11.2km – 61:46
Hit the snowy roads while Mom and Callan had a much deserved afternoon nap.
RunCanadaRun
My Canadian Running Adventure
Author Archives: Jared
Welcome baby Callan
I broke my golden rule yesterday, I skipped a long run! BUT for great reason, we welcomed a healthy baby boy into the world. Callan David was born yesterday weighing 8 lbs 2 oz and happy and healthy! Megan was absolutely amazing. It amazes me how much strength and courage she pulls together in the midst of so much pain and uncertainty.
I was in charge of fuelling and coaching for this baby. For our first baby, we had a rough go in the hospital. We had to stay for 4 nights because of some minor issues and by the last day we were all a wreck. Lack of sleep, poor nutrition, substandard sleeping conditions, and a newborn is not a fun combination. I blamed a major part of these issues on a poor fuelling strategy.
I would never claim to know what delivering a baby feels like but I equate it to running a race. You have training, a plan, the event, and recovery. We had a plan and good training but then, like most races once you get into it, everything you’ve planned for goes out the window. You need to adapt to what your body is telling you and continuous change your tactics to get to your end goal. In the end your success is measured on your outcome and not how you got there. Like a race, you need to have an open mind to change your strategy on the fly. Callan came fast and furious and we really didn’t have much time to think of anything.
We are so happy to have another little man to love and spoil.
Maybe I’ll slip out of the hospital for that run later today, stay posted.
Keep on moving,
JA
Week Six: Run 3
6.1km – 31:17
Hill run on a treadmill. My legs were screaming at me!
Bring on 2014
Happy New Year!
I’m super pumped for 2014. A new baby is soon to be here and really looking forward to continuing my new endeavours that I began last year. I managed to get out for an early morning run today and it was amazing. This was likely the first time since I was around 16 that I was physically able to exercise after a New Years Eve. Some might think that I’m getting old and just don’t have anything to do on New Years but this was completely MY doing. We had a nice quiet night in watching the world ring in the new year. I loved every minute of it.
2014 means a lot to me. I made a lot of changes last year but now comes the time that I will make or break them. The honeymoon is over per say and its time to bare down and carry through on my goals. I don’t see this being a problem because I’m totally in love with the new me! I’ve been writing about some improvements that I want to make next year, so here are the rest of them.
Improvement #5: BECOME A BETTER VEGETARIAN
This goes right along with eating less processed foods but I wanted to give that one it’s own category. I’ve been eating vegetarian for over six months now and there are a few things nutritionally that I could improve on. I want to review my supplements and change to more vegan friendly versions. I currently take a multivitamin, B12, Omega 3-6-9, and Vitamin D. I also wake up to a Vega One shake and supplement with Vega Sport Protein after runs and workouts. I was taking the vitamins prior to eating vegetarian so I’m sure I get many of these vitamins and minerals from the increased vegetables that go along with the new diet. I have always believed that covering all my bases with supplements was wise but I’v been doing some research that suggests it could be causing more work for my body to get rid of the excess. I’m planning on focusing on my diet and then slowly taking away some of the supplements and see how I react to it.
Improvement #6: BE MORE POSITIVE EVERYDAY
This one is pretty self explanatory. I’m a good tempered positive person by nature but there’s times that I dwell on the negative. I’m going to work on staying positive!!
Improvement #7: MORE TEA AND LESS COFFEE
Megan and I have started drinking tea in the afternoons that we are off together! She bought me a tea cup and some tea’s from David’s Tea and I’m hooked. I like the variety and the fact that I can get some health benefits and a warm cup of goodness without having to over-caffeinate myself to death. Since I gave up alcohol, I find my go to drink at restaurants is coffee and some days I drink 4-5 cups and find it hard on my system. From this day forward I’m a Tea drinker (I’ll still having a morning coffee to get the blood flowing though).
Improvement #8: READ 3 BOOKS
I’ve never been a reader. In high school, I listened to books on tape to write book reports for english…haha. Last year I picked up a few books about running but didn’t really get into them. I want to take up reading both for enlightenment and relaxation. Last night, I ordered two new books to get started on; Chris Hadfields new book and Eat & Run by Scott Jurek. Wish me luck with this one!
So to recap here is my list of improvements in its entirety:
1. Eat less processed foods
2. 10K race in 40mins
3. Half race in 1:35
4. Complete a marathon
5. Become a better vegetarian
6. Be more positive
7. Drink Tea
8. Read 3 books
Now that I have all these fancy improvements written down its time to get down to business. The key to having a successful year is just to keep on improving, whether its in your work, family life and sporting events, just keep getting better! And thats my ultimate goal for 2014!
Keep on moving,
JA
Week Six: Run 2
6.56km – 36:17
Happy New Years!
A wonderful send off by a goofy little hockey player!
Week Six: Run 1
6.2km – 29:11
-10C Calm and crisp! Great night for a run on tired legs! Even got to hear some coyotes howling to each other!
Week Five: Run 4
10.08km – 58:08
Good long run! Feeling strong and injury free!
Week Five: Run 3
6.2km – 32:23
Solid run for the middle of the night!
Happy Boxing Day!
I didn’t get a chance to blog on Christmas day because I was hard at work instead of enjoying St. Nick. We had a great christmas and got spoiled as usual. I managed to get two runs in over the last two days on the treadmill. I kind of re-kindled my relationship with it. I tried a couple of very specific workouts and listened to music which took away the painful monotony I usually suffer from on the mill. I’ve been thinking more and more about speed vs distance and what kind of running I’m interested in. When I started running I was keen on running a full marathon. I’ve come to realize that you need to focus your training on a specific aspect in order to be successful at both. I still want it all speed and distance, so I’m going for it. haha This leads me into my improvements for next year that I started last post…
Improvement #2: RUN A 10K IN 40 MINUTES
Last year I ran four 10K races as sort of a warm up for my half marathon. The first race was Huntsville and I was solely focused on finishing the race in one piece. I didn’t really have a race strategy or know much about fuelling or pacing. I ran three other 10K’s and each one improved my finish time and I learned lots about pacing and race strategy. My PR is 48:53 which I achieved at the Oasis Zoo run in Toronto. I plan to run some 10k’s throughout my training for the longer distances. I really like the distance because its long enough that you need to fuel and pace or you’ll crash and burn but short enough that you can push yourself to the end if you crash early. I need to focus on speed work more this year. It hurts but its worth it!
Improvement #3: RUN A HALF MARATHON IN 1:35
I’m planning on running three half marathons next year. The first one being in Marco Island Florida in March. I haven’t decided on the next two races yet, but I’m throwing around the idea of one out west but with a new baby on the way, its all up in the air now. I’d like to have at least two months in between each run in order to recover and peak properly for the races. Its important to build on your training in between each race but there’s a fine balance between rest and training. After my half in October, I took two weeks off running and than another two weeks of “fun” runs before starting another program and it seemed to work well. I had a few pressing injuries that healed up nicely after rest and stretching. I ran the Scotiabank half in 1:47:40. I feel like a pushed myself to the limit in the race. I was starting to get some leg muscle issues in the last km or two and had to really bare down to finish. I thought during the race that I started too slow but its really tough to tell as I finished strong but completely out of gas. Cutting 13 minutes from my time is daunting but I’m up for the challenge.
Improvement #4: COMPLETE A FULL MARATHON
I’m still not convinced that I have what it takes to run a Full marathon. It’s one of those things that I believe anyone can complete if they run slow enough. But I don’t have that slow pace in my blood. If I’m going to run it I’m going to run it my absolute best. I’m planning to Run the Toronto Scotiabank Marathon in October. Although, I did put my name in the NYC marathon lottery, so if I’m successful at that we will be off to NYC in the fall. I’m planning to start training in July and run my third half marathon in the middle of the program.
2014 is going to be a wild ride. A new baby and lots of running….I’m super excited and maybe a little nervous!
Keep on moving,
JA
Week Five: Run 2
5.1km – 26:14
A run on a sweet treadmill! Merry Christmas to me!
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