| 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 6 Green Miles: 36.00 | Brooks Glycerin 12 Miles: 70.00 | Brooks Ghost 6 Gold Miles: 70.00 |
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| | Took it outside again, since moving the clocks back meant I had more morning light. Picked up the pace a bit, with the 5 miles averaging 8:33. A little tight still, but nothing too bad. I'm hoping to get up over 30 miles this week.
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| Brooks Ghost 6 Green Miles: 5.00 |
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| | 3rd day in a row outside, just when I thought I was stuck on the treadmill for the winter. Nice.
6 easy miles - 8:51 pace. Felt easy, and no aches anywhere. Again, nice.
Massage booked for this afternoon - my post marathon treat.
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| Brooks Ghost 6 Green Miles: 6.00 |
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| | Back outside - gorgeous morning. 5C/42F with little to no wind. Ran a bit faster than planned, so I guess it means my body has fully recovered from the marathon. Even did some jump squats last night. Ran the 6 miles at an average 8:08 pace.
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| Brooks Ghost 6 Green Miles: 6.00 |
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| | 5 miles outside; 8:23 pace. Another warm morning - 8C/46F - with a heavy fog and no wind. Last year at this time we were buried in snow already. Gotta love it this year.
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| Brooks Glycerin 12 Miles: 5.00 |
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| | Took it to the treadmill this morning. It was warm, but the rain was torrential and the wind was something else. Turned out the power for 5 hours this morning. I'm glad I got my run in 1st!
Anyway, 5 easy treadmill miles. No problems; plan on running either 7 or 8 tomorrow outside - supposed to be right at freezing, but no rain/snow.
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| Brooks Ghost 6 Gold Miles: 5.00 |
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| | Gorgeous morning after yesterday's storm, so I was glad to run my outside route today. 8 miles at an average 8:23 pace. Felt great. Four weeks after Chicago and I'm up to 35 miles and no aches to speak of.
1C/34F with clear skies and no wind.
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| Brooks Glycerin 12 Miles: 8.00 |
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| | 6 miles at 8:26 pace. Cool morning at -3C/27F, but no wind and a stunning sunrise.
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| Brooks Glycerin 12 Miles: 6.00 |
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| | Took it to the track this morning for a bit of speedwork. Just 3 x 400 @ 6:00/mile pace with a lot of easy miles. Just to see. No problems as far as I can tell.
I also wanted to get some idea of my maximum heart rate - never actually tested myself for that. I knew it was higher than normal, based on my easy runs heart rate, but didn't know how high. Well, I hit 201 as a maximum, which is what I was guessing. So I'm 30 bpm above 'average'.
Also discovered last night that the Hanson's wrote a training book for half marathons. Great news for me - I followed their marathon training program my last 2 races and BQ'd both times. I'm hoping to work on my speed a bit more over the next year, and will run the Ottawa Half in May, so plan on using their technique. I'm curious to see how it plays out - I would love to run a faster Half PR this coming year. So, the book is ordered. Along with a Dr. Seuss book, just for fun! :)
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| Brooks Glycerin 12 Miles: 6.00 |
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| | 6 easy miles; 8:23 pace. Foggy morning - zero wind - temperature of -3C/28F.
Gave a blood donation on Monday, so I'll feel that in my running for a bit. Also got my flu shot yesterday, and my tetanus, so hopefully will be healthy through the winter.
Bought a new LED headlight for running yesterday; seems to work well - better visibility on these early morning runs is always a plus.
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| Brooks Glycerin 12 Miles: 6.00 |
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| | 6 wet miles; 8:22 pace. Not a downpour, but steady and cold. Almost sleet. 4C/39F. But no wind, so not so bad.
My new head strobe light is working really well. The cars approaching are slowing down - almost to a stop in some cases. And pulling right over. Before they almost made it a sport to see how close they could get to me. All good.
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| Brooks Ghost 6 Green Miles: 6.00 |
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| | 5 miles at an 8:04 pace. Our first snowfall - a little psychedelic running in the dark with my strobe head light reflecting off the snow. 0C/32F, so a wet snow that is mostly melting when it hits the ground. Didn't look at my GPS during the run, and was a little surprised at the speed - it felt great though - never felt like I was really pushing it.
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| Brooks Glycerin 12 Miles: 5.00 |
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| | 10 miles at an average 8:03 pace. -7C/19F with a 12 mph west wind. I didn't think that was too bad, until I turned the corner for my 3 miles west facing section. Wow - was it cold! I really didn't dress for it, and my hands (and a few other body parts) were quite numb by the time I got home. I was glad for a long, hot shower.
The good news is, for the next week at least, we won't hit these temperatures again. The roads were icy this morning, and so I had to be careful not to slip.
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| Brooks Glycerin 12 Miles: 10.00 |
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| | 6 easy miles; 8:28 pace. A bit warmer today at 1C/34F, and little wind.
I'm feeling okay, so will attempt some speedwork at the track tomorrow.
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| Brooks Ghost 6 Green Miles: 6.00 |
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| | A little speedwork at the track today. 8 x 400 with 400 jogs. Kept my 400 splits between 1:29 and 1:34. Was pushing it a bit, but felt good overall. Cold morning (1C/34F), but it felt fine once the sun came up.
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| Brooks Ghost 6 Green Miles: 7.00 |
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| | 7 easy miles; 8:28 pace. A bit warmer today at 6C/42F, and the rain held off until I finished the run.
My new strobe headlamp paid for itself in spades today, as 2 different cars came speeding out of sidestreets with no intention of stopping at the stop sign until they saw my light and screeched to a halt.
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| Brooks Glycerin 12 Miles: 7.00 |
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| | 6 easy miles; 8:39 pace. Actually warmed up a fair bit - was almost too warm for the long sleeves, and I was able to ditch the gloves at 10C/50F. A strong wind, however -35kph/22mph -slowed me down the middle 2 miles.
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| Brooks Glycerin 12 Miles: 6.00 |
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| | 52 minutes for 6 easy miles on the treadmill. I was all set to run outside, but changed my mind when I saw how heavy the snow was falling, and with a pretty fierce wind blowing. Better to run indoors today.
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| Brooks Ghost 6 Gold Miles: 6.00 |
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| | 11 miles long, at a 7:57 pace. Colder than I expected - I should have worn mitts instead of gloves. And my sports drink turned to slush about a third of the way in. It was minus 5C/23F with a touch of wind.
Anyway, a big snow storm is heading this way later today, and I was glad to get this run in before it hit. I much prefer the roads over the treadmill.
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| Brooks Glycerin 12 Miles: 11.00 |
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| | 6 easy miles on the treadmill this morning; 52 minutes of run time.
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| Brooks Ghost 6 Gold Miles: 6.00 |
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| | Speedwork on the treadmill today. 6 x 800 with 400 recoveries. Repeats I ran at various paces (I'm configuring my treadmill so I know its speed more accurately). So, my mile paces were 6:25 6:19 6:33 6:07 and twice at 6:44.
Now I know which setting to use going forward ... my goal pace for speedwork is 6:25/mile.
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| Brooks Ghost 6 Gold Miles: 8.00 |
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| | 2 miles at tempo pace - the other 5 easy. On the treadmill, as there is still a lot of ice on the streets from the storm the other day.
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| Brooks Ghost 6 Gold Miles: 7.00 |
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| | 6 easy treadmill miles. Ice storm last night and I'm not taking a chance on the roads.
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| Brooks Ghost 6 Gold Miles: 6.00 |
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| | 6 easy treadmill miles.
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| Brooks Ghost 6 Gold Miles: 6.00 |
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| | Long run on the treadmill. 12 miles for 98 minutes; a pace of 8:10/mile.
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| Brooks Ghost 6 Gold Miles: 12.00 |
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| | 6 treadmill miles; 8:27 pace.
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| Brooks Ghost 6 Gold Miles: 6.00 |
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| | Speedwork on the treadmill. 6 x 800 with 400 recoveries. 6:24/mile pace for the splits - easy to keep it even on the treadmill!
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| Brooks Ghost 6 Gold Miles: 8.00 |
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| Brooks Ghost 6 Green Miles: 36.00 | Brooks Glycerin 12 Miles: 70.00 | Brooks Ghost 6 Gold Miles: 70.00 |
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