So I am a quarter of the way through my 100 day running challenge, and yes it’s a little nuts to even think of going for a run for 100 straight days. However, barring some kind of injury this is going to happen as it’s a matter of will power, drive and determination moving forward to get it done. There have been days when I didn’t feel like running at all, when I was extremely tired, days when my legs were incredibly sore from a long run the day before BUT every single time I have dragged my butt to the YMCA I have felt tremendous afterwards. It may take a KM or two to loosen things up, or perhaps it’s the right tune at the right time to get me moving but so far I have really enjoyed the experience.
I am loosely following a triathlon (which I am training for) training plan which starts with a base week (week #1) and you add a bit more on week #2, a bit more again on week #3 and then an active recovery week, which I am currently in where you take things relatively easy. So with 11 weeks still to go, I will be ramping it up to another level three more times. I have learned and listened to my body a lot during the last 25 days, and will be altering the run schedule accordingly. For example I will NOT be doing any more long runs back to back during the next cycle… in week #2 I did four 10 km over five days, and during week #3 I added distance everyday of the week culminating with an 11.5 km run right before the start of the recovery week.
The plan this cycle is to increase the number of recovery days in between more difficult runs, especially ones of double digit distance. Most likely there will two recovery runs in between, as I will be creating a plan and training schedule for the remaining 75 days and strategically plan things out. Training for a TRIATHLON is not just about running, there is a lengthy swim and bike element as well, two kilometers of swimming, and 94 kilometers of hard biking around the Lake of Bays with lots of elevation changes. It will be very tough indeed but after 100 runs in a row, I should have the leg strength to crush the course.
I have also been doing weight training four times a week, focusing on arms, chest, back/shoulders, and legs on an alternating cycle. This is new for me this time around during my training plan, as when I did three and half years of triathlons back in 2007 through 2010 there was no strength training to be found. It was a whole lot of swimming, biking and running and not much else. The only element that I would really like to incorporate is some abdominal days, some stretch days and even some yoga days. If I can manage to add these last three elements over the next five months I believe I would be unstoppable on the course.
I think there were four or five other guys in the gym this morning, and when I got onto the treadmill for what was planned to be a 9km run it felt difficult to get the legs moving. I generally warm up at 6 mph but today it was 5.5 to start, almost like a light jog and what started out as a tough run turned into something much different. After the 1st kilometer I started to warm up, I think it was a smart decision to wear track pants today as it helped keep my leg muscles warm and loose, and I was quickly able to up the pace and started to feel really good while running.
This morning the kilometers ticked off quickly, and the 80’s workout playlist was spot on as I easily hit the 9km goal and decided to stick around for another 1.5 km’s. By this time the pool below me had filled up so I decided to come back for my swim later in the morning. Funny thing from the time I changed and was headed out to my car the pool had emptied, literally no one was there. So I turned right around and headed back into the change room and jumped into an empty pool for an awesome 1.5km swim all to myself.
So for the record, I’m slightly nuts.
I loved my 2005 Saturn Vue, a car line that was discontinued at some point when American motor sales were struggling and GM closed down this particular line of vehicles. I drove two of them in a row, and would have continued to purchase this line of cars as I found them both fun to drive and very reliable. My Saturn Vue was with me through my entire triathlon career, was driven down to Florida and back on more than one occasion and was my car when I went down to Kentucky and did my Ironman race in 2009. I really wanted to see that car reach 300,000 km and it finally had to be retired at 296,000 km and change as it was looking at a costly repair bill. That is when I got my 2013 Toyota Corolla as we needed a commutator car at the time and I was driving from Barrie to Vaughan and back on a regular basis.
It is such an amazing rush and feeling coming down that finishing chute and crossing the finish line, it is such a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction finishing one of these races. The first time I finished this distance of triathlon, I cried that last 2km of the run reflecting on the last year of my life and the journey that I had just finished. I was so overwhelmed with emotion that I literally jumped for joy into the air. That photo is one the one that would grace of the cover of magazines in the years to come.
#SixKidChaos 