RunCanadaRun

The last few days have been tough to stay motivated and get my runs completed.  I’ve been working nights and the weather has been less than ideal for outdoor running.  I made a rule on my last training program that I DO NOT miss a scheduled run.  I would guess I was around 95% successful at this.  But it’s going to be much more difficult to follow this rule during the winter.  The days are shorter and the weather makes me just wanna stay inside and watch TV.  I already missed a run yesterday and its only week three, its going to much more difficult in week 10 when my body is tired and the weather is even more frigid.  That being said, I’m going to do everything in my power to get the runs in, no matter the weather or my schedule.  I’ve been using a little motivational saying “This is what champions are made of”.  When I wake up at 5:30am on my day off and its cold, snowy and windy outside, I just repeat that saying in my head until I get downstairs and start to wake up.  So far, it really helps me get out the door.

I find the difference between being successful or unsuccessful really comes down to a spilt second decision.  It’s the one when you go to reach for the snooze button or your finished eating dinner but grab one extra helping.  Once you make the decision in the right direction, the outcome seems just as satisfying as if you made the opposite choice.  It’s just getting over that pivotal moment when your impulse is driving the decision-making process.  The holidays are especially challenging for this in my family.  Lots of good food around and everyone is in the festive spirit.  I’ve gotta keep my eye on the prize and stay motivated…

Keep on moving,

JA

Happy Wednesday!

I guess it pays off to complain about my head being cold on my runs.  My amazing wife surprised me with an early christmas present…

The Mizuno Thermo hat is amazingly warm.  I went out last night and the temperature was -3C.  I dressed the same as I have the last few weeks but I was cooking in this new hat.  I had to ditch the hat part way through the run.  I think in the future I’ll try to offset the warmth of my head with fewer layers on my body.  This will be better because I’ll be able to move better and not feel as bulky once I get warmed up.  I’m getting used to being cold when I set out for a run and then quickly warming up as my body gets warmed up.  I am really enjoying being out running in the winter.  It gets me out of the house when normally I’d be stuck inside during these cold winter nights.

There’s been a lot of Coyote sighting in Kincardine recently.  Its been in the papers every week and everyone is talking about a local dog that will killed by a Coyote right in town.  Its been on my mind a little when I’m out running at night.  Mainly because I really want to see one and get a picture of one around town.  I don’t really feel threatened or scared when I’m out alone.  From what I’ve read, they are not known for attacking adults and I personally think I could scare one away if I ran into one on my travels.  I guess if anything good will come out of the Coyotes being around, it will make me run faster!

I’m into week two of my training program and I’m felling pretty good.  The last few days I thought I was getting sick but I think I was just tired from a busy weekend in Niagara Falls.  I have officially signed up for the Marco Island Half and booked a house for a week away in Florida after the run.  Now I just need to finalize flights!  It’s all coming together!

Keep on moving,

JA

With all the snow we’ve been getting here, you would think I’d be referring to something like this…

What I’m really talking about is keeping your hard runs hard and your easy runs easy or polarization.  It seems like a simple concept buts its quite hard to achieve.  I find it most difficult once I get about half way through a program, I am beginning to get more comfortable, improving my form and feeling more in shape.  Then I start noticing that on my easy runs I tend to get out there and think “I should be running harder”.  Instead of just enjoying the slower pace and allowing my body to recover.  Then on my hard runs, I would have a hard time pushing myself because I was tired from the other runs I was running too fast.  I hear this is a common problem with runners.

This is an issue in all parts of life.  We as humans tends to gravitate towards the easy road.  Its much easier to do something that we know we can achieve a positive result then attempt something that is unknown and possibly face failure while doing so.  Runners are no different, your body wants you to run at a comfortable pace.  It screams at you to slow down when you are pushing the limits.  Its good to remember that 75% of your runs should be at an easy pace, 10% tempo and 15% hard effort.   My goal is to continually remind myself prior to a run what I am trying to achieve with the run; recovery, speed, cardio, distance.

I am off to tackle a base building run at 10k pace.  Oops…I guess I’m allowed to be comfortable during my base building weeks.

Keep on moving,

JA

Today I start into my training for the Marco Island Bridge Run Half Marathon on March 16th.  The run is said to be “the most beautiful run in Southern Florida, with challenging grades and beautiful scenery”.  I’m excited to take on my next program and hopefully a new PB while incorporating a family vacation in.  I made the decision when I started this running thing, that I would include my family in my runs and try to plans runs that were fun for everyone.

I decided to be my own coach and designed a training plan of my own.  I looked at several online including Ryan Hall and Hal Higdon plans but I couldn’t find one that I thought would work best for me.  I work rotating shift work, meaning I’m always on a different schedule.  The traditional plans usually are based on doing short runs during the week and a long run on the weekend.   I followed the known guidelines for running training plans.  Add no more than 10% to your total distance and 10% to your long run each week.  I haven’t really included the details of types of runs yet (ie. tempo, interval, hill, fartlek) so I need to put the finishing touches on the plan.  I think I might just do that on the fly.  I’ve been told that’s not a good idea as will allow me to slack off if I’m not feeling into doing a specific type of run…but I think thats whats I’m going to do anyways.  Its a learning experience!  Here is my plan so far… (with some retro iPhone effects)

I’m looking forward to training in the winter.  I’ve purchases some winter gear that I’m excited to try out and I think it will be nice to run in the cooler temperatures.  Although, we did just get dumped on with snow over the last few days and those Lake Huron wind gusts might be interesting to run against.  But I’m staying positive for now.  Here we go another gruelling sixteen week training program.  I love it…

Keep on moving,

JA

Soooo… this is my first attempt at blogging.  I’ve been putting the finishing touches on the barebones frame of this blog and it’s been pretty stressful so far.  Trying to get the right feeling and set-up to allow me to express myself is hard work.  I think mainly because I’m really not sure what I want this to look like in the end.  I’m sure that it will morph and change as it matures into a big-boy blog.  My intentions are to create a site to allow me to write about my runs, the gear I’m into and the food I’m eating while preparing for training and races.  I’ll start by saying that I’m not a great writer.  I was talking to a friend and they said just write as if you were speaking to your best friend.  So thats what I’m going to do.  You’ll be getting raw unedited banter.

A little bit about me.  I’m married to the most amazing woman, Megan!  Together we have a awesome two year old son and another little jam eater on the way in January!  I like watching and playing hockey, spending time with my family and of course, running.  I made a few life changes last year that brought me to where I am today. I started running in March but really starting training for my first run in July.  I also started eating vegetarian in July and gave up drinking and partying for a healthy lifestyle.  I haven’t had a drink, smoke or anything of sort since mid June 2013.  Those were the best decisions I’ve made in the life.  I feel great, my relationship with Megan and my son are stronger than ever.  I have learned so much in the last year and one of those things that was I don’t want alcohol or drugs in the life.  We refer to these changes as “The new Jared”…

I’m starting to plan out my next run and what my 2014 run schedule is going to look like.  I’m thinking of attempting three half’s and a full marathon in the fall.  The first will hopefully be the Marco Island Bridge Run on March 16th.  Megan and I are sorting out the logistics of travelling to Florida with a two year and an 8 week old, which should be interesting to say the least.  I wanted to do my first run early in the year to allow me lots of time to recovery in between.  When I was training for the Scotiabank half last October I ran into some “tweaks” (as I like to call them) that I’d like to avoid this time around.  I’ll write more the Marco Island run and my training plans in the future.

Keep on moving,

JA