24 - Live Another Day

For those clicking on this headline looking for Jack Bauer from the acclaimed television series 24, my apologies.

As the saying goes, "times flies when you're having fun". In just 24 hours from now I, along with the other Team Myles 2014 members and thousands of others, will be about to cross (or have crossed) the starting line of the 2014 Scotiabank Blue Nose Marathon 10K race.

Team Myles plans to start as a group at the very back of the second wave of GoodLife FITNESS 10K runners. As we approach the starting line mats, just before our bib timing chip activates, I am envisioning a few last minute back slaps, high fives and a whole bunch of nervous energy in the pit of our stomachs.

We've worked as a team to come this far. From those who had difficulty handling one minute run/walk intervals to now running 10K without stopping, the transformation has been incredible to watch. Some of the Team Myles members will run the Johnson 5K this afternoon. I wish them all great success.

Devin Sherrington, Team Myles coach and trainer of 360fit, along with the other mentors, will be with us running the 10K course.

The personal goals have been set. The game plan run through dozens of time in our heads. The one difference is that this one is for all the marbles and we'll be surrounded by thousands of others.

How will that affect the mind game that running can play? Will it make us slower, or faster? Will the adrenaline affect our normal breathing patterns and heart rates? Still a lot of unknowns.

The only way to know is to experience it and that's what will happen in a few short hours.

The morning routine will remain the same as it's been for a few weeks. "Our stomachs don't like change" has been the warning. My personal mentor Jeff Nearing will pick me up at 7:15 am tomorrow. Between my 5 am rise, through breakfast and stretching, I will have run the 10K numerous times in my mind. You'd think it was a gold medal run in the Olympics. I guess it is. For non-runners, the first time is golden.

If you want to track my results go to www.TheChronicleHerald.ca/BlueNose and click on the GoodLife FITNESS 10K button. My bib number is 9716. You can search it from there or use the Watch List.

Good luck my friends. See you at the finish line (in less than 55 minutes, I still hope - reference details here).

I can proudly say we have all achieved much and it is the efforts of more healthy lifestyle that each and every one of us will have our own 24 episode, and live another day.

An event of thanks

In just six days, Scotiabank Blue Nose Marathon Weekend will begin.

Being part of Team Myles 2014 has been rewarding and it goes without saying that many people deserve thanks for getting us to this point.

Personally it has been an interesting journey. I have been amazed at how fast the training has increased my running pace. Key mentors in Jeff Nearing, and our fearless Team Myles leaders Devin Sherrington and Jason Davis of 360fit, have kept the motivation levels high and made us accountable to the training schedule. On top of that there have been hours of running research and reading leading to this moment.

Many others have provided inspiration including the other Team Myles members and mentors. Friends and colleagues including: John Deans, a five-time Iron Man, and my ECO Kayaking Guide In Training friend; Charlie Stacey, a great friend in NL, who sends along inspirational notes after reading this blog; work colleagues Sheryl Grant, Aaron Legge & Nancy Cook who have given great advice; my sister Jennifer for the texts of encouragement; my mother Sandra for her e-mails and dad Pleman for the calls; the many in the Twitterverse who have replied and retweeted support; and those from other social media channels that have commented and sent notes. With any list there may be some names missing so I would like to offer my sincere thanks to all who have helped along the way.

And of course, I could not have done this without the support of my beautiful wife Charlene. She has supported the many training hours and had to listen to my whining from the aches, pains and injuries. She herself has progressed amazingly since January, moving from run-walk intervals to non-stop running sessions.

I love you sweetheart. Thanks for the support. Our fitness kick will ensure a long healthy life together.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

And thanks to Chris Larsen, Sue Newhook and Gina Brown of Scotiabank Blue Nose Marathon for recruiting me to Team Myles. It's been a honour to be part of the team. Special thanks to the Team Myles sponsors as well: 360fit, Centric Health LifeMark, Delta Barrington & Delta Halifax, iRun, Recharge With Milk & Breathing Space Yoga Studio.

And thanks to the Scotiabank Blue Nose Marathon staff, volunteers and sponsors who make race weekend possible. There are thousands and each of you deserve a round of applause. Pulling off the  Doctors Nova Scotia Youth Run, the Johnson 5K, the GoodLife FITNESS 10K, the Recharge with Milk Half Marathon & the Scotiabank Full Marathon takes tens of thousands of volunteer and staff hours. It's a great event for Halifax and Nova Scotia as a whole.

Thanks also to all those who have raised money for the Scotiabank Charity Challenge. Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been raised for local charities. It's not too late to donate to a team - click here to do so.

Be proud of the accomplishments. Best wishes to all of the runners. May you reach your personal best.

See you at the finish line.

Duct tape finish

We're into the home stretch for the 2014 Scotiabank Blue Nose Marathon.

Next Sunday morning thousands of us will be standing on the start line for the GoodLife FITNESS 10K, the Recharge with Milk Half Marathon & the Scotiabank Full Marathon.

On Saturday, thousands more will have completed the Johnson 5K, not counting the thousands of children and families that will have done the 2K or 4K Doctors Nova Scotia Youth Run.

This morning was the final training run for Team Myles 2014 at Point Pleasant Park. Everyone is ready for the big day. It's been a lot of hard work. Hundreds of pounds have been shed, endurance increased and confidence to make it to the finish line elevated.

I started running to continue this "get fit journey" Charlene and I started a few years ago. See my first blog post on January 12, 2014 "Let the race begin!" for the prologue to this story.

Little did I know that training like this also brings the challenges of fighting through injury and discomfort.

The ankle injury in early April and the subsequent shoulder injury from hockey were bad enough (see "Back with a vengeance" blog post). Over the past week it's been a very sore hip.

It started with the Team Myles tempo run last weekend (May 3). We were running the 10K distance and I was determined to try it at race pace as we've been progressively moving to that point. Jeff Nearing was by my side the whole way and it was a major push to keep up with the pace I need to try and beat the revised sub-55-minute 10K goal. We've been working on a sustained pace of 5:28 minutes per kilometre to ensure I am below the goal. That just under 11 km/h sustained for 10K.

After the 10K run I achieved a time of 56:06 - a new record, but still off pace to beat the goal - and I did not feel good physically.

On Saturday afternoon, I could barely walk. My hip was seizing up and my legs were like lead.

The last week or so has seen multiple trips to ACCEL Physiotherapy & Sport Performance Centre for treatments and massage therapy for my shoulder and as a by-product, my hip. They are miracle workers in their own right. I've felt better after every session.

Jeff and I joked last week that we're into this to get fit and it's the most injuries we've ever had. Our directions to the physiotherapists has been to simply keep us together for the next few weeks, enough to cross the finish line. It will certainly be a "duct tape finish" for me.

Following that 10K tempo run, I actually felt a little disappointed for a few minutes until I gave it some more thought. It is probably the best time I could have achieved two weeks prior to the big day on May 18. It now gives me the motivation to beat that target and I have an experience under my belt to know what to expect - higher than normal heart rates, intense breathing, tiring legs and failing energy.

Jeff has aided in a few diet tweaks to ensure I have the energy to maintain the pace. Through the training, I have found running in the mornings more difficult than evenings. Not being a big breakfast guy I now need to ensure enough energy is consumed prior to the race to get through it without that energy drain. To some more seasoned runners it may seem simple, but for me, burning nearly 1,000 calories in just over 55 minutes has a way of zapping needed energy from the leg muscles and rest of the body.

I think Jeff's suggestions will do the trick. This morning's run was a simple 4K. (I laugh typing that as when I started in January, running 4K without stopping was a very taxing.) Jeff is training for the Scotiabank Ottawa Marathon on May 25 and was taking a break today as he has an intense 35K long run tomorrow. His directions on Friday were to take it easy for a few kilometres this morning and then ramp up the pace to get a good heart rate rush and push through the pace.

Here are my splits from this morning:

Kilometre 1 = 6:24 min/km

Kilometre 2 = 6:32 min/km

Kilometre 3 = 5:37 min/km

Kilometre 4 = 5:04 min/km

There was a lot left in the tank and I felt I could have run the distance without issue. We'll see in a week.

Running in a pack of several thousand will bring its own challenges. Battling adrenaline will be part of the mind game at play on race day. But I am, like the rest of Team Myles, prepared for whatever comes on May 18.

Let's truly let the race begin!