The Toronto Runner

Auction!!!

2008-03-25T23:04:00.004-04:00

If you've followed this site recently you may know that I have been working towards an auction to raise money to support cancer research.

Well, we did it! Keith Burtis' custom-designed and -made ornament is complete, Tommy Vallier's coding wizardry is done and it's time for the auction.

Bidding will open 9am EDT on March 25 will end 9pm EDT on March 27. All of the proceeds will benefit the Campbell Family Institute for Breast Cancer Research at the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation.

Bid on the ornament, or read on for details of the item itself.

Be sure to keep checking back in to make sure no-one has outbid you!

The Ornament

The ornament itself is approximately 9 inches tall, and the sphere is about 2.25 inches across. The sphere is made from a type of australian burl. The top & bottom finials are made of rock maple, and although they are very delicate and intricate, the tight grain of the maple keeps these strong.

The base, the upright spindle and the smaller cross spindle are all made from American Black Walnut. These pieces were turned one by one on a lathe, and made to fit snugly into one another.

Place your bid now!

The Bigger Picture

This auction is one piece of a larger fundraiser that I am holding, benefiting the Campbell Family Institute for Breast Cancer Research through the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation.

The Institute aims to become a world-leading program in breast cancer research by leveraging basic, translational and clinical research into dramatic breast cancer breakthroughs.

On April 21 I will run this year's Boston Marathon. I aim to raise $3,000 in sponsorship and donations for the institute by the time I cross the finish line.

I'm using social media to raise awareness of my fundraising and chart my progress as I train for the race. You can follow the training on this site, and you can sponsor me here.

or Bid on the ornament

Thank you.

(cross-posted from davefleet.com)

Boston Training - 'Week Fourteen and Fifteen' Write-Up and 'Week Sixteen' Look-Ahead

2008-03-22T15:32:00.001-04:00

Peak training is done! The last two weeks have been insane - over 100km both weeks. Just a few big runs left before Boston now.

Running Log: Week Fourteen

Day	Scheduled Run	Actual Run
Sunday	30km steady	23km
Monday	12km recovery	14km
Tuesday	22km hilly	24km
Wednesday	12km recovery	12km
Thursday	15km with intervals	19km
Friday	Rest	Rest
Saturday	12km recovery	12km
Total	103km week	105km week

Running Log: Week Fifteen

With the snow storm hindering my running two weeks ago, this turned out to be my biggest week. I found it surprisingly easy - I guess my legs are used to this kind of mileage at this point. Thursday's run was tough as I felt I was on the edge of an injury, but having run since then I don't think it did any real damage.

Day	Scheduled Run	Actual Run
Sunday	35km steady	36km
Monday	12km recovery	12km
Tuesday	22km hilly	27km
Wednesday	10km recovery	10km
Thursday	15km with intervals	16km
Friday	Rest	Rest
Saturday	12km recovery	14km
Total	103km week	114km week

Training Program: Week Sixteen

Here it comes - the taper is on its way. I can't really count an 80km week as taper, but it gives me three rest days compared to one, which is all I've had for the last few weeks.

The runs are still intense though - the real taper isn't here yet - but it's close. I can almost taste it!

Day	Scheduled Run
Sunday	30km comfortable
Monday	Rest
Tuesday	18km comfortable/tempo
Wednesday	15km recovery
Thursday	15km with 8x3min intervals
Friday	Rest
Saturday	Rest
Total	78km week

Boston Training - 'Week Thirteen' Write-Up and 'Week Fourteen' Look-Ahead

2008-03-08T22:52:00.001-05:00

This week was tough. Really tough. I spent most of the week limping around the office, stiff as a plank, then heading out to run again.

A big snowstorm stopped me from doing my last run today; that's probably a good thing - I needed another rest day. Frustrating though - 4km short of a 100km week.

Running Log: Week Thirteen

Day	Scheduled Run	Actual Run
Sunday	32km comfortable	32km
Monday	12km recovery	11.7km
Tuesday	22km c/t	23km
Wednesday	12km recovery	12.5km
Thursday	15km with intervals	17km
Friday	Rest	Rest
Saturday	15km recovery	Snow Day!
Total	108km week	96km week

Training Program: Week Fourteen

This is another big week, although I'm not sure that I'll be able to do Sunday's big run given all the snow that is still falling right now. We must have at least 30cm on the ground at the moment, so a long run is unlikely.

Day	Scheduled Run
Sunday	30km comfortable
Monday	12km recovery
Tuesday	22km hilly
Wednesday	12km recovery
Thursday	15km with 6x3min intervals
Friday	Rest
Saturday	12km recovery
Total	103km week

Boston Training - 'Week Eleven and Twelve' Write-Up and 'Week Thirteen' Look-Ahead

2008-03-02T17:00:00.001-05:00

Running Log: Week Eleven

This week was very busy - with PodCamp Toronto over the weekend, I didn't get in a lot of mileage.

Day	Scheduled Run	Actual Run
Sunday	~~30km~~ Rest	Rest
Monday	10km recovery	10km recovery
Tuesday	15km c/t	19km c/t
Wednesday	Rest	Rest
Thursday	12km hilly	15km hilly
Friday	Rest	Rest
Saturday	Rest	Rest
Total	~~67km~~ 37km week	44km week

Running Log: Week Twelve

Complete disaster this week - I was sick all week and didn't run once.

Day	Scheduled Run	Actual Run
Sunday	21km race	Rest
Monday	Rest	Sick
Tuesday	10km comfortable	Sick
Wednesday	15km recovery	Sick
Thursday	15km with intervals	Sick
Friday	Rest	Sick
Saturday	15km recovery	Sick
Total	76km week	0km week

Training Program: Week Thirteen

This is my peak week on the road to Boston - the first of three back-to-back 100km+ weeks.

Day	Scheduled Run
Sunday	32km comfortable
Monday	12km recovery
Tuesday	22km c/t
Wednesday	12km recovery
Thursday	15km with 5x3min intervals
Friday	Rest
Saturday	15km recovery
Total	108km week

Using Social Media To Support Cancer Research

2008-02-21T13:35:00.001-05:00

In November 2007 I launched an (ongoing) experiment to develop a “best-practice social media 101 training program” using online tools.

Today I’m launching another experiment. This one’s more personal. While the last idea experiment worked with the online community to develop a resource for everyone’s benefit, this time it has a wider goal – helping people battling cancer.

On April 21, 2008, I will run the Boston Marathon for the first time. As I do so, I will raise money for breast cancer research at the world-class Princess Margaret Hospital in Canada.

Why cancer research?

My family has a recurring history with cancer. My gran and my aunt both lost their lives to it. Another family member had a run-in but survived. A close family friend passed away through it. Several friends of mine are currently battling cancer.

Everywhere I look, people are fighting this disease. I want to help.

What am I doing?

I've completed the 60km Walk to End Breast Cancer twice, raising over $5,000 for charity, but I wanted a new challenge. So, instead of walking 60km in two days I'll run 42km in just over three hours.

The Boston Marathon is the world's oldest annual marathon and one of the world's most prestigious road racing events.

Besides the Olympic trials and the Olympic marathons, Boston is the only major American marathon that requires a qualifying time. For me, that meant running a marathon in under 3 hours and 10 minutes. I knocked almost half an hour off my previous best time to qualify.

To give an indication of how tough the training is, I wear through a pair of top-of-the-range running shoes every 4-6 weeks. For extra spice, I decided to run a different route every time I do a training run - quite the challenge.

So where’s the online part?

After qualifying for the race, I started my training for the Boston Marathon in late 2007. At the same time I began writing about the ups and downs at TorontoRunner.com. Since then I’ve written or recorded almost 200 posts.

I’m using the site to create a detailed record of my training for this race:

I post maps of every route I run
I carry an audio recorder while I train, and record my thoughts mid-route
I record videos with my reflections on my runs
I track my mileage against my training program

Where do you come in?

I said it at the beginning – I’m doing this to raise money for cancer research, but I can't do it alone. So, I invite you to join me.

Sponsor me as I run the Boston Marathon, and join the fight against cancer.

(cross-posted to davefleet.com)

Boston Training - 'Week Ten' Write-Up And 'Week Eleven' Look-Ahead

2008-02-18T21:00:00.001-05:00

Running Log: Week Ten

Last week was a nightmare for running. My hours at work were insane; as a result I did very little of the mileage I was supposed to.

However, the distances are skewed by two long runs at the end of the week.

Day	Scheduled Run	Actual Run
Sunday	25km marathon pace	35km
Monday	Rest	Rest
Tuesday	22km comfortable	Rest
Wednesday	15km recovery	2.4km
Thursday	15km hilly	8km
Friday	Rest	24km
Saturday	15km recovery	30km
Total	92km week	99.4km week

Training Program: Week Eleven

This week will be skewed by the fact that I did Sunday's long run on Saturday. I'm co-organizing a conference next weekend too, so I won't be able to run then either.

I may try to add some extra mileage into some of the mid-week runs to bump things up a bit.

Day	Scheduled Run
Sunday	~~30km~~ Rest
Monday	10km recovery
Tuesday	15km c/t
Wednesday	Rest
Thursday	12km hilly
Friday	Rest
Saturday	Rest
Total	~~67km~~ 37km week

Boston Training - 'Weeks Eight And Nine' Write-Up And 'Week Ten' Look-Ahead

2008-02-09T17:50:00.001-05:00

Life (and training) has overtaken my blogging recently, so I have two weeks to update.

Running Log: Week Eight

Day	Scheduled Run	Actual Run
Sunday	Rest	Rest
Monday	Rest	Rest
Tuesday	15km comfortable	15km comfortable
Wednesday	10km recovery	10km comfortable
Thursday	15km comfortable	Rest
Friday	Rest	15km comfortable
Saturday	10km recovery	Rest
Total	50km week	40km week

A bad week, all told. We had a big snowstorm on Friday night, so I didn't run on Saturday. We've had over 50cm of snow here in the last week.

Running Log: Week Nine

Day	Scheduled Run	Actual Run
Sunday	28km steady	27km steady
Monday	Rest	Rest
Tuesday	22km c/t	23km c/t
Wednesday	10km recovery	10km recovery
Thursday	15km hilly	Rest
Friday	Rest	15km hilly
Saturday	15km recovery	15km recovery
Total	90km week	90km week

This week was much better. Despite the snow I got all the runs in, including a hard tempo run on Tuesday that left me just 1 minute away from my half-marathon personal best with juice still in the tank.

Training Program: Week Ten

Day	Scheduled Run
Sunday	25km marathon pace
Monday	Rest
Tuesday	22km comfortable
Wednesday	15km recovery
Thursday	15km hilly
Friday	Rest
Saturday	15km recovery
Total	92km week

Another busy week this week, before a slower week in the run-up to a half-marathon race. Tomorrow's run will be tough; even tougher if I take up my friend on the offer of a 32km run. The mid-week runs are more about distance than speed, although there's another hill run on Thursday.

My focus right now is whether my left leg will stand up to this increased mileage.

So far, so good.

Boston Training - 'Week Seven' Write-Up And 'Week Eight' Look-Ahead

2008-01-26T20:59:00.001-05:00

First week back from injury, and a fairly solid set of runs. Lots of treadmill running, which I hope will be a short-term thing.

Running Log: Week Seven

Day	Scheduled Run	Actual Run
Sunday	~~28km comfortable~~ (injured)	Injured
Monday	10km recovery	10km
Tuesday	18km comfortable	18km
Wednesday	Rest	Rest
Thursday	15km c/t	15km c/t
Friday	Rest	14km steady
Saturday	15km recovery	21km
Total	~~86km~~ 58km week	78km week

The coming week was already scheduled to be a quieter one, but it will be even more so now that I've already done the long run scheduled for tomorrow.

Training Program: Week Eight

Day	Scheduled Run
Sunday	Rest
Monday	Rest
Tuesday	15km comfortable
Wednesday	10km recovery
Thursday	15km comfortable
Friday	Rest
Saturday	10km recovery
Total	50km week

Boston Training - 'Week Six' Write-Up And 'Week Seven' Look-Ahead

2008-01-20T14:26:00.001-05:00

This week didn't go as planned. A minor niggle the other week developed into a major pain in the ~~ass~~ back this week, which kept me home from work one day and away from running the rest of the week.

In the big picture this is more of a minor irritation than a major mishap. I should be back at it in the next couple of days. My back still feels stiff so I'll give it until tomorrow then I'll be back givin'er.

The injury has forced one upcoming change - I had planned on racing the Robbie Burns 8k on January 27. I don't think that's a good idea right now, so I'm replacing that in my schedule with a 22km steady run next Sunday instead. That may change (depending on how I feel in the next few days), but for now that's my plan.

Running Log: Week Six

Day	Scheduled Run	Actual Run
Sunday	25km comfortable	24km comfortable
Monday	Rest	Rest
Tuesday	18km comfortable	18km comfortable
Wednesday	10km recovery	Injured
Thursday	15km c/t	Injured
Friday	Rest	Rest
Saturday	12km recovery	Injured
Total	80km week	42km week

Training Program: Week Seven

Day	Scheduled Run
Sunday	~~28km comfortable~~ (injured)
Monday	10km recovery
Tuesday	18km comfortable
Wednesday	Rest
Thursday	15km c/t
Friday	Rest
Saturday	15km recovery
Total	~~86km~~ 58km week

Boston Training - 'Week Five' Write-Up And 'Week Six' Look-Ahead

2008-01-12T13:31:00.001-05:00

This week was a little easier than the past few - my schedule called for a couple of long runs but more 'recovery' runs than I've had previously. I appreciated them - I'm starting to get the perpetual tiredness that comes with intensive training.

The only real low-point this week was today's run - see my previous post.

Running Log: Week Five

Day	Scheduled Run	Actual Run
Sunday	25km steady	25km steady
Monday	Rest	Rest
Tuesday	18km recovery	19km recovery
Wednesday	10km recovery	10km recovery
Thursday	15km comfortable	15km steady
Friday	Rest	Rest
Saturday	10km recovery	11km recovery
Total	78km week	80.5km week

The coming week looks similar to last week with a couple of changes:

The long run is slower
Tuesday's 18km is faster
The Saturday recovery run is longer
I'm doing speed work for the first time

Thursday's run is 'comfortable/tempo' in my schedule. That calls for a 15km run with 5-7km of tempo in the middle.

Day	Scheduled Run
Sunday	25km comfortable
Monday	Rest
Tuesday	18km comfortable
Wednesday	10km recovery
Thursday	15km c/t
Friday	Rest
Saturday	12km recovery
Total	80km week

Boston Training - 'Week Four' Write-Up And 'Week Five' Look-Ahead

2008-01-08T23:52:00.001-05:00

Last week was a good week overall.

I plowed through the mileage relatively smoothly, although I ran Saturday's recovery run far too late in the day which left me stiff for my long run this Sunday. Lesson learned.

I did switch Tuesday and Wednesday's runs around due to a snow dump on Tuesday. In hindsight it was a mistake - the roads turned out to be reasonable, and back-to-back 16km steady runs wasn't fun.

On the plus side, I kept myself closer to the schedule than the previous week. While my legs feel like concrete blocks at the moment, it's a healthy feeling, not a worrying one.

I'm starting to notice the positive effects of the training. While Sunday's run was tough, I breezed through 19km today feeling pretty fresh. Very satisfying.

Running Log: Week Four

Day	Scheduled Run	Actual Run
Sunday	22km comfortable	22km comfortable
Monday	Rest	Rest
Tuesday	15km comfortable	10.5km
Wednesday	10km recovery	16km steady
Thursday	15km steady	16km steady
Friday	Rest	Rest
Saturday	12km recovery	14km recovery
Total	74km week	78.5km week

This week is already half-way done, but here's the schedule anyway. Just a small increase in mileage this week, and a few more gentle recovery runs to ease those tired legs:

Training Program: Week Five

Day	Scheduled Run
Sunday	25km steady
Monday	Rest
Tuesday	18km recovery
Wednesday	10km recovery
Thursday	15km comfortable
Friday	Rest
Saturday	10km recovery
Total	78km week

Boston Training - 'Week Three' Write-Up And 'Week Four' Look-Ahead

2007-12-30T14:44:00.001-05:00

This was a tough week, and quite a jump in mileage from last week.

Part of that extra mileage was making up for a 12km run that I skipped last Saturday - I slotted that into Monday and took Tuesday as a rest day before back-to-back 15 & 16km runs on Wednesday and Thursday.

Yesterday's (Saturday) run was unintentionally long, which made for an interesting long run today.

Running Log: Week Three

Day	Scheduled Run	Actual Run
Sunday	22km steady	22.5km steady
Monday	(12km recovery)	13.7km recovery
Tuesday	15km comfortable	Rest
Wednesday	Rest	15km steady
Thursday	15km comfortable	16km comfortable
Friday	Rest	Rest
Saturday	12km recovery	16.6km comfortable
Total	76km week	84km week

This week should be a little easier - I'll try to stay a little closer to the planned mileage and I'll have the benefit of actually having a rest day after my long run.

Training Program: Week Four

Day	Scheduled Run
Sunday	22km comfortable
Monday	Rest
Tuesday	15km comfortable
Wednesday	10km recovery
Thursday	15km steady
Friday	Rest
Saturday	12km recovery
Total	74km week

Boston Training - 'Week Two' Write-Up And 'Week Three' Look-Ahead

2007-12-23T17:55:00.001-05:00

This week was a weird one:

Last weekend's snowstorm threw off my Sunday run, which I ended up doing on a treadmill (yuck)
Thursday's '15km' run ended up as the Runners' Shop's annual carol run - a very gentle 6km interspersed with mutilations of popular carols
I had to skip yesterday's run as I was stuck in a car heading out of the city.

Running Log: Week Two

All told, I managed about 42km. Compared to my schedule:

Day	Scheduled Run	Actual Run
Sunday	18km comfortable	Rest
Monday	Rest	18km steady
Tuesday	15km comfortable	17km comfortable
Wednesday	Rest	Rest
Thursday	15km steady	6km slooooow
Friday	Rest	Rest
Saturday	12km recovery	Rest
Total	60km week	42km week

I plan on making up the missed 12km run tomorrow if the weather doesn't turn - we're forecast snow squalls throughout the day.

Training Program: Week Three

Day	Scheduled Run
Sunday	22km steady
Monday	(12km recovery)
Tuesday	15km comfortable
Wednesday	Rest
Thursday	15km comfortable
Friday	Rest
Saturday	12km recovery
Total	76km week

This week's audio tips: planning out your winter running route.

Boston Training - Week Two

2007-12-16T15:36:00.001-05:00

This week is my first full week of training for Boston 2008.

Each week I'll look at how the previous week matched up to the training program, and take a quick look at what's coming up.

If you're only interested in my training notes for Boston, you can subscribe to these posts here.

Running Log: Week One

Day	Scheduled Run	Actual Run
Sunday	-	Rest
Monday	-	16km steady
Tuesday	-	7km tempo
Wednesday	-	Rest
Thursday	15km comfortable	15km steady
Friday	Rest	Rest
Saturday	12km recovery	14km recovery
Total	50km	52km

Training Program: Week Two

Day	Scheduled Run
Sunday	18km comfortable
Monday	Rest
Tuesday	15km comfortable
Wednesday	Rest
Thursday	15km steady
Friday	Rest
Saturday	12km recovery
Total	60km week

Today's weather is abysmal, so I may do the 18km on Monday instead of today.

Given the lack of response to the idea of a Boston training podcast (i.e. none... come on people! David Hill, I know you're out there...), I've decided to dial it back a bit and record a series of training tips throughout my Boston preparation instead.

Today: five tips for preparing for winter runs.