Catching up.

Wow. This is the last 14 days of running in photo form.

Nicole and I at our first hill training. Love being back on the hill. By the time we start our climbs up and down, up and down, the sun is setting on the Calgary skyline. Not to hard to find the beauty.

This was at 17K on our 20K run last week. Running with the front pack we held a great pace of 6.25 minutes per Km. The leaves are really speckling the ground.

The tree's are empty but still we chug on.

Oh No. The aftermath of my foolishness. If your ever at the end of a race you see this happen...many men crossing the finish line with two red dots. The worst part is I know better. This has happened before. Now I keep band aid as a preventative measure in my glove box. Just another part of training.

Hills a week ago. 5 Hills. One of Calgary's finest sunsets. So lucky to have as much sunshine as we have.

Here's my mentees. This was on our 23K run on Saturday. The first time for me to break that regular 21.1K boundary. The run was great. Michelle informed me of her running spirit running bear and let me borrow him. (Running Bear you helped me alot) Our pace was exactly where is should be at 7.5 minute KM. This run also broke the longest time I have been out running, 2Hours 40Minutes. So Proud of my team and of my running friends.

Even with two evening class on Monday night up and out the door at 7AM to meet Erin for a nice easy jog. 7.5K in Inglewood with the ever cute cuddly perfect man in dog form Felix. Yesterday was an off day. Today Hot yoga at lunch and hill training after class. It's weird how well my body is responding to so much physical activity. Guess I'm getting into that grove.

As Erin said during our run, "I think you are a runner now" Guess I am.

Mathew John

Training Training Training.

After returning back to life and Canada got in the stride of marathon training.
The difference with half training and that of the full is that cross activities push without the stress to already worked legs.

Monday: 14K make up run with Care. I ended up getting really tight in the muscle on the front of my legs. After some yoga instructed by my guru loosened and relaxed but felt it would be best to return home. It ended up only being 5K. Important to listen to the body.

Tuesday: 500M Swim with Kevin. Really surprised that he called me to get into the pool. Thought that after the triathlon Kevin would go back to smoking and drinking. The only problem was the murky disgusting water. Both of us felt sick and dizzy.

Wednesday: Hill training begins. The hill next to curling club on memorial. 4 TIMES. timing each time I went up. 2 minutes 20S then 2M 4S then 1M58S and my last hill at 1M 50S. Oh yeah. I love hills because of the challenge they bring. It's not easy but it not very long either. Wait till I start doing the stairs.

Today: After a really intense dance class. My prof described my movements as high energy, big, and sporadic. This went on for 10 minutes and I was breathing heavily after a minute. Back to the pool I went. Met Alex my fellow pooligan at SAIT. Holy it was great; Clean Water whole lanes to myself, Hot Tub. 200M Front crawl 200 Arms 200 legs. Wanted to go out and do another 100 but after the first stretch of the lap I knew I was done.

Massage tomorrow for my body,

Mathew John

Running in Europe.

Taking off on this adventure I never thought it would lead me to all the places it has.
The hills of Sardinia:

The bridge over the canals of Venice. Past the 1600 homes in Wetzlar.

Getting up early to run while the band (and tanya) slept. A great way to see a city.
The time came for my 4th Half Marathon. Cologne was the spot. Above me is at 7:30 AM before starting. A little haggard beard going on. The night before was crazy. Trying to find the marathon expo didn`t work. I ended up walking around the entire convention center without finding a door to get in. A friend of Sophie`s took me out for dinner. I had potato pasta covered in butter. Perfect pre-race food. Then back to the hostel with my full tummy. Needed to try and get my bib again. This time at seven in the morning.
My first large city marathon. 10000 people were running the half alone. They also were putting on a inline skate event of 64Km. Crazy to watch people go. This photo up top is in rudolph platz. The streets were lined with people out to watch.

Off I went. The first 10K was a challenge my body would not take form. Shocked at the 10K when I looked at my watch going at a 6min pace. As per usual my calves got tight at 20K. slowed my pace as passing through the city.

After crossing the finish line a man almost brought me to tears. All he said was Good Job and patted me on the shoulder.


It ended up being a personal best of 2H 03M 25S. The best part was the food and then BEER.
Hello it`s not even 11AM and the germans celebrate with free beer for everyone. I drank my beer and returned to the hostel to shower and repack. Now off on a train to joing my friends in Berlin.

Another 20K next week for full marathon training,
Mathew John

It's hard.

These are again my team mates after our 12K on glenmore. Total smiles.

This is me and my morning run with Erin and Felix. I cursed and screamed during this run and had to ask when do I become a runner? Totally not clothing concerned while training.

Off to Europe off for my next race,

Mathew John

Yahoo for Fall.

Summer is over and I have found a new joy in Hiking. Why is Hiking better than running? First, going up a mountain only presents a challenge for half of the hike. Second, Hikes involve the collection of yummy food to eat when looking out on a beautiful view. (Next summer maybe I will start mountain running)

Fall is here and there is no longer summer. What a great season.

Hiking in Lake Louise. When we reached the tea house and started sipping our organic tea the snow started to fall for the first time. Magical realisation.
New running path down in Inglewood. Trains and their chugging down the line always make me feel safe and at home. "Everything is fine if the train is running through."
Great news! This is my new team with Team in Training. This was our first running for the marathon training, just 8K. Excited to start training for my first full marathon. Jan 18th 2009 Phoenix.

Also I have registered for my next half marathon in Cologne Germany in 4 weeks.

Triclub meeting this week,

Mathew John

The next step.

This was my Friday "oh crap I have to run a half marathon on Sunday and haven't run since Monday" run. Down to baker park and under the sarcee bridge to Bowness.
This was a silly photo to take after running 15K. For Erin and I to lift our feet and hold them while I clicked away was almost a marathon itself.
Around 19K we passed the 2:10 pace bunny and ended up finishing 2 hours and 4 minutes 32 seconds. That means I have gone from running a 7 minutes Km to just under a 6. YAHOO!!!!

Hello cute couple from my running team. Still running. Kyle was my mentor for my first journey into distances. Plans to become a mentor and inspire.
Wow Mathew John without a shirt. This being my third half marathon you think I would have the knowledge of the importance of body glide and band aids. At 12K I realized the run would be needing them. Screw it. What a great finishing photo. LOOK at my medal!
The next day convinced to go on a 3 hour hike which became a 5.5 hour hike. This was my first mountain climb and really proved how under prepared/inexperienced I was.

Paid 300 dollars for the university triathlon club.
Hopefully all the cross training will make me a better runner.

cheers,

Mathew

UPDATES: Running and a Tri-it.

I tried a week ago to update this blog but blogger was not on my side. Yesterday I completed my first 'Tri it' Triathlon. First all the people who got me there.

Alex was willing to get in the pool with me. I needed the most work in that spot. Pooligans for life!
John is also training for Triathlon stuff. He's in the university club which I am thinking about joining. He has plan to do a half-iron man. The day this photo was taken we biked 16K then ran 6K. AMAZING work.
A week ago John and I went and ran the Glenmore reservoir. It took alot to get back into long distances. This was only 15K John hadn't run that far ever and with a tight muscle in his leg had to turn around at 6K. The reason I like running it is because after 7.5K you can't turn around.
Hello Beauty.
My Triathlon team. We all completed our first event ever. Megan kicked my butt in our heat. She is one of those swimmers that doesn't splash. Kevin registered just on time and was placed in another heat. It was great to finish and watch him. The time aren't posted yet but I ended up biking the wrong way for kilometer before turning around. It is 6 days till Edmonton Half marathon. One final longer distance. Off Erin and I went (with the best dog Felix) around the reservoir again.
In true fashion we went off the pavement and ended up with a block in a trail. "Do we go over the beaver dam?" Yeah we did. That was the best part. The run ended up being a little more trail then a light jog. It killed but should be good practice for the unknown Edmonton route.

That's the update,

Mathew