FLOAT ON

I’ve been here in Flagstaff now jsut over one week and things are rolling along pretty well (although the foot is still sore from time to time).  I had my first workout on Friday and it went, so-so.  It was the same workout, of mile and two mile repeats in Buffalo Park, that I did one year ago but, it didn’t go quite as well due to an uncomfortable stomach.  I wasn’t able to relax and I didn’t want to force things too much.  While the times weren’t quite as fast I also wasn’t able to get after it as much.  It definitely sucks not running as fast as I previously did but, I know I’m in better shape than last year and there was a perfectly good reason for the slower times.  Also, it’s just one workout and the rest of my workouts this year have been fine.  Nothing to worry about.

On Saturday Eric Gillis, Eric Kiauka, Steve Osaduik, Fasil Bizuneh and myself met up with the Canadian Triathletes at Pay N Take .  The tri guys had been here for a few weeks and were leaving the next day so it was good to catch up before they left. 

The next day we all did a long run on A-1 Mountain road with the Indiana guys and a bunch of locals, including fellow Canadian Rob Krar.  Later in the day we were invited to Alicia Shay’s house for an Easter brunch and egg hunt.  The food was great and plentiful (thanks Alicia) and the egg hunt was good fun (great job Mike).  I wasn’t ready for the intensity of the hunt and I was left in the dust off the line and only got 2 out of 200 eggs between 60 people.  I did however get one of 31 ’special’ eggs and got a gift certificate to a coffee shop, which I went to Monday after my massage in town.  As I was collecting the eggs Jack Daniels was beside me and I heard “good, three eggs, that’s the average!”  and thought, ‘yes, this is a numbers guy’.

Here is Mike Smith giving the rules for the hunt (photo courtesy of Scott Overall)

 Today Gillis, Osaduik and I did a 45 minute tempo on some dirt roads with some decent hills.  The workout went well and I almost got through the whole thing without stomach issues.  It’s pretty common I guess up here that the altitude will effect your digestion in the first week or so (to put it simply, more gas).  I was lucky last year that it didn’t effect me too much.

 I was given 20 questions for Simon Whitfield and myself.  We had no clue what the questions were going to be beforehand. Here is the video split into three parts (my internet connection I get from neighbours here isn’t strong enough to upload it all at once). So here is Simon Whitfield, 2000 Olympic Gold Medallist and Reid Coolsaet, 2000 OUA XC silver medallist!

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Gillis and I arrived at Phoenix airport on Sunday and made the drive to Flagstaff with a stop in Sedona.  The only car they would give us for a one way rental to Flagstaff was the Nornee Mobile.  I knew it was supposed to be snowing in Flagstaff so I figured we would run in Sedona and skip the snow.  That wasn’t the case as there was snow on the ground in Sedona.  The run itself felt alright once my travel legs loosened up after the first 30 minutes.  Last year at this track I was running without a shirt and worried about getting a sunburn while doing abs on the infield, this year I was worried about slipping on the snow covered slickrock. 

On Monday, Gillis and I hooked up with Steve Osadiuk and Erik Kiauka for a run from the University to Sinclair Wash.  Yesterday we ran with Fasil Bizuneh from our place on the trails.  This morning we went into town for the infamous Bagel run to meet up with more runners.  I was overwhelmed, and so were others, with the 57 people outside Biff’s Bagels.  It was good to see some of the runners whom I met last year and a whole bunch more that I haven’t seen for a while.  There really is a TON of elite runners here, it’s quite amazing.  It’s great how the running community is very welcoming and supportive.

I started today’s run with a little limp as my foot was not cooperating but, I figured it would warm up.  After a few minutes it was apparent that I couldn’t keep running the way I was so I took off my shoe and stood on a stick and pressed down hard.  I head a crack, still not sure if it was the stick or the cuboid going back into place, but either way my foot immediately felt better and I was able to run with a normal stride for the rest of the run.   After the run everyone hung out at Biff’s and caught up and figured out if different groups could meet up for workouts and runs.  It seems like there should be a good group going for a long run on Sunday morning.  I also got a great idea for an upcoming blog post, and I’m going to try and make it happen, (thanks for the idea and everything else!!).

Our place is great, it has tons of room and we are close to trails.  The only problem is that we are pretty far East from downtown and the University.  I took the bus home after returning the rental car and I had to walk two miles further after the bus stop to our place.  Thank god we have bikes here, this afternoon we’re going to ride them to the NAU track for some strides.  We are taking our time getting acclimated to the altitude so our first workout will be Friday at Buffalo park for some mile and two mile repeats.

Here is our place.  There is no more snow on the house and yard as it’s been 12C and sunny lately.

Inside.

Since we had a car for a day it made sense to stock up on essentials.

I’m not sure who dislikes snow in Sedona more… myself or this plant (help me with a name Sean).  Enjoy the hat head.

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Tomorrow I’m off to Flagstaff, AZ with Eric Gillis and I can’t wait to get back there.  It really is a great training environment and there should be a lot less snow than here even though the Flagstaff forecast for tomorrow is calling for snow.  The plan is to do a run tomorrow in Sedona where it is warmer before finishing up the rest of the drive to Flag.

This week was a little tough for me, but in the big scheme it was not really that bad.  After the race last Saturday I felt good on my cool down and the next day did a couple of runs and felt pretty good. When I went to go running on Monday I didn’t make it a couple of minutes before my foot started hurting.  I pressed through a little more and called it quits after 25 minutes (planning on 100 minutes).  On Tuesday I cross-trained on the bike and in the pool and then I went to see Brenda at Speed River Physio and she was able to get my cuboid back in place.  I tested it out Wednesday and it was pretty good for most of my run.  On Thursday it was back to the bike and pool and another trip to Speed River Physio and to Marcel Meresz (RMT).  On Friday I was able to get in a workout with all the guys and the foot felt pretty good.

Today I did a long run with the guys and, special guests, Adrian Lambert and the DelMonte brothers on Crawley Rd.  Crawley is an out and back dirt road that is a haven for me in the winter months, soft surface, very little traffic and the right amount of rolling hills.  The run starts (and ends) at the Sleeman Brewery and after our two hour run we started talking about how it would be nice to have a beer in the parking lot on such a sunny day.  Cal got up and went right into the brewery store and brought out some Sleeman Original Draught.  I’m not usually one to have a beer right after a run, but today it really hit the spot.  Thanks again Cal.

And while I’m uploading photos from my phone, let me share this one.  Yes, that’s a toilet. Don’t ask.

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Flight from Buffalo, NY to Jacksonville, FL = $368.04

Airport shuttles= $75.00

Hotel in Jacksonville = $335.61

Competitive 15km = Priceless

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 Going into the race I, first and foremost, wanted a solid effort over 15km with people to run with, check that off.  I also wanted to finish in the top three and run under 44 minutes.  I didn’t get the time but, considering the wind (25mph with 40mph gusts) I was happy with 44 minuted and 25 seconds.  When the race was running through neighbourhoods and the wind was blocked we we’re able to roll  (my middle 5km was 14:27) and once the race got onto the massive bridge we ended up slowing down, myself and Fasil a little more than Carlson and Browne.  Speaking of Carlson, he deserved the win and the equalizer bonus as he led most of the race right from the gun. Overall a good weekend and I was happy to have raced my longest distance ever, that will help me out later this season when I run a 10 000m.

Because it’s a USATF championship race I was not able to receive prize money and get expenses covered and for good reason.  It also goes both ways, when US guys come up to Canada and beat me I get more prize money. I also didn’t have to pay for everything, Sam from NYRR took myself and a few other guys to dinner on Friday night and the meet Director, Doug, had the elite athletes over to his house on Saturday night for dinner and a nice reception, thanks again guys.

When I got back to Hamilton last night there was another foot of snow on the ground since I left for Jacksonville.  A good shovel workout followed a 50 minute run.  Now I’m back in Ontario for one week before I head out to Flagstaff on Sunday.

                                                                               10K        FINAL
PLACE          FINISHER                                 TIME        TIME     PACE 

1  Andrew Carlson, 25, Bloomington, MN        29:21          44:12    4:45
2  Dan Browne, 32, Beaverton, OR                 29:22        44:21    4:46
3  Reid Coolsaet, 28, Guelph, ON                   29:21          44:25    4:46
4  Fasil Bizuneh, 27, Flagstaff, AZ                   29:21         44:29    4:46
5  Brian Sell, 27, Rochester Hills, MI                29:22           44:47    4:48
6  Jason Hartmann, 26, Springfield, OR           29:34          44:57    4:49
 7  Bret Schoolmeester, 23, Cornelius, OR        29:45          45:21    4:52
 8  Fernando Cabada, 25, Boulder, CO             29:45           45:33    4:53
 9  Lucus Humprey, 26, Rochester, MI              29:49           45:35    4:53
 10  Brett Gotcher, 24, Flagstaff, AZ                 30:02         45:35    4:53
 11  Matt Gabrielson, 29, Minneapolis, MN       29:56           45:46    4:55

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I swear I’m keeping an eye on the lead pickup truck that we were passing due to the turns in the neighbourhood.

When it’s the week of a race I usually can’t wait for it to come.  Right now I want more time.  After my little tooth surgery on Monday I haven’t been feeling great.  I’m optimistic that I’ll be fine for Saturday, but I usually like to feel good leading up to a race.  The pain in my mouth that appeared an hour after the surgery was very intense. I didn’t think I’d use the prescribed pain killers, but I had to pop a couple yesterday afternoon.

I did get a good workout in on Monday morning as I was forced to do it before the periodontist.  That was probably a good thing as I’m not one for feeling good on morning runs and this 15km starts at 8:30am.  I don’t race on the roads much and track races are mostly in the afternoons or evenings and I train accordingly.  My last two workouts have been in the morning, so hopefully that will help me get used to it for this weekend.

It looks like there will be good competition… (usatf.org)

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