Brantford Grand Trail 10K

If you look at my 2013 race calendar, you’ll see that I’ve added a mid-summer 10K. I don’t usually do short races, but this one looks good. And, for some time, I’ve been looking for a race I can do in the summer heat. Now I’ve bagged it – I’ll do a couple of half marathons in the spring, a 10K in the summer, and a half and a full marathon in the fall. That sounds ideal!

The Brantford Grand Trail 10K happens on July 28, 2013. As far as I can tell from the event website, it’s a small (100 participants this year) race, the proceeds of which go to support local Habitat for Humanity projects. No medals or t-shirts for this one – but all race finishers get a towel! That’s fine with me, as I have too many medals and t-shirts as it is. The race distance, though, is certified by Athletics Canada/Run Canada.

The course is on paved and hardpack gravel riverside trails, so I’ll probably wear my huaraches. Given the date, the weather’s bound to be hot, so I plan to wear my running kilt/skirt. There’s a nice YouTube video of this year’s race here, which gives a good sense of what the course and event are like. This one’s going to be a hoot!

Hannukah Hustle

I recently decided to add one more race to my 2011 calendar. (I know, I’ve come a long way from my decision in the Spring of this year to avoid races entirely. That’s OK, consistency isn’t always a good thing… )

The race is the Hannukah Hustle 10K, which will take place in Hamilton, Ontario on Sunday, November 20. It’s another race organized by the Kelly and Mark Arnott of VR Pro. (Already this year, I’ve done VR Pro’s Downtown Dash 10K and Dundas Cactus 10K, both of which were great fun. I think I’m becoming a VR Pro addict!) The Hustle is a charity race in support of a fitness center for people over 70 years of age at Shalom Village, a long-term care center in Hamilton. This year’s Hustle will be the 10th anniversary edition of the race.

I decided to do this one because it will be a nice final race for the calendar year, before the realities of a Canadian winter push my barefoot running back indoors and onto the treadmill. According Kelly Arnott , the course is mostly pavement, with some gravel trail. That, along with the fact the average low temperature for Hamilton in November is 0C (and the average snowfall for the month is 7.2cm), may mean I’ll do the race in my Invisible Shoe huaraches rather than barefoot.

I’m not Jewish, and I’m not really into charity runs. But the goodies for this race are pretty hard to resist – not only does every finisher get a Star of David pendant, the first 400 registrants get a technical t-shirt with the following cool image emblazoned on it.

I’m in! How could I not be?

Race Report: Dundas Cactus 10K

Since I began looking at races as “street parties” (thanks to Barefoot Ted MacDonald for that nudge), I’ve not only found them more enjoyable, but – surprisingly – have also found my finish times improving.

The latest evidence of that was last Sunday’s Dundas Cactus 10K, organized by the good folks at VR Pro. A great route, a small but friendly and enthusiastic group of runners, and a great medal made it a good one.

A new (by a very slight margin) PB made it even better, even if the PB time had to be calculated because of a distance-measuring error. I also came second in my age category! Because of a miscommunication between the folks who measured the course and the race director, we only ran 9K instead of the required 10K. So I took my finishing time for 9K (49:21), and calculated its equivalent for 10K (54:00). And I’m dealing with the inevitable guilt in doing so by being quite convinced that I could have kept up my finishing pace for another 1K. So there.

The course included one short, medium-grade hill (which we ran twice), and a longish (1.5K or so) downslope (which we also ran twice). The road surfaces varied, from quite smooth pavement on the park loop to old, broken, and choppy pavement on the side streets. I’ve been lazy so far this season about speed and hill work, and running downhill on rough pavement in bare feet took its toll, so I flagged a bit on the second half of the race. But rally I did just – before the finish – and came in strong.

It was nice to get the age category award, in part because it gave barefoot running a bit of legitimacy as a viable option for doing races. (The fellow on the left is Deepak of Lee’s Pharmacy, a local store that sponsored the race. He handed out the awards.)

Nice people, an interesting course, and a good race. I was happy with it.

My next “entertainment” even will be the Oakville Half Marathon on September 25. This is going to be more serious challenge than the 10K. I’d like to acquit myself with dignity, so I’ll be incorporating fartleks and hill repeats into the next four and half week’s training. The Oakville Half is run on a very pretty course, and the half is my favourite race distance, so I’m really looking forward to this one.

Dundas 10K: Preliminary Report

It was a good race, and – by a very slight margin – a new PB for me. Also, I came in second in my age category!

The only wrinkle was that, because of a miscalculation by the race director, we only ran 9K of the scheduled 10K. So I’ve taken my finishing time for the 9K distance, which was 49:21, and calculated its equivalent for 10K (54:50).

The race medal is great, and the t-shirt a good one.

I’ll post a full race report later.

Easy Running

Earlier today, I did a relaxed, easy pace barefoot run around the neighbourhood. As there was very little traffic, I was able to do the whole thing on the roads, rather than having to run on sidewalks. There’s more debris on the sidewalks, and running on the roads means not having to fuss with driveways, curb cuts, and the like. Suburban street pavement around here is decent, so it’s good barefoot surface.

The weather was almost ideal at mid-morning, when I did the run. 27C (with the humidex factored in, it felt like 30C), clear skies and bright sunshine, and a light wind.

My goal for this run was simply to set up my legs, heart, and head for Sunday’s Dundas Cactus 10K. Happily, everything seemed to be in working order. I’m looking forward to the 10K. It’s a nice distance for a summer morning race, and the route (a double loop, through a small-town park and on nearby side streets, then back into the park) sounds very pleasant.

I’ll post to dailymile after I finish the race, and will post a full race report here soon afterwards. Stay tuned!

Again With the Hill Repeats

I had another good barefoot hill repeat session this morning. I’m buying into the theory that hill repeats will make me stronger, and I’ve got a race – the VRPro Dundas Cactus 10K – coming up on Sunday.

As I did last week, I ran a 3.5K warmup, at a reasonably relaxed pace, and then ran my usual highway overpass “hill” eight times. Each hill set comes in at 500m, and is approximately a 6% grade. Then I ran a 3.5K cooldown to get home again.

I worked hard to keep my pace up and down the hills consistent, changing only my stride length ( a little shorter), my posture (leaned forward a little bit), and my cadence (ever so slightly quicker). The result was that I felt well and truly wasted by the end of the hill set. The upside was that I felt markedly stronger than I did after last week’s hill repeat session.

Will see how this plays out at Sunday’s race. However that happens, I’m going to continue with my weekly hill repeats, in hope that they will be an advantage in my following race – the Oakville Half Marathon on September 25.

The Big Picture

Here it is, folks. The official photographer, hi-res, no watermark photo of yours truly about to the cross the finish line at the Downtown Dash 10K race on July 14, 2010. I’m just about to set a new PB for the 10K with a time of 54:54.

(Click on the image if you want to see all the details.)

When I look at this photo, two thoughts come to mind. First is, “Goodness, I was working hard at that point!” Second is, “Man, do I ever look scary in that picture!”.

A Good 10K Race

It’s good to be reminded every once in a while that there can be joy in struggle. Not struggling against something, but struggling with something, and enjoying both the process and the outcome. That’s the experience I had at the Downtown Dash 10K race last Thursday. I ran hard, pushed myself a bit, and enjoyed both the process and the outcome.

This was a small race in terms of numbers. There were probably about 100 runners in it. The route consisted of two 5K loops on downtown and nearby residential streets in the small city of Burlington, Ontario. Road surfaces were good for barefooting, though not quite as smooth as I’d expected. It was a good race, well-organized and well-attended. The fact that it was an evening race (start time was 7:30 PM), was a bit odd for me, but it worked out OK.

In fact, it all worked out very well indeed. I run barefoot, shirtless, and watchless, so I was really comfortable. My wife and Kelso, our greyhound, were there as my support and cheerleading team, which is always wonderful for me. My good friend Pierre M. showed up for his very first race (since running track in high school forty years ago, anyway), which was really nice. And the weather was hot (25C, felt like 28C) and a little bit humid, which was perfect for me.

I ran the race the way I’d planned to, getting to a steady, brisk pace quickly, and holding it until about the 5K mark, when I picked it up a bit. Then, at the 8K mark, I picked it up slightly again, and held that until I crossed the finish line. The result of that strategy was not only a new PB (2 minutes and 23 seconds faster than my previous PB for the 10K), but a negative split as well!

The only downsides were very, very minor – the finisher’s medal was a little cheesy and the organizers had run out of t-shirts by the time I got there. But the post-race food was good (skewers of bbq’ed chicken and beef, bean and potato salads, as well as the usual fruit and water). And there was a misting station at the finish area, which I thought was absolutely fantastic.

Next up is the Dundas Cactus 10K on August 21. I’m really looking forward to it!

Race Prep

It’s less than three weeks until my next race, the Downtown Dash 10K , on July 14, in nearby Burlington, Ontario. Contrary to my usual “no training” approach, I’ve started doing a few things to prepare, just so I’ll acquit myself honourably.

First of all, I’ve started incorporating short fartleks into my commutes to and from work. “Fartlek” is Swedish for “speed play,” and simply means doing short, unstructured intervals during a run. It really is like playing, if done properly. (I may be a recreational athlete, but I’m a lazy recreational athlete. I’ve done proper interval sets, and they’re darn hard work.)

Secondly, I’ve recently begun doing side leg lifts, in order to build strength in my glutes. (Thanks to fellow barefoot dailymiler Nickelass for the nudge to do this.) My glutes atrophied seriously during my rehab from breaking a femur some years ago. Fourteen months of physio got me back to functional status, but I was lazy about rebuilding my glutes. I’ve got lots of strength in my lower legs and my core. But I need more strength in my glutes if I want to go faster – and, in spite of all my protestations about being a happy slowpoke, sometimes I really would like to be quicker.

Third, I’m once again doing daily breathing exercises with my Sports Breather. It’s a simple, nifty, and inexpensive device that encourages and develops strong belly breathing. Think of it, if you will, as resistance training for the diaphragm. Using it on a daily basis (I do 15 minutes each day, immediately before a run if I can), makes for easier breathing when I’m running. That translates, quite naturally, into slightly quicker running.

None of these changes are going to make a huge difference in a race that’s less than three weeks away. They should, though, if I keep on doing them, make a difference in my following race, the Cactus 10K, on August 21 in Dundas, Ontario. It’ll be a good experiment. I’ve got a benchmark, two upcoming measuring points, and a couple of theories to test.

Another Race

So much for my earlier decision not to race this year. I’ve signed up for another one.

This one’s the Downtown Dash 10K. It takes place on July 14 (it’s a weekday evening race). It’s organized by the good folks at VR Pro, who put on a respectable series shorter distance, locally-sponsored races in this part of southern Ontario.

Part of the fun for this one will be that it’s going to be a get-together of a few of the folks I ran with in a marathon training clinic in the winter and spring of 2009. We’ve all more or less gone our own way since then, though we’ve kept in touch via email and Facebook. It’ll be good to see everyone again.