Days until the marathon: 13

About 20% of my year's total running mileage has occurred within the last month. Continuing my current training plan all the way until the marathon, that number will change to 30%. Surprisingly, it actually feels kind of good to be pounding the pavement a lot more again. Prior to triathlons, I started as a runner, and my running was my strength last year. This year I spent most of my time focusing on biking which paid off well but my running suffered as I hardly did it at all.

Today I decided to join up with the UBCTC for their Monday evening run through the UBC Endowment Land Trails and ended up running 10.5km at an easy 5min/km pace.  What was great about it was two things:

1. There were tons of people there, maybe the largest showing I had ever seen at a club running event, more than last year anyway. Actually, I didn't recognize more than half of them. It's nice to see so many people expressing interest in triathlon and in my opinion, finding a great group of people to train with.

2. How easy it was; we had done 8.5km and were almost done the run, I had to peel off to make it a little longer because I didn't want to stop. Sure we weren't going fast or anything, but I started to feel like this kid, or at least how I would feel if I were wearing such a sweet costume, hmmmm, Halloween is coming up...

It's great to see the progression and really fall in love with running again. I was starting to think of myself as a cyclist but now I see there is no way that I could give up running.

Sure, my training has started too late to make this marathon turn out amazingly, but I hope, that when the marathon is over, I can keep this motivation up and keep on running. It's exhilarating.

Last night I ran a 5km.  With a PB set in the early spring of this year of 19:13, I was hopeful to drop that time by at least 14 seconds to go sub 19min.  As the time drew near to leave my home and start heading over to the UBC Triathlon Club office to meet my fellow racers (26 in all) I started pulling out the Vincent Lavallee excuses. I was thinking about all the Doritos and Reese Peanut Butter Cups I had eaten the day before (dang you Safeway and your sales!).  My nutrition for the past couple of days was worse than poor and I have been sleep deprived lately because of the demands of school.  With all that on my mind, I was still hopeful of reaching my goal.  Lacing up my new Mizuno Wave Revolver racing flats, I was determined to reach my goal.

The route was a 900m block near UBC campus in the Endowment Lands.  It's nice because there is very little traffic and the terrain is relatively flat.  The biggest challenge was tracking my pace time.  Normally I like to time each km but with the loop being a hundred meters short of that I had to time myself per every 900m.  I figured I needed to run each lap in 3 minutes and 25 seconds which would bring me in just under 19 minutes.

The race started, light rain, dark, and a little cold - but not bad.  My first lap was 3:11, well above my goal pace.  I felt good but decided to slow it down to prevent a burn out.  My pace reduced to be on track and more or less stayed that way for the duration of the race.  I slowed a little at the end but my fast first lap more than accounted for that and I was well below my goal time.  After rounding lap 5, with half a lap to go to reach 5km I was feeling confident that I would reach my goal.  I had some gas left in the tank, picked up my feet and ran a good finish.

When I crossed the finish line I heard someone yell out my time: 19:04.  I was crushed.  I had executed my run well and it went according to my plan.  I assumed that I had miscalculated the time I needed to run each lap in and went home.

I later retrieved my lap times from my watch and imported the numbers into an excel spreadsheet I keep for all my time trials.  I began to scratch my head because my pace was good and I should have finished in under 19 minutes.  Did I run the last 500m slower than my goal pace?  That didn't seem right, that last 500m felt good.  I was confused until a saw a facebook status update from Scotty-Doo stating his time for a 5.1km.  Suddenly it all began to make sense.  Apparently the course was slightly mis-measured.  According to three people running the race with gps watches, the route (after averaging the three numbers) was 5.13km.

By using my average pace and scaling my time down to what would have been 5km, my time should have been 18:35.  This would have been great.  I feel like I earned that time yet I don't quite feel right claiming it.  I have been debating over stating my 5km best time as 19:04 - even though the course was long, or 18:35 - even though it's not official.  I've decided for now that my 5km PB is 19:04.  I feel somewhat ripped-off but I just don't feel right guessing what my time would have been.

This experience has inspired my to run another 5km.  I want that sub 19 minute time and I wont stop until I get it.  In three weeks there is a race called the Fall Classic.  They have 5/10/21.1 km options.  I was originally planning on running the half marathon but seeing how I haven't been doing any distance training as of late, this seems like the perfect opportunity for me to reach my goal, and have an official time to go along with it.  I'm no longer upset.  I'm looking forward to this next race.

Today is the UBCTC's 5km race. I'm a little bummed that we don't get to do it at the track. Not only does this mean I will be missing out on the elevation advantage (flat track), but perhaps more importantly, I will be losing an oh so important timing advantage. Being able to check my pace every 400m (or even 200m if I really wanted to) is quite helpful, especially later on in the final 2km when my legs are starting to get tired. Last year I set a new 5km personal best with a time of 19:13. I am planning on beating that today by at least 14 seconds; that's right - I'm planning on sub-19. This is all part of my goal to go sub-39 at the Sun Run in Vancouver.

There hasn't been a whole lot of talk for this event, unlike the mile race we had last weekend: example 1, example 2. Maybe it's nerves, or maybe people are beginning to recognize their place in the standings. I'm thinking today will shake some things up. With Winston Guo only 3 points behind Nathaniel Flipper Janzen in the race for second place there is a lot at stake. Flipper hasn't been known as being an exceptionally fast runner, but after strong showings at the uphill race, and the mile run, eyes will be on him to see if he can prove himself today by going the distance. Vincent Lavallee, I don't believe, has yet had the chance to stand at the top of the figurative podium and reign over any of the Fall Classic events. Vince is a strong runner, as shown with his sub 1:24 half marathon time earlier this month. Maybe he's not the quickest sprinter, but he is one of the favorites for the longer distance events. His main competitor will be Barry Claman, who may not be human. Test results for alien origins are pending, which were ordered following an impressive sub-5min mile last week.

I'm looking forward to testing out my new racing flats as shown below. I tried them out last week at the mile but I haven't yet had the chance to see how my feet will feel in them over longer distances. Anyway, good luck to all my friends racing tonight. I hope you all do well, I just hope I do better. Is that bad?

On the eve of the mile showdown, perhaps the most prestigious event of the Fall Race Series events, I stumbled upon an amazing post by a fellow club member. Many know him as Winston Guo, but I know him as Winstorm. He is often under estimated, perhaps it's his friendly personality, or his tiny physique; whatever the reason - this underdog is a major contender.

We've been calling him the pace bunny for this event for one simple reason: many of his main competitors are expected to be able to out kick him. In order for Winstorm to win, he needs to beat them early. With his lightning fast pace he hopes to bring others to their knees by forcing them to red line early in the race and break down long before the final 200m.

So it will be a battle of wits, courage, and shear determination to decide who will be the victor, and who will be lunch meat.

Winstorm I wish you the best of luck, because I'm hungry...

Nathaniel Janzen is an exceptional swimmer, no doubt. This Saturday is the UBCTC's first event of the fall race series - the uphill bike TT. Key word there is bike. Fish ain't got no legs. You may be fast in the water Mr Janzen, but this fisherman is about to can your meat for profit.

Everyone else is posting about the UBCTC's first major event of the year - our welcome BBQ, I might as well too.

It was awesome. We started with probably the largest group ride in the history of the club. I was at first a little worried as there wasn't a whole lot of order in the ride, people weaving all over the place, but it worked out. We went out to Iona Beach and back. Very windy, apparently gusting up to 50km/h. The Iona Beach section is, I don't know, maybe about 10-15km long - and flat. Perfect for doing TT's (time trials). We were taking it easier heading West, with the strong headwind there wasn't a big point in pushing it. I was averaging about 20km/h. On the way back I wanted to see what kind of speed I could sustain and ended up holding 54.5km/h. I thought it would have been cool to get a speeding ticket, until I had to pay it. Luckily, no cops.

Below is a picture of our group at Iona:

Following the ride was a skills clinic that I entirely missed because I needed to pick up the food from my pad and help set up for the BBQ. I counted about 48 people in attendance. It's really exciting to see so many people getting involved in the club.

Big things are happening in the club. If we can maintain our strong attendance we will be forming different groups for our long runs, and bike rides to help everyone train at a level that will be beneficial to them. It will require a lot more organization than we are used to but no one has any problems with that. It's exciting to see triathlon growing so fast. I just read that the Subaru West Coast Triathlon Series saw an increase of 40% in participants this year over the previous year.

I'm excited for our Fall Race Series to begin this week. I don't think I'll win anything but it's always good to have friendly competition. We've decided that instead of having a yellow jersey for the points leader, we will have a cape. It's going to be pretty funny watching somebody running or biking around with a cape flapping behind them.

This is the first blog post of my life.

I'll start with a brief summary of my summer:

If you know me, you'll know that I'm obsessed with racing - not Nascar, but triathlons and running. I was very pleased this summer with the races I was able to do, and the results I was able to achieve. First was a fantastic 10km race called "The Longest Day" located at UBC. It's a race around campus which celebrates the longest day of the year, although not necessarily held on that day. It was the first evening race I had ever done. I had set a goal to run a sub-40 minute 10k before the end of the season and I was hoping this would be it. I'm very happy to report I finished with a time of 39:55.8, 4 seconds to spare. I give a lot of credit to the UBC Tri Club, particularly our student running coach Vincent Lavallee, for pushing me to my limits as my previous best was 46:59. I recommend this race to everyone. Not only was the route awesome, the race is followed by the feast of all feasts. Never have I seen such a plethora of food following a race.

Next was a Half Ironman I completed in June in Victoria, centered around Elk Lake. It was my first Half Ironman and I was nervous about how it was going to go. I had never done a group open water swim and I had heard horror stories. Someone showed me this hilarious Clif Bar Commercial that helped me to know what to prepare for:

It was all that and more. People were swimming all over each other, getting kicked in the face, and fighting for any available inch of unoccupied water. It was so fun. Adding to the nerves was a build up of about 4 months of smack talk between me and a fellow UBC Tri Club member, Winston Guo. With my pride on the line I was forced to give it everything I had and ended up finishing in under 5 hours, which was about 20 minutes faster than I was expecting. I was very happy.

The last race I did was in early August in Nelson, the Cyswog 'n' fun. This was a 1/4 Ironman and it followed an intense heat wave in Vancouver the week before. Thanks to the 30-39 degree weather here, the otherwise hot interior BC climate would have been more of an issue. It was a great road trip with Winston and Scott that was full of smack talk. It became a matter of Scott's stellar swimming skills vs my superior running. Normally I wouldn't brag but Scott talked so much smack I need to inform everyone that I smacked his rear end as I ran past him in the cycle to run transition. Sorry Scott, but next time you want to run your mouth like that, you might want to start running your legs instead.

As for employment: with the poor economy, student summer jobs in engineering were scarce and I was very pleased to be fortunate enough to land a job with a structural engineering firm here in Vancouver called Fast+Epp. It was a great experience, highlighted by a major role I played in the design of a health care centre in a little town called Lower Post, BC.

The last holiday of the summer was spent with my wife at the Walnut Beach Resort in Osoyoos for our 5 year anniversary. Janelle's parents were kind enough to fly over to Vancouver to watch our daughter for a few days. We had a great time jetskiing in Osoyoos Lake and tubing down the Penticton canal.

Now I'm back at school. The UBC Tri Club has a new race series that will be starting up in a couple of weeks that will include a multitude of events designed to level the playing field. There will be time trials, underwater swimming distance, flat tire changing, and more. See the UBC Triathlon Club Blog to follow the results.