| 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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| Saucony ISO Triumph 4 Miles: 72.00 | Brooks Glycerin 13 Miles: 84.00 | Nike Zoom Vomero 13 Miles: 18.00 | Saucony ISO Triumph 4 Miles: 18.00 |
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| | Easy treadmill run; 9:30 pace.
So, I have my new training schedule all worked out. Sinister 7 (100 miles) is 22 weeks from today. Sulphur Springs (50 miles) is 16 weeks from today.
Basically, I'm using the same program as I did in preparation for the Haliburton 100 last year. That means going back down to running just 5 days/week. Sundays and Thursdays will be rest days. Most Wednesdays will be speed days (relative to the distance, so not terribly fast).
Most of the mileage piles up on the Fridays and Saturdays - my "back to backs". I'll peak out at three weeks with 70 miles - two in May and one in June.
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| Saucony ISO Triumph 4 Miles: 10.00 |
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| | Treadmill; 9:30 pace.
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| Brooks Glycerin 13 Miles: 8.00 |
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| | Treadmill; 9:31 pace. Really stiff muscles in my legs for some reason this morning. Will have to make a date with my foam roller later on.
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| Saucony ISO Triumph 4 Miles: 6.00 |
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| | Took it nice and easy on the treadmill; 9:50 pace. My sore and tired legs were grateful for the slower miles.
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| Brooks Glycerin 13 Miles: 8.00 |
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| | Easy treadmill run; 9:31 pace. Starting to count down the days when I can get back outside. The longer my Saturday runs become, the more I'll want to get off the treadmill.
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| Saucony ISO Triumph 4 Miles: 6.00 |
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| | Long run on the treadmill; 9:25 pace.
Read through the Sinister 7 race package again this morning. 21 weeks away!
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| Brooks Glycerin 13 Miles: 16.00 |
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| | Easy treadmill; 9:24 pace.
Bit of an achy back. Yesterday, I joined a small work crew to help a friend move a bunch of very large and very heavy windows from one place to another. We used arm straps. My partner was 6'5", so had a very distinct advantage over me. I'll survive!
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| Saucony ISO Triumph 4 Miles: 7.00 |
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| | Easy treadmill run; 9:22 pace.
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| Brooks Glycerin 13 Miles: 5.00 |
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| | Treadmill; 9:13 pace.
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| Saucony ISO Triumph 4 Miles: 7.00 |
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| | 5 Easy Treadmill Miles; 9:13 pace.
It's moot, because I'm running indoors. But outdoors, with the windchill, it's -37C/-35F. You KNOW it's cold when both units of measure are the same!
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| Brooks Glycerin 13 Miles: 5.00 |
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| | Comments(2) |
| | Long treadmill run; kept a steady 9:31 pace throughout.
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| Saucony ISO Triumph 4 Miles: 14.00 |
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| | Add Comment |
| | Treadmill; 9:31 pace.
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| Saucony ISO Triumph 4 Miles: 8.00 |
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| | Treadmill; 9:22 pace.
Good thing I have a massage booked this afternoon. I really did a number on my back yesterday cutting down trees with a chainsaw. Ouch!
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| Brooks Glycerin 13 Miles: 6.00 |
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| | It has been 24 days since my Marathon, so I figured it was okay to get back to more intense workouts. Wednesdays are for speedwork.
5 x 800 @ 7:30 pace, with warm up, cool down and recoveries @ 9:31.
Funny thing, but about half way through the workout, I realized my left foot did not hurt at all for the first time since last summer. Not sure if it's because of the speed, yesterday's massage, the ibuprofin I took because of the sore back, or just finally healing. Or a combination of the above. Either way, I hope it lasts.
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| Saucony ISO Triumph 4 Miles: 8.00 |
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| | Treadmill; 9:22 pace. Thinking of running my 18 miler outside tomorrow. Maybe. We'll see ...
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| Brooks Glycerin 13 Miles: 8.00 |
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| | Finally - an outside run! Radar Road with an average pace of 8:36. Faster than I wanted, but the body wanted to move.
I started just before the sun came up. Beautiful, clear skies with just a light to moderate breeze. -5C/23F. My fingers were cold with just the gloves to start, but once the sun came up they were fine.
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| Nike Zoom Vomero 13 Miles: 18.00 |
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| | Back to the treadmill; 9:31 pace.
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| Brooks Glycerin 13 Miles: 8.00 |
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| | Treadmill easy run; 9:31 pace.
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| Saucony ISO Triumph 4 Miles: 6.00 |
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| | Speedwork on the treadmill.
5 x 800 @ 7:13 pace with 800 recoveries.
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| Brooks Glycerin 13 Miles: 8.00 |
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| | Treadmill @ 9:31 pace. I started to put hills into the longer runs; almost 3 miles worth today.
Like 97.7% of the rest of the world, I did not get my name drawn for the New York Marathon. Ah well. No loss. This was the one year when I did not really want to run it, for various reasons.
2021, however ... I will see if I can run a Half this Fall fast enough to qualify. I have my eye on Collingwood. It's just 13 weeks after the Sinister 7, so maybe it won't give me enough time to recover and then work on my speed. But it's a Saturday morning race close by, and I can't take any more weekends this year, so that will be the goal.
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| Brooks Glycerin 13 Miles: 12.00 |
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| | I SO wanted to run outside, but we had a MAJOR dump of snow on Thursday and the roads are terrible. Plus it's COLD. So, I got up thinking treadmill, but then changed my mind and headed out.
Instead of the highway with buried shoulders, I decided to do the Goodwill Drive Route three times. Turned out to be a good decision. Not much traffic on it, and it was good running. It also brought me home after 6 miles and 12 miles to hydrate and thaw out. My hand held froze after the first 3 miles, so that was useless.
To start, it was -19C/-2F, but as the sun got a bit higher, it warmed up all the way to -15C/4F. The wind didn't help. But it was SO nice to be outside for the long run again.
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| Saucony ISO Triumph 4 Miles: 18.00 |
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| | Comments(2) |
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| Saucony ISO Triumph 4 Miles: 72.00 | Brooks Glycerin 13 Miles: 84.00 | Nike Zoom Vomero 13 Miles: 18.00 | Saucony ISO Triumph 4 Miles: 18.00 |
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