| 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 Glycerin 13 Miles: 65.00 | Saucony ISO Triumph 3 Miles: 100.17 |
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| | Goodwill Route; 9:07 pace.
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| Brooks Glycerin 13 Miles: 5.00 |
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| | Goodwill Route; 8:43 pace.
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| Saucony ISO Triumph 3 Miles: 6.00 |
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| | Race: |
Run Collingwood Half Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:54:00, Place overall: 57, Place in age division: 4 | | Okay, let's just put it out there: running a Half today, exactly 3 weeks after my 100 mile Ultra, was just plain stupid. Mea Culpa. In my defense, I signed up a while back without thinking it through clearly. In Canada, most races are held on Sundays, so I have to book a holiday to run them. It seems Americans have most of their races on Saturdays. Not sure, but I think you folks respect the Lord's Day a lot more than we do up here.
Anyway, this is one of those rare Saturday races, and just a 3 1/2 hour drive from here. So, I decided to run it as slow as I could, just for the fun of it. I actually paced this race 4 years ago; I think I paced it at 1:55, which is basically what I ran it at today.
Perfect day for it: started off at 8C/47F and rose to about 11C/52F. Light wind and cloudy, although the sun came out towards the end.
My right foot still aches from the Ultra (top of foot - nerve injury), and my right shin is still tender. So, I decided to aim for about a 2 hour race, and tried to run as much of it as possible on the gravel shoulder. That worked: when I ran there, no shin pain. On the pavement, a different story.
I found it SO HARD to hold back and keep my pace slow. However, at about mile 2, a man (Will) runs up beside me and we start talking. Continued for the next 10 miles. Turns out, he ran the Dopey Challenge this year. In fact, he was wearing one of the race shirts. So, we talked about that, and kept on talking about anything and everything. I felt he was pushing me a bit faster than I would have liked, but I think the reverse may have been true. He hadn't run since January, and he was struggling to keep pace towards the end. At mile 12, I had enough of this holding back. I was not breathing hard, and had not cracked a sweat. So, I picked it up and ran the last mile hard. Well, actually just at 7:06 pace, but it felt good to move faster.
Most of my mile splits were in the 8:45 range, which felt extremely comfortable. I was worried I was going to do more damage to my foot and shin, but I don't think I did. So, I'm glad I went and am happy with the way the race unfolded.
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| Saucony ISO Triumph 3 Miles: 13.17 |
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| | Goodwill Route; 8:33 pace. 4C/39F with a light rain.
Happy Thanksgiving to all the Canadians (91 showing on the Blog list, but I think I'm the only one left blogging). More turkey for me, eh?
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| Saucony ISO Triumph 3 Miles: 6.00 |
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| | Goodwill Route; clipped along at an 8:11 pace.
Things seem to be healing up; right shin is no longer sore and the right foot nerve damage is less painful every day. A new, rather annoying issue in the left Perroneal area. More tightness than soreness - keeping on eye on it, and not going to push my mileage just yet.
Oh, did 3 striders! Not far - just 20 or 30 yards each. Still - nice to do some speed for a change.
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| Brooks Glycerin 13 Miles: 6.00 |
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| | Goodwill Route; 8:19 pace.
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| Brooks Glycerin 13 Miles: 6.00 |
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| | Goodwill Route with an extension down Skead Road; 8:20 pace.
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| Saucony ISO Triumph 3 Miles: 8.00 |
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| | Goodwill Route; 8:05 pace. Light rain. Clipped along today, especially miles 3, 4 and 5. Still not entirely pain free in the right foot, but better every day.
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| Saucony ISO Triumph 3 Miles: 6.00 |
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| | Goodwill Route; 8:28 pace. I think I'm going to attempt some speed work at the track tomorrow. If I can remember what that looks like - it has been a while.
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| Brooks Glycerin 13 Miles: 6.00 |
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| | Speedwork at the track; it has been a VERY long time since I did that.
8 x 400 with 400 recoveries. Was going to start with just 6, but felt good and so added 2 more.
Pretty even splits at around 1:33, give or take a few seconds either way.
Oh, and a light snow. Still melting as it hits the ground, but it's coming.
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| Saucony ISO Triumph 3 Miles: 7.00 |
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| | Tempo Pace on the Goodwill Route. Figured that would be around 8:00/mile, but I am out of practice for Tempo runs, and ended up running them (miles 3, 4 and 5) at 7:41, 7:40 and 7:32. Too fast. Will have to reign that in.
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| Brooks Glycerin 13 Miles: 6.00 |
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| | Radar Road Route; 8:13 pace.
In the last 6 miles, I ended up running what my Tempo Pace should be: 8:00/mile. That's what I was aiming for yesterday.
Gorgeous Fall day. Hovering around 3C/38F, but sunny.
Body Check: all the achy parts post Ultra seem fine. Even that nerve damage on top of my right foot is no longer an issue.
12 weeks to Dopey. Not sure exactly how I should train, so am going to wing it.
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| Saucony ISO Triumph 3 Miles: 12.00 |
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| | Goodwill Route; 8:37 pace. Brisk morning, at -3C/27F and stiff wind.
I decided to switch back to training 6 days/week, at least for now. I will likely go back to 5 days/week next year when I gear up for my next 2 Ultras.
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| Brooks Glycerin 13 Miles: 5.00 |
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| | Radar Road Route; 8:28 pace. Light layer of snow on the ground.
Just got home from my monthly massage. LOTS of knots to be worked out, but Sophie did her magic.
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| Saucony ISO Triumph 3 Miles: 10.00 |
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| | Goodwill Route; 8:34 pace. Light rain. And dark - looking forward to moving the clocks back in 2 weeks.
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| Brooks Glycerin 13 Miles: 6.00 |
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| | Speedwork at the track this morning.
6 x 800 with 400 recoveries, with a goal time of 3:20/lap.
Actual lap times: 3:25 3:20 3:18 3:14 3:19 and 3:17
So, I'm actually pretty close to my goal. The first lap was done "blind", as it was too dark to see my watch. A good workout.
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| Saucony ISO Triumph 3 Miles: 8.00 |
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| | Goodwill Route; 8:29 pace.
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| Brooks Glycerin 13 Miles: 6.00 |
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| | 7 miles at Tempo Pace; Radar Road.
Tempo Mile One: Found a $50.00 bill on the road! Figured it was worth it, so stopped, turned around, picked it and put it in my pocket. Lost 14 seconds.
Tempo Pace was a bit more under control compared to last week, but still a little fast. I was aiming for something in the 7:50 - 7:55 range, and ended up with 7:46. Actually, accounting for the lost 14 seconds, it would have been 7:44.
I think, with cumulative fatigue, I'll slow down naturally over the next few weeks.
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| Saucony ISO Triumph 3 Miles: 10.00 |
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| | Goodwill Route; 8:32 pace. In the snow, which turned to sleet. Made for wet feet.
Afternoon run, as I slept in this morning. Late nights will be a thing of the past once the World Series is finished.
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| Brooks Glycerin 13 Miles: 6.00 |
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| | Radar Road Route; 8:16 pace.
Ended up running in the afternoon, as I had a funeral to attend this morning. That worked out well, as most of the snow that fell had melted by then.
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| Saucony ISO Triumph 3 Miles: 14.00 |
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| | Goodwill Route; 8:46 pace.
-5C/23F ... getting too cold for just the shorts and gloves. Will soon need to switch over to running pants and gloves.
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| Brooks Glycerin 13 Miles: 6.00 |
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| | Speedwork at the track.
4 x 1200 with 400 recoveries.
Aimed for a 5:05 interval. Ended up a bit slower at:
5:18 5:15 5:11 and 5:09
A few factors (excuses). I'm heavier than I want, by about 3 or 4 pounds. I didn't feel great from the start. I got my flu shot yesterday. It was cold (4C/39F) and raining steadily, making the track mushy. It was dark, so I couldn't see my lap splits for the first 3 intervals. And I had GI distress. In fact, I had to stop and go home after my second interval to use the bathroom, and then return to finish the workout.
But hey, I'll take it. Somthing is better than nothing.
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| Brooks Glycerin 13 Miles: 7.00 |
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| Brooks Glycerin 13 Miles: 65.00 | Saucony ISO Triumph 3 Miles: 100.17 |
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