Week 18 - To boldly go where I have never gone before

This was the week I was waiting for. I would finally see how my body dealt with running much farther than I had ever gone before. Here's what it looked like:

Monday 26th April: Weights followed by an easy run along College to Railpath and back along Emmerson. 6km

Tuesday 27th April: Hill Repeats  X5 on Humbercrest ~ 350m Splits were: 1:49; 1:51; 1:48; 1:53; 1:49 they were hard work!  16.7km

Wednesday 28th April: AM Weights and easy run to rail path and back 6.2km.

PM Longboat club run along waterfront including 3km @4:00/km and 3km @ 3:50/km 16.2km

Thursday 29th April: Easy hilly run to Old Mill and back. Legs felt dead at first, but loosened up after about 5km 16.6km

Friday 30th April: No run!

Saturday 1st May: Longboat High Park Run on trails. 10.6km

Sunday 2nd May: This is it, 60km my highest mileage ever, and still only two thirds the distance of Comrades! I ran this one in stages, partly alone and partly with friends from Longboat who were very supportive. It didn't feel too bad, I even managed to eat some salted boiled potatoes at the 40k mark!

All in all it was a good week. Not too much mileage during the week probably helped a little on the weekend 60k. While the run itself was fine, I suffered terribly when all my leg muscles seemed to cramp at once in the ice bath afterwards. Note to self: After running that far: forget the ice bath!

Week Total: 132.3km

Year to Date: 1893km

Week 17: Marathon as training run: who would have thought?

Another good week of solid mileage under my belt. Weight training continued and I can feel my legs getting stronger. Felt a little run down at times, but generally I seem to be recovering well from the workouts.

Monday 19th April: Weights followed by an easy run along College to Railpath and back along Bloor. 5.5km

Tuesday 20th April: AM Core Strength, PM downhill repeats. Yes, you read it right, I decided to try some downhill repeats to test my quads. Ran fast (3:30 to 3:40/km) down Ellis road for about 600m and jogged back up. Did 5 repeats and felt ok, but think I need something steeper. 17.3km

Wednesday 21st April: AM Weights and easy run to rail path and back 5.8km.

PM Longboat club run along waterfront including a mile breakdown in preparation for the weekend marathon. 1600m @ 3:30; 1200m @ 3:28; 800m @ 3:34; 400m @3:16/km. The boys are getting fit! 14.7km

Thursday 22nd April: Easy run to High Park 13.2km

Friday 23rd April: Easy run on Central Tech track prior to coaching. 7.4km

Saturday 24th April: Longboat High Park Run on trails. Ran easy because of tomorrow's marathon. 10.6km

Sunday 25th April: Waterloo Marathon. Paced Longboat runner Gregoire to a marathon PB of 3:42 in miserable wet and windy conditions. Plans to continue afterwards with another 10km went out the window. Hey, Comrades will be warm and sunny, not cold and wet! 44.8km (including warm up)

Week Total: 119.34km

Year to Date: 1761km


A good week, and another "ultra" under my belt. 40 is quickly becoming the new 30, in that a 30km run does not seem like much any more.

Week 16 - When will it end?

Well another week of running, and running and running. It does seem never ending! The one good thing is that I don't feel too run down or stale. There's enough variety to keep me interested as the miles add up.

Monday 12th April: Weights at the Y, followed by an easy 6km run which felt remarkably good, considering I ran 47km yesterday.
Tuesday 13th April: Two loops of the Morningside hill circuit. The hills are definately getting easier, which is probably a combination of the strength training and the hill workouts. Felt comfortable and relaxed, especially on the way home. 16km.
Wednesday 14th April: AM weights and easy 5km run.
PM: Longboat club run along lakeshore with 7km between 3:45 and 4:10/km. 20km
Thursday 15th April: Easy run on shortened version of Boston special. Felt good, running relaxed. 15km.
Friday 16th April: AM Weights at the Y, followed by an easy run to Landsdowne track with a few laps. 5.6km
PM: Easy run on Central Tech Track, before coaching Longboat runners. 7km.
Saturday 17th April: easy run to High park, followed by 10km of trails with Longboat and back home along Martin Goodman trail. 24.8km.
Sunday 18th April: Long run with Longboat, including 10k at 4:55/km (Comrades Pace) continued on alone. Felt good overall, but was happy to finish. Could I do it again? Unlikely! 44km.

Week Total: 143.4km
Year to Date: 1,641km


This week was my highest mileage ever. I am amazed that I can run that far in a week, without my body breaking down. It seems to be holding together for now. It remains to be seen if it will last through the remains of the Comrades training. All in all, I'm feeling pretty good about the training so far and feel like I am running well, if not that fast.

Week 15 - My first Ultra

This week marked yet another increase in mileage, my longest run - ever, and a commitment to strength training. Here's how it went:


Monday 5 April: Easy run to Trinity Bellwoods. Stopped at the YMCA to check out weight machines. Did a quick workout for quads and hamstrings. 9km
Tuesday 6 April: Easy run around West side of High Park, down Ellis and back home. Felt good, especially on the way back. Relaxed and easy running. 11.5km
Wednesday 7 April: AM Core and Leg Strength workout. PM Longboat club run along Lakeshore, felt cold coming on so ran with one of the slower groups. 18.1km
Thursday 8 April: No run, cold worse and a ton of work.
Friday 9 April: AM leg strength workout at YMCA after chiropractor visit. PM good run on first part of Boston Special up to Old Mill and back across the hills. Felt good. Hills were not a problem. 17.1km
Saturday 10 April: Ran with Longboat runners on High Park trails for about 10km and added more miles before and after for a total of 21km.
Sunday 11th April: This was the run I decided was going to be my first "ultra" even if it was only in training. I ran with Longboat runners from the west end YMCA for about 30 km, and added before and after to get up to 46.7km. It wasn't very fast though. Passed the marathon distance in 3:58, just breaking 4 hours.

Week Total: 123.4 km
Year to Date Total: 1,498 km


It felt very good to get the first run over 42km under my belt, if only for my confidence. Time is running out and I need to get those long runs in. Everything I have read about the Comrades down route says that your quads and hamstrings take a pounding. So, as you see, I am now sufficiently scared, to take to the gym to work on making those muscles as strong as I can with the time remaining. So far, so good.

Week 14 - April - the monster mileage month begins

April is traditionally the month where Comrades runners aspire to accumulate their biggest mileage. Bruce Fordyce, would like to get between 740 and 760km under his belt in April, typically running 24km a day split between an evening and morning session. There is some debate as to how far is necessary to run in training, and whether running medium long runs on both Saturday and Sunday are better than one long run. I will try both. I feel I need the extra long runs for mental preparation, but I will plan to alternate these with weekend doubles.

Monday 29 March: No run - recovery from Sunday's race
Tuesday 30 March: Slow, easy run, over to High Park with one Morningside Hill circuit. 14.8km
Wednesday 31 March: Longboat club run along Lakeshore on Martin Goodman trail with 2 x 5km at 3 hour marathon pace (4:15/km). Easy before and after to make a total of 18.7m.
Thursday 1 April: Easy run on part of Boston Special up to South Kingsway and back past Old Mill 17km
Friday 2 April: Easy run to Old Mill and back down to waterfront and home. 22.4km
Saturday 3 April: Short Easy run to High Park. 8km
Sunday 4 April: Ran on the country gravel roads around Uxbridge. I had planned to run about 42km but was short by 6km. I wasn't happy about the shorter distance, but I did enjoy soaking my tired legs in the ice cold pond. 36km.

Week Total: 117km
Year to Date Total: 1,375km

Well, my first attempt at an "Ultra" was a bust. I guess there's always next weekend....

Week 13 - Recovery

A bit of a recovery week with less mileage to prepare for the Around the Bay race in Hamilton on Sunday.


Monday 22 March: Easy run over to Parkside Avenue and back via West Toronto Railpath to avoid a bit of traffic. 7.3km.
Tuesday 23 March: Single Morningside Hill circuit and a lap of High Park roads. Feeling good. Saw Chiropractor for Achilles/calf issues. 12.4km
Wednesday 24 March: Longboat Club run along Lakeshore Martin Goodman trail Ran a "Mile Breakdown" of 1600m in 5:49, 1200m in 4:24, 800m in 2:52 and 400m in 1:24 with slightly shorter recovery between intervals. total length of 14.75km.
Thursday 25th March: Very easy run including one loop of High Park Trails. 12.4km
Friday 26th March: Easy run to High Park and partial loop of trails 11.4km
Saturday 27th March: Longboat Club run on High Park trails 8km.
Sunday 28th March: Around the Bay race. Very good conditions 6 degrees, cloudy with just a bit of wind. Aiming for sub 1:54, but ended up with 1:55:18 after slowing on the hills. Splits: 10k 37:41; 15k 56:53; 20k 1:15:41 30km.


Week Total: 98.1 km
Year to Date Total: 1,258 km


Slightly reduced mileage this week to get ready for the race on Sunday. Despite missing my goal time, I did get a personal best (PB) time and so I was happy with the result, especially since it was done mostly off aerobic training. It is amazing how far you can get without going crazy on the track.

Week 12 - Back on track

I wasn't looking forward to Monday's long run, probably my longest training run ever. Still, it had to be done and, in the end, it went fairly smoothly (if slowly). Still, I take comfort in the fact that Bruce always ran his long runs easy. I did miss running hills this week. I know, that sounds crazy, but I like hills. Which is why our current version of the Boston special has more hills than ever before.

Monday 15th March: Rescheduled long run. Avoided too many of the big hills on the Boston Special because of lingering achilles issues, and added more miles along the flat lake shore. 40km.

Tuesday 16th March: Short, easy recovery run along rail path. Achilles and calf still sore. 7.6km.

Wednesday 17th March: Longboat club run along the  lake shore. Slower than normal workout because of lingering Achilles and calf issues. 18.8km

Thursday 18th March: Ran over to High Park and met up with Chris MacPeake along the way. Managed to convince him to join me for a slow jog of the High Park trails. 11.9km.

Friday 19th March: Reduced hill workout in High Park, including zoo steps. Ran while coaching Longboat runners. Last official hill workout, celebrated with beer afterward. 10.3km

Saturday 20th March: Ran with Rob on Rosedale trail and up pottery road for coffee at Mike Cullen's cafe, finished by running back through Riverdale Park. 11.3km

Sunday 21st March: Longboat long run from the Y. Ran to Lakeshore and did 2 x 5k at 4min/km in middle of run with Steve,  Michael  and Rob. 25.6km


Weekly Total 125.5km
YTD Total: 1160km


A very solid week considering the achilles/calf issue hasn't gone away yet. It is getting better though. I mean really, how long will it take? Perhaps the recovery week I've scheduled for next week, to coincide with a mini taper for the Around the Bay 30km race, will allow it to heal properly. In the meantime, icing and stretching continues to be the order of the day.