Hot Hot Heat

It's 1:00AM and I am sitting in my house, sweating profusely. Everyone told me to expect cold summers on the West Side, but thus far it's been nothing but fun and sun. Guess I'll have to add air conditioning to my list of purchases for the house.

I encountered a who's who of musicians on my warmup run today. Former Coffin Birth guitarist Shane Storey honked at me as I was running down Dunn Avenue, and I passed Hospital Grade bassist Andrew Earle on Lancaster Avenue (nice shirt, Andrew!). I also encountered Clinton Charlton while he was sitting patiently amidst a pile of cars on Douglas Avenue. It was like I had my own cheering section as I struggled in the heat.

I arrive at the PES track soaked with sweat, and unsure of my ability to run fast. I had six 800 meter repeats planned, but the combination of sun and fatigue from Sunday made me wonder if I could get through the workout in one piece. Luckily, Brent Bethune was joining me for the workout, which meant I had someone to push me through all six repeats. I blasted through the first 800 in 2:48 (22 seconds faster than needed), and only rested for a little over two minutes before starting again. The shorter rest times resulted in a slower repeat (2:54), making me realize I had my work cut out for me.

I felt the sun sapping my strength on the next two repeats, but I still managed to keep the times under three minutes (2:54 and 2:56, respectively). That was the last time I saw a 2 on my watch for the rest of the workout. I was seven seconds slower on my fifth 800 (3:03), and thought I would have a hard time keeping Brent off my tail (he was running about 10 seconds behind me) for my last repeat. However, Brent shouted words of encouragement to me as we started our last lap, which gave me the motivation I needed to finish strong. My time (3:00) wasn't impressive, but considering how I felt, it wasn't bad. Thanks Brent!

I've got a couple of races coming up in the next two weeks, but before that I need to get another couple of speed sessions and a long run under my belt. Drop me a line if you want to join the fun!

P.S. My mother and uncle are looking for a fourth person to join their marathon relay team at the KV Challenge Marathon. If you are interested, please drop me a line at kvchallenger@gmail.com. They would love to participate in the event, and would love if someone could join them on the road! Remember, early bird registration ends tonight, so sign up now!

Back to the Blog Part Two

It's been a while since I wrote, but this time I have a good excuse - I spent four days in Sydney attending the East Coast Music Awards and Conference. To be more precise, I spent three days in Sydney, and one day driving, but who's counting? During that time I played three shows with a miniature version of Penny Blacks - we usually perform as a seven piece, but only four of us made the trip - saw 10-15 different bands, and managed to lose 45 CDs. If anyone finds a box of Hospital Grade, Clinton Charlton, and Ermine CDs, please drop me a line!

In the midst of last week's musical madness, I managed to fit in a handful of runs. Two were actually quite good - I muscled my way through six fast 400 meter repeats on Wednesday (plus warm up and cool down), and ran fifty solid minutes the other night - but the other two were simply average. I was really hoping that I was going to have a wonderful workout week leading up to The Paddy's Day 5K, but I didn't quite hit the mark. We'll see if adversely affects my race performance.

Until then, I suggest you take a look at my friend Amy Grant's blog Buff To The Bone. Amy's a Moncton fitness jockey who is also an avid runner - we ran the Saint John Half Marathon together last year - and she loves giving out health and fitness tips. Check it out!