I tried to come up with something more witty and even tried a couple of music themed blog titles, but "I found my Thrill on Blair Rd Hill" just didn’t do it and The Hills aren’t alive, I am feeling more so because of them, so the one above will just have to do.
This month the training plan has a necessary focus on hills. I am running the Around the Bay 30K at the end of the month and apparently there’s a challenging hill as a part of that course…dunno’ it will be my first time running this race.
It’s not like I have never run hills, I typically throw a hill or two into my long runs and to be quite honest, I have not really enjoyed them all that much. This month there have been a few hill repeat workouts as a part of the plan and I LOVE them!!
There’s just something about getting to the top of a challenging hill, recovering, making the descent and conquering that hill again…OK maybe conquering is a little strong, but that’s how it feels after you climb the same hill for the sixth time and you know from the first step up the incline that not only are you going to make it, but you’re going to be smiling and you’ll recover quickly on the flats and the cool down.
So if your future running plans have hills in them and you’ve been dreading them…take comfort in the fact that they are not that bad, in fact in my books, they are all GOOD! I’m looking forward to more…Hills, they’re not just for breakfast anymore!!
Watch for a post race blog in the first week of April and I'll let you know if the hill training paid off.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Racing, rooting and recovery
Race day is always a little different than any other day, the adrenaline, the crowds, timers, support crew and volunteers, and last Sunday’s race was no exception, even the weather was different than what we’ve been training in this year…quite a bit different. It was a mild enough day, but for the first time in weeks, there was actually snow on the ground, wet, sloppy, slippery snow. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a fair-weather runner, far from it, but this season that’s all we’ve had is fair weather, so the ol’ legs just weren’t accustomed to the lack of traction.
Finishing my first ½ marathon would have been a lot more difficult without all the rooting from my Virtual Team iN Training (VTNT) teammates (Janice, Jane, Jenn and Nicole) and fellow purple people you gals really kept me going when I was lagging behind and I truly appreciate your words of encouragement, cheers and smiles along the course. I was fortunate enough to have my incredibly supportive family (my wife, my daughter and my brother-in-law/coach) all there to root me on too, and I sure needed it those last couple of laps, oh yeah did I mention that the race course was 4 laps of an out and back loop and a 5th lap of 1.1 km to finish it off, somehow I kept track of the laps and didn't get too dizzy!
Right from the beginning of my very short (so far) running career, it was easy to understand the physical value of a recovery week after a race, and never was that so true as this past week, I’m not sure if it was the hilly terrain, or the lack of traction, but by the end of the race, my calves were bunched up in knots and my quads were tighter than guitar strings, good thing for me the training plan called for two recovery days before hitting the gym on Wednesday. I still sneaked in an evening of PLAYing volleyball, strangely, my legs felt better after the volleyball. What I did not realize about the importance of Recovery in a training plan was the psychological side, after the ½ I was really beginning to wonder what I had got myself into, I was just so mentally exhausted, I literally had nothing left in the think tank, as much as the race had taken out of me physically, it had taken a much greater toll mentally, I truly did not feel like running for the first time since I started this journey, something that was very unsettling for me and I began to wonder if I had it in me to do a full marathon. In the same way that volleyball had helped my legs to shake off some of the lactic acid and begin to feel better, the PLAY in playing volleyball helped me to shake the negative thinking and get my focus back and I am happy to report that by Thursday (my scheduled Brick workout) I was looking forward to running again and felt fantastic after completing the short run and bike workout..phew!!! By this weekend's long run (1.5 hrs), the end goal seemed once again attainable.
With last weekend’s race complete, I am ½ way to my distance goal, and with the generous support of family, friends and even some unknown contributors, I am happy to report that I am nearly ¾ of the way to my fundraising goal.
To help me reach the goal, I will be hosting “Comedy for a Cure" at Absolute Comedy club (412 Preston Street, Ottawa, ON) on April 14. Tickets to the event must be purchased in advance from me or one of my wonderful volunteers and are priced at $10, ticket price includes an entry into the door prize draw (I will post a list with some samples on this bold in the near future).
If you’re interested in attending, please send me an e-mail and we can make arrangements. I look forward to seeing as many of you as can make it and to sharing some great laughs and raising money to help find a cure.
Finishing my first ½ marathon would have been a lot more difficult without all the rooting from my Virtual Team iN Training (VTNT) teammates (Janice, Jane, Jenn and Nicole) and fellow purple people you gals really kept me going when I was lagging behind and I truly appreciate your words of encouragement, cheers and smiles along the course. I was fortunate enough to have my incredibly supportive family (my wife, my daughter and my brother-in-law/coach) all there to root me on too, and I sure needed it those last couple of laps, oh yeah did I mention that the race course was 4 laps of an out and back loop and a 5th lap of 1.1 km to finish it off, somehow I kept track of the laps and didn't get too dizzy!
Right from the beginning of my very short (so far) running career, it was easy to understand the physical value of a recovery week after a race, and never was that so true as this past week, I’m not sure if it was the hilly terrain, or the lack of traction, but by the end of the race, my calves were bunched up in knots and my quads were tighter than guitar strings, good thing for me the training plan called for two recovery days before hitting the gym on Wednesday. I still sneaked in an evening of PLAYing volleyball, strangely, my legs felt better after the volleyball. What I did not realize about the importance of Recovery in a training plan was the psychological side, after the ½ I was really beginning to wonder what I had got myself into, I was just so mentally exhausted, I literally had nothing left in the think tank, as much as the race had taken out of me physically, it had taken a much greater toll mentally, I truly did not feel like running for the first time since I started this journey, something that was very unsettling for me and I began to wonder if I had it in me to do a full marathon. In the same way that volleyball had helped my legs to shake off some of the lactic acid and begin to feel better, the PLAY in playing volleyball helped me to shake the negative thinking and get my focus back and I am happy to report that by Thursday (my scheduled Brick workout) I was looking forward to running again and felt fantastic after completing the short run and bike workout..phew!!! By this weekend's long run (1.5 hrs), the end goal seemed once again attainable.
With last weekend’s race complete, I am ½ way to my distance goal, and with the generous support of family, friends and even some unknown contributors, I am happy to report that I am nearly ¾ of the way to my fundraising goal.
To help me reach the goal, I will be hosting “Comedy for a Cure" at Absolute Comedy club (412 Preston Street, Ottawa, ON) on April 14. Tickets to the event must be purchased in advance from me or one of my wonderful volunteers and are priced at $10, ticket price includes an entry into the door prize draw (I will post a list with some samples on this bold in the near future).
If you’re interested in attending, please send me an e-mail and we can make arrangements. I look forward to seeing as many of you as can make it and to sharing some great laughs and raising money to help find a cure.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Tapering...the side effects
It’s been a while since my last post, it wasn’t entirely on purpose, but I was hesitant to post too soon after my last entry…especially given the overwhelmingly supportive response…I just didn’t want to mess with inertia and the momentum gained towards meeting my fundraising goal, with your help we’ve already raised almost $3300.00 towards finding a cure.
This last week I’ve been tapering leading into the Winterman ½ marathon on February 21. Simply explained, tapering is a reduction in the length of your runs and workouts leading up to a race, the benefit…a chance to recover and store more fuel in the tank for race day, there are lots of articles out there on tapering and tapering is very specific to each athlete and their unique training plan, in my case, it leads to lots of extra energy and a brain that goes into overdrive, for me it is as challenging to deal with the psychological effects as the physiological ones.
This week has been a prime example, I’m not sure that the training plan itself has demanded anymore of me in the last little while than it has since I started this trek back in the late fall, but my brain certainly recognized the effects much more this week. For the first time I felt my body might not be up to the challenge, my hip flexors have been getting gradually tighter and more inflamed, and the discomfort has become a constant, my left knee has become inflamed on a regular basis and I can feel the effects of the runs right up until I start the next run, and that nagging ankle sprain recovery just isn’t making much progress.
To be honest, I haven’t been doing much about any of these, accepting that they were par for the course and that with enough mileage and positive thinking, they’d take care of themselves, towards the end of this week as a result of the tapering side effects, I started doing something about each of these, appointments are set, a more regimented rehab program for the ankle is in place and I am confident that I can overcome these challenges.
Two things helped me to tackle these challenges with renewed vigour and remain positive, first I thought back to how Derek must have been feeling as he went through his treatments, and how he remained positive and confident that he would beat this throughout and secondly the words of encouragement that I have received from so many of you. I couldn’t quite put my finger on how it was that I was getting my daily dose of support, until I read one of my VTNT team mates’ blog, she reminded me that each time someone sponsors me online and nudges me closer to my goal, I get and e-mail alert…that daily dose of positive encouragement is what has been helping me keep going.
To all of you who have been able to offer your support so far, a huge thanks to for your contributions and the words of encouragement and support that you have passed along!!
And for those of you who may be interested in offering your support, here’s the link to my fundraising page http://my.e2rm.com/personalPage.aspx?SID=2430646
Stay tuned for more frequent blog updates and some fundraising event announcements too.
P.S. if you know a small business (or an individual/group) that would consider donating either items or services as a door prize for one of my future events, please get in touch.
This last week I’ve been tapering leading into the Winterman ½ marathon on February 21. Simply explained, tapering is a reduction in the length of your runs and workouts leading up to a race, the benefit…a chance to recover and store more fuel in the tank for race day, there are lots of articles out there on tapering and tapering is very specific to each athlete and their unique training plan, in my case, it leads to lots of extra energy and a brain that goes into overdrive, for me it is as challenging to deal with the psychological effects as the physiological ones.
This week has been a prime example, I’m not sure that the training plan itself has demanded anymore of me in the last little while than it has since I started this trek back in the late fall, but my brain certainly recognized the effects much more this week. For the first time I felt my body might not be up to the challenge, my hip flexors have been getting gradually tighter and more inflamed, and the discomfort has become a constant, my left knee has become inflamed on a regular basis and I can feel the effects of the runs right up until I start the next run, and that nagging ankle sprain recovery just isn’t making much progress.
To be honest, I haven’t been doing much about any of these, accepting that they were par for the course and that with enough mileage and positive thinking, they’d take care of themselves, towards the end of this week as a result of the tapering side effects, I started doing something about each of these, appointments are set, a more regimented rehab program for the ankle is in place and I am confident that I can overcome these challenges.
Two things helped me to tackle these challenges with renewed vigour and remain positive, first I thought back to how Derek must have been feeling as he went through his treatments, and how he remained positive and confident that he would beat this throughout and secondly the words of encouragement that I have received from so many of you. I couldn’t quite put my finger on how it was that I was getting my daily dose of support, until I read one of my VTNT team mates’ blog, she reminded me that each time someone sponsors me online and nudges me closer to my goal, I get and e-mail alert…that daily dose of positive encouragement is what has been helping me keep going.
To all of you who have been able to offer your support so far, a huge thanks to for your contributions and the words of encouragement and support that you have passed along!!
And for those of you who may be interested in offering your support, here’s the link to my fundraising page http://my.e2rm.com/personalPage.aspx?SID=2430646
Stay tuned for more frequent blog updates and some fundraising event announcements too.
P.S. if you know a small business (or an individual/group) that would consider donating either items or services as a door prize for one of my future events, please get in touch.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Goals, Motivation and Inspiration…oh my!
Towards the end of the 2009 season, I started thinking about my next challenge, I wanted my training to contribute to something, I wanted more than a personal goal. Just about the same time, I read an article in a running magazine about Team in Training (TNT) and the light bulb went on, I decided I wanted to join TNT and raise $5000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada (LLSC).
The next decision I had to make was what event to train for…from my training and competitions in 2009 I felt that a half-marathon was well within reach…I didn’t think I could stay motivated training for something that was “too achievable” so I raised the bar an chose the Marathon, as my training progresses I am left wondering where the line between fear and motivation blurs.
My inspiration for all of this and what helps me keep my focus and dig in when every bit of me wants to turn around and head back to a nice warm house (especially this last week with at -31 C with windchill) is my very good friend Derek Threinen.
On March 4, 2009 Derek was diagnosed with Stage IV Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
I felt helpless on the sidelines being able to offer nothing more than moral support through Derek’s battle.
Derek remained positive throughout the entire treatment. He may have lost his hair, but he never lost his sense of humour in spite of difficult procedures and side effects. Anytime I start feeling like I’m having a rough day, I think of Derek’s fight and it’s easy to push on through.
All that positive thinking paid off, Derek has officially been in remission since October 1, 2009. Congrats DT, we knew you could do it!!
I am currently training to run my first marathon (42.2 km) in Ottawa on May 30, 2010 and I need your help…no not to run (although that is a definite possibility), but to contribute to finding a cure for leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. I aim to raise at least $5,000 in honour of Derek by the end of May.
So how can you help me reach (or beat) my goal?
1. Sponsor me (a.k.a. show me the money)
a) The easiest way is to make a secure online donation at http://my.e2rm.com/personalPage.aspx?SID=2430646
b) You can also by donate by completing and mailing a donation form, touch base and I'll send you the form
2. Forward this message to everyone you know (or tag them on it in Facebook). Don’t assume that if we know the same person that I have their e-mail or have sent to them, I know you may get this in some format 12-20 times, but really it’s a small price to pay IMHO.
3. Help me find corporate sponsors; drop me an e-mail and I’ll let you know what’s involved.
4. Volunteer to help me with my fundraising activities and events, I need ideas and people to help with selling tickets etc…
5. Find out more at http://www.teamintraining.ca/ about how to take part as a fundraiser in your own event,
6. Show up and cheer me on along the Ottawa Marathon course on May 30, 2010, I’ll be the guy in the TNT purple shirt looking like he needs a shower and 2 days of sleep!
7. All of the above!!
If you’re interested in following my progress, I’ll be posting regular updates to my blog http://shmittysrunningblog.blogspot.com/ which has a direct RSS feed to my Facebook Notes, so if you’re a friend on FB you can just check there.
If you want to know more about my fundraising or if you want to help in someway I haven’t thought of, call me, follow me on Twitter, comment on my FB Wall, Notes, or status, write a comment on my fundraising page, or comment on my blog.
Together we can help find a cure!
Thank you all!!
Brent Smyth
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Winning isn’t everything
When I started running (and getting back to the gym on a regular basis) about two years ago, I made up my mind that I would do a 5K. I needed something to build up to, something concrete that I could put a framework around. I knew going in that there was no way I would win the 5K, heck I knew I’d be lucky to finish in the top ½ of the over 8000 runners participating in that run, but that wasn’t the point. The point was to keep moving and losing weight.
I finished that race somewhere near the middle of the pack and for me, that was a win…my Personal Best (PB) had been established…but, momentum is a funny thing…I kept running 3 times a week, an object in motion…later that summer I decided to try a second run…much smaller, only about 300 participants, I set a new PB by a couple of minutes.
I did another race on New Year’s Eve, no official time, just a fun race with my good friend Sharon who introduced me to Brenda and Steve two of her elite multi-sport athlete friends...at another race in mid-January I met Sharon’s coach (and elite multi-sport athlete in her own right) Jane…the thing Sharon, Brenda,Steve and Jane all have in common is that they always have such positive energy, offer lots of support and encouragement, and freely share their knowledge and experience and provide guidance to newbies like me who might otherwise not continue.
I ran a few 10K races with my step-daughter this year and I like to think I am closer to her now than I have ever been, sharing those experiences for me was priceless!
I competed in a Canoe-bike-run triathlon relay with my son and two High School buddies, Tim and Rod and we shared a fantastic day with our families.
I competed in a few Duathlons this past year and met some great athletes, volunteers, organizers and supporters.
In 2010, the relay triathlon is scheduled again (Go BERT42!), a late season family triathlon relay is also scheduled and a few more races will likely dot the calendar as the months unfold. I hope to see you out there in one capacity or another.
So why race if you KNOW you won’t win?
I haven’t won an event yet, but I’ve gained so much, as cliché as it sounds, racing has and continues to change my life for the better, not only by what I am doing for myself and my health, but by the people I meet or the people that I get to spend time with sharing in such positive experiences…to all of you, thank you for being a part of this journey, whether you knew it or not.
I finished that race somewhere near the middle of the pack and for me, that was a win…my Personal Best (PB) had been established…but, momentum is a funny thing…I kept running 3 times a week, an object in motion…later that summer I decided to try a second run…much smaller, only about 300 participants, I set a new PB by a couple of minutes.
I did another race on New Year’s Eve, no official time, just a fun race with my good friend Sharon who introduced me to Brenda and Steve two of her elite multi-sport athlete friends...at another race in mid-January I met Sharon’s coach (and elite multi-sport athlete in her own right) Jane…the thing Sharon, Brenda,Steve and Jane all have in common is that they always have such positive energy, offer lots of support and encouragement, and freely share their knowledge and experience and provide guidance to newbies like me who might otherwise not continue.
I ran a few 10K races with my step-daughter this year and I like to think I am closer to her now than I have ever been, sharing those experiences for me was priceless!
I competed in a Canoe-bike-run triathlon relay with my son and two High School buddies, Tim and Rod and we shared a fantastic day with our families.
I competed in a few Duathlons this past year and met some great athletes, volunteers, organizers and supporters.
In 2010, the relay triathlon is scheduled again (Go BERT42!), a late season family triathlon relay is also scheduled and a few more races will likely dot the calendar as the months unfold. I hope to see you out there in one capacity or another.
So why race if you KNOW you won’t win?
I haven’t won an event yet, but I’ve gained so much, as cliché as it sounds, racing has and continues to change my life for the better, not only by what I am doing for myself and my health, but by the people I meet or the people that I get to spend time with sharing in such positive experiences…to all of you, thank you for being a part of this journey, whether you knew it or not.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Forget the Caramilk Secret...tell me the energy bar secret
This past Sunday I was out on my long run (this week that meant run 50 min, walk 5 min, run 40 min, walk 5 min, run 20 min) and I mistakenly thought I had found the secret to keeping my energy bar in a chewable state...let me explain.
For my past three long runs, I have carried Gatorade and some sort of energy bar, I tried carrying the energy bar in the front pouch of my fuel belt, result...frozen bar. I tried carrying the energy bar in my jacket pocket, result...frozen bar. In both cases I was able to gnaw away at the bar, break a piece off and thaw it in my mouth until I could actually chew it.
This past weekend, I tried cutting the energy bar into little pieces with the idea that if the pieces froze, it would be easier to pop one in my mouth, thaw it and chew on....yeah, that was until all the pieces froze together...same problem as previous weeks, only this time it was one huge clump that I couldn't gnaw on. My workaround, hold the frozen clump, which at this point looked exactly like what many of the dogs have been depositing on sidewalks and which much to my chagrin their owners are not picking up, but I digress...I managed to thaw out the clumps and was able to keep my energy up so no bonking.
I should confess, I don't actually have any inner pockets on any of the layers of my winter running gear, a clear faux pas in hindsight. I'm thinking maybe I can MacGyver some sort of pouch on a string to wear around my neck on one of my inner layers and that should keep the energy bar in a chewable state...
Any thoughts from those of you with winter running (and feeding) experience?
For my past three long runs, I have carried Gatorade and some sort of energy bar, I tried carrying the energy bar in the front pouch of my fuel belt, result...frozen bar. I tried carrying the energy bar in my jacket pocket, result...frozen bar. In both cases I was able to gnaw away at the bar, break a piece off and thaw it in my mouth until I could actually chew it.
This past weekend, I tried cutting the energy bar into little pieces with the idea that if the pieces froze, it would be easier to pop one in my mouth, thaw it and chew on....yeah, that was until all the pieces froze together...same problem as previous weeks, only this time it was one huge clump that I couldn't gnaw on. My workaround, hold the frozen clump, which at this point looked exactly like what many of the dogs have been depositing on sidewalks and which much to my chagrin their owners are not picking up, but I digress...I managed to thaw out the clumps and was able to keep my energy up so no bonking.
I should confess, I don't actually have any inner pockets on any of the layers of my winter running gear, a clear faux pas in hindsight. I'm thinking maybe I can MacGyver some sort of pouch on a string to wear around my neck on one of my inner layers and that should keep the energy bar in a chewable state...
Any thoughts from those of you with winter running (and feeding) experience?
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Chill-out! Ice baths, they do a body good…right?
I can’t say I am a big fan of the ice bath, but I do understand the concept behind the therapy.
In a nutshell here’s what sportsmedicine.com has to say about ice Baths (if you know of other more recent articles, let me know and I’ll update the post)
If you want the full details on the contradictory studies, go here http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/sampleworkouts/a/Ice-Bath.htm
What I can tell you from a newbie’s experience with 2 weeks experimentation using cooler than normal baths is this:
In a nutshell here’s what sportsmedicine.com has to say about ice Baths (if you know of other more recent articles, let me know and I’ll update the post)
The ice bath is thought to:
- Constrict blood vessels and flush waste products, like lactic acid, out of the affected tissues
- Decrease metabolic activity and slow down physiological processes
- Reduce swelling and tissue breakdown
If you want the full details on the contradictory studies, go here http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/sampleworkouts/a/Ice-Bath.htm
What I can tell you from a newbie’s experience with 2 weeks experimentation using cooler than normal baths is this:
- The initial immersion is NOT pleasant, especially when you have just come in from a -20C run and your core temp is up (Maybe I’m not doing this right, but cool is cool to me)
- It doesn’t feel much better while you’re sitting in the bath continuing to cool down…flashes of Grease’s soundtrack come to mind…I’ve got chills….
- Draining the water and getting out of the tub feels GREAT!!
- Running a warm shower and warming up before a stretch session…equally pleasing.
While I offer no scientific or conclusive proof either way, nor am I qualified to…for me the experiment albeit somewhat unpleasant is having some positive effects on my recovery, the last couple of weeks my legs and hip flexors have felt better than they have in a long time.
I won’t be breaking any records anytime soon, so for me the objective while running increasingly longer distances, is to remain injury free. As of this posting, I see this as one way to help.
I’ll keep you posted on this self-induced cold front.
Happy trails and sunshine and warmth!
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