5k - Baden Road Race

This is the race formally known as The New Hamburg Classic, and today was my fourth race. In the first year I finished with a time of 25:51. The two years following that, I kept getting slower and slower. That being said, my time last year - 26:38 - was good enough for third place for my age category (45-49). 2014 is the first year they were awarding medals, and I've never earned one before, so I figured that I should be able to accomplish that today.

Today's time was my best ever for this course - 25:50 - so I beat 2011's time by a single second, and 2013's by 48 seconds. However, that was only good enough for fifth! I was happy with my time when I crossed the finish line, but very disappointed I didn't qualify for a medal when I checked the official results.

I gave it everything today, so I don't feel bad about that. My legs were toast when I reached the finish - I had to go into a squat and catch my breath - compared to last year, when I felt like I still had gas left in the tank at the end.

But I really wanted that medal.

Edit: The day after the race, a fellow runner asked me on Twitter how it went, and helped me to put the result in perspective.

@nigelgordijk awesome...I'll take a PR over any type of placing any day!
— Dr. Sean Delanghe (@DrSeanDelanghe) May 11, 2014

Sean's right; I can't do anything about other people's performance, but I can work on improving my own. I did so massively compared to last year. All I can do is focus on doing even better next year, regardless of how quickly other people run.

5k: Run for the Cure

Today I took part in my sixth consecutive Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation Run for the Cure. This isn't a competitive race, of course, but I time my run every year and try to improve each time. Here are my times for which I kept a record. I didn't make a note of 2009's time, and I remember I had an ankle injury in 2010 that meant I had to walk the course.

2008 - 30:09
2011 - 26:43
2012 - 25:47
2013 - 24:59

For years I've been trying to break 25 minutes, and I did it for the first time ever today. That's 5:10 quicker than six years ago, when I was 41 years old.

So what did I do differently this time? (1) I knew I wanted to finish as quickly as I could, and when I ran the New Hamburg Classic in May, I had my worst 5k finish ever. The reason for that wasn't a lack of fitness, but simply starting too slowly. Today, I didn't care about running a consistent pace throughout the entire course, just finishing with a good time. I started really quickly at a pace I knew I wouldn't be able to maintain. If I had to slow down occasionally, or even walk, then so be it, and that's what happened. (2) I listened to music! As I mentioned in yesterday's blog post, I listened to Bruce Springsteen's Greatest Hits while on the treadmill and for some reason that gave me added momentum. I played the same album on my phone today - starting with "Born to Run", of course! - with the same effect. I never usually listen to music while running because I like to hear what's going on around me. That's going to change from now on!

New Hamburg Classic Race: 5k

My third annual New Hamburg Classic, and my second consecutive crappy time. However, this time I'm less pissed at myself, for three reasons.

1. Last year, I over-prepared and over-thought the run, rather than simply going out and having a good time. I'm not an experienced runner, so why get upset about a slow run? This year, I felt relaxed before and during the run, and I just enjoyed the whole community-focused event.

2. This year, I started the race too slowly, and that cost me some time. The second half of my run was 98 seconds quicker than the first 2.5k, whereas I would have expected that to be the other way around. I ran up Hamburger Hill pretty quickly, and that was on the return part of the run. I think all the plyo leg work I've been doing paid off there. When I crossed the finish line, I was sprinting my ass off and I still had plenty of gas in the tank.

3. Despite a slower time, I somehow finished 3rd in my age category (40-49). Last year, a quicker time gave me a 10th place finish. No idea why there was a discrepancy this year.

5k Row

" ♫ All I want for Christmas is a six-pack...♪"

Unusual for me to train on a Sunday, but I had a rest day yesterday because my PT session was Friday. All clear?

Anyway, I wanted to try a simple WOD from a couple of weeks ago - row 5k for time. I don't think I've rowed for this type of distance before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I watched the demo video and it looks like most people were finishing around 20 minutes. However, I thought that might be a bit ambitious for me, so I aimed for roughly 25 minutes, about the time I take for a 5k run.

Row 5k for time
Time = 25:54 (average: 41 s/m)

That's roughly my time for a 5k run, so not too bad. I tried to maintain a steady pace throughout, as advised in the video, although that was easier said than done as I became more fatigued.

I don't know if I'll ever do this again, not because it was too tough, but because it was bloody boring! By the time I got to 1.5k, I couldn't wait for the damn routine to be over. Running 5k on the road is one thing, because the scenery changes, plus there are the mini-challenges when I overtake someone or they overtake me. But rowing 5k on a machine when all I can see are the stationary houses outside is pretty tedious. 

To make matters worse, about 10 minutes into my session, there was a power outage in New Hamburg, which meant the TV and lights in the Stonecroft gym all went out. There were three other people working out on machines at the same time as me, but as soon as the power went, so did they. I spent the next 15 minutes rowing in near darkness.

Can't wait to do some heavy lifting tomorrow...

5k: Run for the Cure

Today I ran the CIBC Breast Cancer Run for the Cure for the fifth consecutive year. I wasn't expecting to run too quickly today because my legs were pretty damn sore following yesterday's personal training session. We got to the run site pretty early, so I had plenty of time to warm up and stretch. That helped tremendously, so I decided to do my best and try for a decent finish time.

I let the main crowd of runners get going for about 10 minutes, so I wouldn't be stuck in the crowd. The first part of the run is the most challenging as it involves a winding, step hill. For some reason I started out pretty quickly - too quickly - and I was already out of breath by the time I got to the top of the hill. I had to slow right down much sooner than I intended, and I thought I'd blown my chance of having at least one decent 5k this year. When I'd got my breath back, I sped up a bit and set a pace that I thought I could maintain consistently. It actually felt so comfortable I wondered if I was running too slowly. Because of the heavy overnight rain, I opted for the road course as it was less likely to b slippery.

I got to the halfway/turn around point and felt like I was in control. (By the way, I didn't check my watch until I crossed the finish line.) I was surprised when I saw the 4k marker because I thought I had much more than only 1k remaining. At that point, I really opened up. For the last section of the run, I went as fast as I could. My strides were really long and my arms were pumping like a friggin' lunatic. God knows what I must have looked like. That hill that felt so tough on the way up proved a different type of challenge going back down. I almost felt like I was going to end up somersaulting down the road as I pounded the asphalt.

I crossed the finish line and stopped my watch, finally checking it to see how I did: 25:47. That's nearly a minute faster than last year, and much quicker than I expected at the start of the day. My memory being as poor as it is, I can't recall what my best time was from previous years, but I'm really pleased with how I ran today, especially after the punishment my legs took yesterday morning. Of course, I'm not looking forward to trying to get out of bed tomorrow...

New Hamburg Classic Race: 5k

What the hell's all this small nonsense?

Well, that was a rather disappointing 5k.

My hopes were high for a significant improvement on last year's time because I'd done - what I thought - was decent preparation. For the past few weeks, I'd done at least one run a week, plus I'd done some research into pre-race warm-ups. I got to the WRC early and did a slow jog, covering the 3k course in about 20 minutes. Then I stretched for about 10 minutes and made sure my muscles remained warmed up by keeping moving, right up to start time.

About 1k into the actual race, I was struggling. My breathing was much too laboured for that early stage of the course, and from that point onwards my running was based on sheer willpower, rather than technique.

I stopped running and walked three times during the race because of a stitch. I was going to do it again, fairly close to the finish line, but as I started to slow down I heard Chris screaming all kinds of abuse at me from the side, issuing several threats of a physical nature. Despite nearly causing me to soil myself, her motivational technique worked, as it forced me over the last few hundred metres.

I finished the race in 26:20. Last year's time was 25:51, so despite all the preparation this time, I ran 29 seconds slower. 12 months ago, the weather was awful, with heavy rain blowing into my face and obscuring my view. Today was dry and sunny, and a bit warmer than I would have wished for, but I'm not using that as an excuse.

I'm not sure if this was a failure of my pre-race training regimen, or if running simply isn't my thing. My strength has greatly improved over the past year, but perhaps at the expense of my conditioning.

5k: Run for the Cure

Team Terri 2011

Today I ran in my fourth annual Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation Run for the Cure event.  Although this wasn't a race, I tried to complete the 5k as quickly as I could. I crossed the finish line in 26:43, which is slower than my time for the New Hamburg Classic in May 2011 (25:51). I was hoping for a sub-25 minute run. My first run in this event - back in 2008 - finished in 30:09.

Madi showing off her fabulous breast cancer jewel-encrusted
ribbon tattoo, generously donated by June and Larry Zehr
of Stitch Graphix.

The running conditions today were pretty good: clear, no rain but a little chilly, which encouraged me to run fast just to keep warm. This is the first year where I started near the front of the pack, so the first 1k was pretty bunched up until some people either sped up or slowed down, which created some gaps to run through. I would have run quicker at the beginning if I hadn't been stuck in a crowd of people. I usually start the run somewhere near the back of the runners, where there's plenty of space.

The last 1k was pretty painful, as most of it was downhill. I found that harder than the flat and uphill sections of the course because I had to keep more upright, which felt awkward. It was during this part that my quads started to burn and my left knee began to hurt. The pain is starting to subside now, about 90 minutes after the run.

Still, I finished first out of Team Terri (named after Terri Schnarr, a friend's sister who died from breast cancer a couple of years ago) narrowly beating a friend whose training consists of a lot more running than mine.

The important thing is that a lot of very generous people sponsored me $430.00 for the run. That's pretty humbling.

Me with my friend, Ray. Each year we run in memory of his sister, Terri.

New Hamburg Classic Race: 5k

Ran my first New Hamburg Classic today in torrential rain. By the time I got to 3k I couldn't see anything because my glasses were fogged up. Still, considering I don't do any running training and I haven't run for about a month I didn't do too badly. I finished 23rd overall, I was the 20th fastest man, and I was 11th in my age category (20+). I guess I'm not in the "Masters" age category yet!

My time was 25:51, which is some way off my best for 5k, but the New Hamburg course is considerably more challenging than the Run for the Cure 5k, which is much flatter.