Tag: Marathon Training

2019 week thirteen

Book Read
13. Vancouver Noir – Sam Wiebe (Ed.)

Kilometres Ran
week thirteen – 58.6

2019 to date: 600 KM

Last year I received a review copy of Nathan Ripley’s highly anticipated first novel Find You in the Dark and I had no idea who Nathan Ripley was but I read it and then I had no idea who was highly anticipating his first novel because I didn’t think it was very good at all and then I picked up this collection of noir featuring some local authors that I really like, like Carleigh Baker and Timothy Taylor to name two, and I was looking forward to reading Don English’s piece because I’d only ever read his non-fiction and along the way through this Sam Wiebe edited collection I got to the Nathan Ripley story and it was really, really great and then I got to the end of the collection and while Baker and English and Taylor did not disappoint I think I liked the Ripley story the best of the whole bunch, which made me understand why Find You in the Dark was so highly anticipated and yet made me wonder, oh boy, if I was disappointed imagine the people actually doing the highly anticipating. Anyway, Vancouver Noir continues the Akashic Books collection of noir set in major cities around the world. I liked it a lot. If I lived somewhere else and knew the city well enough I’d probably like that iteration too. Except Winnipeg. Fuck that place.

I am not an early morning runner but sometimes I get it and sometimes it’s the only way to get the work done between getting work done. Plus this shot is kind of noir-y no?

In the words of Al Jourgensen, this week was the way to suck eggs. It start out fine but job got in the way and by the time track Wednesday rolled around I was already exhausted. Wednesday is typically my day off but for most of March I’ve been embroiled in negotiations so after a day locked in a hotel meeting room in Surrey (like Winnipeg, but closer…) I drove to the track and managed to squeeze out six and a half 1,000s with 200 metre breaks out of a planned “between six and ten but try for eight.” Thursday wasn’t much better as it turned into a 15 hour day that should have resulted in a deal but to my frustration ended up in filing for federal conciliation and meant that I missed my Thursday run. Today’s long run was supposed to be 20K easy then a slow, gradual build to 8K at marathon pace and I just didn’t have it in me today. I misjudged my route, ending up at 28.4 and could have and should have gone the other 600 metres, but I’d only managed five of the 8K at marathon pace -ish and then a jog home and now I’m grumpy and perhaps slightly less confident in my goals at BMO in five weeks. Next weekend is the April Fool’s Half Marathon from Gibsons to Sechelt on the Sunshine Coast and it will be a real test to see where I’m at but after today the idea of setting a new personal best let alone going sub 90 minutes seems outlandish. So we shall see.

2019 week twelve

Book Read
12. Lullaby – Leïla Slimani

Kilometres Ran
week twelve – 62.6

2019 to date: 541 KM

Lullaby also know as The Perfect Nanny depending on whether the Sam Taylor translation of the original French novel Chanson Douce is from the UK or North America (respectively) tells the story of a well-to-do family who hire Louise—a seemingly perfect nanny to their two children. I’m not giving anything away revealing that she murders the children; it says so right on the book’s cover. I’m not sure what I expected exactly, but given that the death of the children is on the cover of the book I did not expect the death of the children to not happen until the end of the book. What started out as a book I was enjoying about as much as I enjoyed Motherhood gradually began to spiral downward into what could become the next Gaspar Noé film. The reader knows what’s going to happen but Slimani masterfully makes you work for it. I couldn’t look away until the end, and once I got there I wanted a bit more. I liked this book a lot.

Mile2Marathon Wednesday workout at the Point Grey track, Vancouver, March 20, 2019. Photo by Jody Bailey*

About seven weeks ago I made a pretty significant change that I’ve been alluding to on here for the past few posts and I think that maybe I’m sort of ready to write a bit about it. I’d recovered (mostly) from my knee issue from the fall and was really looking forward to taking a healthy second shot at the BMO Marathon in May, and then I overloaded and blew up my achilles. Frustrated is an understatement. Stephanie suggested I hire a coach, an idea that I’d been toying with for some time. I’d covertly explored a few options and had pretty much narrowed it down to a couple camps, one being Mile2Marathon. Still noncommittal, I completed the online questionnaire and hit submit.

Coach Kevin Coffey telling me what to do, and me taking it. Mile2Marathon at the Point Grey track, Vancouver, March 20, 2019. Photo by Jody Bailey*

I really don’t like being told what to do (or what not to do…). So that’s a problem. I received an email reply to my questionnaire from Dylan Wykes where he talked about next steps and getting me matched up with a coach. But I was still rather hesitant and skeptical. Dylan suggested a telephone call. Over the phone I explained that I was currently injured, that I was really tired of constantly getting injured, and that I was hoping that having some structure would help. I also explained that I feel like I have accomplished a lot on my own and I don’t think I’ve reached my full potential without any help. Asking for help is a pretty big deal for me, and I was still rather skeptical of the process. Dylan said he understood, and I believed him.

Kevin and me. Mile2Marathon at the Point Grey track, Vancouver, March 20, 2019. Photo by Jody Bailey*

I matched up with Kevin Coffey, whom I’d decided I wanted to work with after having put a lot of forethought. He started running “late” (not as late as me…), has a few full marathons completed, and has had his own share of injury setbacks so I figured that he has some insights grounded in personal experience. I’ve been following him on Strava for a while, and I recently remembered that he showed up briefly in a post on here a couple years ago, which in retrospect is rather entertaining. So far I feel like it’s going okay. It’s frustrating at times, mostly because he’s doing his job (i.e., telling me what to do) which means I’ve been running a lot less than I probably would on my own. But the time I am running feels more challenging, and I’ve been spending a lot less time in physio. I never imagined looking forward to running around a track once a week, so there’s that (I’m pretty sure in my questionnaire I answered nope to group workouts). I can’t say it has all been perfect (singlet? anyone? Bueller?), but I can say that the whole Mile2Marathon coaching team seems to really, genuinely care about their athletes. Six weeks until BMO Marathon and still lots of work to do, but I (cautiously) believe I made the right decision.

*I am very grateful to Jody Bailey for these photographs. You can check out the complete set from the Mile2Marathon track workout on March 20 here: gallery.jodybailey.ca/g/mile2marathon/oldblueinspring/
You can also find Jody on Instagram @3oh6 and @run.photography