Gold, silver, bronze

The Army half left me wishing for more so I signed up for the Ottawa Fall colours half marathon in the pittoresque village of Cumberland. I felt disappointed with how the Army race had unfolded mainly because I had trained hard and the result just hadn’t been there (although in hindsight I had only trained hard for a few weeks, but even that is time-consuming, the sacrificies…). As this race was only two weeks removed from the Army run there was no real time available for any improvements, but I was happy to be able to extend training for another two weeks particularly because I was really enjoying my running at this time. An unexpected inspiration had been my iPod (I normally don’t run with music) as the colder, darker nights required some added inspiration to keep me going, and what better way than to hear Young Jeezy informing me what he’s got in store for those haters? 

 Following the Ottawa army run I managed a 80 km week and I kept going strong into the week of the Fall colours half with most runs starting slowly then progressively going faster spurred on by gangsta rap, which is quite dangerous, literally, since 6:30/mile became my easy pace on a regular basis, and thus, leading to the inevitable: on the Wednesday the week of the race I had scheduled a 5-mile tempo run, but I had to cut it short and declared myself in need of rest, which turned into three days of no running immediately preceding the race. All of this pretty much went in line with my strategy for the race: I took myself out of the running before the running had even begun, by saying, realistically, I had no chance of running 1:19…No, don’t even think about it.. So, no pressure then. Just to make things even more interesting (read difficult), the race was the day after a grand wedding in Montreal (note to self: Do not attend wedding before a race, particularly not one where the waiter keeps on serving wine by default). To make things just a bit harder, the course is described as challenging and several people have commented on it “not being a PR course” due to its many hills…. Regardless, it was time to match every course!

Indeed, I was secretly excited for this race: it doubled as the official Ontario Masters Half-Marathon Championships! I had no idea what to expect of a Masters championship, but being able to compete for best of Ontario anything sounded pretty cool to me, and it was promised a $250 win bonus would be awarded if the course record of 1:19:23 be broken. Not without of reach, but I was sure many a Master runner had the same idea in mind, so although I was capable of running that fast surely many others were to run faster. Now you’re probably thinking “Olle, there is no way you’re a Masters runner”…and you might be right, however, the rules state anyone over 30 is allowed to compete, and the rules are the rules. Henceforth…

Focused just after the start

When we got to Cumberland traffic was log-jammed. We were barely moving – disaster - I was going to miss the start! 15 minutes before the start, I jumped out of the car and made a dash for the starting area. As I made my way there, on a cold morning like this, other overly-dressed runners were commenting on my short shorts, I always enjoy when they are complimented... I might haven been a bit cold then, but even at 8 degrees in sunshine you are going to get hot when running. Scrambling to get my bib on, I located the starting area, but because Cumberland is 30 minutes away from Ottawa and I had warmed-up by drinking coffee earlier I was now in need of the washroom. Of course, the line-up was huge, no chance. I fiddled around the starting area and squeezed in to the mass of people semi-close to the front runners somewhat self-conscious of the fact others now behind me had been lining up for a while in the cold.  Suddenly, the count-down had started then ended and we were off, me cold but focused. 

As is inevitable when you’re a bit further back in the starting group, I set off at fast pace. It just didn’t seem that fast given that everyone else around me was also running around 5:40/mile pace. Soon things settle down, and while others drifted off pace, I was closing in on the lead runners…Well, apart from one guy wearing fluorescent arm warmers, who was way ahead of everyone else - was he simply an official showing the way? After about 2 mile we reached the first hill.. it was a good climb, but I relished it and gained ground on the others ahead. In fact, there I caught up with a couple of runners and we were now a small group of three. The lead guy was pushing hard during some segments but I was right on his back. This is great, let’s race! Suddenly, another runner come up from behind and pulled ahead. I sized the opportunity to get away from the others by following him in his tracks, but soon it became evident he was running too fast for me. At least I had created a gap to the others behind. 

Not a flat affair. Course elevation map according to my GPS watch (green, not precisely accurate, but you get the idea), my pace shown in blue

After the climb, there was some down-hill running, and my average pace after 3 miles was 6:03, right on target. I turned a corner and a slow, gradual ascend started. I looked at my watch and the pace was now a disappointing 6:20-25. I tried to push a bit harder but my pace remained unchanged. What was happening? Had I really hit the wall this early in the race? Was racing the others so early on a fatal mistake? Was I really in this bad of a shape? Mile 4 was a disappointing 6:20. Mind you, it was steady uphill and the wind was there in my face as the landscape changed from beautiful fall coloured woodland to open farmland. I was still in good shape position-wise and thought I’m just going to keep at it and see how far it gets me no matter my finishing time, however, it did come across my mind as to what I was doing out here racing in rural Cumberland on a cold autumn day like this…Well, the Championships, of course!  Additionally, about this time I really felt the need to make a pit-stop to pee. I glanced over my shoulder and saw that the guy behind me was only trailing by a few seconds. No time to stop, better keep going.

I had brought my iPod with me in case things got tough, and I considered using it now, but then I noticed Anais among a small crowd of on-lookers cheering me on and it was exactly what the doctor had ordered, I picked up the pace, mile 5 was 6:09, much better! I knew things were going to be uphill for a couple of miles at this stage and I was ready. When I turned a corner and headed towards the top of a hill I also changed my stride. I felt like I had been stabbing my feet into the ground, perhaps I was leaning forward too much? Instead, now, I became much lighter on my feet. I kept going uphill realizing that even if I wasn’t going faster now, at least it felt easier. Going uphill slowed me to a 6^th mile of 6:17.

The course was an out-and-back affair and right before the turn-around-point it was all downhill. Here, the two guys ahead of me came back the other way. At the halfway point was also a port-a-potty, but I was in the zone now and felt if I could hold it this long I could hold it longer. So, instead I turned around and headed back uphill. Senorski, the top Swede at Lidingoloppet, recommended a strategy to power-through with your legs when running uphill without using your arms, and I put this to the test by letting my arms fall down my side instead of swinging hard..it worked very well, mile 7 was 6:09.

 I felt fast and became energized seeing all the other runners heading in the opposite direction, and the guy who had been chasing me was now well distanced behind me. Several runners offered me their support in form of encouragements and I have to say it helped, now I was flying back downhill: mile 8 was a speedy 5:55! Then I passed by Anais for a second time and I think possibly I looked in better shape this time around. No longer going downhill, mile 9 was 6:02. Next I hit the slow stretch that had almost broken my spirit during mile 4, and guess what, going the opposite direction was much easier!  Mile 10 was a ridiculously fast 5:54. I realized if I kept this up, I was on pace for sub 1:19, I couldn’t believe it!

At the finish

There was still uphill running ahead and I knew it was only going to get harder from this point on, but when I turned another corner towards the hills I just wasn’t slowing down!  Was this really going to happen? I told myself, “ it’s too bad there are only 3 miles to go, this is so much fun”!  I turned another corner and glanced at my pace watch and noticed it read 5:47 min/mile pace, faaast, but then disaster struck…I had almost slipped once and also stepped into a hole on the side if the road earlier in the race, nearly spraining my anle, but neither could stop me. What could though, was a Rottweiler and some other barking dog unleashed on the side of the road! Qualifying for New York is going to mean nothing if I’m all chewed up and these guys looked angry and moving towards me, I had to stop. I crossed to the other side of the road and walked through someone’s yard. The dogs were out of sight and I had lost time, but worst of all I lost my momentum. I picked it up again, and mile 10 was still a fast 6:05, but now I was angry! I plugged along but suddenly felt less energized, if relieved to have escaped the dogs…

A bit more of uphill followed before cruising down the long hill towards downtown Cumberland; here, it felt like there was just too far to go, 1.5 miles. Mile 12 passed in 6:03 and I believe my average pace was around 6:05/mile. A miracle was needed for me to bring this down to 6:02, particularly as even small hills were slowing me now and I lost my pace. I could hear the announcer at the finish, but nothing really energized me. Even as I entered the finishing grounds and saw my watch surprisingly show a time of only 1:17 I just wasn’t feeling up to it anymore, I was barely moving.

 Once inside the museum grounds the course took a detour and I navigated past 10 k runners and made it over the finishing line in 1:20:31 in 3^rd place. The final mile was tough today, I lost about 30 seconds there. I’ve been training to not drink during my long runs (because I always choke on the water and can’t breathe) and I declined all drinks offered to me; perhaps it wasn’t the smartest choice. I may try to use energy bars next time around. Of course there will be a next time around, perhaps as soon as in November.

Sporting my three medals, and other prizes: one sports bag, one ice cold pain relief gel, one warming rub pain relief applicator, and my favourite: the strain relief cooling spray! I always wanted one. How appropriate for a Master's championship!

So I once again fell short of my time-goal, this time with a bit more, 90 seconds, but when you think about it, that is about 400 meters of half-marathon running, not much! Indeed, I was very happy with my race given the difficult terrain. Icing on the cake, I won a gold medal in the Ontario Masters Half-Marathon championships and received a silver medal (2^nd place in my age group in the race) and as 3^rd place runner overall I received some pretty swell gifts, best of all, a really nice New Balance sports bag! Trifecta: Gold, Silver, Bronze!

Army run Half Marathon race report

On September 23^rd I competed in the Ottawa Army Run half marathon. Now you may ask, “what‘s a guy who avoided serving military service participating in an army run?” Well, not only is this race arguably the biggest half marathon in Ottawa, but it’s also in support of those injured at war, so a great cause to run. Additionally, who wouldn’t be eager to measure themself against the best and fittest of the Canadian armed forces, well, at least of those able to attend?

 In May, I had run a 1:19:35 half on a similar course around Ottawa and this time around I would have the support of my own parents visiting from Sweden and Anais’ recently relocated parents cheering me on towards reaching my goal of breaking 1:19. However, training for the event hadn’t been ideal with me missing just over a week due to a hamstring injury a month before the race. Therefore, much of the preparation was crammed into three weeks, far from ideal, but included a really good 10-mile tempo run a week before the race, which instilled belief 1:19 would be a possibility, but at best a toss-up.  Of course, I was hoping that I would have a “break-through” race and be able to race at a faster pace than ever, but when that has happened in the past there has always been pointers along the way suggesting its possibility and I hadn’t seen any of those so.. I felt ok about my chances and knew that on a bad day I would probably still be able to run around 1:21-22. 

Last time around (in the Ottawa half in May), I had almost missed the start of the race as I was standing in line for the washroom but there was no chance of that happening this time around as we were able to change at Anais’ work located a stone-throw from the start of the race. As I warmed-up outside her office I noticed a huge crowd had gathered at the starting area so I alerted Anais and company that we better head over. Good luck kisses exchanged, I ran ahead into an area of chaos where people were desperately scrambling to get to their allocated starting area through a single entrance in the fence behind a seating area and no one was moving. I was way back in the field, disaster! With three minutes to go to the start I made the decision to turn and run around the thousands of people lined up and try to enter through the opposite side of the starting area, success! Almost noone was trying to enter from the other side so I found myself unbelievably close to the front of the line. And thanks to the nice guy who pointed out an opening in the fence I didn’t have to jump it either. Booooooooooom, the cannon goes off and the race is on! Apart from a guy jogging right in front of me the start went exceptionally well and we entered my favorite part of the course: after a quick sprint uphill on Elgin we turned left in front of the parliament with plenty of crowd support and from here down Wellington to Lebreton it is smooth sailing downhill. The 1^st mile was 5:56 - I was passing others and I felt good. Reaching the barren area of Lebreton flats, the strength of the wind became unpleasantly apparent and I had to push to stay on pace. As I didn’t want to use up too much energy early on, I settled into a decent pace just over goal pace (my goal was 6:02) and I was still catching runners; one in particular I felt bad for was holding on to his taped up hamstring... I told myself to be happy I was able to race today and carried on. 

The wind was gusting and I found myself running undesirably slow around 6:10. I was in no-man’s land, a sitting duck for the enemy the wind to fire at! I needed shelter. There was a group of runners about 100 meters ahead but catching up would mean a significant effort I wasn’t willing to make this early on in the race. The 2^nd mile was 6:05. Mile 3 was pretty much the same, gusting wind combined with some inclines made things uncomfortable. Then I spotted the lead group coming back the other way down the parkway, so I figured the turn-around-point was coming up, and what a relief it was! The 3^rd mile was 6:06, but I had had to push to avoid falling further behind my target and I was mad now! Right then I was caught up with for the first time. “Where did he come from”? Probably caught up with the masses at the start I suppose. Sporting the shirt of a regiment I let him proceed ahead. Mile 4 was a completely different story with the wind in my back. There was another incline on the parkway but it was easy to stay on pace; however, I still felt like I had expanded too much energy to be this early in the race because of the wind. An amazing amount of runners were heading towards the turnaround point on the other side of the road, I just couldn’t believe how many there were, and then I heard one of them cheering me on and I waved back; it was my Anais.  Mile 4 was 5:58, and back on track!

Thumbs up if you're tired

Mile 5 involves turning into Gatineau and passing the war museum with its tanks and aircraft - were there to be a surprise obstacle course heading over the bridge into Quebec perhaps? Land mines? Previously, last year in this race and in the May race, I have always felt good at this part of the course and so too this time, but then surprisingly another runner caught up with me! This one looked like a retired Navy seal, nice! At least he was dressed the part and sporting silver hair. Since he wasn’t running out of range I was intent on not letting him pull ahead. Reaching Gatineau there is a hill and we caught several runners here; mile 5 was 5:59. When we passed a couple of amputees competing in the injured soldier race, we cheered them on. The navy seal pulled a head, but in the hills of Gatineau I felt fast and returned the favour. Downhill I was fast, and I pulled ahead, but there are a few tight corners and mile 6 passed in 6:01. I gathered some strength for the bridge back into Ottawa, but I was breathing a little too hard for my liking now. Reaching the bridge, a guy dressed in orange joined us and there were now three of us. I was pleased the bridge didn’t slow me like it had in the May half, and as we re-connected with downtown Ottawa the support of the onlookers gave me goose bumps and helped carry me up the hill leading back into Ottawa. I didn’t notice at the time, but the first 10k was around 37:30 and exactly where I wanted to be. I was delighted to spot the all-star support of the group consisting of my parents and Anais sister and parents by the National gallery; I waved and smiled. I had told them I would be there at 9:40am and I was right on! Here, we turned a corner and headed downhill and out of the downtown core towards Rockliffe park. Mile 7 had passed in 6:00 but I was starting to feel the hint of a side pinch. “Just bring it to mile 9, then your almost there”, I thought.  

To conserve energy for the miles ahead, I let my foot off the gas a bit during the 8th mile and allowed the others pulled a head. By the Rideau falls there was a huge gust of wind, but because this stretch was mainly downhill it still clock fast at 6:02 with average pace now at 6:00. The funniest thing occurred here at a water station when a woman yelled “only half way to go now”…Thanks, but not true!  During the next mile I caught a couple of runners, including the navy seal, but it also covered some smaller hills and my pace dropped to 6:09. I then spotted the 14 km sign and it was a real sucker punch: I had done all this hard work up to this point already and there was still 1/3^rd to go!? Being in mile 9 sounded much better than 14 km out of 21! Here, the seal tried to surge ahead during a downhill stretch, but I responded once more..”This is it, it’s time to go”! I picked it up a bit to 5:50 pace and pulled a head. I saw some familiar faces and felt strong, “I can do this”!  Then I returned back over the falls and there was the wind again, and a hill… A water station was coming up, did I need a drink? Last second I decided to grab one but it was awkward and I lost my stride and the water tasted like it was from a war zone. Mile 10 was 6:01 and right on target, but I had slowed down the last part of it.  I was catching another runner, but as we closed in on downtown and turned a corner, a gust of wind made him appear to be moving in slow motion, yet, I wasn’t  getting any closer..In fact, the entire part through downtown seemed uphill and into the wind. Someone yelled “great form, looking strong”; I thought, “liar”.  It was tough now, I just didn’t seem to be able to go any faster than 6:15.  Near the end of mile 11, which passed in 6:14, the parents were there to cheer me on again; however, this time I couldn’t afford a wave…With their encouragements I tried picking it up once more, but I was soon back into the 6:15 rut.

Runner 11935 has a 1:19:35 half marathon PR

 Along the canal, the cheering turned scarcer and the wind picked up when turning the corner along Colonel By towards Pretoria bridge. The cheering actually turned pretty loud once more around this point, that is when the navy seal caught up with me again… I finally reached the bridge and got out of the wind but there were only negative thoughts now, such as “Never again a half”… I laugh at it now, but I was in pain and unable to go any faster. The navy seal had pulled ahead and I knew I had missed my target of 1:19. I probably could have pushed a bit harder here, but I knew the seconds of difference wasn’t going to make any meaningful difference. I closed in on the finish and saw the timer counting up towards 1:20. I sprinted all I had the last few 100 m and made it just under in 1:19:56 and 20th place. I was greeted by parents after the finish line, me disappointed but still feeling good.

I really wanted to run sub 1:19, but sometimes you just can’t will yourself to reaching goals. Then again, I question how much I really wanted to run faster in the end: I most certainly could have pushed harder and through the pain the last mile but knowing my goal (of sub 1:19) was out of reach I saw no point of doing that. Evidence is the pictures of me near the finish - I look tired, but not dying tired. When you don’t meet your goal you have to feel disappointed, no matter knowing that achieving the goal would only have brought you to 17^th place rather than 20^th..I lost about 40 seconds over the last 3 miles, a classic half marathon “collapse”. I was only 20 seconds slower than my fastest half, so pretty much the same really, and not at all entirely sucky.   Today, I feel like I made the right decision not to break myself as training since the race has proceeded exceptionally well, while after the half in May I needed a break. I suppose not meeting my time spurred me on to keep training hard, and it’s been going well, so well I signed up to compete in the Ontario Half Marathon Masters Championships ! But that story deserves its own post. Thanks again everyone for supporting me during the army run!

Brooks haunted house & Half Marathon training

When shoe manufacturer Brooks parked a double-decker bus down the street for me I just had to check it out, kinda looked like they converted a carnival/fairs ground haunted house into some kind of promotional gimmick, nice! There were some people sitting by a table, who promised prizes if I gave them my name and address. Sure, stop by to clean up our place any time! I won Run happy sunglasses. Finally I will be able to act like a serious runner running in hi-tech sun glasses..not really, just cheap dollar store shades (Anais says they look like classic Ray bans). Well, at least now I have a new pair to match Anais’ new pair; she just had laser eye surgery and now has to wear sunglasses when outside and when sleeping. I was a bit concerned as now she would be able to really see what I look like but she hasn’t left me yet so it’s ok. Actually, she is “working late” right now, so maybe I take that back…

Who is brave enough to enter? Me that's who!

But here I was in front of the Brooks haunted house bus and then I noticed there was a pair of My Little Ponies on the table of prizes so I inquired how one could win one? I was informed you could not but that they would consider exchanging for a really cool toy. Since I was on my way to the grocery store I offered a plastic bag I had brought with me and pointed out that “it’s a great toy for kids to play with”...They weren’t convinced of its value so I had to reinforced it, “it’s full of air, after all that’s what runner need, isn’t it”? At least they thought that funny and offered me a free gait analysis. This will be fun. So I entered the bus, up the stairs, signed a waiver and onto treadmill. After a brief run my feet were shown on a television screen and it was pointed out to me there was an angle between my foot and my leg of about 172 degrees when landing (as opposed to 180), therefore I was pronating and promptly recommended to run in the beefiest shoes available… terrible conclusion and a very lame gait analysis. I was told my feet were bending but I sure couldn’t see it, not even in slowest motion; in fact, after landing on the treadmill my feet looked surprisingly stable with no inward bending after foot-strike! At least to the guy’s credit he said to stick with what I currently use if it works for me.  “Run until you can’t run no more” was his advice... One thing to come out of it was that there was no difference between my right and left foot in the foot-to-leg degree regard, which I thought there might be. I’m not sure if the foot-to-leg degree really is of any importance. Indeed, when you run your foot should land close to under the centre of your body and consequently your leg will not be perpendicular to the ground, hence the deviation from 180 degrees between foot and leg as noted by the Brooks gait analysis… 

Meanwhile, Half Marathon training has been going really well since returning from injury, with plenty of speed, distance, and speed combined with distance, yet no hamstring or knee pain at all! The only blemish, a blister under my big toe nail..ouch!  That’s what happens when you run this much (in chronological order):

Wed 12.5 miles. Long run along canal (Campus, Mooney’s, Dow’s), felt very good, no feeling of hamstring at all.. pace, a speedy 7:06 average. 

Thu 5.5 easy on tired legs.

Fri rest

Sat 13.0 Long steady-turned-temp run of 8.8 miles: 6:22, 19, 19, 23, 26, 44 (Hog’s back hills were killing me), 28, 26, 18.. very tough in the end, but this is promising. Route is a simulation of Army run half (Rideau to Hog’s back, to Arboretum/Dow’s).

Sun rest, another day off to make sure hamstring is ok.

Total: 38.1 + 1214 = 1252.1

Week 25

Mon 12.6 Afternoon run on Labour Day; deceptively hot (29 Celsius, “feels like” 33), I felt over-heated early on and planned on cancelling the 3 tempo miles I thought of doing at the end of this long run. Included 1.1 of fast running at mile 9 (it just happened) 6:15-5:55.

Tue 5.8 in the rain..felt nice to be running when almost no one else were, and Cannonball cool-down did the trick afterwards (plus planks).

Wed 11.1 Fartlek: 8 x alternating 0.6 miles ~½ mara goal pace (ave 5:57), 0.4 miles ~6:50 pace. Hot and humid evening run, so I was very pleased. “Rest” segments were difficult to keep up towards the end, but the final one I even managed to step it up for some 6:20 pace..felt very good afterwards. One year ago I was doing tempo runs at 6:50 pace!

Thu 2.7 Easy run before dinner at Anais’ parents to rid of tired feeling in legs.

Fri 10.6  Tempo for 7.5 miles: right on target! 6:02, 03, 02, 00, 5:59, 5:59, 6:01, 5:55. Caveat being I took a break jogging over the locks by Arboretum @ mile 5… right now keeping up the pace for extended periods is mental – get over it! Still a good effort though.

Sat 5.6 easy in the wind but perfectly timed between thunderstorms and heavy downpour.

Sun 13.7 Long with Aaron initially which was very nice, @8-8:30 nice as well for a change, then approximately 7:00 pace until mile 10 when I did a 3-mile threshold run, mile paces: 6:06, 5:53, 5:44. Perfect running conditions, about 17 degrees, overcast.

Total: 62.1 + 1252.1 = 1314.2 miles

Week 26

Mon Rest

Tue 9.2 Intervals: 3 x 2 miles, 2:40 jog in between, 5:50 min/mile pace average. Good stuff.

Looking back at this I notice that almost every other run has been over 10 miles, which goes along with my belief fast-paced long runs are perfect preparation for the half marathon. Last week equalled my longest ever milage week, but this week I’m taking it easier with the blister needing some care and the race coming up on the 23^rd… I can’t wait!

The No Race report

Last week I strained my hamstring during a speed session. I quickly put on my doctor’s outfit and prescribed myself some rest, about a week I thought should do. Problem was the Xerox 10k race was only 3 days away and given how well my training had been going until the injury I badly wanted to race! I had had no problems walking normally, but a short run the day before the race revealed there was about 99.9% chance I wouldn’t be able to compete the in the race – there was just this dull tightness in my hamstring that inhibited my normal movement . Of course on race day I just had to give the 0.1% a chance. I met up with Anais at home and as we made our way to the Arboretum rain clouds were gathering over Ottawa, some relief from the heat, ideal for running!  However, when I tested out my leg it was clear I wasn’t 100% - jogging felt fine and perhaps I could have given it a go, but chances were that sometime during those 6.2 miles the hamstring would have given in and all I would have accomplished was additional weeks off running… so, no race for me.

Part of the Xerox 10k race course map. First one to crack the tree numbering code wins a prize! I hung out in the recovery area, but there was no miraculous return from injury this time...

Oh, well. What's a race in the Arboretum? After all, I suppose it would be frightfully dull, and..and..and boring, and..and completely... completely  wonderful! But enough of quoting Cinderella -I was fine with not running in the race.  In fact, seeing so many people race made me happy inside and cheering Anais on was fun. Perhaps there was indeed a Cinderella in the park that night. At the bustle and hustle at the start someone lost their shoe..and it was Anais! If my shoe had been stepped off by someone else I would have been angry and possibly quit, but Anais carried on as nothing had happened, impressive! The race was three laps around the park so I got to cheer Anais on three times – the same number of times as I got to see her during the NY Marathon last November…great memories! I hope one day Anais will be able to cheer me on during a NY Marathon, but right now that seems far away, but I digress. It was the perfect evening to race in August: overcast and surprisingly mild. In the end, there were a bunch of runners who finished in the 35-37 min range, so I bet it would have been a lot of fun to have been involved, but my lack of discipline left me injured. This day, however, I was disciplined as it turned out a good decision not to run. More importantly, when was I going to be able to run again? After all, a hamstring pull is a tear of the hamstring muscle, not just a discomforting, aching muscle due to training. A quick look online suggested anything from running through the pain (which was also heavily opposed by the majority) to 4 weeks off with no running for a mild hamstring strain. Luckily, I found the real answer in my favourite book. Yes, now that I wasn’t running I found myself with some extra time on my hands, and I managed to read and best of all water color the street in front of our house (or let's face it, a very limited portion of it).

So my favourite book, Anais simply refers it as “the green book”, is formally known as The Secret life of Tony Cascarino, and a great (soccer) book!  Or as the reviewers put it: “Compared with the standard-issue footballer’s autobiography, this is Tolstoy” or simply “It’s a lot more interesting than David Beckham’s”… yes, it’s that good…Anyhow, in this masterpiece, pro-footballer Tony Cascarino pulls his hamstring during a game of tennis, plays a game of soccer three days later but he was not OK and likely aggravated the pull and ends up missing another week and a half due to the injury. Not to tout my own horn, but I ought to be in at least the shape of an Irish footballer in the top British beer-infused league of the 90s (book spoiler alert: Tony Cascarino wasn’t really Irish but got away with it and became one of the country’s most capped players).  Therefore, about a week or so off running and then back on track, I thought. A week never went by slower, but there were benefits. I felt fresher. Now a week later and two runs post-strain, it seems like I really made the right decision. In fact, during my week off my right foot made a complete recovery from the sprain it suffered during the “insect attack incident” (previously, after runs, it felt dull and numb and I was favouring it a bit during sprinting, which probably led to the hamstring strain). So something good came of all of this, and I’m rested, healed and with a few weeks to go until the half marathon there is every chance I can still have the best race possible. After a couple of regular runs, focus will be on race pace and long tempo runs from now, exactly the type of work-outs I enjoy, and focus, focus.