TWO-O-NINE!

Marathoner. Hansons Marathon Method Advocate.

[two-o-nine]

It’s already July and now week 5 of my training plan. Training is going well so far! I’m down over 9 pounds since June 1st so I’m almost halfway to my goal of losing 20 before the marathon in October! It’s going to be harder from here on out though - trying to balance fuelling and basically wanting to eat everything during training. Life has been busy! This spring/summer we have built a deck, built patio furniture, installed our fire pit, laid our patio stone bricks, and shovelled more rock that I care I mention! Earning our sweat equity! This weekend was a send off to one of my closest friends who is moving to The Netherlands 🇳🇱 this month. I’m going to miss her so much but we are already planning a European adventure for 2019. Other than that it’s run, work, play with the dogs, sleep, repeat! Happy 4th to my American friends!

[two-o-nine]

TCM W3:D2 - Easy 3 Target: 11:46 - 12:36 min/mile Actual: 11:51 min/mile My legs still felt a little clunky from Sunday’s half marathon. I was well within range, it was just obvious that I should have foam rolled post race. Also, a race photo from Sunday. “I just like to run. Running’s my favourite!” Not sure why I’m so happy but I’ll take it!

[two-o-nine]

Manitoba Half Marathon 2018 Steady as she goes. Other than a brief walk at the 8.5 mile mark to settle my stomach, my splits were bang on where I wanted to be today, plus lots in the tank at the end. This gives me hope for Twin Cities in October. If we’re being completely honest though, I was green with envy today. My friend ran her first half and finished a minute ahead of me (we ran together until I needed a walk). She had only run as far as a 10k in training and hadn’t run much since high school cross country (about ten years ago). She ran the entire race today. It’s hard not to compare yourself. Running always seems to be one step forward, two steps back for me. I just always feel like I’m always going to be this slow runner, going through the motions of losing weight/gaining speed/gaining weight/losing speed. I wish I had that sort of raw knack for running. The one where you haven’t run in months but can still bust out a sub 25 minute 5k. I can’t even dream of running that fast with training. Ultimately though being envious is a waste of time. Envy won’t be the discipline I need to get up at 5 and run and it certainly won’t help me get to the finish line. Week 3 starts tomorrow with a rest day - my IT band is rejoicing!

[two-o-nine]

TCM 2018 Week 2 in Review I rolled straight into week two with a rest day on Monday (though I did take Henry for a quick 1 miler). Tuesday morning I got in an easy 3 with a friend and also caught a brilliant sunrise. Wednesday was another rest day. On Thursday I ran a 3 mile tempo run and nailed it. I helped a friend move into her new house on Thursday night (I’m also a master of IKEA furniture assembly) and watched a wicked storm for hours. I stayed up until the wee hours watching a football game, and pushed my Friday morning run to Friday night. It’s always a mistake to put a run off - it was so hot at 6 PM and I could not get my legs to slow down to easy pace which was strange! Today was another hot 3 miler with Andrew. Tomorrow rounds out Week 2, and I’m running a local half marathon. No expectations. No goals. Just trying to get it done and faster than my half in May. Now I’m off to rest before my half tomorrow!

[two-o-nine]

TCM 2018 W1:D3 Easy 3 Target: 11:46-12:36 min/mile Actual: 11:45 min/mile Started out the day with a bike ride at the Bison Butte Rec Trails. Really awesome technical trails right in the city. They built these trails for the Canada Summer Games that were held here last summer. I am not the best rider when it comes to getting over features so I had some encounters with rocks and small wipeouts. After biking, I got in my easy 3 run for the day. 4 on the schedule tomorrow with plans to meet friends to run!

[two-o-nine]

It’s time for my quarterly pop-in where I make empty promises about blogging more and announce another round of training. Yesterday marked the start of training for the Twin Cities Marathon. My goal is 4:37:30, which would be a PR. I lost a lot of fitness over winter so it’s probably aggressive for where I’m at. I’m pinning my hopes on two things: 1. A solid training season and 2. Losing 20lbs before the marathon. I need both to PR my marathon. So I’m cleaning up my act in the kitchen. No more existing solely on bread and cheese and pizza! My first run was good. I’m using the beginner’s Hanson plan but modified the first five weeks to include tempo runs on Thursday. 2 Miles at marathon pace. Nailed it. Today’s a rest day but maybe I’ll see you guys tomorrow?

[two-o-nine]

See...I knew it was too soon to call it a blogging comeback! Where did March go?!? This week marks the start of my 12 week half marathon training program. I don’t have enough time for a full Hanson cycle so I’m cheating on them and going with a Hal Higdon plan. I’ve used a Hal Higdon plan twice before with very little success. But my last go at it was in 2013 when I thought it was totally fine to skip half of my training and run as fast as possible on every run. Ah, so young and naive. Hey @danielleruns (Or are you just a @bashbrothers now?) - remember when we saw Hal Higdon during the Indy Mini Marathon? Day 1 was 30 minutes of cross training so I did a 30 min 80’s pop ride on my spin bike. Today was Day 2 - 3 miles. Consistent splits but my heart rate is way higher than it should be at this pace. I suppose it’s just telling me the hard truth. (Truth: I lost a lot of fitness. A lot.). Work has been exceptionally busy. It’s a good thing but I’ve been working a lot of weekends lately. Overtime did pay off this weekend, though. One of the principals of my firm came down on Saturday and offered me tickets to the Jets hockey game! And amazing seats too - Row 7!! Got to see them clinch a playoff spot too! Did I mention we got another dog in December? If not, this is Thomas! He’s a French bulldog Boston Terrier cross and a real sassy guy. Henry loves him to death! Onwards to Wednesday! One day closer to my 4 day weekend and a trip to Calgary! How are you guys?

[two-o-nine]

If you complain that all of your runs have been terrible lately, do you automatically get a great run? 4 miles last night, just below freezing, at sunset, and I only had to wear one pair of tights! Today’s going to be even warmer so I’ll be back out again!

[two-o-nine]

Hi! Maybe I’ll make this blogging thing a regular to-do again. We’ll see. I ran 3.33 miles today. It snowed overnight so the roads were terrible to run on. My running vibe has been a downward spiral of suck lately and I’m having a hard time finding the good in any run. I’m not sure when my last good run was. Sometime in 2017? At any rate, I know that complaining does not help make me a better runner, so hopefully more running will cure all. And less snow!

I’m optimistic that winter is coming to an end with forecasted daytime highs above freezing all week. But it’s Manitoba, and I’m not naive enough to believe it’ll happen in early March.

I’ve decided not to run any spring races unless I hit certain pacing and weight loss milestones. I am signed up for a fall 30K race and my usual Twin Cities Marathon. Time to get down to work since it’s already March!

[two-o-nine]

Ragnar Del Sol 2018 - Donut Worry Run Happy Though it was only 2 weeks ago, it feels like a lifetime ago that I was running with my donuts. Running is hard. Running 32.6 miles through the desert fuelled by the most delicious sprinkle cookies, pretzels, and Oreos is even harder. But when you’re surrounded by people who make you laugh and laugh at your Canadian-isms, the miles feel lighter. This group understood the fine balance of support and quiet time and the importance of being willing to use The Stick to roll out each other’s calves. I started the weekend getting picked up at the airport by a stranger from the internet and left with five friends that call me Barry. Thanks for the memories @goaldengoats @runningforbiscuits @er1nruns @elkay723 @gentlergiant ✌🏻☀️🕶🏃‍♀️👟🌵

[two-o-nine]

2017. Almost 850 miles on the year. A kick ass training season. Yet every single race was a bust. I didn't PR a single race despite near perfect training. Despite getting faster throughout training. It's been a bitter pill to swallow. Because no one tells you what a great job you did on a random Tuesday run. They ask about the race. And it's hard to keep rehashing what went wrong. I need to get over it. I might not have had the glory of ringing the PR bell but I have PRed my 1km, 1 mile, 10km, and half marathon time in some form this year. I'm planning to take down that 5km time in the coming weeks. So maybe I didn't get the races I wanted but you better believe I got faster. Onwards and upwards...

[two-o-nine]

Thanks for the awesome hoodie @mynamesmom - I love love love the colour and pattern in Nebraska! It's perfect! @hoody-exchange - thanks for hosting this!

[two-o-nine]

4 months ago I promised to get back into blogging to coincide with my training for Twin Cities Marathon. Obviously that didn't happen. The blogging that is. I've been training hard. Tomorrow I see what sort of dividends my training pays. Maybe I'll start blogging again soon. For now, it's good night and good luck.

[two-o-nine]

And so it begins again! Today marked day one of training for the Twin Cities Marathon. 3 Easy Miles Target: 11:28 - 12:16 min/mile Actual: 11:27 min/mile Beautiful morning with a perfect prairie sunrise during my run! I'm training for a 4:30 marathon this year. It's ambitious but after a favorable result at my half marathon in May (2nd fastest half ever), I'm gunning for that Oprah badge on smashrun. Onto to day 2!

[two-o-nine]

I woke up this morning and wondered why I had a bunch of notes on my Tumblr! The post I wrote way back on April 3rd magically posted itself. Cool. I thought that was lost to oblivion. Maybe Tumblr is gently trying to nudge me back to blogging. No time like the present, especially since marathon training starts next week!

[two-o-nine]

So I haven't blogged in almost two months. I wrote a big, long, glorious post about life events lately and then Tumblr ate it. So here's the Cole's Notes version (yes, like Cliff Notes, but Canadian): 📍Henry the pup is doing great (after getting a nasty kennel cough at doggie daycare) 📍We took possession of our new house ten days ago and it is magical! 📍I fell off the running rails as puppy + packing + moving consumed March entirely! 📍Despite all of that, I've lost 22 pounds since January 2nd. I'm finally noticing the physical change - and my clothes fit again! Bigger life update coming soon! How are you guys doing?

[two-o-nine]

We got a puppy! Meet Henry!