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.

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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!

Back with a vengeance

I can hardly believe nearly a month has passed since my last blog post. It's good to be back - in more ways than one.

In the last post you may recall the declaration of a new goal to run the Blue Nose Marathon GoodLife FITNESS 10K in less than 55 minutes, a major reset from the original sub-70 minute target. (See "Goal achieved - dream bigger!")

A lot has occurred in the past month.

It started on Monday, April 7 in Waterloo, ON. I was away that weekend to celebrate my 41st birthday and to attend the Cher concert in Toronto.

In keeping with my Team Myles 2014 training, I went for a run that morning. About 4K into the run I was feeling a little off with energy draining quickly and made a simple misstep off the sidewalk that caused an ankle roll/twist. It did not seem too bad at first and I continued for another 2.5K. Through the day the injury was worsening to a point of a limp as my beautiful wife and I did some final shopping before the concert that evening. It was hurting a lot. We returned to the hotel to get some pain killers and to rest before heading to the Air Canada Centre.

The next day we flew back to Halifax and I was continuing to have some ankle issues, plus I had a major lack of energy. Little did I know a pretty severe stomach bug was attacking. That took me down for the next week.

On April 17, I decided to lace up and play hockey in my Thursday morning hockey league. It was good to get the energy back and legs moving. With just 10 minutes left in the game, I was speeding down the ice on a near breakaway, tripped in the goaltender and crashed very hard into the end boards injuring my right shoulder. It was an Easter weekend of rest, recovery and pain killers to get through that one. The pain was so great I missed my Saturday Team Myles training.

Gotta say, my 42nd year on this planet has started off a little rough!

It was a full 14 days before I got back on my feet for a run. It was worrisome to think I lost two weeks of critical run training. I really had to reach deep and find my Inner Ninja! (Click this blog reference for what that means).

I was feeling good on Monday, April 21 - more motivated than ever to get back on track. Have to admit, I was a little hesitant at first as to how the ankle would hold, but I quickly ramped up the speed and managed to complete a 5K run in under 30 minutes at a 5:54 min/km pace. Everything is fine.

Team Myles hill training on Tuesday, April 22 was a real test of endurance completing over 15 minutes non-stop up and down Citadel Hill. Team Myles coach and mentor Devin Sherrington of 360fit pushed us all hard and it was at that moment that I realized how much all of the other Team Myles members have progressed. It was both inspiring and motivational to see the metamorphosis from when we started a few months ago.

After hill training I had about an hour before my Tuesday night hockey game. Have to say I did not play to my top performance that evening - I left my legs back on Citadel Hill! A tough night and next morning. Thank goodness for the Icy Hot!

This past Saturday, April 26 was an incredible day - weather and running wise. Team Myles members met at Point Pleasant Park in Halifax for our first non-stop run. To that point it had been interval training with run/walk progression. This time is was 40-minutes non-stop.

My Team Myles mentor Jeff Nearing and I left at a brisk pace and ran along the Halifax Waterfront. I should qualify, it was brisk for me. Jeff is training for the Ottawa Marathon and it an excellent runner, so he barely broke a sweat - the bastard! (Kidding, my friend - thanks for everything you have done to date.)

Jeff was really great throughout the run to keep asking if I was doing okay and how my heart rate was holding up. It was a push, but I was still feeling really good. In the end we did just over 7K at a pace of 5:52 min/km, right on target for the under 55 minutes for 10K. With a little extra effort I know it can be done.

There's still a few week's left to train for speed, including a hills session tomorrow (Tuesday) night. I look forward to May 18 and race day. Who knows what will happen? No matter what, all Team Myles members, mentors and coaches are winners - we've come a long way and everyone should be very proud.

I encourage you to read some of the blogs from other participants. It's great to see such an effort.

Well, I gotta go. It's time for a run to get warmed up for hills tomorrow night!

"Charlene, where's the Icy Hot?"

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SIDE NOTE: If you have not seen Cher in concert, try to do so on one of her pending "farewell tours" - this was her third, I think! Amazing show with incredible energy for this 67-year-old performer. April 3-12 was a fun entertainment week, starting with Black Sabbath at the Metro Centre in Halifax, off to Toronto for Cher at the Air Canada Centre, back to Halifax for David Myles at Pier 21 for An Evening with Easter Seals Gala, and then finishing with Buddy Wasisname and The Other Fellers at the Rebecca Cohn in Halifax the following weekend. Wide range of music talent and taste!

Goal achieved - dream bigger!

Since starting on this Blue Nose Marathon 10K journey in January, I have been amazed with the pace of progress.

Development of a regular running routine at that time and moving to the weekly Team Myles 2014 training (Citadel Hill on Tuesdays and Point Pleasant Park on Saturdays) in March, supplemented by my own schedule, has paid huge dividends so far.

For those who started following my personal blog in January, you will recall my goal was to finish the 10K in under 70 minutes. (See Living Life: The Woodford Chronicles "Let the race begin" post from January 12, 2014 for full details.)

Quite honestly, I thought that was a long shot. Remember, I am not a runner. It's never been part of my DNA.

But as each week of training passes and I continue to find muscles that I forgot I had, it's getting a whole lot easier to run and run and run and run.

I see the same thing happening with my fellow Team Myles members. Each has their own goal in mind and each will achieve it. Devin Sherrington, our lead trainer/coach/mentor/motivator from 360fit must feel like a proud "Dad" as he sees his "children" growing!

Just over a week ago, I followed the lead of Jeff Nearing and Aaron Legge (work colleagues and Team Myles 2014 Mentors) to do my first "long run". By definition the long run is simply the longest distance run in a regular weekly training schedule. It's meant to be at a slower pace than a normal training run.

I decided to run a full hour on my first long run on Sunday, March 23. Up to that point I was focusing on 30-40 minute runs at higher pace. After a 20 minute Bowflex workout I was feeling in good shape so I jumped on the treadmill, turned on some music videos and started out for the 60 minute run. At the end I had hit 8.76K and was feeling pretty pumped. A little math showed I was within the 10K in under 70 minutes pace and it wasn't really a push - just a steady pace through the entire 60 minutes.

This past Sunday, March 30, my new long run plan was to do the full 10K to start some benchmarking. Need to start getting use to that distance. I was pleasantly surprised to have hit the 10K goal in 65:41 - nearly a full five minutes below my original January goal. And I really wasn't pushing hard. My average heart rate across the full 60 minutes was exactly 140 beats per minute. There's still a lot of gas left in the tank. It's now time to take it for a test drive.

Through my professional career I routinely set stretch goals - those goals that are a little out there and on the verge of being unachievable. Sometimes everything fires on all cylinders and you achieve these stretch goals, even blowing them out of the water. (That's when you get accused of being a sandbagger! Been there.)

Well on Sunday I was feeling like a bit of a sandbagger. It's only been 10 weeks of training. With 47 days until the Blue Nose Marathon 10K race, there's still a lot of room for improvement.

So what happens when you reach your goal early? Well, you set a new one, of course!!

I have always loved this Michelangelo quote:

``The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short, but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.``

Certainly words to live by. They have served me will in the last 41 years!

So here goes nothing. My new 10K goal for Blue Nose Marathon 2014 is to run the race in under 55 minutes. It is definitely a stretch, but I will work my butt off to try and achieve it.

Wish me luck, send a few prayers this way - all encouragement welcomed!

Stay tuned for the progress reports. See you at the finish line on May 18.

Let those records fall!

It's been a great week of running over all. Late last week I broke my own personal record for 5K (to date anyway).

When I started running in January the most I could run in a 30 minute session was around 3K. In early February that number surpassed 4K in 30 minutes. About a month ago I pushed it hard and did 5K in 30 minutes.

Mid last week, after a 30 minute workout on the Bowflex, I was feeling good stepping on the treadmill. Within the first minute I increased the speed to 10 km/h. Continuing to feel great, at two minutes in I pushed it to 11 km/h. Again feeling great and the heart rate still in the mid-150 bbm range, at six minutes I cranked the speed up to 12 km/h.

At the 21 minute mark, I was feeling a little winded, so I dropped back to 6.3 km/h for a few minutes to catch breath and decrease my heart rate and then cranked it back up to 12.2 km/h for the home stretch.

In the end, I passed the 5K mark at 27:26:00. I have to believe that a sub 25 minute 5K is in the near future. Maybe faster if Devin Sherrington keeps pushing us on those hills! (See "This blog post brought to you by Icy Hot!" for stories on hill training.)

Run stats:
Distance: 5.00 km
Time: 27:26:00
Average speed: 10.9 km/h
Average pace: 5:29 min/km
Best pace: 4:52 min/km
Average HR: 159 bbm
Maximum HR: 175 bbm
Average cadence: 180 spm
Maximum cadence: 198 spm

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On Monday night (March 17) I took my first neighbourhood run in the Royal Hemlocks. I knew I lived on a hill, but it does not look as menacing in a Mazda Tribute SUV as it does coming back up powered by only your two legs.

Here's how it looks via Garmin Connect:

That's more than a kilometre of incline. Was some 'breathtaking' moments trying to run up that slope.

In comparison, here's a look at the elevation chart of Citadel Hill for Team Myles 2014 hill training:

My mentor Jeff Nearing tells me hill training helps produce speed. I look forward to testing the theory.

Let's see those personal records fall!

This blog post brought to you by Icy Hot!

"My butt hurts and it's all Devin Sherrington's fault!" (Use that in your new marketing campaign, Mr. 360fit!)

Now that I have your attention, it's fully my glutes and it was totally self inflicted!

Since I was on vacation for the first two weeks of Team Myles 2014 training, this past Tuesday night (March 18) was my first night of hill training at Citadel Hill in Halifax with the group.

Twelve full out runs from the base to the top in less than 30 minutes with only a one minute break - 30 seconds up and jog/walk back. Doesn't sound that hard, does it? Well try it.

It was later that evening when I started to feel the stiffness set in. Outside my gluteus maximus muscles, my quadriceps were also pretty tight - likely from the two runs we did backwards up the hill. It was an intense feeling, but I liked it.

The last two reps in that session were designed by Devin to be a 'leave it all on the mat' piece of the training. I ran it as fast as I possibly could. My cadence was measuring 252 at that point - my fastest ever. (Read this previous blog posting from February 6, 2014 for more details on cadence: The case for cadence.)

As I pen this posting now, my glutes and quads are still a little stiff and in just a few hours I have the first of two hockey games in the next 10 hour period. I play 10-11 p.m. every Thursday night and then hit the ice again from 7-8 a.m on Fridays. Should be interesting to see how that goes.

I have found a new best friend. Icy Hot Medicated Spray has done wonders to keep me from walking like a duck this week. I have truly found muscles I did not know existed through this new experience.

Warning to cat owners: Icy Hot and other menthol and mint-based sprays are like cat nip. Cat nip is from the mint family. Our two critters have been going nuts for the stuff all week. Keep them away from it as best you can. I have read varying reviews on if the stuff is harmful to pets. Ours has had 14 years of use from time to time and nothing has ever killed them, but be cautious.

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Last Saturday's Team Myles run in Point Pleasant Park was a run three (minutes), walk one series. This week we move to four and ones, progressing each week until May 17/18 when we compete in the Blue Nose Marathon Weekend 5K or 10K races.

My beautiful wife Charlene is planning to do the 5K on Saturday, May 17. I am thinking of joining her on that run as a warm up to my 10K race on Sunday, May 18. This is the first year the 5K will move to Saturday due to the ever increasing number of runners. The 10K will be done in two heats to accommodate the thousands looking for the finish line.

If you have not registered for a Blue Nose Marathon 2014 event, click here and sign up. It's going to be a blast! I'll supply the Icy Hot!

Running on vacation, are you kidding me?

If somebody told me at the end of 2013 that I would be running during my vacation I would have laughed in their face.

But when you commit to Team Myles and running the 10K in the Scotiabank Blue Nose Marathon, you have to make a few lifestyle changes.

My beautiful wife Charlene and I just returned from two amazing weeks away. Week one was spent with six friends from Newfoundland in Orlando, FL. Week two was sailing the Caribbean aboard Celebrity Silhouette with a larger group of NL friends - 12 of us in all.

My fellow Team Myles 2014 members were back in Nova Scotia braving the elements and starting their first training run - hill training on Citadel Hill, none the less!

I did start treadmill running in January 2014 after committing to take part in Team Myles. So to ensure I was doing my part, I made up my mind to get out and run over the vacation period. In the 14 days away, I am proud to say I ran on seven days completing a total of 32.71 km.

Monday, February 24, 2014 was the first "outdoor" run I have ever completed. It's quite different than having a treadmill below your feet keeping a pace - much harder actually. But it was already 19 degrees Celsius at 8 am under sunny skies, so not much to complain about.

I ran again on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday getting progressively more comfortable on the concrete and asphalt. A stop on Tuesday to buy some real running shoes has changed everything. I never knew it could be that comfortable. My Friday run was 5K in 33 minutes getting closer to my treadmill pace.

FUNNY TRUE MOMENT: My average running heart rate is in the mid 150s. On one of my later week runs, I was passing one house in the Emerald Island Resort in Kissimmee, FL when a garter snake "jumped" out on the sidewalk in front of me. A few choice words and an internal chuckle and I was on my way again. Not a huge snake fan! I looked down at my watch and the shot of adrenaline pushed my heart rate to 171.

And then it was off to the cruise ship.

Everyone knows cruise ships have lots of buffets. But did you know, they also have tracks and fitness centres on board?

This was the 15th cruise in eight years for Charlene and I and we've never visited the fitness centre on the ships. We actually thought those using it were a little loose in the head! We're proud to say we actually found the track and fitness centre this time. Charlene is training for the 5K at the Blue Nose Marathon this year.

Some words of caution when running on a treadmill on a moving ship. It's not easy. It really becomes a core workout when there is a bit of a sea on. Was interesting to listen to the running rhythm change as the ship sailed through the waves as people caught their balance. Winds were high in the first few days.

ANOTHER FUNNY TRUE MOMENT: I use a Garmin Forerunner 210 GPS running watch. On one of the sea days on the cruise ship, I used my watch when running on the deck track. I was stumped for a moment as to why my pace was showing as one minute, 20 seconds per kilometre. It was the fastest 4K I have ever run! Hint: turn off the GPS function when running on the deck of a moving ship!

The moral of the story is that exercising during vacation is not a crazy idea after all. It actually felt good to get those runs in and be energized for the remainder of the day. Being with a bunch of Newfoundlanders meant I had to do the runs early morning before the crowd was out of bed. Let's just say the kegs awaken early in a home filled with vacationing Newfoundlanders!

Cheers.