Music
Sunday, March 18, 2012
The Final Countdown
This is the Final Countdown Blog from Having Fun, Running Fast. While contemplating a future post on a proposal regarding Canadian Youth XC Championships, I realized things had diverged from the intended purpose of 'Having Fun, Running Fast,' which was to be a blog focused on the London Running Scene. The past two years were a transitional period and, now, it's time to move on - both figuratively and literally. Some of you may wish to follow byronite.blogspot.ca.
Music
Music
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Making Music with the Soul of a Blind Man
Walshy recently wrote a blog that I felt was worth commenting on, before gradually delving off-topic and hopefully 'saving' the blog at the end with a song that has little to nothing to do with the original topic. Jeremy was comparing his method of using challenging, and progressive, goal-setting to keep himself motivated and reaching higher, whereas a young lady he knows prefers a safer method of recycling goals when they aren't met. As Walsh is still a mid-distance runner, his perspective was from that of someone who has frequent opportunities to race, though perhaps only a few 'great' set-ups per season. As he's gaining a better understanding of the sport, he's figured out that a mid-distance runners season can comprise of a series of progressive races aiming towards an end-goal and, as such, he can enter the season with a very challenging End Goal (ex. 3:48 for this summer) knowing full well that he'll be entering his first 1,500m race of the year with a goal that will be much more strongly based on his current fitness (recent workouts). As such, his End Goal is almost, though not entirely, irrelevant. Bronwen, on the other hand, is more focused on longer road races and is looking at perhaps just 1 or 2 chances per season to hit a goal time; as such, she may very well be aiming for her End Goal in her first, and only, Half Marathon of the spring (or fall).
Comparing their event focus, however, barely scratches the surface of what can make an aggressive, or safer, goal the correct choice for a given athlete. As a coach, I might even make the argument that I'm not even concerned about the actual goal an athlete sets but, in fact, the response they'll have to the outcome of achieving/missing that goal. Let's back up a few steps. Over the long term, my priority is that an athlete such as Walsh or Douglas is doing the following:
-developing physically in a variety of ways (speed, endurance, LT, biomechanical efficiency, and so on)
-developing mentally in a variety...
-staying healthy and recovering sufficiently
-enjoying the sport, so that they'll see value in continuing the above
Once you get to know an athlete, you can make a statement such as the following: whether or not Jeremy Walsh hits his goal of 3:48 for this summer will NOT impact his continued involvement in this sport. While I would like to see him achieve that goal, and I believe it is possible - very difficult, and near the very top end of his short-term potential, but possible - I realize that for this individual, it is not 'necessary' and as such we're okay to set the bar 'that high' both in private and in public. As I touched on above, we're still going to take things one race at a time; when he gets close and the right situation presents itself, the gloves come off. If significant injury or illness come into play, we adjust and stay focused on the 4 points above, something that certainly came up with Hendrikx last year which, for those able to follow his entire year closely, we were able to see the overall progress towards the end result there.
Not everyone is in this sport for the same reasons and, at the other end of the spectrum, you're going to have an athlete who is going to 'need' to hit their stated goal. It could even affect their continued involvement in the sport, from the highest levels of competition (one final attempt at Olympic qualification) to a more local level (one final attempt at a Boston qualifier before giving up on the marathon as a focal event). When looking at the drop-out rates of competitive runners following each 'stage of life' - graduating from high school, entering the Senior (20+ ranks), graduating College or University, etc. - and coupling that with some athletes need for fulfillment in their chosen endeavor, you're going to end up realizing that setting too challenging a goal for some people can be a very poor gamble. Of course, that raises the question of whether you even need a specific End Goal for every athlete. Depending on their needs and current focus, you may do much better to agree upon a process-oriented goal. Perhaps focus on appropriate seasonal progression, setting a goal of achieving their best performances in the final month of the season and feeling 'ready to race' at the chosen final meet or Championship. Now there's a goal that many in the high school, Junior, and College/University ranks should take to heart.
Another important thing to keep in mind with goals is the significance of their origin. My goal is to guide an athlete, and at the same time adjust my own perception of them, towards the point where we're independently zeroing in on the same goals. For the Really Chilly road races, for example, I went through each of the LRDC athletes racing and considered their PBs, recent training, and recent mental state and jotted down my range of what I felt they should be aiming for. That 3rd one, recent mental state, is key both in selecting the actual goal and in pre-race discussion with the athlete. Sami McGuinness, for example, has been inconsistent recently, partially due to asthma. As such, I wanted to set up a soft goal for her, relative to her actual fitness, such that on a good day she'd crush it, but on a bad day she'd still be close. The top Junior guys (Taylor, Roberts, and Fleming) were mentally ready to get after it and had each other to key off of, so they got the green light to get rolling as I wasn't concerned if they fell off to 16-high or even 17-low. Madeline, on the other hand, wasn't and needed a safe goal of breaking 19, aiming for 3:45s. Sometimes it's best to allow an athlete to set a weak goal, trusting that they'll evaluate their effort level and adjust accordingly, negative splitting or perhaps even running at the correct effort from the gun and exceeding the 'soft' splits from the gun.
Alright, that should have sufficiently deviated from the initial topic by Walsh of risk aversion. Be sure to check out his most recent blog where he describes how to accidentally win a half-marathon.
Music
Comparing their event focus, however, barely scratches the surface of what can make an aggressive, or safer, goal the correct choice for a given athlete. As a coach, I might even make the argument that I'm not even concerned about the actual goal an athlete sets but, in fact, the response they'll have to the outcome of achieving/missing that goal. Let's back up a few steps. Over the long term, my priority is that an athlete such as Walsh or Douglas is doing the following:
-developing physically in a variety of ways (speed, endurance, LT, biomechanical efficiency, and so on)
-developing mentally in a variety...
-staying healthy and recovering sufficiently
-enjoying the sport, so that they'll see value in continuing the above
Once you get to know an athlete, you can make a statement such as the following: whether or not Jeremy Walsh hits his goal of 3:48 for this summer will NOT impact his continued involvement in this sport. While I would like to see him achieve that goal, and I believe it is possible - very difficult, and near the very top end of his short-term potential, but possible - I realize that for this individual, it is not 'necessary' and as such we're okay to set the bar 'that high' both in private and in public. As I touched on above, we're still going to take things one race at a time; when he gets close and the right situation presents itself, the gloves come off. If significant injury or illness come into play, we adjust and stay focused on the 4 points above, something that certainly came up with Hendrikx last year which, for those able to follow his entire year closely, we were able to see the overall progress towards the end result there.
Not everyone is in this sport for the same reasons and, at the other end of the spectrum, you're going to have an athlete who is going to 'need' to hit their stated goal. It could even affect their continued involvement in the sport, from the highest levels of competition (one final attempt at Olympic qualification) to a more local level (one final attempt at a Boston qualifier before giving up on the marathon as a focal event). When looking at the drop-out rates of competitive runners following each 'stage of life' - graduating from high school, entering the Senior (20+ ranks), graduating College or University, etc. - and coupling that with some athletes need for fulfillment in their chosen endeavor, you're going to end up realizing that setting too challenging a goal for some people can be a very poor gamble. Of course, that raises the question of whether you even need a specific End Goal for every athlete. Depending on their needs and current focus, you may do much better to agree upon a process-oriented goal. Perhaps focus on appropriate seasonal progression, setting a goal of achieving their best performances in the final month of the season and feeling 'ready to race' at the chosen final meet or Championship. Now there's a goal that many in the high school, Junior, and College/University ranks should take to heart.
Another important thing to keep in mind with goals is the significance of their origin. My goal is to guide an athlete, and at the same time adjust my own perception of them, towards the point where we're independently zeroing in on the same goals. For the Really Chilly road races, for example, I went through each of the LRDC athletes racing and considered their PBs, recent training, and recent mental state and jotted down my range of what I felt they should be aiming for. That 3rd one, recent mental state, is key both in selecting the actual goal and in pre-race discussion with the athlete. Sami McGuinness, for example, has been inconsistent recently, partially due to asthma. As such, I wanted to set up a soft goal for her, relative to her actual fitness, such that on a good day she'd crush it, but on a bad day she'd still be close. The top Junior guys (Taylor, Roberts, and Fleming) were mentally ready to get after it and had each other to key off of, so they got the green light to get rolling as I wasn't concerned if they fell off to 16-high or even 17-low. Madeline, on the other hand, wasn't and needed a safe goal of breaking 19, aiming for 3:45s. Sometimes it's best to allow an athlete to set a weak goal, trusting that they'll evaluate their effort level and adjust accordingly, negative splitting or perhaps even running at the correct effort from the gun and exceeding the 'soft' splits from the gun.
Alright, that should have sufficiently deviated from the initial topic by Walsh of risk aversion. Be sure to check out his most recent blog where he describes how to accidentally win a half-marathon.
Music
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Like It Or Not (Canadian Marathon All-Time Rankings)
Late 2011, while living on a couch in Vancouver, I did an unofficial update of the Canadian Marathon all-time rankings, updating work already done by (ie with credit to) Ken Young (www.arrs.net), Maurice Wilson, Athletics Magazine (Roman Olszewski), and MarathonCanada.com. The list includes assisted 'a' times (ex. Boston), co-listed with the individuals top non-assisted time, when available. There were some discrepancies and it's quite possible this list is incomplete. Locations aren't copying well into this blog, so I removed that column.
Canadian Men sub-2:15
Canadian Women sub-2:38
I expect there will be some changes this year.
2011 was a strong year on the men's side, by Canadian standards. To find out how we fared globally, here is a very deep 2011 World Marathon ranking list: http://www.all-athletics.com/world-marathon-lists. Top Canadian performance for the year comes in at 251st, on the Men's side.
The marathon is an extremely competitive and popular event on the global stage, which raises the question: what does it mean to be World Class? What level of competence, relative to your peers, is required to be an Olympic calibre athlete? If you recorded the 1,000th fastest Marathon performance in the world, in a given year, are you a world class, Olympic calibre athlete? What about 500th? Let's be honest, it can be scary looking at those lists and honestly evaluating where we, as a country, stack up. It's a great big world out there and we're not talking about hockey or bobsled or some other crap most of the world doesn't care about, we're talking about one of the most celebrated events of the Modern Olympics.
There seems to be a blurring of the lines amongst many in the Canadian running community as to the definition of what it takes to be National Class and World Class in this event. Reid Coolsaet is World Class, not only in his personal best clocking, but in the manner in which he ran it, as well as the manner in which he trains. But what about someone running 2:15? 2:20? Let's try this on for size: if you would get lapped by the best Marathoners in the world on a 5k loop course, you are not World Class. You may be a great National level runner, and you may have reached your full potential in the sport, following a decade or more of intense training - an extremely respectable feat that rare few ever achieve, so be proud of that. Like it or not, the Marathon is really f---ing competitive.
Music
Canadian Men sub-2:15
| Rank | Time | Name | Date |
| 1 | 2:10:09 | Jerome Drayton | December 7, 1975 |
| 2 | 2:10:55 | Reid Coolsaet | October 16, 2011 |
| 3 | 2:10:56a | Peter Butler | December 8, 1985 |
| 2:17:30 | Peter Butler | November 24, 1979 | |
| 4 | 2:11:03a | David Edge | April 18, 1983 |
| Listed also as 2:11:04 (ARRS) | |||
| 2:11:08 | David Edge | August 1, 1986 | |
| 5 | 2:11:15a | Art Boileau | April 21, 1986 |
| 2:11:30 | Art Boileau | August 14, 1983 | |
| 6 | 2:11:28 | Eric Gillis | October 16, 2011 |
| 7 | 2:11:34 | Peter Fonseca | May 7, 1995 |
| 8 | 2:11:46 | Peter Maher | April 21, 1991 |
| 9 | 2:11:46 | Jon Brown | December 3, 2006 |
| 10 | 2:12:19ax | Dow Howieson | February 9, 1980 |
| 2:13:49 | Dow Howieson | September 12, 1980 | |
| 11 | 2:12:28 | Carey Nelson | January 20, 1991 |
| 12 | 2:12:39a | Dylan Wykes | December 5, 2010 |
| 2:12:57 | Dylan Wykes | October 16, 2011 | |
| 13 | 2:13:18a | Bruce Deacon | December 8, 2002 |
| 2:13:35 | Bruce Deacon | April 17, 1994 | |
| 14 | 2:13:21 | Richard Hughson | December 3, 1978 |
| 15 | 2:13:23a | Thomas Howard | April 21, 1975 |
| Listed also as 2:13:24 (ARRS) | |||
| 16 | 2:13:30 | Brian Armstrong | June 3, 1973 |
| 17 | 2:13:59 | Paul Williams | October 26, 1986 |
| 18 | 2:14:13a | Jeff Schiebler | November 3, 2002 |
| 19 | 2:14:19 | Alain Bordeleau | May 13, 1984 |
| 20 | 2:14:29 | Michael Dyon | September 13, 1981 |
| Listed also as 2:14:21 (ARRS) | |||
| 21 | 2:14:32ax | Mike Creary | February 9, 1980 |
| Listed also as 2:14:33 (Roman/Athletics magazine) | |||
| (no 2nd performance found) | |||
| Name listed as both 'Creary' and 'Creery' | |||
| 22 | 2:14:32 | Gordon Christie | May 14, 1989 |
| Listed also as 2:14:33 (ARRS) | |||
| 23 | 2:14:43a | Brian Maxwell | February 26, 1977 |
| Listed also as 2:14:44a (ARRS) | |||
| 2:15:14 | Brian Maxwell | August 27, 1977 | |
| 24 | 2:14:48 | William Britten | September 6, 1980 |
| Listed also as 2:14:49 (Roman/Athletics magazine) | |||
| Name listed as both 'Britten' and 'Britton' | |||
| 25 | 2:14:50 | Peter Quance | October 3, 1982 |
| Unofficially, 25 men under 2:15 in Canadian history | |||
Canadian Women sub-2:38
| Rank | Time | Name | Date |
| 1 | 2:28:36 | Sylvia Ruegger | January 6, 1985 |
| 2 | 2:29:28a | Jacqueline Gareau | April 18, 1983 |
| 2:29:32 | Jacqueline Gareau | January 6, 1985 | |
| 3 | 2:29:42.1 | Lioudmila Kortchaguina | May 28, 2006 |
| 4 | 2:30:35a | Odette LaPierre | April 18, 1988 |
| 2:30:56 | Odette LaPierre | September 23, 1988 | |
| 5 | 2:30:41 | Carole Rouillard | August 27, 1994 |
| 6 | 2:30:57a | Lizanne Bussieres | April 18, 1988 |
| 2:31:07 | Lizanne Bussieres | August 27, 1994 | |
| 7 | 2:31:36a | Ellen Rochefort | April 18, 1988 |
| 2:32:57 | Ellen Rochefort | September 27, 1987 | |
| 8 | 2:31:46 | Danuta Bartoszek | October 15, 1995 |
| 9 | 2:32:56 | May Alison | May 5, 1996 |
| 10 | 2:32:56 | Nicole Stevenson | January 15, 2006 |
| 11 | 2:33:00 | Anne Marie Malone | May 13, 1984 |
| 12 | 2:33:32.8 | Linda Staudt | September 13, 1981 |
| 13 | 2:33:51 | Sandy Jacobson | August 31, 2003 |
| 14 | 2:33:58 | Tara Quinn-Smith | May 25, 2008 |
| 15 | 2:34:29a | Carol Howe | June 21, 2003 |
| 2:37:34.8 | Carol Howe | May 30, 2004 | |
| 16 | 2:34:44a | Tina Connelly | December 5, 1999 |
| 2:35:40 | Tina Connelly | October 12, 2003 | |
| 17 | 2:35:09 | Stephanie Hood | October 12, 2008 |
| 18 | 2:35:24 | Dorothy Goertzen | September 23, 1984 |
| 19 | 2:36:12a | Gayle Olinekova | December 1, 1979 |
| 2:44:04 | Gayle Olinekova | September 22, 1979 | |
| 20 | 2:36:23 | Kate Wiley | May 13, 1984 |
| 21 | 2:36:46 | Veronique Vandermissen | May 14, 2000 |
| 22 | 2:37:16 | Susan Stone | May 10, 1987 |
| 23 | 2:37:52 | Kimberly Webb | October 20, 1996 |
| Unofficially, 23 women under 2:38 in Canadian history | |||
I expect there will be some changes this year.
2011 was a strong year on the men's side, by Canadian standards. To find out how we fared globally, here is a very deep 2011 World Marathon ranking list: http://www.all-athletics.com/world-marathon-lists. Top Canadian performance for the year comes in at 251st, on the Men's side.
The marathon is an extremely competitive and popular event on the global stage, which raises the question: what does it mean to be World Class? What level of competence, relative to your peers, is required to be an Olympic calibre athlete? If you recorded the 1,000th fastest Marathon performance in the world, in a given year, are you a world class, Olympic calibre athlete? What about 500th? Let's be honest, it can be scary looking at those lists and honestly evaluating where we, as a country, stack up. It's a great big world out there and we're not talking about hockey or bobsled or some other crap most of the world doesn't care about, we're talking about one of the most celebrated events of the Modern Olympics.
There seems to be a blurring of the lines amongst many in the Canadian running community as to the definition of what it takes to be National Class and World Class in this event. Reid Coolsaet is World Class, not only in his personal best clocking, but in the manner in which he ran it, as well as the manner in which he trains. But what about someone running 2:15? 2:20? Let's try this on for size: if you would get lapped by the best Marathoners in the world on a 5k loop course, you are not World Class. You may be a great National level runner, and you may have reached your full potential in the sport, following a decade or more of intense training - an extremely respectable feat that rare few ever achieve, so be proud of that. Like it or not, the Marathon is really f---ing competitive.
Music
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Robot. Human.
I ran (#) x (distance) in (time); what am I in shape to run?
I ran (volume) in a (#) day stretch; am I in shape to break (time) for (race distance)?
I don't really have a race goal; I'm just going to go for 'it'.
If you're reading this blog, you've heard the above comments countless times (or you're a friend or relative checking in to see how I'm doing - "just fine, thanks; the weather is lovely"). There is a tremendous range in the importance, interpretation, and understanding, or lack thereof, of training and its' correlation to race performance. Your most common post-race analysis, juxtaposed with your pre-race expectations, can provide significant insight into your process as an athlete, as well as your training environment, including the coach-athlete relationship.
Generally speaking, which of the follow most consistently describes your post-race reaction:
a) That was fun; running is soooo great. I wonder what my time was. Where am I?
(if this is your normal response, you can probably skip to the bottom and listen to some music)
b) Wow! I can't believe that I ran that fast; what just happened?
c) WTF! I can't believe that I ran that slow; what just happened?
d) I ran smart and that was a good-great race, towards the top-end of my expectations for today. Beer me that jacket so I can get my cool-down on; I'm excited for the next training block.
e) I ran smart and that was a poor-okay race, falling a little short of goals or towards the bottom-end of my expectations for today. Beer me that beer...ah, I guess I should do a cool-down first.
f) I missed my (overly ambitious) goal and am now going to list reasons/excuses why, some of which no-one was aware of pre-race - not even myself.
g) I ran exactly what I expected to run today. To the millisecond. My genius coach gives me a perfect training plan. I follow it exactly, without thought or self-awareness. I am a robot. I was just learning to love...
Which of the above is your most consistent post-race reaction? Do you understand why? Here are some brief thoughts:
a) You're just happy to be here and have no complaints. That's awesome, keep having fun with this great sport.
b) You ran well beyond your expectations. This may be your first time racing the distance and/or you and your coach set the bar low to ensure it was a positive experience. You may not have a strong grasp of your current fitness or you may not have done much specific work, and so went into the race with a lack of understanding/lack of information with which to formulate an appropriate range of race expectations.
c) You ran well below your expectations. This may be your first time racing the distance and/or you and your coach set the bar way too high. You may not have a strong grasp of your current fitness or you may not have done much specific work, and so went into the race with a lack of understanding/information with which to formulate an appropriate range of race expectations.
d) You ran well/really well. You and your coach have a good understanding of where your fitness is at and what constitutes an appropriate goal. Good work!
e) You and your coach may want to tweak things a bit, but overall you ran okay and are in the right ballpark. Don't whine - there are worse things in life. Head down, power through.
f) Go away and don't come back until you have a proper respect for the sport.
g) You are a robot. That's cool; make sure you're enjoying the journey.
There are many more factors in play that you should be aware of, though most should have come into play during the pre-race decision making process. Weather, competition level, life stress, and so on - these are all factors to consider pre-race when finalizing your race expectations and strategy, or to ignore at your peril. Just as dangerous is focusing too much on a single aspect of your training, such as your highest single weekly volume (but not the average over a large block of training) or your best workout within an inconsistent training block.
Do you and your coach consistently set a range of time (or placing) goals that you are able to achieve? When you don't, are you adjusting such that you do meet your time/placing goals in the near future - ie. are you learning from the process, or are you content to continue down this path? Is your training preparing you for the goals that you are setting and, if not (over a large sample, avoid the knee-jerk reactions), which of the 2 are you adjusting - your training or your goals?
It's important that you have faith in the person that YOU have chosen to be your coach. But, don't just be a robot, following blindly and displaying holographic distress messages. You're a human with thoughts and feelings of your own; you need to be actively involved in the process in order to get the most out of your coach, and yourself.
Music
I ran (volume) in a (#) day stretch; am I in shape to break (time) for (race distance)?
I don't really have a race goal; I'm just going to go for 'it'.
If you're reading this blog, you've heard the above comments countless times (or you're a friend or relative checking in to see how I'm doing - "just fine, thanks; the weather is lovely"). There is a tremendous range in the importance, interpretation, and understanding, or lack thereof, of training and its' correlation to race performance. Your most common post-race analysis, juxtaposed with your pre-race expectations, can provide significant insight into your process as an athlete, as well as your training environment, including the coach-athlete relationship.
Generally speaking, which of the follow most consistently describes your post-race reaction:
a) That was fun; running is soooo great. I wonder what my time was. Where am I?
(if this is your normal response, you can probably skip to the bottom and listen to some music)
b) Wow! I can't believe that I ran that fast; what just happened?
c) WTF! I can't believe that I ran that slow; what just happened?
d) I ran smart and that was a good-great race, towards the top-end of my expectations for today. Beer me that jacket so I can get my cool-down on; I'm excited for the next training block.
e) I ran smart and that was a poor-okay race, falling a little short of goals or towards the bottom-end of my expectations for today. Beer me that beer...ah, I guess I should do a cool-down first.
f) I missed my (overly ambitious) goal and am now going to list reasons/excuses why, some of which no-one was aware of pre-race - not even myself.
g) I ran exactly what I expected to run today. To the millisecond. My genius coach gives me a perfect training plan. I follow it exactly, without thought or self-awareness. I am a robot. I was just learning to love...
Which of the above is your most consistent post-race reaction? Do you understand why? Here are some brief thoughts:
a) You're just happy to be here and have no complaints. That's awesome, keep having fun with this great sport.
b) You ran well beyond your expectations. This may be your first time racing the distance and/or you and your coach set the bar low to ensure it was a positive experience. You may not have a strong grasp of your current fitness or you may not have done much specific work, and so went into the race with a lack of understanding/lack of information with which to formulate an appropriate range of race expectations.
c) You ran well below your expectations. This may be your first time racing the distance and/or you and your coach set the bar way too high. You may not have a strong grasp of your current fitness or you may not have done much specific work, and so went into the race with a lack of understanding/information with which to formulate an appropriate range of race expectations.
d) You ran well/really well. You and your coach have a good understanding of where your fitness is at and what constitutes an appropriate goal. Good work!
e) You and your coach may want to tweak things a bit, but overall you ran okay and are in the right ballpark. Don't whine - there are worse things in life. Head down, power through.
f) Go away and don't come back until you have a proper respect for the sport.
g) You are a robot. That's cool; make sure you're enjoying the journey.
There are many more factors in play that you should be aware of, though most should have come into play during the pre-race decision making process. Weather, competition level, life stress, and so on - these are all factors to consider pre-race when finalizing your race expectations and strategy, or to ignore at your peril. Just as dangerous is focusing too much on a single aspect of your training, such as your highest single weekly volume (but not the average over a large block of training) or your best workout within an inconsistent training block.
Do you and your coach consistently set a range of time (or placing) goals that you are able to achieve? When you don't, are you adjusting such that you do meet your time/placing goals in the near future - ie. are you learning from the process, or are you content to continue down this path? Is your training preparing you for the goals that you are setting and, if not (over a large sample, avoid the knee-jerk reactions), which of the 2 are you adjusting - your training or your goals?
It's important that you have faith in the person that YOU have chosen to be your coach. But, don't just be a robot, following blindly and displaying holographic distress messages. You're a human with thoughts and feelings of your own; you need to be actively involved in the process in order to get the most out of your coach, and yourself.
Music
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Looking for Answers in Vancouver: Part 3
This is the 3rd and final blog on Vancouver and, like James Murphy, I promise that it will be "definitely better than the other two." It's been a great experience for me the past few weeks, interacting with lots of different people and learning a great deal. For the most part, I listened and observed as those around me shared their anecdotes and rumours, workouts and race strategies, concepts and misconceptions. There's lots for me to process and take home, with memorable advice and quotes ranging from "run 5,000 miles in a year, then start marathon training," said by a sub-2:11 marathoner, to "we're drinking the tip," said by another ~2:11 marathoner. Here are the highlights.
Brocton Oval
Well before leaving London, I'd already been told enough times to go to some Oval in Stanley Park on Saturday morning that it was firmly pencilled in on the schedule. On my one 'off' Saturday of the three, I ended up heading over and running with (often behind) Art Boileau at the Hershey Harriers and coach Jerry Tighe workout, one of several groups training from that location each weekend. I've mentioned Forerunners previously, so will simply add that Art, Jerry Ziak, and Anders were very helpful during this trip. Art spent quite a bit of his running career in Oregon and was great at sharing varying amounts of information each time I met up with him, which I loved because, well, he was like this nostalgic former elite runner with the presence and delivery of Norm McDonald:
Anyway, Stanley Park is a great training location. The history of Brocton Oval includes previously hosting huge numbers of competitive and elite runners each weekend, often collaborating on workouts between different training groups. The decline of these groups came up in several conversations, with local runners and coaches reminiscing of greater depth in the sport just as their Ontario peers do. One of the key reasons the BC scene was so strong at its peak was...
Doug Clement
By far the most productive interaction of my trip was with Dr. Doug Clement. After a brief initial meeting, we spent much of an afternoon together which reminded me very much of when I was welcomed into the home of a man named Hugh Cameron. While many coaches guard their knowledge as some secret and sacred Truth, Doug, like Hugh, was extremely open and willing to share. I had spent a few hours preparing what I was going to ask him, but in the end was able to summarize that into 2 very simple questions from which we branched off. He began by summarizing the history of the Kajacks club and Harry Jerome meet, and the conversation gradually, naturally, and excitingly progressed towards very specific training concepts. Admittedly, much of the details are likely far more interesting to me than my readers, so I'll sum things up fairly briefly: 'to be successful at the level we're discussing requires a huge amount of work from the coach that comes down to a lot of small details to facilitate long-term athlete development'. That feels grossly over-simplified, but that was the essence of it.
Endurance Conference
I had mixed feelings on the 'Canadian National Endurance Conference'. I had high expectations, so 'the bad' really stuck out just as when someone offers you some delicious licorice in a darkened movie theatre and you say 'yes, please' assuming it's red licorice, as that's all you had growing up, but it's black licorice and the taste is just so horrible.
The bad: the title alone is a pet peeve - we're not hosting the 'Ontario Provincial 10,000m Championships' in London next May as part of the London 10,000m, we're hosting the 'Ontario 10,000m Championships'. More importantly, several of the talks left me underwhelmed. It may be the result of comparing these planned lectures with longer, interactive sessions with coaches in the preceding days that I was able to direct towards my interests. Or, it may be that some of the talks just weren't that good.
The good: fortunately, most of the talks were quite good. Jay Johnson on Strength and Conditioning, and Trent Stellingwerff on Marathon Nutrition, were great. We usually had a choice of 2 talks to attend, so I passed on the DST talks, having already heard quite a bit from him. I expect he was also an excellent presenter. He was good during his limited Open Panel time at the end, though admittedly his highlight was, responding to the open query to the panel about their major influences, etc., his response that his DSMom told him "Don't be a dick, David."
Alberto Salazar
Salazar gave 3 separate talks over the 3-day conference and was by far the most informative presenter, for me at least. He reinforced my previous perception, shaped by article quotes and interviews, that he was a former elite athlete genuinely looking 'not to make the same mistakes' and, as he said this weekend, wasn't "doing anything new, but simply stealing from others." Salazar sat in during some of the other talks and, as the event organizer noted, mentioned that he'd learned several things over the weekend that he planned to implement - as did James Li, coach of Bernard Lagat.
I have 6 pages of messy notes to type up from the Salazar talks and, since I need to sleep before getting on the plane tomorrow morning (and finish a very late dinner), I'll simply include the single biggest point from Alberto, which was echoed by Trent during his marathon nutrition talk and, I think it's safe to say, is shared by DST, as well as Steve Boyd (search through his blog for the specific post, maybe 1 year ago?). This key point, much more a theme amongst top coaches that I respect, was simply this: to be an elite long-distance runner, you need to gradually progress over the course of your career towards the highest level of aerobic training volume that your body can safely handle. It's not the only thing that you need to do, but it is the single most important.
Music
On my final night in Vancouver, I sent this email to local radio station FM 100.5 The Peak with the title 'Thank you for being awesome.' If you are ever in Vancouver, listen to them.
"Dear The Peak,
I'm nearing the end of a lengthy visit to Vancouver and figure I should thank you for providing the musical soundtrack to my trip. Never before have I listened to a radio station that so consistently played great music. Congratulations - you truly are a radio station worth turning the dials up to '11'."
Sheepdogs
Feist
Brocton Oval
Well before leaving London, I'd already been told enough times to go to some Oval in Stanley Park on Saturday morning that it was firmly pencilled in on the schedule. On my one 'off' Saturday of the three, I ended up heading over and running with (often behind) Art Boileau at the Hershey Harriers and coach Jerry Tighe workout, one of several groups training from that location each weekend. I've mentioned Forerunners previously, so will simply add that Art, Jerry Ziak, and Anders were very helpful during this trip. Art spent quite a bit of his running career in Oregon and was great at sharing varying amounts of information each time I met up with him, which I loved because, well, he was like this nostalgic former elite runner with the presence and delivery of Norm McDonald:
Anyway, Stanley Park is a great training location. The history of Brocton Oval includes previously hosting huge numbers of competitive and elite runners each weekend, often collaborating on workouts between different training groups. The decline of these groups came up in several conversations, with local runners and coaches reminiscing of greater depth in the sport just as their Ontario peers do. One of the key reasons the BC scene was so strong at its peak was...
Doug Clement
By far the most productive interaction of my trip was with Dr. Doug Clement. After a brief initial meeting, we spent much of an afternoon together which reminded me very much of when I was welcomed into the home of a man named Hugh Cameron. While many coaches guard their knowledge as some secret and sacred Truth, Doug, like Hugh, was extremely open and willing to share. I had spent a few hours preparing what I was going to ask him, but in the end was able to summarize that into 2 very simple questions from which we branched off. He began by summarizing the history of the Kajacks club and Harry Jerome meet, and the conversation gradually, naturally, and excitingly progressed towards very specific training concepts. Admittedly, much of the details are likely far more interesting to me than my readers, so I'll sum things up fairly briefly: 'to be successful at the level we're discussing requires a huge amount of work from the coach that comes down to a lot of small details to facilitate long-term athlete development'. That feels grossly over-simplified, but that was the essence of it.
Endurance Conference
I had mixed feelings on the 'Canadian National Endurance Conference'. I had high expectations, so 'the bad' really stuck out just as when someone offers you some delicious licorice in a darkened movie theatre and you say 'yes, please' assuming it's red licorice, as that's all you had growing up, but it's black licorice and the taste is just so horrible.
The bad: the title alone is a pet peeve - we're not hosting the 'Ontario Provincial 10,000m Championships' in London next May as part of the London 10,000m, we're hosting the 'Ontario 10,000m Championships'. More importantly, several of the talks left me underwhelmed. It may be the result of comparing these planned lectures with longer, interactive sessions with coaches in the preceding days that I was able to direct towards my interests. Or, it may be that some of the talks just weren't that good.
The good: fortunately, most of the talks were quite good. Jay Johnson on Strength and Conditioning, and Trent Stellingwerff on Marathon Nutrition, were great. We usually had a choice of 2 talks to attend, so I passed on the DST talks, having already heard quite a bit from him. I expect he was also an excellent presenter. He was good during his limited Open Panel time at the end, though admittedly his highlight was, responding to the open query to the panel about their major influences, etc., his response that his DSMom told him "Don't be a dick, David."
Alberto Salazar
Salazar gave 3 separate talks over the 3-day conference and was by far the most informative presenter, for me at least. He reinforced my previous perception, shaped by article quotes and interviews, that he was a former elite athlete genuinely looking 'not to make the same mistakes' and, as he said this weekend, wasn't "doing anything new, but simply stealing from others." Salazar sat in during some of the other talks and, as the event organizer noted, mentioned that he'd learned several things over the weekend that he planned to implement - as did James Li, coach of Bernard Lagat.
I have 6 pages of messy notes to type up from the Salazar talks and, since I need to sleep before getting on the plane tomorrow morning (and finish a very late dinner), I'll simply include the single biggest point from Alberto, which was echoed by Trent during his marathon nutrition talk and, I think it's safe to say, is shared by DST, as well as Steve Boyd (search through his blog for the specific post, maybe 1 year ago?). This key point, much more a theme amongst top coaches that I respect, was simply this: to be an elite long-distance runner, you need to gradually progress over the course of your career towards the highest level of aerobic training volume that your body can safely handle. It's not the only thing that you need to do, but it is the single most important.
Music
On my final night in Vancouver, I sent this email to local radio station FM 100.5 The Peak with the title 'Thank you for being awesome.' If you are ever in Vancouver, listen to them.
"Dear The Peak,
I'm nearing the end of a lengthy visit to Vancouver and figure I should thank you for providing the musical soundtrack to my trip. Never before have I listened to a radio station that so consistently played great music. Congratulations - you truly are a radio station worth turning the dials up to '11'."
Sheepdogs
Feist
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Looking for Answers in Vancouver: Part 2
Adventures in Vancouver continue with Part 2.
Saturday November 26th was to be the culmination of:
1-a season of focused training towards the Canadian XC Championships that began in August
2-a year (first year) of the London Runner Athlete Assistance Program
3-a multi-year goal of the Junior Boys group to produce a top-5 Canadian XC team performance
4-year 6 of the London Runner Distance Club
Most, if not all, of the people reading this already know the results. It was a great day with very few 'off' performances and very exciting to have 2 teams in the hunt for medals! As I like numbers, I 'did stats' again; here's the email I sent to the Track Canada list - hopefully no major errors:
<<<<<
For the 4th year in a row, I've crunched the numbers after Canadian XC, including an Overall Team score.
How the scoring works
Teams score points for top-15 individuals and top-10 team finishes in the Junior/Senior Men/Women categories. Individuals score 15-1, Teams score 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 5-1.
Overview
The absence of a dominant overall club this year saw a Junior Boys-focused Windsor Legion team win with the lowest score in the past 4 years. Strangely enough, the move from Guelph to Vancouver saw the strongest Ontario showing in the 4 years tracked: sweeping the top-3 and fielding 8 of the top-10 overall teams.
2011 Canadian XC Overall Scoring
1-Windsor Legion - 50
2-Newmarket - 42
3-Toronto Olympic Club - 39
4-U of C Athletics - 38
5-Prairie Inn Harriers - 37
6-London Runner - 34
7-Niagara Olympic Club - 37
8-Athletics Toronto - 26
9-South Simcoe Dufferin - 24
10-London Western - 23
Depth of Competition 2008-2011
First place score: 50 (2011), 109 (2010), 81 (2009), 74 (2008)
Third place: 39, 46, 50, 59
Fifth place: 37, 34, 32, 35
Tenth place: 23, 20, 27, 27
Most/Least Improved
(2011 Score - 2010 Score)
Most
1-London Runner +28
2-Athletics Toronto +26
3-UVIC +20
Least
1-Speed River -89
2-UTTC -34
tie-3-Durham Dragons -27
tie-3-Phoenix -27
Most Diverse
(# of categories scored in, out of 8 total)
5 Categories: Niagara Olympic Club
4 Categories: Newmarket, TOC, U of C Athletics, London Runner
3 Categories: Prairie Inn Harriers
Long-Term Team Scoring (2008-2011)
Top-15 overall teams each year score: 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 10-1.
In a given year, ties are broken by # of categories scored in; if same, then points are split.
In the long-term, ties are broken by # of years scored in; if same, then tied for eternity (or until next year).
1-Windsor Legion - 66
2-Speed River - 62
3-Newmarket - 52
4-TOC - 46
5-UTTC - 40
6-U of C Athletics - 38.5
7-Edmonton Thunder - 38
8-Prairie Inn - 33
9-Niagara Olympic - 27
10-Queen City - 18
11-South Simcoe - 13
12-Physi-Kult 11.5
13-London Runner - 11
14-Tri-City - 10
tie-15-Durham Dragons - 8
tie-15-Athletics Toronto - 8
Hopefully next year in Vancouver we'll see even larger fields, more teams, and another close overall team battle; best of luck!
>>>>>
After Canadian XC it was time to 'have a relax', so Leslie and I went down to Gastown for a few days of doing some touristy stuff and taking it easy. We ran with the Jerry Ziak-led Forerunners clinic on the Wednesday, after which we gave a talk that focused around transitioning into (and out of) marathon-specific training, and during the Q&A branched off into other topics. It was supposed to be a short talk, but it ended up being over an hour with lots of interaction and very positive feedback afterwards. Afterwards, a group of us went next door to Double Ds pizza and continued to talk training/running. Leslie flew back on Thursday leaving me solo, though I am fortunate that her friend Anders Klaus gave me a couch to crash on.
That should tie up the race and tourist part of the trip; part 3 will delve into the main reason I stayed in Vancouver, which Anders aptly described by saying "he's here to steal your (training) secrets." Fortunately for me, several Vancouverites were very welcoming both in showing me around and sharing their wealth of knowledge. But, that's for next time.
Music
Saturday November 26th was to be the culmination of:
1-a season of focused training towards the Canadian XC Championships that began in August
2-a year (first year) of the London Runner Athlete Assistance Program
3-a multi-year goal of the Junior Boys group to produce a top-5 Canadian XC team performance
4-year 6 of the London Runner Distance Club
Most, if not all, of the people reading this already know the results. It was a great day with very few 'off' performances and very exciting to have 2 teams in the hunt for medals! As I like numbers, I 'did stats' again; here's the email I sent to the Track Canada list - hopefully no major errors:
<<<<<
For the 4th year in a row, I've crunched the numbers after Canadian XC, including an Overall Team score.
How the scoring works
Teams score points for top-15 individuals and top-10 team finishes in the Junior/Senior Men/Women categories. Individuals score 15-1, Teams score 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 5-1.
Overview
The absence of a dominant overall club this year saw a Junior Boys-focused Windsor Legion team win with the lowest score in the past 4 years. Strangely enough, the move from Guelph to Vancouver saw the strongest Ontario showing in the 4 years tracked: sweeping the top-3 and fielding 8 of the top-10 overall teams.
2011 Canadian XC Overall Scoring
1-Windsor Legion - 50
2-Newmarket - 42
3-Toronto Olympic Club - 39
4-U of C Athletics - 38
5-Prairie Inn Harriers - 37
6-London Runner - 34
7-Niagara Olympic Club - 37
8-Athletics Toronto - 26
9-South Simcoe Dufferin - 24
10-London Western - 23
Depth of Competition 2008-2011
First place score: 50 (2011), 109 (2010), 81 (2009), 74 (2008)
Third place: 39, 46, 50, 59
Fifth place: 37, 34, 32, 35
Tenth place: 23, 20, 27, 27
Most/Least Improved
(2011 Score - 2010 Score)
Most
1-London Runner +28
2-Athletics Toronto +26
3-UVIC +20
Least
1-Speed River -89
2-UTTC -34
tie-3-Durham Dragons -27
tie-3-Phoenix -27
Most Diverse
(# of categories scored in, out of 8 total)
5 Categories: Niagara Olympic Club
4 Categories: Newmarket, TOC, U of C Athletics, London Runner
3 Categories: Prairie Inn Harriers
Long-Term Team Scoring (2008-2011)
Top-15 overall teams each year score: 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 10-1.
In a given year, ties are broken by # of categories scored in; if same, then points are split.
In the long-term, ties are broken by # of years scored in; if same, then tied for eternity (or until next year).
1-Windsor Legion - 66
2-Speed River - 62
3-Newmarket - 52
4-TOC - 46
5-UTTC - 40
6-U of C Athletics - 38.5
7-Edmonton Thunder - 38
8-Prairie Inn - 33
9-Niagara Olympic - 27
10-Queen City - 18
11-South Simcoe - 13
12-Physi-Kult 11.5
13-London Runner - 11
14-Tri-City - 10
tie-15-Durham Dragons - 8
tie-15-Athletics Toronto - 8
Hopefully next year in Vancouver we'll see even larger fields, more teams, and another close overall team battle; best of luck!
>>>>>
After Canadian XC it was time to 'have a relax', so Leslie and I went down to Gastown for a few days of doing some touristy stuff and taking it easy. We ran with the Jerry Ziak-led Forerunners clinic on the Wednesday, after which we gave a talk that focused around transitioning into (and out of) marathon-specific training, and during the Q&A branched off into other topics. It was supposed to be a short talk, but it ended up being over an hour with lots of interaction and very positive feedback afterwards. Afterwards, a group of us went next door to Double Ds pizza and continued to talk training/running. Leslie flew back on Thursday leaving me solo, though I am fortunate that her friend Anders Klaus gave me a couch to crash on.
That should tie up the race and tourist part of the trip; part 3 will delve into the main reason I stayed in Vancouver, which Anders aptly described by saying "he's here to steal your (training) secrets." Fortunately for me, several Vancouverites were very welcoming both in showing me around and sharing their wealth of knowledge. But, that's for next time.
Music
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Looking for Answers in Vancouver: Part 1
On Thursday November 24th, I grabbed 2 bags of belongings, all the money I had left, and hopped a plane to Vancouver for a 19-day coaching trip to Vancouver. The nearly 3 week journey was to be book-ended by the Canadian Cross Country Championships and the National Endurance Conference, with the middle days a time for a brief vacation, self-reflection, and - most importantly - learning from Vancouver coaches and athletes. This is the first part of my story: pre-Canadian XC.
Thursday November 24th was one of the longer days of my life. Up at 4:30am (Eastern, that's 1:30am Pacific) and drove around town so Leslie and I could collect Pieterson, O'Neill, and Hendrikx (that's a pretty fast car!) and head to the airport. Early on the flight a passenger had a medical issue and the staff called for a doctor or nurse. The recorded French message soon played stated there'd been a medical emergency and we'd be landing at the very next airport; however, that never happened and everyone arrived safe and sound (in Calgary, but I'll skip ahead to Vancouver). Readers may find this less interesting, but I thought it was a cool coincidence that my rental car for the trip ended up being the exact same year and colour of corolla that I lease back in London.
Once everyone was settled and got shake-out runs in, Paul Roberts was our tour guide on a visit through the historic Gastown part of Vancouver. Paul and I dropped the crew off at the Old Spaghetti Factory and headed over to see his buddy Peter Butler at Forerunners, who was driving us to a get-together at Thelma Wright's place. It was a great opportunity to meet and interact with local coaches and long-time members of the sport, while balanced with the presence of several familiar faces from Newmarket and Guelph. Doug and Diane Clement were there and I was a captivated audience as Diane retold the Ben Johnson debacle - she was chef de mission and such during that time period. Thelma was amazing: she hadn't slept for countless hours, having flown back from the Chiba relays, but here she was making food, introducing people, and making everyone feel comfortable in her beautiful home. No wonder she's the 'team mom' for National team trips.
Friday was a bit more relaxed. Most of the group ran the course. Paul and I had a meeting regarding the 2012 London Runner Athlete Assistance Program, and later in the trip confirmed that all sponsors/physio were fully on board for 2012, which is great news! We had a late-afternoon team meeting, handing out race #s and going over details and strategy for race day. This was actually the first out-of-province Canadian XC Championships for London Runner, so I wanted to be sure to keep everyone focused on the task at hand. Off for a team dinner at the Italian Tomato and then asleep. Canadian XC Championships tomorrow...
Music
No connection to the blog topic, just good music for the sake of sharing good music
Thursday November 24th was one of the longer days of my life. Up at 4:30am (Eastern, that's 1:30am Pacific) and drove around town so Leslie and I could collect Pieterson, O'Neill, and Hendrikx (that's a pretty fast car!) and head to the airport. Early on the flight a passenger had a medical issue and the staff called for a doctor or nurse. The recorded French message soon played stated there'd been a medical emergency and we'd be landing at the very next airport; however, that never happened and everyone arrived safe and sound (in Calgary, but I'll skip ahead to Vancouver). Readers may find this less interesting, but I thought it was a cool coincidence that my rental car for the trip ended up being the exact same year and colour of corolla that I lease back in London.
Once everyone was settled and got shake-out runs in, Paul Roberts was our tour guide on a visit through the historic Gastown part of Vancouver. Paul and I dropped the crew off at the Old Spaghetti Factory and headed over to see his buddy Peter Butler at Forerunners, who was driving us to a get-together at Thelma Wright's place. It was a great opportunity to meet and interact with local coaches and long-time members of the sport, while balanced with the presence of several familiar faces from Newmarket and Guelph. Doug and Diane Clement were there and I was a captivated audience as Diane retold the Ben Johnson debacle - she was chef de mission and such during that time period. Thelma was amazing: she hadn't slept for countless hours, having flown back from the Chiba relays, but here she was making food, introducing people, and making everyone feel comfortable in her beautiful home. No wonder she's the 'team mom' for National team trips.
Friday was a bit more relaxed. Most of the group ran the course. Paul and I had a meeting regarding the 2012 London Runner Athlete Assistance Program, and later in the trip confirmed that all sponsors/physio were fully on board for 2012, which is great news! We had a late-afternoon team meeting, handing out race #s and going over details and strategy for race day. This was actually the first out-of-province Canadian XC Championships for London Runner, so I wanted to be sure to keep everyone focused on the task at hand. Off for a team dinner at the Italian Tomato and then asleep. Canadian XC Championships tomorrow...
Music
No connection to the blog topic, just good music for the sake of sharing good music
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