https://www.time-to-run.com/forums/ Tue, 05 May 2026 10:25:40 +0000 MyBB https://www.time-to-run.com/forums/Thread-Football-fan-Duncan-Kibet-plans-further-marathons Mon, 24 Nov 2008 13:16:05 +0000 admin]]> https://www.time-to-run.com/forums/Thread-Football-fan-Duncan-Kibet-plans-further-marathons Duncan Kibet is a football fan. Taking the 9th Samsung Milan City Marathon on Sunday with a course record of 2:07:53 that fits very well to the venue. Milan is of course well known for the two famous clubs Inter and AC. But it was probably wise that he left the shirt of his favourite club at home this time: When he had come to run his debut marathon in Vienna this April he wore the jersey of Manchester United with ,Ronaldo on the back. 'I like football. So back home in Kenya I sometimes go to watch the national team playing in Nairobi,' says Duncan Kibet.



With his winning time the Kenyan has confirmed the position of the Samsung Milan City Marathon as Italy's fastest marathon of the year. In 2009 the race will be staged for the 10th time on 22nd November.

But even if he should return to the football city in 2009 Duncan Kibet's interest for this sport will not distract him from his passion for running. Known as a frontrunner before he started running marathons this year he has adapted fine to the different tactics. It is important to save energy by following the pacemakers in a marathon. Duncan Kibet did this in a very warm Vienna City Marathon clocking a fine debut time of 2:08:33 in April and he did it again in a very cool Samsung Milan City Marathon to improve by 40 seconds.

'I have now run two very good marathons and I clearly see myself as a marathon runner', says Duncan Kibet, who did only run one 10 k event in between his races in Vienna and Milan. Concentrating on his marathon training he did up to 180 kilometres per week. Compared to other world-class runners this is still not that much and it suggests that there is quite some room for further improvement. 'I have more potential in the marathon,' says the 30 year-old and adds: 'My training for Milan was excellent and I owe this to my coach Claudio Berardelli.' The Italian coach, who works for the management group of Dr. Gabriele Rosa, spends up to eight months in a year in Kenya to train a group of marathon runners.
'Duncan did his training in a group together with James Kwambai, who was second in Berlin, Evans Cheruiyot, who won the Chicago Marathon, and Paul Kirui, the winner of the Amsterdam Marathon,' explains Claudio Berardelli, who thinks that there is a lot more to come from Duncan Kibet in the future. 'He will be able to do much better than today in the future. A time of 2:06 will be possible for him,' says Claudio Berardelli, who might well take Duncan Kibet to an Italian football match one day. But it will not be in Milan then, because the coach supports Juventus Torino!

photo credit: Victah Sailer/photorun.net
]]> Duncan Kibet is a football fan. Taking the 9th Samsung Milan City Marathon on Sunday with a course record of 2:07:53 that fits very well to the venue. Milan is of course well known for the two famous clubs Inter and AC. But it was probably wise that he left the shirt of his favourite club at home this time: When he had come to run his debut marathon in Vienna this April he wore the jersey of Manchester United with ,Ronaldo on the back. 'I like football. So back home in Kenya I sometimes go to watch the national team playing in Nairobi,' says Duncan Kibet.



With his winning time the Kenyan has confirmed the position of the Samsung Milan City Marathon as Italy's fastest marathon of the year. In 2009 the race will be staged for the 10th time on 22nd November.

But even if he should return to the football city in 2009 Duncan Kibet's interest for this sport will not distract him from his passion for running. Known as a frontrunner before he started running marathons this year he has adapted fine to the different tactics. It is important to save energy by following the pacemakers in a marathon. Duncan Kibet did this in a very warm Vienna City Marathon clocking a fine debut time of 2:08:33 in April and he did it again in a very cool Samsung Milan City Marathon to improve by 40 seconds.

'I have now run two very good marathons and I clearly see myself as a marathon runner', says Duncan Kibet, who did only run one 10 k event in between his races in Vienna and Milan. Concentrating on his marathon training he did up to 180 kilometres per week. Compared to other world-class runners this is still not that much and it suggests that there is quite some room for further improvement. 'I have more potential in the marathon,' says the 30 year-old and adds: 'My training for Milan was excellent and I owe this to my coach Claudio Berardelli.' The Italian coach, who works for the management group of Dr. Gabriele Rosa, spends up to eight months in a year in Kenya to train a group of marathon runners.
'Duncan did his training in a group together with James Kwambai, who was second in Berlin, Evans Cheruiyot, who won the Chicago Marathon, and Paul Kirui, the winner of the Amsterdam Marathon,' explains Claudio Berardelli, who thinks that there is a lot more to come from Duncan Kibet in the future. 'He will be able to do much better than today in the future. A time of 2:06 will be possible for him,' says Claudio Berardelli, who might well take Duncan Kibet to an Italian football match one day. But it will not be in Milan then, because the coach supports Juventus Torino!

photo credit: Victah Sailer/photorun.net
]]> https://www.time-to-run.com/forums/Thread-Dylan-Wykes-Toronto-Waterfront-Marathon-race Fri, 03 Oct 2008 09:31:44 +0000 admin]]> https://www.time-to-run.com/forums/Thread-Dylan-Wykes-Toronto-Waterfront-Marathon-race Race day - The alarm sounded at 4:30am! Surprisingly I slept pretty well, and was only up a few times during the night to go to the bathroom. I laid in bed for a few minutes and tried to relax, but the adrenaline was already pumping. I got up and had some breakfast, which consisted of a couples bowls of porridge and a banana, and some sports drink. I then went for a little walk to breath some fresh air and try to limber up a little bit. At that point I had a bit of time to enjoy 1/2 a cup of coffee before boarding the 5:50am bus to the start.

The 12 km bus ride from the hotel to city hall (right near the start line) seemed to take forever. I tried to stay relaxed by conversing with some of the other runners on the bus. Once we got to city hall we had a little bit of time to relax in the rooms set-up for us. There were these funny army-style cots/beds set-up in the rooms. A lot of people laid back on them trying to relax and conserve energy before the race.



Having only run one marathon before I don't really have a set pre-marathon warm-up routine. So, I figured it'd be an OK idea to follow the lead of Matt McInnes who has 7-8 marathons under his belt already. We went out for an easy 15 minute jog prior to the race. It was evident about 5 minutes into the warm-up that it was fairly warm and humid out. (I already knew this was going to be the case from my obsessive checking of the weather).

Steve and I had discussed the importance of drinking at all 8 aid stations along the course. I had practiced drinking an electrolyte drink and taking gels during training sessions in the build-up to this marathon. And I was happy that this time around I would be allowed to have bottles with this specific drink at every 5 km along the course. I got a good bit of advice from Matt McInnes to not depend on the bottles too much and to not freak out if my bottle was nowhere to be found when i approached the aid tables. Taking the bottle from the tables at speed is a difficult task and often the guys in front just take a sweep at the bottles and end up knocking over a lot of others. In the Ottawa marathon this spring Matt was only able to get 1 or 2 of his 8 bottles.

Anyways, on to the race.....we were escorted to the start line 15 minutes before the start. This gave all of the elites a chance to do a few strides and stretch a little and try and find somewhere private to empty their bladder in a sea of other runners and spectators. I managed to kneel down and 'tie my shoe' while partially hidden behind one of the lead trucks just before the start.

After an interesting rendition of 'Oh Canada' the gun went off and the race was a go!

Luckily no one really has a sense of urgency in the first few hundred meters of a marathon. The sprint off the line is not like one you would see in a elementary school cross country race!, most of the competitors have the foresight and experience to reserve some energy for the final 42 km of the race!

I went through 1 km in 3:12, all by myself. (In hindsight this was a theme that would persist for pretty much the next 41 km).

My pacemaker was nowhere to be found. I saw him on the start line, so presumed he had just gotten a bit excited and was a few seconds ahead in the lead pack. Ian Ladbrooke came past on a motorcycle at about 2 km and noticed that I was alone. I just shrugged my shoulders and he said to relax and that he would find the pacemaker and tell him to wait up for me!

He did and by 4 km I was 'tucked in' (I put this in quotations because it is somewhat difficult for a 6'2" 150lb person to 'tuck in' behind a 5'5" 120lb guy!) But, regardless, having Stephen there allowed me to take my mind off off the pace a little bit and just try and find a groove.

We past 5 km in 15:40 - about 10 seconds ahead of scheduled pace. But, I had spent from 1-3 km going a bit quick to try and bridge the gap from myself to Stephen). For the next 5 km I just tried to stay relaxed yet conscious to make sure we were still hitting the splits.

10k in 31:35

We hit 10 km in 31:35, just slightly ahead of pace. We were cruising along and I felt good. It seemed a bit windy, but I tried to ignore it and tell myself it wasn't all that bad. I had no problems getting my drink bottles at the first 2 stops. Steve was waiting out at the most western point of the course at 12.2km. I made eye contact with him and figured he could tell from my stride and posture that everything was going smoothly.

When we made the turn around it became evident that it was just me and the pacemaker. About 1 minute ahead was a large group of 10-15 runners who made up the lead pack. And about 30-45 seconds behind me was the chase pack made up of mostly Canadians and a few Mexican runners.

But, once we made that turn I was inspired by the support from the runners still heading out towards the turnaround point. Some were happy to see the first Canadian and cheered me on by my last name (on my bib - Wykes). But there were a few out there who knew me by first name. So, it was pretty cool to get cheers from them. There were also a few coaches and fans riding bikes along Lakeshore for the first 1/2 of the course. There support kept me calm and focused for much of the first half.



15km in 47:23 - 5k split 15:48

I hit 15 km in 47.23 (15:48). From 10 km to 15 km, I thought a lot about how the effort felt compared to during my previous marathon in Rotterdam. The humidity seemed to already be playing a factor and the small doubts that crept into my mind about whether I would be able to keep going at this pace. I was already feeling a bit of fatigue that I didn't recall feeling at this stage of the race in Rotterdam.

20km in 63:12 - 5k split 15:48

I forged on and managed to split the next 5 km in 15:48 (1:03:12 @ 20k).

At some point around 17 km I pulled alongside Stephen (the pacemaker) and asked him to pick it up a bit, because the last 2 km was 6:30 ( just slightly off pace.) I wasn't panicked about making up the time instantly, but I didn't want to keep slipping. Stephen thought I said to slow down and he ended up slipping in behind me. I looked back and told him 'no, no, speed up'. But, before I knew it he was slowing down even more and it was evident he wasn't going to make it much further, nevertheless to 30 km!

This little incident actually gave me a bit of an adrenaline rush and forced me to focus on working hard at maintaining the pace. I set my sights on a few guys ahead of me who were starting to struggle.

I was able to pass an English runner, who was struggling, and was making up ground quickly on another guy. I felt pretty strong going through 1/2 way in 66:40. But I was definitely feeling some fatigue in my hamstrings, and a little bit of cramping in my calves at random times. I knew at this point, unless I miraculously got a new set of legs, I wasn't going to be able to hold the pace to the finish.

I made a conscious decision to try and relax for the next 2-3 km and not keep charging to catch the next guy, who was about 15-20 seconds ahead. I realized if I forced it too much there was a decent chance I wouldn't make it to the finish. At that point the crowd support starting getting a little sparse and the loneliness of the long distance runner started to settle in. I started to lose a little bit of focus and running 3:10 km's quickly became a tough task.

25km in 79:24 - 5k split 16:11

I saw Steve, Cleo and Arnold cheering for me at just before 25 km and this gave me a little boost. I passed 25 km in 1:19.24 (16:11 for the 5 km from 20-25). I knew at this point that the remainder of the race was going to be a real battle.

I started to question why I had chosen such a long distance to specialize in! It was hard to stay focused from this point on (as it had been from about half-way), because it was evident I was not going to hit my goal time and the next guy was so far ahead and likewise so far behind that really 'competing' to improve or hold my place was a hard thing to focus on.

I was sweating a lot, and despite being able to get my bottle at all 5 aid stations to this point, I knew I was getting really dehydrated. My hamstrings seemed to keep tightening up and I started to get the odd small cramp in my side. At this point the winds also became a big factor. I had been running completely on my own for the past 7-8 km and regaining the focus to try and maintain a decent pace kept getting harder and harder.

When I passed 25 km and made my way down the Leslie spit and ran a 3:07 km, I knew I must have had a strong tail wind, because the effort was the same as the last 5k and I had been running at 3:13/km.

I ran a 3:10 for the next km and started seeing the leaders coming the other way making their way back up the spit. I gingerly made my way round the turn-around at 28 km and was met head on by some tough winds.

During the first 1/2 of the race this may not have felt like much, but at this point it was really tough. There was no one at all out there cheering and seeing the runners behind me making their way out to the end of the spit I had doubts that I would be able to stay ahead of them (in hindsight I was a good 3 minutes ahead of those guys at that point, but it felt like much less).



30km in 1:35.36 - 5k split 16:12

I think I ran my slowest k from 29-30 km, as I past 30k in 1:35:36 (25-30 km in 16:12).

When I again passed Steve, Cleo, and Arnold around 31 km I tried to really focus on keeping a quick turnover and trying to run tall and strong. I would have been encouraged by being able to maintain the pace I ran for 20-25k. but, the wind and the fatigue in my legs was really deteriorating my focus.

Luckily sometime between 30-32 km (I can't really remember when because time seemed to be standing still yet whizzing by all at the same time) a 'race escort' biker started leading me on the course about 10-20m in front of me. Although he was just there to make sure I made my way around the last 10 km safely and not to pace me at all, his presence helped me refocus.

I made a decision after 30 km to stop checking my watch and to just try a get to the finish line. I started to gain a little bit of confidence as I passed the eastern most point of the course at 33 km. I got a little boost from realizing I was now finally heading in the direction of the finish line! My body also seemed to be holding up alright, even though I continued to slow down. I realized I was going to be able to make to the finish without completely falling apart and without anyone passing me.

When I hit 34 km I caught sight of a runner ahead who seemed to be fading. I focused on reeling him in, which I did rather quickly, because he was really struggling at that point.

Once I was past him, the next group of runners seemed to be way off in the distance, but I tried to keep my head up and pick-up the pace a small bit to see if I could make up any ground.

I got confused around 35 km when someone told me I was 4:00 minutes behind. At this late stage of the race my mind was not working properly and I thought the guy was telling me the next runner in front of me was 4:00 minutes in front. This was obviously a blow to the confidence.

I thought it meaningless to charge after them at that point and started trying to calculate the ridiculously slow finishing time I was going to have. if the gap that from me to the guy I could see ahead was 4 minutes, then I couldn't imagine what the gap from me to the leader was! (It finally occurred to me after the race that the 4 minutes was how much time I was behind the leaders at that point). That threw me off for a few minutes and I started to feel a bit sorry for myself.

But when I hit 37 km, I tried to dig really deep and run as hard as I could to the finish. At this point I was pumping my arms like a mad man.

Unfortunately, my legs did not want to follow.

I started to gain confidence that I was going to be able to finish up strong. I looked at my watch (for the first time since 30 km) at 40 km and it was just under 2:09.

Although when I had visualized making it to this point in the race I wanted my watch to say 2:06:??. I was encouraged and tried to run hard thinking I might be able to run the last 2.2 km in under 7 min and sneak in under 2:16:00.



Although that didn't happen I made a decent charge over the last 2k and caught a guy in front of me with about 200m to go. I was extremely relieved to round the final bend and see the finish line. Although I wasn't going to get under 2:16:00, at that point I was happy enough to make it to the line.

So, in the end I came up well short of my time and placing goal for the race. But, I am pleased that I managed to hang-in there and not fall apart completely.

It was such a tough race for me to stay focused and motivated because I had to run so much of the race on my own and the conditions made the effort feel tough very early in the race. It was great to get through another marathon (and another marathon training cycle).

It was a very valuable experience. One that will hopefully help me if I am selected to run in next year's World Cup Marathon in Berlin Germany!

Now, it's time to recover and bury my head in some Epidemiology text books!


The article preceding this - Background Toronto Waterfront Marathon
]]> Race day - The alarm sounded at 4:30am! Surprisingly I slept pretty well, and was only up a few times during the night to go to the bathroom. I laid in bed for a few minutes and tried to relax, but the adrenaline was already pumping. I got up and had some breakfast, which consisted of a couples bowls of porridge and a banana, and some sports drink. I then went for a little walk to breath some fresh air and try to limber up a little bit. At that point I had a bit of time to enjoy 1/2 a cup of coffee before boarding the 5:50am bus to the start.

The 12 km bus ride from the hotel to city hall (right near the start line) seemed to take forever. I tried to stay relaxed by conversing with some of the other runners on the bus. Once we got to city hall we had a little bit of time to relax in the rooms set-up for us. There were these funny army-style cots/beds set-up in the rooms. A lot of people laid back on them trying to relax and conserve energy before the race.



Having only run one marathon before I don't really have a set pre-marathon warm-up routine. So, I figured it'd be an OK idea to follow the lead of Matt McInnes who has 7-8 marathons under his belt already. We went out for an easy 15 minute jog prior to the race. It was evident about 5 minutes into the warm-up that it was fairly warm and humid out. (I already knew this was going to be the case from my obsessive checking of the weather).

Steve and I had discussed the importance of drinking at all 8 aid stations along the course. I had practiced drinking an electrolyte drink and taking gels during training sessions in the build-up to this marathon. And I was happy that this time around I would be allowed to have bottles with this specific drink at every 5 km along the course. I got a good bit of advice from Matt McInnes to not depend on the bottles too much and to not freak out if my bottle was nowhere to be found when i approached the aid tables. Taking the bottle from the tables at speed is a difficult task and often the guys in front just take a sweep at the bottles and end up knocking over a lot of others. In the Ottawa marathon this spring Matt was only able to get 1 or 2 of his 8 bottles.

Anyways, on to the race.....we were escorted to the start line 15 minutes before the start. This gave all of the elites a chance to do a few strides and stretch a little and try and find somewhere private to empty their bladder in a sea of other runners and spectators. I managed to kneel down and 'tie my shoe' while partially hidden behind one of the lead trucks just before the start.

After an interesting rendition of 'Oh Canada' the gun went off and the race was a go!

Luckily no one really has a sense of urgency in the first few hundred meters of a marathon. The sprint off the line is not like one you would see in a elementary school cross country race!, most of the competitors have the foresight and experience to reserve some energy for the final 42 km of the race!

I went through 1 km in 3:12, all by myself. (In hindsight this was a theme that would persist for pretty much the next 41 km).

My pacemaker was nowhere to be found. I saw him on the start line, so presumed he had just gotten a bit excited and was a few seconds ahead in the lead pack. Ian Ladbrooke came past on a motorcycle at about 2 km and noticed that I was alone. I just shrugged my shoulders and he said to relax and that he would find the pacemaker and tell him to wait up for me!

He did and by 4 km I was 'tucked in' (I put this in quotations because it is somewhat difficult for a 6'2" 150lb person to 'tuck in' behind a 5'5" 120lb guy!) But, regardless, having Stephen there allowed me to take my mind off off the pace a little bit and just try and find a groove.

We past 5 km in 15:40 - about 10 seconds ahead of scheduled pace. But, I had spent from 1-3 km going a bit quick to try and bridge the gap from myself to Stephen). For the next 5 km I just tried to stay relaxed yet conscious to make sure we were still hitting the splits.

10k in 31:35

We hit 10 km in 31:35, just slightly ahead of pace. We were cruising along and I felt good. It seemed a bit windy, but I tried to ignore it and tell myself it wasn't all that bad. I had no problems getting my drink bottles at the first 2 stops. Steve was waiting out at the most western point of the course at 12.2km. I made eye contact with him and figured he could tell from my stride and posture that everything was going smoothly.

When we made the turn around it became evident that it was just me and the pacemaker. About 1 minute ahead was a large group of 10-15 runners who made up the lead pack. And about 30-45 seconds behind me was the chase pack made up of mostly Canadians and a few Mexican runners.

But, once we made that turn I was inspired by the support from the runners still heading out towards the turnaround point. Some were happy to see the first Canadian and cheered me on by my last name (on my bib - Wykes). But there were a few out there who knew me by first name. So, it was pretty cool to get cheers from them. There were also a few coaches and fans riding bikes along Lakeshore for the first 1/2 of the course. There support kept me calm and focused for much of the first half.



15km in 47:23 - 5k split 15:48

I hit 15 km in 47.23 (15:48). From 10 km to 15 km, I thought a lot about how the effort felt compared to during my previous marathon in Rotterdam. The humidity seemed to already be playing a factor and the small doubts that crept into my mind about whether I would be able to keep going at this pace. I was already feeling a bit of fatigue that I didn't recall feeling at this stage of the race in Rotterdam.

20km in 63:12 - 5k split 15:48

I forged on and managed to split the next 5 km in 15:48 (1:03:12 @ 20k).

At some point around 17 km I pulled alongside Stephen (the pacemaker) and asked him to pick it up a bit, because the last 2 km was 6:30 ( just slightly off pace.) I wasn't panicked about making up the time instantly, but I didn't want to keep slipping. Stephen thought I said to slow down and he ended up slipping in behind me. I looked back and told him 'no, no, speed up'. But, before I knew it he was slowing down even more and it was evident he wasn't going to make it much further, nevertheless to 30 km!

This little incident actually gave me a bit of an adrenaline rush and forced me to focus on working hard at maintaining the pace. I set my sights on a few guys ahead of me who were starting to struggle.

I was able to pass an English runner, who was struggling, and was making up ground quickly on another guy. I felt pretty strong going through 1/2 way in 66:40. But I was definitely feeling some fatigue in my hamstrings, and a little bit of cramping in my calves at random times. I knew at this point, unless I miraculously got a new set of legs, I wasn't going to be able to hold the pace to the finish.

I made a conscious decision to try and relax for the next 2-3 km and not keep charging to catch the next guy, who was about 15-20 seconds ahead. I realized if I forced it too much there was a decent chance I wouldn't make it to the finish. At that point the crowd support starting getting a little sparse and the loneliness of the long distance runner started to settle in. I started to lose a little bit of focus and running 3:10 km's quickly became a tough task.

25km in 79:24 - 5k split 16:11

I saw Steve, Cleo and Arnold cheering for me at just before 25 km and this gave me a little boost. I passed 25 km in 1:19.24 (16:11 for the 5 km from 20-25). I knew at this point that the remainder of the race was going to be a real battle.

I started to question why I had chosen such a long distance to specialize in! It was hard to stay focused from this point on (as it had been from about half-way), because it was evident I was not going to hit my goal time and the next guy was so far ahead and likewise so far behind that really 'competing' to improve or hold my place was a hard thing to focus on.

I was sweating a lot, and despite being able to get my bottle at all 5 aid stations to this point, I knew I was getting really dehydrated. My hamstrings seemed to keep tightening up and I started to get the odd small cramp in my side. At this point the winds also became a big factor. I had been running completely on my own for the past 7-8 km and regaining the focus to try and maintain a decent pace kept getting harder and harder.

When I passed 25 km and made my way down the Leslie spit and ran a 3:07 km, I knew I must have had a strong tail wind, because the effort was the same as the last 5k and I had been running at 3:13/km.

I ran a 3:10 for the next km and started seeing the leaders coming the other way making their way back up the spit. I gingerly made my way round the turn-around at 28 km and was met head on by some tough winds.

During the first 1/2 of the race this may not have felt like much, but at this point it was really tough. There was no one at all out there cheering and seeing the runners behind me making their way out to the end of the spit I had doubts that I would be able to stay ahead of them (in hindsight I was a good 3 minutes ahead of those guys at that point, but it felt like much less).



30km in 1:35.36 - 5k split 16:12

I think I ran my slowest k from 29-30 km, as I past 30k in 1:35:36 (25-30 km in 16:12).

When I again passed Steve, Cleo, and Arnold around 31 km I tried to really focus on keeping a quick turnover and trying to run tall and strong. I would have been encouraged by being able to maintain the pace I ran for 20-25k. but, the wind and the fatigue in my legs was really deteriorating my focus.

Luckily sometime between 30-32 km (I can't really remember when because time seemed to be standing still yet whizzing by all at the same time) a 'race escort' biker started leading me on the course about 10-20m in front of me. Although he was just there to make sure I made my way around the last 10 km safely and not to pace me at all, his presence helped me refocus.

I made a decision after 30 km to stop checking my watch and to just try a get to the finish line. I started to gain a little bit of confidence as I passed the eastern most point of the course at 33 km. I got a little boost from realizing I was now finally heading in the direction of the finish line! My body also seemed to be holding up alright, even though I continued to slow down. I realized I was going to be able to make to the finish without completely falling apart and without anyone passing me.

When I hit 34 km I caught sight of a runner ahead who seemed to be fading. I focused on reeling him in, which I did rather quickly, because he was really struggling at that point.

Once I was past him, the next group of runners seemed to be way off in the distance, but I tried to keep my head up and pick-up the pace a small bit to see if I could make up any ground.

I got confused around 35 km when someone told me I was 4:00 minutes behind. At this late stage of the race my mind was not working properly and I thought the guy was telling me the next runner in front of me was 4:00 minutes in front. This was obviously a blow to the confidence.

I thought it meaningless to charge after them at that point and started trying to calculate the ridiculously slow finishing time I was going to have. if the gap that from me to the guy I could see ahead was 4 minutes, then I couldn't imagine what the gap from me to the leader was! (It finally occurred to me after the race that the 4 minutes was how much time I was behind the leaders at that point). That threw me off for a few minutes and I started to feel a bit sorry for myself.

But when I hit 37 km, I tried to dig really deep and run as hard as I could to the finish. At this point I was pumping my arms like a mad man.

Unfortunately, my legs did not want to follow.

I started to gain confidence that I was going to be able to finish up strong. I looked at my watch (for the first time since 30 km) at 40 km and it was just under 2:09.

Although when I had visualized making it to this point in the race I wanted my watch to say 2:06:??. I was encouraged and tried to run hard thinking I might be able to run the last 2.2 km in under 7 min and sneak in under 2:16:00.



Although that didn't happen I made a decent charge over the last 2k and caught a guy in front of me with about 200m to go. I was extremely relieved to round the final bend and see the finish line. Although I wasn't going to get under 2:16:00, at that point I was happy enough to make it to the line.

So, in the end I came up well short of my time and placing goal for the race. But, I am pleased that I managed to hang-in there and not fall apart completely.

It was such a tough race for me to stay focused and motivated because I had to run so much of the race on my own and the conditions made the effort feel tough very early in the race. It was great to get through another marathon (and another marathon training cycle).

It was a very valuable experience. One that will hopefully help me if I am selected to run in next year's World Cup Marathon in Berlin Germany!

Now, it's time to recover and bury my head in some Epidemiology text books!


The article preceding this - Background Toronto Waterfront Marathon
]]> https://www.time-to-run.com/forums/Thread-Background-to-Dylan-Wykes-Toronto-Waterfront-Marathon Thu, 02 Oct 2008 16:49:19 +0000 admin]]> https://www.time-to-run.com/forums/Thread-Background-to-Dylan-Wykes-Toronto-Waterfront-Marathon I guess the response and reception of my account of my trip to Scotland and Holland for the World XC and Fortis Rotterdam Maratho were positive enough that Gavin (time-to-run) and Alan (Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon -STWM- race director) have asked me to keep track of the my experience at the STWM.

A lot has changed for me since my last attempt at 42.2km in April and my last foray into the world of blogging. I've gone from living in Providence, RI (where I lived for the past 7 years. With the exception of a short hiatus to Australia and Texas)) to my hometown of Kingston, ON. From working a full-time job, to starting a MSc in Epidemiology.



Leaving housemates, friends, and work behind in Providence was tough, much tougher than I imagined. Admittedly my first few weeks back in Kingston I really questioned my decision. But I was able to distract myself/refocus on the task at hand - training for Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon (STWM).

Recovering from my first marathon was a tough task. The physical and mental fatigue afterwards were enough to keep me from feeling myself in training until well into June. I raced twice over 10,000m, once on the road and once on the track in late-may and early-June. I felt terrible in both those races, and at times wondered if the marathon had turned me into a different beast (a far slower one!) all together.
But I started to come around and feel like I could really push the envelope again just in time to start building up for STWM.

I split the time for my buildup between Providence and Kingston. This was a bit frustrating at times because I wasn't able to compare some the efforts I put out in the early stage of my buildup to those I did in the second half. When in Providence I did almost all my workouts on a 2-mile road loop. I used this loop for my interval workouts, tempo runs, and marathon pace runs. At times I got tired of it, but it did allow me to see the progress I was making. And luckily, for the most part, I was making continual progress. Once back in Kingston I couldn't make any comparisons. But I think in hindsight this was a good thing, as it made me listen to my body more and really try to dial in to the right paces based on feel, instead of being able to look at every 1/2 mile split and compare to last week, last month, last year. And also having Steve on hand for every workout made things much easier and gave me some peace of mind. Besides, all the work I did was positive enough that I am confident in a good result come Sunday, Sept 28th.

Packing my bags- So it's the night before I depart for toronto. I am packing my bag, which soon turns into packing my bagS for the trip. Although the weather forecast now looks pretty reasonable for Sunday morning, I am trying to pack for all possible conditions the weather gods could throw at us. but now that I have the backing of Mizuno I have enough gear to be well prepared for anything (Sorry for the shameless plug of the sponsor!) There are so many elements to preparing for a marathon and I want to be able to perfect every little detail. So I've got my water bottles, gels, electrolyte drinks, sports drinks, breath-right nose strips, and the list goes on and on. I used to get so frustrated with girls on the Providence College cross country team when they'd haul these massive bags (that they couldn't even carry on their own) to a weekend meet. Unfortunately I now find myself wishing I had a third arm or just two really strong arms to manage all the gear.

300k vs 3000k - It's funny to think back on the lengths I went to in order to (a) get entered into the Rotterdam Marathon, and (b) get myself there. It's pretty exciting to be running a international-class race so close to home. I am currently on the train from Kingston to Toronto. This will be the only leg of my trip. Whereas last time out sitting on a train was just one of 5 or 6 pieces of the puzzle in making my way to the start line. I am hoping this will make the experience this time much more enjoyable. But, it might make the experiences in the lead up a little bit less exciting or novel.

I found myself awake early this morning and pretty excited about getting this trip going. So excited in fact that I couldn't bring myself to attend the 1 hour biostatistics lecture, which I just might have been able to squeeze in to the time table. I figure I'll have lots of time and energy to turn my attention to that side of things once I am done with this weekend. But for now thinking about and then physically running 3:10/km for 42.2 km's is enough information for my brain and body to be processing.

I got stuck beside a very nice (but very chatty) retired professors of English Literature (with a keen interest in Harry Potter, among other things) for the first 20 minutes of the trip. From the moment I sat down it was non stop chatter! I was able to keep the conversation light and pleasant and pretend like I actually knew what I was studying in this Master's in Epidemiology! But, it was stifling hot in that particular car. So, when the via attendants came around and said there was lots of room in the Air conditioned car ahead of ours I jumped at the opportunity to breath some cooler air and rest my ears and mouth. Although after a few demoralizing defeats at the steady hand of my computerized chess opponent I sort of wished I'd been able to continue that conversation about being a professor of all things Harry Potter!

In Rotterdam I managed fine doing all the travel and sorting out the logistics of things on my own. It worked out fine in the end. But, it is going to be nice this time around to have lots of good people around me for the weekend. My best friend from Providence, Francine, is going to be in town, hanging out and trying to keep me calm and confident. Steve will also be in town for most of the weekend. It will be great to have these two on hand as they have been the biggest motivators and supports of my running over the past 3 years or so. Also I am sure all of Alan Brookes' people with the Canadian running series and STWM will do a great job to make sure all of the logistics of the weekend go smoothly.

Being from the not so huge metropolis of Kingston, as a kid and teenager I always found Toronto to be a big, daunting, headache of a city. But, I think since my days of high school I've seen many many big cities - Boston, New York, LA, London, Beijing, Souel, Sydney. And the more time I've spent in each city the more I've enjoyed them. The cities where you can find distinct neighbourhoods that each have something different to offer are great and allow you to feel like you're in a much smaller place. But, this weekend is not about site seeing, so if you were hoping for some inside scoop or for my perspective on cool places to hang out in Toronto you are going to be disappointed with what follows . Anyways, if you're interested in the goings on of a hotel full of elite-athletes, media press conferences, and technical meetings stay tuned.

We are staying out at hotel right at the 12.2km turn around point on the course at Lakeshore and Windmere. It's convenient for running to high park and paths along the lakeshore but absolutely nothing else! Maybe that's the idea behind it. They'd rather have a bunch of restless athletes (who are used to running 160-200 km/week, but now likely only doing 50-60) bouncing off the walls on the outskirts of the city than running-a-muck around the Eaton Centre. But I've managed to get out for a few meals as the Elite Athlete Suite's menu hasn't always been conducive with my non-meat eating diet. We ventured up to BloorWest Village for a good feed of Thai food. I could have eaten the sticky rice and peanut sauce all day long!

On Thursday afternoon we went out for a short training run. I couldn't believe how hot it was out. I went out with a long-sleeve t-shirt on and had it off about 10 minutes into the run. But, the best part about the run was seeing a group of the African guys out for a jog in their full warm-up suits! Here I was sweating away with no shirt on at all and they have these big jackets and pants on. There systems have obviously adapted to the heat much differently than mine. As it turns out most of the guys do a whole lot of everything in their track suits, not just running. The most common sight around the hotel thus far has been about 5-6 guys huddled around the computer in the hotel lobby. I've no idea what is they are looking at, but clearly it is exciting for them. They all seem to have a really good attitude about running. None of them seem too serious about it (although I know they really are, as for them running is a job). They always seem to be joking around and enjoying themselves, drinking many cups of tea during and after meals and just sitting around in their track suits.

Getting together a group of 30-40 people for anything, regardless of their age or whatever can be difficult. But, when you thrown in jet-lag and language barriers, and such, getting 40 athletes to a Press Conference can be a much more difficult task than anyone can imagine. Cliff Cunningham came close to losing the plot, but managed to regain his composure when the bus to take us all to the press conference was late. When Cliff piled 10 of the athletes including myself into a van in a disparate attempt to get us to the Press conference on time I thought we were in for a nightmarish display of frantic Toronto driving. But, it didn't happen. In fact the press conference took ages to get going, and not because there were no athletes there to ask questions of.

The STWM organizers are trying to make a story out of the "strong" Canadian contingent in the race this weekend. Although we are still way behind the rest of the world, there is some progress being made. So, I was required to attend the press conference as the "leader" of this Canadian contingent. After a few key people spoke about the race and a few pictures were taken, I answered a few questions about my running and how I came to running marathons.



One of the questions that has come up a number of times is this idea of me "leading" a resurgence in Canadian Marathon running. As much I find it flattering, I think there are many more capable leaders out there. If Simon Bairu, Eric Gillis, or Reid Coolsaet take up the event (as they have all mentioned intending to do), I believe all of them are much more capable of having a serious impact on marathon running in Canada. Based on what they have done at shorter distances on the track they have the potential to be in sub 2:10 range right off the bat. So, I just try and focus on what I have to do to get to keep improving over the next 3-4 years, prior to london 2012.

After the press conference there were some guest speakers at the expo. we had the pleasure of getting some advice from a wide range of speakers with many different approaches to marathon running. I am still trying to rap my head around the advice to try not to sweat too much, and make sure I save some energy left so that I look good for the photo at the finish line (because that is the most important part of the race, not the time you run)!

I admittedly am addicted to coffee. I am also admittedly a coffee snob. For me anything short of a organic, fair trade, bold, dark roast coffee and my ability to function as a normal human is completely compromised (i.e. I am very grumpy). The Foldgers coffee on offer at the hotel did not cut it. I went the entire day on Friday without a proper cup of coffee. I was in a total panic about what I was going to do the next two days. because it was highly unlikely I would survive the weekend without it. There was no coffee shop within walking distance of the hotel. When on the street car on the way back to the hotel from downtown I eyed a local coffee roasters shop. We stopped and I bought some beans and had them ground, just the smell of them put me a good mood. At that point I wasn't sure how I was going to make coffee with these grounds, but I was willing to try anything.

After unsuccessfully trying to find somewhere to buy some coffee filters, I resorted to carefully replacing the inferior Foldgers grounds with the oh so scrumptious smelling Bolivian dark roast grounds in the pre-packaged single-brew coffee grounds sachet provided at that hotel. Although the little coffee maker provided in the rooms didn't get the coffee very hot, it still tasted heavenly. And the effort was well worth it, as I don't think I would have made it to onto the 5:50am bus to the start line without it.

It was pointed out to me on Saturday that I my addictions went beyond good strong coffee and now included checking the weather every 15 minutes, and checking 3 or 4 different sources each time! I know the course for the race is honest and that I am well prepared to run a personal best. But, the one factor I have no control over, and have therefore chosen to focus on is the weather. Up until 4 or 5 days before the race I avoided checking the weather at all. But then I developed an obsession with checking the weather often. What was most intriguing to me was that different websites reportedly drastically different forecasts for Sunday. Once it was pointed out to me that I was being over the top and had no control over it, I tried to limit my checking the weather to once an hour!

I spent about 30 minutes on Saturday afternoon getting together the water bottles I would use for the race. No problems here at STWM getting to use my own water bottles on the course! Typically, the elite athletes in a marathon get to have their own water bottles, filled with whatever they want (rumour has it Frank Shorter (Gold medalist in the 1976 Olympic Marathon) used de-fizzed coke as his drink of choice) every 5km along the course. There are usually tables designated for the elites. Although I don't think it made a big difference in Rotterdam, I would like to think having my own bottles there might have helped me a little bit. Being able to use your own electrolyte/carbohydrate drink can be a major help late in the race, especially if it is warm out. I'd practiced with the same electrolyte drink and gels for many months in training. I made up the bottles so that the concentration of electrolyte drink gradually increased in each bottle, so that by 35-40 km the bottles I'd get would be a potent concentration of carbohydrates and electrolytes, which will hopefully help propel me across the line.

Later in the afternoon we had a technical meeting to go over the specifics of the timeline for the morning, the pacemakers, water bottle stations, etc. The race director, Alan Brookes and Ian Ladbrooke (in charge of pacemakers for the event) have been kind enough to designate a pacemaker for whatever pace I wanted. Stephen Koech, a Kenyan runner, based in Philadelphia is my man for the race. He is going to try and take me through 30 km at 3:10/km. I think this is going to be a huge help for the race. Being able to follow someone else and not have to think about the pace I am running every 3 minutes should help a lot. There are also going to be pacemakers taking the lead group through at 2:08 pace!

The night before the race was a pretty low-key affair. I ate dinner at the pre-race meal in the elite athlete hospitality suite. I tried stuffing my face with as many rolls, pasta, and rice as I could without feeling sick. (I've also been choking back some yummy artificial-orange flavored carbohydrate drinks.) In the few days prior to my last marathon I was really careful and stressed out about making sure I was consuming a large amount of carbohydrates each day, even calculating approximate amounts. This time around I was less stressed (as I tried to be about everything in the build-up) but at the same time conscious to be well fueled. The rest of the evening was spent organizing my gear and racing kit for the morning. I figured my brain might not be operating at 100% at 4:30am so, I had everything set out and ready to go. I managed to tinker with stuff until I was ready to crash around 10:00pm.


The next article - The Race
]]> I guess the response and reception of my account of my trip to Scotland and Holland for the World XC and Fortis Rotterdam Maratho were positive enough that Gavin (time-to-run) and Alan (Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon -STWM- race director) have asked me to keep track of the my experience at the STWM.

A lot has changed for me since my last attempt at 42.2km in April and my last foray into the world of blogging. I've gone from living in Providence, RI (where I lived for the past 7 years. With the exception of a short hiatus to Australia and Texas)) to my hometown of Kingston, ON. From working a full-time job, to starting a MSc in Epidemiology.



Leaving housemates, friends, and work behind in Providence was tough, much tougher than I imagined. Admittedly my first few weeks back in Kingston I really questioned my decision. But I was able to distract myself/refocus on the task at hand - training for Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon (STWM).

Recovering from my first marathon was a tough task. The physical and mental fatigue afterwards were enough to keep me from feeling myself in training until well into June. I raced twice over 10,000m, once on the road and once on the track in late-may and early-June. I felt terrible in both those races, and at times wondered if the marathon had turned me into a different beast (a far slower one!) all together.
But I started to come around and feel like I could really push the envelope again just in time to start building up for STWM.

I split the time for my buildup between Providence and Kingston. This was a bit frustrating at times because I wasn't able to compare some the efforts I put out in the early stage of my buildup to those I did in the second half. When in Providence I did almost all my workouts on a 2-mile road loop. I used this loop for my interval workouts, tempo runs, and marathon pace runs. At times I got tired of it, but it did allow me to see the progress I was making. And luckily, for the most part, I was making continual progress. Once back in Kingston I couldn't make any comparisons. But I think in hindsight this was a good thing, as it made me listen to my body more and really try to dial in to the right paces based on feel, instead of being able to look at every 1/2 mile split and compare to last week, last month, last year. And also having Steve on hand for every workout made things much easier and gave me some peace of mind. Besides, all the work I did was positive enough that I am confident in a good result come Sunday, Sept 28th.

Packing my bags- So it's the night before I depart for toronto. I am packing my bag, which soon turns into packing my bagS for the trip. Although the weather forecast now looks pretty reasonable for Sunday morning, I am trying to pack for all possible conditions the weather gods could throw at us. but now that I have the backing of Mizuno I have enough gear to be well prepared for anything (Sorry for the shameless plug of the sponsor!) There are so many elements to preparing for a marathon and I want to be able to perfect every little detail. So I've got my water bottles, gels, electrolyte drinks, sports drinks, breath-right nose strips, and the list goes on and on. I used to get so frustrated with girls on the Providence College cross country team when they'd haul these massive bags (that they couldn't even carry on their own) to a weekend meet. Unfortunately I now find myself wishing I had a third arm or just two really strong arms to manage all the gear.

300k vs 3000k - It's funny to think back on the lengths I went to in order to (a) get entered into the Rotterdam Marathon, and (b) get myself there. It's pretty exciting to be running a international-class race so close to home. I am currently on the train from Kingston to Toronto. This will be the only leg of my trip. Whereas last time out sitting on a train was just one of 5 or 6 pieces of the puzzle in making my way to the start line. I am hoping this will make the experience this time much more enjoyable. But, it might make the experiences in the lead up a little bit less exciting or novel.

I found myself awake early this morning and pretty excited about getting this trip going. So excited in fact that I couldn't bring myself to attend the 1 hour biostatistics lecture, which I just might have been able to squeeze in to the time table. I figure I'll have lots of time and energy to turn my attention to that side of things once I am done with this weekend. But for now thinking about and then physically running 3:10/km for 42.2 km's is enough information for my brain and body to be processing.

I got stuck beside a very nice (but very chatty) retired professors of English Literature (with a keen interest in Harry Potter, among other things) for the first 20 minutes of the trip. From the moment I sat down it was non stop chatter! I was able to keep the conversation light and pleasant and pretend like I actually knew what I was studying in this Master's in Epidemiology! But, it was stifling hot in that particular car. So, when the via attendants came around and said there was lots of room in the Air conditioned car ahead of ours I jumped at the opportunity to breath some cooler air and rest my ears and mouth. Although after a few demoralizing defeats at the steady hand of my computerized chess opponent I sort of wished I'd been able to continue that conversation about being a professor of all things Harry Potter!

In Rotterdam I managed fine doing all the travel and sorting out the logistics of things on my own. It worked out fine in the end. But, it is going to be nice this time around to have lots of good people around me for the weekend. My best friend from Providence, Francine, is going to be in town, hanging out and trying to keep me calm and confident. Steve will also be in town for most of the weekend. It will be great to have these two on hand as they have been the biggest motivators and supports of my running over the past 3 years or so. Also I am sure all of Alan Brookes' people with the Canadian running series and STWM will do a great job to make sure all of the logistics of the weekend go smoothly.

Being from the not so huge metropolis of Kingston, as a kid and teenager I always found Toronto to be a big, daunting, headache of a city. But, I think since my days of high school I've seen many many big cities - Boston, New York, LA, London, Beijing, Souel, Sydney. And the more time I've spent in each city the more I've enjoyed them. The cities where you can find distinct neighbourhoods that each have something different to offer are great and allow you to feel like you're in a much smaller place. But, this weekend is not about site seeing, so if you were hoping for some inside scoop or for my perspective on cool places to hang out in Toronto you are going to be disappointed with what follows . Anyways, if you're interested in the goings on of a hotel full of elite-athletes, media press conferences, and technical meetings stay tuned.

We are staying out at hotel right at the 12.2km turn around point on the course at Lakeshore and Windmere. It's convenient for running to high park and paths along the lakeshore but absolutely nothing else! Maybe that's the idea behind it. They'd rather have a bunch of restless athletes (who are used to running 160-200 km/week, but now likely only doing 50-60) bouncing off the walls on the outskirts of the city than running-a-muck around the Eaton Centre. But I've managed to get out for a few meals as the Elite Athlete Suite's menu hasn't always been conducive with my non-meat eating diet. We ventured up to BloorWest Village for a good feed of Thai food. I could have eaten the sticky rice and peanut sauce all day long!

On Thursday afternoon we went out for a short training run. I couldn't believe how hot it was out. I went out with a long-sleeve t-shirt on and had it off about 10 minutes into the run. But, the best part about the run was seeing a group of the African guys out for a jog in their full warm-up suits! Here I was sweating away with no shirt on at all and they have these big jackets and pants on. There systems have obviously adapted to the heat much differently than mine. As it turns out most of the guys do a whole lot of everything in their track suits, not just running. The most common sight around the hotel thus far has been about 5-6 guys huddled around the computer in the hotel lobby. I've no idea what is they are looking at, but clearly it is exciting for them. They all seem to have a really good attitude about running. None of them seem too serious about it (although I know they really are, as for them running is a job). They always seem to be joking around and enjoying themselves, drinking many cups of tea during and after meals and just sitting around in their track suits.

Getting together a group of 30-40 people for anything, regardless of their age or whatever can be difficult. But, when you thrown in jet-lag and language barriers, and such, getting 40 athletes to a Press Conference can be a much more difficult task than anyone can imagine. Cliff Cunningham came close to losing the plot, but managed to regain his composure when the bus to take us all to the press conference was late. When Cliff piled 10 of the athletes including myself into a van in a disparate attempt to get us to the Press conference on time I thought we were in for a nightmarish display of frantic Toronto driving. But, it didn't happen. In fact the press conference took ages to get going, and not because there were no athletes there to ask questions of.

The STWM organizers are trying to make a story out of the "strong" Canadian contingent in the race this weekend. Although we are still way behind the rest of the world, there is some progress being made. So, I was required to attend the press conference as the "leader" of this Canadian contingent. After a few key people spoke about the race and a few pictures were taken, I answered a few questions about my running and how I came to running marathons.



One of the questions that has come up a number of times is this idea of me "leading" a resurgence in Canadian Marathon running. As much I find it flattering, I think there are many more capable leaders out there. If Simon Bairu, Eric Gillis, or Reid Coolsaet take up the event (as they have all mentioned intending to do), I believe all of them are much more capable of having a serious impact on marathon running in Canada. Based on what they have done at shorter distances on the track they have the potential to be in sub 2:10 range right off the bat. So, I just try and focus on what I have to do to get to keep improving over the next 3-4 years, prior to london 2012.

After the press conference there were some guest speakers at the expo. we had the pleasure of getting some advice from a wide range of speakers with many different approaches to marathon running. I am still trying to rap my head around the advice to try not to sweat too much, and make sure I save some energy left so that I look good for the photo at the finish line (because that is the most important part of the race, not the time you run)!

I admittedly am addicted to coffee. I am also admittedly a coffee snob. For me anything short of a organic, fair trade, bold, dark roast coffee and my ability to function as a normal human is completely compromised (i.e. I am very grumpy). The Foldgers coffee on offer at the hotel did not cut it. I went the entire day on Friday without a proper cup of coffee. I was in a total panic about what I was going to do the next two days. because it was highly unlikely I would survive the weekend without it. There was no coffee shop within walking distance of the hotel. When on the street car on the way back to the hotel from downtown I eyed a local coffee roasters shop. We stopped and I bought some beans and had them ground, just the smell of them put me a good mood. At that point I wasn't sure how I was going to make coffee with these grounds, but I was willing to try anything.

After unsuccessfully trying to find somewhere to buy some coffee filters, I resorted to carefully replacing the inferior Foldgers grounds with the oh so scrumptious smelling Bolivian dark roast grounds in the pre-packaged single-brew coffee grounds sachet provided at that hotel. Although the little coffee maker provided in the rooms didn't get the coffee very hot, it still tasted heavenly. And the effort was well worth it, as I don't think I would have made it to onto the 5:50am bus to the start line without it.

It was pointed out to me on Saturday that I my addictions went beyond good strong coffee and now included checking the weather every 15 minutes, and checking 3 or 4 different sources each time! I know the course for the race is honest and that I am well prepared to run a personal best. But, the one factor I have no control over, and have therefore chosen to focus on is the weather. Up until 4 or 5 days before the race I avoided checking the weather at all. But then I developed an obsession with checking the weather often. What was most intriguing to me was that different websites reportedly drastically different forecasts for Sunday. Once it was pointed out to me that I was being over the top and had no control over it, I tried to limit my checking the weather to once an hour!

I spent about 30 minutes on Saturday afternoon getting together the water bottles I would use for the race. No problems here at STWM getting to use my own water bottles on the course! Typically, the elite athletes in a marathon get to have their own water bottles, filled with whatever they want (rumour has it Frank Shorter (Gold medalist in the 1976 Olympic Marathon) used de-fizzed coke as his drink of choice) every 5km along the course. There are usually tables designated for the elites. Although I don't think it made a big difference in Rotterdam, I would like to think having my own bottles there might have helped me a little bit. Being able to use your own electrolyte/carbohydrate drink can be a major help late in the race, especially if it is warm out. I'd practiced with the same electrolyte drink and gels for many months in training. I made up the bottles so that the concentration of electrolyte drink gradually increased in each bottle, so that by 35-40 km the bottles I'd get would be a potent concentration of carbohydrates and electrolytes, which will hopefully help propel me across the line.

Later in the afternoon we had a technical meeting to go over the specifics of the timeline for the morning, the pacemakers, water bottle stations, etc. The race director, Alan Brookes and Ian Ladbrooke (in charge of pacemakers for the event) have been kind enough to designate a pacemaker for whatever pace I wanted. Stephen Koech, a Kenyan runner, based in Philadelphia is my man for the race. He is going to try and take me through 30 km at 3:10/km. I think this is going to be a huge help for the race. Being able to follow someone else and not have to think about the pace I am running every 3 minutes should help a lot. There are also going to be pacemakers taking the lead group through at 2:08 pace!

The night before the race was a pretty low-key affair. I ate dinner at the pre-race meal in the elite athlete hospitality suite. I tried stuffing my face with as many rolls, pasta, and rice as I could without feeling sick. (I've also been choking back some yummy artificial-orange flavored carbohydrate drinks.) In the few days prior to my last marathon I was really careful and stressed out about making sure I was consuming a large amount of carbohydrates each day, even calculating approximate amounts. This time around I was less stressed (as I tried to be about everything in the build-up) but at the same time conscious to be well fueled. The rest of the evening was spent organizing my gear and racing kit for the morning. I figured my brain might not be operating at 100% at 4:30am so, I had everything set out and ready to go. I managed to tinker with stuff until I was ready to crash around 10:00pm.


The next article - The Race
]]> https://www.time-to-run.com/forums/Thread-Wykes-The-Rotterdam-Marathon Sat, 19 Apr 2008 09:10:17 +0000 admin]]> https://www.time-to-run.com/forums/Thread-Wykes-The-Rotterdam-Marathon In Canadian Dylan Wykes' final article he covers Rotterdam and the Marathon race itself.

Rotterdam



I arrived in Rotterdam early in the morning and luckily my hotel already had a room ready for me. I was surprised to find the room was really nice, really big, and really clean.

I went down to the Expo pretty soon after it opened to try and get my number, and to try to talk to the race director.

Unfortunately, I had a lot of trouble getting into any marathon this spring. I was denied entry to London. I was originally denied entry to Rotterdam too, but then after begging was given a number, but nothing else.

It was a pretty frustrating experience. These big city marathons that have a fast course and can attract top African athletes just do not see the need to help out a guy with mediocre credentials making his debut at the distance.

I wanted to see if I could talk to the race director personally to try and at least get my own water bottles. But, I couldn't even get a conversation with the race director. I spoke to his assistant, who basically just laughed in my face!

I don't know much about the history of the city of Rotterdam, but I was surprised at how modern the city is. There are lots of high-rise buildings and lots of modern shopping outlets.

I went for an easy 30 minute run a little later on in the day. I wanted to find some of the course (in particular 30-35k, where I figured things would get really tough).

But, I got really lost, but luckily never strayed too too far and only had to walk about 10minutes after the 30 minutes of running. I ran through some interesting neighbourhoods, that had a lot of character on this run.



Open 23hrs

If you owned a kebab shop and decided to stay open only 23hrs, which hour would you choose to close? Probably not 1-2pm, right? Well, this place closed then (along with a lot of other restaurants and cafes) which left me eating PB and banana sandwiches in my hotel room.

Note to self, don't try and go get lunch between 1-2pm tomorrow!

The Day Before

Today has been a pretty boring day. I have managed to be really good about just 'chillin' out in my hotel room.

Usually I get really 'antsy' and want to go explore places. But, I wanted to stay off my feet as much as possible today. I got the entire series of the HBO program Six Feet Under for Christmas. So, I have been watching a lot of that on my laptop.

I went out to a pretty good Italian restaurant for dinner (the same place I went to last night). I tried to eat a ton of bread and asked if they could give me an extra large plate of pasta!

They thought it was funny that I was eating so much. I actually felt a little sick walking out of the place. I am also sick and tired of drinking carbohydrate drinks. I thought they would be a good way to get in some extra carbs. But, at this point the artificial orange flavour of these drinks is repulsive.

The last sleep

The race is at 11.00am tomorrow. So, I am not too worried about getting to bed early.

I saw a pretty cool documentary on The Red Hot Chili Peppers on TV. It had some crazy footage of John Frusciante doing an interview when he had quit the band and was a complete junkie. It was pretty scary.

I also watched some Masters Golf and I downloaded some videos of different marathons, mostly from the 80's. A lot of stuff with Salazar, DeCastella, and Lopes. The best video was of Steve Jones winning the Chicago marathon in a world record of 2:08:03.

That was definitely inspiring for tomorrow!

T minus 2 hrs

I got up this morning and tried to eat a pretty big breakfast 4 hours before race time. I went for a little walk after that. It looks like a perfect day for a marathon. It may be a little bit windy, but besides that things seem ideal.

I have been passing the time fiddling with my racing kit and listening to some music; Radiohead, Sigur Ros, and Interpol.

I am now heading to the warm-up area for the SUB-elites!

26.2miles/42.195km in Rotterdam



Unfortunately, my lack of experience with the marathon really showed through.

I had a pretty straightforward plan (Go out at 2:14pace and try and maintain that to 30km, and then hope I can turn the screws a little and sneak under the Athletics Canada standard of 2:14:00.

Because I did not get elite status for the event I was not in the same warm-up area as the elites and couldn’t get any information out of the organizers in the SUB-elite area, as to the what pace pacemakers would be going.

So, within the first 100m of the race I pulled up alongside Justin Young (an American) and asked him what pace he was trying to run. He said . I asked him if anyone else was trying to go that pace, and he said that there was a pacemaker going that pace.

I slowed a little and asked another guy if anyone was going 2:14:00. He said that guy pointing to the same pacemaker Justin did – is the slowest pacemaker.

I looked around and decided to just hang out right around where I was and see if everyone was going to follow the 2:13:00 pace or if anyone would lay off.

This in itself was going against my original plan. I was supposed to be content to run 2:14:00 pace, no matter if I had to do it on my own.

I went through 5k in 15:43. This felt ridiculously easy, and it was only slightly faster than my goal pace. The group following 2:13:00 pace, were only a few seconds ahead of me at that point. So, I made the fatal decision to just go with them.

At that point I stopped looking at my splits and just tried to get comfortable in the middle of the group (out of the wind).

The pace felt easy through 10km and 15km. My calves started to get a little bit tight some time between 15km and 20km. But, I just tried to ignore that and focus on running smooth and economical.

I realized at 15km that I was almost 45 seconds up on my goal pace.

I panicked a little and had a look behind me to see if there was going to be anyone to run with if I slowed down. It didn't look promising. So, I made the rookie mistake of thinking things would be easier if I just stayed with the group even though the pace was faster than I wanted. But, to be honest this pace wasn't too hard and when I made the decision to stick with the group I actually started to tell myself I was going to be able to hit the ' standard of 2:12:38.

Obviously; in hindsight, this was pure craziness and was clearly just the hormones or endorphines or something polluting my train of thought.

I went through the ½ marathon in 66:00.

At that point I was still in the same frame of mind that things were easy and I would be fine.

I stayed on the same pace through 25km in 1:18:03 (a little over a minute ahead of 2:14:00 pace)



At that point I told myself I had given myself enough of a buffer and should be able to make it in under the standard.

I allowed the group to go from 25-26k.

But then maintained the little gap I had given them to 29km. At that point I have to thank Pacemaker #83 A Kenyan who was pacing at a faster pace and at that point was just walking, presumable to 30km. I made eye contact with him, for some reason, and he yelled at me, you have to catch those guys.

I turned to him and said do you want to help? 5 seconds later he was in front of me trying to help me bridge the gap.

At 30k I still hadn't caught the other guys so I told him to just stop that I would be able to maintain this pace myself!

Oh Boy was I wrong.

I was fine through 31 and 32km, but started to get a bit worried. My back was getting sore, and my right hamstring was tightening up. I made it to 33km still maintaining well (9:30 for the 3km from 30-33km). But, then we turned into a neighbourhood, with cobblestones.

Something about that surface just made every muscle and bone in my body feel crap. I guess it was around this time that I started to hit THE WALL!

I got to 35km, having run 6:45 for the last 2km.

I worked out that I was still a good 45 seconds up on 2:14:00 pace. I still thought there was a chance I could hang on.

I ran a 3:20km from 35-36km. But then a 3:27 from 36-37km.

With 5.195km to go I was at 1:57:03. I was able to calculate that I probably needed to run close to 3:10 . But, I just was not able to. I ran 3:20 from 37-38km. With every step I thought either a calf or a hamstring might snap.

Within a few minutes I went from thinking about the standard to thinking about not walking!

I ran 3:30-3:35km the rest of the way to the finish and was just really upset at myself for not sticking to the plan.

I finished 16th overall in 2:15:16 (gross time) or 2:15:13(net time).

I am not sure which to claim as my time?

It did take me a few seconds to cross the start mats, so I am going to claim 2:15:13.

Here are my splits (according to my watch, not the results found on the race website) 15:43, 31.18 (15.34), 46.56(15.38), 1:02:26(15:30), 1:18:03(15:37), 1:33:58(15:54), 1:50:13(16:15), 2:07:27(17:14!), 2:15:13.

I was really disappointed when I finished, but quickly got on the phone to my coach (Steve Boyd) who was a little disappointed with my first half antics.

It is definitely a hard result to swallow. This was a race where, when I was done, I didn't want there to be any what if.

Unfortunately, I did not execute the race properly, so there are quite a few at this point. Other people are trying to tell me I should be satisfied with that as a debut marathon. But, I am finding it hard to. I know getting the standard was going to be a challenge all along.

I am obviously disappointed the dream of being an Olympian will have to wait another 4 years.


This was the last in the 5 article Dylan has written, we have found them to be of an exceptional quality, giving a view into an elite athlete's life and thoughts Read the First - Dylan Wykes, World Cross and Marathon Debut journal]]> In Canadian Dylan Wykes' final article he covers Rotterdam and the Marathon race itself.

Rotterdam



I arrived in Rotterdam early in the morning and luckily my hotel already had a room ready for me. I was surprised to find the room was really nice, really big, and really clean.

I went down to the Expo pretty soon after it opened to try and get my number, and to try to talk to the race director.

Unfortunately, I had a lot of trouble getting into any marathon this spring. I was denied entry to London. I was originally denied entry to Rotterdam too, but then after begging was given a number, but nothing else.

It was a pretty frustrating experience. These big city marathons that have a fast course and can attract top African athletes just do not see the need to help out a guy with mediocre credentials making his debut at the distance.

I wanted to see if I could talk to the race director personally to try and at least get my own water bottles. But, I couldn't even get a conversation with the race director. I spoke to his assistant, who basically just laughed in my face!

I don't know much about the history of the city of Rotterdam, but I was surprised at how modern the city is. There are lots of high-rise buildings and lots of modern shopping outlets.

I went for an easy 30 minute run a little later on in the day. I wanted to find some of the course (in particular 30-35k, where I figured things would get really tough).

But, I got really lost, but luckily never strayed too too far and only had to walk about 10minutes after the 30 minutes of running. I ran through some interesting neighbourhoods, that had a lot of character on this run.



Open 23hrs

If you owned a kebab shop and decided to stay open only 23hrs, which hour would you choose to close? Probably not 1-2pm, right? Well, this place closed then (along with a lot of other restaurants and cafes) which left me eating PB and banana sandwiches in my hotel room.

Note to self, don't try and go get lunch between 1-2pm tomorrow!

The Day Before

Today has been a pretty boring day. I have managed to be really good about just 'chillin' out in my hotel room.

Usually I get really 'antsy' and want to go explore places. But, I wanted to stay off my feet as much as possible today. I got the entire series of the HBO program Six Feet Under for Christmas. So, I have been watching a lot of that on my laptop.

I went out to a pretty good Italian restaurant for dinner (the same place I went to last night). I tried to eat a ton of bread and asked if they could give me an extra large plate of pasta!

They thought it was funny that I was eating so much. I actually felt a little sick walking out of the place. I am also sick and tired of drinking carbohydrate drinks. I thought they would be a good way to get in some extra carbs. But, at this point the artificial orange flavour of these drinks is repulsive.

The last sleep

The race is at 11.00am tomorrow. So, I am not too worried about getting to bed early.

I saw a pretty cool documentary on The Red Hot Chili Peppers on TV. It had some crazy footage of John Frusciante doing an interview when he had quit the band and was a complete junkie. It was pretty scary.

I also watched some Masters Golf and I downloaded some videos of different marathons, mostly from the 80's. A lot of stuff with Salazar, DeCastella, and Lopes. The best video was of Steve Jones winning the Chicago marathon in a world record of 2:08:03.

That was definitely inspiring for tomorrow!

T minus 2 hrs

I got up this morning and tried to eat a pretty big breakfast 4 hours before race time. I went for a little walk after that. It looks like a perfect day for a marathon. It may be a little bit windy, but besides that things seem ideal.

I have been passing the time fiddling with my racing kit and listening to some music; Radiohead, Sigur Ros, and Interpol.

I am now heading to the warm-up area for the SUB-elites!

26.2miles/42.195km in Rotterdam



Unfortunately, my lack of experience with the marathon really showed through.

I had a pretty straightforward plan (Go out at 2:14pace and try and maintain that to 30km, and then hope I can turn the screws a little and sneak under the Athletics Canada standard of 2:14:00.

Because I did not get elite status for the event I was not in the same warm-up area as the elites and couldn’t get any information out of the organizers in the SUB-elite area, as to the what pace pacemakers would be going.

So, within the first 100m of the race I pulled up alongside Justin Young (an American) and asked him what pace he was trying to run. He said . I asked him if anyone else was trying to go that pace, and he said that there was a pacemaker going that pace.

I slowed a little and asked another guy if anyone was going 2:14:00. He said that guy pointing to the same pacemaker Justin did – is the slowest pacemaker.

I looked around and decided to just hang out right around where I was and see if everyone was going to follow the 2:13:00 pace or if anyone would lay off.

This in itself was going against my original plan. I was supposed to be content to run 2:14:00 pace, no matter if I had to do it on my own.

I went through 5k in 15:43. This felt ridiculously easy, and it was only slightly faster than my goal pace. The group following 2:13:00 pace, were only a few seconds ahead of me at that point. So, I made the fatal decision to just go with them.

At that point I stopped looking at my splits and just tried to get comfortable in the middle of the group (out of the wind).

The pace felt easy through 10km and 15km. My calves started to get a little bit tight some time between 15km and 20km. But, I just tried to ignore that and focus on running smooth and economical.

I realized at 15km that I was almost 45 seconds up on my goal pace.

I panicked a little and had a look behind me to see if there was going to be anyone to run with if I slowed down. It didn't look promising. So, I made the rookie mistake of thinking things would be easier if I just stayed with the group even though the pace was faster than I wanted. But, to be honest this pace wasn't too hard and when I made the decision to stick with the group I actually started to tell myself I was going to be able to hit the ' standard of 2:12:38.

Obviously; in hindsight, this was pure craziness and was clearly just the hormones or endorphines or something polluting my train of thought.

I went through the ½ marathon in 66:00.

At that point I was still in the same frame of mind that things were easy and I would be fine.

I stayed on the same pace through 25km in 1:18:03 (a little over a minute ahead of 2:14:00 pace)



At that point I told myself I had given myself enough of a buffer and should be able to make it in under the standard.

I allowed the group to go from 25-26k.

But then maintained the little gap I had given them to 29km. At that point I have to thank Pacemaker #83 A Kenyan who was pacing at a faster pace and at that point was just walking, presumable to 30km. I made eye contact with him, for some reason, and he yelled at me, you have to catch those guys.

I turned to him and said do you want to help? 5 seconds later he was in front of me trying to help me bridge the gap.

At 30k I still hadn't caught the other guys so I told him to just stop that I would be able to maintain this pace myself!

Oh Boy was I wrong.

I was fine through 31 and 32km, but started to get a bit worried. My back was getting sore, and my right hamstring was tightening up. I made it to 33km still maintaining well (9:30 for the 3km from 30-33km). But, then we turned into a neighbourhood, with cobblestones.

Something about that surface just made every muscle and bone in my body feel crap. I guess it was around this time that I started to hit THE WALL!

I got to 35km, having run 6:45 for the last 2km.

I worked out that I was still a good 45 seconds up on 2:14:00 pace. I still thought there was a chance I could hang on.

I ran a 3:20km from 35-36km. But then a 3:27 from 36-37km.

With 5.195km to go I was at 1:57:03. I was able to calculate that I probably needed to run close to 3:10 . But, I just was not able to. I ran 3:20 from 37-38km. With every step I thought either a calf or a hamstring might snap.

Within a few minutes I went from thinking about the standard to thinking about not walking!

I ran 3:30-3:35km the rest of the way to the finish and was just really upset at myself for not sticking to the plan.

I finished 16th overall in 2:15:16 (gross time) or 2:15:13(net time).

I am not sure which to claim as my time?

It did take me a few seconds to cross the start mats, so I am going to claim 2:15:13.

Here are my splits (according to my watch, not the results found on the race website) 15:43, 31.18 (15.34), 46.56(15.38), 1:02:26(15:30), 1:18:03(15:37), 1:33:58(15:54), 1:50:13(16:15), 2:07:27(17:14!), 2:15:13.

I was really disappointed when I finished, but quickly got on the phone to my coach (Steve Boyd) who was a little disappointed with my first half antics.

It is definitely a hard result to swallow. This was a race where, when I was done, I didn't want there to be any what if.

Unfortunately, I did not execute the race properly, so there are quite a few at this point. Other people are trying to tell me I should be satisfied with that as a debut marathon. But, I am finding it hard to. I know getting the standard was going to be a challenge all along.

I am obviously disappointed the dream of being an Olympian will have to wait another 4 years.


This was the last in the 5 article Dylan has written, we have found them to be of an exceptional quality, giving a view into an elite athlete's life and thoughts Read the First - Dylan Wykes, World Cross and Marathon Debut journal]]> https://www.time-to-run.com/forums/Thread-London-Calling-Paula-and-John-Candy Fri, 18 Apr 2008 07:58:20 +0000 admin]]> https://www.time-to-run.com/forums/Thread-London-Calling-Paula-and-John-Candy In the 4th of Dylan Wykes' articles of his Edinburgh World Cross and experiencing English culture we follow his visit to London and the final part of his John Candy - Trains, Planes and Automobiles - with a boat thrown in on his way to Rotterdam

London Calling

I just spent a day in London, trying to see the sights. Much to my delight I had no trouble navigating the underground system in London. Having spent 4 or 5 weekends in NYC over the years helped with that.

Had an interesting experience on the train journey in from Loughborough.

The train stopped maybe 2 stations shy of London St Pancras. At that point the anticipation and excitement was as high as it gets! The conductor came on and said things are bit congested, we just hit a few red lights, shouldn't be longer than 3 or 4 minutes before we arrive.

A few minutes later he comes on again and says there has been a security alert in London St. Pancreas a suspicious package was found. The bomb squad should be there in 5 minutes, they'll clear it out and we'll be on our away again in 10 minutes!

This was all delivered in a very casual, personal manner. I thought, wow, they certainly handle these things much differently from good ole Homeland Security in America. In the States some computerized voice would have come on and said something like the security level has been raised to Red, people would have no idea what it meant, then some sirens would probably start going off and panic would hit.

The guy came on the PA a few more times increasing the delay time. Eventually we did have to evacuate the train and take the underground into London.

Once in London the day went without any further bomb scares.



Surprisingly, I actually found the older, perhaps less hip, sights and areas such as Big Ben and Buckingham Palace to be far more interesting than the shopping areas around Regent and Oxford Streets.

Although there were a few different stores in the area it was dominated by many of the same stores you'd see in big cities in America. I am not sure if there is anything note worthy about purchasing a shirt from Urban Outfitters in London, but I couldn't see the point considering everything was so ridiculously expensive.

I did however purchase a shirt at H&M for $5 because I was freezing!

Picadilly Circus was a bit odd to me. It had that overwhelming sense of Global Capitalism, with big billboards and restaurants like Hard Rock Cafe and TGI Friday's (or restaurants along those lines). But, most of the buildings were really old and weren't reaching into the clouds.

I guess I was trying to make too may comparisons with Time Square. I stumbled upon a guy selling nuts, in what appeared to be the same fashion as stalls on the streets of NYC. I love NUTS! So had to try them, despite this guy being the only guy in all of London I'd seen selling them. Well, he should quit, because they paled in comparison to the NYC nuts.

Although a tour guide or a decent guidebook would have helped with the history behind some sights, all in all, it was a good day. London is an astounding mix of really old buildings with amazing architecture and modern consumer culture found in many big cities all over the world.

I would definitely love to spend more time there. But, I have to put the feet up and start focusing my energies on conquering 26.2miles at 5:07/mile!

How hot can you go???

I managed to be very good about eating healthy and cooking most meals in house, for most of my stay in Loughborough.

But, on the weekend we decided to venture out for a meal.

Going to a traditional British pub probably would have been a bit lame for the people I was with. So, they decided on this place called Nando's . It is a chain restaurant in the UK similar to Swiss Chalet (for you Canadians out there) - specializing in roasted chicken, roasted chicken, and roasted chicken.

(TheEd edit - Nandos is a chain originally from South Africa with a Portuguese theme )

It was a fun experience though, because you got to select the level of spiciness of the Peri-Peri marinade on the chicken.

There slogan was something like go ahead set the world on fire, you owe it to yourself.

There was big talk of going Extra Hot, but the waitress sort of talked us out of it and we went with just Hot.

We did sample some Extra Hot wings and were disappointed we didn't go Extra Hot for everything. There was also bottomless soda and bottomless frozen yogurt involved, which made for a very filling experience.

Everyone seemed to enjoy things so much, and were so tempted by the Extra Hot that we returned the next night for a Jumbo platter all Extra Hot. We also emptied the apparently not so bottomless frozen yogurt machine twice on our second visit!

Paula

I was out on one of my final training runs this morning, an easy 45 minutes. I headed to the Outwoods, the forest I ran in on my first day in Loughborough, for two laps around.

The woods was mostly filled with dog walkers, but I did see someone coming towards me at a quick pace. As this someone got closer I realized it wasn't just any old runner, it was Paula Radcliffe.



She gave me a friendly wave as she flew past me in the opposite direction.

I thought about turning around and trying to run with her, and maybe asking her for a bit of advice, but after realizing that might be a little weird I also realized she was going far too fast for me. (I hope she was doing a session, but my best guess is that she was just out for a regular training run).

I knew that Paula went to University here and Thommo pointed out where she has a house here (right near the Outwoods). But, I knew she spent a lot more time at other training bases in Monaco, the Pyrenees, etc. I don't usually get to be awed by running stars. I've met, ran past, and lined up with some of the best in the World including Haile Gebrselassie.

But, for some reason I thought it was really amazing to have Paula Radcliffe run past me on her home training grounds. It was really motivating and I picked it up the rest of my run, in case I crossed paths were her again, I didn't want to look like a plodder!

Plane, trains, and automobiles and boats too!

Getting to Rotterdam from the UK is pretty straightforward.

There are a lot of discount airlines that operate out of smaller airports, including East Midlands (not far from Loughborough).

But, for some reason I thought it would be a good idea to take the boat across the North Sea. It turned out to be a bit of an adventure.

I took the train into London (no bomb scare this time) made a transfer and then arrived at the ferry. I boarded straight away, because I wanted to get to sleep. It was about 10pm at that point.

I decided to have a wander around before going to sleep and the boat was actually really nice. It had a couple of restaurants, two bars, a mini-casino, and a movie theatre. So, I guess if you wanted to stay up all night there would be plenty of entertainment.

The sleeping quarters were nice. Basically just two bunk beds, a desk, a closet, and a bathroom. I managed to sleep really well too. I was warned that the north seas could be pretty rough and I might have trouble sleeping.

When I woke up, I pigged out at the buffet breakfast, to start my carbo-loading!


final article - Rotterdam and the race ]]> In the 4th of Dylan Wykes' articles of his Edinburgh World Cross and experiencing English culture we follow his visit to London and the final part of his John Candy - Trains, Planes and Automobiles - with a boat thrown in on his way to Rotterdam

London Calling

I just spent a day in London, trying to see the sights. Much to my delight I had no trouble navigating the underground system in London. Having spent 4 or 5 weekends in NYC over the years helped with that.

Had an interesting experience on the train journey in from Loughborough.

The train stopped maybe 2 stations shy of London St Pancras. At that point the anticipation and excitement was as high as it gets! The conductor came on and said things are bit congested, we just hit a few red lights, shouldn't be longer than 3 or 4 minutes before we arrive.

A few minutes later he comes on again and says there has been a security alert in London St. Pancreas a suspicious package was found. The bomb squad should be there in 5 minutes, they'll clear it out and we'll be on our away again in 10 minutes!

This was all delivered in a very casual, personal manner. I thought, wow, they certainly handle these things much differently from good ole Homeland Security in America. In the States some computerized voice would have come on and said something like the security level has been raised to Red, people would have no idea what it meant, then some sirens would probably start going off and panic would hit.

The guy came on the PA a few more times increasing the delay time. Eventually we did have to evacuate the train and take the underground into London.

Once in London the day went without any further bomb scares.



Surprisingly, I actually found the older, perhaps less hip, sights and areas such as Big Ben and Buckingham Palace to be far more interesting than the shopping areas around Regent and Oxford Streets.

Although there were a few different stores in the area it was dominated by many of the same stores you'd see in big cities in America. I am not sure if there is anything note worthy about purchasing a shirt from Urban Outfitters in London, but I couldn't see the point considering everything was so ridiculously expensive.

I did however purchase a shirt at H&M for $5 because I was freezing!

Picadilly Circus was a bit odd to me. It had that overwhelming sense of Global Capitalism, with big billboards and restaurants like Hard Rock Cafe and TGI Friday's (or restaurants along those lines). But, most of the buildings were really old and weren't reaching into the clouds.

I guess I was trying to make too may comparisons with Time Square. I stumbled upon a guy selling nuts, in what appeared to be the same fashion as stalls on the streets of NYC. I love NUTS! So had to try them, despite this guy being the only guy in all of London I'd seen selling them. Well, he should quit, because they paled in comparison to the NYC nuts.

Although a tour guide or a decent guidebook would have helped with the history behind some sights, all in all, it was a good day. London is an astounding mix of really old buildings with amazing architecture and modern consumer culture found in many big cities all over the world.

I would definitely love to spend more time there. But, I have to put the feet up and start focusing my energies on conquering 26.2miles at 5:07/mile!

How hot can you go???

I managed to be very good about eating healthy and cooking most meals in house, for most of my stay in Loughborough.

But, on the weekend we decided to venture out for a meal.

Going to a traditional British pub probably would have been a bit lame for the people I was with. So, they decided on this place called Nando's . It is a chain restaurant in the UK similar to Swiss Chalet (for you Canadians out there) - specializing in roasted chicken, roasted chicken, and roasted chicken.

(TheEd edit - Nandos is a chain originally from South Africa with a Portuguese theme )

It was a fun experience though, because you got to select the level of spiciness of the Peri-Peri marinade on the chicken.

There slogan was something like go ahead set the world on fire, you owe it to yourself.

There was big talk of going Extra Hot, but the waitress sort of talked us out of it and we went with just Hot.

We did sample some Extra Hot wings and were disappointed we didn't go Extra Hot for everything. There was also bottomless soda and bottomless frozen yogurt involved, which made for a very filling experience.

Everyone seemed to enjoy things so much, and were so tempted by the Extra Hot that we returned the next night for a Jumbo platter all Extra Hot. We also emptied the apparently not so bottomless frozen yogurt machine twice on our second visit!

Paula

I was out on one of my final training runs this morning, an easy 45 minutes. I headed to the Outwoods, the forest I ran in on my first day in Loughborough, for two laps around.

The woods was mostly filled with dog walkers, but I did see someone coming towards me at a quick pace. As this someone got closer I realized it wasn't just any old runner, it was Paula Radcliffe.



She gave me a friendly wave as she flew past me in the opposite direction.

I thought about turning around and trying to run with her, and maybe asking her for a bit of advice, but after realizing that might be a little weird I also realized she was going far too fast for me. (I hope she was doing a session, but my best guess is that she was just out for a regular training run).

I knew that Paula went to University here and Thommo pointed out where she has a house here (right near the Outwoods). But, I knew she spent a lot more time at other training bases in Monaco, the Pyrenees, etc. I don't usually get to be awed by running stars. I've met, ran past, and lined up with some of the best in the World including Haile Gebrselassie.

But, for some reason I thought it was really amazing to have Paula Radcliffe run past me on her home training grounds. It was really motivating and I picked it up the rest of my run, in case I crossed paths were her again, I didn't want to look like a plodder!

Plane, trains, and automobiles and boats too!

Getting to Rotterdam from the UK is pretty straightforward.

There are a lot of discount airlines that operate out of smaller airports, including East Midlands (not far from Loughborough).

But, for some reason I thought it would be a good idea to take the boat across the North Sea. It turned out to be a bit of an adventure.

I took the train into London (no bomb scare this time) made a transfer and then arrived at the ferry. I boarded straight away, because I wanted to get to sleep. It was about 10pm at that point.

I decided to have a wander around before going to sleep and the boat was actually really nice. It had a couple of restaurants, two bars, a mini-casino, and a movie theatre. So, I guess if you wanted to stay up all night there would be plenty of entertainment.

The sleeping quarters were nice. Basically just two bunk beds, a desk, a closet, and a bathroom. I managed to sleep really well too. I was warned that the north seas could be pretty rough and I might have trouble sleeping.

When I woke up, I pigged out at the buffet breakfast, to start my carbo-loading!


final article - Rotterdam and the race ]]> https://www.time-to-run.com/forums/Thread-Loughborough-Final-Preparation-and-English-Culture Thu, 17 Apr 2008 10:42:20 +0000 admin]]> https://www.time-to-run.com/forums/Thread-Loughborough-Final-Preparation-and-English-Culture In the 3rd of Dylan Wykes' articles he discusses Loughborough, final training runs around the area and English culture

Train Journey to Loughborough

I am on the train now traveling from Edinburgh, Scotland to Loughborough, England. I am going to be staying with some friends of a friend.

Gareth Turnbull, an Irish Athlete, who has spent some time in Providence over the years, owns a house in Loughborough.

He has been kind enough to arrange with the people renting his house so that I can crash there for the next 10 or 11 days before heading over to Rotterdam.

The train is pretty sweet. I haven't really ridden on trains much in my life. Probably the only times in recent memory were going to NYC for the ½ marathon last summer and going to Penn Relays as a freshman at Providence College. But, train travel is definitely less expensive in Europe. I really enjoy it because it does not involve all the time and hassles of security at airports. I feel much less stress traveling this way. You can show up two minutes before the train is due to leave and just hop on, no questions asked.

The train I am on now has wifi. So, I have been able to send a few friends and family emails letting them know that although world cross was a huge disappointment I am feeling better now (physically) and hopefully in two weeks time will be able to rock and roll.

The countryside on the train ride out of Edinburgh is fantastic. Out one side of the train are rolling green (really green) hills.



And, out the other side is and expanse of open water (the North Sea). I think the fact that the sun is shining bright and that I am starting a new leg of my journey (and hopefully leaving behind the disappointment of the first leg) makes this scene seem slightly more spectacular for me than some others.

The journey becomes less exciting as the train travels into some industrialized cities in England. Mind you train tracks almost always make their way through the most industrialized parts of any city. But, this reminds me of the depressing and dreary scene set in movies like Trainspotting or ? (a movie set in early 80's industrially distraught Manchester which follows the evolution of the new wave music scene great movie)

I am looking forward to training in Loughborough over the next 10 days. The town and University have been home to many of Britain's greatest distance runners including Seb Coe, Dave Moorcroft, and Paula Radcliffe! I read some (but not all) of Paula Radcliffe's autobiography and remember her talking about the great training venues in Loughborough.



46 Woodlands Drive

Gareth has put me in touch with his good friend an insanely talented distance runner - Chris Thompson.

Chris is kind enough to pick me up at the train station. It turns out that Gareth only informed him the night before my arrival, via text msg, that I would be coming. So, I definitely feel like I am imposing a little on Chris and his housemates. But, they all seem really nice and hospitable. I will be occupying the not so vacant living room of Chris and his 4 other housemates and Olympic hopefuls (2 pole vaulters (Keith and Hen) and a High Jumper (Rob).

Thommo is quick to help me turn the rarely used (or so he tries to convince me) dining room into a comfortable bedroom real bed and all! Thommo turns out to be a huge help with everything and even cooks me a wonderful dinner on my first night in the house.

HIPAC

John Nutall (a not so shabby GB international in his day with PB's of 7.36 - 3000m and a 13.16 - 5000m) coaches a group of young Olympic hopefuls including Chris Thommo Thompson, Nick McCormick (3.35 - 1500), Emily Pidgeon, and Laura Finn all athletes funded by UK athletics that are based out of the growing and modern facilities at Loughborough University.

The High Performance Center (HIPAC) is the meeting place for training runs and as it turns out for every athlete in every event in athletics.



It is great to see so many people training hard and pursuing their dreams.

Some of John's group are doing a session, so Thommo (who is only getting back into things, slowly after another injury set-back) takes me for the first 15 minutes of my run and then points me in the direction of a forest with some trials. Surprisingly I found the trails to the forest and the loop around the forest. It was a great run. Afterwards I went for a bite of lunch with Thommo, Nick McCormick and Laura Finucane.

All or nothing for this lot

Working full time and training is something that I have adapted to quite well over the nearly two years that I have been doing it.

It did take a while for me to get into the swing of things and adjust to the new lifestyle. But, I think I have done quite well with it since, and wouldn't really want to do things a whole lot differently in the future. But, these folk here in Loughborough think that is crazy. The attitude here is train full-time or don't bother. They would see working part-time and running part-time as doing two things half ass and that nothing could be accomplished in athletics or the work place by doing so.

They think working full-time and training on top of that is an impossible endeavour.

But, I think this attitude is brought about in part by the generous funding that is available to athletes here. If you qualify for funding (and I am not sure how you do so) you are really well taken care of.

I think the athletes that get this funding sort of set the tone for the training groups in Loughborough. They have a lot of time on their hands and are able to really spread out their days with training sessions, physio, massage, eating meals, etc.

So, to others who are up and coming and maybe unfunded they think they must structure the days in the same way in order to have any success. There is no doubt that grinding out a 9-5 is not ideal, but if you have the right attitude and you surround yourself with the right people it can be done (well, I guess that is TBD).

Training

Although I said I didn't intend for this to be a training log, I don't want people to think I haven't been training at all!!

In fact the training has gone really smoothly since arriving in Loughborough. I did a 30 minute tempo run on Wednesday. It felt really good, and although I did not have any mile markers to get a sense of my pace, I did a loop around a big set of grass fields and was able to keep lap splits, all of which were within 5 seconds.

I also wore a Heart Rate monitor and kept my HR in the right ranges. Tempo runs are my favourite type of workouts. I do them often and they give me a ton of confidence in my fitness.

Since graduating from College I have learned a lot about doing a proper tempo/threshold run and they have since become the bread and butter of my training.

On Saturday, I did as session of 800's on the track at the Uni. There was a good vibe at the track, lots of people training hard.

I had a really good workout consisting of 7x800m @ 2:12-2:14 with 800m recovery in 2:48-2:55. My total time for 26laps was 32.45.

I've done workouts similar to this in the build-up, but none have felt this good. That is probably due to running many less miles. I finished off the week with my final run. Thommo did the first 50 minutes with me on a nice loop that incorporated the canal and some nice farmers fields.

I dropped Thommo off at the house and did the loop again for a nice 1hr40minutes.

Although it was a lot shorter than some of the runs I did when I was in a heavy training phase it was a good reminder that I am doing a marathon in one weeks time!

After this week of training I am feeling confident again for the marathon. Although the real training for the marathon concluded several weeks ago.

The Grand National

Yesterday was the running of the Grand National an annual long distance horse race in England. I was told that, although it is not the most lucrative horse race in the country, it is the most watched, both at the ground and on national TV.



It was also described to me as being similar to the marathon it has a mass start of about 40 horses, which is often really chaotic and most years a horse dies at some stage of the race.

So to get in the spirit of the event I was told I had to put a bet on it.

With no knowledge of the horses I simply went with a name I liked - Snowy Morning. I believe his odds were about 15-1. So with my whopping 1 pound bet I felt very invested.

Surprisingly Snowy Morning was in the thick of the race almost the entire way and held on well for a very close 3rd. It was actually a really exciting race to watch.

There were so many changes in the lead and so many horses falling over barriers and horses whose jockey's had fallen off running all over the place. And the fact that Snowy Morning was on or near the front much of the way kept me on the edge of the couch. Unfortunately I just picked him for the win, so no winnings were to be had!

I also think I jinxed myself (and the rest of the country) because the next day when I woke up the ground was covered in snow it was indeed a snowy morning.

Football

This time of year is not only when the NHL playoffs start (for you Canadian's out there) or when the MLB regular season gets under way (for you Americans especially those Red Sox fans)

But it is also the time of year when the UEFA Champions League football campaign really throws into high gear. With 4 English Premiership teams in the final 8, I knew I would find myself watching some good football with some really passionate fans.



Surprisingly most of the people I was staying with were not huge football fans, a few actually down right hated it. I guess my imagining that everyone in England loves football would be like them presuming everyone in Canada absolutely lives and dies for Hockey.

Anyways, one of the people I was staying with Chris Thompson is an avid Liverpool supporter, so that made things fun. One of my house mates in Providence, Keith Kelly, is also an avid Liverpool supporter, so I was somewhat familiar with the team and I guess a bit of a fan.

They played Arsenal in the quarterfinals and the first leg of the home and away series was away at Emirates Stadium. We went over to one of Thommo's friends place to watch the match. The game was actually quite entertaining it ended in a 1-1 draw. But perhaps more entertaining was Thommo and Johnny's ecstatic embrace when Liverpool scored to draw even!

Thommo was absent for the second leg of the series (having gone to South Africa for some warm weather training) so I was left to fill in his shoes as a Liverpool supporter. Although I didn't go in for the ecstatic embrace when Liverpool scored (which they did 4 times on this occasion) I did get behind them and get into the game.

I also wore Thommo's Liverpool jersey in his absence, and I think I brought them a bit of good luck in doing so!

I've found myself watching as much soccer news and highlight shows as I can now. Having that stuff on the TV isn’t unusual as Keith has it on in Providence all the time. But, I've never been engaged by it before.

I guess when I return to the state we'll see if I continue to follow things.


next UK experience - London Calling and more
]]> In the 3rd of Dylan Wykes' articles he discusses Loughborough, final training runs around the area and English culture

Train Journey to Loughborough

I am on the train now traveling from Edinburgh, Scotland to Loughborough, England. I am going to be staying with some friends of a friend.

Gareth Turnbull, an Irish Athlete, who has spent some time in Providence over the years, owns a house in Loughborough.

He has been kind enough to arrange with the people renting his house so that I can crash there for the next 10 or 11 days before heading over to Rotterdam.

The train is pretty sweet. I haven't really ridden on trains much in my life. Probably the only times in recent memory were going to NYC for the ½ marathon last summer and going to Penn Relays as a freshman at Providence College. But, train travel is definitely less expensive in Europe. I really enjoy it because it does not involve all the time and hassles of security at airports. I feel much less stress traveling this way. You can show up two minutes before the train is due to leave and just hop on, no questions asked.

The train I am on now has wifi. So, I have been able to send a few friends and family emails letting them know that although world cross was a huge disappointment I am feeling better now (physically) and hopefully in two weeks time will be able to rock and roll.

The countryside on the train ride out of Edinburgh is fantastic. Out one side of the train are rolling green (really green) hills.



And, out the other side is and expanse of open water (the North Sea). I think the fact that the sun is shining bright and that I am starting a new leg of my journey (and hopefully leaving behind the disappointment of the first leg) makes this scene seem slightly more spectacular for me than some others.

The journey becomes less exciting as the train travels into some industrialized cities in England. Mind you train tracks almost always make their way through the most industrialized parts of any city. But, this reminds me of the depressing and dreary scene set in movies like Trainspotting or ? (a movie set in early 80's industrially distraught Manchester which follows the evolution of the new wave music scene great movie)

I am looking forward to training in Loughborough over the next 10 days. The town and University have been home to many of Britain's greatest distance runners including Seb Coe, Dave Moorcroft, and Paula Radcliffe! I read some (but not all) of Paula Radcliffe's autobiography and remember her talking about the great training venues in Loughborough.



46 Woodlands Drive

Gareth has put me in touch with his good friend an insanely talented distance runner - Chris Thompson.

Chris is kind enough to pick me up at the train station. It turns out that Gareth only informed him the night before my arrival, via text msg, that I would be coming. So, I definitely feel like I am imposing a little on Chris and his housemates. But, they all seem really nice and hospitable. I will be occupying the not so vacant living room of Chris and his 4 other housemates and Olympic hopefuls (2 pole vaulters (Keith and Hen) and a High Jumper (Rob).

Thommo is quick to help me turn the rarely used (or so he tries to convince me) dining room into a comfortable bedroom real bed and all! Thommo turns out to be a huge help with everything and even cooks me a wonderful dinner on my first night in the house.

HIPAC

John Nutall (a not so shabby GB international in his day with PB's of 7.36 - 3000m and a 13.16 - 5000m) coaches a group of young Olympic hopefuls including Chris Thommo Thompson, Nick McCormick (3.35 - 1500), Emily Pidgeon, and Laura Finn all athletes funded by UK athletics that are based out of the growing and modern facilities at Loughborough University.

The High Performance Center (HIPAC) is the meeting place for training runs and as it turns out for every athlete in every event in athletics.



It is great to see so many people training hard and pursuing their dreams.

Some of John's group are doing a session, so Thommo (who is only getting back into things, slowly after another injury set-back) takes me for the first 15 minutes of my run and then points me in the direction of a forest with some trials. Surprisingly I found the trails to the forest and the loop around the forest. It was a great run. Afterwards I went for a bite of lunch with Thommo, Nick McCormick and Laura Finucane.

All or nothing for this lot

Working full time and training is something that I have adapted to quite well over the nearly two years that I have been doing it.

It did take a while for me to get into the swing of things and adjust to the new lifestyle. But, I think I have done quite well with it since, and wouldn't really want to do things a whole lot differently in the future. But, these folk here in Loughborough think that is crazy. The attitude here is train full-time or don't bother. They would see working part-time and running part-time as doing two things half ass and that nothing could be accomplished in athletics or the work place by doing so.

They think working full-time and training on top of that is an impossible endeavour.

But, I think this attitude is brought about in part by the generous funding that is available to athletes here. If you qualify for funding (and I am not sure how you do so) you are really well taken care of.

I think the athletes that get this funding sort of set the tone for the training groups in Loughborough. They have a lot of time on their hands and are able to really spread out their days with training sessions, physio, massage, eating meals, etc.

So, to others who are up and coming and maybe unfunded they think they must structure the days in the same way in order to have any success. There is no doubt that grinding out a 9-5 is not ideal, but if you have the right attitude and you surround yourself with the right people it can be done (well, I guess that is TBD).

Training

Although I said I didn't intend for this to be a training log, I don't want people to think I haven't been training at all!!

In fact the training has gone really smoothly since arriving in Loughborough. I did a 30 minute tempo run on Wednesday. It felt really good, and although I did not have any mile markers to get a sense of my pace, I did a loop around a big set of grass fields and was able to keep lap splits, all of which were within 5 seconds.

I also wore a Heart Rate monitor and kept my HR in the right ranges. Tempo runs are my favourite type of workouts. I do them often and they give me a ton of confidence in my fitness.

Since graduating from College I have learned a lot about doing a proper tempo/threshold run and they have since become the bread and butter of my training.

On Saturday, I did as session of 800's on the track at the Uni. There was a good vibe at the track, lots of people training hard.

I had a really good workout consisting of 7x800m @ 2:12-2:14 with 800m recovery in 2:48-2:55. My total time for 26laps was 32.45.

I've done workouts similar to this in the build-up, but none have felt this good. That is probably due to running many less miles. I finished off the week with my final run. Thommo did the first 50 minutes with me on a nice loop that incorporated the canal and some nice farmers fields.

I dropped Thommo off at the house and did the loop again for a nice 1hr40minutes.

Although it was a lot shorter than some of the runs I did when I was in a heavy training phase it was a good reminder that I am doing a marathon in one weeks time!

After this week of training I am feeling confident again for the marathon. Although the real training for the marathon concluded several weeks ago.

The Grand National

Yesterday was the running of the Grand National an annual long distance horse race in England. I was told that, although it is not the most lucrative horse race in the country, it is the most watched, both at the ground and on national TV.



It was also described to me as being similar to the marathon it has a mass start of about 40 horses, which is often really chaotic and most years a horse dies at some stage of the race.

So to get in the spirit of the event I was told I had to put a bet on it.

With no knowledge of the horses I simply went with a name I liked - Snowy Morning. I believe his odds were about 15-1. So with my whopping 1 pound bet I felt very invested.

Surprisingly Snowy Morning was in the thick of the race almost the entire way and held on well for a very close 3rd. It was actually a really exciting race to watch.

There were so many changes in the lead and so many horses falling over barriers and horses whose jockey's had fallen off running all over the place. And the fact that Snowy Morning was on or near the front much of the way kept me on the edge of the couch. Unfortunately I just picked him for the win, so no winnings were to be had!

I also think I jinxed myself (and the rest of the country) because the next day when I woke up the ground was covered in snow it was indeed a snowy morning.

Football

This time of year is not only when the NHL playoffs start (for you Canadian's out there) or when the MLB regular season gets under way (for you Americans especially those Red Sox fans)

But it is also the time of year when the UEFA Champions League football campaign really throws into high gear. With 4 English Premiership teams in the final 8, I knew I would find myself watching some good football with some really passionate fans.



Surprisingly most of the people I was staying with were not huge football fans, a few actually down right hated it. I guess my imagining that everyone in England loves football would be like them presuming everyone in Canada absolutely lives and dies for Hockey.

Anyways, one of the people I was staying with Chris Thompson is an avid Liverpool supporter, so that made things fun. One of my house mates in Providence, Keith Kelly, is also an avid Liverpool supporter, so I was somewhat familiar with the team and I guess a bit of a fan.

They played Arsenal in the quarterfinals and the first leg of the home and away series was away at Emirates Stadium. We went over to one of Thommo's friends place to watch the match. The game was actually quite entertaining it ended in a 1-1 draw. But perhaps more entertaining was Thommo and Johnny's ecstatic embrace when Liverpool scored to draw even!

Thommo was absent for the second leg of the series (having gone to South Africa for some warm weather training) so I was left to fill in his shoes as a Liverpool supporter. Although I didn't go in for the ecstatic embrace when Liverpool scored (which they did 4 times on this occasion) I did get behind them and get into the game.

I also wore Thommo's Liverpool jersey in his absence, and I think I brought them a bit of good luck in doing so!

I've found myself watching as much soccer news and highlight shows as I can now. Having that stuff on the TV isn’t unusual as Keith has it on in Providence all the time. But, I've never been engaged by it before.

I guess when I return to the state we'll see if I continue to follow things.


next UK experience - London Calling and more
]]> https://www.time-to-run.com/forums/Thread-Wykes-Edinburgh-World-Cross-experience Wed, 16 Apr 2008 05:52:29 +0000 admin]]> https://www.time-to-run.com/forums/Thread-Wykes-Edinburgh-World-Cross-experience In the 2nd of Dylan Wykes' articles he discusses Edinburgh and his World Cross experience

Arrived in Edinburgh and got shuttle to the University of Edinburgh.

Went out for a run with some of the other team members, pretty much immediately upon my arrival. Our team attache (Ross, easily the fastest of all attaches with a 3:41 (1500m) PB) took us to a park not far from the Uni (The course was closed).

We ran through the streets on the way down. A few of the team members had close calls, with the cars being on the other side of the road!

Got in an easy 65 minutes of running. Most of the team did some sort of workout. Everyone seemed to be adjusting well. It was nice to meet the guys on the team that I did not previously know. I was dying for #2 on the run, but the park was far too public to just shimmy up beside a tree. So, I found a public toilet on the outskirts of the park. I was envisioning the Worst Toilet in Scotland scene from Trainspotting as I plowed into the stall. Luckily it probably didn't even rank in the 100 worst toilets in Scotland.

After the run and some lunch in, I did a little sight seeing in the afternoon with some of the other guys on the Sr. Mens team. We went to Edinburgh Castle and the Royal Mile.



First thing that occurred to me is how old the city is. Living in North America it is easy to forget how many more years of history there is in European countries. Just seeing a plaque that reads is remarkable, nevertheless an actual building built at that time. I was dead tired, but knew if I didn't get out I would sit in my room and fall asleep. But, I lost steam by the time we got to the Castle, so I just took a few pictures (which of course did not turn out great) and then headed back to relax.

Our accommodations are pretty standard. I was excited when the man driving me from the airport to the University told me these residence halls were originally built for the Commonwealth Games . For some reason I was thinking the 2002 Games (which were actually in Manchester, England) but he was talking about the 1970 games! So my excitement of staying in some modern residence was quickly thwarted.

We all have single rooms with tiny beds. I feel like I am back in University again, with my feet hanging over the edge of the bed. I have managed to get good nights sleep though, so I guess it can't be all that bad.

There isn't a nice common area in our hall. So, a lot of time is spent hanging out in the cafeteria after meals, chatting about a variety of things, including the state of AC and the Cross Country Program. Unfortunately we haven't managed to solve all our shortcomings as of yet.

10.30 team run (let's make that 11:00 hold on, no make that 11.30!)

Getting 30 odd people (4 teams) to do the same thing at the same time is proving to be a bit tough, and somewhat comical. I don't envy Dave Christiani and Thelma Wright in their roles as team coach/leader.

The team was supposed to meet to train at 10.30, but it didn't end up happening until 11.30 because half of the team got selected for doping screens.

We ran down to the course (only about 10-15minutes jog) and did get on the course a bit even though it was still being constructed.



I was surprised and happy to see that it wasn't complete muck and there is very little possibility that it will be. Besides the big hill the course is pretty forgiving (the Scots went soft on us!) I ran an easy 55 minutes and then did some strides with the spikes on, and then jogged back UP to the University. I felt good, and did the strides with the wind, which felt amazing!

Skits

The traditional team skits occurred on Friday night. There were some good ones (considering we only gave the rookies 20 minutes to put things together). Our team attache Ross did a great job conducting the interviews for the Juniors world records/first time! Some of the skits played on our inability to understand Ross' Scottish accent at times. I must say the Scottish accent is thick. But, my best friend's parents are Scottish, so I've had a but of practice, listening hard, and have picked up on some of the slang. I've also lived with a crew of Irish and New Zealanders since moving to Providence, so hearing different accents doesn't really phase me at this point.

The Draft

I was looking forward to meeting some kids from a local school who adopted Canada as their nation for the world cross. But, with the help of some team staff I managed to get the time wrong and totally missed it. The highlight of the day, should be studying up on the senior men's field. Not to figure out who my competitors are, but to try and when the draft/pool/fantasy league, which is a tradition of senior men's teams. We each pick a team of 9. The order of picks is drawn at random. Obviously everyone is going to pick some Ethiopian or Kenyan in the first round, or two. But, knowledge of the random 13:10 guys from Algeria and such may be important knowledge for some of the later picks. There is also the conundrum of whether to pick one's self for the Fantasy team?

This took ages. There were 13 of us picking 9 guys each from a list of 220 names. Needless to say it took a while. I drew the 9th spot to pick, so didn't get any of the big guns. I am not confident in my squad. I only got 1 Kenyan and 1 Ethiopian. I picked a Tanzanian Fabian Joseph and was later told Tanzania wasn't able to get there! So one of my big guns, who I hoped for top 10 is gone.

Postscript; my team failed miserably. I did not even bother tallying my points as I had to scored two guys who were in the 80's, and the top score at that point was Hutch with around 180. Oh well, it was a bit of fun.

The Race



WOW! The race was probably one of the most painful, longest and worst experiences of my running career.

I felt like something was a little tight in my stomach on the warm up. I just figured it was a bit of gas and if I went to the toilet before the race I would be ok. But, things just got progressively worse.

My plan was to go out fairly conservative and to try and keep a few of the Americans and Australians who I was familiar with, within reach. I got out better than expected and was maybe a bit too far up. But I quickly found my good friend (and house mate for 1 week before heading to Scotland) James Carney and a few other Americans coming past.

I hung on to them, but was conscious that my stomach was going to be a problem. Soon into the second lap the cramping started to really hinder my running. By the third lap I was consistently and constantly losing places and feeling terrible. Breathing became difficult.

The only reason I hung in there and finished the race was because I was still scoring for the team. Hats off to the other Canadians. Goose, Joel, and Hutch all ran really well.

The Night After

The banquet (which was something I was looking forward to) turned out to be a disappointment.

I was looking forward to chatting with some of the friends who went to Providence College and various other people I had become friends with through my running. And I was looking forward to a good feed. Neither really panned out.

They rushed us through a meal that was really small (we thought it was just the appetizer!). I can now say that I tried Haggas (a traditional Scottish fare, which I believe (but don't really want to believe) is sheep brains or intestines or both or neither??)

Anyways three pieces of cheese cake, which we had to swindle from nearby tables turned out to satisfy my appetite. I was able to have a good chat with Dierdre and Orla two ladies who represented Ireland, who used to be in providence. Unfortunately I didn't really track down anyone else. We ended up leaving pretty quickly and just went to a pub not far from the residences.

We had a bit of an adventure trying to find some grub after the pub had closed. Most people settled for Papa John's pizza. But, coming from Rhode Island where there is Papa John's everywhere I decide to try to find something else.

Hutch, Nakluski and I found a kebab shop and enjoyed a slightly more traditional Scottish (or just perhaps less American) post pub grub experience.

The Day After

I woke up the morning after the race and went for a run. I was pretty down about my first experience in the Senior World Cross Country Championships.


Unfortunately I did not really learn a lot about how to race this race, as the cramp really prevented me from getting in any sort of groove. So, the run was filled with a mix of emotions, trying to put the race behind me and realize that I am in much better shape than my 130^th placing showed




next Off to Loughborough, Final Preparation and English Culture ]]> In the 2nd of Dylan Wykes' articles he discusses Edinburgh and his World Cross experience

Arrived in Edinburgh and got shuttle to the University of Edinburgh.

Went out for a run with some of the other team members, pretty much immediately upon my arrival. Our team attache (Ross, easily the fastest of all attaches with a 3:41 (1500m) PB) took us to a park not far from the Uni (The course was closed).

We ran through the streets on the way down. A few of the team members had close calls, with the cars being on the other side of the road!

Got in an easy 65 minutes of running. Most of the team did some sort of workout. Everyone seemed to be adjusting well. It was nice to meet the guys on the team that I did not previously know. I was dying for #2 on the run, but the park was far too public to just shimmy up beside a tree. So, I found a public toilet on the outskirts of the park. I was envisioning the Worst Toilet in Scotland scene from Trainspotting as I plowed into the stall. Luckily it probably didn't even rank in the 100 worst toilets in Scotland.

After the run and some lunch in, I did a little sight seeing in the afternoon with some of the other guys on the Sr. Mens team. We went to Edinburgh Castle and the Royal Mile.



First thing that occurred to me is how old the city is. Living in North America it is easy to forget how many more years of history there is in European countries. Just seeing a plaque that reads is remarkable, nevertheless an actual building built at that time. I was dead tired, but knew if I didn't get out I would sit in my room and fall asleep. But, I lost steam by the time we got to the Castle, so I just took a few pictures (which of course did not turn out great) and then headed back to relax.

Our accommodations are pretty standard. I was excited when the man driving me from the airport to the University told me these residence halls were originally built for the Commonwealth Games . For some reason I was thinking the 2002 Games (which were actually in Manchester, England) but he was talking about the 1970 games! So my excitement of staying in some modern residence was quickly thwarted.

We all have single rooms with tiny beds. I feel like I am back in University again, with my feet hanging over the edge of the bed. I have managed to get good nights sleep though, so I guess it can't be all that bad.

There isn't a nice common area in our hall. So, a lot of time is spent hanging out in the cafeteria after meals, chatting about a variety of things, including the state of AC and the Cross Country Program. Unfortunately we haven't managed to solve all our shortcomings as of yet.

10.30 team run (let's make that 11:00 hold on, no make that 11.30!)

Getting 30 odd people (4 teams) to do the same thing at the same time is proving to be a bit tough, and somewhat comical. I don't envy Dave Christiani and Thelma Wright in their roles as team coach/leader.

The team was supposed to meet to train at 10.30, but it didn't end up happening until 11.30 because half of the team got selected for doping screens.

We ran down to the course (only about 10-15minutes jog) and did get on the course a bit even though it was still being constructed.



I was surprised and happy to see that it wasn't complete muck and there is very little possibility that it will be. Besides the big hill the course is pretty forgiving (the Scots went soft on us!) I ran an easy 55 minutes and then did some strides with the spikes on, and then jogged back UP to the University. I felt good, and did the strides with the wind, which felt amazing!

Skits

The traditional team skits occurred on Friday night. There were some good ones (considering we only gave the rookies 20 minutes to put things together). Our team attache Ross did a great job conducting the interviews for the Juniors world records/first time! Some of the skits played on our inability to understand Ross' Scottish accent at times. I must say the Scottish accent is thick. But, my best friend's parents are Scottish, so I've had a but of practice, listening hard, and have picked up on some of the slang. I've also lived with a crew of Irish and New Zealanders since moving to Providence, so hearing different accents doesn't really phase me at this point.

The Draft

I was looking forward to meeting some kids from a local school who adopted Canada as their nation for the world cross. But, with the help of some team staff I managed to get the time wrong and totally missed it. The highlight of the day, should be studying up on the senior men's field. Not to figure out who my competitors are, but to try and when the draft/pool/fantasy league, which is a tradition of senior men's teams. We each pick a team of 9. The order of picks is drawn at random. Obviously everyone is going to pick some Ethiopian or Kenyan in the first round, or two. But, knowledge of the random 13:10 guys from Algeria and such may be important knowledge for some of the later picks. There is also the conundrum of whether to pick one's self for the Fantasy team?

This took ages. There were 13 of us picking 9 guys each from a list of 220 names. Needless to say it took a while. I drew the 9th spot to pick, so didn't get any of the big guns. I am not confident in my squad. I only got 1 Kenyan and 1 Ethiopian. I picked a Tanzanian Fabian Joseph and was later told Tanzania wasn't able to get there! So one of my big guns, who I hoped for top 10 is gone.

Postscript; my team failed miserably. I did not even bother tallying my points as I had to scored two guys who were in the 80's, and the top score at that point was Hutch with around 180. Oh well, it was a bit of fun.

The Race



WOW! The race was probably one of the most painful, longest and worst experiences of my running career.

I felt like something was a little tight in my stomach on the warm up. I just figured it was a bit of gas and if I went to the toilet before the race I would be ok. But, things just got progressively worse.

My plan was to go out fairly conservative and to try and keep a few of the Americans and Australians who I was familiar with, within reach. I got out better than expected and was maybe a bit too far up. But I quickly found my good friend (and house mate for 1 week before heading to Scotland) James Carney and a few other Americans coming past.

I hung on to them, but was conscious that my stomach was going to be a problem. Soon into the second lap the cramping started to really hinder my running. By the third lap I was consistently and constantly losing places and feeling terrible. Breathing became difficult.

The only reason I hung in there and finished the race was because I was still scoring for the team. Hats off to the other Canadians. Goose, Joel, and Hutch all ran really well.

The Night After

The banquet (which was something I was looking forward to) turned out to be a disappointment.

I was looking forward to chatting with some of the friends who went to Providence College and various other people I had become friends with through my running. And I was looking forward to a good feed. Neither really panned out.

They rushed us through a meal that was really small (we thought it was just the appetizer!). I can now say that I tried Haggas (a traditional Scottish fare, which I believe (but don't really want to believe) is sheep brains or intestines or both or neither??)

Anyways three pieces of cheese cake, which we had to swindle from nearby tables turned out to satisfy my appetite. I was able to have a good chat with Dierdre and Orla two ladies who represented Ireland, who used to be in providence. Unfortunately I didn't really track down anyone else. We ended up leaving pretty quickly and just went to a pub not far from the residences.

We had a bit of an adventure trying to find some grub after the pub had closed. Most people settled for Papa John's pizza. But, coming from Rhode Island where there is Papa John's everywhere I decide to try to find something else.

Hutch, Nakluski and I found a kebab shop and enjoyed a slightly more traditional Scottish (or just perhaps less American) post pub grub experience.

The Day After

I woke up the morning after the race and went for a run. I was pretty down about my first experience in the Senior World Cross Country Championships.


Unfortunately I did not really learn a lot about how to race this race, as the cramp really prevented me from getting in any sort of groove. So, the run was filled with a mix of emotions, trying to put the race behind me and realize that I am in much better shape than my 130^th placing showed




next Off to Loughborough, Final Preparation and English Culture ]]> https://www.time-to-run.com/forums/Thread-Dylan-Wykes-World-Cross-and-Marathon-Debut-journal Tue, 15 Apr 2008 12:41:48 +0000 admin]]> https://www.time-to-run.com/forums/Thread-Dylan-Wykes-World-Cross-and-Marathon-Debut-journal I guess I should start with a little bit about myself, and this journal. On-line journals or blogs seem to becoming more and more popular these days, with people in every niche out there having a look in at other people's thoughts and lives.

Gavin, editor of time-to-run.com asked if I would keep a journal of my adventures for his website. He seemed to think there might be some interest in such a thing. My adventures will include traveling to Scotland, running the World Cross Country Championships, in Edinburgh, Scotland on March 30.

Then traveling to Loughborough, in the East Midlands of England where I will be for 11 days of training. Then traveling to Rotterdam, The Netherlands where I will be running my debut marathon at the Fortis Rotterdam Marathon on April 13.

A little bit about me; I am originally from Kingston, Ontario, Canada. I went to University at Providence College in Providence, RI where I completed my degree and ran Cross Country and track for the Friars!

I now live 1 mile from the P.C. campus and work (yes work, yes 40hrs per week) for Brown University and the Miriam Hospital at the Weight Control and Diabetes Research Center.

I am coached by Steve Boyd, a fellow Kingstonian, a Canadian Distance Running stud for the past oh 25 years or so! Steve and I communicate mostly via e-mail and telephone. Despite Steve only getting to see me run sparingly he has been unbelievably dedicated to coaching me. I really appreciate all the effort he puts in to developing my training plans and communicating with me.

I find his knowledge of the sport and me as an athlete to be second to none.

I (and I believe Gavin) intended this journal more as a detailing of some of the experiences and adventures of my 18 day trip, and less as a training log. Considering the bulk of my training for these two races is in the bag, I won't be doing a ton of running anyways (If you have any specific training questions I'd be more than happy to answer them)

Travelling to Europe

Schipol Airport Amsterdam
It is 8:10am local time 3.10am EST. I am sipping a euro coffee (cappuccino, no drip coffee here) and eating a random sandwich.

The only breakfast options were at Sbarro or McDonalds (not so great). I was excited to plonk down in the ‘wifi zone’ and check a few emails (not from any real people, but maybe a new coupon from borders books, or an update on some great flight deals from kayak, or some new radiohead gear groupie emails, all of which I rarely read).

The flight went ok. I was on the aisle and had no one beside me in the window, so that was great. I was excited to watch American Gangster, but some technical problems prevented me from really seeing much of it. Had a ½ decent veggie curry.

Tried to sleep when I realized American Gangster wasnt going to happen.

Put some Sigur Ros on the headphones and conked out for at least 2-3hrs. Was woken by the guy in front of me blaring some Celtic music through his headphones that could be heard loud and clear by a few other passengers.

I haven't done the flight to Europe often, but I do remember getting it all wrong when I went to Ireland for the World Cross as a junior. I arrived in the morning before the rest of the Canadian team and ended up crashing for a good few hours. I was all out of sorts then when I woke up.

This time around the rest of the team is going to be there already. So, hopefully they don't allow me to crash during the day.

The flight to Edinburgh from here is only 1.5 hours. I am excited about getting there and wrapping my head around plodding through the muck for 12k on Sunday.

Next article World Cross Experience

]]> I guess I should start with a little bit about myself, and this journal. On-line journals or blogs seem to becoming more and more popular these days, with people in every niche out there having a look in at other people's thoughts and lives.

Gavin, editor of time-to-run.com asked if I would keep a journal of my adventures for his website. He seemed to think there might be some interest in such a thing. My adventures will include traveling to Scotland, running the World Cross Country Championships, in Edinburgh, Scotland on March 30.

Then traveling to Loughborough, in the East Midlands of England where I will be for 11 days of training. Then traveling to Rotterdam, The Netherlands where I will be running my debut marathon at the Fortis Rotterdam Marathon on April 13.

A little bit about me; I am originally from Kingston, Ontario, Canada. I went to University at Providence College in Providence, RI where I completed my degree and ran Cross Country and track for the Friars!

I now live 1 mile from the P.C. campus and work (yes work, yes 40hrs per week) for Brown University and the Miriam Hospital at the Weight Control and Diabetes Research Center.

I am coached by Steve Boyd, a fellow Kingstonian, a Canadian Distance Running stud for the past oh 25 years or so! Steve and I communicate mostly via e-mail and telephone. Despite Steve only getting to see me run sparingly he has been unbelievably dedicated to coaching me. I really appreciate all the effort he puts in to developing my training plans and communicating with me.

I find his knowledge of the sport and me as an athlete to be second to none.

I (and I believe Gavin) intended this journal more as a detailing of some of the experiences and adventures of my 18 day trip, and less as a training log. Considering the bulk of my training for these two races is in the bag, I won't be doing a ton of running anyways (If you have any specific training questions I'd be more than happy to answer them)

Travelling to Europe

Schipol Airport Amsterdam
It is 8:10am local time 3.10am EST. I am sipping a euro coffee (cappuccino, no drip coffee here) and eating a random sandwich.

The only breakfast options were at Sbarro or McDonalds (not so great). I was excited to plonk down in the ‘wifi zone’ and check a few emails (not from any real people, but maybe a new coupon from borders books, or an update on some great flight deals from kayak, or some new radiohead gear groupie emails, all of which I rarely read).

The flight went ok. I was on the aisle and had no one beside me in the window, so that was great. I was excited to watch American Gangster, but some technical problems prevented me from really seeing much of it. Had a ½ decent veggie curry.

Tried to sleep when I realized American Gangster wasnt going to happen.

Put some Sigur Ros on the headphones and conked out for at least 2-3hrs. Was woken by the guy in front of me blaring some Celtic music through his headphones that could be heard loud and clear by a few other passengers.

I haven't done the flight to Europe often, but I do remember getting it all wrong when I went to Ireland for the World Cross as a junior. I arrived in the morning before the rest of the Canadian team and ended up crashing for a good few hours. I was all out of sorts then when I woke up.

This time around the rest of the team is going to be there already. So, hopefully they don't allow me to crash during the day.

The flight to Edinburgh from here is only 1.5 hours. I am excited about getting there and wrapping my head around plodding through the muck for 12k on Sunday.

Next article World Cross Experience

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