Sunday Run - July 3rd

Today's goal...4 hour run. Well actually for me the most important part of today was how fresh my legs felt from yesterday's 6 hour run. A key part of running across NL is how much of a beating our legs can take on a day and then be fresh enough to continue running the next day. Running a long distance on one day is different than a multi day adventure such as this. When I ran the Western States 100 miler I ran myself into the ground just trying to get it done...it didn't matter about how bad I felt at the finish line...I just needed to get to the finish line in under 30 hours. Finishing this adventure will depend a lot on how in tune with our bodies we are...meaning if we start to feel like we are getting run down either from nutrition or too much volume then we need to hold back...eat and/or let body recover and essentially catch up. That said...given the distance we  have to cover in 14-16 days...there is a certain point that we are gonna....as my dad would say...just push'er through. Hopefully this will be later than sooner in the trip. :-)
So back to the Sunday run...it went really well....legs felt great...a little sluggish but after a couple of km they came around....right at Dewolfe park...right where the start of a 5k run in Bedford was taking place. I bumped into some new friends who were about to do their first 5k. I couldn't help but smile...very special day....doing anything for your first time always produces anxiety but the pay off is so worth it. I smile because when I think about where completing my first 5k race took me...I am excited for the possiblities for them. I hear that all of the runners completed the 5k...Congrats to you all!
My friend Mary joined me on my Sunday run. We ran some trails off of Hammonds Plains road...I love it up there...a mix of everything. That said...the horse/deer flies were really bad in one section. If you looked at the ground you could see the shadows of all the flies buzzing around your head. As fast as you would swat them off your head another would land. Other than that short section it was a lot of fun. Below are some pics from the day. Enjoy -J

Saturday Run - July 2nd

Well it was another early rise (4am)...I guess getting up early for my long runs is good practice for NL as the plan is to be running by 5:30am every morning.

In the first 5k I realized the legs didn't really feel as good as they did last week...they were a little heavy. It meant it was going to be a little more about the mental aspect today. I did the Bedford Basin loop again...starting to be my regular Saturday run...hit Bedford Highway, run into Halifax, make my way across MacDonald bridge (pic from bridge below), past Lake Banook, out through Waverly and back Rocky Lake Road to Bedford.

I ran at a relaxed pace and including pitstops it took ~6 hours. It was a little mentally tough at times but I would focus on memories of people who have inspired me, experiences with family, friends, etc which always serves as a great mental distraction and then all of a sudden you have ran a couple of more km. And if all esle fails...there is music! It amazes me how the 'right' song can turn things around. I was about 8 km from home on Rocky Lake Road...feeling a little less than fresh and then....Rebel Yell by Billy Idol starts pumping through my headphones. Well...my legs started moving faster than Sea Biscuit in the last stretch of a race. Well whose kindin' who...not that fast but for me I was bootin'er. LOL

Below are some pics from my run. Now grab a family member or friend...get outside...and get movin' :-) -J

Nutrition for Trip

Well here is a pic of my nutrition bags for the running portion of the expedition. About 250 ziploc bags...1 for each hour of running. They contain an assortment of everything from Clif bars, Ensure pudding, Sports Beans, gels, Ensure, Fruit Source bars, espresso beans, salt tabs, Oatmeal to Go bars, Nutrigrain bars. This doesn't include all the food we have to eat before, between and after our runs. We will require 11,000 Cal/day. -J
Sent wirelessly from my BlackBerry device on the Bell network.
Envoyé sans fil par mon terminal mobile BlackBerry sur le réseau de Bell.

Does this mean we are famous? LOL :-)

www.smu.ca/newsreleases/2011/06-24-11marathon.html

A Lesson Learned

Well we are 2 weeks away from officially starting our journey. Training has been going real well...starting to get a feeling for what it was like for Forrest Gump since we have been doing so much Run-Ning! :-)
It's funny...for such a simple sport, I continuously find I learn new things about it. For example, this past Saturday I ran the Bedford Basin loop...from my house it is 43km. This loop is an undulating route and on a typical day I would run it between 4:15-5 hours which includes stops at gas stations. Well this Saturday I forced myself to walk about 10% more. It took me an extra hour to complete but what a difference walking a little more made. I had 0 soreness from the 6 hour run and was able to run 3 hours Sunday morning on what felt like fresh legs. The Lesson -> seems like a little bit extra walking helps in going further with less damage/soreness to the body. Perhaps it helps the body keep up with buffering out the lactic acid. I don't know the exact science but it seemed to work.
Attached is a picture from where I ran off Hammonds Plains Road on Sunday. Love running up there.
All the best everyone!
- J

Sent wirelessly from my BlackBerry device on the Bell network.
Envoyé sans fil par mon terminal mobile BlackBerry sur le réseau de Bell.

More on Pineland

We all thank to Shane (head coach), Natalie, Gordon and our other friends who sent us supporting e-mails and texts before and after the run

Pineland Farm Run

We ran the race on Sunday in Maine (http://www.pinelandfarms.com/).  J and I ran 50M, Shannah and Mary ran 50K.  The details about this amazing run will follow in a couple of days...

This is just to update...pictures are coming