Tough Steps Are The Ones That Count

When I was running my 1km intervals the other night with my friend John Carson I noticed something. At interval pace (4:25/km) everything is tougher, specially when you are doing hill intervals! What hit me was that at this speed the slightest incline was noticeable in the feet and the legs.

I hadn't thought about it again until on my long run today. You see I was set to run with the Run for Life group Saturday morning when my wife was rescheduled to work. So as we runners do, I zigged. 25km all by my lonesome. Out came the iPod and away I went. First up on the iPod was my Free The Beagle audio book. This book always brings me something new every time I read/listen to it. As I got into chapter 11 there it was:

"Yesterday the lawyer had felt the forest floor begin to rise and had allowed the slight incline to guide his footsteps in the darkness. If a step seemed easy, he knew it was leading him downward. It was only the more difficult steps that would take him higher"

You see this book has helped guide me in business, in life and now was making sense in my running. These words hung heavy in my ears. I have just recently taken some difficult steps in my business and have been taking many difficult steps in running. Difficult steps lead you to higher ground.

"Having resolved to take only the difficult steps, he sat now in bright sunlight, high upon a hilltop, scanning a panoramic forest."

I often wonder why I see runners not pushing, not improving, not going to the next level. It's that simple, when the difficult steps come they take the easy ones. They walk up the hill, ease through the down hill, run as fast on the on minute as they do in the off minute, settle for 6.8km and not push on to 7km, or decide to not run because it's snowing, raining, cold, hot, foggy, or icy.

Figure what you want. Do you want to get to hang out in the village of compromise or climb the purple mountains on your way to Destinae?

Beer Mile Ignite Talk

Here is my Ignite Waterloo talk on my first Beer Mile.

Sickness Sucks

I spent 2 weeks unable to run and then a week just getting my legs back.

I ran my first interval run in almost a month last night. Felt good to push it. Felt good to suck some wind as Theresa pushed me to my limit in the last interval. Felt good to get home and realize that I was back in.

What really sucks is I am now 3 weeks back on my ATB training. That is always the challenge....not to race, to be prepared to race.

Winter always poses a significant challenge for us here in SW Ontario. Hence the popularity of fall races. Will I get my 2:30 at ATB....maybe. Will I finish, no doubt in my mind!!

M

PB, PB, PB!

WOW what a great fall!

I spent the summer training for my first marathon. I continued to do my interval workouts through my training but was really focused on endurance. When I crapped out at 39km, 3km short of my goal, I was a little disappointed. Don't get me wrong, I am happy to have finished my first marathon, I am not happy with my time. I am happy to say that all that work has not gone to waste.

I really thought all that distance was going to kill my shorter times. I signed up for a 10km 4 weeks after my marathon (which I figured would be a recovery run). I PB'd at the distance.

So I also signed up for a 5km which means a lot to me. The 2nd annual RememberRun in Preston. The start of the race (outside of the legion) was after 2 minutes of silence with bagpipes...a touching tribute for our veterans. As I had also signed up for the Road2Hope half marathon I was planning on running this at a slow 5km pace. Needless to say I was feeling really strong and ended up running faster that I expected. As I finished with a PB and a little gas left in the tank I was really surprised, and a little worried I may have hurt my half the next day.

Headed down to Hamilton early today as I was carpooling with my friend/mentor/coach John Carson who was running the full. Went into this race feeling really strong and ran that way through the entire race! I took nearly 14 minutes off my PB from the year before!

So in 2 weeks I hit my PB in the 5 and 10 and in one weekend I hit PB's in the 5 and the half. My running has never felt stronger. I am looking forward to doing around the bay in the spring and trying to get under 20 minutes in the 5km....I mean we all have to have a goal right?

M

Getting Better

As I ran with the first time 5km runners tonight I found myself passing on some advice that I had been given not an hour before. The advice was a reminder of a speech given by Roy H. Williams (the Wizard of Ads) at our national PropertyGuys.com conference. The advice was related to business when given to me. To be effective you need to be consistent and do it with intensity. It rang in my ears as I ran. As I have found my life setting me up for other things provided me with what I needed when I needed it.

Looking back on my running journey it took me 18 months to really see improvement. 18 months of hard work. 18 months of consistent running. 18 months of intense work to improve my speed. It did not end there though. If those first 18 months were tough then the last 12 months have been hell....and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Can't wait to see what the next few years have in store!

M

First Race Jitters

Do you remember your first race? The anticipation of the start, camaraderie of those around you, the training, the planning all of it?

Here is the big question. Did you have a time goal? Most people when doing something new are just happy to do it. I venture out a little further. I like to challenge myself. Not just do something, do it well. Not that I achieve all that I set out to do. It is said that anything worth doing is worth doing badly!

My first race was the 2008 Classic Mile in Cambridge. It was a 5km race and I was under prepared as I had only been running for 6 weeks. Regardless, out I went gung-ho with no idea what to expect. With a time of 31:50 I was happy to have crossed the line as the hills of West Galt proved to be too much for me causing plenty of walking over the last 2km. To hard at the wrong time, a rookie mistake.

That being said I learned from my mistakes and trained plenty. A year later I broke 25 minutes, and another year I broke 23 minutes. Next plan is to break 20!

We can't expect to know everything going in to that first race but that doesn't mean we can treat it like just another training run. Do a little research, know your limits and then push just past them.

Oktoberfest 2010

NEW 10KM PB!!
After a late night, a few too many drinks and an early wake up from Molly I was still able to knock 50 seconds off last years PB. As usual with this race I started too fast with the 1st km in 4:25. Ran the next 2 at 4:35 and 4:31. Knew I was gunning and slowed it down to 4:50 for km 4 and 5. KM 6 peeked up to 4:58 but then I settled in to a groove at 4:45 for 7. 8 is always a tough km in a 10km and another 4:58 for it. Saw my time was on pace to beat my PB and still felt strong so I picked up the pace a bit and finished with 4:46 and 4:48. Considering I wasn't planning on even running for a PB, I am pretty happy with this run!