| 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 12 Miles: 37.00 | Brooks Ghost 6 Green Miles: 17.00 | Brooks Ghost 5 Miles: 7.00 |
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| | Race: |
Massey Friendly Half Marathon (13.1 Miles) 02:28:04, Place overall: 74, Place in age division: 10 | | This will be an unusual race report, because it is more about my youngest sister - Cindy - who ran her 1st Half Marathon this morning. I'm SO proud of her! She made the decision to get herself into shape a couple of years ago, and has utterly transformed herself. About a year and a half ago, she started to run. Last year, I ran a mud run with her, and then her 1st 5k. She ran her 1st 10k this year in May, and today her first Half.
The Massey course is flat and scenic, run along the Spanish River. It started at 6:15 this morning, with temperatures at 17C/63F, and 99% humidity. It gradually warmed up to 20C/69F by the end of the race, with humidity staying in the mid 90% range.
She knew I'd be running with her. What she didn't know was that I'd be running beside her while holding a sign on a stick which read: "Her 1st Half Marathon - Go Cindy Go!" with an arrow pointing down to her :) Boy, she got LOTS of encouragement (by name) along the way from the other runners and from the volunteers at the aid stations. It was great!
We both crossed the finish line in 2:28:14. So, this was a very slow training run for me. I'm going to have to make a few adjustments to my own training plan this week. Although not a tough race, I was still on my feet for 2 1/2 hours, so I'm treating it as a long run and taking tomorrow off instead of running my repeats at the track (will move that to Tuesday).
But back to Cindy. She did not have a specific pace in mind, but generally wanted to finish somewhere between 2:15 and 2:35. And she did not want me to pace her, so I just let her choose the pace and ran next to her.
She started off a bit too fast, as all of us tend to do, and it cost her later on. She had to make one porta potty stop (I did too), and she really struggled over the final 3 miles, and had to walk off and on. She was feeling nauseous at that point, and wasn't sure if she was going to be sick. But she toughed it out, and ran the final half mile and a bit.
Her mile splits (she was running them in km, but I was measuring in miles):
1 - 10:04 2 - 9:41 3 - 10:31 4 - 10:34 5 - 11:03 6 - 10:37 7 - 10:58
8 - 10:55 9 - 11:18 10 - 11:30 11 - 12:00 12 - 12:52 13 - 11:33
Final .1 - 2:08. Overall Average = 11:01/mile.
My watch automatically stopped timing at her bathroom break, and so my time shows her running the race in 2:25:42 (and she had to wait a minute for the porta potty to be available). So, she lost 2 1/2 minutes there.
Overall, I think she did great. And I have a sneaking suspicion that she will not only keep running, but that a full marathon might be on her agenda at some future date.
Go Cindy Go!!! :)
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| Brooks Glycerin 12 Miles: 13.00 |
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| | Comments(1) |
| | Speedwork at the track today. I'm glad I moved it from yesterday, as I needed that day off after the Sunday Half.
Last year, this is the workout where it all fell apart. Injuries - time off from training - spin bike - etc. Not this year. I nailed it and I feel great!
Today's workout was a progressive step. 7 sets consisting of 400/800/1200/1600/1200/800/400. My pace is set at a 7 minute/mile.
I ran my splits slightly faster than pace, and felt strong at the end of each one, so I'm pumped. My splits:
400 - 1:44 800 - 3:25 1200 - 5:07 1600 - 6:44 1200 - 5:02 800 - 3:21 400 - 1:38
So, I actually ran faster towards the end. All seems well - a few minor aches I'm watching, but just normal stuff. Nothing that would indicate overtraining, overstress, or impending doom. So all is good one third of the way through my training program.
Since I moved my speedwork to today, I'll run easy tomorrow and run my tempo workout on Thursday instead.
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| Brooks Ghost 6 Green Miles: 9.00 |
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| | 7 easy miles; 8:56 pace. Felt good - no lingering effects from yesterday's track work. A gorgeous morning, and just 12C/53F. Perfect for running.
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| Brooks Ghost 5 Miles: 7.00 |
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| | Tempo run; pace of 7:47/mile. A bit faster than goal pace, so I'll have to tone it down a bit going forward. Still, I felt strong throughout - sure didn't feel like I was pushing it.
Started to practice eating on the run today. A jelly bean every km, which mimics my marathon plan of a chew every km. Just to get in the habit, and to get my stomach used to the carbs while at race pace.
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| Brooks Glycerin 12 Miles: 10.00 |
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| | 8 easy miles; 9:17/mile pace. Beautiful morning for running - 15C/59F with no wind or humidity.
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| Brooks Ghost 6 Green Miles: 8.00 |
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| | 14 mile long run. Nailed my goal pace at 8:33/mile for the 1st 11 miles, with no more than 2 seconds variation up and down from that. I'm getting better at pacing myself, it seems.
Then did the "1-2-3 go" technique and opened it up a bit for the final 3 miles, and ran those in 7:38, 7:33 and 7:13.
I felt strong throughout. It was warm (for me) at 18C/65F and with humidity at 95%, but there was a gentle breeze which felt good on the face.
Five minutes after getting home, the skies opened up and it is now raining quite hard, so I just missed that.
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| Brooks Glycerin 12 Miles: 14.00 |
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| Brooks Glycerin 12 Miles: 37.00 | Brooks Ghost 6 Green Miles: 17.00 | Brooks Ghost 5 Miles: 7.00 |
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