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Sun.pm. 6.50m / 45:24 / 7:00 miling
Easy final run in Des Moines, but having worked at team world champs all day didn't have much time to get a long one in.
Mon. Rest - flying Des Moines, IA --> Denver, CO --> Vancouver, BC
Tue.pm. 2.03m WU - 8 x 100m strides - 2.00m WD
Prep before the Yaletown Grand Prix. Ran a few laps of the course, really nice setting.
Wed.pm. 3.22m WU - Yaletown Grand Prix (~4.2k) - 1.90m WD
See the race report for more info, not the best run of my life but pocketed $125. Happy Canada Day!
Thu.pm. 5.44m WU - 5 x 1km (3:07, 3:04, 3:04, 3:05, 3:02) off descending recovery - 3.73m WD
Had a bit of a sniffle following the race but felt like I still had plenty to give so went for the session. Started easily and worked into it. Really smashed the final 300m of the last rep, legs finally moving. Jogged back with Paul and cooled off in the Pacific.
16 miles cycling.
Fri.pm. 5.61m / 38:24 / 6:51 miling
Easy run around the sea wall, felt terrible so picked it up over Burrard Bridge to try and wake the legs up.
16 miles cycling.
Sat.am. 4.08m WU - 5 x 800m (2:22, 2:22, 2:22, 2:20, 2:17) off 400m jog - 3.73m WD
Felt good but just couldn't hit decent times. With Jay on his break I had no one to target so plugged the ipod on and started smashing it out to Hillsong. Gradually worked up some momentum and as Coach John predicted, the times came down as the legs got motoring. Pretty pleased, especially after a hard Wednesday and Thursday.
Run total: 50.00 miles (80.5km) / 5:51:47 / 7:17 miling avg
Comments:
A weird week capped by a strange race where I ran like an idiot and still made $125 (£65). Lots of quality but not too much quantity, but I guess it is the summer.
Not really too much more to add, although I am getting down to race weight so I'm sure my Mum will complain that I'm obviously not eating well enough when I get home for a week in seven days time. Hopefully I can get some hill work in this week in Austria, although the weather forecast might have me on the hotel treadmill.
Am back in the UK from 14-21 July, so if anyone has any race suggestions I'd like to hear them!
Sun.pm. 20.00m / 2:09:05 / 6:27 miling
Loooong Sunday evening run across to UBC from Yaletown, just couldn't stop myself, had a great time. See the blog entry for more details.
Mon.pm. 7.21m / 48:33 / 6:43 miling
Relaxed run, keeping it smooth and gentle with yesterday in mind, nice to freshen the legs up before the week ahead.
Tue. Rest - flying Vancouver, BC --> Denver, CO --> Des Moines, IA
All aboard the triathlon train for the Hy-vee ITU Triathlon Elite Cup and ITU Triathlon Team World Championships.
Wed.am. 4.25m / 30:30 / 7:11 miling
Easy morning run out to wake the legs up having spent yesterday on various planes and taxis. The heat and humidity of Iowa really hit me despite it being 7:30am and I soon had my vest off.
Wed.pm. 1m WU - 5k tempo (17:20) - 2min jog - 5k tempo (19:01) - 1m WD
I couldn't guarantee my training for the week so decided to get the session done early incase I ended up not being able to fit it in. Over concrete pavements, intersections and a few undulations I felt decidedly ill-prepared for the intense heat. I wore my GB Beijing Olympic shorts and by the end they were completely saturated in sweat, it was ridiculous. In the final 2k I got a stitch and felt like death. I must have looked a right state walking back into the hotel.
Thu.pm. 7.00m / 47:58 / 6:51 miling
Got out the door at 9:15pm into the slightly cooler air for an easy 45mins up to the local mall and back. The mall complex was probably the best part of 4 miles in diameter - crazy!
Fri.pm. 6.29m / 37:09 / 5:54 miling
Got back from team interviews and media activities in the late evening so threw the kit on and headed out for a quick run before we headed off for dinner. Felt a lot better, more acclimatised and fresher so wound up the pace and made it a tempo run. Imagined I was racing some of the triathlon guys for the $200,000 prize cheque, haha.
Sat. Rest - Hy-Vee ITU Triathlon Elite Cup
Early start (06:30am), late finish (01:45am when I finally turned my computer off) so no training, as expected. Decent women's race with an impressive run by Lauren to take third - great to see someone taking their first step onto the World Cup podium, especially when it's long overdue... and then that happened. The men's sprint finish was nothing short of epic with a win for Simon over Brad and Frodo:
Simon probably gave the best interview I've ever done as he finally got one over on Jan to bury the Beijing demons and gave tribute to his daughter. It was a buzz just to witness such a great sporting moment and it's something I'm not going to forget. I'm not sure the Americans were too pleased in hearing the Canadian national anthem though!
Run total: 53.32 miles (85.8km) / 5:47:54 / 6:31 miling avg
Comments:
A bit of a strange week with all the travel, change in climate and event work, but it has really got me fired up for the Yaletown Grand Prix. Training was rather sporadic, but at least I got most of what I wanted to do done.
I am just working out my travel plans for the summer, but I could well end up spending six weeks back in Europe from 6 July - 18 August going from Austria to England, to Germany, back to England, to Hungary to England. I'd like to get back to Vancouver after Hamburg World Champs, but we'll see how it plays out.
Right now I want to race hard, get some training in, and try and keep the consistency despite the rollercoaster lifestyle. I knew my life would change when I moved over here and I feel like I'm living the dream; so sometimes I need to forget about the 'triviality' of running and instead focus on enjoying the moment.
Congrats to everyone at VFAC on the Scotiabank Half Marathon results! Top banana!
