One of my favorite local races, the Peachbud 10k was this Tuesay. It is part of the Niagara Running Series, and I'm glad they are keeping it going after the tragic loss of the race director Jerry Friesen last fall. I figured I would use this race just to see where I'm at, since I can tell I am starting to regain fitness. My best guess going in to the race was that I am about 8-10 seconds per kilometer slower than before the injury, so I figured my time from last year and the year before that of 31:21.0 would be a good goal. (Yup, I ran the exact same time to the tenth of a second 2 years in a row...2 years ago was a huge breakthrough for me, but last year I was a bit disappointed with the time) I actually ran a race in London 4 days earlier, but basically treated it as a tempo. My high school coach was taking a few of his athletes up to run the high performance 1500's that night, and the road race was an hour before them, so it was well worth my while to get a ride with them, and win a gift certificate for some shoes. I'm just about due for a new pair now so it's good timing. The London series used to offer prize money, but this year they switched to gift certificates for Runners Choice. In a way, its a good thing for me, since I don't have any shoe sponsor yet, and most people faster than me do, so most likely I can cruise to an easy victory in these races and get some shoes. That is a very good thing, because I'm a cheap dutchman, and probably put 1500 miles or so on some of my old shoes from university. That is probably not a good thing, but hey, I went injury free for over a year!
Back to the race yesterday. For the first few races, Niagara Running series decided to not offer prize money, probably because of Jerry's death, but for the Peachbud, they brought it back and the prize structure for 1st to 3rd was $500 - $300 - $200. I know Jerry loved the competitive aspect of the series, so it's great that they are offering prize money again. I might have run the race anyways, but when I heard there was prize money, it was great because it meant I wouldn't be all out alone in front, and...considering that Canadian Olympic trials are this weekend, there might not be too much competition, so despite not being 100% back to where I was, I had a pretty decent chance to cash. A few minutes before the start, I looked around and didn't see anyone I noticed. Then, at the last minute I saw Josephat Ogneri walk to the line. Of course! He is my most common road racing rival. Out of the 15 road races I ran since last June, 12 of them offered prize money, and he was in 9 of them. I'm 3-6 head to head against him, and tend to beat him in the longer courses with a few hills on them. Usually if he doesn't show up that means there probably was another race that day with better prize money somewhere within driving distance. One time for a half marathon, I thought maybe he wouldn't show up since he raced a marathon the week before. Wrong! He still showed up and ran a 1:05! For this race, I knew it wouldn't be realistic for me to beat him considering my current fitness, but I decided to see how long I could hold on to him. We went through 3k in about 9 flat, and then I started to fade. I was able to keep him within my sight, but when I reached 8k in 25:05 he was too far ahead and I was comfortably in second, so I thought to myself, "I wonder if I can run the exact same time in a road race 3 years in a row. I would need to hit 3:08 pace for the last 2k to do it, so it was definitely realistic. At 9k, I was 28:13, so I was right on pace. "Just keep this same pace" I told myself. As I turned the corner towards the finish chute I realized I would have to sprint it in, 31:17...18...19...20...21...22, crap! One second off! 1.5 seconds to be exact. But I'm pretty happy to be that close to where I was last year at this time, considering I lost a month of training this spring. Not to mention $300 that I didn't expect to earn! I probably wont be racing again until August. For now I am best off focusing on getting my mileage up and staying healthy.
Another cool thing about this race was two of my brothers also ran. One of them was Joel, who has a mild learning disability, basically something in between autism and aspergers. Last year at this time he was suffering with a little bit of depression, but this year that is gone, and the last month or so he has taken up running. He would've never done that last year. It's great for him, because I know for me that running can be a great stress reliever at times. He broke 50, and I didn't think he would. I was happy for him! My youngest brother Jared also raced, but he was in the 5k. He broke 21, not bad for an 11 year old.
Wednesday, 27 June 2012
Saturday, 9 June 2012
Blog #2 Running is like a wife
So, I am recovering from my injury and gradually building up the mileage. Two weeks ago I started up with a 30 mile week, last week was 50, and this week I'll be at about 65. The goal is to get back up to 100 by July, but I must be cautious. My right lower back (SI joint) is healed, but my left groin feels sore after runs and the pain goes away by the next day, so I can't really run twice a day yet. I know from experience not to run through groin pain, so I must be careful. I have been told this pain is likely due to over compensation which leads to muscle imbalances, so now I have to massage my right side also. My life is pretty boring now though. I'm just working at home on the dairy farm, milking cows and filling silos and stuff like that. I also help out a bit with a new running group that my old coach started. My brother in grade 9 is starting in there also. The club I trained for in high school was Niagara Olympic Club in St Catharines, but now the one coach I am helping out has split from NOC and moved to Welland under the name Aktiv Racing. It wasn't the first time a coach has split off from NOC and started their own club. With all this splitting its almost like they are a church or something. One exciting thing I look forward to is that I am again planning on going to Christian Altitude camp in Mammoth Lakes, California for the 4th straight year. I need something to look forward to this summer and I can't think of a better way to spend my Around the Bay winnings. I went there for the first time after my sophomore year at Campbell, and I would say it was probably one of the better decisions I made in life so far. Everyone there shares the same love I have for running and the Christian faith. The community is awesome, the scenery is awesome, not to mention the training benefits you get from altitude.
My coach at Campbell once told us that running should be like a wife. I like that analogy. I like it because similar to a wife, running is important to me, but God is the center of the relationship. There may be some days that you love her more than others, but you are committed to her through tough times and good times. Not every day am I super excited to run, but at the end of the day I see the bigger picture and it drives me to stay committed. Also, in some circumstances i'm told, it could be considered healthy to take a break from your wife for a short time. My injury forced me to take about a month off, and during that time I really realized how much I missed her and love her, and now as I start to slowly build up mileage again I have an even greater appreciation for her....
Aagh, hopefully one day I will get a real wife. In God's good timing I trust he will show me the right one. I do think that my perseverance, determination, and sometimes obsessive nature played a big role in where I am today as a runner. I'm guessing it could also play handy in a marriage in the future. An example of when this attribute can be a drawback is if I become interested in a girl. If I'm not careful and things go bad, my strength could become my weakness in a hurry. A lot of people these days say they have attention deficit disorder. Their mind just goes all over the place. As for me, I have the exact opposite. My mind can stay in the same place for a long time! A good quality for distance running, but in some cases, this can get me into a bit of trouble. (mainly when something else becomes the center of my life instead of God) I suppose it is my spiritual weakness, but it can also be a strength, so hopefully God can lead me in situations where that attribute is a strength. That is what I pray anyways.
As I was injured, I did some reflecting on how God used unlikely situations to guide me down the road he wanted me to go. I can think of 2 such situations, and they both remind me how God has a divine plan for my life:
First was in grade 10, before I even trained seriously, but I still ran track. It was the first qualifying meet of the season and I had already been eliminated in the 1500. My last chance was the 3000. I thought to myself that if I couldn't make it, maybe there would be no point in doing track again next year. I barely made it, getting the last qualifying spot. At the next meet, SOSSA, I got the 5th and final spot again, and would move on to regionals. Next meet I had a chance to make provincials(OFSAA), but I would have to be top 4. I ended up getting 7th, but it was pretty close, and it motivated me to train seriously with Niagara Olympic Club next year. Plus there were cute girls there to increase my motivation all the more. (Although being quiet and socially awkward, I didn't really stand a chance) But if I hadn't made it through the first meet, I probably would have got discouraged, and I never would've started training seriously. My life would be completely different right now. God had a divine purpose for me to start running seriously!
A second thing that was pretty cool happened last year. After graduating from Campbell, I was contemplating staying in the U.S. somewhere for grad school, but opted to accept a qualifying year offer from Waterloo Univeristy in Ontario for Pure Math. Basically I had to take a few 3rd year courses to see if I could handle a masters program. I just applied there because I liked math and wanted to continue with it, and I knew Waterloo was known for their math program. I just sort of picked Pure math naively, not realizing that it is the most brutal form of math there is. I don't know why they decided to accept me, even as a qualifying student, since only the brightest of the brightest students even attempt these classes, but somehow they did, and there was a divine reason for it. But let me tell you, that first month or so of school was a tough, depressing time for me. I was completely lost in all my classes, and I really missed my old teammates at Campbell. After one week I came in to my adviser's office almost in tears. She told me the feeling was completely normal, and that if I keep at like I did in running, I could make it through. But she was so naive to how naive I was. Seriously, if you understand less than 10% of what the prof is telling you, and the prof says something like "but this is all review for you isn't it?", you're in trouble. In hindsight it should've been an easy decision to drop out immediately, but my advisor insisted I hold it out. One thing I did have going for me was I was running incredibly well. I had just run a huge personal best in the half marathon. I had also run a 40 second PB in the 10k the previous month. Since I was running so well, my new training partners, Adam and Derek, encouraged me to run the Toronto Zoo run/Canadian 10k Championships since they used that to come up with a team for the Chiba Ekiden relay in Japan. They had been on the team last year so they knew about that. It turns out it was not the official qualifying race, but they definitely looked at it. I came 6th, and most of the top guys ahead of me were focusing on Toronto Waterfront Marathon and would pass on Ekiden. Reid Coolsaet actually congratulated me on facebook about my race, and I replied asking if he knew anything about the selection process for Ekiden. He told me who to contact from Athletics Canada, and that's what I did. I found out later from the coaches on that trip that me being proactive about it played a deciding role in them taking a chance in a young runner nobody heard of before over other older runners who might have been a bit quicker than me. It was an answer to prayer, and it aided in my decision to drop out of school, which was a stress I needed God to relieve me from...because I needed something else to focus on when I dropped out. When I was depressed, I asked God to make it really obvious what I should do with these classes, and when this opportunity came up, I knew there was no way I could go on this trip AND do these classes that were already seeming impossible to me. I talked to one of my profs that week asking for his advice. He was much more realistic with me. He said I had a lot of guts to try what I did with so little math background, but basically told me I wasn't a super genius, and therefore it was pretty much impossible for me to pass these courses. It would kind of be like a Campbell football player thinking he could make it in the NFL, or a 16 minute 5k runner thinking he can make the Olympics. Waterloo takes in 1000's of top math students from high school, but only the top 30 or so make it to the advanced classes they had me attempt. HOW DID I GET ACCEPTED??? I DON'T KNOW!!! Anyways, he advised me to sit in on some stats classes and take some courses as a non degree student the next term. So that's what I did. So, the answer from God was pretty clear: should I go to Japan and do something I love and really enjoy, or stay here doing something that I am struggling with and not enjoying at all? Tough decision eh? But seriously, this opportunity came at a perfect time. Had I not went to Waterloo or Had I not been running well or had I not met my training partners or had I not been proactive in trying to get on the team, this opportunity wouldn't have happened. Clearly a sign of God's divine purpose.
And when times are tough or when I am confused on what I should do next, it's nice to reflect on moments like that because it reminds me of God's divine purpose, and allows me to relax more and trust in him.
My coach at Campbell once told us that running should be like a wife. I like that analogy. I like it because similar to a wife, running is important to me, but God is the center of the relationship. There may be some days that you love her more than others, but you are committed to her through tough times and good times. Not every day am I super excited to run, but at the end of the day I see the bigger picture and it drives me to stay committed. Also, in some circumstances i'm told, it could be considered healthy to take a break from your wife for a short time. My injury forced me to take about a month off, and during that time I really realized how much I missed her and love her, and now as I start to slowly build up mileage again I have an even greater appreciation for her....
Aagh, hopefully one day I will get a real wife. In God's good timing I trust he will show me the right one. I do think that my perseverance, determination, and sometimes obsessive nature played a big role in where I am today as a runner. I'm guessing it could also play handy in a marriage in the future. An example of when this attribute can be a drawback is if I become interested in a girl. If I'm not careful and things go bad, my strength could become my weakness in a hurry. A lot of people these days say they have attention deficit disorder. Their mind just goes all over the place. As for me, I have the exact opposite. My mind can stay in the same place for a long time! A good quality for distance running, but in some cases, this can get me into a bit of trouble. (mainly when something else becomes the center of my life instead of God) I suppose it is my spiritual weakness, but it can also be a strength, so hopefully God can lead me in situations where that attribute is a strength. That is what I pray anyways.
As I was injured, I did some reflecting on how God used unlikely situations to guide me down the road he wanted me to go. I can think of 2 such situations, and they both remind me how God has a divine plan for my life:
First was in grade 10, before I even trained seriously, but I still ran track. It was the first qualifying meet of the season and I had already been eliminated in the 1500. My last chance was the 3000. I thought to myself that if I couldn't make it, maybe there would be no point in doing track again next year. I barely made it, getting the last qualifying spot. At the next meet, SOSSA, I got the 5th and final spot again, and would move on to regionals. Next meet I had a chance to make provincials(OFSAA), but I would have to be top 4. I ended up getting 7th, but it was pretty close, and it motivated me to train seriously with Niagara Olympic Club next year. Plus there were cute girls there to increase my motivation all the more. (Although being quiet and socially awkward, I didn't really stand a chance) But if I hadn't made it through the first meet, I probably would have got discouraged, and I never would've started training seriously. My life would be completely different right now. God had a divine purpose for me to start running seriously!
A second thing that was pretty cool happened last year. After graduating from Campbell, I was contemplating staying in the U.S. somewhere for grad school, but opted to accept a qualifying year offer from Waterloo Univeristy in Ontario for Pure Math. Basically I had to take a few 3rd year courses to see if I could handle a masters program. I just applied there because I liked math and wanted to continue with it, and I knew Waterloo was known for their math program. I just sort of picked Pure math naively, not realizing that it is the most brutal form of math there is. I don't know why they decided to accept me, even as a qualifying student, since only the brightest of the brightest students even attempt these classes, but somehow they did, and there was a divine reason for it. But let me tell you, that first month or so of school was a tough, depressing time for me. I was completely lost in all my classes, and I really missed my old teammates at Campbell. After one week I came in to my adviser's office almost in tears. She told me the feeling was completely normal, and that if I keep at like I did in running, I could make it through. But she was so naive to how naive I was. Seriously, if you understand less than 10% of what the prof is telling you, and the prof says something like "but this is all review for you isn't it?", you're in trouble. In hindsight it should've been an easy decision to drop out immediately, but my advisor insisted I hold it out. One thing I did have going for me was I was running incredibly well. I had just run a huge personal best in the half marathon. I had also run a 40 second PB in the 10k the previous month. Since I was running so well, my new training partners, Adam and Derek, encouraged me to run the Toronto Zoo run/Canadian 10k Championships since they used that to come up with a team for the Chiba Ekiden relay in Japan. They had been on the team last year so they knew about that. It turns out it was not the official qualifying race, but they definitely looked at it. I came 6th, and most of the top guys ahead of me were focusing on Toronto Waterfront Marathon and would pass on Ekiden. Reid Coolsaet actually congratulated me on facebook about my race, and I replied asking if he knew anything about the selection process for Ekiden. He told me who to contact from Athletics Canada, and that's what I did. I found out later from the coaches on that trip that me being proactive about it played a deciding role in them taking a chance in a young runner nobody heard of before over other older runners who might have been a bit quicker than me. It was an answer to prayer, and it aided in my decision to drop out of school, which was a stress I needed God to relieve me from...because I needed something else to focus on when I dropped out. When I was depressed, I asked God to make it really obvious what I should do with these classes, and when this opportunity came up, I knew there was no way I could go on this trip AND do these classes that were already seeming impossible to me. I talked to one of my profs that week asking for his advice. He was much more realistic with me. He said I had a lot of guts to try what I did with so little math background, but basically told me I wasn't a super genius, and therefore it was pretty much impossible for me to pass these courses. It would kind of be like a Campbell football player thinking he could make it in the NFL, or a 16 minute 5k runner thinking he can make the Olympics. Waterloo takes in 1000's of top math students from high school, but only the top 30 or so make it to the advanced classes they had me attempt. HOW DID I GET ACCEPTED??? I DON'T KNOW!!! Anyways, he advised me to sit in on some stats classes and take some courses as a non degree student the next term. So that's what I did. So, the answer from God was pretty clear: should I go to Japan and do something I love and really enjoy, or stay here doing something that I am struggling with and not enjoying at all? Tough decision eh? But seriously, this opportunity came at a perfect time. Had I not went to Waterloo or Had I not been running well or had I not met my training partners or had I not been proactive in trying to get on the team, this opportunity wouldn't have happened. Clearly a sign of God's divine purpose.
And when times are tough or when I am confused on what I should do next, it's nice to reflect on moments like that because it reminds me of God's divine purpose, and allows me to relax more and trust in him.
Friday, 11 May 2012
Blog #1 Perseverance through tough times
About a month and a half ago, I had the best race of my life so far. I knew I was in good shape, but the question was how much. Around the Bay 30k in Hamilton was a perfect place to test that. I ran intelligently, battling back from 6th place to finish 2nd only to olympic bound Reid Coolsaet. I never would have thought that, and I praise God for that. It's a race that sort of put me on the map. People are wondering who I am and starting to take notice. In particular, a guy named Theo Wright who I do not know sent me a facebook message congratulating me on ATB and suggesting that I start a blog. I considered it, but with exams coming up, I decided to wait until after exams to do that. Those ended a few weeks ago...so here it goes.
I expected the time after exams to be a time of happiness, relief, relaxation, and a time to really focus on training. Unfortunately, the start to the summer has been quite the opposite. April 22, 2 days after my last exam, I ran the downhill Yonge street 10k. The downhill lead to a huge 1 minute PB (29:10), but also an injury in my SI joint which I did not feel until the next day, after my recovery run, in my lower back and glutes. Not a good trade-off. The timing of this injury really sucked because I got selected to represent Canada at Boulder Bolder 10k in Colorado at the end of May. I had to make the difficult decision to pull out of that race this week as the injury was not recovering fast enough. It's really about 50/50 whether I would be recovered and well enough to race on time for that race. In life sometimes there are times where it is smart to gamble, but this isn't one of them. I'm young and just came off a huge breakthrough race, so it would be stupid to risk further injuring myself for one race when I potentially have a good future ahead of me. I'm going to let this thing heal completely, and although this sucks really bad and it's going to be a tough and boring few weeks for me, I have to have the attitude and confidence that I will have more opportunities like this in the future. And I did have a pretty neat opportunity last fall in Japan at Ekiden relays, where I ran a 5k as a substitute, so I can't be complaining too much.
But I also have to look at the bigger picture. One year ago, I graduated from Campbell University, NC, where I was a mediocre college runner at best. To be honest, my first few years were just plain pathetic. My last year I did manage to get my 10k just barely under 31 and my 5k barely under 15. So if you were to tell me back then that I would run 1:35:04 for 30k and finish within 2 minutes of an Olympian, I wouldn't believe you. If you would have told me I would have got selected to 2 national teams, (I wasn't actually in the relay at Japan and I'm injured for Boulder...but still...) I wouldn't have believed you either. Now I am splitting my 10k in half marathons and 30k's faster than my 10k collegiate best on the track. So although at first, I was angry at God for taking this opportunity away from me, after thinking about it, I realize that is kind of foolish. He has blessed me so much this past year in terms of running. I can take this injury as a learning experience. I spent the last year basically self coached, taking some post degree courses in math/stats at Waterloo, while putting in some good training, occasionally meeting up with Derek Nakluski and Adam Hortain for easy runs and workouts. I enjoyed that, and my rate of improvement has been almost miraculous, but now I am realizing that if I want to step it up to the next level, I need someone to help me out with the little things. Improving things such as flexibility, form, nutrition and other things that I stink at could go along way in preventing things like this from happening again. I plan on going to Guelph this fall to train with their excellent group. They have the tools there to help me with those little things. There I can get great coaching and learn from some of the best runners in the country about what it takes to get to the next level. I think the results from this past year have given me the confidence to pursue reaching that next level. I am passionate about running and have some God given talent and perseverance, but I think I just need tweaking and I think Guelph would be a good fit for me to do that. And oh yeah, I applied for my masters there...you know... in case of the rare chance I can't make a living running.
This injury is not the only reason why it is tough times right now. My high school , Smithville District Christian High, has suffered the loss of two of its former students this past week. One two years older than me, Anthony Tiersma, died of cancer, and one of my own classmates from grade school and high school, Chelsea Feddema, died in a tragic horse riding accident when it got spooked and ran on the road getting struck by a truck. Truly heartbreaking. My prayers go out to both of those families. It sort of puts my temporary injury problem into perspective. We don't always understand why things happen the way they do, but the nice thing about the Christian faith is the eternal hope we have, and we know God is in control. So we truly can be content whatever the circumstances, as talked about in Philippians 4:11.
I expected the time after exams to be a time of happiness, relief, relaxation, and a time to really focus on training. Unfortunately, the start to the summer has been quite the opposite. April 22, 2 days after my last exam, I ran the downhill Yonge street 10k. The downhill lead to a huge 1 minute PB (29:10), but also an injury in my SI joint which I did not feel until the next day, after my recovery run, in my lower back and glutes. Not a good trade-off. The timing of this injury really sucked because I got selected to represent Canada at Boulder Bolder 10k in Colorado at the end of May. I had to make the difficult decision to pull out of that race this week as the injury was not recovering fast enough. It's really about 50/50 whether I would be recovered and well enough to race on time for that race. In life sometimes there are times where it is smart to gamble, but this isn't one of them. I'm young and just came off a huge breakthrough race, so it would be stupid to risk further injuring myself for one race when I potentially have a good future ahead of me. I'm going to let this thing heal completely, and although this sucks really bad and it's going to be a tough and boring few weeks for me, I have to have the attitude and confidence that I will have more opportunities like this in the future. And I did have a pretty neat opportunity last fall in Japan at Ekiden relays, where I ran a 5k as a substitute, so I can't be complaining too much.
But I also have to look at the bigger picture. One year ago, I graduated from Campbell University, NC, where I was a mediocre college runner at best. To be honest, my first few years were just plain pathetic. My last year I did manage to get my 10k just barely under 31 and my 5k barely under 15. So if you were to tell me back then that I would run 1:35:04 for 30k and finish within 2 minutes of an Olympian, I wouldn't believe you. If you would have told me I would have got selected to 2 national teams, (I wasn't actually in the relay at Japan and I'm injured for Boulder...but still...) I wouldn't have believed you either. Now I am splitting my 10k in half marathons and 30k's faster than my 10k collegiate best on the track. So although at first, I was angry at God for taking this opportunity away from me, after thinking about it, I realize that is kind of foolish. He has blessed me so much this past year in terms of running. I can take this injury as a learning experience. I spent the last year basically self coached, taking some post degree courses in math/stats at Waterloo, while putting in some good training, occasionally meeting up with Derek Nakluski and Adam Hortain for easy runs and workouts. I enjoyed that, and my rate of improvement has been almost miraculous, but now I am realizing that if I want to step it up to the next level, I need someone to help me out with the little things. Improving things such as flexibility, form, nutrition and other things that I stink at could go along way in preventing things like this from happening again. I plan on going to Guelph this fall to train with their excellent group. They have the tools there to help me with those little things. There I can get great coaching and learn from some of the best runners in the country about what it takes to get to the next level. I think the results from this past year have given me the confidence to pursue reaching that next level. I am passionate about running and have some God given talent and perseverance, but I think I just need tweaking and I think Guelph would be a good fit for me to do that. And oh yeah, I applied for my masters there...you know... in case of the rare chance I can't make a living running.
This injury is not the only reason why it is tough times right now. My high school , Smithville District Christian High, has suffered the loss of two of its former students this past week. One two years older than me, Anthony Tiersma, died of cancer, and one of my own classmates from grade school and high school, Chelsea Feddema, died in a tragic horse riding accident when it got spooked and ran on the road getting struck by a truck. Truly heartbreaking. My prayers go out to both of those families. It sort of puts my temporary injury problem into perspective. We don't always understand why things happen the way they do, but the nice thing about the Christian faith is the eternal hope we have, and we know God is in control. So we truly can be content whatever the circumstances, as talked about in Philippians 4:11.
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