| Location: Garson - Sudbury,ON,Canada Member Since: Apr 20, 2013 Gender: Male Goal Type: Other Running Accomplishments: I ran my first marathon in 1998: "The Friendly Marathon" in Massey, Ontario. I was 32. I had never raced in a shorter event, and I trained really poorly - ended up running it in 4:00:30. After that, I gave up running for the most part for 6 years. I got into karate a bit more seriously, until I got my knee kicked out and had ACL surgery. Then I became a 'fair weather runner' and started to run half marathons every so often. As a priest, entering weekend races always meant having to book a holiday, so it just didn't happen much. My holidays were primarily focussed on various canoe and kayak trips.
At some point, I started training more consistently, and started to think of myself as a runner. I guess doing that in your 40's is better than never doing it at all. I even started to wonder if I had it in me to qualify for Boston. Well, I did. First time didn't count, I suppose, since I didn't make the "cut". But the second time was a charm, and on my sixth Marathon, run in Chicago in 2015, I beat my BQ by almost 6 minutes. And now, running a BQ is routine for me, not that I have any desire to run Boston again.
Through it all, I've made tons of mistakes - and have had lots of injuries to show for it. Hopefully, now that I'm in my late 50's, I'm a bit wiser and can use that to my advantage to continue running for a very long time.
My PRs:
5k (12 run): Guelph, ON. October 10, 2016 (50 yrs.) 20:10
10k (10 run): Collingwood October 5, 2013 (47 yrs.) 43:37
Half Marathon (25 run): Cleveland May 18, 2014 (48 yrs) 1:33:08
Marathon (12 run): Ste-Jerome, QC October 3, 2021 (55 yrs.) 3:22:10
Ultras (5 run):
Run for the Toad 50k Trail September 30, 2017 (51 yrs.) 5:31:23
Niagara Falls 100k June 17, 2018 (52 yrs.) 12:26:30
That Dam Hill 24 hours September 15-16, 2018 Completed 100 Miles in 23:20:44
Sulphur Springs 50 mile Trail May 25, 2019 10:37:27
Haliburton Forest 100 mile Trail September 7-8, 2019 26:46:27
Pacing my sister in her 1st Half Marathon. Short-Term Running Goals: After a broken right foot in 2022 in the later stages of a marathon training cycle, then adjusting to a 1/2" heal lift in my right shoe to compensate for a leg length discrepancy, and then a left plank plate rupture in the late summer of 2023, I had to decide: go fast or go long. I opted for long, for this year at least.
May 2024: Sulphur Springs 50 Mile Trail (revisiting it after 5 years)
July 2024: Limberlost 54KM Trail
September 2024: Haliburton 100 Mile Trail (also revisiting it after 5 years).
Everything this year is really focussed on the Haliburton 100 as my key event. After that, and depending on how things go, I'll reevaluate. Long-Term Running Goals: Run until this old body of mine won't let me run any more. I was inspired in the Spring of 2016, watching the start of the Ottawa Marathon. Near the back of the pack was an 'old man', running with his walker. I loved it! I thought ... there's me in 20 years. Maybe.  Personal: I am a Roman Catholic priest of 30 years, ministering in the Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie. I spent 8 years ministering in the small town of Wawa (where I helped establish the annual Blackfly Run) and 9 years in Sault Ste. Marie. I have been in the Sudbury region now for 13 years. Currently I Pastor 2 small Parishes: St. John the Evangelist in Garson, and St. Bernardine of Siena in Skead, covering the area just Northeast of the city, surrounding the Sudbury Airport. |
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| Brooks Ghost 6 Green Miles: 36.00 | Brooks Glycerin 12 Miles: 70.00 | Brooks Ghost 6 Gold Miles: 70.00 |
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| | Took it outside again, since moving the clocks back meant I had more morning light. Picked up the pace a bit, with the 5 miles averaging 8:33. A little tight still, but nothing too bad. I'm hoping to get up over 30 miles this week.
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| Brooks Ghost 6 Green Miles: 5.00 |
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| | 3rd day in a row outside, just when I thought I was stuck on the treadmill for the winter. Nice.
6 easy miles - 8:51 pace. Felt easy, and no aches anywhere. Again, nice.
Massage booked for this afternoon - my post marathon treat.
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| Brooks Ghost 6 Green Miles: 6.00 |
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| | Back outside - gorgeous morning. 5C/42F with little to no wind. Ran a bit faster than planned, so I guess it means my body has fully recovered from the marathon. Even did some jump squats last night. Ran the 6 miles at an average 8:08 pace.
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| Brooks Ghost 6 Green Miles: 6.00 |
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| | 5 miles outside; 8:23 pace. Another warm morning - 8C/46F - with a heavy fog and no wind. Last year at this time we were buried in snow already. Gotta love it this year.
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| Brooks Glycerin 12 Miles: 5.00 |
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| | Took it to the treadmill this morning. It was warm, but the rain was torrential and the wind was something else. Turned out the power for 5 hours this morning. I'm glad I got my run in 1st!
Anyway, 5 easy treadmill miles. No problems; plan on running either 7 or 8 tomorrow outside - supposed to be right at freezing, but no rain/snow.
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| Brooks Ghost 6 Gold Miles: 5.00 |
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| | Gorgeous morning after yesterday's storm, so I was glad to run my outside route today. 8 miles at an average 8:23 pace. Felt great. Four weeks after Chicago and I'm up to 35 miles and no aches to speak of.
1C/34F with clear skies and no wind.
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| Brooks Glycerin 12 Miles: 8.00 |
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| | 6 miles at 8:26 pace. Cool morning at -3C/27F, but no wind and a stunning sunrise.
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| Brooks Glycerin 12 Miles: 6.00 |
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| | Took it to the track this morning for a bit of speedwork. Just 3 x 400 @ 6:00/mile pace with a lot of easy miles. Just to see. No problems as far as I can tell.
I also wanted to get some idea of my maximum heart rate - never actually tested myself for that. I knew it was higher than normal, based on my easy runs heart rate, but didn't know how high. Well, I hit 201 as a maximum, which is what I was guessing. So I'm 30 bpm above 'average'.
Also discovered last night that the Hanson's wrote a training book for half marathons. Great news for me - I followed their marathon training program my last 2 races and BQ'd both times. I'm hoping to work on my speed a bit more over the next year, and will run the Ottawa Half in May, so plan on using their technique. I'm curious to see how it plays out - I would love to run a faster Half PR this coming year. So, the book is ordered. Along with a Dr. Seuss book, just for fun! :)
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| Brooks Glycerin 12 Miles: 6.00 |
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| | 6 easy miles; 8:23 pace. Foggy morning - zero wind - temperature of -3C/28F.
Gave a blood donation on Monday, so I'll feel that in my running for a bit. Also got my flu shot yesterday, and my tetanus, so hopefully will be healthy through the winter.
Bought a new LED headlight for running yesterday; seems to work well - better visibility on these early morning runs is always a plus.
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| Brooks Glycerin 12 Miles: 6.00 |
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| | 6 wet miles; 8:22 pace. Not a downpour, but steady and cold. Almost sleet. 4C/39F. But no wind, so not so bad.
My new head strobe light is working really well. The cars approaching are slowing down - almost to a stop in some cases. And pulling right over. Before they almost made it a sport to see how close they could get to me. All good.
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| Brooks Ghost 6 Green Miles: 6.00 |
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| | 5 miles at an 8:04 pace. Our first snowfall - a little psychedelic running in the dark with my strobe head light reflecting off the snow. 0C/32F, so a wet snow that is mostly melting when it hits the ground. Didn't look at my GPS during the run, and was a little surprised at the speed - it felt great though - never felt like I was really pushing it.
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| Brooks Glycerin 12 Miles: 5.00 |
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| | 10 miles at an average 8:03 pace. -7C/19F with a 12 mph west wind. I didn't think that was too bad, until I turned the corner for my 3 miles west facing section. Wow - was it cold! I really didn't dress for it, and my hands (and a few other body parts) were quite numb by the time I got home. I was glad for a long, hot shower.
The good news is, for the next week at least, we won't hit these temperatures again. The roads were icy this morning, and so I had to be careful not to slip.
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| Brooks Glycerin 12 Miles: 10.00 |
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| | 6 easy miles; 8:28 pace. A bit warmer today at 1C/34F, and little wind.
I'm feeling okay, so will attempt some speedwork at the track tomorrow.
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| Brooks Ghost 6 Green Miles: 6.00 |
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| | A little speedwork at the track today. 8 x 400 with 400 jogs. Kept my 400 splits between 1:29 and 1:34. Was pushing it a bit, but felt good overall. Cold morning (1C/34F), but it felt fine once the sun came up.
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| Brooks Ghost 6 Green Miles: 7.00 |
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| | 7 easy miles; 8:28 pace. A bit warmer today at 6C/42F, and the rain held off until I finished the run.
My new strobe headlamp paid for itself in spades today, as 2 different cars came speeding out of sidestreets with no intention of stopping at the stop sign until they saw my light and screeched to a halt.
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| Brooks Glycerin 12 Miles: 7.00 |
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| | 6 easy miles; 8:39 pace. Actually warmed up a fair bit - was almost too warm for the long sleeves, and I was able to ditch the gloves at 10C/50F. A strong wind, however -35kph/22mph -slowed me down the middle 2 miles.
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| Brooks Glycerin 12 Miles: 6.00 |
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| | 52 minutes for 6 easy miles on the treadmill. I was all set to run outside, but changed my mind when I saw how heavy the snow was falling, and with a pretty fierce wind blowing. Better to run indoors today.
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| Brooks Ghost 6 Gold Miles: 6.00 |
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| | 11 miles long, at a 7:57 pace. Colder than I expected - I should have worn mitts instead of gloves. And my sports drink turned to slush about a third of the way in. It was minus 5C/23F with a touch of wind.
Anyway, a big snow storm is heading this way later today, and I was glad to get this run in before it hit. I much prefer the roads over the treadmill.
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| Brooks Glycerin 12 Miles: 11.00 |
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| | 6 easy miles on the treadmill this morning; 52 minutes of run time.
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| Brooks Ghost 6 Gold Miles: 6.00 |
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| | Speedwork on the treadmill today. 6 x 800 with 400 recoveries. Repeats I ran at various paces (I'm configuring my treadmill so I know its speed more accurately). So, my mile paces were 6:25 6:19 6:33 6:07 and twice at 6:44.
Now I know which setting to use going forward ... my goal pace for speedwork is 6:25/mile.
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| Brooks Ghost 6 Gold Miles: 8.00 |
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| | 2 miles at tempo pace - the other 5 easy. On the treadmill, as there is still a lot of ice on the streets from the storm the other day.
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| Brooks Ghost 6 Gold Miles: 7.00 |
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| | 6 easy treadmill miles. Ice storm last night and I'm not taking a chance on the roads.
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| Brooks Ghost 6 Gold Miles: 6.00 |
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| | 6 easy treadmill miles.
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| Brooks Ghost 6 Gold Miles: 6.00 |
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| | Long run on the treadmill. 12 miles for 98 minutes; a pace of 8:10/mile.
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| Brooks Ghost 6 Gold Miles: 12.00 |
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| | 6 treadmill miles; 8:27 pace.
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| Brooks Ghost 6 Gold Miles: 6.00 |
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| | Speedwork on the treadmill. 6 x 800 with 400 recoveries. 6:24/mile pace for the splits - easy to keep it even on the treadmill!
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| Brooks Ghost 6 Gold Miles: 8.00 |
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| Brooks Ghost 6 Green Miles: 36.00 | Brooks Glycerin 12 Miles: 70.00 | Brooks Ghost 6 Gold Miles: 70.00 |
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