Arresting Developments in Saskatoon (or, today's extended Half Marathon recap).

Saskatoon Police Half Marathon
Downtown Core, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Distance: 21K
Time: 2:19:18
Pace: 10:15
Best Split: 8:46
Rank: 42/57
AG: 43.38%
Post race meal: Chocolate Milk, Iced Coffee and Blueberry Muffin from Tim Hortons

Comments: Some days you have it, some days you don't.  Let's look at the positives: I finished... despite two injuries (IT Band and SI Joint Syndromes).

The highlight of the day was when my knee seemed to buckle from the IT band pain.  Of course, sans a foam roller, I had to get by using my phone to release the IT band.  That was not terribly pleasant, but it allowed me the ability to finish without destroying my knee.

The race started at 8am on a misty Sunday morning. Runners crossed the start line, which was between police cars with whirling police lights.  Notice the theme here?
(Luckily, as bad as my time was, it did not lead to my arrest.)  After a circuitous route through Downtown Core, we wound down to Victoria Park and along the river.  I ran a tad bit faster than I had planned to.  Right around 5k is when my knee started to hurt, and my quads and hamstrings started to argue with me.  The problem is basically this: because of the SI Joint point, I needed to have a hip adjustment (simple procedure... done several times). Because my hips adjusted and aligned properly, I'm now "burning different fibers of the same muscles."  In English, I'm rebuilding my leg endurance.  I'm not really able to do much about my muscles during a race, but my knee was another matter.  As I mentioned before, I used my android phone (in lieu of a foam roller) to massage my IT band. The result was that the horrific/sharp pain that accompanies IT band syndrome was minimized.  Alas, I would have to do this virtually every 1-3 kilometers, and that is what really killed my pace.

Eighteen Kilometers

Woke up at 6:30am and by 8:45am was blazing a trail with the SRRA long run group.  I fueled up with a cup of corn flakes and crystal light two hours before the run, and then a big banana thirty minutes prior. As usual I packed a 250ml water bottle, and a Mars bar.

The first stretch of the run was on Broadway Avenue, over the bridge and right onto the trail along the river (parallel to Spadina Crescent). 

As we passed 5 kilometers, I actually thought my it band problems might be a thing of the past. But immediately upon having that though, I began to feel a minor amount of discomfort in my left knee. Over the next 4 kilometers things got progressively worse until finally I did something I never thought I'd do... I dropped back from the group and alternated between walking and running at a 5k race pace.  I kept up with this for a few kilometers before even that became too much.

Ever since my chiropractor began doing a weekly hip adjustment procedure on me, running has become more and more tough.  Thinking is that now that my hips are aligned properly, I'm using "different fibers of the same muscles".  Thus, I'm starting over in certain ways.

Realizing that I'm pretty happy not to be running an actual race, I reason that it's okay to run-walk because my situation is no longer a matter of will power, or mind over matter.  I'm simply training too hard given my physical condition.

For one of the few times on a run, I stop to photograph two geese along the river.  Yesterday's snowfall blanketed the city with a sheet of white powder.

Luckily, the run group eases up and waits for me at a waypoint; once I've caught up to them, I'm advised to get a foam roller.  From there I run-walk at a close distance until we reach the last three kilometers.  At this point the snow is beginning to really melt, and what were once snow-covered paths, are not water-soaked paths.  I stayed with the group until 300 meters from the end, when the incline of the Broadway Avenue bridge, and the crunchy ice beneath my feet was too much for my left knee.  For once, I elect not to push it.

Once we're back in front of Brainsport, I realize that my body is in agony.  I spring into action and buy a liter of chocolate milk and a small bag of sun chips from 7-11.  Ah, relief.

I'm totally getting a foam roller tonight.  Because next week:

Further reading:
Ask The Running Doc: How do I get rid of IT Band Syndrome?

Saturday's Long Run Recap: Twelve Kilometers

I woke up at 7am and had some crystal light and a medium sized blueberry muffin.  Run time was 90 minutes away, so I needed to start thinking about what I was going to wear: which shoes, which technical shirt and so forth.
I've broken my habit of not stretching prior to running and stretched my hamstrings.  The SI joint pain I've been having, and the complementary problems have gradually made my runs more and more painful.
Today's long was was supposed to be a quick and painless 12k.  I even joked to my girlfriend (the night before) that it was basically a rest day.
As usual the meet-up place is Brainsport on Broadway Avenue.
The blueberry muffin was a big mistake. I learn this painful lesson (again) around the 4th kilometer. A moment later my left lateral ligament in my left knee is starting to feel like hell.  Hmmm, I wonder, how am I going to complete today's run?
Sure enough, it gets worse as we descend on the dirt trails off the river at a fairly fast pace. Despite a general lack of ice anywhere, I actually manage to stumble on a rock, but that was as close as I came to falling down.
We pass the Mendel Art Galley and I do a hit and run check in on Four Square and unlock the "Warhol Badge".
The wind is brisk (at 40kph in some places), and this fact is killing our pace.
After six kilometers we come to a stop and turn around, but not before some of us refuel. In an instant, cliff bars, gels and assorted consumables are in the hands of the other runners.  I generally don't refuel during runs under 16k, but if I were going to refuel, I'd eat a banana or have a GU (or other power gel).
Rather than heading to Saskatchewan Crescent, we stay on Spadina Crescent and complete out run "out and back" style.  My knee responded well to the Tylenol tablets I had taken on the run.  I'm certainly not pain free, but I'm not on the verge of dropping out of the run either (as I was two weeks prior).
After we reach Rotary Park (roughly 11k into our run), we do a hill.  To my own embarrassment, my breathing is becoming more and more labored.  Soon I'm wondering what the hell is happening to me that I'd be winded from a simple hill (and given how many times I aced the Williamsburg Bridge in New York, my concern is legit).
Then comes a gentle wave of stomach discomfort.  Could it be that swallowing Tylenol and gulping water on the run was a bad idea? I've never been sick on a run before, but I'm getting close.  My god, I thought when it was all happening, am I actually getting my ass kicked by a 12k run?!
I'm relieved when we finally arrive at Broadway Avenue.
When my girlfriend and I drove to a late breakfast later, we both noted the strong winds and swirling dust of snow, as well as the fact that it was a chilly -3C outside.  I asked myself: I actually ran in this?!

Sunday's race in Saskatoon (which I didn't register for) is a 5k fun run by the Saskatoon Zoo Society.  Although I love the idea of the race, I want my first race in Saskatoon to be a timed event.  That said, the Saskatoon Police Half Marathon on April 27th is coming very soon... and I am registered.

Paris of the Prairies

It was cold, snowing and icy out, but my run group strode confidently along tree-lined University Drive toward Saskatchewan Crescent. On the ground ahead were numerous snow-covered sheets of ice.

Since arriving in Saskatchewan I've had a few people ask me if I owned a pair of spikes--in my immensely ignorant knowledge base, I had no idea why the hell anyone would attach spikes to their shoes while running, but then I ran here.

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan is a city of less than 300,000 people. It is situated in the center of the province; and until recently, was considered the sunniest city in Canada (anyone who has *ever* driven west on College Drive at 6pm knows the unspeakable joy of being painfully blinded and unable to see ahead sans sunglasses).  Despite the sunshine, temperatures routinely descend to -30C in the winter (in fact, the windchill reached below -50 less than a few months ago).

It is here, in a city known for its sunlight, cold winters and bridges, that I'm training for my first marathon: the Queen City Marathon, to be held in Regina, SK on September 7th 2014.

Saskatoon is also called the Paris of the Prairies.  It's a beautiful city in a lot of ways, and quite an excellent city in which to run.  Not only do you get moderately warm summers (ie it's never too hot to run), but the frigid winter provides a unique running challenge for the dedicated runner.

At just under 500 meters (or 1640 ft), the air is noticeably thinner than at sea level (thus, providing a nice bit of altitude training for folks like myself). But it's the lack of chaos and constant traffic that make this a great city to train in.

On our run along University Drive, there are no cars operating, and this allows us to run in the street.

We cut left towards the river and then head for the Meewasin Trail, which runs along the river on both sides.  Once on the trail, it becomes apparent that the patches and sheets of black ice concealed under a blanket of fresh snow will be a cause for concern throughout today's run.

I relax, however, because something tells me that this is not my day to be horribly injured on a running trail.  For three others, however, it was.  

My running group was comprised of a dozen or so runners from the Saskatoon Road Runners Association who hold a weekly long run on Saturday mornings at 8:30am.  Today's long run, my first with the group, would be 16 kilometers (10 miles).  Since I had no idea how long the run would be, I ran the distance without refueling  during the run.  Yes, that happened, and I don't run more than 10k without refueling.

The SRRA runners were training for the Saskatchewan Half Marathon (run along with a full marathon, 10k and 5k) on May 25th.  I registered for the 5k race last December.  And so each Saturday they perform a long run at about a 5:30-5:45 per kilometer pace.

When we hit the home stretch and emerged from the trail to enter Spadina Crescent, snow started to fall heavier. Our meet-up place (the same each week) was Brainsport on Broadway Avenue.  As we neared the store, we passed another run group on the Broadway Bridge.  That felt kind of nice.

In future posts I'll talk more about the Meewasin trails, running in Saskatoon, and matter of running-related topics.