| Location: Garson - Sudbury,ON,Canada Member Since: Apr 20, 2013 Gender: Male Goal Type: Other Running Accomplishments: I ran my first marathon in 1998: "The Friendly Marathon" in Massey, Ontario. I was 32. I had never raced in a shorter event, and I trained really poorly - ended up running it in 4:00:30. After that, I gave up running for the most part for 6 years. I got into karate a bit more seriously, until I got my knee kicked out and had ACL surgery. Then I became a 'fair weather runner' and started to run half marathons every so often. As a priest, entering weekend races always meant having to book a holiday, so it just didn't happen much. My holidays were primarily focussed on various canoe and kayak trips.
At some point, I started training more consistently, and started to think of myself as a runner. I guess doing that in your 40's is better than never doing it at all. I even started to wonder if I had it in me to qualify for Boston. Well, I did. First time didn't count, I suppose, since I didn't make the "cut". But the second time was a charm, and on my sixth Marathon, run in Chicago in 2015, I beat my BQ by almost 6 minutes. And now, running a BQ is routine for me, not that I have any desire to run Boston again.
Through it all, I've made tons of mistakes - and have had lots of injuries to show for it. Hopefully, now that I'm in my late 50's, I'm a bit wiser and can use that to my advantage to continue running for a very long time.
My PRs:
5k (12 run): Guelph, ON. October 10, 2016 (50 yrs.) 20:10
10k (10 run): Collingwood October 5, 2013 (47 yrs.) 43:37
Half Marathon (26 run): Cleveland May 18, 2014 (48 yrs) 1:33:08
Marathon (12 run): Ste-Jerome, QC October 3, 2021 (55 yrs.) 3:22:10
Ultras (8 run):
Run for the Toad 50k Trail September 30, 2017 (51 yrs.) 5:31:23
Niagara Falls 100k June 17, 2018 (52 yrs.) 12:26:30
That Dam Hill 24 hours September 15-16, 2018 Completed 100 Miles in 23:20:44
Sulphur Springs 50 mile Trail May 25, 2019 10:37:27
May 25, 2024 9:21:26
Limberlost 35 Mile Trail July 6, 2024 8:12:57
Haliburton Forest 100 mile Trail September 7-8, 2019 26:46:27
September 7-8, 2024 DNF after 65 miles/16 hours
Pacing my sister in her 1st Half Marathon. Short-Term Running Goals: I really want to take on the Haliburton 100 again, after it kicked my butt in 2024, but I'm going to wait until 2026 to take it on again, when I'm 60 years old.
For 2025, I want to try running a Backyard Ultra, just to see how far I can run.
So, a couple of fun runs: 30K Around the Bay in March, and Pick Your Poison 50K in April, followed by Coach D's Backyard in May. That one only runs for 24 hours, so I'm using it to see how I handle the format, in view of running my goal race for 2025: The Bush Bitches Backyard, here in my hometown of Sudbury, in October. Let the training begin! Long-Term Running Goals: Run until this old body of mine won't let me run any more. I was inspired in the Spring of 2016, watching the start of the Ottawa Marathon. Near the back of the pack was an 'old man', running with his walker. I loved it! I thought ... there's me in 20 years. Maybe.  Personal: I am a Roman Catholic priest of 31 years, ministering in the Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie. I spent 8 years ministering in the small town of Wawa (where I helped establish the annual Blackfly Run) and 9 years in Sault Ste. Marie. I have been in the Sudbury region now for 14 years. Currently I Pastor 2 small Parishes: St. John the Evangelist in Garson, and St. Bernardine of Siena in Skead, covering the area just Northeast of the city, surrounding the Sudbury Airport. |
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| Brooks Ghost 5 Miles: 16.00 | Brooks Glycerin Miles: 27.00 | Mizuno Wave Elixir 8 Miles: 13.00 | Hoka - Rapa Tarmac Miles: 50.00 |
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| | 6 treadmill miles; running time of 51:43.
Sure glad for that treadmill; it is -41 here today, and that works out to the same number in both Celcius and Fahrenheit. COLD!
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| Brooks Ghost 5 Miles: 6.00 |
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| | Comments(4) |
| | 5 treadmill miles; running time of 43:40.
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| Brooks Glycerin Miles: 5.00 |
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| | Speedwork on the treadmill today - 1000 x 5 at a 6:49 pace.
Everything went well, except for my last mile cool down - right hamstring seized up very suddenly and very painfully. Forced me to cut my cool down short. I don't know what that was about - kind of came out of left field. I did some strength work last night - including hamstring work - so maybe that was it.
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| Mizuno Wave Elixir 8 Miles: 6.00 |
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| | 5 treadmill miles; running time of 44:50. Tried to keep it slow and steady, since my hamstrings are still sore from yesterday's incident. Have been stretching and foam rolling them. Ouch.
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| Hoka - Rapa Tarmac Miles: 5.00 |
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| | 5 treadmill miles; running time of 44:00. Right hamstring is still tight and a little sore, but didn't seem to bother me while running. I'm going to run 13 miles tomorrow, and then we'll see how it's holding up.
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| Brooks Glycerin Miles: 5.00 |
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| | 13 treadmill miles, with a running time of 1:53:50.
Great news - no hamstring pain or tightness at all. I woke up with it feeling great, and the run caused it no problems. Hurray!
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| Hoka - Rapa Tarmac Miles: 13.00 |
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| | 5 treadmill miles; running time of 43:00.
Back to sunshine, but bitterly cold at -36 with the windchill. Sure glad for the treadmill!
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| Brooks Ghost 5 Miles: 5.00 |
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| | 6 treadmill miles; running time of 53:10.
Massage helped a lot yesterday. Massage Therapist said my hips were WAY out of whack, which was pulling up on my right hamstring. She fixed that, but I'll have to focus more on stretching my hips to prevent that from happening again.
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| Brooks Glycerin Miles: 6.00 |
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| | Speedwork on the treadmill today. 1200 x 4 with 400 jogs.
No hamstring issues this week - wonderful!
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| Mizuno Wave Elixir 8 Miles: 7.00 |
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| | Comments(2) |
| | 5 treadmill miles; running time of 43:50.
Hamstring tightened up right at mile 3, but slowing down let me finish the run.
COLD day here - minus 38, which is basically the same in both C and F. Ouch!
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| Brooks Glycerin Miles: 5.00 |
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| | 5 treadmill miles; running time of 43:45. That right hamstring is still tight, but not so bad that I couldn't run on it.
It's minus 35 today. Sure glad for the treadmill!
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| Brooks Ghost 5 Miles: 5.00 |
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| | 13 treadmill miles; running time of 1:53:20.
Still tightness in that right hamstring, but obviously it did not prevent me from running.
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| Hoka - Rapa Tarmac Miles: 13.00 |
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| | 6 treadmill miles; running time of 52:20.
Today is the Grimsby Half Marathon, which I ran last year. It's a 5 hour drive, and I couldn't make it this year. Last year, it was very cold, and it's the same today: -26C or -14F. That's not the reason I didn't go, but brrr!
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| Brooks Glycerin Miles: 6.00 |
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| | Add Comment |
| | 6 treadmill miles; running time of 52:20.
Right hamstring tightened up just in the last minute, so I still need to pay attention to that body part.
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| Hoka - Rapa Tarmac Miles: 6.00 |
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| | Well, I couldn't run yesterday. Within minutes of starting on the treadmill, my right hamstring was screaming. So, after 2 weeks of nurturing it and running through the pain/tightness, I figured my best option was to rest it. And I'm back on ibuprofin and daily icing. Hopefully I won't have to take more than a few days off.
Today I spent 1 hour on my spin bike instead. 4 minutes of cycling/1 minute of hard stand up repeated 12 times. I don't enjoy that nearly as much as running, but I'm glad I can do it with no pain.
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| | 13 treadmill miles; running time of 1:56:30.
After taking 3 days off with no running, I figured I'd see how it went with that hamstring today. It felt tight from the start, but not painful. It got no worse as I went, and maybe even felt a little better in the latter miles. So, I'm hopeful. I'll keep icing it. Next week was meant to be a bit slower anyway, so maybe that extra rest will do it (no speedwork). The week after I want to start my half marathon program, as I'll only be 12 weeks out from Traverse City.
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| Hoka - Rapa Tarmac Miles: 13.00 |
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| | Well, I decided to not run at all this week to see if that hamstring issue will clear up. It is still nagging me, and I'm pretty sure going into a training cycle now will only lead to more anguish.
So, I'll be on the spin bike all week. Oh joy.
Today: One hour. 1 minute hard standing/4 minutes easy x 12.
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| | Same as yesterday; 1 hour on the spin bike. 1 fast/4 slow x 12.
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| | Same as yesterday; 1 hour on the spin bike. 1 fast/4 slow x 12.
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| | Same as yesterday; 1 hour on the spin bike. 1 fast/4 slow x 12.
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| | Same as yesterday; 1 hour on the spin bike. 1 fast/4 slow x 12.
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| | Same as yesterday; 1 hour on the spin bike. 1 fast/4 slow x 12.
That's 6 days on the bike. The right hamstring has not been an issue, but when I stretch it, I can still feel some tightness in it. Still, I'm going to start running again on Monday. It's actually the 'official' start day of my half marathon training program, so I'm anxious to see if I'm past the worst part of the pain. If nothing else, I'll slow things down and go easy on the speedwork until I know things are healed.
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| Brooks Ghost 5 Miles: 16.00 | Brooks Glycerin Miles: 27.00 | Mizuno Wave Elixir 8 Miles: 13.00 | Hoka - Rapa Tarmac Miles: 50.00 |
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