I have come across a number of good quotes about running over the last year of so and thought I would share some of them here. I would love to hear other ones that you have…please use the comments to add yours.

“I’m going to go out a winner if I have to find a high school race to win my last race.” - Johnny Gray

“You have to forget your last marathon before you try another. Your mind can’t know what’s coming.” - Frank Shorter

“If you want to run, then run a mile. If you want to experience another life, run a marathon.” - Emil Zatopek

“Jogging through the forest is pleasant, as is relaxing by the fire with a glass of gentle Bordeaux and discussing one’s travels. Racing is another matter. The frontrunner’s mind is filled with an anguished fearfulness, a panic, which drives into pain.” - Kenny Moore

“To a runner, a side stitch is like a car alarm. It signifies something is wrong, but you ignore it until it goes away.” - Anonymous

“Run Smart…Kick some Gluteus Maximus.” - Anonymous

“Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.”
-Japanese Proverb

“It hurts up to a point and then it doesn’t get any worse.” - Ann Trason

“The will to win means nothing if you haven’t the will to prepare.” - Juma Ikangaa, 1989 NYC Marathon winner

Had a good week of training with excellent mileage and good average pace being logged.

Sunday: A comfortable 18-K run at a slower pace. The goal of this run was to get some good mileage at a comfortable pace - essentially to get the legs used to running longer distances.
Monday: Off
Tuesday: A fast run a of about 4.8-K. My Garmin was showing only 4.65 but I know it was 4.8. The watch seems to have some trouble downtown, especially when it was as cloudy as it has been in Calgary.
Wednesday: This week began the steady increase of mileage to be completed during the weekdays. Today was an awesome 9.6-K run that felt awesome. Over the next few weeks the Wednesday and Friday runs will increase in length. This will be a challenge to complete as my work commitments will no doubt make these runs difficult to get it.
Thursday: Another 4.8-K (again with the watch reading wrong downtown), this time at a slow pace. This run was a struggle as I was tired and not into the run.
Friday: The second longer run during the weekdays. This was a great run - I ran fast and it felt great. I went 9.6-K.

This was a good week of training and I felt that I became a stronger runner as a result. The next number of weeks will be challenging as the mileage increases.

As a follow up to this post, I had a body fat test done at the gym I weight train at on Friday morning. The result - 16.5% body fat. According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition I am well within acceptable guidelines. As I can’t see abs yet, I am not at my goal but I will get there. It may take awhile but I will do it.

Don’t get me wrong here - in the title of this post I am not referring to the type of pain that has a runner doing permanent damage to a knee or Achilles heel because they decided to “run through” the pain. This is not a good thing to do.

What I do mean is that in the course of training for a running race, there must be some level of discomfort in order to make some gains. This discomfort can come from either running longer distances on a particular day, upping your mileage for the week, running hills, or simply running faster. If it doesn’t hurt once in awhile then I believe that you are not doing it right.

I had one of those runs today. It was short - 4.8-K - but I ran it fast. My normal pace for a run is around 5:45 minute/km. Today I ran a pace of 5:05 minute/km. This was pushing it for me and it was a little uncomfortable to be honest. I was glad when it was over. However, I know that this will make me a better runner and more likely to be able to meet my goal of running at a 5:24 to finish under 4 hours.

I am not saying this should be done every training day - but mixing it up a bit is a good strategy to ensure you shock your body into adapting.

Although I love the sheer act of running and the high that I get after completing an especially long run, one of my primary motivations for running is to become a lean mean runnin’ machine. Notice I did not say lose weight - what I am looking for is reducing my body fat and increasing my muscle.

I did some research on the best way to achieve this and came across a good article by the Serpentine Running Club. Their summary of the steps to manage body fat is as follows:

1. To lose fat, you need to eat fewer calories or burn more energy
2. Don’t diet: run instead.
3. Don’t begin a diet and start to run at the same time
4. To lose more body fat, exercise more
5. Rebalance what you eat
6. Drink plenty of water
7. Focus on your body fat, not your weight
8. Running more slowly will not burn more fat
9. Exercising part of the body does not reduce the fat in that part of the body
10. Don’t overdo it

I have contacted the fitness club I work out at and have asked to schedule a body composition analysis. During this analysis, they will take a number of measurements, including body fat percentage. My plan is to have this done every month to track my progress through my training. I will report on that within this blog (including some pictures I hope!)

I had a pretty good week in my the training for the marathon. Busy commitments at work meant that I had to be creative in when I would get my runs in but it happened nonetheless. Here is how the week played out, as tracked and displayed by my Garmin:

A good week with approximately 42-K logged at an average pace of 5:45 minutes per kilometer. This week was a lot better than last week as I seem to have my groove back after a bit of a layoff. Now I just wish it would warm up a bit in Calgary so that I don’t have to “suit” up as much.

“You don’t run against a bloody stop watch, do you hear? A runner runs against himself, against the best that’s in him. Not against a dead thing of wheels and pulleys. That’s the way to be great, running against yourself. Against all the rotten mess in the world. Against God, if you’re good enough.” - Bill Persons

Running is an individual sport. The sheer act of going out for the run can be a tough thing to conquer. Then there is the process of getting better - improving your time, improving your distance, improving you speed. These are things that you must do on your own to succeed at running.

Motivation is the only thing that gets us out there each and every day to separate ourselves from the world around us. What is your motivation?

My motivation can be broken down into a few different goals:

1. To maintain a healthy weight and body fat percentage so that frankly, I look good (to me anyway!)
2. To ensure my heart and cardiovascular system are operating at its peak condition at all time so that I can enjoy life with my wife and kids for a very long time.
3. To say that I am a runner - I find people treat dedicated runners with a certain level of respect - running shows that you have your life together.
4. To say that I have run races - a marathon especially. Again, there are only a handful of people who have actually run a race, especially a marathon, and I want to be one of those people.

So I ask again, what is your motivation to run?

“Running is a big question mark that’s there each and every day. It asks you, ‘Are you going to be a wimp or are you going to be strong today?’” - Peter Maher

I, as usual, had a crazy day at work. My days are usually filled with meetings and today was no exception. Usually I try to run at lunch, but today I ended up having to conduct an unscheduled interview over the lunch break that made it impossible to get out for my run.

This was a very stressful for me. I love to get my runs in and feel guilty if I don’t. It is not an obsessive thing or anything like that (ok, maybe a little bit) but coming from where I have come from - 60 pounds heavier and unable to run even 2 and 1’s - it is very important that I do not let my schedule slip.

I did however manage to get my run in anyway. My wife was kind enough to “let” me go out before dinner. I completed the 4.8-K and feel much better. Now if my day will only go as planned tomorrow so that I can get the scheduled 8-K in…

As many of my weekly runs happen during the lunch hour, I have been finding that my hunger and lack of energy have been making these runs a bit harder than they need to be.

I am an early riser; I leave my house at around 5:00 am, hit the gym from about 5:30 - 6:30, eat at about 7:00 am, and then work all morning until I run at around noon. What you will notice is that I don’t eat between my 7:00 am meal and my run. Frankly, there is not much time in there to eat as I am often going from one meeting to the next.

This 5 hour fast is affecting my running. I have read all the research that says that 5 to 6 meals per day is what a person should strive for in order to maintain constant blood sugar and reduce cravings. I have thought how I could achieve this and I think the simplest thing will be to down a banana or some other high-fiber, high energy type of snack at about 10:00 am and then about 11:45 am right before I go out on my run. I think this should help with the energy level for my run, allowing me to train a bit harder and burn even more calories. It should also help me enjoy my runs more. I will let you know how it works out. If you have any suggestions, please do not hesitate to comment.

Sometimes the best motivation to run is eating a lot of crap during the weekend. This weekend was one of celebration as my son turned 5 and we had family and friends with us. Of course that meant there was a lot of food - chips, dips, pop,etc.

Although I was a little worried about how my run was going to go, and it took a little extra energy to will myself to get out there, I went for my 16-K Sunday long run. Knowing I had some extra calories to burn off made it that much easier - it was an awesome run.

I ran slow (average pace = 6:00 minute kilometer) and listened to an audiobook on my iPod. The first few km’s were a bit rough but I got into a rhythm and I started to feel like I was before my week and a half break. About time! The cool thing was I burned about 1200 calories. Give me another piece of cake.

Although I still have tomorrows run of 16-K to complete, this weeks training is almost done. Couple the training with an extremely hectic week at work and you can safely say that I am bagged.

Tuesdays run of 4.8-k was ok. Wednesday’s 8-K was brutal. I don’t know what it is about taking a week and a half off but it was like I was a new runner. Before the little “break” I could run and 8-K with out even breaking a sweat. The same was true for Friday’s 8. I actually had to stop and walk for a bit. I also did a 4.8-K on Thursday. Let’s just say I enjoyed the shorted runs better. The one thing that is some solace is that I have focused on up’ing my speed.

I hope next weeks training goes a bit better. I am confident it will.