Vancouver Rock N' Roll Half Marathon

Vancouver Rock N' Roll Half Marathon

2016 has been a year of ups and downs for me running wise. I finally conquered the Boston Marathon in April, although it nearly killed me. I ran a couple of awesome trail races on Vancouver Island and in Gatineau Park respectively. I struggled in the heat to a decent finish at the Canada Army Run Half Marathon in September. While I had achieved some good results and checked a few things off my bucket list, I was left with a bit of an empty feeling. A few years back, almost every race was a personal best. It's kind of just how it goes when you start to really get into running. With every race you learn so much, and apply those learnings to training for a next one. You are always getting faster and stronger, and continue to PB...until you eventually hit that wall.

2016 Army Run

2016 Army Run

Hot. That seems to be the theme of my races so far this year. After nearly dying in Boston, I thought I was done with heat-filled races for the year. That was until about 9:27 AM on Sunday morning, standing in my corral waiting for the Army Run to start, feeling the hot morning sun start to burn away at my fare skin. "This is going to suck" I said to my buddy Scott who was lined up next to me. "Oh yeah" he responded. We both knew what we were in for. 

Boston Marathon 2016

Boston Marathon 2016

I don't even know where to begin. This was the hardest blog post I've ever written. I'm usually able to sit down after a race and hammer out my thoughts, but  this time is different. I needed time. Time to rest. Time to recover. Time to reflect. Time to clear my mind and get back to normal. This race took a lot out of me, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally. It was hard - the hardest thing I've ever done, and I'm just now wrapping my head around it all. 

Boston Bound

Boston Bound

Well, that time has come. After 20 weeks of training that saw me run over 925km, I am finally Boston Bound. Over the past few weeks I've been tapering, scaling back my effort and fine tuning a few particular things before the big day. I've slowly shifted my eating to ensure that I am both lean and well-fuelled for race day. More calories, clean food, lean proteins and complex carbs - and lots of water. I've continued to work on my speed and, in particular, my target race pace.

Taper Time

Taper Time

It's that time of training again. Tapering. Admittedly one of the weirdest parts of marathon training, I've learn to love tapering over the years. In a nutshell, tapering means that you run fewer kilometres and you rest more. When you've been training you ass off for months through the gruelling winter, running harder and further every week, focussed in on your goal, scaling things back 3 weeks before the race just feels wrong. You're heading for that goal. You can see it. Why am I slowing down now? This makes no sense. The answer? Science. And I don't argue with science.

Let's Send Kids to Camp

Let's Send Kids to Camp

We're raising money to send kids to summer camp. By giving these kids the opportunity to attend summer camp, we're changing their lives for the better. Camp provides them with the opportunity to experience new things, develop skills, learn about trust, leadership, and teamwork, build strong friendships, foster self confidence, and most importantly, we will be giving them the opportunity to realize their full potential. 

Vancouver Island

Vancouver Island

I'm pretty lucky in that I get to travel a decent amount for work. Earlier this week I was in Victoria, British Columbia for a work event. While work travel can throw a wrench into your workout routine, I completely take advantage of it. I see it as an opportunity to explore. Read more about my weekend on vancouver Island in which I ran over 50km, including an 8km Trail Race.