We’ll run the Niagara Ultra 50km that is part of the Ontario Ultra Series. It’s a great little race day put on by the St. Catharines Roadrunners and Walkers.

The plan this year is to do some more ultra-training and try to keep the legs ready leading up to the big race. Last year was a last minute decision and it showed on race day. It hurt a lot.

I’ve got a few weeks now to maintain some longer distance training, then we’ll roll into a longer taper – probably three weeks instead of the two that the marathon calls for. I’m starting by running to work tomorrow – 16km!

There is even some talk of running a full marathon training run at some point before June 23, but i think 40km might make more sense.

Crazy? I think it’s time to admit that we’re all nuts – Miguel Dias, Chuck Lee, Ali Zimmerman and me. There’s a special category for Dave Emilio and Paul Nelson who are running the 100km.

I’ll be a two time ultra marathoner…what am I thinking?

So it’s no surprise that here I am a week after the BMO Vancouver Marathon and I’m starting to think about when I’ll take on the challenge of 42.2km again.

At this point I’m thinking maybe next spring again, but a small part of me is thinking about running a fall full here in Toronto. I’ve never run the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, so that has a bit of a draw for me. The are rumours of a new course as well, adding fuel to the fire.

We’ll see. For the time being, I’m going to focus on keeping on running three or four times a week, and maybe run a half or two over the summer to see where I’m at over the shorter distances.

1. Running buddy Kirsty and I ran well together. We rocked the hills, kept the pace sane early on, and had fun.
2. As usual, the last 6km kicked my ass. It always does. But it kicks almost everyone’s ass.
3. Running in Vancouver is awesome.

We ran a good first half. I owned a couple of huge hills and with a 1:56:15 for 21.1km, it was a sane pace that put us in a good position to come in under 4 hours which was the goal of my running buddy.

I defeated the Burrard St. bridge this year. Granted it was earlier in the race, but I ran up one side, and down the other. The cheering around the corner towards English Bay was amazing.

The seawall…beautiful, but mentally tough. It was once I got onto the seawall that I started hitting the wall. My first extra walk break came after 37km. And then it all started slipping away. My running buddy was running away to her sub-four and I knew I was going to be a bit slower than that.

Mentally that’s difficult because all of a sudden there’s no time goal to keep you going. I walked too much through 39 and 40km. From Denman and Georgia it was pretty good again. Walked once along Georgia and ran it in up West Pender, saw Ginny along with Miguel and Maria and made the two left turns onto West Hastings and under the Run Finish sign. Done.

Running buddy Kirsty was there and I asked her if she did it – she said yes and I was happy. Then it all hit me and I spent 30 seconds sobbing in the finish chute.

Not the finish I was thinking it would be

It’s been a tough year since the accident and I always imagined that Vancouver would be the end of a recovery journey. The fact that I ran it, and still have to go back and finish the physio for more months is tough. This race was the thing that really kept me going for the last few months through painful physio and some pretty dark days.

Four days in Vancouver with Ginny and my YYJ, YVR and YYZ run friends has been awesome. Everything I hoped for and more. I’ll be thinking about how great the run was and about how things don’t always go the way you think they will for a while. I’ll get through physio, get better and maybe we’ll come back and run the crap out of the half.

As much as I love the challenge and the reward of the full, I think I’m done with 42.2km. Maybe it won’t be forever, but I’m a five-time marathoner and I’ve accomplished all that I want to for now.

Running is a big part of my life and I’ll continue to run half marathons and work on my PB there. It’s been a great couple of years of taking on the challenge of the marathon (and beyond!).

Travel will get in the way of running this week – I’m flying out to Amsterdam on Tuesday night. That means I’ll probably have to squeeze something in Monday evening, then wait until Thursday morning (or maybe Wednesday night) before I can get another workout in.

I think hill training might suffer this week, but I’m feeling good about where I’m at, so if life is getting in the way, then so be it.

My long run is planned for either Saturday or Sunday in Amsterdam. I need to look into a route and figure out which day will work the best. Whatever the case, I need to make sure I can get in my runs this week and next week. Next Monday we’re driving from Amsterdam to southern Germany for a few days and another trade show.

Then when I get back it’s a quick turnaround and an overnight trip to Orlando that will again mess up my running schedule.

On the bright side, April looks pretty quiet.

This was supposed to be the step-back week – when we dropped back in our mileage on Sunday for the first time since the program started on January 1st. I did step back, but not all the way to 19km as the schedule suggested. Instead it was a 23.5km long run this week with some friends on what was the windiest day in a long, long time here in Toronto.

I added another 5km recovery run today to give me 48km for the week. That’s my biggest week so far, and probably the most I’ve run in a week since the ultra back in June, 2011.

The BMO Vancouver Marathon is just nine weeks away. Between now and then I’ll be in Amsterdam and Germany, plus a couple of days back in Florida. I’m hoping I’ll still be able to work in the required runs, but there will be some adapting of the schedule required.

That means no Chilly Half Marathon, no Around the Bay Road Race. Just the BMO Vancouver Marathon in May.

But I am starting to think about what to do next, and how I want to tackle running after my fourth marathon is done. I’m realizing yet again that marathon training is time-consuming and tiring. No surprise there.

I’m also realizing that I think this might be the last one I do for a good while. I like the challenge of the marathon, but it is somewhat all-consuming for five months.

Racing does keep running interesting, so I’m looking towards the fall and maybe the Hamilton Half Marathon. It’s a late season race, and features a pretty fast downhill course. In talking to a couple of friends, I’m thinking I have a shot at getting into the 1:30′s on the right day, and with the right course.

That’ll be in the back of my mind for the next couple of months while training for Vancouver continues…

This Sunday features a step back run – just 19km. Is that all? It’s come to that…19km is an easy Sunday run.

We’re up to 23km on Sunday with more to come next week. Hills started this week signalling the beginning of the middle phase of the marathon program.

Things get tough now with pretty much every Sunday in the high 20′s or low 30′s for distance. On the bright side, the weather should start getting warmer and the days getting longer.

This week I’m in Orlando for business so that means some treadmill running and a chance to do a bit more running than usual. I did a 6km tempo run this morning at the fitness centre. It was just a bit cool outside and I didn’t pack anything other than a t-shirt and shorts.

Tomorrow I start the hills with 4x600m repeats plus a warm up and cool down. I’ll do that on the treadmill as well, as there are literally no hills around here to run.

Thursday morning I should have time to get out for 8km in the sun and warmth. Looking forward to that.

After tomorrow’s 19km LSD, it’s at least a half marathon every Sunday until race day, with the exception of one step back week in early March when I have a mere 19km run scheduled (and the taper the weekend before).

I’m also now done with the 10km tempo runs I’ve been doing on Thursdays. The transition to hill repeats is here and that means I’ll switch to 6km on Tuesday, then hills on Wednesday or Thursday (depending on what’s going on in my life).

Hill Repeats…Ughhh

I haven’t been that committed to hill training in past years. I really don’t like doing them and I always figured that they wouldn’t make much difference. But last year in Vancouver I could have used the extra strength – it was a hilly route from start to finish. That’s the Burrard Bridge picture above and it was a killer, coming at the 39km point in the race.

This year I’m going to do them all, every week. I’m hoping that pays off with an improved performance this May.

On the schedule this week is a mere four repeats, and then I add one a week until I’m at ten by the end of March. Weeks where I’m travelling and I can do it, I’ll add in the fifth day of running during the week and do Tempo Tuesday, hills on Wednesday, a steady run on Thursday and Saturday and the LSD on Sunday. If I’m lucky that will happen maybe three or four times.

I’m off to Orlando on business this week so I should be able to get in more running, although it’ll will all be treadmill at the hotel. I’ve been to this hotel before and there’s no good roads or sidewalks around to run outdoors. It really sucks.