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.

Half Way thoughts

Well, half of the hay is in the barn as they say, just over two months to go before Adrian and I toe the line in Pietermaritzburg for our run to Durban. Exciting, but scary at the same time. There's still lots to do, but time is running out.

So far I'm happy with:

My weekly mileage, which has been consistently higher than at any time in my running career;
My ability to handle the mileage without too much more than a general feeling of fatigue;
I have been able to run well on hills on a regular basis, even on long runs.

I'm not happy with:

Distance of long run - 40km is the longest so far;
Speed of everyday runs - feel like I have no zip, possibly because of high mileage

Things to work on in the second half of the buildup:

Longer long runs;
Continued incremental weekly mileage increases;
Core strength, leg strength and stretching.

Piece of cake really.

Week 11 - Half Way

The last week of the first half of Comrades preparation was a bit of an easy week because of work commitments.


Monday March 8: Short Easy run on West Toronto Rail Path route. 7.34km

Tuesday March 9: No run - too busy to squeeze it in!

Wednesday March 10: Longboat run along the lake shore. Planned a 7km tempo run but cut short due to stomach cramps. Still managed a good effort overall, except when doubled over clutching my stomach. 18.77km.

Thursday March 11th: 2x Morningside hill circuits with a loop of the 2km High Park ring road. 16.95km.

Friday March 12th: Easy run to High Park and back. 9.80km.

Saturday March 13th: Decided to run the Slainte 5km race in Hamilton. Came third overall in 16:59, but I suffered problems with my achilles afterwards. 2km warm up for 7km total.

Photo by Kim Diamond - Thanks Kim!

Sunday March 14th: Decided to postpone my long run until tomorrow for a little more recovery. It was also a miserable day - wet and cool. So did an easy run over to High Park instead. 11.58km.

Week Total: 74.4km
YTD Total: 1034.2km


A busy work week left a little less time for running. Despite the third place finish, I ended up regretting the 5km race since my achilles started to act up and I was tentative in my running. Still, there's lots of time to get over it - Right?

Week 10 - After recovery, big miles

Ready to refocus on Comrades after the Half Marathon. Racing can be a distraction from the main goal, but it's fun, and gives me a sense of where I'm at.


Monday 1st March: Easy recovery run down to Parkside and back along the West Toronto Railpath. 8.2km

Tuesday 2nd March: Morningside Hill circuit x 2. Legs felt good on the hills. 17.9km

Wednesday 3rd March:  AM Easy run legs feeling good. 6.2km
PM: Longboat Club run along waterfront. 321 workout. 3km at half marathon pace plus 3 minutes easy, 2km at 10k pace plus 2 min easy 1km at 5k race pace. Tough workout. 19.1km

Thursday 4th March: An easy run that ended up longer than planned (by about 4km). Pace was slow, but legs felt pretty good. 21. 4km

Friday 5th March: Easy run with 3x hill repeats on Spring hill. Kept the workout easy because of long run tomorrow. 16.4km

Saturday 6th March: Long run done today before Convention tomorrow. Ran about an hour alone before linking up with Longboat at High Park and ran the regular route. Ran back along Lakeshore with Rob Hanks. Legs felt heavy towards the end. Glad to be finished. 33.3km

Sunday 7th March: Short easy run squeezed between a late Saturday night and early Sunday morning. 4.9km


Week Total: 127.4km
YTD Total: 962.4km


My highest mileage week since starting running. It felt good and not too tiring. Lots of work and less time for running next week, so it won't be sustainable.

Week 9 - Catching up

It seems like I have some catching up to do. While I haven't been keeping up to date here, I have been keeping up with the running, which I guess is ultimately the more important activity.

Monday February 22nd: Took a day off since right Achilles was acting up.

Tuesday February 23rd: 3 miles of hill workout followed by a fast 5km.with a 2km warm up and cool down. 13km

Wednesday February 24th: Longboat Club run along the Lakeshore. Ran a mile breakdown: 1600m with 5 min easy, 1200m with 5 min easy, 800m with 3 min easy, 400m. Ran 3.4km warm up and 4.42km cooldown. 14.44km

Thursday February 25th: No run. Slacking off again!

Friday February 26th: Ran at High Park. Difficult run due to heavy snowfall. Ran with Erik around ring road and up spring road hill. 10km

Saturday February 27th: Longboat New Members Brunch relay race at Trinity Bellwoods park. 1500m.

Sunday February 28th: Peterborough Half marathon.  Good race overall, managed to get 5th place on windy but mild day. ~ 2km warmup. 23km

Week Total: 65.5
YTD Total: 836.9


That was a welcome recovery week prior to the Peterborough half. Ended feeling ready to push on again.

Week 8 - Assimilating Mileage

A better week, where the running felt a little more under control, perhaps because of the slightly less mileage.


Monday February 15th: Very easy recovery run. Legs felt slightly better. 7:2km

Tuesday February 16th: Slow easy run. No hills. Still feeling run down from weekend workout. 13.6km

Wednesday February 17th: Longboat Club run at Exhibition place. 2 x 4km @3:50/km with 1.5km recovery. 20.5km

Thursday February 18th: Easy recovery run along lakeshore. 13.7km

Friday February 19th:  morning: Lydiard Hill circuit x 2, including 4x 10 sec. hill sprints.14.7km
Evening: Easy running with Longboat runners during training session. 4km


Saturday February 20th: Easy run on Longboat Dundas-Jane circuit north and west of High Park with Morningside hills. 9.7km


Sunday February 21st: Long run down along Lakeshore including 2x5km marathon pace (4min/k) intervals.
29km


Weekly Total: 112.4km
Year to Date Total: 775.4km


A good week, that was not as exhausting as last week. The race pace long run was especially good. Looking forward to more of those as we progress through the Winter/Spring racing season. Speaking of races, Peterborough Half Marathon is up next weekend.

Week 7 - Building mileage one week at a time

Another week over 110km feeling the mileage again this week. I'm waiting for the feeling of running easy. I'm sure it will come - won't it?

Monday 8th February: Easy recovery run. Legs feeling good. 7.3km


Tuesday 9th February: Morningside Hill circuit x 2. Took it easy on the hills (it's supposed to be an easy day). Legs feeling pretty good. 15.1km


Wednesday 10th February: Longboat club run. Ran at Exhibition place this week because of an afternoon snow fall. Ran 7km at 3:50/km just under anaerobic threshold. About 4km warm up and cool down. 15.4km


Thursday 11th February: Very easy run to High Park and back along the Martin Goodman trail. 16.4km


Friday 12th February: Morning Hill circuit x 3. Uphill bounding. Very hard workout. Felt ok during the workout but very tired afterward. 16.1km
Evening Easy running with club runners. Legs very heavy. 5km


Saturday 13th February: Easy recovery run. Legs still heavy from yesterdays workout. 11.1km


Sunday 14th February: morning cross training cross country skiing 1.5 hours.
Afternoon: Long run. Slow run on snow packed trail down Don Valley trail out to Leslie Spit and back along Lakeshore. Definitely feeling accumulated mileage. 30.7km


Week Total: 117.5km
Year to Date Total: 663km


The week started off well, but I ended it in an exhausted state. Two heavy mileage weeks may be taking their toll. One more to go and then a very welcome recovery week that will hopefully allow me to assimilate the training to date.

Week Six - Getting used to the hills

A good solid week, of over 100km that also saw my first double - well kind of double. Lots of hill running and even a few hill sprints thrown in for good measure.

Monday 1st February: No run today. I still have a hard time running seven days a week, and sometimes I'm just lazy. I think this was one of those days. I was also feeling the effects of last weeks more intense training.

Tuesday 2nd February: 2.5X Morningside Hill Circuit. Why 2.5? Well, I had planned on doing 3 circuits but my legs were feeling like lead, still feeling the effects of Sundays long run. I also hadn't slept well the night before, so I called it quits midway through the third circuit. 17.9km


Wednesday 3rd February: Longboat club run on the Martin Goodman trail along Lake Ontario. 5 x 1 mile repeats at about 3:55/km with 2 minute recovery. Good workout, felt strong. 19.1km


Thursday 4th February: Easy run along the lakeshore to High Park and back along Bloor Street. Very easy run - legs still heavy from last night's workout. 13.7km


Friday 5th February Morning:  Hill sprints 3 x 2 x 10sec on Centre Road hill in High Park, followed by the reminder of the Lydiard style circuit, for a total of three complete circuits. 4km warm up and cool down. That was a tough workout. 16.3km
Evening: Easy running while coaching longboat runners during hill session. 5km


Saturday 6th February: Longboat club run north and west of High Park. Included Morningside/Ellis hills for that extra hill workout. 9.3km


Sunday 7th February: Longboat Long Run over extended Boston Special route. I really think it would be hard to find a 30km route in Toronto with more hills. I don't know how many there are, but there are lots. While the overall pace was easy, we picked up the pace a little in the middle to average 4:40/km for about 5km. It was on a flat part. 32.6km

Week Total: 113.8
Year To Date Total: 545.5


This week felt much better than last week, perhaps an indication that my body is adapting to the mileage and hills. Of the six runs this week, four of them had significant hilly sections. I'm hoping this will build up good leg strength for the long haul. The real test of that will be towards the end of March during the Around the Bay 30km race that has a series of hills between 22 and 26km.

Week Five - Back to work

The recovery week was good, but like most good things was too short. Last week I was back at it with an emphasis on hills. This is the strength phase of the training, that will last about six weeks and will see hills in the program four times a week. One of the races on the horizon is the Around the Bay 30km that includes a number of hills including a significant climb at about 5km from the end. I'm hoping the hill training will allow me to take the Burlington hills in stride. So another week of training under the belt and this is what it looked like:

Monday 25th January: No run. Can't remember why that was, but probably still recovering from the race yesterday.

Tuesday 26th January: Morningside hill circuit X 2. A little faster than last week, but still slow. Legs felt pretty good overall. 15.7km

Wednesday 27th January: Longboat club run on Martin Goodman trail along Lake Ontario. Ran cruise intervals with Rob and Erik. Supposed to be 2x3km, but my first interval was 4km, that included a kilometre of catching up with them. The first interval running against the wind was at 3:56min/km pace and the second (with the wind) was 3:58/km. We ran 1km easy in between the two. These paces are still below our anaerobic threshold, as we are still developing our aerobic capacity to the maximum. 16.6km

Thursday 28th January: Ran on the treadmill at the YMCA because of strong wind and cold. Pace was an easy 8.6mph with 5 strides up to 11.2mph. 5 miles on treadmill, 1 mile on the track and an additional 1km warm up and cool down. 12km

Friday 29th January: Lydiard High Park hill circuit x 3. This is a circuit designed to mimic the circuits run by Arthur Lydiard's athletes during their strength training phase. It is approximately 2.5 km features a moderate uphill of about 800m, a flat top section of about 700m, a short downhill of about 300m and a flat to gentle downhill of about 700m. The idea is to spring, bound or run up the hill, recover across the top, run hard downhill and run a series of strides along the bottom. It's  a tough workout.15.2km

Saturday 30th January: Braved -19 degree C weather to go join the Running Free Run for Haiti along the waterfront. Fortunately there was no wind and the sun was out, so they had a good turnout. Somehow our 10km run got shortened to an 8k run. 8km

Sunday 31st January: Our weekly club long run from the YMCA. This week was pretty slow as our group stayed together for the first 12km or so. The hills began to take their toll soon after and we were happy to see the end of the run. 31km


Week Total: 98.6km
January Total: 430.7km
YTD Total: 430.7km


Bruce's goal was to run 60 to 70 miles a week in January. I think I accomplished that in all but the recovery week. All in all a good first month and a solid block of training under my belt. Next month's goals will be to intruduce regular weights/strength training and to start running doubles.

Week Four - Recover and Race

In my training I always take it easy every fourth or fifth week to allow my body to consolidate the gains made from the training of the previous weeks. Very often this recovery week coincides with a week where I have a race scheduled on the weekend, so it also acts as a bit of a pre-race taper. That was the case this week, and after last weeks big mileage, I have to say I was happy to recover. Here's what it looked like:

Monday January 18th: An easy run on the treadmill at the local YMCA to recover from yesterdays long run. Why the treadmill? Just felt like listening to music and not worrying about traffic and wind. 6.5km


Tuesday January 19th: Morningside hill circuit x 2. Took it easy this week. Legs felt good. 15.5km

Wednesday January 20th: Longboat club run on Martin Goodman trail along Lake Ontario. Ran 3 x 5 minute intervals at 3:50min/km pace. A good run overall, sped up a little on the last interval. Right hamstring a little sore afterwards. 13.1km


Thursday January 21st: Easy recovery run down to MArtin Goodman trail and back through Exhibition place. 12.2km


Friday January 22nd: Another easy run on similar route to yesterday. Definately in Race taper mode here. 11.3km


Saturday January 23rd: No run. Should have had a short run of about 5k, but ran out of time. 0k


Sunday January 24th: Robbie Burns Race in Burlington. The first race of the year turned out well considering I haven't done much more than base mileage. Ran with Rob Campbell as he attempted to break the Longboat Roadrunners club 8K  record for men 50-54. Unfortunately, despite both running personal bests (28:46), we missed it by 10 seconds.  Ran a 2km warm up for a total of 10km


Week Total: 68.6km
Year to date: 332.1km


Feel refreshed after the recovery. Ready for another big week.

Week Three - Miles and Miles and

Miles. That was the theme of week three. I managed to get the mileage up to 112km, the most I have run since mid September in the build up to my qualifying marathon. It was a tough week, one in which my recovery runs were probably not easy enough and I suffered because of it. Here are the details:

Monday 11th January: An easy recovery run to High Park. Kept the pace very easy after yesterday's long run. 9.4km.

Tuesday 12th January:  Ran two loops of the Morningside hill circuit, still feeling the effects of Sunday's Long run in my legs, so not as fast as I would like. Running a little slower on the way home I was passed by a guy on his way home from work who muttered "Give up!" 15.9km

Wednesday 13th January:  Longboat club run with Rob along Martin Goodman trail. Included 6X 6 minute intervals with three minute recovery as part of preparation for Robbie Burns race. 18.6km

Thursday 14th January: Easy run on treadmill at YMCA. This was the one that was probably run too hard. I paid for it on Friday. 12km

Friday 15th January: Mile repeats in High Park. 4x 1 mile with 2 minute recovery, Unfortunately these were slower than they should have been because I overdid it yesterday.  16km

Saturday 16th January: Longboat run in High Park. Fartlek around 8km loop with a couple of extra kilometres added on. 11km

Sunday 17th January: Second Longboat club run on the Boston special. Ran with Erik and Rob. Easy early pace but picked it up later. Felt the mileage in my legs toward the end of the run. 29.6km

Week Total: 112.5
Year to Date: 263.5

Co-Comrades-conspirator Adrian ran his qualifying marathon on Sunday and managed a 2:58 time under very harsh conditions. So we are set, and both seeded in the top corral. Congratulations Adrian and rest up before getting started on the Comrades training. We're going to get that silver!

Week 2: Full of ups and downs

The first full week of Comrades training was an interesting one:

Monday January 4th: A very easy recovery run, and one of the shortest in a long time at 6.3km.

Tuesday January 5th: I try and run the Morningside hill circuit every Tuesday. The circuit consists of a mostly out and back route of 1.6km and and 1.8km, respectively and covers two hills out and three back. I headed out in the afternoon after a snowfall and found the hills to be too slippery to run properly so after completing one slow circuit I completed the run in High Park. 13.7km.

Wednesday January 6th: Wednesday evenings are Longboat club runs along a flat trail next to Lake Ontario. Tonight I ran with Rob Cambell and we did 4 X 6min intervals at about 4min/km pace with a 3 minute recovery. This was supposed to be a sub-anaerobic threshold to introduce some faster running in preparation for the first race of the season, the Robbie Burns 8k. It felt great to be running fast again after holding back over the last 6 weeks. 19.2km.

Thursday January 7th: No run. What can I say? This one got away from me.

Friday January 8th: Ran on the treadmill at the YMCA. Did 4X1 mile repeats with 2 minute recovery and an additional 1 mile of butt kicks and bounding on the track. 12.2km including warm up and cool down.

Saturday January 9th: Saturday morning run with Longboat at High Park. Did an 8km progression run to the north and west of the park in preparation for Robbie Burns race. An extra loop around the ring road brought the total to 10km.

Sunday January 10th: Loadsa Hills. Long run starting at the west end YMCA and headed west. This is a great route for getting serious hill running in. I lost count of the number of hills Rob and I climbed that morning.  My legs were certainly feeling the effects of them by the end of it, and it was only a third of the Comrades distance. 30km.

So there it is, the first full week, one that had a day of slacking, a couple of days of faster running that felt great and my first run of 30km since the Hamilton Road2Hope Marathon on November 1st.

Total for the week: 91.5km

Year to date: 151km

Bruce was also doing weights three times a week during his training for the 1986 down run. He started the weight program after a particularly hard win in the 1982 down run when he raced Alan Robb from Botha's Hill to the finish, apparently the toughest part of the course. The weight work targeted quads, calves, stomach and back, the muscle groups most stressed when running downhill. In addition a little upper body work was added after realizing that runners use their arms a lot more to push themselves on when their legs are totally done.

So, I have to add some weights in here at some point. Better get on that.

Getting Started

After re-reading "Run the Comrades" over the holidays, I realized I was way too ambitious in my plans for  Comrades preparation. The initial idea for my training plan was to follow Bruce Fordyce's schedule for his build up to the 1986 Comrades Marathon. The 1986 race was run from Pietermaritzburg to Durban, a "down" run, as it will be this year. The race generally alternates direction each year, although this year will be the second "down" run in a row. This was done so that the race would end in Durban which is one of the host cities to the FIFA World Cup soccer tournament that begins shortly after the Comrades. Looking at Bruce's training program, I see why he says "A novice runner who hopes to run the Comrades for the first time would be foolish to copy my schedule."

Because South Africa is hosting the World Cup this year and it takes place so close to the Comrades race, the Comrades organizers limited the field to 20,000 runners, with only 5,000 spots available to first time runners like myself and running buddy Adrian (who I hope will contribute notes from his training in Hong Kong to this blog). Registration opened at 9am South African time on November 1st, the same day I planned to run the Hamilton Road2Hope Marathon as my qualifying race. Not wanting to run the marathon wondering how fast the registration was filling up, I woke up at 1:45am, registered Adrian and myself, and managed to catch a couple of hours more sleep before getting up to run the marathon. By the end of the day I had registered us for the Comrades, ran a personal best marathon in 2:48:33 and finished ninth overall. It was a long day but worth every waking minute.

Since the marathon I raced Ontario and National Masters cross country championships, in between recovery runs and have spent December building a base from which to launch my training program. Now January is here and I am continuing to increase mileage to develop the endurance and aerobic capacity that I will need later. In addition to regular runs, I run twice a week on hilly routes, one of which is Sunday's long run.

The first (partial) week went as follows:

Friday January 1st: 9am "Frosty Duck Run" with Longboat Roadrunners a 15k run over a course with a couple of significant hills. The pace was really easy.

Saturday January 2nd: Longboat club run 8km Fartlek at relatively easy pace with 4x 3 minute pickups.

Sunday January 3rd: Long run over hilly course. 25km at steady pace.

Bruce's advice for January: "Not too serious, just ticking over - no great distance work. Try not to think about Comrades. If the urge to race is irressistable, only short distances (8, 10, 15km)."