so bad, I cannot dwell on it. I'm glad I finished the 27K, bringing my total for last week to 102K (rather than the 109K on the schedule).

Using the McMillan Running Calculator, I triple-checked my target paces - they're correct.

It's a new day, a new week with 114K of training ahead. I'm looking forward to it. Today's a recovery 10K, followed by a lactate threshold session on Tuesday.

Retreat to the treadmill for long run

2012-01-14T19:29:00.000-08:00

Winter arrived in Squamish last night. Much of the snow had turned to slush this morning and with temperatures forecast to drop below zero overnight, I expect plenty of icy patches on the roads tomorrow morning. Not the kind of conditions I like for a 27K run that includes 13K at marathon goal race pace, i.e. 4:15 per km.

So it was time for Plan B. I called a local gym I've used before and asked about the best time to drop by for a run of about two hours on one of their treadmills. Like many gyms, they typically prefer people not to hog their machines in peak hours. "Early I guess. No one here ever runs two hours on the treadmill," the owner said.

I am actually looking forward to doing this session on the treadmill. All I need to do is run for a little over an hour at about 12K per hour, and then up the speed to 14K per hour and stay there for another 13K. I'll be able to park a bottle of water on the machine rather than having to carry it, and simply aim to keep up with the treadmill - especially in the latter half of the run.

Running a certain pace on the treadmill takes a little less effort than running the same speed on the road, but if I can stick with 4:15 on that band for an hour I'll be very pleased.

I am also looking forward to the run because I decided to skip today's after the ART treatment yesterday. While it would have been fine to do the training, I thought rest more beneficial for my body than squeezing in a 10K recovery run. It's only the second week of the program and having had all the scary injury scenarios in my mind the other night, I chose rest - as hard as it was to skip training.

Instead I followed the excellent Runner's World coverage of the US Olympic marathon trials in the morning, and later watched the final hour of NBC's two-hour coverage in the afternoon. Inspiring and informative stuff.

Four men finished sub 2:10. Meb Keflezighi won in a PB of 2:09:08, just seconds of the US marathon trials record set by Ryan Hall. At 36, he became the oldest US marathon trials winner and secured a spot for his third Olympics.

Keflezighi, silver medallist in the Athens marathon in 2004, ran the New York City Marathon in November (finishing sixth with 2:09.13), then developed an infection in his left foot, the result of leaving a nasal strip in his shoe, part of his pre-race ritual, according to Associated Press. He missed three weeks of training because of the infection in the lead-up to the trials.

Ryan Hall (with a 2:04:58 in the 2011 Boston the fastest American marathoner ever) was second and Abdi Abdirahman was third, taking the other two spots on the US team for the London Olympics. This will be Abdirahman's fourth Olympics.

It was also a fast day for the women. Shalane Flanagan crossed the line in front, her first victory in only her second career marathon, and set a trials record of 2:25:38. She improved her PB - from her debut - by more than three minutes. Flanagan's race mantra is "cold execution".

Desiree Davila (who ran 2:44 in her debut marathon in 2007) was second and Kara Goucher, a training partner of Flanagan, took third, both also finishing under the old trials record of 2:28:25 set by Colleen de Reuck in 2004.

Preventative treatment for runners

2012-01-13T17:47:00.000-08:00

Last night I was a runner with piriformis syndrome, also referred to as a pain in the butt, and an Achilles tendon about to blow up; at least that's what I worried about as I had become acutely aware of a variety of tight spots in my body that had suddenly become exceptionally tight in the past two days.

A runner is always tired and always tight in some measure; it's a fact of life one simply gets used to. But just as there's a level of tiredness that is unacceptable - a sign of pending danger, there's a level of tightness that sends red flags to the brain. A runner who has been injured in the past knows to recognize them and to, hopefully, heed them in time.

As I push my body to the next level by running more and more often than ever, I am absolutely paranoid about pushing it too far. While I am confident that the training schedule I have chosen to follow is right for me, with a peak volume of 140km per week (though funnily enough this is called a recovery week as I noticed the other day) I am also a cautious athlete who is terrified of getting injured.

These past 13 days of training have felt fantastic, and it's almost like I worry that it's too good to be true. I know that I have done my homework in choosing my program and I don't want any spanners thrown in the works just as I am enjoying myself. I'm positive, optimistic and confident. But I am also cautious, very cautious.

That's why I think my mind went into overdrive yesterday, as my body signalled an increased level of discomfort (not pain) that was beyond my level of tolerance. I booked a double appointment (45 minutes) with my local chiropractor, who is also a runner, for an Active Release Techniques treatment at lunchtime today. Being familiar with ART treatments since October 2003, I don't expect to train on the remainder of the day after a treatment, so I needed to do the 18K session that was on my schedule for today in the morning.

However, with the tightness having developed into symptoms of major injuries in my active imagination, I wondered if i should skip my training. What if I pushed myself over the edge just before the treatment? What is one missed session if it staves off a problem that might stop me from running for days or weeks?

But I didn't want to miss my training. Besides, I was just tight - there was no pain. Perhaps I should simply try. If it didn't feel right, I could turn around and go home.

After a good night's sleep, I felt much better this morning, mentally and physically. It was a crisp clear day with temperatures just above zero, though they had dipped below that overnight. I warmed up with a hot shower, applied muscle-heating cream to my lower back and calves, and then walked Luka before getting ready for the run.

Still apprehensive, it was Friday the 13th after all (though 13 is my lucky number), I chose a route that followed mostly soft flat trails and decided to walk the two steeper, longer hills I would encounter, if I felt good enough to make it there, to avoid stressing those Achilles. I also decided to run a little slower than my goal pace for this type of session, which is 4:41 to 5:06 per km.

It turned out to be a good decision. Before I knew it, I was at 9km and feeling fine. I turned around and took the same route back. In the first half, I averaged 5:20 per km, and 5:10 per km in the second, as my heart rate stayed in the low 130s. I was happy; happy that I felt good - tight but good, happy that I had not skipped my run, and happy that I was about to get those muscles released.

Dr Leah Stadelmann of Chief Chiropractic & Sports Injury Clinic in Squamish did a great job of releasing, among other things, my glutes, psoas and hip flexors. I asked her what she thought of my level of tightness. She said that everything was releasing very well, which is good news.

So, what a difference a day makes; another run done and my mind at ease. Relieved and released. I very much believe in heeding your body's signs even if takes your imagination moving somewhat into overdrive; I'd rather seek treatment before problems have a chance to develop. Hopefully, that's exactly what I did today.

(ART providers I have seen and highly recommend in the Vancouver area are Dr Jenn Turner from Moveo and Dr Kevin Lunnie from Trailside Physio.)

New art by Michiko

2012-01-12T19:56:00.000-08:00

This afternoon I met my friend Michiko for a walk around Nexen Beach on another crisp and sunny day. We hadn't seen each other for a couple of months as she'd been to Japan to visit her family and got back just as I went to see mine in the Netherlands. Then there was Christmas and New Year...

Michiko, an oil painter, had kept me posted on her latest works via email and I was keen to see them in person. Yesterday, as I passed by the Adventure Centre toward the end of my run, I had quickly stopped to admire her second-last one, Before the Sun goes down, exhibited there.

"Before the Sun goes down" by Michiko Splinter (11x14")

After our walk, we dropped by her place to see her recent works. Her latest piece might be my favourite yet. It's superb. It's the largest canvas she's done in Canada - and the largest in 40 years; as a high school student in Japan, she did a couple of huge (about 75x90") paintings. This one was inspired by scenes of a walk we did together last fall along the trails in Valleycliffe, though it didn't start out that way.

"I had this canvas for over two years but I couldn't figure out what to paint. Then finally I started painting last October, a little stream in the middle and many trees around it," she says.

Then she lost interest and didn't return to the canvas until the end of November, and worked on it almost every day until finishing it two days ago, on January 10. "It turned out that there was no stream but a stump covered with moss and a lot of trees around it," she says.

Michiko's daily routine, when in Canada, includes painting and walking, and goes as follows: "Get up at 8:30 ... have a cup of coffee then start painting until noon ... have lunch and go for a walk for a little over an hour ... watch Japanese news on TV and cook supper ... take a bath ...watch TV having a glass of wine ... go to bed at 11:00. What a lazy person I am. But I love these lazy days," says Michiko.

The photo below does not do the picture justice; it's a spectacular painting that will soon be exhibited in the Portico Gallery here in Squamish.

"Undergrowth" by Michiko Splinter (24x30")

A runner's greatest fear: injury

2012-01-12T13:39:00.000-08:00

In my 21K session yesterday, I averaged 5:00 per km - comfortably in the target range I am aiming for in these types of runs and it felt great to be there. It's very early days, just being in the second week of an 18-week program, but so far I've been surprised at the ease with which I seem to be doing the sessions of a 100K-plus week.

While I believed I was ready for this level of training, I couldn't help but worry that the first week already might prove me wrong. The training is challenging, no doubt; yesterday's 21K might have felt comfortable, with my pace and effort exactly where it should be, but I was tired after the run too. And that's OK.

My body, however, is also warning me that to sustain the volume, a record for me, I'll need to take better care of it; my calves, always the most vocal, are tight which is a result of what's happening in my glutes. Those big quiet muscles, gluteus maximus and gluteus medius, never speak themselves but let other areas do the talking for them.

I got their message loud and clear in 2003 when an ITB injury stopped me dead in my tracks as I was preparing for the Honolulu Marathon; fortunately a superb chiropractor knew how to fix it with Active Release Techniques. He got me back running in just a few treatments; I ran the marathon, too.

My injury was simply a result of imbalances and a lack of strength that an increase in training is sure to point out. The chiropractor recommended strengthening exercises that I followed initially but didn't stick with. There's an excuse for everything, but the simple fact of the matter is that it already takes a lot of time and effort to do the run training itself.

Regular preventative ART treatments kept me on track, as did sticking to a good training schedule.

Since moving to Canada four years ago, I've cut back on the regular ART treatments that release my tight muscles periodically for various reasons, including the cost. Last year I might have had five treatments, compared with the monthly ones I used to get in Australia.

However, preventing an injury is, as they say, priceless.

Tightness in a runner's body is the early warning sign of problems developing and we ignore it at our peril; I use hot baths with epsom salts, self-massage including with the Trigger Point Therapy products, as well as heating creams and Voltaren, aside from a proper training routine, to ease it before it has a chance to develop into something serious (so far, knock wood).

There's nothing I fear more than getting injured as it forces you to drastically cut back on, or even stop, your training altogether. Improving as an athlete takes consistent effort, rather than a few months here and there, so you're ready to train a little bit more, better, harder each following season; the more consistently you're able to maintain a routine by keeping interruptions because of illness or injury to a minimum, the better you'll get.

It takes years. Well, it has for me.

I am speaking as someone who did her first marathon in 4:18, after three years of running, followed by a 4:44 marathon two years later. It wasn't until my third marathon, in July 2003, about seven years after I began running regularly from scratch, that I finished a marathon in less than 4 hours.

In that time I had slowly but surely boosted my fitness, as minor running injuries (including shin splints), led me to triathlon; the added swimming and cycling (I did a slew of triathlons and by then completed my first two Ironmans) paid off in running too, as I ran that third marathon in 3:24. By October I was injured, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise as it taught me a lot about my body and how to listen to it.

Today, almost nine years later, my marathon PB is 3:06:06. Of the 15 marathons I've run, I've run the past 11 in 3:15 or faster; it has taken plenty of work to find that shape that I still believe I can improve. To do so, I need to stay healthy.

I spent most of last night massaging my calves, rolling them, and those glutes, over a ball to release some of the tightness. Before going to sleep, I covered my lower back in muscle-heating cream and slathered my calves in Voltaren, before wrapping them in Gladwrap so the cream could do its work overnight.

While that helped, I felt looser on the 12K recovery run this morning, I also decided to call a local chiro who does ART and made an appointment for tomorrow as there's still too much tightness. I'd rather be safe than sorry, so hopefully I've heeded the warning signs of my body early enough.

It also tells me that I will have to commit to making time and energy for a regular strength workout if I want to sustain my training on this level. Improving your running takes more than running alone.

"As soon as your foot hits the ground, your glutes should fire first, followed by hamstrings and then quadriceps," Nancy Cummings, a certified strength and conditioning specialist, athletic trainer, and assistant professor of physical education and athletic training at Florida Southern College, told Runner's World for this article.

"If the glutes aren't strong enough to activate, the quads and hamstrings will have to pick up the slack. This throws off the alignment and mechanics of the entire leg and can lead to knee and foot problems."